Title: Star

Rating: K+ for language

Characters: Hakuba Saguru & Kuroba Kaito|Kaitou Kid

Summery: Hakuba is trying to complete some casework when he receives a nighttime visitor.

Saguru sat in his desk chair contemplating the sight before him with arms crossed and glared at the figure garbed in white sitting on his windowsill.

"You'd better have a good reason for being here, Kuroba," he growled. "I'm not in the mood for your games."

"Just thought I'd return this," the magician thief smiled, tossing a cloth-wrapped bundle at Saguru.

"Not even going to deny it anymore?" Saguru asked, unwrapping the cloth to find the garnet, Magician's Star, within its folds.

"You'll believe whatever you want no matter how many times you accuse your poor classmate," was Kid's reply.

"Ah. There's the denial. Did you feed Aoko-kun that line when she found you out?"

Kid flinched.

"She was here earlier you know," Saguru informed the thief, setting the jewel aside to return in the morning. "She was understandably upset. What the bloody hell happened?"

"That's none of your con-"

"It is my concern!" Saguru spat, rising violently from his desk and stalked over to the window where Kid was now sitting tense and appeared ready to bolt. "Goddamn you, Kuroba, she's my friend too! This became my concern when she showed up on my doorstep this morning and nearly cried her eyes out over you! Surely you realize how confused she is now? Her father is lead inspector on a special task force that is dedicated to arresting you, her best friend since childhood! I may not be able to prove it, but I know you are Kuroba Kaito, Kaitou Kid, and Aoko-kun does now too! Now I'll ask you again. What. Happened?"

Kid stared at him in shock, undoubtedly unnerved by Saguru's loss of composure, before he sighed, posture slumping and curling in on himself a bit.

"Kuroba, so help me God, if you do not answer me-"

"There was a gunman among the police last night."

Saguru froze, blood going cold, watching as Kid removed his top hat and monocle. His classmate's face was weary and looked tired as he ran a hand over it.

"He shot my hat off," Kuroba continued. "I took cover in an alleyway, but Aoko was there. She saw me before I could put the hat back on or change into a disguise. She doesn't know about my dangerous shadows like you do, but she saw me… and that was enough. The real shit hit the fan when she confronted me at home."

"You told her," Saguru said, sucking in a surprised breath. "You bloody told her."

"I was tired of lying to her," Kuroba admitted. "I haven't talked to or seen her since last night. She won't answer any of my calls or texts. …You didn't either."

Saguru frowned as he picked up his phone and finally scrolled through his ten text messages from Kuroba, all of them asking in a vague subtle way for help with and about contacting Aoko.

"Honestly, I just thought you were sending me the usual annoying crap. I was catching up on casework until Aoko-kun stopped by," he admitted. "I'll be more mindful in the future. My apologies."

"…You're a strange one, Hakuba," Kuroba frowned. "Why haven't you tried to arrest me? Your attempts at heists have been lacking as of late, and here I am in full uniform and not once have you reached for the handcuffs I know you keep in your desk drawer or the pair in your side table. Why?"

Saguru scoffed, but an amused smile quirked his lips.

"Aoko-kun asked me the same thing."

"What did you say?" Kuroba asked, head cocked to the side.

"Nothing. We chose to baked a cake instead of worrying over idiotic Kaitou."

"You baked a… a cake?!" Kuroba squawked incredulously, obviously not sure whether to believe Saguru or not.

Saguru leaned back against his desk with an amused smirk. Let the idiot think what he wants.

"You're joking," Kuroba scowled. "Not nice, Tantei-san, I answered your question."

"And I answered yours," Saguru said smoothly, "now shoo! I have casework to review and you have a best friend to make amends with. You can't avoid each other forever and I'll be damned if I have to be the monkey in the middle come Monday and you two still haven't talked things out. As for your current attire, Kuroba, consider this for your answer. My not arresting you right now is a courteously between friendly rivals and as a favor to Aoko-kun. You two can't have a meaningful conversation if you are behind bars."

Saguru turned his back on his classmate and promptly went about ignoring him until the nuisance was gone. When he heard Kuroba mutter a soft "thanks, Hakuba," and the sound of Kid's glider snapping open, Saguru waited a moment before moving over to the window. He stared out into the night sky and watched Kid fly away, riding the thermals higher and higher until he disappeared among the stars. What troublesome friends he had, though that should be expected when one of said friends was a thief.