Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

For some reason, he doesn't realize anything's wrong until it's much too late. It is nearly a week after arriving in Japan and suffering from near-constant headaches that Hakuba notices a pattern.

The headaches only happen once he leaves the house and meets other people.

He seems to be perfectly fine alone, and at home, but that sense of security fades to nothing the moment he is out in public and starts interacting with others.

Another thing he can't help but realize is how none of this started until after moving to Japan. He was perfectly fine– as well as a teenage detective with no supportive biological parents could be– back in England, with no constant headaches, no inability to sleep, no visions that made absolutely no sense, and often left him shaking like a lamb… it all started the night his plane touched down in Japan and steadily grew worse the longer he stayed there. He admits that he allowed a bit of his stubborn nature to keep him from seeing a local doctor, instead, he spoke with Baaya. She had plenty of first aid experience and knowledge under her belt, he trusts her should he ever fall ill or be injured.

Baaya believed that it was just stress and a lack of sleep getting to him.

She told him to take a step back from chasing KID and solving other cases so that he can relax for a bit. He didn't want to agree with her at all, but then he started getting dizzy spells and had almost fallen down the stairs when his vision blacked out for a couple of seconds.

After that, he agreed to some time off and even flew back to England to escape from the craziness of Japan. Not that he believes Japan to be crazy, but with the new transfer student Akako-san and Kuroba-kun constantly butting heads on top of Kuroba-kun's arguing with Aoko-san, it's enough to drive anyone mad. It didn't help that at the last heist he attended he may or may not have had one of those utterly confusing daydreams of a vision. He completely forgot about chasing KID in favor of trying to keep himself from having a panic attack in the middle of a heist. He had stumbled his way into the nearest empty room and sat in the corner behind the door. He truly tried his best to calm himself down, counting along with the ticking of his pocket watch, focusing on an object (he chose the ugliest painting in the room), taking deep breaths, even giving the 5-4-3-2-1 method a try… none of it was working. He wasn't alone for long and had flinched back as the door swung open, almost hitting into him. 

He should count himself lucky, the shock of seeing KID rushing into the room proved to be enough of a distraction for him to start calming down subconsciously.

He wasn't able to figure out what it was that KID was searching for until the thief locked eyes with him and visibly relaxed. It was him. KID came into the room, searching for him. Hakuba didn't know how to respond to that and while the rest of that night passed by in a blur, all he could focus on afterward was how he told KID to leave him be, ignoring any questions aimed his way, before yelling for the Taskforce to come and took off running while KID dealt with them. It was the shame of his behavior that night that led to him going to Baaya about his symptoms in the first place.

He can't allow for whatever this is to get in his way of working.

So he left for England, barely remembering to let the school know ahead of time. He couldn't be gone for long, he didn't want to risk missing out on too much school despite being ahead of everyone else in the class. Besides Kuroba-kun, they were tied for first in quite a few subjects. Either way, Hakuba left and managed to convince Baaya to use the time he was gone as personal time off, of course, he made sure that she would still be paid, but perhaps now she would take her own advice and relax. Returning to his mother's household is… off-putting. His mother and he got along a bit better than how he did with his father, but that wasn't saying much. Since their separation (not a divorce, they were still legally married) everything's changed. The only good thing to come out of this was despite staying in the same house, it was rare for them to run into one another. As much as he loves her, Hakuba could live the rest of his life without seeing his mother and still feel at peace with that.

Every moment spent in her presence was a test of his patience.

At least she seemed to want to avoid him just as much as he wished to avoid her. The opposite of how his father would react anytime they were at the house at the same time. His father would constantly try to seek him out and nag at him until he finds a suitable excuse to get away. More often than not, Baaya would be the one to provide the excuses.

Hakuba uses his time back home to catch up on sleep, as useless as the endeavor turns out to be.

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If he knew that taking time to himself before returning to Japan would result in him passing out while walking to the closest store, Hakuba wouldn't have left in the first place.

He'd been fine for the first hour— then once he was a few blocks from his house, the headaches returned with a vengeance. Hakuba had no warning and no means of bracing himself before falling unconscious. When he woke up, overwhelmed and unable to focus on his surroundings, he ignored the throbbing of his head and forced himself to sit up. He just barely realized that there was a small crowd surrounding him and from what he could hear there was someone on the phone calling an ambulance. He should probably say something to them, tell them to hang up, or something like that. However, he was far too preoccupied with the torrent of memories assaulting his mind.

Memories of a past that he knows has yet to happen.

An ambulance arrives and after he spends some time convincing them that he is alright, and allowing them to check him for a concussion, Hakuba is able to return home.

He ended up having to tell them that he merely passed out for a brief moment due to a lack of sleep, and he did let them clean up the scraped-up skin of his forehead. Though he refused offers of giving him a ride home. There was barely any blood and he'll put ice over it as soon as he's home to try and keep it from bruising too badly. If it does bruise, well, at least his hair is long enough to cover it up. 

Hakuba doesn't throw up until after he enters his house, running to the kitchen sink since it's closer than the bathroom. His head still hurts, but so does his heart.

He can remember how loud everything had been in those final moments. People screaming, the sound of guns going off, the screeching of tires on asphalt. Yet none of that had been as loud as the silence that followed as KID fell from the rooftop, splotches of red growing on his suit. Hakuba can remember how he pushed past the Inspector, barely dodging the gunfire aimed at him from the damned snipers as he rushed toward KID.

Hakuba knew even as he started running that he wouldn't get there in time.

He thinks Kuro– KID, he can't think of him as Kuroba-kun, not right now. He thinks KID knew he wouldn't make it to him, that he knew he was going to die.

Hakuba remembers how KID had stared at him with a desperation he's never seen the thief display before, as he tosses that night's stolen jewel at him.

Hakuba remembers catching the gem, eyes growing wide as it began to glow under the moonlight, KID's words echoing in his ears.

"Destroy it! Don't let them take it!"

Hakuba watched as KID fell, not looking away even as people began screaming once more, he can vaguely recall hearing the Inspector yelling at him, and he thought someone was coming toward him. The last thing Hakuba remembers is blankly lifting the gem up toward the moon just as he's seen KID do countless times before, it glows brighter and Hakuba squeezed his hand around it not truly aware of anything anymore. There was another shot fired, sharp pain in his chest, and then... his vision was obscured by red.

Chapter Text

He develops a fever that very night, Baaya worried that he picked something up in England, she tells him that she's going to call him out of school tomorrow. Hakuba doesn't protest and subconsciously he realizes that worries her more. He'll have to find a way to make it up to her once he's better… for now, he stays under the covers and tries his best to hold back his emotions while Baaya is still in the room with him. His entire body aches in a way that is similar to how he once felt after completing a full day of training without properly stretching before and after. According to Baaya he was flushed and felt hot to the touch, personally he was shivering, but Baaya didn't want him grabbing extra blankets. Before leaving the room she soaked a towel in cool water and had wrung it out to be placed on his forehead.

He knew not to take it off, even if it did feel uncomfortable.

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His mum often told him stories about falcons, there was one in particular that often made an appearance throughout his childhood and early teenage years. It was an old myth carried over by pre-Christian Northern Europeans that the falcon was a symbol of femininity. It was because of this myth that Hakuba constantly found himself on the end of his mum’s teasing by calling him Sa-chan as the main character in her stories. Hakuba didn’t mind, though it was bothersome at times to be referred to as a female, he loved the affection which his mum gave him, this was before they drifted apart, and he was not ashamed to be associated with the birds of flight which he loved so much. Besides, he's overheard her talking about 'Sa-chan' when he wasn't even in the room, he's pretty sure that she may have been real or based on someone else that he simply reminded his mum of.

Falcons were brave, strong and free to fly through the sky, heading towards a new day.

His mum's favorite story was about a young falcon who was on the receiving end of a curse, forced to take the form of a human and live amongst humanity as one of them. The young falcon, named Sa-chan by the group who found her, was excited to see the world through the eyes of a human. That is, she was excited until the very humans who first found her realized that she could grow wings. Then, they realized Sa-chan was different, not like them or anyone else they knew, and they began to fear her. Fear her and consider her property that could grant them immense value. The story goes on to consist of Sa-chan's journey to freedom, all the hard work, the sacrifices, the determination that fuels them. His mum loved talking about how Sa-chan kept finding others who weren't accepted for who they are and took to guiding them to a place they could call their own.

Despite knowing the story by heart, not once has his mum told him the ending. Anytime he asked, she would shake her head at him and tell him that he's not ready to hear it, not yet. After his mum found out that his father and mother weren't divorced, she packed her bags and left, yet she kept in touch with him. Hakuba knows it angered his father that she stayed in his life, it's why when he was twelve he had pretended she suddenly cut contact. That year was the year he learned to perfect his acting, his father and mother believed him wholeheartedly, none the wiser that his mum was more involved in his life than either of them.

Moving to Japan and transferring into Ekoda High led to an interruption in the nightly meetings where his mum and him sat outside with some chamomile tea. (She lived near his mother's house, so it wasn't hard to sneak out at night and meet up with her. It's not like his mother ever noticed his disappearances.) She had promised to talk to him over the phone, sadly they have yet to call and it's been a few months since he left. 

He's left her a few messages to check in on her, but no responses just yet.

His love for Falcons was one of the reasons why after he’d moved to Japan and into the Hakuba household, he requested a bird of his own. It didn’t have to be a Falcon per se but he would’ve preferred it. Hakuba had the license necessary to care for and own a bird of prey, the only issue was finding a legal and safe vendor to purchase one from. His problem was solved for him when he came across an illegal animal smuggling ring, something he quickly resolved and called the police for, it took hours of pleading before he managed to convince Superintendent-General Hakuba to allow him to raise one of the young Falcons found amongst the other animals.

Hakuba found himself enjoying Japanese culture, much to his surprise, and was glad to have left London despite missing it and his mum. 

Hakuba can remember how something that truly stood out to him once he arrived in Japan was the Phantom Thief whom Superintendent-General Hakuba told him the first division of the police were in charge of capturing. The mere thought of having a case that wasn’t easy excited him, and Hakuba had to beg his father to allow him to work alongside Inspector Nakamori and the Kid Task Force.

Since then, Hakuba’s life had yet to quiet down.  

He had assumed that befriending a girl who carried around a mop, accusing her best friend of being Kaitou Kid, and finding out a possible witch was attending the same school would be as odd as it could get.

Then he remembered his past. The future? He remembered what is going to happen within the next two years, and now he's pretty much certain that nothing that'll happen to him next can top time-traveling. Despite having a fever and finding it hard to even move, Hakuba stayed up for as long as he could, writing in his pocket-sized notebook all that he could remember. As painful as it was to recall what happened the night of that dreadful heist, Hakuba knew it was important.

It wasn't the first time snipers showed up at one of KID's heists, but it was the first time they gave up on remaining hidden. he's pretty sure they weren't really trying to hide from the public in the first place.

It makes sense if that glowing gem was their target and they knew KID had gotten a hold of it. 

If he's recalling it correctly, the gem had been a cushion cut topaz, imperial topaz– one of the rarest colors, something the owner had bought while on a trip through the desert.

He… he can't remember the owner's name. It was a woman and he knew that they were against the task force setting up at the hotel she was staying at. Something about not wanting a bunch of "smelly, old" men ruining her vacation. Hakuba had only met the woman once before Inspector Nakamori refused to let Hakuba near her again. He's not entirely sure why though, throughout the night the woman had apparently asked for him multiple times but each time the Inspector refused to let him meet with her. Instead, Hakuba had been forced to stay by the Inspector's side the entire night.

Until they got to the roof and Hakuba ran toward KID— too slow. He was too slow.

He'll have to start doing some research, try to find that woman and try to find the gem if she hadn't already bought it.

It was what KID was searching for all along, he believes the reason why he started stealing in the first place. 

He's unsure why it is so special besides glowing in the moonlight, and he thinks it may have had something to do with sending him to the past. Other than that, it was an ordinary gem that didn't even look special. He's certain that everyone else assumed it was a normal gem until it glowed. Either way, he needs to get his hands on it soon.

He won't let KIDs' killers get it, and he'll need to find a way to take them down before they can harm KID.

Hakuba stares down at the notepad, his grip on it tightening as his vision blurred.

He won't let Kuroba-kun die. Hakuba will save him and he'll take those going after him down.

Kuroba-kun will make it to eighteen, past that even, he'll live a nice long life. Hakuba will make sure of it.

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Hakuba sighed as he walked downstairs to grab a cup of tea before he needed to leave in order to get to school on time. Baaya was given the next week and a half off due to her granddaughter being born and Hakuba never realized how empty his home seemed without her there. Usually it was just the two of them since his father was constantly not home due to work, but now it was just Hakuba on his own. Hakuba glanced down at his pocket watch, he had a full ten minutes to get to school, it was a seven minute walk from his house which left him with three minutes to finish his tea and perhaps breakfast if he felt hungry. When he glanced around at the emptiness which greeted him, Hakuba decided that perhaps today was a nice day to take a more scenic route on his way to school instead of waiting the three minutes until he had to leave.

Besides, arriving early would give him time to see his teachers and gather the work he missed the past few days. When his fever persisted, Baaya had ended up calling him out for an additional two days, meaning he had three days worth of school work to get caught up on.

He thinks the reason why his fever stayed for as long as it did was because he wouldn't rest the moment he was left alone.

He still has so much information he needs to gather…

“Watson!” Hakuba called, holding out his arm until a familiar weight settled on it.

Hakuba smiled at his Falcon, Watson was still young for her species but smarter than she was given credit for, and Hakuba adored her.

“I’ll be leaving a tad early today, you’ll behave won’t you?” 

Hakuba grinned and lightly scratched Watson’s head so as not to ruffle her feathers. Watson screeched once before flying upstairs and Hakuba watched her go fondly before turning and heading out the front door.

He should’ve known today wasn’t going to be a good day.

His first warning was his willingness to arrive early instead of on time. The second warning was running into Aoko Nakamori and Kuroba Kaito on his way to school, something he hadn't done before, and Kuroba-kun were quick to accuse him of stalking them while Aoko-san welcomed him easily. She also pestered him on how he was feeling the entire walk, not taking his "I'm fine" for an answer. The third warning Hakuba had ignored was the wide grins Kuroba-kun kept shooting at him throughout the first period. It wasn't until lunchtime that Hakuba realized why Kuroba-kun was acting so odd when Aoko-san waved him over to their lunch table and wished him a happy birthday.

He’d forgotten it was his birthday.

Not his actual birthday, that was August 29, but the birthday in April that his parents had him use since he was a kid— for some reason that he has yet to figure out. 

They must think that he's turning seventeen today when in reality, he's already been seventeen for three-fourths of a year. Should he count his mental age as being nineteen, almost twenty? Or pretend his mental and physical ages are one and the same to keep from complicating matters?

Hakuba stared at Aoko-san who quickly began to realize something was wrong.

“Hakuba-kun? Did Aoko do something wrong?” Aoko-san looked so worried that Hakuba felt a tad guilty.

“A-ah no, nothing’s wrong.” Hakuba smiled at Aoko-san politely, “Thank you for the birthday wishes Aoko-san.”

Aoko-san was put at ease but Hakuba could tell from the sharp look, that made him look more like Kaitou Kid than he’d admit, on Kuroba-kun’s face that he didn’t believe him for a second. Hakuba hesitantly sat down across from Kuroba-kun and began eating his lunch, making sure to nod or hum in acknowledgement whenever Aoko-san addressed him in the conversation, his attention however was stuck on watching out the corner of his eye as Kuroba-kun watched him.

“Ah, did you hear Kaitou Kid’s planning a heist tonight!”

Startled, Hakuba's gaze shifted to Aoko-san, and was surprised to realize that he didn’t know there was going to be a heist tonight.

“Aoko’s dad told her all about it last night. KID’s going after the Lily flower gem that was brought to the museum earlier this morning.” Aoko-san said, jabbing her utensil into her bento.

Kuroba-kun gulped.

“Lily flower…” Hakuba muttered realizing the gem sounded familiar to him, “...the Lily flower broach from London? It’s in Japan?”

“Ooh? Looks like you don’t know everything huh?” Hakuba looked over at Kuroba-kun to see him smirking at him.

“Ba-Kaito!” Aoko-san yelled, “It’s Hakuba-kun’s birthday! Of course he isn’t worried about that stupid thief!"

Kuroba-kun's grumbling was ignored.

Aoko-san looked over at Hakuba and smiled, "He’ll be celebrating with his parents! Right, Hakuba-kun?”

Hakuba blinked, “Quite the contrary, my father won’t be home.”

“Huh? What about your mom?”

Hakuba looked over at Aoko-san’s friend, Keiko-san, someone who he barely talked with, but was still on decent terms with.

“My mother is in London.” Keiko-san and Aoko-san both looked surprised.

“You mean you’ll be alone on your birthday?” Aoko-san sounded upset which confused Hakuba.

Why would she be upset?

“Of course, it’s just another day of the year. Nothing to worry about.” Hakuba assured them, but his words only seemed to upset the two of them further, even Kuroba-kun. 

Why were they so bothered by this? It truly is just another day of the year, it isn't even his real birthday. Not that he's celebrated it on that day either. Sighing, Hakuba stood up and threw out the reminder of his lunch just as the bell rang signaling lunch was now over. Now that it was revealed why the others were acting odd, Hakuba couldn’t help but be overly aware of the way they were hovering and their eyes on him. Akako-san murmured a happy birthday to him once he entered the classroom, and the entire class heard her.

He had to sit through all of his classmates, and his teacher, wishing him a happy birthday.

It was worse when Kuroba-kun refrained from pranking him more than once, though Hakuba was glad for it, it showed how they were likely pitying him now. Scowling, the moment the final bell rang, Hakuba rushed out the classroom ignoring Aoko-san calling after him and Kuroba-kun’s eyes following his movements. It was rude of him, but he'll apologize for his behavior later.

He didn’t need their pity, he was never one for celebrating his birthday much in the first place. He preferred not to make a big deal out of it, it was just another day that had forced his parents to be in the same room and often just led to them arguing. 

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It seemed the plan to go to KID’s heist and then return home to a nice cup of tea and perhaps quiet reading time before working on researching that gem was ruined the moment he arrived at the heist. Instead of working towards stealing the jewel, Kaitou Kid had set off multiple confetti poppers and a banner wishing Hakuba a happy birthday unrolled across the floor.

“Ne, Hakuba-niisan?”

Hakuba glanced down as he felt someone tugging on his sleeve and smiled at none other than Edogawa Conan. “Yes, Edogawa Conan-kun?”

He thinks Conan-kun was at the heist, but when the snipers started shooting, Hakuba lost sight of him. He hopes he made it out of there unharmed…

Conan-kun made a face, “Just call me Conan-kun! You don’t need to say my whole name.”

Hakuba could tell the pout on Conan-kun’s face was fake yet the annoyance was not, “My apologies,”

Hakuba glanced around the room as the officers all attempted to body slam Kaitou Kid’s dummy while the real Phantom Thief pulled a couple of pranks before vanishing into the crowd, “Did you need something?”

“Why’re you so worried?” Conan-kun tilted his head to the side, “Usually you chase KID the moment he arrives, yet for some reason, you stayed off to the side.”

Hakuba looked down at Conan-kun with a blank look, he knew the kid was smart, smarter than he had any right to be, but he’d prefer if he minded his own business. This is the first heist he's attending since regaining his memories of the future. He may or may not feel a bit uneasy.

“Who’re you waiting for Hakuba-niisan?”

Why did he think he was waiting for someone? Was that what it seemed like?

“Edogawa-kun, KID will get away if you don’t hurry.”

“...right.” Conan-kun shot him a look before he turned and took off running to, presumably, the roof. Should he be worried about how easily a kid was able to get up to the roof alone? Maybe if it wasn't Conan-kun.

Hakuba quickly glanced around the room and waited a few minutes for the rest of the officers to leave to give chase after KID. Ah, at some point he had actually grabbed the gem. He can't really remember this heist all too well, technically he's already lived through it, but that's over two years worth of heist memories to sort through. He made his fever worse just trying to understand a few months worth of memories before waking in the past. He doesn't think there are any snipers that appear during this heist. If there was, he would remember it, wouldn't he?

…Perhaps while everyone is preoccupied, he can do a perimeter search, just to check if there is anything out of the ordinary.

He doubts that anyone will notice he's gone while they're busy with KID.

Chapter Text

He stays out later than he meant to, a quick perimeter check turns into walking around for nearly three hours, lost in thought. Of course, he didn't let himself think about much until after he confirmed that there were no snipers within range of the heist.

While he did have a building theorized background for Kaitou KID, he never managed to get Kuroba-kun to confirm or deny any of it. He knows that the snipers seemed to have been a part of a larger group, a detail that KID had been trying so hard to keep secret. He believes that the original KID was actually Kuroba-kun's father, Kuroba Touichi and that his classmate took up the name at the same time KID made his comeback. Looking into his father revealed the man had died after an incident occured during a magic trick, something that a bit of digging into showed to be not what it seemed. From what he could tell, it looked like a staged accident, a murder. Reports say that Kuroba-kun was there that day. He saw his father die. Perhaps by the hands of whoever is after KID nowadays, because there's no way Kuroba-kun managed to make those kinds of enemies that soon after starting his career as a thief. He knows that Kuroba-kun is going after that glowing gem, that was his apparent goal all along, although he feels as though vengeance was a motivator as well. 

…Did Kuroba-kun know what that gem is capable of?

Was he planning on finding it to try and go to the past to save his father? Could that be the real reason why he's doing all of this? Should Hakuba still destroy the gem as his Kuroba-kun asked of him, or should he give it to this Kuroba-kun and hope he'll make the right decision? What is the right decision for this? If he was doing all of this to try and save his father, then did Hakuba have any right to try and stop him?

He doesn't know. He knows that he has no right to make that sort of decision for Kuroba-kun, but he doesn't know if he is comfortable letting the thief do that. Ironic, isn't it? Here he is, planning on changing as much as he can to save Kuroba-kun, yet the idea of him saving his father makes him uneasy.

Is it because of just how far into the past he would have to go? Or is it because if Kuroba-kun succeeds in saving his father, what else would change because of it? Does he not want Kuroba-kun to do it because Hakuba doesn't know where it'll leave him, or because he doesn't actually want the current past to change since it'll affect his meeting with Kuroba-kun, Aoko-san, Akako-san, and Keiko-san? Is he really that selfish? 

He supposes he is, isn't he?

Hakuba pinches the bridge of his nose and sighs. All of this is a lot more of a moral fight than he was expecting.

Just as he was about to figure out where he is so he can start heading home, a slight shiver went through him. There was someone watching him. Hakuba made sure not to let on that he noticed, instead he continued walking, quietly mapping out the area in case he needed a quick get away. It's somewhat familiar, he thinks he may have come by here before, perhaps on a drive with Baaya?

"Hakuba-niisan!"

Hakuba turns toward the familiar voice. It takes every ounce of willpower not to jolt as Conan-kun appears, seemingly, out of nowhere. Has he been following him this entire time or was this simply a coincidence?  He did feel like someone was watching him earlier… only, why would Conan-kun have any need to watch or follow him? That doesn't make sense.

"Edogawa-kun." Hakuba usually wouldn't have much time to speak to the boy outside of heists, and once at that detective gathering, so he's unsure why Conan-kun would seek him out, "Was there a reason why you've been following me?"

"Huh? I wasn't following you!"

…Did Conan-kun really think that was a believable lie? How insulting. Even if he did fall for the excuse, Hakuba wasn't blind. One look at Conan-kun was enough to tell him that the young detective was blatantly lying to him. He just can't figure out why.

"I said to call me Conan-kun! Ne, isn't today your birthday?" Conan-kun frowns at him, "How come you aren't going home to celebrate?"

Had it been any other kid asking him that, he would have marked it off as pure curiosity. However, this is Conan-kun, the so-called Kid Killer, and Hakuba has seen firsthand just how mature and sneaky this particular child can be. Rather than wanting to know if he was celebrating his birthday, it's more like a backhanded way of asking him what he is doing here, wandering around on his own. Conan-kun did seem to think that he was waiting for someone at the heist. Perhaps he is under the impression that Hakuba has been walking this far for as long as he has been to meet up with someone? Normally, people wouldn't do that, at least he doesn't think they would, but Conan-kun does seem to be a paranoid child. Just who did he think Hakuba was planning on meeting?

Wait. Wait a minute. He thinks he may know who Conan-kun is suspecting him of meeting up with.

KID made it well known to everyone attending the heist tonight that it is his birthday. Including that banner, thinking back on it, the banner seemed to be hand-painted with his favorite colors. He wasn't on the receiving end of any magic tricks, or glitter bombs. It was as if KID was favoring him tonight, Conan-kun clearly noticed that. 

Did Conan-kun think that he was waiting around to have some sort of secret meeting with the thief? That's absurd, not to mention illegal.

Is that the type of person he comes off as to others? What type of person is that anyways? Is it even all that bad considering that he is planning on eventually working with KID? Hakuba contemplated on how to answer. With Conan-kun, it's best just to tell him the truth, or as close to the truth as he can get.

"I'm not really one for celebrating my birthday, and I was walking around the perimeter closest to the heist, searching for any possible snipers."

Does Conan-kun know what snipers are?

"Snipers?" Conan-kun's brow furrowed, "Ne, why would there be snipers at KIDs' heist?"

If he's recalling correctly, then it's not just snipers. It's more like an entire organization, isn't it?

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In the end, it takes him far longer than it should have to brush off Conan-kun's questions, settling for telling him that he had a bad feeling before the heist began. Hakuba makes sure to walk Conan-kun back to where his guardians were, Mouri Ran thanking him repeatedly enough that Hakuba can tell how it irks Conan-kun. He makes a note to himself that Conan-kun is the type of person to like having his own freedom to move around, and not be treated like a child despite being one. He should have known that wouldn't be the end of it for that night. After making his way home and assuring Baaya that he's alright (he really shouldn't have gone off without letting her know ahead of time) Hakuba went up to his bedroom.

He was only alone for seventeen minutes and thirty-four seconds before hearing his window slide open.

“Tantei-San, don’t tell me you got bored of my performance!”

Hakuba spun on his heel and raised a brow at KID, “Quite the opposite, your tricks never cease to annoy me, KID.”

“Ah! Did you decide that you will no longer pursue me then?” KID pouted, "Or did you not enjoy my birthday wishes?"

“I will catch you sooner or later, it seems tonight was just not that night,” Hakuba stated.

He chose not to address the part about his birthday or KID's little decorations at the heist.

“Why was that Tantei-san? Because from my perspective, you didn't really try at all. It's not like you to not come chasing after me.”

Hakuba glanced over at Kaitou Kid and saw him frowning at him, “Because… I just have a bad feeling about tonight.”

KID smirked and Hakuba knew he shouldn’t have said anything. He's not sure why he even did it to begin with.

“A Detective following gut instinct? I thought you were all about precise facts.”

Hakuba couldn’t help himself, he snorted, “KID, if I ignored my instincts then I would’ve died ages ago.”

“That’s not something to joke about Tantei-san.” KID stepped toward him, holding out his hand, a small gift with a yellow bow sitting in his palm, “After all, where would I be without one of my favorite critics?”

Hakuba tilts his head, a sardonic copy of KID's smile on his face, "You have done just fine on your own before I arrived, I suspect that you'll continue to do so should I leave."

"...Are you planning on leaving?"

He… He doesn't know.

Technically speaking, staying where the action is would be most beneficial for information gathering. However, leaving would allow him to work without worrying about Aoko-san, Akako-san, Kuroba-kun, or even the Inspector butting into his business and interrupting any attempts at an investigation. It's selfish, but he wants to stay because he knows he'll miss them all, terribly so. 

"I already leave Japan often enough. Surely you've noticed that I do not attend every heist of yours?"

Something that terrifies him to think about. Because what if it's during a heist that he isn't attending that one of KID's enemies makes an appearance? What if something bad happens and he's not there to stop it? What if someone gets hurt or killed and he won't know because he's not even in Japan anymore? Theoretically speaking, nothing should happen- Nightmare, he can't forget about the heist with Nightmare- but who knows what he's accidentally changed about the future thanks to arriving in his past self. He needs to be more careful, and he definitely needs to keep an eye out for anyone moving in the shadows. Hopefully, those after Kuroba-kun only know him as KID and not his civilian identity.

If by some chance, they do know that Kuroba-kun is KID then there's a strong possibility that everyone he knows could be in danger as well. Hakuba will need to keep tabs on the Nakamori's, Akako-san, Kuroba-kun's mother, and their classmates… he supposes he'll need to watch over Conan-kun and the Mouri's, perhaps Suzuki Sonoko too. Doesn't KID have a few accomplices? How many of them know about the Organization after him? How many are there?

Should he make a list of everyone? Just to help organize his thoughts, he can always destroy the list once he's finished and has it memorized.

First things first, he needs to finish gathering information so that he knows who he has to protect them all from, and he knows exactly who to get in touch with for it.

He needs to speak with a certain stage performer; Gunter Von Goldberg the Second, otherwise known as Spider. He's targeted KID before and Hakuba is 99.98% certain that he's a part of the Organization. Speaking with him will either make things a lot easier or cause him to become one of the Organizations' targets.

Chapter Text

Despite having the next week and a half off, this is the second time now Hakuba has run into Baaya at the house. The first time was after he returned home from the heist. He's not sure why she keeps coming to the house in the morning and checking in on him when she can do it over the phone, at least, she's not trying to get any cleaning done. He's pretty sure he'll have a few voicemails from her family once they realize she's still coming over on her time off. The day after the heist was spent completing the mandatory paperwork and checking in with others on the task force to see how the heist went from their perspectives. He was pleasantly surprised when the Inspector wished him a happy belated birthday.

Thankfully, there was no school today, leaving Hakuba plenty of free time to get some work done. Or— he would have had plenty of time had he not received a phone call from Mouri Ran asking if he'd like to join her father, Conan-kun, and herself for dinner. 

She mentioned something about KID but Hakuba has stopped listening after hearing the invitation. 

This hasn't happened before. He can't remember ever being invited over for dinner. What did he change about the past to cause this to happen? Of course, he agreed to come over, curiosity winning over any caution.

He's not expected over until midday, so he takes his time cleaning Watsons' play area and even does a bit of cleaning around the house. There's not much to do, he never makes a mess and Baaya was truly only around to clean up dust, watch over him, and provide homemade meals. Now that she's on vacation, his father has already left dirty dishes in the sink and some trash on the table. Hakuba cleans it all and takes a look into his father's study to see whether or not the man was home. 

He should have known he'd left for work already. It's rare for them both to be home at the same time.

Doing all that along with getting ready for the day didn't take much time. He was able to finish it all within 45 minutes and 24 seconds. He even managed to make that list of possible targets, going as far as to write their connections to one another and how likely it is that the Organization would go after them. He'd prefer it if those Crows, a nickname for the Organization that he can't remember when he started using, left everyone alone. Of course, he burns the list after memorizing everything written. There are still hours before he is expected to be at the detective agency.

He left a few messages for some of his old acquaintances who owe him a few favors, asking them to look into that woman who should own Pandora and Spider's civilian identity. He also made sure to ask them to track Jack Connery's current location.

It was strange, trying to figure out his next step. He knows what he wants to do, and what he needs to do, and yet he cannot figure out how to do any of it.

This would be so much easier if he could just talk to Kuroba-kun. Surely Kuroba-kun knows who is after him and if he doesn't then he should at least have some information on them he can share. The only time he can truly look for information is during heists, but he can't keep wandering off while everyone else is chasing KID. That will only bring unwanted attention to him, it already caused Conan-kun to suspect him of secretly meeting with the thief. Ah, did that have to do with why he was invited to an early dinner? So, he should be prepared for questioning once he arrives. Noted.

Might as well leave the house now and start heading to the station. Taking a train to Beika now would allow him plenty of time to look around the area before making his way toward the agency.

He wasn't expecting to get on the train and after a few minutes, have Akako-san of all people take the seat next to him.

She doesn't give him a chance to greet her or tell off the older men he can see gawking at her.

Instead, she looks him directly in the eyes and asks him why he's so different.

…Hakuba doesn't quite know how to respond to that.

Akako-san often spoke in riddles that he could never quite figure out the meaning of. However, he was often interested in hearing more about her magic and apparent informant Lucifer. Magic is something that he's always believed in, Doyle believed in it too, and yet has never had the opportunity to see it firsthand. Was Pandora considered magic? It has to be, is it defined as a magical gem? A curse? He'd ask Akako-san but he doesn't want knowledge of Pandora spreading. Instead of asking for an explanation, Hakuba simply smiles at his classmate and calmly explains that he doesn't know what she's referring to and that if he is behaving differently than how she expects then perhaps they are simply at the point of becoming friends. After all, friends are those who are comfortable with behaving as themselves rather than putting up a front. He can't remember if they were actually friends at this point in time, but he knows that in the future she is someone that he considers to be a close friend.

She looks pleased but still confused.

"Very well, we may become friends. However, I shall be asking Lucifer to watch over you, just in case a demon has decided to possess you."

"Thank you for your consideration, I'll be counting on your aid should I ever find myself having to deal with possession."

Akako-san perks up, smiling at him as she tosses her hair over her shoulder, "Of course! I'm the best one to deal with such matters, I'm glad you can recognize that. I'll be seeing you, Hakuba-kun."

Between one moment and the next, Akako-san vanishes from sight and no one else on the train seems to have noticed. How interesting. Perhaps she'll be willing to speak with him about her abilities in the near future.

Shortly thereafter he reaches his stop and leaves the train. He has yet to receive any messages from Ran-san, as she insisted he call her, and there's still some time before the agreed-upon meeting time.

This gives him plenty of time to walk around the area and familiarize himself with his surroundings before heading over to the agency. It's not often that he comes to Beika, he usually doesn't have any reason to. From what he remembers, the only times he'll end up coming to Beika is due to a school field trip and because of how often Aoko-san would take to inviting him to an outing with Kuroba-kun and herself. Occasionally, Keiko-san or Akako-san would join them. He couldn't help but notice how uncomfortable Kuroba-kun appeared to be in Akako-san's presence. However, comparing the future to now, they're not currently close enough for that type of 'hanging out' just yet, but he thinks Aoko-san will start trying to invite him out soon. For some reason, he can remember how she was always oddly intent on befriending him, much to Kuroba-kun's displeasure. He's not sure why she wanted to befriend him so badly, especially after how upset he made her by accusing Kuroba-kun of being KID. Of course, after that first time, he never did it again… not publicly at least. Making that public accusation has got to be one of the stupidest things he could have done. He's lucky the Organization didn't put two and two together and realize Kuroba-kun was KID. Hakuba hasn't done it since then. Sort of. He did do it a few times when he knew that it was just Kuroba-kun who could hear him. Plus, after Kuroba-kun says it's not him, Hakuba always lets the matter drop rather than keep pushing for answers.

Has he already accused Kuroba-kun of being KID? He can't really remember… he'll just have to avoid mentioning it. It's not like he needs a confession anymore.

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He arrives at the Detective Agency two minutes early and knocks on the door forty-five seconds before he is expected to arrive. The door swings open at the twelve seconds mark, Conan-kun looking up at him with a broad grin on his face. It's so similar to Kuroba-kun's that Hakuba barely managed to fight back a shudder at the sight of it.

Maybe he should look into whether or not the two of them are somehow related. At this point, it wouldn't surprise him if they were. Conan-kun looks nearly identical to him, except for the color of both his hair and eyes, as well as the cowlick.

"Hi, Hakuba-niisan!"

"Hello Edogawa-kun, how are you doing?"

"I'm good! Ran-neechan is almost done cooking, so we can just wait at the table."

Hakuba followed him inside, stopping momentarily to exchange his shoes for slippers. Ran-san greeted him the instant he was within her sight, offering to take his coat, which he refused seeing as she was in the midst of cooking, and telling him that the food will be done in a few minutes. There was a bit of an awkward air between them, Conan-kun seem to be debating on something while Hakuba was content to sit in silence. Although, he was finding himself just a bit anxious for the questioning to start. He had expected Conan-kun to start discussing the previous heist the moment he walked through the door. He's not sure why Conan-kun has yet to say anything.

Instead of attempting to encourage conversation, Hakuba let his eyes wander around the room. 

The room itself gave off a very lived-in appeal, homey is what others would call it. A decent variety of books line the bookshelves off to the side. Interestingly enough, there didn't seem to be any children's books, not in sight at least. Then again, Conan-kun is very smart for his age, Hakuba doesn't doubt his being capable of reading books marketed for those nearly double his age range. The area was clean, but not with the cleanliness you would expect of someone who cleaned every day, nor was it clean enough to show that they care for perfection. Something he's noticed in quite a few homes of detectives he's visited in the past.

Then again, those detectives might have been so strict in coming off as perfect because they felt threatened by Hakuba being a teen detective and solving more cases than any of them had throughout their entire careers.

It wouldn't be the first time he's dealt with those with an inferiority complex. Usually, the aggressive behavior tends to stick to the back burner until they come to the conclusion that enough is enough. By then, Hakuba does his best to keep his distance while doing his job. He's glad that Conan-kun doesn't seem to be at all threatened by Hakuba's presence, unlike Hattori-kun. Ran-san is friendly enough considering they do not truly know one another, he believes that they have only met twice before, and he has yet to meet Mouri-san.

Based on what he's heard of Sleeping Kogoro, it would be interesting to see him in action. Although, he's more curious about what Conan-kun does during these deductions. He's seen him in action before, and though he wishes a child wouldn't have to face the dark side humanity has to offer, it is unavoidable. Just a brief Google of Conan-kun's name is enough to bring up various murder cases as well as kidnappings, aggravated assault, bombings, and even a few supposed terrorist threats. Far too much for any seven-year-old to handle, even Hakuba would find himself affected after being involved in all that. He has no doubt that Conan-kun must at least have nightmares and some form of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. It's probably worse for those other kids he's read about being involved as well, he thinks they are called the Detective Boys? He wonders if any adults have seen to getting the children to counseling, and see a proper therapist to check on their mental states. Seeing compartmentalization in a child is unnerving.

…Would it be overstepping boundaries to look into that? Maybe try and find a therapist and recommend them?

He cultivated quite a variety of acquaintances over the years, even at this age. Solving as many cases as he has allowed him to meet a lot of people with different skill sets.

Once the food is finished, Hakuba helps bring it all to the table, not letting Ran-san force him to stay seated despite her best attempts at doing so. It was a bit frustrating for them both but Conan-kun seemed amused. A few minutes were spent with Ran-san asking about his day and then the two of them discussing school before Conan-kun steered the conversation toward Kaitou Kid. Ran-san appeared to be exasperated but listened as Conan-kun went on a long, detailed explanation of the heist and any bits of it that he knows Hakuba had missed. Although the retelling was done in a childish, story-like way, Hakuba was able to mentally compare it to the reports he’s read and understand exactly what Conan-kun was talking about.

"Neh, Hakuba-niisan, why are there snipers at KIDS' heists?"

Hakuba blinked, somewhat startled by the abrupt change of subject but then he noticed how Ran-san was no longer in the room. She probably won't be able to hear them speaking over the running water as she starts on the dishes. Conan-kun purposely waited to have this discussion. Understandable since if Ran-san knew of the dangers of some heists, she would more than likely keep Conan-kun from attending any.

There was something about the tone Conan-kun had while asking that… at least he wasn't pretending to be overly childish around him. Hakuba doesn't have the patience for dealing with that.

"I'm afraid you misunderstood me, Edogawa-kun." Hakuba frowned, "The snipers I spoke of have appeared at previous heists, but they are not associated with the task force or any division of the local police where the heists take place."

"What? You mean KID has people after him?"

"It's that surprising, is it? He's had enemies come for him before, it's more than likely there'll be more in the future."

Conan-kun tilts his head, "And you were searching for them? Alone?"

"I'm more than capable of handling myself, it's not the first time I've chased after criminals," Hakuba said dryly.

"Hm, but even detectives and officers need back-up."

"Are you offering yourself as back-up?"

Conan-kun looked surprised, "You'd be fine with me being your back-up?"

"Why not? You're just as capable, if not more so than other detectives and officers I've met. Plus, I know from first-hand experience that you are very smart and resourceful."

Hakuba knows that Conan-kun is a great detective, a genius in his own right, and regardless of his youth, Hakuba will give him the acknowledgment and respect he deserves. Besides, thinking it over despite being just seven years old, when faced with a dead body Conan-kun comes off as apathetic compared to how others his age should react.  He also thinks of motives and other things that children shouldn't even know about. Conan-kun is a very odd child, just like how Hakuba was in his childhood. It's because of that, that he chose not to outwardly address Conan-kun's behavior, it's not like he's witnessed it leading to Conan-kun or anyone else facing danger… unless he counts all the cases as danger. In which case, Conan-kun could use a responsible older figure in his life.

He can handle watching out for Kuroba-kun and Conan-kun. How hard can it be?

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Very hard as it turns out.

Chapter Text

Mitsuhiko knows that Haibara-san and Conan-kun are hiding something, he knows, and sometimes it upsets him that they don’t think they can trust him or the rest of the Detective Boys with that secret. It’s okay though because it’s like Asami said, if a friend has something they aren’t ready to tell you then that means they will silently need your support until they are ready. Although, she did say that sometimes people are never ready to share their secrets… It doesn’t matter! Mitsuhiko will support his friends, no matter what! Even if they have been making it a bit hard ever since he got lost in the forest in Gunma and ran into that serial killer… Are they still mad at him for going off on his own like that? Numabuchi Kiichiro wasn’t really bad, not to him at least… he was definitely a bit scary at first, especially when he tried chasing him, but he didn’t hurt Mitsuhiko or do anything to him other than try bringing him to the fireflies!

It was only fair that Mitsuhiko listened to his story after Numabuchi-san offered to carry him so he wouldn’t lose the one firefly he managed to catch. Although, Genta-kun made him lose it pretty fast. 

Is… Is it bad that Mitsuhiko didn’t tell anyone what Numabuchi-san told him? No, no it’s fine. It’s not his secret to tell. Asami taught him that friends don’t betray other friends’ secrets unless the secret itself puts the friend in danger.

All Numabuchi-san told him was about the people who were supposed to be his employers until they decided not to hire him and sent him off to become a… experiment? He didn’t say what type of experiment it was, but Numabuchi-san seemed terrified remembering it. Mitsuhiko wants to be able to say he’s glad he escaped them, he called them crows?, but Numabuchi-san did kill three people… Although, he seemed okay going with the police after seeing the fireflies? So, maybe everything worked out in the end? Mitsuhiko shook his head, he was getting off track.  It didn’t help that since he took off on his own, his sister’s been encouraging him to do it again and even kept trying to get him to confess to meeting up with a girl. He still doesn’t know what she’s talking about, what girl? The others didn’t tell his parents or his sister about Numabuchi-san, but were they trying to get revenge by telling her some story about him meeting up with a girl?

It’s not like he can just ask either. Haibara-san’s been trying to distance herself from their group, obviously, Conan-kun knows the reason why but Ayumi-chan and Genta-kun haven’t brought it up, so Mitsuhiko won’t either.

That doesn’t mean he’s going to let her cut them off, Asami says that cutting people off can hurt both sides. Mitsuhiko doesn’t want Haibara-san hurt.

Sometimes he can't help but wonder if Haibara-san and Conan-kun's secrets are one and the same. Conan always talks in a cute way with adults, always sounding sweet and cheesy, mostly when he does his detective reasoning, and Mitsuhiko knows he's seen Haibara-san do it too. He's seen Conan-kun using someone else's voice a few times with that bowtie of his, Ayumi-chan and Genta-kun's seen it before too! He doesn't remember if Haibara-san has anything that lets her use someone else's voice, but she does live with the professor, so she can probably get her hands on something like that if she needs it. He's mentioned it before that neither of them has childlike qualities… should he add that to the list of quirks they have? There also seems to be some sort of understanding between them, anytime one of them acts weird the other always knows what to do to fix it. Plus, any time they ask about any of those things, Haibara-san and Conan-kun both try to distract them and make them forget about their questions. It may work with Ayumi-chan and Genta-kun, but not him. It makes sense if their secrets are the same… 

"What are you thinking so hard about, Mit-chan?"

"Whaa!" 

Mitsuhiko slips off his bed, pouting as his sister starts giggling at his misfortune. "Asami! What are you doing here?"

"Here in the house or in your room?" Asami smiled as she helped him up, "Because I do live here."

"In my room," Mitsuhiko eyed the phone in Asami's hand, "Is there a call for me?"

"Yup! It's your friend, Conan-kun!" Asami sighed, "How come the only reason I got to meet your friends is that you ditched them?"

Mitsuhiko blinked, somewhat taken aback. Their parents aren't home, are they? If they heard Asami speak like that they'd definitely start yelling. "I didn't think you'd want to meet them? You never asked too and it's not like they asked to come over either."

"Ooh, so it wasn't because you thought I'd embarrass you?"

"No!"

Asami grinned, "In that case, it's fine. I already got to introduce myself to them when they came over looking for you. If you're going out, make sure you lock the door behind you. Mom and dad are out and I'm leaving now to meet up with a friend."

Mitsuhiko took the phone as she held it out to him, Conan-kun was still on hold, "You never introduced me to your friends."

"Do you want to meet them?"

Did he? Mitsuhiko took a second to think about it. His sister is the same age as Ran-san, and Ran-san is nice to him… her friends probably won't mind meeting him? 

"I want to meet them!"

"In that case," Asami pointed at the phone, "Find out what Conan-kun wants. If it's not an invitation to hang out with your little friends then why don't you get changed and come with me to meet up with mine?" 

"Really?!" Mitsuhiko smiled, "Okay, don't leave yet then!"

Asami waved over her shoulder, mumbling something as she left the room but Mitsuhiko didn't hear what she said. He took the phone off hold.

"Conan-kun?"

"Mitsuhiko! That took a while, were you busy?"

“No, my sister wanted to talk to me real quick, sorry I took so long. Is everything okay?”

"Ah, Ayumi and Genta can't make it to the Professors today, figured I'd let you know."

Mitsuhiko didn't even know they were planning on meeting there in the first place. When was that planned? Was Conan-kun trying to tell him not to come? Should… should he ask? It'd be rude to just assume. He knows that Haibara-san and Conan-kun like it when they can be alone, and when it's just the two of them. Though it does seem like they enjoy the Detective Boys’ outings…

He should just be honest. Honesty is the best path to take between friends.

"Oh okay, I didn't know about meeting there in the first place so it's okay. Thank you for letting me know though!"

"...You didn't know?"

"No, but I'm glad I didn't, otherwise I wouldn't have been able to agree earlier to meet my sister's friends! She would have left before I knew it was canceled, so this worked out in my favor!"

Conan-kun was silent on the other end, and Mitsuhiko couldn't help but start to overthink everything he said.

"Your sister, Asami-san, right?"

"Yes? I only have one sister."

"Have you ever gone out with her before? Do you know what friends you are meeting?"

"Mmh, no? We usually don't see each other that much since our schedules are the opposite of each other. I haven't met any of them before, but I think she's talked about them? I know she talks a lot about some girl in her class that lends her magazines during their breaks."

"Okay… just make sure you have your phone and your detective badge with you before you leave."

Did Conan-kun think he was going to go off on his own again? That was… very hypocritical of him.

"I will, I try to always carry them with me just in case."

"Good."

The silence that follows is so awkward that he can't help but start fidgeting. To be honest, Mitsuhiko is surprised that Conan-kun hasn't hung up yet. Usually, he's the one who hangs up first, keeping phone calls short and to the point.

"Conan-kun? Are you okay?"

"Huh? I'm fine, why wouldn't I be?"

"Um…"

"Mitsuhiko?"

"It's just… usually you would have hung up by now? I know you don't really like talking on the phone."

He thinks he can hear a soft oh but it's low enough that he's not certain. Either way, Conan-kun mumbles a goodbye, one last reminder to carry his detective badge, and tells him he can stop by the Professor's house tomorrow before hanging up. Thus ending the call before Mitsuhiko can get the chance to say goodbye. The abrupt exit took him a few seconds to process, once he did, he frowned down at the phone.

"Mit-chan! Are you coming with me or not!?"

"A-Ah, I'm coming! Don't leave without me!"

He’ll see what’s going on with Conan-kun tomorrow.

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The thing about Hakuba Saguru is that Kaito doesn't know just what goes through the detective's mind. Sometimes he thinks he starts to understand him and his intentions, but then he does something completely unexpected and Kaito is left scrambling to keep his poker face intact. There's also the fact that ever since he came back from England, Hakuba has been acting… weird. Weirder than usual. Not to mention the near heart attack he gave Kaito the day he returned to Japan. He'd been out in one of his disguises, trying to get himself used to the attire since she would become a disguise he can use a few times. He was walking around, not really having a designation in mind when there were startled yells and a group started gathering half a block ahead of him.

To this day he is still not sure why he chose to go toward them rather than mind his own business and walk away.

Still, he wasn't expecting to see Hakuba sprawled out on the ground.

His heart leaped up into his throat, and for a brief, horrifying moment, Kaito thought Hakuba was dead. He shoved his way through the crowd, practically barreling a few of them over in the process. He doesn't relax, not even remembering to breathe until he's on his knees by Hakuba and feeling for a pulse.

A pulse that is definitely, thankfully, still there.

Honestly, now that Kaito is up close, Hakuba looks like he's just… sleeping.

He's actually asleep?!

From there it wasn't too hard to let the panic of those around him guide the situation. A few people were on the phone and calling an ambulance, others were leaving the area and a few were moving closer. Kaito didn't move from Hakuba's side, even after the detective woke up because it wasn't hard to notice how out of it he was. That actually brought his earlier panic back, because he was acting like he was drugged or something. Which, considering the detectives' lifestyle, was all sorts of worrying. Although, there's not much he can do other than keep a close eye on him and make sure that Hakuba doesn't suddenly just keel over. It's close enough, the detective keeps cradling his head and looks to be in enough pain that Kaito starts asking those around him how long until the ambulance arrives. This turns out to be a mistake since Hakuba starts protesting the need for an ambulance, insisting that he's perfectly fine despite not being able to focus on anyone around them. Even the geezer standing off to the side called out Hakuba's bullshit, not that he noticed.

Hakuba doesn't snap out of it once the EMTs are by his side, instead, he keeps trying to convince them to leave and that he had passed out because of sleep deprivation. At least the idiot let them check him for a concussion, though Kaito's pissed they let him get up and walk away.

Hakuba doesn't even notice Kaito following him home! That's not safe! He knows that Hakuba has one of the more complex security systems around his house, so it's not like he can just sneak in without preparation. This means he can't follow his detective into the house to make sure he's alright throughout the night. 

He'll have to settle with seeing him at school, and verifying with his eyes that he is okay.

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Hakuba is out sick for three days and the entire time Kaito is left wondering if it was truly a cold or if hitting his head on the sidewalk did more damage than any of them thought.

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It took far more effort than it should have, and far more than he should have been willing to give, to wiretap Hakuba's cell phone. It's just a tracker, he's not stupid, he isn't going to risk monitoring Hakuba's texts, calls, and search history, not while knowing who his grandfather is. The tracker is one of his own makings, which means it should be harder for Hakuba to notice and discard. Harder but not impossible, he'll need to change the programming enough for a new one should Hakuba realize Kaito was tracking him. 

What he wasn't expecting was for the tracker to reveal that Hakuba was apparently the type of person to take walks to random ass locations at odd hours. He's still a bit disappointed that Tantei-san ditched his heist when Kaito specifically made sure it was a fun one to celebrate Hakuba's birthday. He seemed upset when Aoko and they wished him a happy birthday, does he really not celebrate it? He even acted weird when Kaito went out of his way to visit him later that night. That and according to the tracker, in the past two weeks he's been to Beika a few times, the very Detective Agency where a certain mini detective lives are where he spent close to four hours the day after the heist. Since when were Hakuba and Meitantei close? He's pretty sure they've only met about one or two times at heists, Kaito tried to plan it so Edogawa Conan attends the heists he holds when Hakuba is out of the country… he just doesn't want to deal with the two of them working together, okay?! At least it’s the heists neither of them shows up that Snake and his men make an appearance.

His upcoming heist is one that neither detective should have been attending, it was a school night and Hakuba was supposed to be off visiting his mother again. Yet, once the heist started and he was leading the task force in circles, Kaito could have sworn that he saw Hakuba of all people sneaking out the side entrance in the midst of the chaos. Did Hakuba come back early? How long has he been back? Why isn't he chasing Kaito?

It's his distraction that almost gets him shot the moment he's up on the roof.

Thankfully, he remembered to wear the bulletproof vest tonight. Not so thankfully, Kaito remembered the task force members chasing after him, and how likely it was for them to come to the rooftop.

Chapter Text

It was a mad scramble to get back to Japan in time for KID's heist. The notice for this particular heist didn't go out until long after he left to visit his mother and check in on his mum, he’s worried about her- she still hasn’t responded to any of his messages, and he had no idea that Kuroba-kun was planning on holding a heist so soon after the previous two. Hakuba wasn’t planning on staying out of Japan for as long as he did, he ended up missing two of KID’s heists and spent the entire time worrying over whether or not the Organization was planning a hit. Technically it was more than two but the others were semi-small events and didn’t last as long as other heists. He didn’t receive any alert from the task force for any of the heist notes, and he has a feeling his father had something to do with that. He's been so busy in England dealing with his mother and local cases that he hasn't had time to check in on things in Japan. From what he gathered from Inspector Nakamori’s rant of a voicemail, KID went after both the Principality of Ingram's Crystal Mother, and the Ryoma Treasure collection. Hakuba isn’t going to count the incident with the star tree jewel as a heist since it’s obvious it was a fake note from KID that had forced Kuroba-kun into action. News reports tell him that Conan-kun was present for the second heist, Hakuba will have to message him at an appropriate time to hear his side of events. He’s almost certain he missed these heists in the original timeline as well. 

In the time he’s been gone, Hakuba has also been running around England, going from one trail of breadcrumbs to another as he dived headfirst into researching the Organization and finding Spider. It took him quite a while with more than a few incidents involving himself getting hurt to learn that the Organization seems to be split into different divisions depending on what the members talent is. Nearly all of them have a codename based on a type of alcohol, the only ones that could be considered as non-alcoholic codenames are Snake and Spider. However, they could also be references to alcoholic beverages but he's uncertain. There are a lot of similarities between them, which is why he believes them to be a part of one large organization rather than separate ones, but he won't assume without proof.

Assumptions could lead to people's deaths. Hakuba isn't willing to risk that.

The only reason why he knew of KID’s heist before it happened is that Akako-san told him about it. He’s not sure how she got his number, but he doesn’t think she’d be the type to share it with others, so he chose not to question it. She probably got it from Aoko-san.

It was while he was running around and meeting various, admittedly sketchy, information brokers that he had the… honor of meeting France’s Phantom Thief, Chat Noir. Not that Chat Noir was aware of Hakuba knowing her identity, something he had his memories of the future to thank for. She was actually one of the people he was directed toward to find information on the owner of Pandora’s gem. Thankfully, she didn’t ask too many questions or even seemed surprised to have a high school detective using less than legal means of gathering information. She simply saw him as a customer and gave him information in exchange for bills, both of them swearing each other to secrecy. It's thanks to her contacts that he was able to find the name and current location of Pandora's owner.

Amelia Taylor, 43 years old, and currently traveling abroad in Singapore. Based on Chat Noir’s info, Taylor-san will be arriving in England in one month to attend a political party. One that the Hakuba family has been invited to countless times before yet never attended. Perhaps it’s about time that changed… He knows his mother will agree to it if it means he’s showing an interest in her company.

The party will be the perfect opportunity to introduce himself, and if possible, determine whether or not Taylor-san has Pandora in her possession. If she doesn’t… then he’ll just need to bid his time and keep in contact with Taylor-san for as long as he can until Pandora’s location is confirmed.

For now, Hakuba chose to return to Japan early and focus on keeping Kuroba-kun safe. He's also going to try and see if he can find any members of the Organization to keep an eye on.

Obviously, if he knew that Kuroba was planning his next few targets while he was out of the country then he would have put off leaving until after most of the heists. He's not sure if Kuroba-kun has a habit of dialing up the absolute nonsense going on at his heists whatever he's not in attendance, or if Hakuba has simply become so used to it that it takes something truly bizarre to throw him off. The thing is, Hakuba stayed out of sight for this heist. He didn’t even tell the Inspector that he would be attending. The only people who even know that he’s in Japan at this moment are his mother, his mum, both of who he canceled on, and Baaya. Though he’s somewhat upset at having come back to Japan already when he has yet to see his mum in person. He was finally able to get in touch with her and spent over six hours on the phone with her, yet she did not want to meet up with him. She also refused to acknowledge how she hasn’t been responding to any of his messages. He can’t help but feel as though she is upset with him, possibly for moving to Japan. Hopefully, the next time he’s there they’ll be able to have a much-needed conversation in person.

It’s laughable how easily he was able to sneak into the heist, he’ll need to talk to the Inspector about upping those guarding the entrances and exits. They’re lucky that no fans were able to sneak in. Especially considering this heist involved someone as important as a Princess from a foreign country.

Although he’s never met the man, Hakuba was tempted to introduce himself to the detective in charge of this heist, Detective Delon from Europe. He’s a tad concerned with how Delon was replacing Inspector Nakamori as head of security. In the past, this had been one of the many heists where he wasn’t in attendance. He doesn’t know why the Inspector was replaced, nor does he know what type of man Detective Delon is. Hakuba settled for keeping his appearance a secret, for now, watching the proceedings from the shadows and keeping an eye on everything in case he needs to step in. He should have expected Princess Anne to be some sort of fan of KIDs' with how she spoke about him. It's probably because of wanting to meet the Phantom Thief himself that she brought so many expensive jewels with her to Japan. 

He doesn't get why so many people seem to idolize him, or why they are so excited to have him steal from them. Even after getting to know Kuroba-kun and witnessing his fair share of heists, he's still confused.

He nearly blows his cover realizing that Detective Delon is the type to shoot first and ask questions later. While it does seem like KID has things handled, Hakuba is unnerved seeing him almost get shot.

He also can't help but think that the humiliation KID is putting Detective Delon through is well deserved, hearing him boast about being Europe's number one detective was grating, although making Inspector Nakamori the 'hero' of the night following that over the top speech of his. At least… at least the Inspector seems to be back in charge of security for the heists. Hakuba wouldn't have been comfortable working with anyone else, the Inspector takes the time to listen to him even if he doesn't always go along with what Hakuba says. Hakuba has a feeling if Detective Delon stuck around then he'd have issues being able to attend future heists.

What’s bothering him is that Spider should be arriving in Japan soon, his Europe tour finished yesterday. Hakuba wants a chance to speak with Spider but he’s not sure how he’ll manage it when the only time he can think of catching the assassin is during a heist. Hakuba doesn’t want to risk Kuroba-kun being a target. No matter how much time has passed, Hakuba will never forget what being under Spider’s hallucinations felt like, nor what he had seen within them. With everyone else so busy dealing with everything going on with the heist, there is no one around to notice him searching the area.

…While he wants to find some evidence of the Organization meddling with heists, he wouldn't be disappointed to find nothing.

He'd rather Kuroba-kun be safe then targeted by murderers.

It's only a few hours after the heist ends that he decides to go back to the house before Baaya starts to worry. While he's at it, he'll need to message his aunt about that bloody Detective Delon. Any detective who shoots that eagerly regardless of who else is in the room is not someone Hakuba trusts on the force. Or any force really. It's not just because he overheard Delon threatening to turn KID into Swiss cheese, as corny of a saying as it is. Even though he wasn't inside with all the others, everyone who was inside kept talking about everything that happened even as they were leaving and should have been minding their words around the public. From what he overheard, Delon had shot at KID, landing a direct hit that would have killed him had KID not been holding onto the stolen jewel.

Although… Maybe Hakuba needs to find a way to tell KID to not trick someone he doesn't like into running out a window on the fourth floor? He's lucky that Detective Delon got stuck on a flag pole otherwise that fall could have seriously injured or even killed him.

While he's at it, he should do something about that skirt flipping, and stalking habits of Kuroba-kun's. Aoko-san needs to be talked to about the brute force she often resorts to, at this point it's more like aggravated assault. He was surprised she hadn't accidentally sent someone to the hospital yet. Then there's Akako-san's apparent disregard of gaining others' consent for things… really, it's like the three of them are always doing things that could get them arrested. He doubts that lecturing them would be enough, he knows that he isn't exactly someone that people like to listen to going on about any topics. Should he try to get Inspector Nakamori in on this? It's more likely they'll listen to him. Why is it that those three become his closest friends in the future? They're going to be the cause of all sorts of headaches in the days to come. Conan-kun as well considering all the other mayhem he finds himself involved in.

…Maybe he should start carrying around some Tylenol or something like that. He automatically makes sure he carries a portable first aid kit and keeps a well stocked one in the family car, but maybe it will do him some good to start carrying some everyday type of painkillers.

He can keep them with his extra change of clothes, Kuroba-kun usually never finds out about his extra clothing until after one of his pranks and he sees that Hakuba had cleaned himself up relatively easily. He'll just need to plan all of this while also preparing for his interaction with Spider. Not to forget keeping an eye and an ear out for information on the Organization. Chat Noir shared her number with him and swore to keep him updated on any information she finds, he didn't tell her about the Organization, but he did ask her to keep an eye on Taylor-san and for updates on Spider's tours. This way, Chat Noir will be inadvertently keeping him in the loop with her location, a small tracker placed within her cellphone case will let him know if she's in Japan. He'll need to be more careful in the future, he found Kuroba-kun's tracker a week ago and disabled it. It's guaranteed that he'll try to plant a new one on him sometime soon. Before all that, he'll get some rest tonight so that he has enough energy to start planning tomorrow.