First time writing for the DC fandom, so I probably didn't get the characters down right. No beta. I obviously don't own DC. Um...I think that's it. Not sure how to explain this story or where it's going, but we'll see.

All Shinichi wanted to do was find somewhere to hide so he could finish his new novel in piece. Unfortunately, his mothers' grip on his arm kept him firmly between her and his father. Adjusting the thin oval glasses resting on his nose, the teenager kept his gaze firmly on the text of his new book. Hopefully his mother would get the hint and finally let him retreat into a quiet corner. There was no real need for him to be at the party anyway. He didn't know anybody there besides his parents.

"Shin-chan," his mother huffed, "you're being rude."

"You said I had to come to this," he stated plainly, not looking up from his novel, "you never said anything about me having to socialize."

"Generally going to party means socializing. I didn't have to say it – it was implied. Besides, I won our bet."

He scowled up at her. "That bet was impossible to complete within the time given and you know it."

"And yet," his father cut in with a small chuckle, "You still agreed to it."

Glaring slightly at his father, the seventeen year old glanced up at the group his parents had been talking to. "Kudo Shinichi. Nice to meet you." That said, he went back to his reading. Or, he attempted to go back to his reading. Instead, a hand was shoved between his face and his book, a white rose suddenly appearing with a small poof.

Following the hand back to the owner, he raised an eyebrow at the teen standing in front of him. "Kuroba Kaito, aspiring magician!" Shinichi stared at the teen for a while before ignoring the rose and going back to his book.

"Seems he's not falling for your charms Kuroba." The blue eyed teen glanced over at the two other snickering teens. The one who'd spoken was a blond. As if sensing the gaze, he smiled politely and introduced himself. "Hakuba Saguru, detective."

The dark skinned teen next to him grinned. "Hattori Heiji, detective." His accent clearly stated he was from Kansai, or somewhere nearby.

Shinichi only blinked and turned back to his novel once more. "You don't talk much, do you?" Shinichi ignored the magician, hoping he'd go away if he didn't get an answer. Sadly, the other teen seemed intent on talking with him. "Can I call you Shinichi? You can call me Kaito."

"Kuroba, you're annoying him."

"He clearly doesn't want to talk to us, so quit wasting your breath." Shinichi continued ignoring them. It didn't matter what they thought about him. People didn't tend to stick around him to long once they realized how many murders he ran into.

Unfortunately, Kaito was determined. "How come you're wearing gloves? Are you afraid of germs?" Sighing, Shinichi was about to ask him to leave him alone when his glasses were snatched from his face. "Fake glasses? How come you're wearing fake glasses?"

Finally looking up from his book again, the blue eyed teen paused. The adults were talking amongst themselves, but Shinichi was sure he'd met one of them before. The man looked similar to his father. He was sure he'd met the man somewhere, but his mind was coming up blank. The shadows behind him, however, were much more familiar to him.

Kaito seemed to notice his distraction and beamed. "That's my father, Kuroba Toichi! He's a magician! The best there is – until I surpass him."

Catching the mans' – Toichi-sans' – attention, Shinichi suddenly remembered where they'd met before. Flicking his fingers slightly, he held the tarot card for the Moon between his index and middle finger. He held it up in front of his mouth for a few moments, keeping his gaze locked with the elder magician's, before using it as a bookmark and glancing towards the door.

He slumped slightly at the sight of the figure attempting to get someone's attention, only for his hands to go through them. "Hattori-san, Hakuba-san," He said softly, taking his glasses back and putting them back on, "I'm afraid your services may be required here shortly." Looking back towards the figure, all he saw was a small, white, and mostly transparent sphere floating around.

Before the two teens could ask what he meant, a shrill scream carried through the venue, catching everyone's attention. Sparing a glance back at Shinichi, no doubt wondering how he'd known that was going to happen, the two self-proclaimed detectives raced off towards the scream, their fathers right behind them.

"Shall we go lend a hand?"

Reopening his book, the blue eyed teen didn't bother looking at his father. "You have two teenage detectives, plus their law enforcement fathers, and the multitude of policemen and women at this party to help solve it. There is no reason for me to be there as well."

For once, Shinichi was happy for Kaito's interruption. "Are you a magician also?" He asked happily. "You just made that card appear earlier!"

Huffing and sending a small glare towards his mother, he shook his head. "No. It was part of a bet. If I learned magic, I wouldn't have to have a birthday party."

His lips twitched up slightly at the utterly confused look on Kaito's face. "You made a bet to not have a birthday party?"

Shinichi shrugged. "I don't like parties, but my mother continues to insist she be allowed to plan at least one birthday party for me. I kept refusing and she kept insisting until we came up with a compromise. She bets I can't master one thing in a year, and if I win I don't have a party. If she wins, she gets to plan a birthday party for me." He grinned down at his book. "I haven't lost yet."

The other teen looked horrified. "B-But that means you've never had a birthday party!" Shinichi shrugged. He didn't like parties anyway. He'd much prefer to be at home or at the library reading. Unfortunately, Kaito seemed to be of the mind that not having a birthday party was the worst punishment on the planet, if the look on his face was anything to go by.

Wincing slightly at the loud volume of Kaito's proclaiming how great birthday parties were, and thankful he had professor Agasa's modified earplugs in, Shinichi wondered if maybe he should have gone with his father. Slipping away when the eccentric magician turned his back, the blue eyed teen made his way towards the murder scene.

His father raised an eyebrow at seeing him. "Kuroba-kun," He answered. His father simply chuckled softly and returned to watching the two teenage detectives argue over the motive.

Slipping towards the wall, Shinichi kept out of the way and quietly took out the modified earplugs before taking off his glasses. He spotted the ghost of the victim right away, standing near the arguing teens and trying to tell them what he remembered.

"I was just going to take a leak! Next thing I know I was floating above my body! Didn't get a look at who did it, seeing as how they were gone by the time I got to be a ghost, but I'd bet you anything it was that conniving bitch who did it! I told my boy she was no good, that all she wanted was our money, and now here's proof! Offed me to keep me from getting in her way! That cunning, no-good, thieving-" Shinichi put the modified earplugs back in when he realized the ghost didn't have anything helpful to offer.

Sliding his glasses back on, he glanced up to meet his father's eyes and shook his head slightly. Letting his eyes wander the hallway outside the bathroom, he let his eyes linger on the woman the ghost had pinned the blame on. She had tears in her eyes as she held onto the arm of a young man next to her – the son of the victim.

She seemed more upset at the fact the son was hurting than that the elder man was dead. She obviously cared for him – no matter what the ghost had said – and was doing her best to comfort him. The son was distraught, which was to be expected.

Glancing back at his father, he saw the telltale signs that the elder man had solved the mystery. Pushing off the wall, he made his way back to the party venue. If he was lucky his mother wouldn't spot him and he could finally escape to some peace to finish his novel.

Skirting around the edges in order to avoid the rest of the guests, Shinichi found a cushioned window seat to hide away at. Getting comfortable, as his father tended to have the bad habit of making others figure out what had happened rather than just outright telling them, the blue eyed teen finally continued his book.

He didn't get further than two chapters before he felt the weight of multiple stares on him. Looking up, he found the two teenage detectives staring at him as though he were another mystery, Kaito's gaze mainly seeming thoughtful.

Weighing the option of asking them why they were staring – though he had a fairly good idea as to why – against simply ignoring them, Shinichi let out a small sigh and mournfully closed his book again. Turning to the three teenagers, he sat with his book on his lap and waited. The question would come out eventually.

He didn't need to wait long, as once Heiji realized they had his attention, he asked suspiciously, "How did you know?"

"I know a lot of things Hattori-kun. Could you please be a bit more specific?" He was avoiding answering, he knew, but he didn't feel inclined to be subjected to the same ridiculed stares that turned to ones of horror when they realized he wasn't joking. He'd had enough of that.

"You knew someone was going to be killed," Saguru said evenly, his eyes boring into Shinichi's.

"I did not. I knew someone had been killed. There's quite a difference."

"Yet you still knew someone was dead before anyone else," the blond pushed, "And without ever leaving this room. How?"

Keeping his face perfectly neutral, he eyed the three before shrugging and turning away. "Just a feeling." He hoped they'd leave it at that.

"What about earlier?" Raising an eyebrow in confusion, he waited for the magician to elaborate. "That tarot card. The one with the moon on it."

Shinichi stared at the younger magician in silence for a while before raising his book. The edge of said card was poking out from between the pages to mark his place. "I use them for bookmarks."

Three sets of eyes narrowed and the blue eyed teen wondered why he had to deal with this. He'd realized there was a chance of the two self-proclaimed detectives figuring out there was more to it if they understood tarot cards – which he'd hoped they didn't, but obviously that point was moot now – but he hadn't expected Kaito to catch on. Obviously there was more to the magician than originally thought.

"That was obviously a message for Kuroba-san," Heiji said. "What did it mean?"

"I was simply trying to remember where I'd seen him before." Three faces called bullshit. Scowling slightly, he turned back towards his book. "It didn't mean anything. Just a feeling." It wasn't the first time Shinichi had met Kaito's dad, and it wasn't the first time he'd given the elder magician the warning. Whatever he was playing with was dangerous, and the shadow of death around him meant he had to tread carefully if he wanted to make it through whatever ordeal alive.

"You mean like the feeling you got that someone was dead?" Kaito asked. Shinichi detected the faintest amount of a tremor in the teens voice and felt bad. He'd read the news about Kuroba Toichi's near fatal stage show eight years ago. He wondered if keeping quiet would be worse for the magicians' health.

Glancing at him from the corner of his eyes, he shrugged again. "Not exactly." It wouldn't do anyone any good to try and explain.

"The Moon, in regards to tarot cards, represents that things are not as they seem. Deception of one's self, or from another, is strongly indicated. Extreme caution when dealing with others is advised. New information comes to you, possibly in dreams of through a vision. When the truth is exposed, it must be dealt with." The blond looked away from his phone and stared at Shinichi. "Care to elaborate on what that feeling was?"

Sighing and knowing they wouldn't go away, he flicked the Moon tarot card up between his fingers and held it up so they could observe it. "Sometimes I get a bad feeling, so I show this card to the one I got the feeling for. It's my way of saying 'be careful'." Wondering just how much he should say, he looked down as he said softly, "I got the same feeling from Kuroba-san when I met him about eight years ago."

He heard the small intake of air from Kaito, who remembered the day of the accident as if it were yesterday. Blue eyes glanced up quickly and saw understanding dawn on the faces of the other two. Flicking his eyes back to his book, he wondered if the three would leave him alone. Most people, after learning his feelings tended to be right, tended to steer clear of him. They thought he was bad luck. Shinichi couldn't say he wasn't used to it by now.

Ran was the only one who stuck by him, and even then she didn't know the entire truth. The supernatural terrified her, and Shinichi couldn't bring himself to tell her.

He was jolted out of his thoughts as a pair of arms wrapped around him. For a moment, Shinichi's mind went blank before he tried to push whoever was on him off. Sadly, it seemed Kaito was stronger than he looked, and held on tighter as Shinichi's struggles increased. He didn't like people touching him.

Not only did he enjoy his personal space, but when people came into contact with him they were able to see and hear the ghosts like he was. It was why he'd taken to wearing gloves everywhere – so long as they didn't touch his skin, they couldn't see them.

Trying to push the magician off, Shinichi froze when the other teen suddenly thanked him. Kaito finally pulled back and smiled. "You warned him eight years ago, and that probably saved his life." Taking a step back, the magician bowed and presented another rose – this time a red one – to Shinichi. Grinning widely, he said, "My name is Kuroba Kaito! One day I'm going to surpass my father and become the greatest magician in the world! We're going to be best friends Shin-chan!"

Shinichi felt his eyebrow twitch. "Don't call me that."

Kaito seemed deaf to Shinichi's words and pointed to his other two friends. "That's Hattori Heiji! His dad is a police chief in Osaka! He's kind of loud and has a temper, but he's overall a good guy. The other one over there is an annoying asshole, so you can ignore him."

Said 'annoying asshole' frowned, while the Osakan detective laughed. Kaito ignored them and continued on. "I guess we're all kind of taking after our dads in some way. What about you Shin-chan? Are you going to be a writer your dad?"

Shinichi sighed and shrugged. When he was little, he wanted nothing more than to be a detective like his idol Sherlock Holmes. Unfortunately, being a good detective typically meant lots of attention on you, and Shinichi didn't like being in the spotlight. It wasn't until just before the start of junior high that he started to back off from wanting to be a detective.

He shook his head to clear his mind from those thoughts. He didn't need or want to remember what had happened. Some things were better left buried in the past and forgotten about.

"You alright?" Shinichi looked up and found the three had gotten closer while he'd been distracted, each looking a little worried.

"You aren't sick are you?" Saguru asked, reaching a hand out to feel his forehead.

Shinichi pulled back before the blond could touch him. "I don't like being touched," he muttered, turning his face towards the window and watching their reflections. "I'm fine. Just a little tired."

"We should get you home then!" It took Shinichi a few moments to register what the magician had said.

Slowly turned to face them, he narrowed his eyes at his grinning parents who had come up behind the three. "What do you mean we?"

Kaito grinned happily. "Shin-chan's parents invited us and our families to stay the night at your place since it's gotten so late!"

Shinichi glared at his mother who was putting her acting skills to use and crying fake tears of joy into her husband's shoulder. "Look dear, our little Shin-chan, who'd rather spend time with books than around people, has made not one, but three new friends in one night! It's a miracle!" She rushed over and hugged her son tightly, ignoring his struggling to make her let go. "I knew it was a good idea to come tonight!"

Shinichi pushed his mother off and sighed. Now he'd never get to finish his new book.

So that's what I have so far. For those who didn't understand, Shinichi wears fake glasses so he doesn't actually see the ghosts fully. When someone touches his skin, they can see the ghosts as well, which is why he wears the gloves.

Let me know what you thought and if you have any ideas, because I have no idea where this is going.