Kaito came to slowly, not really sure if he was still alive or if he'd died already. The last thing he remembered was falling off a very tall building with Tante-kun in his arms, only to discover his glider had failed. Had he died a messy death on the pavement below? Or was he a mangled mess with a pulse? He tried to move a bit, only to feel an agonising pain shoot through his body, stemming from his leg where he'd been shot. Ok. He was alive. Dead people didn't feel pain. Or at least, that's what Akako claimed.

      He blearily opened his eyes, blinking in the dim light. He was laid down on a double bed that had brownish beige covers and pillow cases, and the room was painted a soft duck egg blue. Beside him to his left was a nightstand with a glass of water standing on it, next to what looked like a crystal pitcher of water. This... wasn't Saguru's house. Nor was it his. The room didn't smell like a hospital room either. Where was he? Struggling into a sitting position, he took in the room properly, getting even more confused as he failed to recognise the place.

        The door to the right of the bed opened just as he was about to attempt to actually get up and escape, making the thief slump back down into a more comfortable position, making it look like he was only just coming to. To his surprise, none other than Tantei-kun walked in, shutting and locking the door behind him. Though by the way the boy was behaving, it seemed more like he was locking someone out rather than keeping him in. Not that a simple lock could hold the great Kaitou Kid.

       The young detective turned away from the door, noticing the thief's amethyst gaze almost instantly. The child smiled in relief, before walking up to the bed and hopping up so he could be at eye level with the magician. Kaito blinked, purposefully gazing around in a dazed manner before looking back to his youngest rival, confused. Why was Tantei-kun here?

      "How are you feeling, Kai-nii?" The boy asked in a far too mature tone for his seven years. Kaito shrugged his shoulders. He didn't really feel like talking to his rival right now. The boy seemed to understand this though.

     "You don't have to talk if you don't want. And you don't have to worry here. The only people allowed into this room are me, and Ran-neechan. Sorry I knocked you out, I didn't want you to see how I got us out of that mess, and believe me, it was a close call. I won't be pulling that particular stunt again for at least the next few weeks." Kaito watched as Tantei-kun winced slightly. What exactly happened after he'd gotten knocked out anyway? Wait... where was the emerald? Had he... had he dropped it? And... and oh god he wasn't wearing his monocle. Tantei-kun could see his face! Who else had seen his face?

          "As far as The doctor who treated you was concerned, Shinichi-niichan was his patient. The emerald is in your top hat under the bed. If you need to call anyone, Shinichi-niichan's phone is in the top drawer. I'm going downstairs to make lunch. You've been out for a couple of days. You're probably hungry. If you have any allergies, tell me now. I don't want you dying on me again." Well, Kaito mused, that covered pretty much all the basics for now. Though he was curious as to why the boy had said again. Had he really been hurt that badly?

         Kaito was about to say he had no allergies, except for nosy detectives, when he realised food often meant f-finny m-m-monsters in Some form or another. "F....fish. No f...fish." Damnit he couldn't even say the word without stuttering anymore. The boy smirked slightly as if picking up on the magician's fear, but failed to comment. He just nodded calmly and agreed that there would be no fish at all, before leaving the room again.......

         ........ Saguru was starting to get mildly concerned now. The heist had ended Saturday morning, with the police wrapping up in the small hours, carting away someone in an ambulance surreptitiously. Saguru had seen and heard enough to conclude that it had been Snake handcuffed to the stretcher, not his precious Kaito, though the thief had vanished as usual. Of course, Saguru had only arrived on scene after they'd carried Snake downstairs, so he hadn't seen what happened.

         Which led to him worrying now. He knew for a fact that his lunatic (secret) boyfriend was capable of vanishing without a trace even after sustaining a near fatal injury, so for a few drops of blood to be found on the rooftop where the thief was last seen, it must have been pretty bad. The only good thing about all this was that no body had showed up, and Snake's sniper pal had been found bound and gagged with duct tape, an authentic kid caricature stuck to his forehead, so Kaito couldn't be too badly injured.

         So... Kaito was probably not lying in a ditch somewhere bleeding out, but the lack of correspondence was concerning. Usually Saguru received a text or a call after a successful heist, just to reassure the frazzled detective that the magician was safe and free. No such thing today. Or yesterday or the day before. It was Tuesday afternoon for heavens sakes, and the magician hadn't shown up for school, or returned home, and he hadn't even taken care of his doves.

That was the most worrying thing. Kaito never, ever neglected to care for his precious feathered assistants, so for the birds to go unattended was concerning. Saguru made a mental note to check on the doves again later. He sighed as he rested his head on his hands, earning a few looks from classmates that he didn't notice. He was regretting coming to school today, but he skipped yesterday to thoroughly search the magician's house, and it would seem strange for the detective to skip school twice in a row without good reason. He couldn't exactly say he was looking for his missing boyfriend, could he?

"Hakuba-kun?" Saguru didn't respond. To be quite frank, he didn't want to talk to Aoko right now. The girl wasn't worried about Kaito at all, which would be strange, if Kaito didn't frequently vanish for a day or two. The inspector's daughter firmly believed the magician was simply off visiting his mother. Huh. Funny. When had he started thinking of Aoko-chan as Aoko?

"Hakub-kun."

"Hakuba-kun......"

"Final warning." Saguru snorted, then yelped as a mop made contact with his head none too kindly, though he knew Aoko could hit much harder if she wanted. Aoko rolled her eyes.

"Hakuba-kun. It's lunch. What's up with you today? Come on, I made enough for two." Saguru knew better than to argue with Aoko when she offered lunch; Kaito had told him a while back that Aoko only offered lunch to someone when she wanted to talk, and No wasn't a correct answer. No was an answer only idiots and Kaito gave, because No was usually followed by the Mop, and Kaito was the only one Saguru had ever met capable of consistently dodging that particular weapon.

        He got up, resigned to following Aoko to wherever she had lunch, fully expecting her to ask something along the lines of where Kaito was, because she knew he kept tabs on the magician. (Though she though it was due to his suspicions of Kaito being Kid, and had no inkling that Saguru was in a *secret* romantic relationship with the magician and worried for the crazy thief's safety.) the thought of Aoko finding out about their secret relationship was harrowing, to say the least. Neither detective or magician knew how she felt about the whole gay thing after all.

        Aoko led the way up to a deserted part of the school roof, pointing to what looked like a chalk line circling the deserted area. "Kaito did that when we first started here, claimed it to be our 'safe zone' where we could talk or just relax. It's always prank free, though Saguru-kun shouldnt cross the line without invitation, unless you want to pay later. Sit. Aoko's hungry, so Hakuba-kun must be too. Right?" All cheer had gone from her voice, Aoko dropping her version of pokerface in favour of a more truthfully concerned expression.

"Kaito didn't come home last night. Aoko knows he doesn't go see Chikage-chan when he disappears. He's never been gone for more than two nights without him or Chikage-chan letting Aoko know if he's going to be longer. Aoko... Aoko doesn't want to say Hakuba-kun is right, but... but if otou-san is right about the last heist, and if.. if Kaito is Kaitou Kid...." The usually loud and cheerful girl trailed off to take a deep, shaky breath. "If Kaito is Kid.... he's probably not.... Otou-san saw Kid get shot. Twice." Instead of a shaky breath, there was a quiet sob from the girl.

"Aoko-chan...." was all Saguru could think to say, noting she really did have two bento's with her, and she'd already eaten some of one. He moved to sit next to her, mentally sighing. How the hell was he supposed to comfort Aoko of all people? He couldn't exactly call Kaito, the magician hadn't answered the past six times, so he doubted he even had his phone on him, and anyway, nobody knew Saguru had Kaito's number, so to suddenly have it would be a bit odd.

Maybe he could pass it off as Kaito giving him the number because they were friends? But then, that would seem odd in and of itself, because other than him, Kaito's mother and Aoko, the only person who had his mobile number was Nakamori-keibu. Another quiet sob from Aoko had Saguru awkwardly hugging her, unsure of what else he could say. Aoko moves slightly, and seemed about to say something, when Saguru's phone went off, making both of them start. Saguru fumbled for a second as he checked the number, before answering the phone hesitantly. He didn't know the number.

       "Whose spea....."

      "Saguru?" Saguru let out a sigh of relief.

"Borrowed the phone." The thief said, in way of answer to the unasked question on the number "Aoko's on the roof with you, right?" Saguru did a full 360, looking for any spy-cam doves but coming up blank and allowing a surprised chuckle escape from him. How did Kaito know that?

"Is she really that predictable? Where are you anyway?" A long pause, one that felt hesitant. Saguru noticed Aoko watching him out the corner of his eye. Saguru didn't like the pause.

"No, not to everyone else, and I've no idea. I was kidnapped." Saguru spluttered, about to go full on panicked detective mode, before Kaito's chuckle made him pause. Was he....? "No, I'm not joking. I was kidnapped. By tantei-kun. No, I don't know how, or why. Put me on speaker. I want Aoko to hear this too. If it's okay with you?" Saguru nodded, before realising Kaito couldn't see him, and making a noise of agreement. Saguru told Aoko who was on the phone and she sighed in shaky relief.

"Aoko?" Just hearing his voice..... Aoko would have crumpled to the floor if she hadn't already been sat down. "I'm ok, Aoko. I'm safe. I need you both to head over to Beika-Chou after school. Saguru? You know who to go to right?" Aoko frowned, and Saguru didn't blame her. That was the first time she'd heard the magician call the detective by given name, after all.

"A...ah. Yes, I know where to go. You sure you want Aoko-chan to come?"

"Well, I can't come to you. From what I've been told, I'm not even supposed to get up." Okay, that was a worrying thing to learn, even more so knowing what he did about the magician. Aoko took a sharp breath, but didn't say anything. "Saguru, Aoko, I cant really explain over the phone, and it'll be easier face to face. I'll see you both after school. Don't worry about me. I'm safe here. Ja ne." With that, Kaito hung up, leaving a baffled Aoko and a worried Saguru staring at the detective's phone.

"Ne, Hakuba-kun? What did he mean you know where to go? Has he told you where he goes when he disappears? Or did you just figure it out?" Saguru sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose, silently cursing the thief for not telling Aoko.

".... if kaito-kun hadn't said 'Beika-Chou', I'd admit to being clueless. He wants us to go the Mouri Tantei Agency. He deliberately didn't tell me where he is, so I'm guessing this has something to do with his occasional vanishing acts."