Ai was being a brat. She knew this. She was being as much of a fussy, nosey, annoying, spoilt brat as she could, just to annoy Kazuha-san. Then she noticed the boys exit the restroom and mentally grinned her sinister little smile. Ran-oneesan was putting up with her antics with a sort of serenity that really shouldn't be present in a teenage girl. But kazuha-san was looking decidedly flustered with all of Ai's awkward and sometimes rude questions.

The mini-chemist noted how Kazuha-san shot Hattori-san a pleading look when the two boys returned, cracking a small, evil little grin as she realised Kazuha-san was looking rather frayed around the edges. That meant annoying her was working. How gratifying.

     "Heiji! Ai-chan won' stop askin' me 'bout ya an' Kudo-Han. Make her stop!" Kazuha-san burst out, looking far too flustered and red-faced for just a few little questions. Poor girl. Obviously she wasn't used to bluntly honest genius children who knew far too much about things they really shouldn't at that age.

     Ai was grateful of the quiet ambience of the cafe too. It added to the amusement factor when she demanded answers from the older girl, because everyone would overhear. Somehow the other 'grown-ups' hadn't interfered though. Probably enjoying the show.

     Kudo-kun shot the mini-biochemist an amused glare, not saying anything as he slid back into his seat next to Hattori-san, his shoulders slightly hunched. She wondered idly if he was hunching them on purpose to make himself seem more stressed, or if he was in discomfort.

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     Kazuha stared as the little strawberry blonde devil settled down the second Kudo-Han looked at her, turning into a perfect little angel who just sat there doodling cute cats in her little sketchbook. She was so unlike the little hell-spawn who liked asking really awkward questions about Kudo-Han and Heiji's bedroom activities, that Kazuha was almost ready to believe the child had been replaced without her notice.

     How had Kudo-Han done that with a single look? Said detective sighed (he seemed full of sighs today.) as Heiji finished his hazelnut latte and pushed Kudo's coffee mug into restless hands. A polite thankyou had the teen wondering how Heiji could be friends with someone who was bordering on too polite.

     A tiny, almost inaudible growl has her glancing down at ai-chan, surprised by the intensity of the steely glare aimed at Kudo-Han.

     "Haibara. I know you love to torment new people. I also know you put sugar in my coffee. But can you not wind Toyama-chan up too much? And really, if you have to, there are far better topics than whatever Hattori and I get up to behind closed doors. Its not anyone's business anyway. Especially not yours. You are far too young to be asking those sorts of questions." Kudo-Han admonished, somehow knowing what Ai-chan had asked without having to be told. Which was fairly creepy.

     "Kudo?" The detective seemed to ignore Heiji's worried not-question, instead clutching at his head with one hand and wincing. Kazuha was surprised to feel Ran-chan's steadying hand on her shoulder as she tried to stand. A shake of her head and a single finger pressed against her lips.

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     Shinichi could feel a soft weight in the back of his mind, much like the connection Conan had with Hakuba. He wasn't quite sure if he could forge a proper link from this far away, but he wanted to try. Merlin could from the outskirts of Osaka, but Conan couldn't, so it old be an interesting experiment.

     *Hakuba?* he projected at the presence. It didnt respond for and endless second. He saw ran motion for silence so he could think easier. He'd have to thank her later.

     *Edogowa-kun? You sound... strange. Where are you?* the voice was quite loud,   Like a strong phone signal almost, but clearer. Shinichi sent a mental chuckle.

     *Not Conan. I'm Shin'ichi currently.* silence from the other side of the Link. Then...

     *Seriously? But that means you are in Osaka, and I couldn't reach Edo... you last night, i tried. How can you reach me when i cant reach you?*

     *It might be because I was Conan, even if I could reach you just as easily as Merlin. I don't know though. I don't even pretend to understand what Koizumi-san did to us. Has Kaito told you what Conan can do yet?* a mental snort came through the link.

     *yes. He told me. I thought he was joking, so i told him to pull the other one it's got bells on. Of course, then i ended up with  ring of bells on my leg and him going all Kaitou Kid serious on me. There is no such thing as a poison that can regress a person in age by ten years, super powers do not exist, and being stalked by a Shinigami should not be possible. But you exist, so Im going to assume you can turn into a bird and that you can probably do something similar as an adult.* Shin'ichi smiled slightly.

     *we should discuss all this in person, if the antidote allows as much. Im currently pretending to have a headache spike in a public cafe in the company of a hotheaded Osaka couple and two terrifying women, one of whom looks like a child.* with that, the Heisei Holmes shut he link off and re-focused on his friends.

     Ran shot him that special look that she had only for him and criminals that stated very clearly that she was more than happy to punt him through a wall should she need to.

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     The little band managed to make it all the way through their drinks and sandwiches and out of the cafe before something inevitably happened. Kudo-kun grabbed the back of Ran-Oneesan's shirt, and he back of hr own, dragging them backwards just in time for something to land with a sickening crunch before them, warm wet splattering a over Ai and Ran-Oneesan in the way blood often did whenever a corpse fell at Hattori-san and Kudo-kun's feet.

     It really did say something about those teen detective's lives and that of those around them when neither Ran-oneesan or Kazuha-san screamed, only sighing in that resigned manner f someone unfortunately used to this by now. Ai didn't scream either. If someone questioned her about it, she'd blame Edogowa-kun for her desensitisation to corpses.

     Ai called and ambulance (though they probably didn't need one, the impact with the floor suggested and instant death if they'd even been alive when they fell) and se saw Ran-oneesan call the police from a more discreet distance way.

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     The two detectives were on the corpse as soon as they'd somewhat cordoned the area off in peperation for the police's arrival. Heiji could see that kudo hadn't lost his touch, despite the clear discomfort his... feathers were causing him. Heiji was always impressed by the speed at with Kudo worked, clues seeming to come together for the paler teen in a way Heiji could probably never even hope to match.

     They'd already identified two suspects on scene, (and a third was half a block away with a very scary little Neechan sat on their back, according to Kudo, who seemed to be able to hear them) before the police could even get there, somewhat amusing Heiji because really, the police were getting a bit spoilt with Kudo doing most of the work for them in ten minutes.

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     Ran and Kazuha-chan greeted the osakan officer with sheepish smiles, both silently pointing to their respective childhood friends, who were currently hovering over a very bloody crime scene like a pair of oversized flies.

     Ran didn't recognise the officer but apparently Kazuha-chan did, which was enough for the Karate champion. He seemed to go pale at the sight of all the gore, before going straight to questioning the girls, a brief mutter about having though Hattori-san had been joking just audible ad he spotted a certain dark skinned teen.

"When Hattori-keibu warned me ta expect it ta rain corpses 'roun' 'is boy because he had 'is Tokyo friends roun' I though' he was jokin'." The officer grumbled, as Shin'ichi shook his hand. Ran couldn't help but grin as her childhood friend and Hattori-kun broke down the scene with a sort of freaky calm that she was fairly sure she shouldn't be used to, if the creeped out expression on the officer's face was any indication.

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The officer, one Hiro Satoshi, frowned as the Hattori-boy's friend shook his hand. There was something... strangely familiar and almost... otherworldly about the pale boy. It was like seeing someone you knew you should know the name of, but unable to recall properly. He knew the paler teen's face, he just couldn't place it to a name that was right on the tip of his tongue.

     The fact that the two boys had practically solved the crime already had Satoshi wondering if Hattori-keibu was downplaying his son's abilities, because unless the other boy had solved the whole thing on his own... A crow cawed. The officer noted with no little surprise that the paler teen's head shot up at the sound.

     He opened his mouth to ask the Hattori boy about his friend, but was cut off before he could even make a sound as Otaki-keiji arrived just in time to witness Satoshi get bowled over by a forty-something woman as she fled from the pale teen's brutal truths.

     Under one arm was a small girl with strawberry blonde hair, who was laughing, for some strange reason. A serrated knife was in the woman's other hand. Much to everyone's evident surprise, Mouri-chan and the two boys grinned at each other, the paler boy outright laughing as the Hattori boy rooted around in his bag only to pull out a strange looking skateboard.

     "Neechan, got da spares?" The Hattori boy asked Mouri-chan, a smile on his face. Satoshi glowered at the boy. Didn't he care than a child had just been snatched as a hostage? Mouri-chan tapped her chest, a purple necklace gleaming in the dull sunlight. The pale teen slammed a foot down on the skateboard, a dull hum reaching Satoshi's ears as the teen exploded forward at unnatural speed. How had he done that?

     The Hattori boy burst into a ground eating lope that would fit a dog much better than a man, following after the trail pale teen and the culprit and hostage had taken. A glint of something on the dark skinned boy's face hinted at a pair of glasses, though Satoshi didn't understand why.

     Otaki-keiji sighed beside him, an oddly resigned expression on his face. "Hei-chan." Satoshi detected a hint of exasperation and fondness in his fellow officer's voice. "Hiro-san. We best follow them. Those two girls will be fine on their own. I pity the fool dumb enough to mess with them." Satoshi wasn't sure what to make of that.

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Kaito was beginning to worry about 'Ru. They were sat in busy cafe with Aoko and Keiko, the detective and magician sat side by side. 'Ru had his eyes shut, and he seemed to be deep in thought, if the pinched brow and slight frown was anything to go by.

Aoko was helping by distracting Keiko with the usual girl-talk that had most boys cringing away, but not Kaito, cross-dressing Phantom Thief that he was. Knowing the latest fashion statements might just come in handy one day after all. He only kept half an ear on the girls though.

     Most of his attention was on the half-Brit beside him, who wasn't quite panicking yet, but close to it. The magician was prepared to move swiftly should his 'Ru have another not-quite-panic-attack. He didn't want people seeing that of the somewhat well known teen after all.

     As far as Kaito could tell, 'Ru simply wasn't coping well with his world being turned on its head, despite outward appearances. It must be hard for a detective really. After all, it was only last week that he hadn't known about shape-shifting, shrunken, super sleuths and what amounted to mystical abilities. Ok, so 'Ru was doing his best to wrap his head around it all, but... well...

     Kaito had always known that some of his father's tricks weren't exactly tricks, even if he had forgotten that up until recently, and knowing Kudo Shin'ichi and his current predicament helped a lot with accepting drastic changes in worldview. Kaito also knew that real magic existed in the form of a particularly creepy stalker-ish witch. (Akako's particular brand being proof in and of itself to a master magician such as a Kuroba.) So... it hadn't been that much of a surprise to Kaito.

     (It helped that he himself was searching for an immortality granting doublet gem that may or may not exist, really. Kaito's idea of normal was far from what others would consider as such though. Boring people didn't train doves to military level obedience and spy level intelligence. They also did not jump off skyscrapers whilst being chased by a small army of police for fun. And they most certainly did not make friends of their enemies/critics.

     But then... he was from a family of Kaitou, so what did people expect? For him to be a nice, normal, boring teen? Pah, as if. Third generation Phantom Thief talking. Supernatural happenings were mundane in comparison.)

     But 'Ru... he would need much longer to adjust, and Kaito wasn't sure his detective had that luxury, if the whispers Jii had heard floating around had any truth behind them. It was almost too much for a sherlockian detective to handle, but Saguru was good. He'd accept it sooner or later, Kaito was sure.

     Ah well. They had Aoko and Keiko he supposed. Because although Keiko wasn't in the know, so to speak, she was still a good friend, and she had an uncanny ability for distracting Saguru when it was most needed, even if she wasn't always aware of it. Not so great at a crime scene, where Saguru needed to focus, but great in nearly every other situation.

     "Ne, Kaito-kun? What do you think about Kaitou-Kid's long break? Do you think he's restocking his lair or something?" Indigo blue eyes snapped to Keiko as he registered her words. He flashed his special, not-quite-Kid grin that had the girl shrinking back in fear of sparkly, sticky retribution. A cup of tea was held defensively in front of her, as if she thought it could shield her from his particular brand of crazy.

     "Maybe. Do you have any idea how hard it is to get sufficient supplies for a decent, school wide prank? It takes ages. And that's not including the time it takes to mix the glitter bombs and hack the school records to make sure nobody will have a Nast reaction to them." Kaito huffed, mentally cackling at Keiko's face.

     "Imagine kuroba's pranks on a larger scale, add in professional security guards, throw in a couple of scary smart detectives and a freaky little kid who can predict his every move, then you might have some idea how long it must take Kid to plot all his heists. And that's not to mention how much time and money must go into restocking his repertoire for the heists." Saguru finished for Kaito, sounding just a little frazzled.

     Kaito huffed. Saguru knew full well that Kaito's Lair was well stocked and restocked every month, and was currently almost full to overflowing with 'Kid' grade and 'Civilian' grade gear. After all, Kid (and by extension Kaito) was a very meticulous person and would not risk being low on anything should it become necessary in a heist.

     "Maybe he's finally copped it and we're rid of him at last." Aoko declared a little harshly as she avoided Kaito's eye deliberately. She knew how much that upset him now, but he guessed she had to keep up appearances for the sake of her father. At least Kaito knew she didn't really mean it anymore.

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     In a well to-do area of Ekoda, inside a rather well kept and imposing but spacious household, two people were sat either side of a low coffee table, sipping from imported, rose patterned china cups. The person nearest the door was a tall, stocky, brute of a man of unknown age, his black felt fedora and sunglasses firmly on despite being indoors.

     The other sat with her back to the wall, her legs up on the table as she leaned back in her chair in the picture of a relaxed young woman. She was in her early twenties, golden yellow eyes almost glowing under dirty blonde hair that stuck up in rebellious bed-hair spikes.

     The bigger guy stared at the harmless, innocent looking young woman, trying to figure out if she was in a good or bad mood today. It was fifty fifty with this girl; one meeting she was nice and amicable and all smiles, the next she had a gun to your head and a knife to your throat, all teeth and sharp words. He prayed she was the former today.

     The young woman glared at him for what seemed like an eternity, before she cracked a smile and chuckled softly to herself. She seemed to be satisfied with him at least. It wasn't everyday she agreed to meet him after all, and it certainly wasn't often that he could get away from his partner to meet her either.

     But... with the troublesome blonde bastard not around due to a mistake on his part, they were free to talk with a white noise generator and a few... specialised dampeners to protect their privacy. Of course, he had no doubt that the young lady before him had at least six guns and a sword within reach of where she was sat, not to mention the staff she used to hobble around. (He'd never annoy anyone with a walking stick ever again because of her, that was for sure. Those things hurt.)

     "All three of them are on their way to my estate in England, Uncle Vodka." She assured him, her heavily accented Japanese somewhat hard to understand. Vodka nodded in thanks. His niece -and she was his biological niece at that- was the reliable and dependable sort. She always kept her word when she could, though in their business that was not always possible.

     As long as his three most prized possessions were safe and hidden, he was ok with his job. Being a double agent was tough, especially when you were pretending to be a skilled mercenary in an international criminal organisation. But... it had its perks, like the inside joke he had with another ...Rat within the organisation. Mostly at Gin's expense, but the Higher Up didn't need to know that.

     He actually found it entertaining to see both sides of his rather unique family. What with half of them being part of an international crime syndicate with an unhealthy obsession with immortality and the other half part of various groups and companies hell bent on seeing the aforementioned syndicate's demise.

     "Before you ask, uncle Vodka, my baby brother still has no clue about what the rest of the family get up to." And by that, she clearly meant the vast divide in the family career paths. "And last I heard, well... saw, he seemed to be busy.... ah...pursuing a certain plaything of his across several rooftops. He seemed to be busy, so I chose not to embarrass him." Vodka chuckled. What she really meant was she hadn't wanted to interrupt her brother because being caught by your big sister with your pants round your ankles at a Kaitou Kid heist was just asking for a cardiac arrest.

     "About that..." the ambient air temperature suddenly dropped by several degrees from 'mildly chilly' to 'sub zero'. The double agent tried not to swallow nervously. She wasn't the sort of young lady one should piss off, if they wanted to live. He'd rather piss of Gin. And that said a tremendous amount about his niece's cruel streak. 

     "His father has been give explicit orders to either convert or eliminate him." Vodka relaxed slightly as the dirty blonde woman relaxed and chuckled.

     "And the Baka-no-Yaro decided to do away with the Sea-Foam because corrupting a sherlockian teenage detective is like trying to teach a fish to breath air." Her accent thickened to almost incomprehensible levels, so much so Vodka couldn't understand her properly. Her eyes narrowed, either in anger or amusement. He didn't want to figure out which.

     "Aaa. He's decided to use Gin's favourite toy, but he's never home at the same time as his son these days. And that Nanny of his.... I get the feeling you're behind the reason Baaya is always appearing at the most inconvenient times? Anyway, he's asked our Task Force Mole to slip him the pill at the next Kid heist. You can't pull him out of this. It'd be too suspicious."

     A single raised finger stopped him from continuing. His niece had a grim smile on her face. The sort of smile that had Vodka wishing he was anywhere but in that house, no matter how nice it was to drink proper tea out of fine bone china cups. It was a smile that would probably have Gin backing up, which said a hell of a lot.

     "Wish the killer good luck for me?" That saccharine tone was creepy enough without the strong accent, but as it was, it set off warning bells in Vodka's mind. Something akin to instinct told him that the Kaitou Kid Task Force would be down a man come the next heist, and would likely turn up either dead or not at all afterwards.

     (If the mole was Lucy, Kid would get to him first. At least the thief was merciful and thorough. Being bound and gagged with your own underwear and duct-taped to a police desk with evident glued to your head was by far the lesser of the two potential ends after all.)

     "Ok. About that shipment I was here to discuss..." he agreed, using the initial (and official) reason for their meeting as a handy distraction.

     By the time he had to leave, Vodka had been thoroughly put off his niece and her saccharine yet sinister grin for at least a decade or two. Sure, she was unusually gifted and highly intelligent, with looks that rivalled more than one beauty queen, but damned if she didn't give off that vibe of crazy, unpredictable assassin.

     He had no doubt that the girl was picked if 'Skilled Mercenary' was a necessary title for an infiltration. (She really should meet Gin sometime. He had a feeling the man would be at a disadvantage.

     As soon as she was sure her uncle had vacated the premises, the young woman sighed with relief and flicked a hidden switch under her desk. Shutters rolled down over bulletproof windows as a skylight appeared, reinforced wire mesh buried in the sturdy glass.

     Part of the wall to ceiling shelves rotated as soon as the shutters were fully down, revealing a separate, hidden room carpeted with a generous layer of hay and straw. Two self-filling water troughs stood against one wall, either side of a low and high feed trough. The opposite wall was made up of hammocks and wall-mounted shelves, like some kind of crazy, oversized cat play area.

     Which... wouldn't be a bad description really, considering the creatures that flowed from the room like a mass of velvety water. There were five of them, each with a different coloured collar set with a gemstone that matched their eyes. All five of the beasts gazed up at her with loyal adoration and trust. She smiled gently, ensuring she did not bare her teeth.

     She began whistling her little brother's favourite anime tune.