Chapter 35: Black and Blues

Nakamori didn't bother to wake him up like he had before when they reached the hospital. He still woke but to the man picking him up and carrying him out of the car.

"I can walk." Saguru moved a little, muscles sore from how he must of have laying. As a child, it didn't hurt nearly as bad as he knew it would have if he'd fallen asleep in the car his own age. A child's body could simply put up with more uncomfortable angles with less weight behind it and younger cells.

"You could. You could also run off before telling Aoko anything though and I'm sure that with the few hours we've been gone Kaito-kun likely woke up. He might look like shit but I want to talk to him, with you and Aoko there. If Chikage knows I don't see why we'd have to go to a separate room to make sure everyone's filled in."

Saguru relaxed, closing his eyes and just laying there. It didn't seem he had a choice in the matter and more people telling her with certainty who he was might be the better choice.

That, and maybe he wanted to make sure Kaito-kun was really all right as well.

Thankfully Nakamori put him down outside of the room so he could walk in himself. Saguru had to guess it was more for Aoko's sake, so she didn't think he was hurt, than it was an allowance of his own freedom.

Maybe his expectations were set a bit too high. Aoko-kun turned when the door opened and they walked in, the girl quickly wiping her eyes free of any tears that might have been there. Chikage was in a seat on Kaito's other side, straightening up her posture, though her eyes seemed dry. As for the magician, he was very hard for Saguru to see from his current height.

"You're awake." Nakamori went over, putting a hand on Kaito's head, lightly mussing his hair.

Looking around, Saguru found a third chair and pushed it over, wincing a bit at the scarping noise it made before standing on it so he could see this fact for himself.

Awake was not a good term, though not the wrong one. Kaito-kun was smiling but his eyes were dull and he blinked slowly a few times as if he were in a daze. Saguru realized that second it was likely all the pain medication that he was on.

That or the magician was still very tired, judging from how much he ended up closing his eyes. He did notice when Kaito turned enough to see him though, wondering what kind of person Kaito had been seeing before. Certainly the tired, defeatist that he had felt himself to be not twenty-four hours ago. Saguru smiled back at him, nodding his thanks when he didn't think he should break the silence the room had fallen into.

"Kaito-kun, are you awake enough to talk?"

"Talking will hurt," Saguru interjected. "He had broken ribs. That being the case, he can only hold so much air in his lungs as they expand so his sentences will be short. I suppose it won't hurt any further than breathing will but…" Saguru turned from Nakamori, who had gotten his attention, back to Kaito-kun. "He's still tired."

"A little." The words were a bit quiet but they were short and Kaito got them out without any obvious signs of pain. Nothing sounded wrong with his voice and Saguru hadn't noticed any injuries around the magician's throat, now that he thought about it. "But this sounds… important."

Saguru shook his head. "You don't really need to talk." Saguru took in and let out a breath of his own. This was going to be difficult. "I have some good news and some…." He thought about how to describe it, settling on making a waving gesture with one of his hands. "Some potentially good or bad news. First, Yamagishi-kun is now on record for saying a few incriminating statements. It'll be enough. The other part is that Nakamori-keibu knows about as much as you do and it seems Aoko-kun is going to now too, or her father is going to do it himself."

Kaito stared at him a moment before smiling. "Who got hit in the head, you or me? I'm pretty sure it was me… but that might just be the concussion talking." There was a small laugh at the end that likely cost him but Kaito didn't seem to mind.

Saguru laughed just a bit himself, more air than noise. He waved his fingers. "Some people are just too logical. I hate not having my lab or I would have fingerprinted myself."

Kaito's smile disappeared slowly. "Is that safe?"

Saguru had to wonder that as well but it was possible that Nakamori had gotten his fingerprints off of anything. There was no way to tell how fresh they were. "It should be. He seemed to trust that man. Besides, it's not like there's anything they can do about it, though staying with you seems a bad idea for the time being. They were already looking into you and if they find my fingerprints on anything I couldn't have possibly touched after the fact, we might have some issues."

"Don't worry about that." Chikage tipped her head, speaking and catching their attention. "We dyed your hair and I'm sure we can come up with a few ways of making sure you're safe. Let me worry about that for now."

Saguru nodded. Chikage was involved with rather scrupulous doings herself. She might have better ideas than he would.

Everything squared away with the two of them, he turned to Aoko, glancing to make sure the door was closed. "First things first before your dad has a heart attack then. I can't remember what name I gave you, or even if it was Kaito-kun who gave it to you. Whatever it was, it's not my real name. Hakuba Saguru isn't dead. That was fake. If anyone really cares to look into it, they can probably find it out. I had some help with that." Saguru spread his arms. "I know because I'm Hakuba Saguru. I just proved it to your dad and I could likely prove it to you if given some time, though doing it would be a really bad idea, as there are people out there who would kill me if they knew I was still alive."

Aoko was a smart girl when it came to learning. Comprehension then should have happened immediately, but it was as if she had heard his words at a slower pace than the rest of them and was processing them as she looked at him with a curiously blank expression.

When the pieces clicked into place, no one contradicting his statement, acceptance took the place out doubt. When she suddenly started crying he wasn't surprised, though her reaching over and grabbing him out of his chair so she could hold him – much like her father had, since he had that second to notice the similarity – was a surprise.

She was authentically upset that she had thought he was dead. They hadn't been friends that long and, in fact, had never really hung out after school before he was a child again. Aoko was a friend of Kaito, not of him, and it was hard for him to understand how she felt this strongly.

"How." The word was a whisper, chopped up a little by her sadness or joy – whichever was causing the tears. Saguru relaxed a little, still put off by a girl his own age holding him. Her father wasn't nearly as bad.

"I don't know. Luck, I suppose. Someone tried to kill me…. You could say that half succeeded. I'm sorry I had to fake it. They were-"

"Shut up."

Saguru shut up as she held him tighter, the minute dragging on before she set him back in the chair and retreated to herself, her face red and eyes irritated while she fidgeted with her fingers.

Typically he would have consoled her. It was what he was good at, since he kept most of his emotions to himself and people were calmed by something stable. As he was causing her pain, that wouldn't work.

"You're Hakuba-kun."

Aoko didn't stat it as a question but she said nothing further, looking up at him, so he nodded in acknowledgement. Her eyes went to Kaito-kun after. "You knew."

Kaito nodded slowly, most likely to keep from hurting himself. "I wanted to tell you. I don't know why I didn't. I know I said I would but then things went and got crazy on me." The magician spoke quietly as to hide any difficulty with his speech.

Letting out a slow breath, Aoko closed her eyes and leaned back in her chair, looking up at the ceiling and hiding her expression from them. "What's going on? This doesn't make sense, any of it."

"It's complicated." Saguru didn't know how much he should tell her. She didn't know about killers, had never been involved with them. Her father had, at some point likely. Most younger police officers had fingers in all parts of the force before being assigned. There was no way he could help with this though. Shinichi's help was already more than enough, and Chikage could help with what couldn't be fixed legally.

"Complicated. That means you don't want to tell me, doesn't it?"

"Want, yes. It's not that easy. There are other people involved and it seems having the police help is not something that will have good results. I would have told your father long before now, and you," Saguru amended. "If I thought it would. I have acquaintances that are helping me and there just seems to be more and more trouble piling up while I'm trying to fix this that I'm not able to spend much of my own time on it either. At least, for now, they think I'm dead so I'm safe." Saguru reached up, playing with the black strands of hair. "Some dye and a fake name should cover the rest."

Aoko sat up, a smile on her face though her eyes were still red and her body spoke of weariness. "You're alive. That's one thing to be happy about."

Saguru scratched the side of his face. "Yeah."

"Now that that's all over, can I go to bed?" Kaito waved a hand to get their attention. "I haven't had much sleep and the sleep that I have had isn't, apparently, enough. I'll talk to you when I wake back up."

"Hopefully we can get you out of here then." Chikage went over, running a hand through her son's hair. "There's nothing the hospital can do that we can't at home. They just want to watch you overnight to make sure nothing happens. I'll see you tomorrow."

Kaito nodded, his eyes staying closed.

Saguru looked out the window, plenty of daylight still. Kaito wasn't going anywhere until morning, doctor's orders, and it would be a waste to sit here while the magician slept. He turned to Aoko-kun, shrugging his shoulders a little. "I only ate a little breakfast and I know you did too, since we brought it back for you. Would it be too forward of me to ask you to join me for lunch?"

Aoko laughed, putting a hand to her lower lip as if that would stifle it. He waited for her to stop, looking more relaxed than she had. "Yeah, let's go. Kaito, want anything?"

"Yeah, leave. I'm sleeping." The magician turned a bit more to the side, unable to shift very much.

"Okay." Aoko turned. "How about you, dad?"

"Hmm." Nakamori didn't look like he was as willing. "I have to make a few phone calls, and then likely have someone watch Kaito-kun, just to be safe. More than this little revelation happened and I haven't had time to deal with it."

Saguru looked from the inspector to the space in front of himself. His cousin had as good as admitted to wrongdoing. The inspector could now arrest him or, most likely, give the evidence to the officer that was handling the case. His cousin had a lot more friends than Saguru would have put to him, and he doubted they wouldn't react to this. "Upside of being considered dead."

"I'll go with the both of you." Chikage smiled and came over, picking him up without asking. She was so much like his own mother in some aspects it was frightening. "Let's go."

They ate. It helped. Aoko-kun easing up enough after the conversation to where she wasn't pausing before answering anything he asked her was nice. Chikage went back to the house with the both of them, no real reason to stay at the hospital other than to depress themselves. Aoko went to her own house, he went to the Kuroba's, making sure to be careful of his prints – just in case.

Saguru was there maybe an hour before he had his plans set, taking the bus to the professor's after texting Ai and making sure she wasn't spending the night at the lab.

"So," she spoke calmly, analyzing him in a way Saguru hadn't noticed before but she'd likely always done. "What do you want?"

"How far have you gotten with an antidote?'

Ai let out a breath, holding up a finger. "First, even if I had one, I'd never give it to you. They're after you and if they see you alive, again, Tokyo is going to be picked apart. They might not know why you were still alive after dying several times, but who knows how far they'll go. Second, if I had one, I doubt I'd tell you. You might be helping me but I wouldn't give you anything unless I thought it was safe. Why do you want to know?"

"I just wanted to know how close you were or if you had possibly finished. That was it. I know I can't take it right now." Saguru raised his hands. It was risky enough going around even as a child. He wasn't going to risk being a teen again. Shinichi could do it, there was no reason he couldn't put up with it for a while.

"So say I told you." Ai shrugged slightly. "I've made some progress but with your death I haven't wanted to go around the lab. You were there often enough and they would have looked into it following, so I'm stuck back on my own. I haven't found anything conclusive."

Saguru hadn't thought about that repercussion. He nodded. Ai had plenty of time to work on it. The organization was big and Shinichi was doing well figuring out about them where he had only become a danger. Saguru knew where his strengths were. They were not in helping the FBI take down something he could only comprehend. One child was suspicious enough.

Saguru was a detective, by trade, but in his spare time he was a scientist.

First he had to deal with his cousin and whoever else was working with him. Then he could put his efforts into helping Ai.

"Alright, how do you feel about going to England?"

Ai raised an eyebrow. "I can't travel."

"We can fake it." Saguru tipped his head to the side. "Someone can fake it. You'll be safe there and won't have to worry. Leaving Shinichi-kun alone is dangerous and you have schooling, so I figured more or less as something fleeting, while you have break, or permanent. Up to you. I'm going to either go there with you or I'm going to find a lab here. I can't do much, not where questions won't arise, but I'm not as terrible an assistant as you think I would be."

Ai shut her eyes for a few seconds before opening them with a solemn expression. "I have to stay here."

Saguru nodded. "I'll set up a separate lab here. I don't have much but my mother is alive and she has access to my own money even if I do not." Even if they didn't the lab would have gone to his mother as well. As a detective, he covered a few of those loose ends, just to be sure. "Kuroba-kun's hurt. He won't be able to help and eve when he gets better in a few weeks, he has school. I don't. You'll have to share your research."

Saguru knew she had an issue with that. She had barely given him anything and he had no idea how much of it Kaito knew. In any case, he needed to be doing something proactive, and this would work. He didn't mind helping with anything else that might been to be addressed.

"He's hurt?"

"It's a long story and a court case I won't be able to go to unless we could fake that as well. I wouldn't want the perpetrator getting off by something like that. Kuroba-kun is well off with that in any case." Saguru looked down the stairs of the professor's house. He had only been here fleetingly and never down there. "He's an inventor. You're a scientist. There must be a lab down there. Would he mind? I could fix it up with whatever we'd need."

"Assuming I'd work with you, I wouldn't mind the extra supplies. I'm better on my own though. I've told you that."

Saguru shrugged, unsure of where to step on this point. "You worked with Kuroba-kun for a while."

"Because of you. Besides, he was mostly my errand boy. It was easier to have him run and get things for me than worry about where they were. You can't help me with that."

"Mmm. I can try. I can do anything less important that you may need help with." Saguru spread his arms. "I'm sorry for my attitude before. I'm fully ready to do what needs to be done and I can't think of anything else I can help with."

"Hmm. I don't suppose you're one to act a child and live the fake life you can. It's not as if it would be terrible and it would keep you out of the spotlight. I truly doubt I'd need you, and I'm still attending school as well. You can't continue it without me there."

"I could try, if you'd let me."

"I will not."

Ai seemed deadest on that point and he had no grounds to argue with her on. Sighing, he shrugged his shoulders. "So what should I do?"

"I think you're wrong on one point. You could go to school with us. If Kudo-kun and I aren't flashing lights, you won't be either. He gets us into enough cases that I'm sure you'd be more helpful then not and it would be a way to both keep you distracted from doing anything stupid along with keeping an eye on you."

That wasn't very proactive in his own mind, but they all had their places. His own was solving mysteries before, and he saw no reason that this would be much of a change.

That got him to smile. He'd be an elementary school student again, which had it's drawbacks, but with growing up in England during those years, it would be the worst to observe the Japanese school system at work as well. "I suppose I can do that. How did the both of you fake your papers? I'm unsure how far the Kuroba's have gone."

"Likely further than the professor could go. You'll be fine." Ai sighed. "And I'll have to deal with another nosey detective that's going to get me into way more trouble than seems humanly possibly, but I suppose it keeps life interesting."

That it did. This didn't sound as bad as the idea used to. "I'll ask them to see what they can do then. Odds are things won't get moving for a few days and I'm sure there's a processing time. I'll see you in a few days then. Anything you need, please call. I'll talk to my mother later today for funds." He bowed to her slightly as he left the professor's house. Where the man himself was, Saguru wasn't sure.

…

The night was too quiet and, once Kaito returned the next day, too noisy. There was never a good balance.

"If Aoko would just shut up and let me get better…" Kaito was sitting up in the main room, watching TV. He was lounging but Saguru wasn't sure if he shouldn't be laying down either. He wasn't going to get in the middle of it. Aoko just stormed out and it was likely she'd be back in at any unknown time.

"You are hurt pretty badly. Even I haven't see you come to school with more than a small bruise."

"Yeah, well, that's because normally I have the option to dodge." Kaito lightly poked at the bandage that was on his eyelid, likely making it hard for him to use the muscles there. "Not that it was your fault. If it hadn't been so late or if I'd been planning something, I might have had more on me than a few smoke bombs. They're usually all I need. Anyway, you were in my way. I'm very happy for that."

Saguru frowned. He was confused and, even when he had a few thoughts on what the magician might mean, they weren't plausible. "Explain?"

Kaito laughed, though it was more of a snort. Laughing still hurt him. "Really? Fine, I will. They wanted me. That was through no fault of your own and, while I'm not happy that you were in my way and they grabbed you, they would have simply failed to get me that night and very possibly gone after Aoko. She's never been in any dangerous situation – that she knows of – and I'd like to keep it that way. I'm happy they grabbed you instead of her. Kami knows how she would have reacted and what your cousin would have done. I'll heal."

Saguru hadn't thought about that and it made him shudder at the image he had now. "I suppose there's always a brighter side – or silver lining. I don't look for a good or a bad side as far as outcomes, simply possibilities."

"Now that's a lie. You were so depressed my mom told me about it." Kaito grinned. "Sorry I made you worry. That won't happen again, aside from the possibilities of miscellaneous bullets I can't see while flying. That is a lot harder to avoid. Enough of this. I don't like talking so much about things that aren't important. Know what happened to your cousin yet?"

"He's been arrested." Saguru couldn't find this out on his own so Nakamori-keibu was keeping him up to date. "The charges are being filed now to the court so Yamagishi-kun isn't going anywhere today. I don't know if my father will bail him out. It's rare but a possibility. If he doesn't I'd assume we'll know in a week what's going to become of my less than scrupulous family member."

"His father didn't seem like the kind of person I'd want to run into again either. You don't think he'll try anything, do you?"

Saguru shook his head. "No. My father can pull strings but even he knows there are limits. Yamagishi is rash. He doesn't think things through and I'm going to assume he has some connections to gang members near his own age for what occurred. My uncle wouldn't have a part in that. He's clever enough that I doubt more will become of this. I would, however, watch my back if I were you where any of them are concerned. Yamagishi-kun will hopefully spend a few years away. He needs to change and I can't be the one to change him. I doubt his parents could either."

Kaito shrugged. "Whatever happens to him, happens to him. If I run into him again, I'll deal with it then. Same goes to the rest of your family. Your father I'm kind of worried for, but not because I'm scared of him. He thinks he lost you." The magician stared at him far too seriously. "He doesn't have his wife, doesn't have you, doesn't have his father. Two of you suddenly gone is bad enough, but the rest of his family isn't the best to turn to. He's an officer but he's not very strong on his own. I'm a bit worried what'll happen."

Saguru doubted his father would ever go bad enough to damage his career. He doubted he cared very much that the two of them were gone either. They were both estranged from the man, in their own ways. He wasn't a father though, could only guess at what his own was feeling. "I didn't think about it before now."

"I'm sure he'll be fine. He has other officers. If worse comes to worse, we'll throw Nakamori-keibu at him." Kaito snickered.

Saguru found himself letting out a small laugh too. He pictured that.

"We don't have t to be stuck in the house. I'm not good with 'bed rest' and it's not as if my legs are all that hurt. Some sunglasses would help too. Do you want to go out?"

Saguru tipped his head, looking towards the door. "Are you trying to escape before Aoko-kun returns? You truly are hurt and need some rest. I'm going to have to deny you that option."

"You're no fun." Kaito sighed. "Fine. I may not be able to move well but I can hack well enough and I know someone who's better at forgery than me. If what you were saying before is true, lets get to work and sending you to school and out of my hair."

…

Saguru had a schoolbag on his shoulder and butterflies in his stomach. He was good with new people, but mostly adults. Children were something he didn't often deal with. Not a lot wandered around a police investigation.

"If only that school required uniforms."

"Please, this is bad enough." Saguru tugged on the shirt that Chikage-san had put him in. It was a two-piece set, a light green jacket over a gray one. It wasn't the worst he had ever worn but it was casual by his tastes. Shinichi ran around in a suit as a child, why couldn't he?

"Okay, Haku-chan." Chikage touched his shorter, very black hair, which contrasted badly with his pale skin and light colored eyes. "But it's hard not to picture."

Kaito snickered, waving him off. It was still a bit too early for the magician to go back to class. Next week might be a possibility though. "I'll tell you what no one has ever told a kid before. Make sure you don't do your best. We don't want questions."

"I know." Saguru wasn't stupid. Shinichi-kun did it. It had been a while since he was this old. There would likely be a few things she didn't remember perfectly as well.

The worst was Aoko-chan walking with him to the bus stop.

Ekoda high was nowhere near the elementary school. There was at least a twenty-minute distance by car. By bus was worse, but Chikage-san was busy today and Nakamori-keibu had work. He was going to be late on his first day as it was, which would be even more awkward than joining this far into the year already.

Kaito, it seemed, had done more than just enroll him. He'd hacked into the school's database itself and set his class so that he was in the same homeroom and other classes with Shinichi and Ai.

Saguru had to wonder if Ai had gone that far with her own enrollment or if it was simply luck.

Saguru stood there, knowing I would be a while until the bus came. Aoko-kun didn't walk off, staring down at him as if unsure what to do herself.

"Go to class. You don't want to be late."

"Yeah, but… you look young. Waiting for the bus by yourself on a school day…"

"I'll be fine."

Aoko took a few more hesitant seconds to scuff her feet a bit before smiling and nodding. "I'm sure you will. Good luck."

Saguru smiled back at her before she turned and walked off. It was the first day of a class he had taken when he was a child. It would be easy.

Everything went dark.

It was as if there were a light switch thrown in a windowless room. Nothing hurt. Nothing made a sound. The world was simply black and gravity was off kilter, Saguru unsure of which way was down.

He did blink, something touching his face and eyelashes in the darkness. This was familiar.

"Ch-" Saguru stopped after making the small noise. This did seem like what had happened with Chikage-san, only he had woken tied to a chair and feeling as if the world were on his shoulders. This felt… different in a way that he wasn't afraid. There was a soft, fuzziness around his consciousness.

It was rather nice.

"What are we going to do with the kid?"

Hm. A voice. Saguru was fairly certain he had heard this voice somewhere before now, but he couldn't place where. It was too quiet and meaningless in the careless world he found himself in.

"How the hell should I know? I don't even know if what they told us was true. If he finds out about this-"

"We just make sure he doesn't. There's not much else we can do."

The second voice. Saguru was sure he knew this one too, but what they were talking about was escaping him. It was female, the second one. Not that old.

"What happens if they were telling us the truth?"

There was a span that time, as if Saguru had passed out or they simple didn't care to share further. When the softer, male voice spoke again, Saguru tried to wake himself up more. He should be feeling something, at least gravity. Something was very, very wrong.

"Well then, I suppose we kill him."