A/N: Well, this was fun to write. XDD Forgive the horrible OOC-ness at the end, but since Shinichi's a thief in this one and his situations different, I'm guessing he'd do something similar. Perhaps? XD I dunno. Enjoy? ^^

Today's Quote: "Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong." – Murphy's Law.

Disclaimer: I do not own Magic Kaito or Detective Conan in any way or form. (or shape!)

Warning(s): AU, OOC-ness, use of (confusing) magic, cursing, did I mention OOC-ness? XD

Chapter Thirteen

As promised, Kaito came to pick him up Saturday morning, clad in casual jeans and a T shirt, with a bright smile on his face.

Shiho's blank face stared for a moment before moving over to let him inside. "Conan's still getting ready; please wait in the living room." She said blandly, fixing her lab coat before leaving the teen to his own devices, disappearing back into her lab at the end of the hall, the door shutting with a click. Kaito blinked, finding himself alone in the genkan. Slowly, he removed his shoes and took an available pair of slippers that he'd been given the other time.

He walked deeper into the house, making his way to the living room like he was told and taking a tentative seat on the couch, feeling a bit awkward. His silence was shattered as an Osakan voice rang from the kitchen and he whipped his head around to see a dark-skinned teen holding a sandwich between his teeth and peeking out from behind the wall of the kitchen. "Ku–? Ah, no, you're definitely not. Who're you?" He mumbled, somehow still managing to keep the sandwich in his mouth as he opened a can of, what looked like, Pepsi.

A pair of wolf ears twitched on his head and Kaito found himself staring for a moment before he grinned in greeting, "Hello~! I'm Kuroba Kaito – I'm just waiting for Conan-kun, don't mind me." He hummed and the other blinked before grabbing the sandwich hanging from his mouth, and walking into the living room, uncaring that Shiho had told him just the other day to stop eating in there.

"So, you're Kuroba, huh?" Heiji asked curiously, and Kaito carefully hid his amusement as the familiar's tail was revealed, swaying slightly in interest.

"Oh, you've heard of me? Does Conan-kun talk about me a lot?" He asked, chuckling as the other sat on the recliner chair, sinking into the plush cushion. "Nope, Miyano told me about you." Heiji answered honestly, taking another bite out of his sandwich and Kaito had to hold back a raising brow as sharp canines flashed. He'd definitely heard of mage's familiars from Hakuba, but seeing one in real life was different. Compared to witches familiars, which are largely viewed as black cats or demons of some sorts, a mage's familiar was a human-animal hybrid born of magic. He was curious to how it worked, but he had never managed to ask his friend.

"Miyano-san did?" He blinked.

"Yeah. She thought I should know since Ku–K–K–Conan-kun," He finally managed the name and Kaito raised a brow at the stuttering. "Will probably be spending more time with ya, is all." Kaito smiled, "That's probably right~! We're friends now, after all~! Are you Conan-kun's familiar?"

A wide grin spread across the familiar's face and he brought a fist to his chest, straightening subtly. "Yup, I'm the one to keep 'im safe and answer to his calls! Hattori Heiji, nice to meet ya!" He said proudly, not noticing Kaito grew a bit stiff at his name before making a show of relaxing.

At that moment, Conan decided to walk into the room, clad in casual clothing and donning a baseball cap that Heiji recognized as his own. "Sorry for making you wait, Kuroba-san." He said, his eyes flickering to his familiar, who sent him a wave, taking another bite of his sandwich. Conan deadpanned as crumbs fell carelessly onto the carpet and chair; he'd definitely hear from Shiho about that. Something about 'controlling his familiar properly'.

"'Kuroba-san'?" Kaito whined, standing up and bending down in front of his small companion in a 'scolding' stance. "Call me 'Kaito', Conan-kun. Kai-to." He pronounced, poking the younger's forehead. Shinichi scowled, batting his hand away, and looking pointedly out in the distance, to the wall. "Fine, Kaito-san then." The other's first name felt strange on his tongue.

"No, no! 'Kaito-niichan'!" Kaito persisted and Shinichi shot a glare as Heiji snickered before he looked back to the one before him, "Uh…But…," He couldn't even finish his sentence before Kaito protested, "But it sounds so formal, Conan-kun. We're friends now!" He urged with a grin.

Conan flinched before turning his eyes to the ground, a flush working up his neck, "K–Kaito-niichan…, then." He stuttered, feeling even more awkward with this choice of name. He was the same age as Kaito, it seemed, and it felt wrong to be calling him such things. Still, if he had to, he would.

"Great!" Kaito straightened and began to pull the younger to the door, "Now, let's go! If we go early, we won't have to wait in line for the Mystery Coaster!" He cheered and waved to Heiji, who blinked at the sudden departure. "See you, Hattori-kun, it was nice meeting you!"

And with that, they were both out the door, heading towards their destination.

ooOOoo

Kazuha and Sera looked up as the hospital doors opened, revealing Mouri Ran, bowing thankfully to one of the mage doctors they recognized. Mouri Kogoro stood next to the two, eagerly making his way to his daughter as she exited the building. Tears of joy were streaming down his face in a somewhat comical way as he gave her a hug. "Ran!" He wailed, sniffling. "I'm so glad you're okay!" Ran laughed softly, patting her father's back before he finally released her, wiping the tears from his cheeks with one hand.

"It's nice to see you again, too, dad." She smiled up to him before blinking as he finally dried his eyes and his face turned serious, "Now, I want you to tell me everything about the man that attacked you." He demanded, obviously not pleased with the assailant. Her violet eyes strayed a bit to the side as she bit her lip, "Dad, I think it's best if you left this case to the police…,"

Kogoro frowned, "But, Ran–" He was cut off as Sera and Kazuha smartly intervened. "As this is a special case, Mouri-san, we'll have to ask you to step down." Kazuha said, feeling a bit bad as the older Mouri's face grew angry. "What? Step down?! You two are only kids – don't think you can keep me off my own daughter's case!" He scowled deeply, but was cut off by another voice off to the side.

"Dear, I think its best that you step down, too." Kisaki Eri, in all her glory, stood close by, arms crossed and expression stern. Kogoro startled, "E-Eri?!"

"Ah, admiral." Sera greeted with a small smile, bowing along with Kazuha. Kogoro's eyes darted from the two teens he'd yelled at previously to his wife in confusion, "Admiral? Eri, what's going on? Who are these two?" He questioned. Ran's eyes were now looking somewhere at the ground while Eri continued to stare at her husband blankly. Finally, the woman spoke up. "That's none of your concern, dear. Now, if you'll excuse us. Come on, Ran."

Eri grabbed Ran's wrist and brought her along as the two commissioners followed slowly. Kogoro stared after them, too put-out to follow.

After a while of walking, the group of four stopped at a café. They all found a nice table and took their seats, only ordering drinks so that they could talk in private. "Sorry about that." Eri apologized, "He doesn't yet know of our magical inclination or my occupation – he thinks I'm a regular lawyer and Ran is a normal high school student. To his knowledge, mages don't exist." Her tone was grim and Ran's demeanor had sobered immensely as she sipped at her iced tea.

"But, why don't ya just tell him?" Kazuha asked curiously, eyebrows furrowed in concern. Sera nodded in agreement to her partners questioning, taking a drink of her coke.

Eri sighed, bringing a hand up to pinch the bridge of her nose. Ran was the one who answered, however. "My dad's a detective, it's not in his line of work to believe in such things." She smiled a bit helplessly. "My mom never knew how to bring it up." The two other teens let out small 'oh's before Eri smiled, clapping her hands to bring everyone to attention. "Either way, you two should begin the questioning. I have to go back to headquarters. I left Kuriyama-san in charge temporarily, but I can't abandon my duties."

Smiling, Eri gave Ran a short hug before she left the table, disappearing out the door and into the busy streets. The others stared after for a moment before Sera grinned, taking out a notebook. "Okay, then! Mouri-san, can you tell us about the thieves you encountered?"

ooOOoo

"What do you want to go on next, Conan-kun?" Kaito asked brightly, handing the smaller an ice cream cone, ignoring the grimace as the younger took a lick out of the sugary desert. However, Shinichi didn't voice a complaint, not wanting to dampen the other's excited mood. Internally, he thought that Kaito was very suited for amusement parks, looking like he belonged with his ecstatic grin and over-reactions to certain rides he found interesting.

"You can choose." The shrunken mage answered after a moment of debating. There was only one ride he really wanted to go on – the Ferris Wheel – but he thought it best to wait until a bit later to ride it; the line was ungodly long at the moment. Besides, Kaito seemed more inclined to have more rides that he wanted to ride, gaze flickering between all of the colorful rides.

Kaito laughed, his own chocolate cone in his hand, as he led the two through the waves of people, holding Conan's hand so that he didn't get lost in the crowd. It seemed a lot of people had thought it a good idea to come to Tropical Land today, as well, ending up with overly crowded paths and the need to maneuver around others. Thankfully, Kaito was an expert at such tasks, easily bringing them to a relatively clear spot and taking a seat on the bench.

Shinichi blinked up at him curiously, but also took a seat on said bench. It couldn't be because they were eating; he knew they'd be done with the ice cream by the time they reached the front of the line. "Can't decide?" He questioned, taking another half-hearted lick of his treat. He really didn't understand what everyone thought tasted so good about it; it was too sweet and even the vanilla tasted like artificial flavoring, not to mention it was undesirably cold, chilling his mouth and stinging up to his brain. But, really, he supposed there were stranger things to like.

"Nope – I'm debating between the octopus ride and the one where they have you go upside down several times." The teen chuckled, pointing out said rides with a jubilant finger.

Shinichi glanced over to said rides, paling a bit at the prospect of the latter. Even though it was further away, he could still hear the excited – and terrified – screams merging into one cacophony of screeches. He gave a dry smile, "How about the octopus one? It looks a lot saner."

For his first time at an amusement park, this was definitely not what he had expected. The air was buzzing with happiness – overwhelmingly so – and the chatter from passerby's' were overpowered by shrieks of excitement and fear. The whole place made him feel a bit ill at ease and out of place; he was beginning to wonder if he was the only one with such thoughts.

"Conan-kun?" Startling out of his musings, Shinichi turned cerulean eyes back to his companion, looking a bit sheepish. "Ah, sorry, Kaito-niichan. What did you say?" A bead of sweat ran down his neck as Kaito stared at him longer than necessary before the other grinned, turning away to gaze at the sky and leaning back into the bench, finishing off his cone with a final bite, popping the whole thing into his mouth.

"I said we should go on the Ferris Wheel." Kaito stated, smiling to himself. "I saw you staring at it when we first came in."

Shinichi flushed, "It just looked super tall, is all." He said, nonchalantly looking to the side. Kaito wasn't fooled for a minute, but let the younger have his way for the moment, "Okay, then, let's go on the octopus ride for now, Conan-kun! We'll go on the Ferris Wheel when it gets darker – from up there, you can see everything light up!" With a flourish, Kaito stood up and hauled Shinichi off the bench, beginning to pull him through the crowd once more to the earlier mentioned 'octopus ride'.

Shinichi sighed fondly, finishing his ice cream cone, and letting himself be pulled through the crowd. He supposed it wasn't so bad here, long as he was with Kaito.

ooOOoo

"…Are you sure?" Kazuha asked, for the third time already. This was precisely why she hadn't wanted to question Ran and had felt uneasy – she knew it deep within her gut that she wouldn't like the answer; some people had joked that she had a sixth sense of sorts for these types of things, but she hadn't actually taken them seriously. At least, she'd tried not to.

Ran nodded, looking concern at the commissioner's odd behavior. "Yes, the familiar was a wolf with dark skin and an Osakan accent, called 'Hattori'."

Sera sent her friend a worried glance before smiling back to Ran, "I see. Thank you for your cooperation, Mouri-san." With a nod, Sera stood up and pulled her friend away with a small bow to the one still at the café table. Once far enough, Sera turned to look at Kazuha, who still looked a bit disbelieving, "There's nothing we can do about it…," She gave Kazuha's shoulder a reassuring squeeze. "On the bright side, the familiar won't be charged." Due to several laws involving familiars, the worst was that he'd need to do community service for a few months (or years, depending on the crime).

"That's true…," Kazuha finally managed, smiling a bit. She couldn't really blame it on the familiar, either; a lot of them were exceedingly loyal and will even follow their masters to the death, if need be.

Hardening her features, she straightened, hand going to touch her device on her neck, Sera mimicking the gesture. A second later, a barrier had wrapped around the city. Kazuha was enveloped in an orange light before it dispersed, leaving her in her barrier jacket, device now elongated to a relatively simple staff, the crest gleaming under the sunlight. Sera was engulfed with a light green burst before she, too, stood in her barrier jacket, her device staff looking heavier and larger than her companions, what with its intricate design.

"Are you ready? Admiral Kisaki probably already knows that we're about to detain them, so we can just go ahead." Sera commented absently, glancing to the sky.

Kazuha smiled, hand coming over to grip her device with both hands, "Ready as ever, Masumi-chan."

ooOOoo

Kaito was laughing. Partially at Shinichi's pale face and partially at the other's wobbling. After getting on the 'octopus ride' (which had been decent, if a bit repetitive), they'd gone on several other rides, just recently getting off the upside down one Kaito had mentioned before. Obviously, Shinichi wasn't one to handle the constant ups and downs and jostling – he swore that the machine had also moved in impossible ways.

"S-Shut up, ba'aro!" The smaller snapped, no real heat behind it.

Kaito let out another laugh, reaching down to ruffled Conan's hair playfully before pulling back as a baleful, blue, stare was directed up to him. "Oh, come on, it wasn't that bad." He amended, catching the boy as he tipped to the side a bit with dizziness. "Says the maniac…," Shinichi shot back in a grumble, brushing off the helpful hand grumpily. Just as Kaito was about to give another playful jest, both froze as a magical barrier spread across the whole of Tropical Land, noises and people disappearing just as quickly as the barrier had come on.

Shinichi straightened, recognizing the magic instantly. He clenched his teeth, a small 'tch' escaping as his device echoed out his thoughts, "There's trouble, sir."

"I can see that." Shinichi replied dryly, cerulean eyes darting off into the distant, taking in all the empty rides, still running. The place seemed eerie without all the buzzing crowds, he mused internally. His thoughts flitted behind his eyes; should he get ready for a battle or was this just a false alarm? He highly doubted the latter, though.

"Incoming." Conan announced, mechanical voice sounding just the slightest concerned from Shinichi's neck. "Homing Bullet." It finished.

Sure enough, Shinichi's eye pointed out a small green orb flitting around in the sky, heading straight for the two of them. Or, more specifically, him. "Not a false alarm, then…," He mumbled to himself, bracing his feet apart and raising a hand to protect himself, a dark blue magic circle – larger than it should be – appearing just in time to deflect said Homing Bullet. The two opposing forces met with a clash of power, the impact breaking the sound barrier and splitting through the air as green and blue clashed; colors spilling over the edge of the shield and wind blowing through Shinichi's bangs powerfully.

"Conan-kun!" Kaito shouted, running forward worriedly as the green orb finally diminished and the magic circle disappeared, Shinichi dropping his arm carelessly. "Are you okay?" He questioned before stopping as the boy turned, eyes set in a glare beyond his years. A bead of sweat ran down the messy-haired teens face at the look, feeling oddly cold. "Conan…kun?" However, the glare wasn't directed at him and he found himself turning to see what the other was looking at.

A familiar face stood on the other end of the park, also glaring down at his small companion, though a smirk was adorning the blond's face. "Hakuba?" Kaito asked, confused. "What are you doing here? More importantly, why are you attacking Conan-kun?" He shot his friend a defiant gaze, not happy with his actions. Hakuba hadn't been at school the last few days and now this was happening. Internally, he knew it probably had something to do with the TSAB, but ignored the thought.

"Kuroba, come over here." Hakuba demanded, "You'll see exactly why in a few minutes. It seems your friend isn't pleased to see me."

"What? No, I'm not goi–" Kaito's protest was cut off by Shinichi, young voice now deeper and mature. "Go." He ordered, eyes still set on Hakuba. "It's better if you side with Hakuba Saguru." He ripped off the chain holding Conan from his neck, smirking at his opponent after his sentence. "And isn't it surprising to see you again." He hummed to the blond, "To think you'd be working on another case of mine. I knew I'd recognized you from somewhere."

Internally, he was panicking just the slightest, trying to keep a calm mind and desperately trying to contact Heiji with their telepathic link. He almost grinned when he finally managed, Hattori, I may need some assistance over here.

You're not the only one. Shiho and I are in a bit of a bind, Shinichi.

Blue eyes narrowed at the other using his first name – it must be serious, he concluded, before clicking his tongue in annoyance as they were once again cut off. He was brought out of his thoughts as Hakuba began talking. "Yes, it's quite a coincidence, isn't it? You were suspected in murdering two mages, Miyano Atsushi and his wife, Miyano Elena. Though, due to lack of evidence and not being able to locate you, the case eventually went cold."

Shinichi remembered that case clearly and he masked a frown with a sneer. "Oh, yes, that one. Unfortunately, I have to say you suspected the wrong person." Both of Shiho's parents hadn't been killed by him, but by the organization they were being forced to work with – Shinichi had been a bit younger then, not possessing the power to help the two as they were brutally murdered before him. However, they had found use in Shiho and him, sparing Heiji only because of the fact that he could help with further missions.

Hakuba's eyes narrowed, caramel eyes suspicious. "Sorry if I don't take your word for it. Kudou, was it?" He smirked as the other twitched impeccably at the mention of his name. Kaito stared between the two, completely confused and worried. He couldn't follow the conversation, but what he was getting from it was that…Conan was a criminal?

Finally, two and two clicked. "Wait! Hakuba are you saying that Conan-kun is actually the Kudou that Ran-san mentioned? That he's the thief?" He started, cutting off the conversation. Shinichi swallowed – looks like I'm out of luck, he thought to himself, before smirking on the outside.

"Yes, that's correct, Kuroba-san." Closing his eyes in resignation, there was a blue burst before a taller, sturdier version of Conan emerged, clad in an outfit he'd heard Hakuba explain once before – a barrier jacket. His eyes opened, darkened a bit with age. "It's true." His device was clenched in his metal, gloved, hand tightly, the staff pointed forward threateningly. "It's too bad that you had to get involved. You could have avoided it, had you not been friends with him." The tone was cold and indirect – empty.

His heart was pounded, it seemed, faster than it should be, Shinichi thought, feeling the pulse throughout his whole body.

Eyes glancing over to Kaito, he pushed the other forward, toward Hakuba, with his staff. "Leave me." He stated darkly, throat feeling dry. Kaito looked torn before hurrying over to Hakuba, who immediately stepped in front of his none-mage friend. "So you do have some morals, I suppose." Hakuba said, "But, the question is, do you intend to come peacefully?"

Shinichi looked up towards the sky – impeccably blue; it looked too blue at the moment – as if contemplating an answer before he brought his staff to his side, planting it firmly on the ground. "It seems as if you're here alone." He commented absently, "And you still don't have a device, despite having practiced some combat-based magic. I take it that nobody knows you're here?"

Hakuba let out a small chuckle. "Admiral Kisaki of the Time-Space Administration Bureau knows I'm here. However, I asked to deal with you personally. You stole magic from countless, including Ran-san, and you befriended Kuroba-kun. I don't take kindly to you treading where you don't belong."

Shinichi's eyes side glanced carelessly, "Ran-san, huh? I take it you care because she looks so similar to your girlfriend." He focused on his opponent once more with a smirk, who was glaring once more. "…Aoko-chan, was it?"

"You bastard!" Hakuba growled, finally losing his cool with the mention of his girlfriend. He quickly brought up a shield to surround Kaito – who looked like he wanted to intervene, but knowing he couldn't do anything against two mages – before more green orbs formed around him as he readied his attack. Shinichi smirked, clenching his device just a bit tighter.

"Oh? You intend to fight me without a barrier jacket or even a device? Cocky, aren't we?" He laughed and the taste of it was bitter in his mouth – he swallowed dryly, words lodged in his throat. He didn't like this. He didn't want this. (He didn't need this) ((But Shiho was waiting and Heiji needed help)) (That was reason enough, his mind whispered)

"There's no other choice, since you obviously don't intend to surrender. Backup will be here soon, either way."

"Backup or not, Hakuba Saguru," Shinichi began, lifting his staff once more (his arm felt heavy, like lead was weighing it down), much to the horror of Kaito, who was worrying about both of them. A magic circle appeared under metal-framed shoes and a large orb of energy focusing at the tip of the blue-gemmed cross. "When you're in heaven–" The words clogged in his throat (hollow, this all felt hollow) – he swallowed thickly – "Forgive me for not holding back."

Review Replies:

To: Mokuren no Ken – Ran's discharge inevitably leads to destruction. XDDD (Laughs) And Shiho can mean several things~! XD

To: Mai-chan63 – Yay! I'm glad you liked it! 8D Thank you~! Was this soon? XD Well, at least, compared to some other updates, this one was relatively quick. XD

To: RoseAngel16 – Yup, he's okay~! 8D (Laughs) I'm glad, I was hoping to get some laughs out of that. XDD Thank you and here's the update! ^^ KaiShin for life! (Raises Fist)

To: Neukiri – Yay! I'm glad you like it! ^^ And yup, Tropical Land with Kaito~! 8DDD Sorry for not making it a success, though, but certain things have to happen for the plot. XDDD;;; ("for the plot" = my excuse for every crappy situation I put characters through, lol) And you're welcome! ^^ Here's another~! 8D

-Next is Kazuha, Heiji, and Shiho fight with more of this fight and yeah… XD;; I'm excited to start writing the next chapter! Hopefully, I won't leave you guys hanging for long. XD