Mitsuhiko glared meaningfully at Genta as his friend answered Sato-keiji's questions, feeling just a little annoyed at the bigger boy. Out of the five Shounen-Tantei, Genta was now the only one who didn't fill out police witness forms on his own. Which actually said a lot about their luck didn't it? or to be more accurate, the currently absent Conan-kun's luck.

     Forms filled out, to the required standard no less, much to the homicide unit's newbies surprise and concern, the four young children began chatting amongst themselves. They were waiting for Takagi-keiji to finish explaining to Megure-keibu just why he was at work on his day off, or for Ran-oneechan to show up so they could go home.

     (Why was Megure-keibu not surprised when Conan-kun's name cropped up anymore? It used to amuse Mitsuhiko to hear the funny reactions everyone had to their friends trouble magnet ways.)

     Mitsuhiko knew most of the division one keiji-san were now used to him and his friends running around the station at this point. In fact, some of the nicer ones were so used to them that they'd taken to stocking the bottom draw of their desks with Shounen-Tantei centred things.

Chiba-Keiji kept the nice snacks and good drinks. Sato-keiji had three Kamen-Yaiba colouring books and two plain sketch-pads with their names on them, plus a big case of endless, never-sharpen twistable colour pencils. And then there was Takagi-keiji, who kept manga and some kind of complicated biochemistry book in kanji that only Haibara-san ever seemed to read. (Apparently Conan-kun had suggested it.)

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Wataru watched the Shounen-Tantei as the busied themselves, letting them have a bit of fun before he called Ran-san to pick them up. Haibara-chan was sat slightly apart from the other three, scribbling on the book he'd received from Conan-kun to keep in his desk. If anyone were to glance at her scribbling, the officer knew they'd see little cartoon cats pulling different faces. Though the officer had his suspicions about that.

     Like conan-kun, Haibara-chan was too creepy to be a normal child. He also knew Conan-kun was actually Kudo-kun, and that the (genius) high school detective trusted Haibara-chan with his secret; that much was obvious from her face earlier when she'd seen Kudo-kun as himself and not a young boy; but Wataru couldn't help but feel there was more to their relationship than just trust over a secret. She was far, far more creepy than Kudo-kun's ....alter ego, for lack of a better description. And hadn't Ran-san said earlier that Haibara-chan sometimes carried Kudo-kun's 'medicine' on her?

     He couldn't help feeling uneasy, both about the little girl currently shooting subtle glares at him over her book, and the fact that the guy who'd apparently dangled conan-kun out of a twelfth storey window hadn't been apprehended. It grated at his nerves, knowing someone who had hurt conan-kun and overpowered Ran-san was still wandering around free. Especially as whoever he was had already killed a person.

     The poor man was feeling a little confused and put out though. How had Kudo Shin'ichi come out of that building the Shounen Tantei had chased the kidnappers to, when it had been Edogowa conan to go in? It was even more disconcerting when he'd seen the teen's face. Clearly baffled by his own body, and more than a little confused. (Not that Wataru blamed him. He'd be confused too, if he'd suddenly flipped sizes from child to teen without any logical explanation.)

     Of course, he'd managed to get two of the culprits arrested, with the help of Sato-san, a firm kick to the shin to the younger culprit from Haibara-chan, and a frankly terrifying set of glares from the rest of the Shounen-tantei. He doubted either of the two arrested for kidnapping and suspected murder would try to make a break for it; for some reason those children had that effect. Maybe because they'd been around Kudo-kun for too long?

     However... one thing was very clear to Wataru, and that was the fact that Haibara-chan knew more than she let on about her friend 'Edogowa Conan', and that both the little girl and Ran-san had been evidently concerned about Kudo-kun meant there was something very wrong.

     (That would be worrying enough, without the added concern and very real worry of where the third criminal had gone to ground, and if he'd witnessed conan-kun's transformation. Come to think of it where had Kudo-kun found those clothes in the first place? Did conan-kun just carry around some teen-sized clothes with him or something?)

     "Ah! Ran-oneesan!" The cavity inducing sweet tone of Haibara-chan greeted, breaking the (supposed to be off duty) police officer from his thought. Glancing at his watch, Wataru noticed that it was already 4:30pm and really, it said something about the shounen tantei that Ran-san was met with things like 'oh, Ayumi-chan can fill out paperwork on her own now!' And 'do you think Tsubaraya-san would mind if we offered Mitsuhiko-kun a job when he hits middle school?' and not 'keep a better eye on those kids' whenever the poor teen arrived at headquarters now.

     "Hey Ai-chan. Have you and your friends been good for Takagi-keiji and Sato-keiji?" Ran-san greeted, crouching so she was on the same level of the kids, yet somehow making it seem as if she was talking to a shorter equal rather than a much younger child. Wataru wondered if anyone actually bought that sugary sweet innocent act, or if it was only him that found The little girl borderline sinister.

     "Hai! Is Shin'ichi-niichan feeling better now?" Why did Wataru feel that was a threat and not an actual question?

     "He's fine Ai-chan." Ran-san reassured, lowering her voice drastically so the others couldn't overhear. "He started acting like the spoilt brat genius we all love and hate about an hour ago. I left Conan-kun with him so I could escort you and your friends home." Haibara-chan seemed to be happy with this, so Ran san proceeded to herd the Shounen Tantei out of the room and out of the building, with a thankyou called loudly over her shoulder as she disappeared.

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     Mitsuhiko noted with interest how tense Haibara-san was, sending her special brand of bone-chilling glare to Ran-san every fourth or fifth step. Ayumi-chan and Genta were clueless. As usual. The freckled boy refrained from face-palming. Conan-kun had gone missing. Again. Kudo-kun had appeared instead. Again. Ran-san hadn't been bothered by this. AGAIN. Was he the only person who thought that a bit.... no, Very, very odd?

     Gents was dropped home first, his parents not at all surprised to know where he'd been all day. The Ayumi-chan, though Yoshida-san kept them talking for a bit; he thought Ayumi-chan-no-okaasan wanted to know who Shin'ichi-oniisan was, but he wasn't sure as the grown-ups were talking waaaay too fast for him to keep up. Why did girls have to talk so fast?

     Eventually, they got to his home, where his Neechan was waiting, a bored look on her face. She even dared roll her eyes at him when she spotted Ran-san. Mitsuhiko hurried inside, knowing full well his Neechan wanted to yell at Ran-san without him in the way. It wasn't Ran-san's fault; Death and Trouble seemed to stalk Conan-kun and Haibara-san respectively like particularly persistent puppies; but his sister worried and she needed an outlet. (Or so Conan-kun had said.)

     But then, Conan-kun was cursed. He had to be, Mitsuhiko thought as he sat on a bean-bag in his room. Normal children did not find corpses everywhere they went. Normal children could leave the house without expecting a trip to the park to be delayed by a murder or some other such crime.

     Then there was Haibara-san, who wasn't cursed exactly, but that much bad luck wasn't natural. Maybe it was because she was as scary-smart as their bespectacled friend, or maybe she knew conan-kun before either of them transferred to Teitan Elementary and his luck had rubbed off on her, (if they had known each other before, then they hid it really well), but it seemed her luck was Almost as bad as Conan-kun's.

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     Haibarai Ai sighed with relief as Mitsuhiko-kun's sister finally subsided and calmed down. She understood the younger... older. She was older than Shiho now, damnit!.... girl's worry; any good big sister worried over their baby brother; but to be so rude to the Angel that was Ran-oneechan!

     Eventually the younger-but-older girl went back inside, leaving just Ai and Ran-Oneechan to head home. The taller girl didn't look back at Ai to make sure she was following, trusting the mini biochemist to let her know if she couldn't keep up with the longer stride. Whereas she treated the other three as friends, Ran-oneechan treated her as an equal, even after the Karate champion learnt who Haibara Ai really was, and what she'd done.

     Ran-oneechan treated her like an equal, and it warmed her cold little heart. She was not babied or belittled by the taller, frankly scarier, teen. Instead, Ran-oneechan treated her like a respected adult. Like a good friend and Ai didn't really know how to react to that. She'd never had friends before, having been raised in the way she had, and it was a surprisingly nice thing to have. It helped Ai to feel less lonely to have another woman roughly her own (real) age to talk to.

     Once well out of sight of the Tsubaraya household, Ai rounded on the teen she'd come to call her friend with the sort of concerned expression she reserved solely for certain reckless miniature detectives. A million thoughts chased through the shrunken scientist's brain at that moment as it finally hit home.

     Earlier, Kudo-kun had flipped sizes with no antidote. He'd been limping somewhat noticeably, the left leg clearly injured somehow, disoriented and clearly as confused as she now felt. He'd almost forgotten himself and acted as Edogowa-kun like that, even!

     "Ai-chan, Shin'ichi's fine."Ran-oneechan assured her, smiling in that sisterly way she had as they continued to walk along, the picture of two sisters having a nice day out. Ai raised a sceptical eyebrow. He hadn't looked fine to her, and she was his de-facto doctor. She opened her mouth to say as such, but she was beaten to the punch.

     "That wasn't Shin'ichi, Ai-chan. That was Kaitou Kid." The other eyebrow raised to join it's companion. But... how? What? That wasn't possible. Nobody could fake scars like that. Scars both very real and identical to Kudo-kun's ones, she'd checked as she'd helped the teen into a blue button down shirt. It couldn't have been The Kid.

     "Shin'ichi called for backup. I don't think Kid planned on showing his face at all, but he needed a cover and... I think Conan-kun is watching us right now." Ran cut herself off. Ai looked around, unable to spot or even sense Kudo-kun anywhere. If that had been kid earlier.... well, she didn't have to worry about Kudo-kun's health.

     "I think he's going to try and...." Ran-oneechan continued, only to be cut off by a feathery brown blur as it shot past the mini scientist's head and exploding (or at least changing shape inhumanly fast) into a familiar bespectacled teen-turned-child, who was grinning widely at Ai's tiny squeak of fright. "Make you jump." Ran-oneechan finished, setting Edogowa-kun on the ground with just a little more force than was really necessary. The boy merely grinned up at her cheekily.

     Then he did something Ai was certain was impossible. She stared, open mouthed and bug-eyed, then looked about frantically to see if anyone else had seen that. The street they were on was empty, being a residential area just before rush hour. It just wasn't... but... ok. Right.

     "I'm going to assume this is a dream. Please escort me home so I can wake up and reality can reassert itself. Thankyou."

     "Haibara...!" Edogowa-kun sounded mildly annoyed with her. Why? "It's not that much of a stretch. Look at us. If you really need proof, Kid took some blood samples from both my forms, and there's two or three feathers for you to look at too. They're waiting in your lair. I'll demonstrate later." Ai felt slightly faint. It wasn't until much later, after she'd analysed the blood and feather samples, that she finally believed him.

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     Conan exaggerated his yawn and loudly declared he was tired after telling Haibara about the samples, in a too-sweet but perfectly childish way, as a random guy walked past. It was almost a reflex to act more childish around anyone not Ran, Hattori, Hakase, Haibara or Takagi-keiji at this point. (His parents too, but as he tried to keep their contact with 'conan' at a minimum, that rarely came up so he didn't count them.)

     His declaration wasn't a lie either. He was exhausted from the events of the day. Shifting from bird to human hadn't taken much at at, and nor had flipping back and forth a few times, but he'd had to do it thirty times in fairly quick succession in order to get a proper shift right. The first twenty seven times had him dropping one item of clothing or another in the shift, and he'd got it right on the twenty eighth, doing it two more times after that to make sure he could do it consistently.

    If that had been all, he'd have been fine, scarily durable as his shrunken body was, but that had been on top of the rest of the day. He'd disclosed his secret to Kid's boyfriend and best friend, he'd been dropped out of a twelfth storey window, he'd turned into a freakin' bird.... (he was so going to freak out over that tonight.) and now he was starting to develop a mild headache that he just knew was going to be a full-blown migraine by tomorrow morning. It was no wonder he was so tired.

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     Kaito cackled gleefully as he dodged a brutal swing of a mop, casting worried looks at the figure currently sleeping in the special hospital bed he'd had fitted in the Kid Cave. The figure seemed to be asleep, the hawk on his arm standing sentry even now. He was probably still unconscious.

     Kaito thanked his parents for being who they were as he bounced around the secret second room to the Kid Cave. The magician had only learnt about it himself a few months ago, when he'd tripped over. (A wire his mother had set up. so he'd fall and find the secret switch no doubt). Then, it had been about seven years out of date. (odd, for a nearly twelve years abandoned room. Must have been cutting edge stuff back then). Now, it was updated properly, and quite a high tech medical room, if you asked him.

     He'd called Jii-chan the moment Aoko called him with the news that Saguru had collapsed in agony, rushing home over rooftops in blatant defiance of the laws of physics in nondescript plain black in his haste to be by his boyfriend's side. When he'd seen Saguru, Kaito had picked up the frighteningly limp teen with an ease that spoke of considerable strength, despite being both slim in frame and smaller than the one he was carrying.

     It was a matter of mere minutes to transfer the blonde to the soft hospital bed in the Medic Bay (seriously, how paranoid did you have to be to have your own mini hospital in your secret lair?) (Oh. Wait. His whole family were Kaitou Kid paranoid. It made perfect sense.)

     Jii-chan had called his Kaa-san in from wherever she was gallivanting currently, kaito having panicked only slightly less than Aoko at Saguru's symptoms. It was almost like one of Tantei-kun's size changes, only with less clutching at chests and less screaming. He'd checked pulse and breathing and even blood pressure the moment he was sure Saguru was secure in the bed, relieved to find it only slightly abnormal. It wasn't Tantei-kun's poison at least.

     Honestly, if Kaito hadn't known he could trust Aoko, he would've knocked her out, because the Kid Cave was packed full of high tech, high grade, not-available-on-the-high-street evidence right now. Most of the gear was handmade by a Kuroba or by Jii-chan's inventor friend, and not only expensive, but also time consuming, to replace should it be damaged.

     (Normal seventeen year olds didn't have access to half of this stuff. Nor did they have university diplomas like he had. But then again, normal teenagers didn't have Phantom thieves for parents, nor did normal teens have a qualified surgeon Phantom Lady as a mother. Seriously. How had she found time to be a wife, Phantom Thief, Surgeon and a Mother? He was kind of glad he had his Kaa-san.)

     Aoko had given him The Look as he'd opened the second hidden room, apparently not surprised in the least to see that the secret room had secret rooms of it's own, and shrugged. Apparently she'd decided to take the Kid Cave, blast shielded Mad Science Lab area, and medic bay in her stride. As if this was a normal, everyday thing for her. She was too used to him being Kaito, probably.

     She'd watched curiously as he'd checked Saguru's vitals, but mercifully stayed silent, until he'd provoked her into a session of her infamous mop-fu/whack-a-Kaito. He knew she saw it for what it was; a plea for a half decent distraction to keep his (undoubtedly genius) mind off of their friend currently lying dead still in the soft bed over in the corner of the room.

     It was a mere heartbeat after he'd let her corner him with that magically appearing mop of hers that he noticed a slight change, but it was Aoko's sharp intake of breath that really made him look. Saguru had his eyes opened, a glazed look in them. As if he wasn't quite there yet.

     Then he sat bolt upright.

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     Faint murmurs of familiar voices provided a soothing background as Saguru finally became aware of his surroundings. His head was all fuzzy and his throat felt red-raw. Had he been screaming? It took him several moments (too long, not safe) for him to realise he was lying down on a soft something, probably a bed or a sofa maybe. Saguru tried to remember what had happened, but came up with a blank after he'd sat down at the kitchen table of the Kuroba household. He felt somewhat detached from the world now.

     Saguru tried to move, but a warm pressure on his right arm, his kitten weak state and a dull, full-body ache kept him from so much as twitching. The voices were clearer now though. It sounded very much like Kaito was being yelled at by Nakamori-chan again. He tried opening his eyes, but even the soft light of.... his eyes snapped open despite the migraine inducing brightness as he shot upright.

     He was.... not familiar with his room. A sharp squawk of protest and the warmth on his arm vanished, Watson a noticeable brown blob as she beat a hasty retreat from where she'd perched on his arm. A sharp intake of breast, and Saguru closed his eyes against the too painful light and the nausea that bubbled up as he slumped back down. Kaito's footsteps (almost silent, like a cats.) approached, and saguru couldn't help but let a soft, pained groan escape his lips as the magician carded his nimble fingers through his blonde hair soothingly.

     "It's ok 'Ru. We're safe. Rest." Saguru wanted to resist, but sleep grabbed him in mere seconds and sucked him back under.

     When he woke up again, there was a third voice talking to Nakamori-chan and Kaito, though he didn't recognise it. The soothing sensation of Kaito's hand running through his hair was still there, so either not much time had passed at all, or too much time had passed.

     He went to open his eyes, but screamed and clutched at his head as a sudden, sharp pain tore through his skull. He jolted upright, his eyes shooting open only to stare blankly into the distance as he began to see. Scenes that weren't familiar to him, yet were. Sounds he shouldn't be hearing, yet was. Scents and smells that shouldn't be detectable in what he assumed was the Kid Cave.

     The sensation passed after only a few minutes, before he came back to himself with a suddenness that made him almost nauseous. A sharp word barked at Nakamori-chan from the third voice -female, older than them but still youthful- had her leaving the room, but Saguru couldn't see where the third voice was coming from.

     He felt bewildered and a little lost, but his magician was here, he was safe. Why Nakamori-chan had followed the order from the other woman, he didn't know. His mind flashed back to that sudden pain, a pain followed by the sensation of being elsewhere, in what felt like a smaller body. As if he were seeing things from another viewpoint.

     The world spun away for another brief moment, a familiar voice talking to someone else, a memory not his own, before he was back with Kaito again. A red haired woman stood next to Kaito, the delicate shape of her face seeming very familiar to him. It wasn't until she smiled that Saguru twigged. This was Kaito's mother, how had he not recognised her immediately?

     "Your witchy Frenemy really did a number on your Tantei, didn't she kai-chan?" She was adressing the thief as if he wasn't there, but he didn't mind. From what Kaito had told him, any attention from her was likely to be traumatic.

     My... Tantei? Wait, Kaa-san... you mean he's like Tantei-kun now? But he's not..."

     "Akako is a sweet girl. She saw something that required her to take preemptive action. Don't be surprised if that Tantei-Han of yours ends up the same." Kaito's mother turned to him with remarkable suddenness. "You might end up with a few new skills, and I can see you have already seen, but otherwise, you're perfectly health, Tantei-san. I have to shoot off Kai-chan, Tantei-san. Ja!" A puff of smoke and she was gone.

     Kaito whistled. "Geez, always at her own pace. Sorry Saguru. I didn't think you were ready for that little tidbit, if you picked up on it. Koizumi and kaa-san are from the same coven apparently. And I Though ka-san was crazy enough. Now I find out not only is she a doctor slash surgeon and a Phantom Thief, but she's also a witch?!! I knew magic was real, but this...." Saguru could only sigh.

     He wasn't surprised in the slightest. He said as much, and asked how long he'd been out for. Eight hours apparently, making it two in the morning. Magic being real made sense. It explained how Akako could inspire devotion in every guy in the school except Kaito, and might even explain Nakamori-chan's mop.

     *Akako-san took pity on you too, Saguru-nii. Or so Raven-chan says. Sorry. And welcome to my world of weirdness and impossibility.* The familiar childish voice did not ring in his ears, but he heard it crystal clear nonetheless. In his head. His head.

     This was not happening. Telepathy wasn't real. It wasn't. It was impossible. He was hallucinating. He had to be. Edogowa-kun (Kudo-Sempai?) was not talking to him. Telepathy didn't exist. He was sick. That was all. Damn Kuroba-san's diagnosis. He was normal damnit!

     *Not delusional Saguru-nii. Akako-san took pity after foreseeing some big tragedy.* Conan-kun's voice rang clear as day in his head. *We can mind-link because of that. Sorry, but I think life is about to get a whole lot more complicated and freaky for us. Now, talk to Kai-nii, he's probably talked to his witch... I mean Kaa-san, and freaking out. Ran-neechan certainly is.* the younger detective's voice went quiet, then Saguru felt what could only be described as a solid, mental wall slam up, effectively blocking the not-child's thoughts from him.

Saguru and Kaito locked eyes, the magician raising one eyebrow in question as the half-Brit sighed in a tired and resigned manner. At least Kaito couldn't complain about him being crazy. That would be rather hypocritical of the thief after all. But then.... Saguru had to be even more of a lunatic to date said this huh?

In fits and starts, the usually composed blonde tried to explain the new and exceptionally freaky brand of weird his life now seemed to have, but all he really did was freak himself out. Kaito seemed to take it all in stride though. His face darkened when he mentioned certain witches, but overall, it was the magician that convinced Saguru that everything would be ok.