A/N: I'm slowly approaching the end of my chapter buffer, but I'm trying to keep up with this anyway.

Also, if you're someone who finds the content warnings useful, I'm gonna give you a little bit of a heads up about the next few chapters. There's not going to be more violence and I don't write sex, but now that there are fewer secrets between the Gosho Boys there are some fraught conversations to be had. The low standard of parenting in the DCMK universe and the full complements of psychological issues that some of the characters have, in particular, are going to be relevant to the story and are also things I find interesting to write about.

I will do my best to provide a full and accurate summary of the material most likely to be sensitive in the end-notes; I'm hoping you guys can skip chapters and/or sections as needed.

This chapter would be a mess without miladyRanger; thank heaven for beta-readers.

Chapter 18

One of the few advantages of Shinichi's current situation was that crowds didn't present the same challenges for him that they had when he was an eighteen-year-old of average height. Of course, he could no longer stand on tiptoe and see over the mass of people gathered around a cordoned-off shopping mall in the Ginza, but it was both easy and socially acceptable for a young child to weave between people's legs, avoiding shoes and ducking under bags, in an attempt to get through.

It still took him a good fifteen minutes to make it to the barrier of black-and-white striped industrial tape that cut the mall off from the rest of the world. It made the area almost look like a crime scene, but, for once, it wasn't.

Yes, there was a body a few meters away, covered in something red—but the body was still breathing and wholly uninjured, and the "blood" was manufactured in bulk by a special effects company, tinted a specific shade that was too bright for anything but immediate post-mortem bleeding, but would certainly look nice under the industrial spotlights set up across the area.

Away from the in-use set, actors, costumers, makeup artists, prop masters, extras and others whose roles Shinichi couldn't quite tell from their dress and bearing alone bustled around. The special effects supervisor seemed to be absent; the director and the producer were staring at the "dead" actor speculatively. A few feet away from them, though, was the reason Shinichi was here in the first place—Sharon Vineyard, wearing a short auburn wig and a slinky black dress, stood a few feet away, obviously waiting for a cue.

Shinichi couldn't afford to stay and watch her shoot the scene. Who knew if any of her colleagues were watching as well? His interest could be noticed.

So, he inhaled, gathered all of his courage, and dashed across the set.

"Hey, hey, Vineyard-san, can I have your autograph?" he piped, pushing his voice into its most annoying register.

Vermouth turned around, shock registering on her face for less than half a second. "You shouldn't be on the set, boy. Actors are doing their work right now."

"But I need an autograph!" he whined.

Vermouth smiled, shark-like, lips glistening wetly with bloodred lipstick. "Well, then, why don't we go off to the side for a little bit and I'll sign whatever you like."

Shinichi followed her behind one of the cast trailers, heart pounding in his chest.

"So, what do you want, Cool Guy?" Vermouth asked. "I don't believe it's really just an autograph."

"Hardly," Shinichi replied. "What I want is information."

"You'll have to earn that," Vermouth replied. "Give me something, and I'll give you something in return."

Instantly wary, Shinichi asked, "What do you want to know?"

"That scientist girl—" Vermouth started, lips curled into a smirk.

"No," Shinichi said firmly. "Ask something else."

"You shouldn't make your weaknesses so obvious," Vermouth prodded.

"She's not—she's just not involved in this," Shinichi said, throat tight.

"Your Poker Face needs work," Vermouth critiqued, capitalizing 'Poker Face' in her speech somehow. "But if you insist. Hmmm…I suppose it wouldn't be worth asking whether your little FBI contingent has friends in Russia."

Shinichi flinched. So they did notice.

"So you do know something about that," Vermouth said, grin turning catlike. "I don't need to know everything, just some small detail, and then you can ask me anything you like."

Not that you'll necessarily answer, Shinichi thought. Aloud, he said, "It wasn't the FBI."

Vermouth's eyes narrowed, all false playfulness gone in an instant. "Who, then?"

"I promised to give you something," Shinichi said, crossing his arms. "That was something. Are you going to keep your end of the deal?"

"I'm a criminal, why are you expecting me to honor deals?" Vermouth said lightly.

"Because you're cultivating me as an asset and you know that if you screw me over now, I'm not coming back," Shinichi said, with considerably more bravado than he felt. Eisuke had better be right about this. "Or, if you didn't know that, you do now."

"As expected from my Silver Bullet," Vermouth said. "Go ahead, ask your question."

Shinichi very carefully did not waver on his feet out of sheer relief, but it was a near thing.

"Are you tracking whoever was responsible for what happened in Omsk?" he asked.

"Well, you don't hold back," Vermouth said, amused. "We're trying, but they keep shaking us. Once we catch up with them…it's going to be ugly. An ally of yours?"

"No," Shinichi said. Friend, maybe, at one point. Opponent, definitely. But, right now, 'ally' is the last thing I'd call him.

"I hope you're telling the truth," Vermouth said, almost philosophically. "Because whoever it is will die, and I'd hate to see them drag you down with them."

So they do plan to kill him, Shinichi thought. I guess I already knew that. But the confirmation…I can't exactly say it's nice, but it's useful.

He pushed his voice back up into the chirping high register. "Thank you, Vineyard-san!" he said, waving, and dashing off before she could ask further questions or get any more information from him.

Just before he left the set entirely, he caught a glimpse of Vermouth's edged smirk out of the corner of his eye.

He hadn't quite gotten it out of his mind even hours later, when Kuroba Kaito walked into the apartment for the night's meeting, grin cocky and bright.

"No disguise at all this time?" Shinichi asked.

Kaito grinned even wider. "No point. You know who I am now. And makeup's expensive. You're related to Yukiko-oba-san, you have to know that much."

Shinichi goggled. "Did you call her that to her face?" he gasped as he sat down near the phone.

Kaito shrugged, and settled into the chair. "I was actually the age you look like, so my cuteness saved me. But looking back, it was a close thing."

Shinichi shuddered. "You have no idea." He thought for a moment. "Do we have a good explanation for Kuroba Kaito being here, in case anyone takes note?"

"You wanted to speak with someone who knew Hakuba, and then I pushed my way into the investigation because I was worried," Kaito said, without so much as pausing. "I'm not much help, but I don't get in the way and every once in awhile I say something useful, so none of you have kicked me out yet."

Shinichi grinned. "I like it. If you actually were like that, you'd still be better than Mouri-oji-san most days."

Kaito's grin twitched up at one corner. "If someone asks, tell that joke."

"Inexperienced liars are usually too nervous to joke around," Shinichi agreed, with a nod.

"Except we're not inexperienced," Kaito said, and there was a hint of dark humor to it.

"But we're good enough that no one knows we aren't," Shinichi replied, in the same tone.

There was a brief moment of silence-not so much awkward as weighted, because the last time they'd spoken, the sheer adrenaline of the moment hadn't let how much they had in common really sink in. Now it was all humming in the air between them, unspoken yet totally obvious to both. They were far from identical, certainly, but the tangled messes of lies they were caught up in mirrored one another, and so did many of the abilities they'd developed to survive.

To Shinichi, at least, the idea that someone might understand any of this...well, back when he'd first found out, it had been hysterical, in the truest sense of the word. He'd needed to laugh because otherwise he wasn't sure what other emotions would present themselves. Now, it was a little frightening. There was a part of him that still thought of KID as a rival, and to think that he might understand Shinichi this well…it didn't sit comfortably with him, not at all. Beneath all the fear, though, there was a tinge of sadness. It was bad enough that he had to do this, how had They managed to twist up someone else's life this way, too?

Kaito's pensive expression suggested that he was thinking along similar lines.

"I never wanted to end up like this either," Kaito said, very quietly. "In case you were wondering. I like being KID, love it even, but I hate the lying about as much as you seem to."

Brought up short by the unexpected honesty, Shinichi faltered for a second. Finally, he managed. "It's not hard to see that, if you're looking."

"As expected from the Heisei Holmes, I guess," Kaito said, all cheer once again.

"Look, the media came up with the nickname, not me-" Shinichi started.

"Don't try to tell me you weren't thrilled about it, though," Kaito accused.

"I was pretty thrilled," Shinichi admitted. "But it was all that media attention that led to Gin and Vodka deciding I was enough of a threat that they needed to poison me."

The joy washed out of Kaito's smile in an instant. It was disturbing to watch. "I see."

"You can be a good detective without being known as a Meitantei," Shinichi said. "That's what I'd like to do, if I can."

"Are you even capable of not grandstanding, though?" Kaito asked, with what sounded like genuine curiosity.

Shinichi scowled at the question, but at least it had been accompanied by a small smile instead of that pained rictus of a grin.

"That's rich, coming from you," he said.

"I'm going to be a professional magician, grandstanding is a job skill," Kaito replied loftily.

Shinichi was about to reply when the phone rang. He answered, and Hattori appeared on the screen.

"You know there's pictures of you runnin' onto the set of that movie shoot earlier today online?" he asked, not even bothering with a greeting.

"Shoot, I thought I got all of them!" Kaito exclaimed, sounding put out.

Shinichi looked up at him, caught between incredulity and anger.

"It wasn't exactly hard to guess when you were going to meet with her," Kaito said, sheepish. "And it would be bad if anyone found photos of you and her and made any connections, right?"

"Yes, it would be," Shinichi said slowly. "I appreciate the help. But is that all you did?"

Kaito's face went blank.

That was one of KID's tells.

"You followed me!" he accused, jumping to his feet.

"Oh hey look Eisuke's calling!" Kaito said quickly.

Eisuke was calling, so Shinichi picked up the call, then went back to yelling at Kaito.

"The h*** did you think you were doing?" he demanded.

"Um, providing extra backup if needed?" Kaito said, in an almost questioning tone.

"What's going on?" Eisuke asked.

"Kuroba-san was stalking me is what's going on!" Shinichi fumed.

"I've followed you around before and you never seemed to mind," Kaito said.

"Because you were KID and I had no idea why you were doing it, but it usually ended in me not dying, getting injured, or being kidnapped, which I liked," Shinichi said, trying to keep his tone reasonable. "But now, I have been working with you for months. I know your name. We talk regularly. Did it ever occur to you to ask me?"

"I thought you'd say no," Kaito said, in a tone that suggested he thought he was being reasonable.

Dang it, I got confused and thought I was talking with a sane person, Shinichi thought.

"That's not a reason not to ask," Eisuke said, in the tone of someone explaining something to a very small child.

"But-he was doing something dangerous, without backup-and he is very bad at asking for help, even when he needs it, you know this, Tantei-han," Kaito said, glancing at the phone in desperation.

"So ya ask him and then ya argue with him and ya get me on yer side and we force him to at least let ya bug him or something," Hattori said. He paused. "Tell me ya didn't bug him too."

"No, that would be creepy," Kaito said, wide-eyed.

Shinichi buried his face in his palms and moaned.

"Okay, I think this is just a really bad miscommunication," Eisuke said quickly. "This would have been totally appropriate when you only knew Kaito as KID, right?"

"Well, not appropriate, but…" Shinichi sighed. "Expected, at least? And I would've been more grateful than annoyed."

"Sort of like how you probably wouldn't have asked as many prying questions last time if it had been me instead of KID," Eisuke said.

"...Yeah, that," Shinichi admitted, chagrined. "We might be a little too used to casually violating each other's privacy."

"So, you're saying that colleagues should probably work a little differently than interesting criminal and favorite critic," Kaito said slowly. "I think I can handle that."

"If it don't work different, I've been doin' things completely wrong for a while," Hattori muttered.

Shinichi laughed. "I can handle that, too. Sorry I overreacted, Kuroba-san."

"Nah, thinking about it this way, it was weirder than I thought it was," Kaito said, with a lopsided grin. "So, with that out of the way, what did she tell you?"

Shinichi sobered. "They don't know where he is, and he's staying ahead of Them...but if they track him down, They are definitely going to kill him."

Hattori swore, scowling.

"It's not like we really expected to hear anything different," Eisuke said softly.

"Even so, this means we need to move more quickly, if we can," Shinichi said. "I've been wondering how, though."

"You said something, Kuroba-san...about risks you could take," Eisuke said. "What did you mean?"

Kuroba swallowed. "Remember how I knew Hakuba was in North America?"

Shinichi nodded.

"The person who told me told me by accident...but I can ask her on purpose this time. It's risky, but I can still ask," Kuroba said.

"Risky how?" Hattori asked.

"Uh…" Kuroba said.

"Kuroba-kun?" Eisuke prompted.

"Keep in mind, my life is kind of strange, just as a baseline," Kuroba said.

"We will," Hattori said, looking impatient.

"She has tried to kill me before, and, um, do other things, but I see her pretty much every day and she's been almost no threat since then, so it should be fine," Kuroba said.

"What," Shinichi didn't so much ask as demand.

"Um, she goes to school with me?" Kuroba half-squeaked.

"Is she one of Them?" Eisuke asked.

"No," Kuroba said. "Definitely not, she would never—"

"Then, if she's tried to kill you, why have you not gotten this person arrested, exactly?" Eisuke asked.

"Um, thief, she tried to kill me as KID, no one actually cares except the Task Force and anyhow, they'd arrest me before I could report her," Kuroba said. "Besides, she made a mistake, that's all."

"Kuroba-kun, we would care," Shinichi managed, past the Tokyo-sized lump in his throat. "Even before all of this, if you'd told me as KID that someone had tried to murder you, I would have chased them down to the ends of the Earth. Just so we're clear. There's a good chance if I'd had confirmation about those snipers before I found out they were with Them, I would have done something very stupid."

Kuroba looked like he'd been hit upside the head with something, which Shinichi chose to take as meaning that he had been heard and understood.

"Attempted murder ain't exactly jus' a mistake," Hattori added. "An' I'm secondin' what Kudou said, jus' so ya know."

"Kudou's sheltering the person who helped poison him," Kuroba pointed out. "And…the h*** Tantei-han, you barely knew me before all of this!"

"Thief or not, you're a person," Hattori said simply. "Plus, I tend ta help Kudou out with his stupid decisions."

Kaito was deliberately tipping his head forward in a way that suggested that he found his current expression embarrassing in some way.

"Also, nice try with distracting me—it's completely different with the person Kudou's shelterin'!" Hattori said. "She wasn't dangerous ta anyone anymore, and Kudou knew it, well, except for the one time. Yours sounds like she's a threat still. It ain't the same thing at all!"

Kaito looked up, skin around his eyes slightly red, and snapped, "No one's gonna even believe me if I tell them what she did, so what's the point?"

He took a breath. "Besides, she's really trying to be better now. Hakuba…did something. I'm not exactly sure what, but it shook her up. She's been less scary, since then."

"Define less scary," Eisuke said, flatly.

"More respect for my free will, actually listening when I tell her not to try to lock me in closets, that sort of thing," Kuroba said.

Hattori's expression was incredulous. "Was that supposed ta make sense?"

"…it doesn't?" Kaito asked, perplexed.

"You know what, we don't really need to know, beyond how sure you are that she won't try to kill you," Shinichi said, feeling very tired.

"Very sure," Kaito said firmly. "She's said she has a vested interest in keeping me alive. I'm pretty sure her trying to kill me the one time was just her losing her temper, and she's changed a lot since then. She's still…dangerous, but I really don't think she'd actually kill me."

"There are still a lot of qualifiers in that sentence," Eisuke said.

"A lotta people don't know themselves that they're gonna commit murder 'til they do it so it would be kinda unfair to expect Kuroba-han ta give a 100% for certain prediction," Hattori said.

"Not helping, Hattori," Shinichi said absently. He turned to Kuroba. "Kuroba-san, don't take this kind of risk lightly. We have reason to believe that Hakuba-san cares a lot about you, which means we need you to convince him to come back here."

He cleared his throat, not quite willing to meet his once-rival's eyes. "That's not the only reason I'd like you to be careful. If you're wrong, this will be the second near-death experience in roughly three months. I'd really prefer you avoid that."

"Concerned, Tantei-kun?" Kaito asked, tone all KID's teasing.

"Yes, you incredible moron," Shinichi bit out. "We don't have any better leads, and I was the one who set a precedent for this sort of thing, so I can't tell you that you can't do this, but I would really like to."

Kaito's face had gone completely blank, and he looked as though he had frozen, mid-breath.

"I'm concerned by how weird he seems to find other people worrying about him," Eisuke said, almost idly.

"Me too," Heiji agreed. "Think we should give him some time to process it?"

"Seems like the polite thing to do," Shinichi said. "Go ahead and talk to this person, Kuroba-san, but please be careful. I'm going to head home now, and the other two will hang up, so you can have some time to think about how having allies means that sometimes other people get to worry about you, and not always the other way around."

"Next maybe we can tell him about how he doesn't always have to be backup, and that other people can back him up sometimes, too," Heiji said in a mock whisper, giggling.

"I'm not sure he's quite ready for that," Eisuke said, in complete seriousness.

"Seriously, you two, hang up or I hang up on you," Shinichi said, frowning.

"Actually, please do that," Hattori said. "I wanna talk to Eisuke a bit, if ya don't mind."

"Suit yourselves," Shinichi said, hanging up and, very slowly, placing the phone on the floor.

"I wasn't joking about leaving," he said quietly to Kaito, who still hadn't moved. "I'll disappear this time, so you don't have to. But think about trusting us a little, okay?"

There was irony to that statement, of course, when he was leaving the apartment to go back to the Mouri's and lie to Ran, but…Everyone needed someone they could trust.

Somehow, Ran had stopped being that person to him. But he at least had Haibara and Hattori. Who, exactly, did KID have?

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A/N: Warnings for: Characters threatening each other, depiction of people disrespecting each other's boundaries badly but then resolving the matter in a mature way, not entirely unfounded accusations of stalking related to that, a callback to the Red Tear heist and the continuing parallels between what she pulled on KID and issues of sexual consent, depiction of self-worth issues, notably in the form of a character completely and totally disregarding their own safety and then being surprised when other people are upset by that.

These children are pieces of work, help.