"Naa... Kudo. Exactly how much did ya give the scary li'l Neechan anyway?" Heiji asked his not-boyfriend, as they sat on the steps of the recently refurbished and upgraded Hattori estate dojo. They'd spent the taxi ride back in silence, after paying for the drinks in the cafe. The building they were now sat in front of was now more multi purpose hall than dojo, but as it's current main use was as a dojo, they still called it as such. It didn't seem to need the stupidly high ceiling though. (Probably for when Heiji started throwing his bokkens around.)

"More than enough to buy that Fusae clutch purse she wants five times over. 'Conan-kun' gets the same." He replied, Heiji's jacket stretching a bit as his hidden wings shifted in an uncomfortable manner. (If the reaction that movement got was any indication anyway.)

     Kudo seemed to be about as relaxed as one could get, but Heiji knew better than to assume. Kudo's eyes were sharp and calculating as always, and it was clear that Kudo was on high alert, for some reason. Maybe it was because of the latest thing he had to hide from everyone? That was about the time when what Kudo said sunk in, and Heiji whistled. That. That was a lot of money. It was the sort of thing that had the western detective realising just how wealthy Kudo's family really was.

     He somehow always forgot about Kudo's extremely wealthy background. (Kudo had long since admitted that his crazy mother, under the guise of Edogowa Fujime, had ensured Conan, and by extension Mouri-san and Neechan, were monetarily supported and then some. Enough to give Conan a ridiculously generous weekly allowance, as in a 300% bonus on to of what he'd have gotten as an actual child, or himself for that matter.)

     It was just... well, Kudo never seemed to come across as a teen from money, the Suzuki-Han did. He didn't look down on anyone, he treated everyone as equals, even the little kids that Conan hung out with most days. Kudo even dressed like a somewhat normal teen, though he had a theory that that was Suzuki-Han and Neechan's doing rather than anything done by the detective give himself.

     Though he might be wrong on the clothing front, as he'd never been subjected to that sort of shopping trip. Thankfully. Probably a good thing, considering Kudo's current case-per-week rates. It just was Not Natural to encounter so many incidental murders like that. It wasn't.

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   Shin'ichi stood up, waiting politely for Hattori to do the same before he turned and led the way inside the Dojo, slipping his red and white shoes and Hattori's jacked off as he walked through the door on silent footsteps. He idly wondered when Hattori would notice exactly where his shoes had come from though. (The western detective was already nervous of Conan's kicks. Goodness knows what sort of reaction he'd get. It promised to be amusing anyway.)

     Outside of the Dojo, a Raven could be heard cawing softly, a faint coo from a pigeon replying. To Shin'ichi, this was as clear as day, though he couldn't quite hear what Raven-chan was saying. He knew it was Raven-chan too; there weren't any other Ravens in the neighbourhood as far as he could tell, and the bird had a slightly strange way of talking that set her apart anyway.

     Shin'ichi swept his too-blue eyes around the Dojo, taking in the too-high ceiling and wondering what possessed the builders to design it like that. The ceiling really was too high for a general purpose hall, though Shin'ichi could see it being designed with Heiji's temper in mind. The walls were solidly built too; though considering some of the things he'd heard as Conan from Kazuha-neechan.... well, at least Heiji would be less likely to crash through these walls.

     (The wall Hattori had crashed through had been made of half rotten wooden planks and Hattori had been  understandably furious at the time. Shin'ichi did have to wonder what sort of... powers Hattori would wind up with if that crazy witch 'took pity' upon him though.)

    (He hoped she did not. So far, only himself and Hakuba-nii had been affected, and it seemed that Hakuba only had limited telepathy so far. That was enough of a supernatural shock for anyone, thankyou very much. He did not want to deal with a Hattori who had powers. Ever.)

     The whole building smelt like someone had tried to cover over the new building smell with overpriced air freshener spray and a generous dose of sweat, though that might just be because both Hattori and his father vented their frustrations here. Each tatami felt new and barely used under his feet, all of them fitting together so neatly that it was difficult to tell where one mat ended and the other began. Even for Shin'ichi, and he had a Falcon's eyesight. The storage area seemed to be neatly kept too; though Shin'ichi could only see a small portion of it through the half open door.

     "Nice place for practicing, Hattori. Do you mind if I...?" He left the question open to interpretation, confident that Hattori knew him well enough by this point to accurately finish it. Hattori snorted.

     "Go ahead. Not much ta do an' I sorta wanna see if ya can actually fly like this." A sharp, Kid-esque smile made it's way to Shin'ichi's face. Hattori's face was priceless. He was likely wondering where Shin'ichi had learned to grin like Kaitou-Kid.

     He couldn't help but sigh in relief as he allowed his cramped, stiff wings to unfold and unfurl from their impossibly compact mass to a pair of  large, feathery appendages folded neatly behind him in a way that kept them from dragging along the ground. He gently rolled his shoulders, adjusting to the strange but somehow completely natural feeling of the weight of his new limbs.

     Slowly, just in case they were stiffer than they felt (though that would be difficult, it felt as though they'd been dipped in cement.), Shin'ichi stretched his wings out, the movement so alien yet familiar it almost freaked him out. Despite the frankly impressive wingspan, his wingtips didn't even come close to touching the edges of the Dojo, though the eastern detective had a feeling it would still be a little cramped once he started flying. If he even could in this form that was.

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     Heiji couldn't help but stare in wide eyed awe at The frankly impressive display that Kudo was giving. He hadn't actually been expecting to see a shirtless, winged  Kudo today, somehow. The feathers were a soft, pure white that resembled Kaitou Kid's audacious 'uniform', though the structure of the wings were more like 'Merlin's' than a doves. He'd seen the wings earlier, but that had been in a confined space where hiding them had been more important than getting a good look.

     Seeing as they were in full glory, when there wasn't a half criminal before them, was... unbelievable, incredible and so weird. A few weeks ago, if someone had asked Heiji what sort of wings Kudo would have if they all suddenly sprouted them, he'd have guessed at a ravens wings, or maybe a vultures. Not a peregrine Falcon. (At least, that's what Kudo said he was, as Conan. Heiji wasn't sure though.)

     "Ne, Hattori. You're thinking of touching my wings, aren't you?"

"Mind reader." It was an accusation made with the sort of fond exasperation Heiji usually reserved for Kazuha, and only Kazuha. He had a feeling Kudo knew this, but frankly, he didn't much care. (He'd always struggled with expressing his feelings when there was another person involved in said feelings. This was the best he could do. Unfortunately.) "ya sure Kudo?"

The withering, blue-eyed glare he got was more than enough warning not to ask twice. He stretched his hand out hesitantly, pulling back just before he could touch the wing in indecision. Kudo lunged forward with no warning at this, snatching at Heiji's hand with a speed that was both confusing and frightening. One wing moved toward him, brushing against his hand softly. Kudo's sharp gaze turned soft as he pulled Heiji closer.

"You won't hurt me Heiji." Kudo reassured softly, the change to first name enough to shatter Heiji's hesitation, though he was still really careful as he ran his hands over the soft, almost downy feathers. Kudo seemed to melt into the touch, which.... was strange to see. Especially as it seemed that Kudo might just fall over if Heiji moved away.

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"Mhnnnn..." The hands running along his left wing froze at the soft croon that escaped him, but Shin'ichi couldn't bring himself to care. All he cared about right then was the gentle fingers in his feathers. It was just... so... relaxing. Just a bit longer... he might have crooned again. Not that he'd admit it even if he had.

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     "Kudo?" The eastern detective snapped back to reality, his hazy look vanishing and his features almost visibly sharpened back to the usual calculated look he wore. As much as Kudo had apparently enjoyed that (Heiji had a feeling that it would be a useful little tidbit later on.) he realised that Kudo still needed to test out his wings properly.

     Kudo seemed to realise this too, as the eastern detective took two good steps away from Heiji and stretched his wings out, in a way that reminded Heiji of someone stretching their arms out. He then folded his wings and stretched them out again, this time making the wingtips twitch. Or at least, that's what it looked like anyway.

     "Sorry Hattori. Just feeling out how these things work in comparison to Merlin's. Fancy putting me to the test once we learn if I am grounded or not like this?" Heiji wasn't sure he knew what Kudo meant by that. What he did know, however, was that Kudo seemed to be testing out the strength and potential power of his new appendages.

     Whatever it was that Kudo was really thinking though... well, he seemed to reach a decision, because he beat his new wings firmly three times in quick succession, though nothing seemed to happen.... then Kudo beat his wings a fourth time, creating a powerful breeze inside the Dojo. Heiji gasped as he noticed that Kudo's feet were no longer on the ground.

     Woah. This was... even if it was barely a foot off the groun, that was just... sooo cool.

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     Aoko watched out of her bedroom window as her neighbour/best friend put his birds through their paces in his own garden, awed at how each of his birds seemed to know what was needed with nothing more than a subtle hand gesture. She often wondered just how intelligent Kaito's birds really were; sometimes it seemed like they were teaching Kaito and not the other way around; and she'd only ever caught one dove in her house, despite finding feathers all over the place for weeks afterwards.

She'd dismissed the notion that the birds were spying on her after a month of not finding a single feather, and she didn't know much about doves at all, so for all she knew, all birds were intelligent. But that did bring up another, more curious question. Just how many of Kid's heist notes had been delivered by bird? (It would explain how Kaito managed to slip the notes into such strange places without being noticed after all. But then... this was Kaito. Things were never that simple.)

She estimated that Kaito was halfway through whatever routine he was doing, when a certain blonde came barrelling into Kaito's garden, clothes ruffled and eyes wild with fear. His usual calm demeanour was nowhere to be seen. It looked very much like something had spooked the Brit, only Aoko knew that Hakuba-kun was almost as difficult to startle as Kaito was, so it couldn't have been that.

The detective said something (rather animatedly by the looks of things), whatever it was causing Kaito to wave his doves away and drag their classmate into his home, probably to the Kid Lair that she knew was hidden somewhere in that house.

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When Saguru came charging up to him, Kaito knew something was amiss. For a start, the blonde looked like he'd been dragged through several hedges backwards, and his amber eyes were wide and showing that little yellow glow they got whenever he was freaking out. Also, Saguru had defaulted to rapid fire English, something that Kaito had trouble keeping up with.

Kaito dismissed his doves with a wave, deciding that his boyfriend took precedence over Spy-Dove Training right then. The whole flock took of in a clap of wings and a flurry of downy feathers. Kaito hastily took 'Ru by the wrists and led the teen detective inside, choosing to go straight down to the Kid Cave where he could deal with his detective in relative peace and safety. It was a little disconcerting how easily Saguru let himself be led though.

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Al watched from a distance as Master led his mate along, keeping as far out of sight as possible. Last night, he'd gone out flying with no-one but Watson for company, to case the Mate's old home. Watson had felt something was off with the place, and had asked him for a second opinion before she said anything to Merlin, who was actually a magically messed with Tantei-Kun.

Al had been a spy dove for Kaitou Kid long enough and learnt far too much to not know when to do things on his own; it was the only way to avoid being shot at by the more enthusiastic fans in black. He knew that the Mate was living with Master now, but it was still worrying when the mate went home from time to time. What if something happened when Master wasn't there to intervene?

He wanted to tell Master what he'd seen, but at the same time, he thought it best to let Watson seek out Merlin or Tantei-kun first. Master wasn't a detective, and never would be. Tantei-kun was. He just hoped it wasn't as bad as Watson feared. He fluttered over to the chute that Master had built for the flock, slipping down it as silently as an owl in flight.

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Kaito led Saguru to the Kid Cave through the dining room portrait, as it was the easiest way down. (Just how many different hiding places did this house have anyway? He already knew of four, and he knew that wasn't all of them, because his mother had hidden the embarrassing photo's of him and he'd yet to find them.) it was worrying how placid his boyfriend was currently being though. 'Ru was never like this. Not even when he was half delirious with fever.

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Saguru finally snapped out of his panic to find himself sitting in a soft armchair in his boyfriend's lair, with no recollection on how he'd gotten there. The last thing he could properly recall was walking up the drive of the Hakuba manor, and spotting a familiar, white haired woman on the doorstep. He thought he might have bolted, but he really wasn't sure.

All he did know was that he was now in Kaitou Kid's lair, with a very worried looking Kaito kneeling in front of him, indigo eyes dark with worry. He blinked, trying to focus his eyes, but for some reason he was having trouble doing so. He pulled his prized pocket watch from his pocket and checked it, only to start and throw the timepiece into the air in shock. Kaito snatched it from the air with a flourish, before placing it back into saguru's pocket.

The magician placed his hands over saguru's own, somehow managing to steady the pounding of the detectives heart with such a simple gesture. "Easy, 'Ru. I'm here. Just... I'd rather you didn't go rapid fire English on me. Just because I'm fluent! Doesn't mean I can catch more than every sixth word or so." It was said gently and lightly, both hands remaining where they were instead of the magician gesturing wildly as he was usually prone to doing.

Saguru took a steadying breath, then another, and then another, until he'd somewhat gotten his racing pulse back down to a more reasonable level. Gentle hands slowly rubbed circles on the backs of his own, further reining in his earlier panic and sending Saguru into a strange, detached sort of calm that he usually struggled to reach. Indigo eyes brightened slightly, though they were still clouded with worry.

Kai didn't say anything for a fair while, much to Saguru's relief. He didn't know what he could say to the magician without disclosing the fact that she was in the country. Heck, he'd never told Kaito about her to begin with, out of fear that they'd meet and get along too well.

Kaito remained still and silent, which was a little unnerving. Usually the magician was a badly suppressed bundle of hyperactive mischief that set even the most stoic of teachers on edge by mere proximity. How Kaito did that, he'd never know. Heck, he'd seen teachers get uptight even when they didn't know Kaito was there.

Eventually, after much deliberation, the blonde sighed and silently pulled the watch from his pocket again, handing it over to his thieving boyfriend with a grumble. He waited for the inevitable exclamation, but it never came. Instead, the magician turned the watch over in his hands in the same way one might handle a glass figurine, only opening it once he was certain there was nothing on the casing of it.

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Kaito took the pocket watch from Saguru with steady (alway, always steady) hands, curious but also a bit wary. This was only the second time he'd held the object in his hands, and that had been not ten minutes ago when he'd caught it after the detective had flung it away from him. He'd never even seen this watch as Kid, because, unlike Tantei-kun's shoes and stun-watch, Saguru's timepiece was considered off limits, much as Tantei-kun's glasses were, as his monocle was.

He flipped open the lid only once he certain there were no unusual mark on the outer casing, pausing as he noticed the tiny post-it note stuck to the tiny clock-face. He shot a confused look to Saguru, before taking a closer look at the note. It was written in tiny, neat English letters, but it clearly wasn't in any form of English Kaito hade ever seen, because it just seemed like a bunch of very confused letters to him.

"It's Latin, Kai." 'Ru stated hollowly, voice void of emotion. Wait. He could read that? How? Latin was supposed to be a dead language.

"But..."

"I can speak both English and Japanese fluently Kai. I am also competent in Latin, though I'm not entirely fluent. Why mother insisted that I learn it is beyond me, but it has been handy. Even if it is a dead language." There was a heavy pause, followed by a despairing sigh. 'Ru pinched the bridge of his nose and held his hand out for the object of their discussion. Kaito handed the watch back.

     "So... what does it say Saguru?"the magician asked slowly, suddenly getting a feeling that he didn't really want to know. Judging from the blondes face, it wasn't going to be a good answer. If anything, it was going to be the sort of answer that had Kaito wondering (yet again) if pulling a vanishing act was really all that bad of an idea.

     "Do you want my heavily edited version? Or the literal one?" An involuntary shudder ran rough Kaito as he registered the bone-dry humour. This... was either going to be hilarious, or horrifying. Or possibly both. He wasn't sure.

     "Uh... Literal?" Saguru burst out laughing. Kaito flinched away. Saguru rarely laughed. "Was that the wrong answer?"

     "No. It says, and I'm reading it word for word... oh good gods, did she really have to put it like that?" Saguru's voice was filled exasperation and amusement, and also a tinge of fear. "Damned, I swear, I thought she couldn't get any crazier, but anyway, I digress... it's a note. It says 'hey Punch, tell that hot thief of yours to stop... I refuse to repeat that word. I have no clue how she translated that to Latin... around and keep his eyes peeled. A reliable sort has informed me of your imminent death. By poison. At his next heist. Love you, SW.' I have doubts sometimes." The last bit was grumbled, as if in direct response to the Love You.

     It almost sounded like a twisted, Nakamori-style warning letter, only... "who's SW 'Ru? An old flame?" He couldn't help the tease that slipped in at the end there. He just couldn't.

     "Like hell!" Kaito sniggered. He knew that'd garner that particular reaction. But that did beg the question as to who the mystery girl was, because he was almost certain nobody save Tantei-kun, Jii-chan and his mother knew about the two of them. Kaito was a phantom thief after all. He specialised in not getting caught. Especially on rooftops with Saguru.

     (Come to think of it, that was actually number two on his Oyaji's top ten rules for a Phantom Thief. Though why his oyaji had put 'don't get caught on the job with your pants down' as number two was beyond him. Frankly, Kaito didn't even want to think about it. He probably didn't want to know.)

     "She's my sister Kaito. My half sister to be exact. And it seems she still can't remember my name, if she's still referring to me as Punch. I had no idea she was even in the country until I saw her on my doorstep. I bolted the moment I saw her."

     "You have a sister?"

     "Half-sister, Kaito. She's the kind of crazy you will either love or hate. As long as she doesn't call me by my English name, we'll be fine. Probably. She makes Kid look sane." That rose Kaito's eyebrow. That... didn't sound possible. What could be more insane than some of Kid's escapades?

"Ok? How old is she? Older? Younger? Do I need to be worried? Do you think she's figured out my identity? Do I have to worry about her knowing you are involved with an international criminal?" The questions tumbled from Kaito's lips before he could stop them, only to stop when he noticed the half smile gracing Saguru's face.

"What?" Saguru chuckled and shook his head. Kaito was suddenly completely confused.

"I don't speak French Kai." The magician's eyes widened comically. Saguru smirked at him. "You weren't aware of that fact. Were you? I panic and revert to English, but you... well, you think out loud in French sometimes. You've never done it at school as far as I'm aware, however, if you were wondering."

Kaito took a calming breath, gathering his composure before he repeated himself, this time in Japanese, following up with an apology. He hadn't realised he did that. But then, it did make sense. After all, he'd been raised bilingual, what with it being his kaa-san's preferred language at home.

"She's twenty four. Six years older than me. And no, she clearly approves of us. If she didn't, she'd have kidnapped me and shipped me back to Britain before you could even blink. Anyway. She's never been wrong about criminal activity before now, so I'd take that warning at face value. I think... I get the feeling that we might need to tell Kudo-sempai about this."

"You think she means the stuff that..."

"I don't know. But it seems highly probable. But I was thinking more along the lines of how he has heavily implied that he knows someone capable of creating an antidote, if only a temporary one. If I was to take an educated guess, he knows or is perhaps hiding someone who worked on the initial poison. Someone who defected from the organisation." Kaito blinked. Sure, he knew that one of the four kids that followed Tantei-kun was... like Tantei-kun, a not child, but... he wasn't sure which one.

(The little dark haired girl seemed too innocent, the strawberry blonde girl seemed too blatantly mature, the overly well fed one was frankly too stupid; you simply couldn't fake that level of idiocy for that long; and the freckled one seemed like he suspected Tantei-kun of something, but he clearly wasn't in the loop when it came to real identities. Yet anyway.)

     "That someone didn't just work on the poison, Saguru. They created it. I don't know the how's or why's. They tried to end their life, but now? They work for him now." Well. Sort of. He got the feeling that Tantei-kun and his mini-chemist worked together, rather than the mini-chemist working for Tantei-kun.

     "They're... they're... like Kudo-sempai, aren't they?" Kaito nodded. At least he could admit to that much without using pure guesswork. The magician then went on to explain that he didn't know which of the little detectives might be their chemist, but he could take a good guess.

      After they'd had a good debate on who might be their 'chemist', Kaito changed to talking about more... pressing matters. After all, it was important to fully explore as many options as possible for his next heist, especially as there was a life on the line this time.

     (Jii-chan was going to have to be ok with working with a demonic detective child this time. Because they'd need the not-child's help in successfully faking a murder. And because they needed as many contingency plans as possible this time. There would be very little room for error, and even less room for just winging it. This heist... was going to be the most difficult one he'd ever preformed.)