Title: Can't Take The Sky From Me – Chapter 1
Author: yukitsukihana (beta'd by Icka)
Rating: Rated T for violence and language
Warnings: Nothing for this chapter.
Author Notes: And here's the first chapter in the youkai!verse that I've been. Boring introductory chapters are boring. Also, titles and summaries are hard.
Disclaimer: Detective Conan and Magic Kaito are copyright Aoyama Gosho.

Kaito yawned, trying not to let his tiredness show. Now that Hakuba was back in town, the police weren't letting up as quickly, and he spent most of the night (early morning) running away. His only consolation was that said detective would be as tired as he was.

"Good morning," a soft voice said as they entered school grounds.

"'Morning, Hakuba," Kaito got out, before his greeting was interrupted by another yawn.

"Good morning, Hakuba-kun," Aoko chirped up from beside him.

The detective nodded at them before facing Kaito. "Didn't sleep well last night?"

This again? "Nah, was up late studying. We've got that test in Classical Lit today after all." He tried to ignore the fact that the suspicious look never went away. "What about you? There was a Kid heist last night, right?" He tried not to flinch as Aoko glowered; that's right, Nakamori-keibu would have been stuck doing paperwork in the station all night.

"Indeed there was. It went on far later than I cared for, and there were many police formalities to be had afterwards." Ah, now Kaito noticed the bags under Hakuba's eyes. The detective was most likely functioning due to caffeine, just like him. "Thankfully, as a high school student, I was allowed to head home early, on the condition that I show up after school today to complete the paperwork." And he looked as pleased about that as he did when the magician pulled a prank at his expense. Kaito grinned unrepentantly, to which Hakuba shot him a dark glare. "One day, Kuroba-kun, I will sit you down and force you to fill out the police reports."

"What are you talking about, Hakuba?" he asked innocently. "I don't have any reason to do anything like that." And there was that glare again, which he cheerfully ignored.

Their conversation trailed off as school began.

School came and went like any other day, with Kaito's and Aoko's chase around the room after inappropriate comments were made. Everyone ignored the flower petals all over the floor, save for those on cleaning duty that afternoon; they just shot Kaito exasperated looks.

"Well, I should be heading to the station now," Hakuba stated as he stood.

"Oh, I'll come with you!" Aoko exclaimed. Both Kaito and Hakuba shot her curious looks. "I should drop by and make sure Dad's taking care of himself. I don't even think he came home last night…" Kaito shooed away the pang of guilt at her downcast expression.

"You are welcome to join me, of course, Aoko-kun." And there was that winning smile. No way Kaito was going to let that pass.

"I'll come, too."

"Really, Kuroba-kun? I thought you didn't care much for police stations."

"Why would you think something like that, Hakuba? But nah, I've got some shopping to do downtown. I'll come with you part of the way, at least."

"Very well, then." Aoko looked between the two, slightly confused. Not understanding the dialogue, she simply shrugged and followed the detective out.

Kaito parted with them early, not wanting to be anywhere near Nakamori's bad temper, probably doubled by lack of sleep. Especially since Hakuba should be finding last night's heist in his bag any moment now.

He stifled another yawn. It wasn't even sunset yet and Kaito was exhausted. He should probably go to bed early; would have, if not for his mother asking him to pick up groceries. Sure, he had wanted to keep an eye on Hakuba and Aoko to make sure the detective didn't try anything, but he did have a legitimate reason to be down here.

The soft sound of crying shook the magician from his musings, and he turned his head to try to pinpoint where it was coming from. It sounded like it was coming from an alleyway, and he made his way over, slipping through the crowd. He paused to glare back at the mass of people, wondering why no one was doing anything, then turned his attention back. Where was it coming from? He spotted a small shadow hiding behind a dumpster and carefully made his way over. "Hey," he called quietly. "Are you all right?" The boy, for it was a child, looked up in fear. "It's all right," he continued, "I'm not going to hurt you."

"I-I want to go home," he sobbed, rubbing his eyes. The boy appeared to be very young, perhaps only six or seven, with tan hair so messy it rivaled Kaito's own. Then the hair seemed to twitch and the magician drew in a breath. That wasn't hair – those were ears. Tiny fox ears, poking up through hair the same color. He looked down, and sure enough, there was a fuzzy tail as well.

Kitsune, Kaito thought. The child is a kitsune. But where are his parents? Kitsune are fiercely protective of their young. "Where are your parents?" he asked, voicing his concern aloud.

The kitsune child shook his head. "I dunno. Some bad man came and took us away. He might take you, too, nii-chan. You should go."

Kaito shook his head. "No way am I leaving you here." He pulled out a baseball cap and set it on the kid's head, hiding the ears. "Can you hide your tail? There's a police station not far from here we can head to. Your family registered?"

"I…I think so. But you really should go, nii-chan. The bad man left me here, but he'll be back. He'll get you, too!"

Kaito looked over his shoulder, checking the crowd for anyone who might pose a threat. Nothing was setting off his danger-sense, but still… "Then let's get you out before he comes back, okay?" But as he reached out, there was a shock, not unlike a jolt of electricity. "What the-?" He looked down for the source and spotted a blackened piece of paper, still smoking and curling. Was that…? Quickly, he reached forward and grabbed the boy, bolting toward the street. If he could just get there…

Another jolt of electricity hit him, this one feeling as if he had just been struck by lightning. The kitsune's panicked cry was the last thing he heard before falling unconscious.

Notes:

Nii-chan: familiar term for "big brother." Often used by children when talking to young adult males. Female form is "nee-chan" (Conan calls Ran this).

Kitsune: fox youkai. Shapeshifters that often took the form of beautiful women. In folk tales, you could tell if a woman was a kitsune by seeing if she had a tail. In modern pop culture, it is usually only young kitsune that are unable to hide their tails.

Can't Take The Sky From Me is a working title. I can't think of anything better at the moment. Title might change if I think of anything better.

This fic is currently being written for NaNoWriMo. I will try to get the entire story finished by the end of this month, but it might not be posted until later. Also, I'll try to post chapters as I finish them.

Please enjoy, and send back any constructive criticism! I'm always looking to improve myself~