Special Thanks to Hell's Hauntress for catching my mistakes ^^;; and to Ysabet, Loqi, Becky and Magik for feedback and feeding the insanity!
Happy All Hallow's Eve, Everyone!!
....... //Ö\\ ........
Your incisors will seem to be getting longer today, and you will find sunlight hurts your eyes. Probably just a cold, and nothing to worry about.
-humorscope.com
Night Dreams ( A Detective Conan/Magic Kaito Alternate Universe)
By Icka! M. Chif
"We got mail, Niichan!" Edogawa Conan, miniature detective extraordinaire sang out as he entered the main detective office.
Kudo Shin'ichi, teenage detective extraordinaire looked up from behind his desk. "Anything good?"
"Fan mail for you, fan mail for you," The small not-boy sorted through it with a detached air. "-message from the Kid, fan mail for me, why is it I'm always afraid of fan mail for me again?"
"Because it's usually old Obaasan commenting on how dangerous our line of work is." Shin'ichi commented idly. "And inviting you to come live with them so that they can protect you and feed you cookies."
"Ah, that's right." Conan nodded and returned to sorting thru the stack in his hand. "More fan mail for you, electric bill-"
"Wait!" Shin'ichi sat up. "Back up."
"Electric bill?"
"No, before that. Aw, give me that." The taller boy reached over the desk and grabbed the stack of mail out of his smaller self's hand before falling back into the chair with a bounce. Conan snickered, wandering around the large wood desk to take a seat on the chair's armrest.
"I swear, you're starting to act like Hattori." Shin'ichi muttered. "Calling me 'Niichan' and pulling pranks."
"No, living with Mouri gave me a sense of humour. Hattori just helped to refine it." Conan corrected. "And as Ayumi put it, 'I am the Mischief King'."
"I remember." Shin'ichi snorted. "Don't you mean 'we'?"
"What ever."
It was hard to argue some points sometimes when you both used to be the same person with the same memories and experiences. Conan used to be Shin'ichi just as Shin'ichi used to be Conan. The process of changing back from Conan into Shin'ichi had just had some... unexpected results.
Not that either Conan or Shin'ichi were going complain about it. It was the best of both worlds, getting to remain close to Ran as Conan as well as furthering their relationship as Shin'ichi.
They were silent, faces mirroring each other as they read, or in Conan's case, re-read the note. "Well, that's pretty straight forward." Shin'ichi commented. "No riddles, just a re-quest to meet him on our roof at 21:00 tonight."
The two exchanged looks, blue eyes mirroring identical thoughts. "I'll call Ran-neechan and let her know I'm spending the night." Conan said, leaning forward to grab the phone.
.............. //Ö\\ ...
"It's four after the hour now." Shin'ichi checked his watch as the wind tugging his shirt collar upright and messing up his hair.
"And no sign of the Kid." Conan finished with a sigh. Unlike his larger self, he had remembered a jacket. "Think it's a-"
"-Prank? No." Shin'ichi shoved his hands into his pants pockets. "Not many people actually know what a Kid note actually looks like outside of the police. And if it's not the Kid-"
"-They probably still need our help."
"Correct on both accounts." A shadow detached itself from the wall behind them and stepped out into the reflection of the city's lights. It was a teenage boy about their age, wearing dark jeans, turtle neck and an overly large army surplus jacket. His face was hidden by a battered black baseball cap with the brim turned over one eye and a pair of dark sunglasses. The only thing that marked him as the kid was a charm hanging from the left temple, a four leaf clover in a green triangle.
"The Kaito Kid, we presume?" Shin'ichi said, hiding his surprise at both the sudden appearance and the Kid's unusual appearance.
The Kid gave them a small mock bow. "I apologise for my dress and the location. But I figured this was as close to a safe yet neutral territory as we were going to get."
"The sky being your territory, and the roof being ours." The tall detective nodded.
"It would have been easy for us to set a trap for you." The smallest added.
"You wouldn't." The thief spoke confidently. "Or you would have never found out why I sent you the note."
The detectives traded looks. This was true. "Speaking of which-?" Conan prompted.
"I suspect that you have heard of the latest string of not-murders?" Kid commented, his relaxed posture suddenly not quite so relaxed. "The attacks in the night?"
Both detectives frowned. It had been all over the media, a series of attacks by what some were calling a vampire. The victims were all left alive, but with twin puncture marks on various veins and left extremely weak from blood loss. No one had any clue who, or what was doing it. None of the victims had any memory of what had happened, aside from a dark shadow that terrified them.
"I think I may know who's doing it." Kid looked disgruntled at the fact. "But I'm a thief, not a detective."
"You want us to take on this case?" Conan looked interested.
Shin'ichi frowned, his forehead furrowing. "In exchange for what?"
Kid smiled. "Since I highly doubt you'd accept money from a thief, even if I could afford it, what about information? Say... about the ones who transformed you both?" He tilted his head, an amused smile curving his lips.
"Tell them why you're interested in the case."
All 3 of the boys on the rooftop startled as a second shadow solidified, the dusky skin figure of Hattori Heiji becoming visible. "Hattori?!" The detectives chorused, surprised.
"How did you-?
"Why are you-?"
"Argh! Don't tell us-"
"-You planted another bug-"
"-In the office! I thought- "
"-That we found all of them!"
"-Argh!"
Both Kid and Hattori watched with amusement as the other 2 detectives proceeded to mirror each other's actions as they completed each other's sentences. In unison, Shin'ichi and Conan turned toward the Osaka detective. "HATTORI!"
Hattori snickered once before turning toward the thief. "Tell them. I can smell it from here."
"I suppose you'll say they won't believe me until I do." Kid remarked, one eyebrow arched over the dark glasses.
"Exactly."
The Kid sighed, reaching up to pull of his glasses. Bright ruby red eyes caught the light and glowed un-naturally at them, even thru the glass of the monocle. He pulled at his collar, revealing 2 puckered puncture marks near his collarbone, at the juncture of his neck and shoulder.
"You've been bitten." The quiet statement was from Conan.
"Worse." Kid folded up his sun glasses and stuck them in a coat pocket, a quiet cloak of despair folding around him. "I've been infected."
"So you're a vampire now?" Shin'ichi's brow was furrowed again.
"Not yet." Hattori ambled towards the thief, looking much like a dog circling a wary cat. "He doesn't smell dead. Just of blood and spells."
"I've been to a Sorceress I know." Kid affirmed, sticking his hands in his pockets and rocking back on his heels. "She gave me a potion to counter most of it. I just have to refrain from drinking blood until the next new moon."
"You don't sound happy."
"It's affecting my magic." The Kid growled irately, tugging off the baseball cap he was wearing and tapping it. With a small *Poof!* a blackbird appeared, perching on the edge of the hat for a moment before flying into the night sky. "That should have been a dove."
Shin'ichi looked surprised. "You mean it's not just sleight of hand?"
"Considering one of you two is a doppelganger, you're surprised?" Hattori smirked.
"Says the werewolf." Shin'ichi shot back as Conan shook his head and sighed.
Hattori grinned, showing fangs. He'd been bitten by accident on a case just before the re-appearance of Shin'ichi. They had quickly cleaned and disinfected the cut, but not before he'd been cursed. Every full moon, he turned into a large, friendly, if slightly over protective wolf.
It was when someone threatened someone he cared about that one had to worry about the infamous Loupe-Garou. It was a good thing Hattori didn't stay mad for very long.
"Which is why I took his word on showing you." Kid pointed out. He paused, fiddling with his cap. "I think I know who's doing it, but like I said, I'm not a detective. Do we have a deal or not?"
"There's more to it than that." Hattori helpfully supplied. Kid shot him a bit of a glare.
"Yes." He agreed. "But that's if they agree. Unless you want the case?"
"Nah. I'm here because I heard a rumour that the Kid got bit by a rouge blood sucker." Hattori said easily. "I just wanted to see if it's true. Thanks, by the way. Kazuha owes me 500 yen now."
"Glad to be of service."
"We'll take the case." Conan and Shin'ichi chorused.
"Also glad to be of service." Kid nodded. "Any rules, restrictions you want to lay down before we proceed?"
"Honesty." Shin'ichi shrugged. "Any and all facts, no matter how minor may be important."
Kid smiled, the first somewhat relaxed smile since the evening started. "I'll tell you what I can."
....... //Ö\\ ........
"If there's one person who can be considered an 'expert' on my exploits, it's this guy." The Kid tossed down a picture onto the table. The 3 detectives and the thief had moved downstairs into the Kudo residence living room to discuss matters. Hattori had found an open window and seemed very content to sit with his back to hit, the breeze ruffling his hair as the Kudo/Conan clones perched on the sofa, watching the Kid like a hawk.
Kid for his part, kept both ears and eyes on the twin detectives and all possible exits at all times. It was a situation he might have found humorous if he hadn't been so tense.
"Hakuba Saguru?" Conan questioned, picking up the photo. "We've met."
"I remember. Golden Dusk Mansion."
"You missed that one, Hattori." Shin'ichi supplied "You had a test."
Hattori opened one lazy green eye. "At least I'm passing High School, Mr-Missed-a-Year-of-Class."
Shin'ichi shot him a sour look.
"Hakuba's the one that bit you?" Conan inquired, handing the photo to his larger self.
"Yes."
"Are you completely positive?" Shin'ichi pressed.
"Illusions are my specialty." Kid pointed out. "I think I'd recognise one. And there aren't many people running around the Tokyo area with blond hair, gold eyes, deerstalker hat and matching jacket."
Shin'ichi nodded. "Point."
"Thank you."
"Who do think is his next target?" Conan asked.
"Her." Kid tossed down a second photo, this one of a wild haired girl running with a mop. She appeared to be chasing a boy in a matching school uniform that appeared to have the same build and hair as the Kid, but the face was cut off, making it hard to tell. "Nakamori Aoko."
Shin'ichi's eyebrow raised. "Inspector Nakamori Ginzo's daughter?"
"Yep."
Hattori seemed to find this amusing and chuckled. The Kid shot him an un-amused look. "Why her?" Conan inquired.
"She's the other person Hakuba chases."
"And she chases you?" Shin'ichi grinned.
The Kid was un-amused. "She dislikes the Kid."
Hattori snickered.
"Shove it, Dog-boy!" Kid growled irritably.
"That's 'Wolf-boy' to you!" Hattori grinned back, un-ruffled by the insult.
Kid sulked. "And people wonder why I prefer doves."
Conan looked perplexed. "Do you two-"
"-Know each other?" Shin'ichi finished.
"Reputation only." Kid assured them.
"We're both in some similar circles." Hattori expounded. "Being 'Creatures of the Night' and all. It helps to know some people out side of 'polite' society."
"Which is how I found out about you two." Kid jerked a thumb in the direction of Hattori. "I needed someone who had some experience with the weird, but didn't want to go to Wolf-boy here."
Hattori smirked. "Cause now I've got your scent." He seemed extraordinarily pleased with himself.
"Exactly."
Hattori stretched, several joints popping audibly. "Not to worry, Thief-boy. I'm not interested in chasing you at the moment." He grinned, a gleam in his eye that had nothing to do with humour and everything to do with hunting. "Rumour has it that you're chasing after the Puzzle Organization. Little leg work on my end revealed that Puzzle works for a larger group. One that the Twins here familiar with."
"The Black Ops." The words were spoken with one voice, both Shin'ichi and Conan's faces grim.
"Pin-pon!" Hattori grinned. "Now we're all on the same page!"
Kid glanced over at the pair. "Is he always like this?"
"He used to be worse." Conan deadpanned.
"Oh."
Shin'ichi cleared his throat. "Back to the subject, what do you want us to do about it?"
The Kid sighed. "Your resources are better than mine." He grudgingly admitted. "Anyway to keep her safe?"
Conan and Shin'ichi traded looks, their twin minds working on the problem. "She can stay here."
"You'd just have to think of-
"-some way to bring her here."
"Leave that to me." The thief said in such a way that none of them would have been surprised if he managed to get her there by rolling her up in a carpet and dragging her over his shoulder.
"Alright." Shin'ichi nodded. "And payment?"
"Will be delivered when this is over." Kid said, raising an eyebrow as if daring them to comment that he wouldn't hold up to his end of the deal. "And if you're afraid I'm going to renege, you can always have Wolfy track me down."
"That won't be necessary." Conan assured him.
The Kid looked pleased. "Good."
"Anything else?" Shin'ichi asked.
"Just this." The Kid pulled something large and metallic out of a pocket and tossed it to the smallest of the detectives. "I want that back."
Conan caught the object and inspected it. "Your gun?"
"Card gun." The Thief corrected. "In case I do end up going schizo. It can't kill, but it can slice the heck out of something. I want someone to be able to stop me. And when you get down to it, paper cards are just refined wood pulp."
Conan gave him a sceptical look. "Wouldn't Shin'ichi or Hattori be a better choice for this then?"
The Kid gave him a half grin. "No one ever expects a kid to have a gun. And I'm used to dealing with you instead of them. No offence, Kudo-kun, Wolf-boy."
"None taken." Shin'ichi said easily as Hattori snickered. He was enjoying himself way too much. Conan nodded, and tucked the card gun away somewhere out of sight.
"Oh, catch!" Shin'ichi tossed something small and silver at the Kaito Kid.
The darkly dressed boy caught it easily and inspected it. "Nice crucifix." He commented before tossing it back. "Looks like it's solid silver too."
"Thanks..." Shin'ichi gave him a wide-eyed blank look as he caught it. "It is."
The Kid nodded. "Good night. Edogawa. Hattori." He turned to leave in the normal fashion:
-out the front door.
Hattori rose as well and shot his friend an amused look. "Really, Kudo. You should know better than that."
Shin'ichi shrugged. "It was worth a shot. I couldn't find a hand mirror in time to see if he had a reflection."
"He did." Conan pointed out. "You could see his reflection in the windows."
Shin'ichi snorted dryly. "Thanks."
"Think you need to do some more research." Hattori grinned wolfily, giving them a friendly wave. "Catch you later!"
"Later." Conan waved, smirking at his other self. Shin'ichi gave him a distracted wave, already off in another world, pondering what he knew about vampires.
Hattori smiled to himself and ran to catch up with the shadow that had just made it to the sidewalk. "Yo! Wait a second!"
The Kid paused at the gate, waiting for the dark skinned boy to catch up. "Yeah?"
"Before you go..." Hattori rummaged in his pockets for a second, then handed him few slips of paper and a pen. "Write down your real name on one, and Aoko's name on the other and fold them up. I won't look at it, I promise."
The Kid's eyes narrowed. "Why?"
"Omamori." The werewolf fished a small bag on a string from around his neck. "Kazuha makes them. She's pretty good at making talismans, ofuda, and protective charms. They work better if they've got some sort of attachment to the person, either something that used to belong to them, but a name will work."
Kid looked at him, weighing the pros and cons in his mind for a minute before nodding. "This is probably a bad idea..." The Thief muttered. "But you've got a reputation for being honest and also knowing when to keep your mouth shut."
Hattori's mouth curved up. "High praise."
"Thanks." The Kid folded the paper into small paper roses with quick, deft movements of his fingers. "The other sad fact is that I could probably use all the help I can get right now."
"Agreed." Hattori said smoothly. "What did your sorceress tell you about the potion she gave you?"
"It increases the urge to feed." The Kid held out the paper roses in the palm of his hand. "Fortunately, it also makes it very hard to do so."
"You're lucky then." He scooped up the roses and stuck them in a pocket. "Any other possibilities to counter it?"
"...She mentioned that killing the originator might work." The Kid said reluctantly.
"But you're not a killer."
"Exactly. Even if it is tempting sometimes."
Hattori grinned, an impressive display of fangs flashing in the moonlight. "It is, isn't it?"
... //Ö\\ ............
A cold nose on the back of her neck caused Kazuha to startle, dropping her pencil and sending it skittering across her homework. "Heiji!" She hissed, keeping her voice down. She'd learned that it did no good to try to explain to him that no, she couldn't sense him when he snuck into her room late at night for to talk, he simply didn't seem to get it.
"Hey, Kazuha." She could practically hear the smile in his voice as he rested his chin on the top of her head. She relaxed against him, reaching back to wrap a hand around his neck, weaving her fingers into his hair.
"How's your night going?"
He let out a breath, tickling her hair. "Fair." He shifted, resting his mouth and nose against her skin, causing her to smile.
Ever since he had been bitten by the werewolf, not only had his sense of smell improved, but he'd become much more tactile. Subtle things mostly, leaning against each other in public, or as he had done now, checking her scent around her neck. He'd never claimed to be anything more than close friends or brother and sister, but it made her feel better, knowing he didn't do it to anyone else.
"Only fair?"
"Well, you now owe me 500 yen." He moved, leaning against the desk beside her. "The Kid's been bit by a Vampire. He's already been to a sorceress-"
"Koizumi?" She asked. The Dark Witch had a bit of an eccentric reputation, but was a good potion maker and spell caster.
"Looked like it. He's got a potion to counter-act the vampiric blood, so he may not turn into one." He shrugged. "At least he's not a ghoul, that's always sad."
"Yeah." Kazuha stayed mostly on the side lines of Heiji's cases, but she had seen enough to know more than her fair share. It was a small blessing that neither of their parents had found out about the nature of some of his more recent cases.
-Just as it was a small blessing that no-one had caught him sneaking into her bedroom late at night to discuss these late-night cases.
He continued. "The Kid's bringing a friend to Kudos' for protection, he thinks she'll be attacked next-"
An eyebrow rose. "'She'?"
"She." He grinned. "Looks like the thief has a crush on Inspector Nakamori's daughter."
"Ouch." That had to be rough.
"You're telling me." He grinned, obviously finding humour in the situation. "And he's going to help them hunt down the guy who bit him. Thinks he knows who it is."
"Anything I can do to help?" She offered, shifting so that she was leaning on him a bit. He was warm and nice to lean against.
He reached into a pocket and pulled out 2 small paper roses. "You up for making some omamori tonight?"
She took them, trying to get a feel for them. One rose was filled with a protective feeling, the other with a deluded sense of mischief and of recent despair. The Kid and the girl he wanted to protect. She smiled at him. "Not a problem."
"Thanks." He yawned, looking tired. "Hey, can I camp out here tonight?"
Kazuha gave him a mock glare and pushed him out of the window. "No. Go home."
"Dangit."
..................... //Ö\\ ...
"Ew." Hattori wrinkled his nose, as he took a step inside the Kudo residence. "Who's been eating Italian?"
"My other self." Conan looked disgusted with his 'older brother' as he shut the door behind the Osaka detective. "Garlic. I told him to brush his teeth, but he won't believe me."
"Well, it may not work on vampires, but it works on me." Hattori fanned the air in front of his face. "It stinks."
"That's what I said!" Conan waved his hands in the air, exasperated. "I think the Kid took refuge upstairs after the incident with the holy water."
"Holy water?"
"Yeah. Split it all over the front of his shirt. Kid wasn't amused, and I don't blame him."
Hattori shook his head. "I'm not going to ask. Seriously. In the meantime, can you tell him that I'm not going anywhere near him until he smells less like something the cat rolled around on before dragging inside?"
Conan nodded. "With pleasure."
"Thanks. Oh, Kazuha's over with 'Neechan for some girl time." Hattori informed him. With that, he shook his head one more time and walked up the stairs, deciding that he really didn't want to think about the smirking grin on the smallest boy's face as Conan went in search of his other self.
Despite the remaining garlic stink, it was pretty easy to find where the Kid was hiding. Only one of the doors upstairs was closed, the one to the guest bedroom. He knocked gently, then opened the door.
"Figures you'd be here." Hattori looked down at the figure on the floor, the Kid's back against the bed that a wild haired girl was sleeping in.
The Kid cracked open a crimson ruby eye, which caught the light and reflected it back. Hattori took it as an invitation and crouched down in front of the sprawled boy. "Guess you must be pretty worried about her." He commented with a grin.
"I am not." The Kid growled, but there was a distinct lack of conviction in his tone. "It just happens to be a convent place to think, away from the Twit Twins."
"Uh-huh. Right." Hattori nodded, but didn't seem convinced. He pulled out some paper wrapped bars from his pocket. "Here. Break off a piece and let it melt in your mouth. Crankiness is a sure sign of low blood sugar."
"I'm not hungry." The Kid looked away. "Can't keep anything down anyway."
"Should be able to keep this down." The Osaka detective grinned, tossing one of the bars at the thief. The latter caught it out of reflex.
"Chocolate?"
"Dark Chocolate, actually. You know how girls claim that chocolate is like blood?" Hattori smirked, opening a chocolate bar for himself. "They're not far wrong."
The Kid snorted, then did as he'd been bid. His eyes closed as the first bit of sugar melted on his tongue, some of the pinched look fading from his face as it relaxed into a more peaceful expression.
"Thanks." The Kid finally commented, breaking off another piece and popping it into his mouth without opening his eyes. "How'd you know?"
"There's a little troll guy who runs a portal between Osaka and Tokyo, down in the subway stations." Hattori explained, leaning back on his heels. "He won't take money, preferring gifts of blood if he can get it, but he'll take fresh meat, beef or chocolate. If it works for him, figured it'd work for you. Only the blood and fresh meat part was out."
"So that's how you get back and forth from Osaka and Beika so fast." Kid smirked. "Been wondering about that."
Hattori shrugged. "It works. Saves a bunch on petrol too."
"I'll bet."
"How did you get her come here anyway?" Hattori commented, motioning to the slumbering girl behind the thief.
The Kid tilted his head back to look at the girl on who's bed he was leaning against. His eyes soften just a bit, enough to let Hattori know that his teasing about the Kid liking the Inspectors daughter wasn't far off. "I told her a truth and she came with me."
"I thought there was only one truth."
"There are many one truths." The Kid commented idly, turning back towards him and flashing a small smile. "That's what makes you detectives such an interesting lot. You take the world in all it's shades of grey and turn it into one of black and white. It's either good, or bad. Even your bad guys wear black for you."
"By that line of reasoning, shouldn't you be wearing black instead of white then?" Hattori playfully smirked.
"Ah," The Kid waggled a finger at him. "But during the night, even the brightest white is just shades of grey."
Hattori mused this over a minute before nodding. And if he wanted to be technical, the Kid wasn't completely a bad guy or they wouldn't have taken his case. "True. I do have to admit though that I'm actually surprised you brought her here at all. With this many detectives in the house, you might as well be hanging a 'Hello my name is' sign around your neck."
"And I'm surprised that you haven't jumped at the blatant opportunity to catch me."
"Let's see..." The werewolf grinned. "Go after crazed homicidal murderers who hurt my friends and killed people, or grab a prankster thief who steals but doesn't hurt anyone. Hmm.. tough choice." The sarcasm practically oozed.
Kid smirked, a dry expression. "So I'm small potatoes."
"Lower priority." Hattori corrected. "We can chase you anytime, but if you can help us catch the bigger prey, we would rather do that."
"I've been wondering why Kudo and Edogawa haven't grabbed me yet..." The thief muttered, closing his eyes with a weary mood as he motioned to the sleeping girl with one hand. "We've been friends longer than I've been the Kid." He explained. "I'm not going to let her get hurt just because of my night job.
"-And I was only planning on having to dance around the Kudos. You weren't a part of the equation." He cracked open an eye, the intelligence and craftiness of a fox shining thru despite the recent weariness.
"So sorry." Hattori said, looking not the least apologetic, but slightly pleased with the straight answer. "But wouldn't it have been easier to do this as yourself?"
"Probably." The thief shrugged again, eating another piece of chocolate. "But this is between them and the Kid, not the universe Nakamori-kun and Aoko-chan live in. And if I'm going down, I'm going down fighting. Even if it means the end of the Phantom Thief."
"Good answer." A dual set of footsteps, out of long habit and practice in synch with each other caused them to look up. Shin'ichi and Conan, mirror each other's pose in the doorway looked down on them. The twins offered the thief a slight grin.
"Especially considering-"
"-that we've said almost the exact same thing-"
"-about a certain young woman-"
"-in our lives."
Both Shin'ichi and Conan had a faint blush as they finished the sentence. The thief and the twin detectives exchanged a look, a sort of understanding passing between them.
Hattori let loose a short bark of laughter. "And how is 'Neechan anyway?"
"Waiting downstairs with Kazuha-neechan." Conan's grin turned sheepish.
Shin'ichi explained. "Evidently, she doesn't trust us to keep an eye on a girl by ourselves."
"Afraid that she'll steal your heart away from her?" Hattori snickered. "Yeah, Neechan is the possessive type." It went without saying that both Kudo and Conan were the same way about a certain Mouri Ran.
"I don't think you have anything to worry about." The Kid yawned and stretched, revealing an impressive pair of elongated eye-teeth of his own. The teeth retracted back into his mouth, much the way a snakes would as he finished the yawn and scratched his head, messing up his already wild hair. He shot them an apologetic grin. "You don't run nearly fast enough to keep ahead of Aoko."
"Martial arts?" Shin'ichi challenged.
"Mop."
That drew blank looks from all three detectives.
"Speaking of which." The Kid gracefully got to his feet, and pulled a mop out from under his coat, which should not have been able to conceal it, much less hold it while sitting down. He set it next to the slumbering girl, within easy arms reach. "I gave her a bit of sleeping gas." He explained. "She should sleep peacefully unless woken."
"We'd better inform Ran-neechan of that." Conan said, motioning for everyone to head out of the room.
"I think it's time to return to the scene of the crime."
.... //Ö\\ ..........
"Here's where it happened." The Kid looked vaguely sick as he stared at the brick wall, darker splotches that looked suspiciously like blood staining the already red bricks. He looked away, scanning the area. The detectives examined it, Conan looking low, Shin'ichi looking high and Hattori wandering around like a bloodhound searching for a scent.
"Not much to tell." Shin'ichi finally commented several minutes later, shoving his hands in his pockets. His smaller self nodded, mimicking the pose.
"Not many people thru here either." Hattori commented. "But something reeks of old death."
The Kid rubbed the bites on his neck, looking a bit nervous. "Death?"
"Me." The 4 boys looked up to see a trench coated figure glide out of the darkness to meet them.
Kid hissed, sounding much like an angry cat. "Hakuba."
"Kaitou." The blond detective looked at him for a moment before grinning, his amber eyes glowing much the same way the Kid's crimson eyes did in the light. "So nice to see you again."
"Wish I could say the same."
Hattori put an arm out, stopping the Kid from moving towards the newcomer. "Something's not right." The werewolf growled, his body tense.
"Very perceptive." Hakuba agreed. "But I'm sad to say that that means you must die. Oh, and the other detectives as well."
"And me?" Kid demanded.
Hakuba grinned. It wasn't pleasant.
"How'd your vampire research go?" Conan asked his other self in a soft voice.
"I can tell you that Crosses, Sunlight, Holy Water and Garlic are definitely out." Shin'ichi replied, equally soft. "That leaves staking, beheading and fire."
"I can do fire." The Kid promised, an un-holy gleam in his eyes.
Conan spared him a glance. "Something less lethal first, maybe?"
"Spoilsport."
"He's not a vampire anyway." Hattori growled.
"Huh?"
Hakuba mock-sulked. "You're spoiling all my fun. Bad puppy! No biscuit"
"Maybe I should have brought the garlic anyway." Shin'ichi muttered.
Hattori, Conan and the Kid's response was unanimous and instantaneous. "NO."
"Well, it's too late for childish pranks anyway." Hakuba smiled, shifting moods. "I'm afraid that it's time for you to die horrible agonizing deaths. Well, except for the thief. We've got plans for him."
"That is so cliché." Conan shook his head. "Can't you think up anything unique to say?"
"Witty banter was never his forte." Kid retorted. He didn't look pleased at the idea of 'plans' for him.
"He's not alive." Hattori warned, backing up as Hakuba advanced.
"So what is he?" Shin'ichi demanded, backing up as well.
Hattori have him a quick half shrug. "Dead."
"Dead?!"
"Dead."
"Huh." The thief quipped, a thoughtful look flittering across his face. "You really can't tell a difference."
"Look out!" The latter was from Conan as Hakuba suddenly blurred, charging at the small group. The blond grabbed Conan and threw him into the air. "Waaagh!"
"I got him!" Hattori chased after the flying boy, jumping up to catch him in mid-air. He landed safely in a crouch several yards behind the other 2. "You okay?"
"Remind me not to make any more fetch jokes around you." Conan commented, sliding out of the werewolf's grip to stand on his own feet.
Shin'ichi reached under his jacket, just under the sleeve. "Got anything useful?" He asked the Kid.
Kid didn't spare him a glance, keeping a sharp eye on Hakuba, who was now grinning from ear to ear as he looked between the 2 boys, deciding who to attack next. The grin looked completely out of place on the usually solemn faced boy. "I'm better at running than fighting."
"Right." Shin'ichi pulled out a gun, screwing on a silencer on the end.
"I see you're prepared, however."
"Never hurts in this line of business."
"Let's move it, people." Hattori growled, keeping close to Conan.
Hakuba eyed them like a cat playing with a mouse. He was going to inflict major pain on them if given a chance, and he was going to enjoy it.
Shin'ichi beat him to the punch, almost casually lining up the shot and firing. Hakuba flinched, the bullet hitting him in the leg. He took a step forward and continued. The detective fired again, watching with horrified eyes as the wounds that didn't bleed healed before their eyes. "Bullets won't work!"
"Run!" Hattori advised, picking up Conan and tossing him over a shoulder. Shin'ichi and Kid took his advice and scurried back, keeping the dead detective in sight at all times.
Conan took advantage of the change in height to fire a dart from his watch. It was a perfect hit, but had no effect on the blond detective. "No good!"
Hakuba giggled. Some sounds should never be uttered by anybody, dead or not.
"I got an idea!" Kid motioned for the others to keep moving as he pulled a handful of paper out of his pocket and quickly sorted thru them. As soon as the other 3 passed him, he tossed one at Hakuba.
"Trap card! Activate!"
There was a brief flash of light, then a swirling magic circle appeared around the staggering teenager. Hakuba struggled against it for a moment, then slowly fell over, the effects of the spell easing him down.
"What did you do?" Shin'ichi gasped.
"Simple summoning spell." Kid sagged against the wall, a few beads of sweat trickling down the side of his face. The spell had obviously taken more out of him that he would have probably admitted.
Conan picked the card up from the ground. "Duel Monsters-?"
"Duel Monsters?!" Hattori spun towards the thief "You do NOT use Yu-Gi-Oh! Cards to summon magic!"
"Why not?" Kid asked, a touch of humour colouring his tone. "It worked, didn't it?"
"Yes, but..." Hattori trailed off, obviously having difficulty wrapping his mind around using duelling cards for anything other than duelling.
"I have some Digimon cards too." Kid gave him a half grin. "Want to see if I can Digivolve you to Wergarurumon?"
Hattori sweatdropped. "Noo..."
"Are there any kind of playing cards you -don't- have?" Conan asked while his bigger self checked Hakuba.
Kid mused it over for a moment. "Clow Cards. I absolutely refuse to act like a magical girl."
Hattori found this immensely funny for some reason and snickered.
"Can you two stop goofing off and give me a hand here?" Shin'ichi snapped, giving Hattori a glare for goofing off as he attempted to lift Hakuba. "We need to get him to Haibara and he's heavy!"
............ //Ö\\ ...
"Congratulations." Ai said dryly as they plunked the limp body of Hakuba Saguru onto the table she had just cleared off. "It's a dead body."
"A dead body that attacked us." Conan clarified.
"My mistake." The miniature scientist said loftily, pulling on a pair of gloves. "And here I was just complaining that you never bring me anything interesting."
"Here." Kid placed a handkerchief over Hakuba's face then wiped it off. An over sized red ribbon bow was now neatly tied into his hair. "Now he's gift wrapped for you!"
Ai raised an eyebrow. "You're too kind."
"I try."
Shin'ichi frowned. "I thought you were having trouble with your magic."
"I am." Kid agreed. "But what kind of Magician would I be if I didn't know -some- sleight of hand?"
Shin'ichi opened his mouth to comment, then closed it again.
"How is he?" Conan asked, poking the body on the table.
Ai pulled on a pair of gloves, a serious look in her face. "I'm going to need an old Taoist Monk and a young Shinto Priest."
"Really?"
She looked away. "No. Actually, he'll probably wake up on his own any time now."
As if on cue, Hakuba suddenly sat up, screaming at the top of his lungs and scurrying as far back on the table as he could go without falling off. "AHHHH!! THE MIMES ARE GONNA EAT ME!!!"
Everyone stared at the blond, who stared back unseeing, his gold eyes wide and terrified.
"Well, that's a new one." Ai finally remarked, breaking the tension.
"Wrong bumper sticker." Kid informed Hakuba in a remarkably patient tone. "It's 'Can't sleep, the CLOWNS will eat me'."
Intelligence slowly replaced panic in the English detective's eyes. "Kaito-kun?" He puzzled. "What are you doing here?"
"You bit me!!!"
Hakuba looked indignant. "I did not."
"You did too!" The Kid pulled down his collar to show off the bite marks. "What else do you call these?!"
"Someone else's denture marks." Ai deadpanned.
The thief blinked. "Huh?"
Ai reached over from her perch on a footstool and pulled back Hakuba's lips to expose his teeth and gums. "Flat teeth. He couldn't have bit you." She explained, then pulled a flashlight out of her pocket and began examining him with a detached professional air.
Hakuba, not having a clue as to what was going on, just sat there and let her.
"So I didn't get bit by Hakuba?" Kid puzzled, rubbing the bite marks.
Hattori grinned. "Do you feel better now?"
The Kid paused, then nodded. "Yes and no. But now I want to know who did bite me."
"So do I." Shin'ichi and Conan echoed, frowning.
Ai tapped Hakuba. "Take off your shirt, please."
Hakuba just stared at the tiny girl.
"Relax." Conan chuckled. "She's a professional."
"Professional what?" Kid wanted to know.
"Doctor, scientist and pain in the rear." Ai deadpanned. "Now off with your shirt so I can finish my examination."
Hakuba blinked, then did as he was told. He still wasn't sure what was going on, but for the time being, following orders appeared to be the best solution. And truth be told, he didn't feel all that great either.
Shin'ichi raised an eyebrow at the smirking thief. "You're in a better mood."
"It's amazing how having a bite to eat will improve your outlook." Kid grinned.
Conan and Shin'ichi froze, staring at him with alarmed eyes. In the background, Hattori covered his mouth to hide a snicker.
The Kid's turned innocent as he pulled a half-eaten bar of chocolate out of his pocket. "Want a bite?"
The twins visibly relaxed. "Thanks-"
"-but no thanks."
The Kid shrugged, broke off a piece and tossed it in the air, catching it in his mouth. Hattori got his laughter under control, and joined the group. "Ne, Hakuba-kun, what is the last thing you remember?"
"Besides waking up here?" Hakuba asked, his attention more on what Ai was up to rather than the antics of the thief.
"Yeah."
"The last thing I remember..." Hakuba's brows came down as he rubbed the back of his head. "I was investigating a case when I knocked out by some men dressed in black-"
"BLACK?!" Shin'ichi and Conan interrupted, their full attention gained.
Hakuba raised an eyebrow. "Black."
"What did they look like?" Shin'ichi pressed.
Conan nodded. "This is really important!"
"One was tall, with long silver hair. The other was shorter, stockier. There may have been a third, I don't remember." Hakuba rubbed his forehead, as if trying to get his brain to work right. "I only got a glimpse of them before I was hit from behind."
"Sounds like-"
"-Gin and-"
"Vodka." The twins growled.
Hakuba and Kid looked confused. "Alcoholic drinks?" Kid asked.
"The Black Organization." Hattori explained, since the other detectives looked about ready to spit nails. "They're the ones that did this to him."
"Huh?" Hakuba looked clueless. "Who?"
"Allow me to introduce Kudo Shin'ichi and Edogawa Conan, the Famed Detective of the East." Kid said, with a mock flourish.
"Should it be 'Detectives'?" Hakuba asked suspiciously.
"Yes-"
"-and no." The twins shrugged.
"It's a-"
"-Long story."
"You've got time." Ai assured them, still prodding Hakuba. Hakuba just watched the blonde girl with a puzzled expression.
The twins exchanged a look and shrugged. "Alright..."
"The truth is-"
"-we're not exactly sure ourselves." They looked embarrassed by the fact.
Hattori snickered and pulled up a chair. Kid's eyebrow raised, and he found a perch of his own on a desk corner while the twins elected to stand.
"It started when Conan discovered what he thought was a possible headquarters of the Black Organization." Conan started. Hakuba opened his mouth to point out that the small detective was Conan, but a shake of Hattori's head caused him to shut it again.
"-And being the detective genius you are, you didn't think to ask for help." Ai added, the faintest traces of sarcasm in her voice.
The twins had the grace to look vaguely embarrassed again. "Yeah."
"Got in okay-"
"-got caught just as easily."
"They would have killed me, except-"
"-that they needed a guinea pig-"
"-for a project of theirs."
"Doppelganger." Hattori supplied.
The Twins nodded. "That's when things get confusing." Shin'ichi pressed his hand against his forehead as in remembered pain while Conan's face turned solemn and he looked at the floor, his eyes distant.
"I escaped-"
"-and ran into myself. We each-"
"-remember the same exact thing-"
"-Down to the smallest detail."
"So we don't know which one of us is the original-"
"-And which is the doppelganger." Shin'ichi and Conan shared an amused smile.
"-Not that it really matters-"
"-to us which one-"
"-is which."
"They caught us again and-
"-They couldn't tell which was which either."
"So we both ended up being used as guinea pigs."
Hakuba snorted, an un-amused sound. "Not the most pleasant of things."
The Twins agreed. "Yeah."
"We got free again-"
"-it was harder the second time. But they weren't expecting us to work together-"
"-or be very resourceful. Fortunately, neither Gin or Vodka recognised me."
"But on the way out, we forgot one small detail."
"-how explosive sawdust is." They both looked embarrassed as Hattori cracked up. The resulting explosion had been on the news even as far as Osaka. There had been nothing left of the factory, much less clue that remained as to what may have been inside of it.
"I started changing shortly after that." Shin'ichi shrugged. "Conan found a phone and was able to get Ai and Dr. Agasa to help us home."
"After that, life resumed as it has been." Conan echoed his other self's gesture. "Only without any sign of the Black Organization or any of their schemes. They've always been impossible to find-"
"-but it's like they vanished."
"Or moved farther underground. That is until today."
Everyone turned to look at Hakuba, who seemed to be looking at something deep inside of him. The blond finally shook his head. "I'm afraid I can't help you. I can't remember where they were. Just the shadows."
"Ah, well." Kid sighed with playful drama. "It looks like you're going to get your payment a little bit early after all, detectives."
Conan and Shin'ichi gave the thief a searching look that would have made lesser men squirm. "Why are they so interested in you anyway?" Shin'ichi asked.
The Kid shrugged, but was saved from having to answer by noises from upstairs.
"Shin'ichi?" Ran's musical voice floated from upstairs. "Conan-kun?"
Both Shin'ichi and Conan turned to answer it. "Down here!"
"There you are." Ran and Kazuha came down the stairs, their slight figures shadowed by another one carrying a long pole with something on it.
The Kid did a quick double take, startling the detectives. In a flash, the sunglasses were back on his face and the monocle disappeared.
"I hope you don't mind, but Kazuha-chan wanted to check on Hattori-kun, and Aoko-chan wanted to come too." Ran chirped as they stepped into the light of the lab.
"Hellooo..." Aoko's voice trailed off as the girls stopped and stared at the shirtless detective. "Hakuba?"
"Is he the one you were telling me about?" Ran asked as Shin'ichi and Conan looked less than impressed at the girls reaction.
Kazuha smirked and walked over to lean against Hattori. "I've seen better." She whispered softly. He grinned and wrapped an arm around her waist.
Aoko shook her head. "No. That's this one." She swung her mop at the Kid, who promptly dodged it. "Kaito! What's the big idea of leaving a mop next to the bed? Was that a hint that I need to clean or something?!"
"If the mop fits..." The Kid moved like grinning liquid mercury personified, suddenly appearing behind her. She growled, tightening her grip on the mop and stalking after him as he deftly moved backwards.
"And I thought *Swing* that you said *swoosh!* that someone was *swish!* after Hakuba-kun *whoosh!* but he looks FINE to me!" The wild haired girl shouted, chasing after him.
Hakuba raised an eyebrow, watching the usual chase with a bored air. "I think I'll take that as a compliment." He mused, noting that the participants of the chase were a little bit slower today than normal.
The other detectives however, watched with amazement as the 2 figures almost appeared to dance around the room with out ever accidentally knocking anything over, even when the thief took to nearly climbing the walls and ceiling.
"Sheesh." Conan sweatdropped. "No wonder no one can touch him."
Ai poked Hakuba in the side, gaining his attention. "Take your pants off please."
Hakuba just stared.
-To Be Continued......... //Ö\\ .
This thing started as just a short silly AU fic triggered by a song on the KROQ After Hours show by Junkie XL called "Beauty that Never fades" and some really cool Japanese fanarts I was looking at after midnight one night. Just a fun no-brainer fic.
Then Hattori showed up, informed us that hey! he was going to be in the fic, he was a werewolf and he was going to be the Kid's friend, thank you very much. Hakuba was already in here and dead, and having both Shin'ichi and Conan working together was something that had been haunting us for a while, so that really didn't matter much.
And this just kept getting bigger.
Had hoped to finish this by Halloween as a Halloween treat, but then Vermouth decided to make her move. And Akako butted in. And the girls wanted to kick butt.
Then BUNNIES invaded the fic.
It was right about there we realised that this just might take some time... ~_~
Notes on the end of the second part. Mind the spiders.
Happy All Hallow's Eve, Everyone!!
....... //Ö\\ ........
Your incisors will seem to be getting longer today, and you will find sunlight hurts your eyes. Probably just a cold, and nothing to worry about.
-humorscope.com
Night Dreams ( A Detective Conan/Magic Kaito Alternate Universe)
By Icka! M. Chif
"We got mail, Niichan!" Edogawa Conan, miniature detective extraordinaire sang out as he entered the main detective office.
Kudo Shin'ichi, teenage detective extraordinaire looked up from behind his desk. "Anything good?"
"Fan mail for you, fan mail for you," The small not-boy sorted through it with a detached air. "-message from the Kid, fan mail for me, why is it I'm always afraid of fan mail for me again?"
"Because it's usually old Obaasan commenting on how dangerous our line of work is." Shin'ichi commented idly. "And inviting you to come live with them so that they can protect you and feed you cookies."
"Ah, that's right." Conan nodded and returned to sorting thru the stack in his hand. "More fan mail for you, electric bill-"
"Wait!" Shin'ichi sat up. "Back up."
"Electric bill?"
"No, before that. Aw, give me that." The taller boy reached over the desk and grabbed the stack of mail out of his smaller self's hand before falling back into the chair with a bounce. Conan snickered, wandering around the large wood desk to take a seat on the chair's armrest.
"I swear, you're starting to act like Hattori." Shin'ichi muttered. "Calling me 'Niichan' and pulling pranks."
"No, living with Mouri gave me a sense of humour. Hattori just helped to refine it." Conan corrected. "And as Ayumi put it, 'I am the Mischief King'."
"I remember." Shin'ichi snorted. "Don't you mean 'we'?"
"What ever."
It was hard to argue some points sometimes when you both used to be the same person with the same memories and experiences. Conan used to be Shin'ichi just as Shin'ichi used to be Conan. The process of changing back from Conan into Shin'ichi had just had some... unexpected results.
Not that either Conan or Shin'ichi were going complain about it. It was the best of both worlds, getting to remain close to Ran as Conan as well as furthering their relationship as Shin'ichi.
They were silent, faces mirroring each other as they read, or in Conan's case, re-read the note. "Well, that's pretty straight forward." Shin'ichi commented. "No riddles, just a re-quest to meet him on our roof at 21:00 tonight."
The two exchanged looks, blue eyes mirroring identical thoughts. "I'll call Ran-neechan and let her know I'm spending the night." Conan said, leaning forward to grab the phone.
.............. //Ö\\ ...
"It's four after the hour now." Shin'ichi checked his watch as the wind tugging his shirt collar upright and messing up his hair.
"And no sign of the Kid." Conan finished with a sigh. Unlike his larger self, he had remembered a jacket. "Think it's a-"
"-Prank? No." Shin'ichi shoved his hands into his pants pockets. "Not many people actually know what a Kid note actually looks like outside of the police. And if it's not the Kid-"
"-They probably still need our help."
"Correct on both accounts." A shadow detached itself from the wall behind them and stepped out into the reflection of the city's lights. It was a teenage boy about their age, wearing dark jeans, turtle neck and an overly large army surplus jacket. His face was hidden by a battered black baseball cap with the brim turned over one eye and a pair of dark sunglasses. The only thing that marked him as the kid was a charm hanging from the left temple, a four leaf clover in a green triangle.
"The Kaito Kid, we presume?" Shin'ichi said, hiding his surprise at both the sudden appearance and the Kid's unusual appearance.
The Kid gave them a small mock bow. "I apologise for my dress and the location. But I figured this was as close to a safe yet neutral territory as we were going to get."
"The sky being your territory, and the roof being ours." The tall detective nodded.
"It would have been easy for us to set a trap for you." The smallest added.
"You wouldn't." The thief spoke confidently. "Or you would have never found out why I sent you the note."
The detectives traded looks. This was true. "Speaking of which-?" Conan prompted.
"I suspect that you have heard of the latest string of not-murders?" Kid commented, his relaxed posture suddenly not quite so relaxed. "The attacks in the night?"
Both detectives frowned. It had been all over the media, a series of attacks by what some were calling a vampire. The victims were all left alive, but with twin puncture marks on various veins and left extremely weak from blood loss. No one had any clue who, or what was doing it. None of the victims had any memory of what had happened, aside from a dark shadow that terrified them.
"I think I may know who's doing it." Kid looked disgruntled at the fact. "But I'm a thief, not a detective."
"You want us to take on this case?" Conan looked interested.
Shin'ichi frowned, his forehead furrowing. "In exchange for what?"
Kid smiled. "Since I highly doubt you'd accept money from a thief, even if I could afford it, what about information? Say... about the ones who transformed you both?" He tilted his head, an amused smile curving his lips.
"Tell them why you're interested in the case."
All 3 of the boys on the rooftop startled as a second shadow solidified, the dusky skin figure of Hattori Heiji becoming visible. "Hattori?!" The detectives chorused, surprised.
"How did you-?
"Why are you-?"
"Argh! Don't tell us-"
"-You planted another bug-"
"-In the office! I thought- "
"-That we found all of them!"
"-Argh!"
Both Kid and Hattori watched with amusement as the other 2 detectives proceeded to mirror each other's actions as they completed each other's sentences. In unison, Shin'ichi and Conan turned toward the Osaka detective. "HATTORI!"
Hattori snickered once before turning toward the thief. "Tell them. I can smell it from here."
"I suppose you'll say they won't believe me until I do." Kid remarked, one eyebrow arched over the dark glasses.
"Exactly."
The Kid sighed, reaching up to pull of his glasses. Bright ruby red eyes caught the light and glowed un-naturally at them, even thru the glass of the monocle. He pulled at his collar, revealing 2 puckered puncture marks near his collarbone, at the juncture of his neck and shoulder.
"You've been bitten." The quiet statement was from Conan.
"Worse." Kid folded up his sun glasses and stuck them in a coat pocket, a quiet cloak of despair folding around him. "I've been infected."
"So you're a vampire now?" Shin'ichi's brow was furrowed again.
"Not yet." Hattori ambled towards the thief, looking much like a dog circling a wary cat. "He doesn't smell dead. Just of blood and spells."
"I've been to a Sorceress I know." Kid affirmed, sticking his hands in his pockets and rocking back on his heels. "She gave me a potion to counter most of it. I just have to refrain from drinking blood until the next new moon."
"You don't sound happy."
"It's affecting my magic." The Kid growled irately, tugging off the baseball cap he was wearing and tapping it. With a small *Poof!* a blackbird appeared, perching on the edge of the hat for a moment before flying into the night sky. "That should have been a dove."
Shin'ichi looked surprised. "You mean it's not just sleight of hand?"
"Considering one of you two is a doppelganger, you're surprised?" Hattori smirked.
"Says the werewolf." Shin'ichi shot back as Conan shook his head and sighed.
Hattori grinned, showing fangs. He'd been bitten by accident on a case just before the re-appearance of Shin'ichi. They had quickly cleaned and disinfected the cut, but not before he'd been cursed. Every full moon, he turned into a large, friendly, if slightly over protective wolf.
It was when someone threatened someone he cared about that one had to worry about the infamous Loupe-Garou. It was a good thing Hattori didn't stay mad for very long.
"Which is why I took his word on showing you." Kid pointed out. He paused, fiddling with his cap. "I think I know who's doing it, but like I said, I'm not a detective. Do we have a deal or not?"
"There's more to it than that." Hattori helpfully supplied. Kid shot him a bit of a glare.
"Yes." He agreed. "But that's if they agree. Unless you want the case?"
"Nah. I'm here because I heard a rumour that the Kid got bit by a rouge blood sucker." Hattori said easily. "I just wanted to see if it's true. Thanks, by the way. Kazuha owes me 500 yen now."
"Glad to be of service."
"We'll take the case." Conan and Shin'ichi chorused.
"Also glad to be of service." Kid nodded. "Any rules, restrictions you want to lay down before we proceed?"
"Honesty." Shin'ichi shrugged. "Any and all facts, no matter how minor may be important."
Kid smiled, the first somewhat relaxed smile since the evening started. "I'll tell you what I can."
....... //Ö\\ ........
"If there's one person who can be considered an 'expert' on my exploits, it's this guy." The Kid tossed down a picture onto the table. The 3 detectives and the thief had moved downstairs into the Kudo residence living room to discuss matters. Hattori had found an open window and seemed very content to sit with his back to hit, the breeze ruffling his hair as the Kudo/Conan clones perched on the sofa, watching the Kid like a hawk.
Kid for his part, kept both ears and eyes on the twin detectives and all possible exits at all times. It was a situation he might have found humorous if he hadn't been so tense.
"Hakuba Saguru?" Conan questioned, picking up the photo. "We've met."
"I remember. Golden Dusk Mansion."
"You missed that one, Hattori." Shin'ichi supplied "You had a test."
Hattori opened one lazy green eye. "At least I'm passing High School, Mr-Missed-a-Year-of-Class."
Shin'ichi shot him a sour look.
"Hakuba's the one that bit you?" Conan inquired, handing the photo to his larger self.
"Yes."
"Are you completely positive?" Shin'ichi pressed.
"Illusions are my specialty." Kid pointed out. "I think I'd recognise one. And there aren't many people running around the Tokyo area with blond hair, gold eyes, deerstalker hat and matching jacket."
Shin'ichi nodded. "Point."
"Thank you."
"Who do think is his next target?" Conan asked.
"Her." Kid tossed down a second photo, this one of a wild haired girl running with a mop. She appeared to be chasing a boy in a matching school uniform that appeared to have the same build and hair as the Kid, but the face was cut off, making it hard to tell. "Nakamori Aoko."
Shin'ichi's eyebrow raised. "Inspector Nakamori Ginzo's daughter?"
"Yep."
Hattori seemed to find this amusing and chuckled. The Kid shot him an un-amused look. "Why her?" Conan inquired.
"She's the other person Hakuba chases."
"And she chases you?" Shin'ichi grinned.
The Kid was un-amused. "She dislikes the Kid."
Hattori snickered.
"Shove it, Dog-boy!" Kid growled irritably.
"That's 'Wolf-boy' to you!" Hattori grinned back, un-ruffled by the insult.
Kid sulked. "And people wonder why I prefer doves."
Conan looked perplexed. "Do you two-"
"-Know each other?" Shin'ichi finished.
"Reputation only." Kid assured them.
"We're both in some similar circles." Hattori expounded. "Being 'Creatures of the Night' and all. It helps to know some people out side of 'polite' society."
"Which is how I found out about you two." Kid jerked a thumb in the direction of Hattori. "I needed someone who had some experience with the weird, but didn't want to go to Wolf-boy here."
Hattori smirked. "Cause now I've got your scent." He seemed extraordinarily pleased with himself.
"Exactly."
Hattori stretched, several joints popping audibly. "Not to worry, Thief-boy. I'm not interested in chasing you at the moment." He grinned, a gleam in his eye that had nothing to do with humour and everything to do with hunting. "Rumour has it that you're chasing after the Puzzle Organization. Little leg work on my end revealed that Puzzle works for a larger group. One that the Twins here familiar with."
"The Black Ops." The words were spoken with one voice, both Shin'ichi and Conan's faces grim.
"Pin-pon!" Hattori grinned. "Now we're all on the same page!"
Kid glanced over at the pair. "Is he always like this?"
"He used to be worse." Conan deadpanned.
"Oh."
Shin'ichi cleared his throat. "Back to the subject, what do you want us to do about it?"
The Kid sighed. "Your resources are better than mine." He grudgingly admitted. "Anyway to keep her safe?"
Conan and Shin'ichi traded looks, their twin minds working on the problem. "She can stay here."
"You'd just have to think of-
"-some way to bring her here."
"Leave that to me." The thief said in such a way that none of them would have been surprised if he managed to get her there by rolling her up in a carpet and dragging her over his shoulder.
"Alright." Shin'ichi nodded. "And payment?"
"Will be delivered when this is over." Kid said, raising an eyebrow as if daring them to comment that he wouldn't hold up to his end of the deal. "And if you're afraid I'm going to renege, you can always have Wolfy track me down."
"That won't be necessary." Conan assured him.
The Kid looked pleased. "Good."
"Anything else?" Shin'ichi asked.
"Just this." The Kid pulled something large and metallic out of a pocket and tossed it to the smallest of the detectives. "I want that back."
Conan caught the object and inspected it. "Your gun?"
"Card gun." The Thief corrected. "In case I do end up going schizo. It can't kill, but it can slice the heck out of something. I want someone to be able to stop me. And when you get down to it, paper cards are just refined wood pulp."
Conan gave him a sceptical look. "Wouldn't Shin'ichi or Hattori be a better choice for this then?"
The Kid gave him a half grin. "No one ever expects a kid to have a gun. And I'm used to dealing with you instead of them. No offence, Kudo-kun, Wolf-boy."
"None taken." Shin'ichi said easily as Hattori snickered. He was enjoying himself way too much. Conan nodded, and tucked the card gun away somewhere out of sight.
"Oh, catch!" Shin'ichi tossed something small and silver at the Kaito Kid.
The darkly dressed boy caught it easily and inspected it. "Nice crucifix." He commented before tossing it back. "Looks like it's solid silver too."
"Thanks..." Shin'ichi gave him a wide-eyed blank look as he caught it. "It is."
The Kid nodded. "Good night. Edogawa. Hattori." He turned to leave in the normal fashion:
-out the front door.
Hattori rose as well and shot his friend an amused look. "Really, Kudo. You should know better than that."
Shin'ichi shrugged. "It was worth a shot. I couldn't find a hand mirror in time to see if he had a reflection."
"He did." Conan pointed out. "You could see his reflection in the windows."
Shin'ichi snorted dryly. "Thanks."
"Think you need to do some more research." Hattori grinned wolfily, giving them a friendly wave. "Catch you later!"
"Later." Conan waved, smirking at his other self. Shin'ichi gave him a distracted wave, already off in another world, pondering what he knew about vampires.
Hattori smiled to himself and ran to catch up with the shadow that had just made it to the sidewalk. "Yo! Wait a second!"
The Kid paused at the gate, waiting for the dark skinned boy to catch up. "Yeah?"
"Before you go..." Hattori rummaged in his pockets for a second, then handed him few slips of paper and a pen. "Write down your real name on one, and Aoko's name on the other and fold them up. I won't look at it, I promise."
The Kid's eyes narrowed. "Why?"
"Omamori." The werewolf fished a small bag on a string from around his neck. "Kazuha makes them. She's pretty good at making talismans, ofuda, and protective charms. They work better if they've got some sort of attachment to the person, either something that used to belong to them, but a name will work."
Kid looked at him, weighing the pros and cons in his mind for a minute before nodding. "This is probably a bad idea..." The Thief muttered. "But you've got a reputation for being honest and also knowing when to keep your mouth shut."
Hattori's mouth curved up. "High praise."
"Thanks." The Kid folded the paper into small paper roses with quick, deft movements of his fingers. "The other sad fact is that I could probably use all the help I can get right now."
"Agreed." Hattori said smoothly. "What did your sorceress tell you about the potion she gave you?"
"It increases the urge to feed." The Kid held out the paper roses in the palm of his hand. "Fortunately, it also makes it very hard to do so."
"You're lucky then." He scooped up the roses and stuck them in a pocket. "Any other possibilities to counter it?"
"...She mentioned that killing the originator might work." The Kid said reluctantly.
"But you're not a killer."
"Exactly. Even if it is tempting sometimes."
Hattori grinned, an impressive display of fangs flashing in the moonlight. "It is, isn't it?"
... //Ö\\ ............
A cold nose on the back of her neck caused Kazuha to startle, dropping her pencil and sending it skittering across her homework. "Heiji!" She hissed, keeping her voice down. She'd learned that it did no good to try to explain to him that no, she couldn't sense him when he snuck into her room late at night for to talk, he simply didn't seem to get it.
"Hey, Kazuha." She could practically hear the smile in his voice as he rested his chin on the top of her head. She relaxed against him, reaching back to wrap a hand around his neck, weaving her fingers into his hair.
"How's your night going?"
He let out a breath, tickling her hair. "Fair." He shifted, resting his mouth and nose against her skin, causing her to smile.
Ever since he had been bitten by the werewolf, not only had his sense of smell improved, but he'd become much more tactile. Subtle things mostly, leaning against each other in public, or as he had done now, checking her scent around her neck. He'd never claimed to be anything more than close friends or brother and sister, but it made her feel better, knowing he didn't do it to anyone else.
"Only fair?"
"Well, you now owe me 500 yen." He moved, leaning against the desk beside her. "The Kid's been bit by a Vampire. He's already been to a sorceress-"
"Koizumi?" She asked. The Dark Witch had a bit of an eccentric reputation, but was a good potion maker and spell caster.
"Looked like it. He's got a potion to counter-act the vampiric blood, so he may not turn into one." He shrugged. "At least he's not a ghoul, that's always sad."
"Yeah." Kazuha stayed mostly on the side lines of Heiji's cases, but she had seen enough to know more than her fair share. It was a small blessing that neither of their parents had found out about the nature of some of his more recent cases.
-Just as it was a small blessing that no-one had caught him sneaking into her bedroom late at night to discuss these late-night cases.
He continued. "The Kid's bringing a friend to Kudos' for protection, he thinks she'll be attacked next-"
An eyebrow rose. "'She'?"
"She." He grinned. "Looks like the thief has a crush on Inspector Nakamori's daughter."
"Ouch." That had to be rough.
"You're telling me." He grinned, obviously finding humour in the situation. "And he's going to help them hunt down the guy who bit him. Thinks he knows who it is."
"Anything I can do to help?" She offered, shifting so that she was leaning on him a bit. He was warm and nice to lean against.
He reached into a pocket and pulled out 2 small paper roses. "You up for making some omamori tonight?"
She took them, trying to get a feel for them. One rose was filled with a protective feeling, the other with a deluded sense of mischief and of recent despair. The Kid and the girl he wanted to protect. She smiled at him. "Not a problem."
"Thanks." He yawned, looking tired. "Hey, can I camp out here tonight?"
Kazuha gave him a mock glare and pushed him out of the window. "No. Go home."
"Dangit."
..................... //Ö\\ ...
"Ew." Hattori wrinkled his nose, as he took a step inside the Kudo residence. "Who's been eating Italian?"
"My other self." Conan looked disgusted with his 'older brother' as he shut the door behind the Osaka detective. "Garlic. I told him to brush his teeth, but he won't believe me."
"Well, it may not work on vampires, but it works on me." Hattori fanned the air in front of his face. "It stinks."
"That's what I said!" Conan waved his hands in the air, exasperated. "I think the Kid took refuge upstairs after the incident with the holy water."
"Holy water?"
"Yeah. Split it all over the front of his shirt. Kid wasn't amused, and I don't blame him."
Hattori shook his head. "I'm not going to ask. Seriously. In the meantime, can you tell him that I'm not going anywhere near him until he smells less like something the cat rolled around on before dragging inside?"
Conan nodded. "With pleasure."
"Thanks. Oh, Kazuha's over with 'Neechan for some girl time." Hattori informed him. With that, he shook his head one more time and walked up the stairs, deciding that he really didn't want to think about the smirking grin on the smallest boy's face as Conan went in search of his other self.
Despite the remaining garlic stink, it was pretty easy to find where the Kid was hiding. Only one of the doors upstairs was closed, the one to the guest bedroom. He knocked gently, then opened the door.
"Figures you'd be here." Hattori looked down at the figure on the floor, the Kid's back against the bed that a wild haired girl was sleeping in.
The Kid cracked open a crimson ruby eye, which caught the light and reflected it back. Hattori took it as an invitation and crouched down in front of the sprawled boy. "Guess you must be pretty worried about her." He commented with a grin.
"I am not." The Kid growled, but there was a distinct lack of conviction in his tone. "It just happens to be a convent place to think, away from the Twit Twins."
"Uh-huh. Right." Hattori nodded, but didn't seem convinced. He pulled out some paper wrapped bars from his pocket. "Here. Break off a piece and let it melt in your mouth. Crankiness is a sure sign of low blood sugar."
"I'm not hungry." The Kid looked away. "Can't keep anything down anyway."
"Should be able to keep this down." The Osaka detective grinned, tossing one of the bars at the thief. The latter caught it out of reflex.
"Chocolate?"
"Dark Chocolate, actually. You know how girls claim that chocolate is like blood?" Hattori smirked, opening a chocolate bar for himself. "They're not far wrong."
The Kid snorted, then did as he'd been bid. His eyes closed as the first bit of sugar melted on his tongue, some of the pinched look fading from his face as it relaxed into a more peaceful expression.
"Thanks." The Kid finally commented, breaking off another piece and popping it into his mouth without opening his eyes. "How'd you know?"
"There's a little troll guy who runs a portal between Osaka and Tokyo, down in the subway stations." Hattori explained, leaning back on his heels. "He won't take money, preferring gifts of blood if he can get it, but he'll take fresh meat, beef or chocolate. If it works for him, figured it'd work for you. Only the blood and fresh meat part was out."
"So that's how you get back and forth from Osaka and Beika so fast." Kid smirked. "Been wondering about that."
Hattori shrugged. "It works. Saves a bunch on petrol too."
"I'll bet."
"How did you get her come here anyway?" Hattori commented, motioning to the slumbering girl behind the thief.
The Kid tilted his head back to look at the girl on who's bed he was leaning against. His eyes soften just a bit, enough to let Hattori know that his teasing about the Kid liking the Inspectors daughter wasn't far off. "I told her a truth and she came with me."
"I thought there was only one truth."
"There are many one truths." The Kid commented idly, turning back towards him and flashing a small smile. "That's what makes you detectives such an interesting lot. You take the world in all it's shades of grey and turn it into one of black and white. It's either good, or bad. Even your bad guys wear black for you."
"By that line of reasoning, shouldn't you be wearing black instead of white then?" Hattori playfully smirked.
"Ah," The Kid waggled a finger at him. "But during the night, even the brightest white is just shades of grey."
Hattori mused this over a minute before nodding. And if he wanted to be technical, the Kid wasn't completely a bad guy or they wouldn't have taken his case. "True. I do have to admit though that I'm actually surprised you brought her here at all. With this many detectives in the house, you might as well be hanging a 'Hello my name is' sign around your neck."
"And I'm surprised that you haven't jumped at the blatant opportunity to catch me."
"Let's see..." The werewolf grinned. "Go after crazed homicidal murderers who hurt my friends and killed people, or grab a prankster thief who steals but doesn't hurt anyone. Hmm.. tough choice." The sarcasm practically oozed.
Kid smirked, a dry expression. "So I'm small potatoes."
"Lower priority." Hattori corrected. "We can chase you anytime, but if you can help us catch the bigger prey, we would rather do that."
"I've been wondering why Kudo and Edogawa haven't grabbed me yet..." The thief muttered, closing his eyes with a weary mood as he motioned to the sleeping girl with one hand. "We've been friends longer than I've been the Kid." He explained. "I'm not going to let her get hurt just because of my night job.
"-And I was only planning on having to dance around the Kudos. You weren't a part of the equation." He cracked open an eye, the intelligence and craftiness of a fox shining thru despite the recent weariness.
"So sorry." Hattori said, looking not the least apologetic, but slightly pleased with the straight answer. "But wouldn't it have been easier to do this as yourself?"
"Probably." The thief shrugged again, eating another piece of chocolate. "But this is between them and the Kid, not the universe Nakamori-kun and Aoko-chan live in. And if I'm going down, I'm going down fighting. Even if it means the end of the Phantom Thief."
"Good answer." A dual set of footsteps, out of long habit and practice in synch with each other caused them to look up. Shin'ichi and Conan, mirror each other's pose in the doorway looked down on them. The twins offered the thief a slight grin.
"Especially considering-"
"-that we've said almost the exact same thing-"
"-about a certain young woman-"
"-in our lives."
Both Shin'ichi and Conan had a faint blush as they finished the sentence. The thief and the twin detectives exchanged a look, a sort of understanding passing between them.
Hattori let loose a short bark of laughter. "And how is 'Neechan anyway?"
"Waiting downstairs with Kazuha-neechan." Conan's grin turned sheepish.
Shin'ichi explained. "Evidently, she doesn't trust us to keep an eye on a girl by ourselves."
"Afraid that she'll steal your heart away from her?" Hattori snickered. "Yeah, Neechan is the possessive type." It went without saying that both Kudo and Conan were the same way about a certain Mouri Ran.
"I don't think you have anything to worry about." The Kid yawned and stretched, revealing an impressive pair of elongated eye-teeth of his own. The teeth retracted back into his mouth, much the way a snakes would as he finished the yawn and scratched his head, messing up his already wild hair. He shot them an apologetic grin. "You don't run nearly fast enough to keep ahead of Aoko."
"Martial arts?" Shin'ichi challenged.
"Mop."
That drew blank looks from all three detectives.
"Speaking of which." The Kid gracefully got to his feet, and pulled a mop out from under his coat, which should not have been able to conceal it, much less hold it while sitting down. He set it next to the slumbering girl, within easy arms reach. "I gave her a bit of sleeping gas." He explained. "She should sleep peacefully unless woken."
"We'd better inform Ran-neechan of that." Conan said, motioning for everyone to head out of the room.
"I think it's time to return to the scene of the crime."
.... //Ö\\ ..........
"Here's where it happened." The Kid looked vaguely sick as he stared at the brick wall, darker splotches that looked suspiciously like blood staining the already red bricks. He looked away, scanning the area. The detectives examined it, Conan looking low, Shin'ichi looking high and Hattori wandering around like a bloodhound searching for a scent.
"Not much to tell." Shin'ichi finally commented several minutes later, shoving his hands in his pockets. His smaller self nodded, mimicking the pose.
"Not many people thru here either." Hattori commented. "But something reeks of old death."
The Kid rubbed the bites on his neck, looking a bit nervous. "Death?"
"Me." The 4 boys looked up to see a trench coated figure glide out of the darkness to meet them.
Kid hissed, sounding much like an angry cat. "Hakuba."
"Kaitou." The blond detective looked at him for a moment before grinning, his amber eyes glowing much the same way the Kid's crimson eyes did in the light. "So nice to see you again."
"Wish I could say the same."
Hattori put an arm out, stopping the Kid from moving towards the newcomer. "Something's not right." The werewolf growled, his body tense.
"Very perceptive." Hakuba agreed. "But I'm sad to say that that means you must die. Oh, and the other detectives as well."
"And me?" Kid demanded.
Hakuba grinned. It wasn't pleasant.
"How'd your vampire research go?" Conan asked his other self in a soft voice.
"I can tell you that Crosses, Sunlight, Holy Water and Garlic are definitely out." Shin'ichi replied, equally soft. "That leaves staking, beheading and fire."
"I can do fire." The Kid promised, an un-holy gleam in his eyes.
Conan spared him a glance. "Something less lethal first, maybe?"
"Spoilsport."
"He's not a vampire anyway." Hattori growled.
"Huh?"
Hakuba mock-sulked. "You're spoiling all my fun. Bad puppy! No biscuit"
"Maybe I should have brought the garlic anyway." Shin'ichi muttered.
Hattori, Conan and the Kid's response was unanimous and instantaneous. "NO."
"Well, it's too late for childish pranks anyway." Hakuba smiled, shifting moods. "I'm afraid that it's time for you to die horrible agonizing deaths. Well, except for the thief. We've got plans for him."
"That is so cliché." Conan shook his head. "Can't you think up anything unique to say?"
"Witty banter was never his forte." Kid retorted. He didn't look pleased at the idea of 'plans' for him.
"He's not alive." Hattori warned, backing up as Hakuba advanced.
"So what is he?" Shin'ichi demanded, backing up as well.
Hattori have him a quick half shrug. "Dead."
"Dead?!"
"Dead."
"Huh." The thief quipped, a thoughtful look flittering across his face. "You really can't tell a difference."
"Look out!" The latter was from Conan as Hakuba suddenly blurred, charging at the small group. The blond grabbed Conan and threw him into the air. "Waaagh!"
"I got him!" Hattori chased after the flying boy, jumping up to catch him in mid-air. He landed safely in a crouch several yards behind the other 2. "You okay?"
"Remind me not to make any more fetch jokes around you." Conan commented, sliding out of the werewolf's grip to stand on his own feet.
Shin'ichi reached under his jacket, just under the sleeve. "Got anything useful?" He asked the Kid.
Kid didn't spare him a glance, keeping a sharp eye on Hakuba, who was now grinning from ear to ear as he looked between the 2 boys, deciding who to attack next. The grin looked completely out of place on the usually solemn faced boy. "I'm better at running than fighting."
"Right." Shin'ichi pulled out a gun, screwing on a silencer on the end.
"I see you're prepared, however."
"Never hurts in this line of business."
"Let's move it, people." Hattori growled, keeping close to Conan.
Hakuba eyed them like a cat playing with a mouse. He was going to inflict major pain on them if given a chance, and he was going to enjoy it.
Shin'ichi beat him to the punch, almost casually lining up the shot and firing. Hakuba flinched, the bullet hitting him in the leg. He took a step forward and continued. The detective fired again, watching with horrified eyes as the wounds that didn't bleed healed before their eyes. "Bullets won't work!"
"Run!" Hattori advised, picking up Conan and tossing him over a shoulder. Shin'ichi and Kid took his advice and scurried back, keeping the dead detective in sight at all times.
Conan took advantage of the change in height to fire a dart from his watch. It was a perfect hit, but had no effect on the blond detective. "No good!"
Hakuba giggled. Some sounds should never be uttered by anybody, dead or not.
"I got an idea!" Kid motioned for the others to keep moving as he pulled a handful of paper out of his pocket and quickly sorted thru them. As soon as the other 3 passed him, he tossed one at Hakuba.
"Trap card! Activate!"
There was a brief flash of light, then a swirling magic circle appeared around the staggering teenager. Hakuba struggled against it for a moment, then slowly fell over, the effects of the spell easing him down.
"What did you do?" Shin'ichi gasped.
"Simple summoning spell." Kid sagged against the wall, a few beads of sweat trickling down the side of his face. The spell had obviously taken more out of him that he would have probably admitted.
Conan picked the card up from the ground. "Duel Monsters-?"
"Duel Monsters?!" Hattori spun towards the thief "You do NOT use Yu-Gi-Oh! Cards to summon magic!"
"Why not?" Kid asked, a touch of humour colouring his tone. "It worked, didn't it?"
"Yes, but..." Hattori trailed off, obviously having difficulty wrapping his mind around using duelling cards for anything other than duelling.
"I have some Digimon cards too." Kid gave him a half grin. "Want to see if I can Digivolve you to Wergarurumon?"
Hattori sweatdropped. "Noo..."
"Are there any kind of playing cards you -don't- have?" Conan asked while his bigger self checked Hakuba.
Kid mused it over for a moment. "Clow Cards. I absolutely refuse to act like a magical girl."
Hattori found this immensely funny for some reason and snickered.
"Can you two stop goofing off and give me a hand here?" Shin'ichi snapped, giving Hattori a glare for goofing off as he attempted to lift Hakuba. "We need to get him to Haibara and he's heavy!"
............ //Ö\\ ...
"Congratulations." Ai said dryly as they plunked the limp body of Hakuba Saguru onto the table she had just cleared off. "It's a dead body."
"A dead body that attacked us." Conan clarified.
"My mistake." The miniature scientist said loftily, pulling on a pair of gloves. "And here I was just complaining that you never bring me anything interesting."
"Here." Kid placed a handkerchief over Hakuba's face then wiped it off. An over sized red ribbon bow was now neatly tied into his hair. "Now he's gift wrapped for you!"
Ai raised an eyebrow. "You're too kind."
"I try."
Shin'ichi frowned. "I thought you were having trouble with your magic."
"I am." Kid agreed. "But what kind of Magician would I be if I didn't know -some- sleight of hand?"
Shin'ichi opened his mouth to comment, then closed it again.
"How is he?" Conan asked, poking the body on the table.
Ai pulled on a pair of gloves, a serious look in her face. "I'm going to need an old Taoist Monk and a young Shinto Priest."
"Really?"
She looked away. "No. Actually, he'll probably wake up on his own any time now."
As if on cue, Hakuba suddenly sat up, screaming at the top of his lungs and scurrying as far back on the table as he could go without falling off. "AHHHH!! THE MIMES ARE GONNA EAT ME!!!"
Everyone stared at the blond, who stared back unseeing, his gold eyes wide and terrified.
"Well, that's a new one." Ai finally remarked, breaking the tension.
"Wrong bumper sticker." Kid informed Hakuba in a remarkably patient tone. "It's 'Can't sleep, the CLOWNS will eat me'."
Intelligence slowly replaced panic in the English detective's eyes. "Kaito-kun?" He puzzled. "What are you doing here?"
"You bit me!!!"
Hakuba looked indignant. "I did not."
"You did too!" The Kid pulled down his collar to show off the bite marks. "What else do you call these?!"
"Someone else's denture marks." Ai deadpanned.
The thief blinked. "Huh?"
Ai reached over from her perch on a footstool and pulled back Hakuba's lips to expose his teeth and gums. "Flat teeth. He couldn't have bit you." She explained, then pulled a flashlight out of her pocket and began examining him with a detached professional air.
Hakuba, not having a clue as to what was going on, just sat there and let her.
"So I didn't get bit by Hakuba?" Kid puzzled, rubbing the bite marks.
Hattori grinned. "Do you feel better now?"
The Kid paused, then nodded. "Yes and no. But now I want to know who did bite me."
"So do I." Shin'ichi and Conan echoed, frowning.
Ai tapped Hakuba. "Take off your shirt, please."
Hakuba just stared at the tiny girl.
"Relax." Conan chuckled. "She's a professional."
"Professional what?" Kid wanted to know.
"Doctor, scientist and pain in the rear." Ai deadpanned. "Now off with your shirt so I can finish my examination."
Hakuba blinked, then did as he was told. He still wasn't sure what was going on, but for the time being, following orders appeared to be the best solution. And truth be told, he didn't feel all that great either.
Shin'ichi raised an eyebrow at the smirking thief. "You're in a better mood."
"It's amazing how having a bite to eat will improve your outlook." Kid grinned.
Conan and Shin'ichi froze, staring at him with alarmed eyes. In the background, Hattori covered his mouth to hide a snicker.
The Kid's turned innocent as he pulled a half-eaten bar of chocolate out of his pocket. "Want a bite?"
The twins visibly relaxed. "Thanks-"
"-but no thanks."
The Kid shrugged, broke off a piece and tossed it in the air, catching it in his mouth. Hattori got his laughter under control, and joined the group. "Ne, Hakuba-kun, what is the last thing you remember?"
"Besides waking up here?" Hakuba asked, his attention more on what Ai was up to rather than the antics of the thief.
"Yeah."
"The last thing I remember..." Hakuba's brows came down as he rubbed the back of his head. "I was investigating a case when I knocked out by some men dressed in black-"
"BLACK?!" Shin'ichi and Conan interrupted, their full attention gained.
Hakuba raised an eyebrow. "Black."
"What did they look like?" Shin'ichi pressed.
Conan nodded. "This is really important!"
"One was tall, with long silver hair. The other was shorter, stockier. There may have been a third, I don't remember." Hakuba rubbed his forehead, as if trying to get his brain to work right. "I only got a glimpse of them before I was hit from behind."
"Sounds like-"
"-Gin and-"
"Vodka." The twins growled.
Hakuba and Kid looked confused. "Alcoholic drinks?" Kid asked.
"The Black Organization." Hattori explained, since the other detectives looked about ready to spit nails. "They're the ones that did this to him."
"Huh?" Hakuba looked clueless. "Who?"
"Allow me to introduce Kudo Shin'ichi and Edogawa Conan, the Famed Detective of the East." Kid said, with a mock flourish.
"Should it be 'Detectives'?" Hakuba asked suspiciously.
"Yes-"
"-and no." The twins shrugged.
"It's a-"
"-Long story."
"You've got time." Ai assured them, still prodding Hakuba. Hakuba just watched the blonde girl with a puzzled expression.
The twins exchanged a look and shrugged. "Alright..."
"The truth is-"
"-we're not exactly sure ourselves." They looked embarrassed by the fact.
Hattori snickered and pulled up a chair. Kid's eyebrow raised, and he found a perch of his own on a desk corner while the twins elected to stand.
"It started when Conan discovered what he thought was a possible headquarters of the Black Organization." Conan started. Hakuba opened his mouth to point out that the small detective was Conan, but a shake of Hattori's head caused him to shut it again.
"-And being the detective genius you are, you didn't think to ask for help." Ai added, the faintest traces of sarcasm in her voice.
The twins had the grace to look vaguely embarrassed again. "Yeah."
"Got in okay-"
"-got caught just as easily."
"They would have killed me, except-"
"-that they needed a guinea pig-"
"-for a project of theirs."
"Doppelganger." Hattori supplied.
The Twins nodded. "That's when things get confusing." Shin'ichi pressed his hand against his forehead as in remembered pain while Conan's face turned solemn and he looked at the floor, his eyes distant.
"I escaped-"
"-and ran into myself. We each-"
"-remember the same exact thing-"
"-Down to the smallest detail."
"So we don't know which one of us is the original-"
"-And which is the doppelganger." Shin'ichi and Conan shared an amused smile.
"-Not that it really matters-"
"-to us which one-"
"-is which."
"They caught us again and-
"-They couldn't tell which was which either."
"So we both ended up being used as guinea pigs."
Hakuba snorted, an un-amused sound. "Not the most pleasant of things."
The Twins agreed. "Yeah."
"We got free again-"
"-it was harder the second time. But they weren't expecting us to work together-"
"-or be very resourceful. Fortunately, neither Gin or Vodka recognised me."
"But on the way out, we forgot one small detail."
"-how explosive sawdust is." They both looked embarrassed as Hattori cracked up. The resulting explosion had been on the news even as far as Osaka. There had been nothing left of the factory, much less clue that remained as to what may have been inside of it.
"I started changing shortly after that." Shin'ichi shrugged. "Conan found a phone and was able to get Ai and Dr. Agasa to help us home."
"After that, life resumed as it has been." Conan echoed his other self's gesture. "Only without any sign of the Black Organization or any of their schemes. They've always been impossible to find-"
"-but it's like they vanished."
"Or moved farther underground. That is until today."
Everyone turned to look at Hakuba, who seemed to be looking at something deep inside of him. The blond finally shook his head. "I'm afraid I can't help you. I can't remember where they were. Just the shadows."
"Ah, well." Kid sighed with playful drama. "It looks like you're going to get your payment a little bit early after all, detectives."
Conan and Shin'ichi gave the thief a searching look that would have made lesser men squirm. "Why are they so interested in you anyway?" Shin'ichi asked.
The Kid shrugged, but was saved from having to answer by noises from upstairs.
"Shin'ichi?" Ran's musical voice floated from upstairs. "Conan-kun?"
Both Shin'ichi and Conan turned to answer it. "Down here!"
"There you are." Ran and Kazuha came down the stairs, their slight figures shadowed by another one carrying a long pole with something on it.
The Kid did a quick double take, startling the detectives. In a flash, the sunglasses were back on his face and the monocle disappeared.
"I hope you don't mind, but Kazuha-chan wanted to check on Hattori-kun, and Aoko-chan wanted to come too." Ran chirped as they stepped into the light of the lab.
"Hellooo..." Aoko's voice trailed off as the girls stopped and stared at the shirtless detective. "Hakuba?"
"Is he the one you were telling me about?" Ran asked as Shin'ichi and Conan looked less than impressed at the girls reaction.
Kazuha smirked and walked over to lean against Hattori. "I've seen better." She whispered softly. He grinned and wrapped an arm around her waist.
Aoko shook her head. "No. That's this one." She swung her mop at the Kid, who promptly dodged it. "Kaito! What's the big idea of leaving a mop next to the bed? Was that a hint that I need to clean or something?!"
"If the mop fits..." The Kid moved like grinning liquid mercury personified, suddenly appearing behind her. She growled, tightening her grip on the mop and stalking after him as he deftly moved backwards.
"And I thought *Swing* that you said *swoosh!* that someone was *swish!* after Hakuba-kun *whoosh!* but he looks FINE to me!" The wild haired girl shouted, chasing after him.
Hakuba raised an eyebrow, watching the usual chase with a bored air. "I think I'll take that as a compliment." He mused, noting that the participants of the chase were a little bit slower today than normal.
The other detectives however, watched with amazement as the 2 figures almost appeared to dance around the room with out ever accidentally knocking anything over, even when the thief took to nearly climbing the walls and ceiling.
"Sheesh." Conan sweatdropped. "No wonder no one can touch him."
Ai poked Hakuba in the side, gaining his attention. "Take your pants off please."
Hakuba just stared.
-To Be Continued......... //Ö\\ .
This thing started as just a short silly AU fic triggered by a song on the KROQ After Hours show by Junkie XL called "Beauty that Never fades" and some really cool Japanese fanarts I was looking at after midnight one night. Just a fun no-brainer fic.
Then Hattori showed up, informed us that hey! he was going to be in the fic, he was a werewolf and he was going to be the Kid's friend, thank you very much. Hakuba was already in here and dead, and having both Shin'ichi and Conan working together was something that had been haunting us for a while, so that really didn't matter much.
And this just kept getting bigger.
Had hoped to finish this by Halloween as a Halloween treat, but then Vermouth decided to make her move. And Akako butted in. And the girls wanted to kick butt.
Then BUNNIES invaded the fic.
It was right about there we realised that this just might take some time... ~_~
Notes on the end of the second part. Mind the spiders.