“Oh? That’s a shame. You know it’d be funny.” Nuzzles were all well and good and he responded in kind. “Mind telling me who’s causing so much trouble? Perhaps I could do something.”
“Only if you’re willing to take everyone but yourself as the answer.” It was said in jest, but tiredly. Eyes closed, Hakuba turned toward KID to drape his arms around him, “Colleagues, clients, culprits… I’m just tired.” A sigh.
“…What you would do to take care of any pests, anyway? Pranks?”
“Oh? Is there anything I can do to help with that unwanted attention? Perhaps dress up as you and act as a decoy?” KID leaned against Hakuba, still grinning. “Nice to see you again, too, mon détective.”
“Good god.” Hakuba dropped his head against KID’s shoulder, letting out a sigh, and may or may not have nuzzled against his neck. “I can only imagine how that would go. No, no… I think that would be unnecessary. Just having a moment to rest with my preferred company is very helpful."
“Fair enough. Though you’d probably be happy to have missed my last heist. Between Nakamori-keibu, Hattori, and that Kita girl, I don’t imagine you’d be very happy dealing with all three.” He grinned lazily. “I am curious about what you mean with difficulty? Perhaps I can help?”
“No, that doesn’t sound pleasant at all. As for my problems… it’s mostly dealing with unwanted attention, I’m afraid.” Hakuba looked down at the thief, just for a moment, then took a seat next to him on the bench. “I enjoy company as much as the next person in controlled, specific circumstances. But unexpected visits and unreasonable expectations?”
The detective shook his head.
“It’s put me into a bit of a hermit mode. More than normal, I mean. But it’s… very nice to see you again, mon cher voleur.”
“Darn. That could have been a lot of fun, though I don’t think you’d want a few of the detectives I last dealt with in your house. You’d probably see it as a violation of your territory.” KID grinned slightly.
“As for me? I have been doing fine. Lots of mischief and trouble, obviously.” He was omitting a lot about what happened involving the lion, but he figured Hakuba would figure it out easily enough, given witness testimony and the injuries on the victims. If Hakuba weren’t tipped off, though, KID’d rather not bring it up on this nice night. Another time and another place would be preferable. And he really didn’t need to stew in his own angst anymore.
“Mischief. Trouble. Words that describe you very well."
Hakuba had heard about the animal attacks. Had looked into it, briefly, gathering information and… set it aside. Like KID, especially at the moment, he didn’t want to think about that, or his own personal hell of drama that had been occupying far too much of his time as of late. He pulled himself off of the bed and crossed the room toward the thief, smirk on his face, bare feet padding on the rug softly.
"May I say that I love that you came fully dressed for the occasion, by the way? I really do lament missing your heist. Though, yes, please do not bring the others here. I’ve had enough… difficulty with my colleagues and associates lately as-is. Let’s leave my territory to just you and I, hm?”
“True, true.” He grinned and slipped in. “You have a rather impressive place. Perhaps I should steal something from here sometime, if your family has any sort of valuables, preferably gems?”
Of course, teasing had to be met with teasing, but it was quite a while since they really had a chance to talk. After that business with the deer leg, was it? KID couldn’t quite remember for sure. He walked over to the bench and sat down. “So, have you been having fun and keeping mostly out of trouble, Hakuba?”
Hakuba offered a dry look in response to the teasing and the question both, shifting to sit more comfortably on the bed. “Alas, anything that you would want is with my Mum in London. Dad isn’t partial to pretty things or, well, anything of that sort, actually.
"But to answer your question… Not so much fun, lately, but more than enough trouble, I think. And yourself?”
Kita started to think of all the things that she liked to do for fun. “Well I enjoy reading, shopping, texting and talking on my phone with my friends, and working on cases.” Kita explained and blushed slightly.
“You must think I’m really weird that someone like me would be doing girly activities.” Kita said, embarrassed about telling Hakuba her hobbies.
“Not at all; those activities seem perfectly fitting for a female high school student.” Though he smiled, Hakuba couldn’t resist the faint crease of his brow.
“You’re not embarrassed about showing feminine characteristics, are you? I think it’s a fine quality, and something that we could use more of our in our field.”
“The museum was nice…” he answered, trying to be nonchalant about it. He was supposed to be acting cool and collected but how could he not gush about how much fun he had in London? “It was almost exactly like they described it in the books. The fireplace, the furniture, Holmes’ work desk and all his notes… they put a lot of work into the details. It’s pretty astounding.”
He followed after him with a bit of a bounce in his step, waving at the waitress in greeting before taking a seat where he could see the door quite clearly.
“I wish I could have stayed longer actually. I barely got to see anything because there was a case at Wimbledon. I was too busy trying to stop a serial bomber to even think about sight seeing,” he ended bitterly, recalling the incident that had cut down his precious vacation time.
It was cute, Hakuba was quick to admit to himself, how the other detective had finally shown a little bit of liveliness. The little spark made it easy for him to be more relaxed and open with him. Finally, they were getting somewhere.
He took a seat across from Shinichi and grinned. “I’m very glad that you got to see it, though, at any rate. Every piece of that museum is a fanatic’s dream come true. Even the inaccuracies are rife with literary quandaries to ponder over.”
The half-brit sighed, contented.
“Though, it’s rather unfortunate that you didn’t get to do much else. I suppose when you’ve only so many days for holiday, everything becomes time-sensitive. When do you think you’ll return?"
Kita looked down on the ground. She was not a violent person. She only got angry if anybody was ever mean to her or the people around her.
“I don’t want to hurt Kid. I only took martial arts to protect myself from people like kidnappers and perverts. Anyway, Hakuba-kun, what do you like to do for fun when you are not working on cases?” Kita said as she placed her book in her lap.
Hakuba tilted his head just so, regarding Kita in surprise for a moment. Were kidnappers and perverts so rampant a problem in Japan? He supposed that he hadn’t read the census or statistics lately, though even that was hardly accurate. Still, something he ought to think about.
The change in topic was a welcome distraction from yet more work, and the male detective chuckled, raising a curious brow.
“Why, Yamashita-chan, are you interrogating me? I suppose it’s been a while since I’ve done an interview, however, so I will oblige.” Closing the book on his own lap, he straightened up and offered a smile.
“When not working on cases, or attending classes and dealing with the subsequent study, I enjoy reading, playing tennis, and…” he paused, considering. Lately, most of his waking hours had been devoted to case work. What did he enjoy doing? He thought back to the more recent magazine articles that were rife with just these questions, and pulled another hobby from the pre-approved list. “…hunting. And yourself?”
Kaito smirks as he flies away from the scene. He had to admit he enjoyed messing with Hakuba. It still made him laugh at this point. The look on his face as he had jumped out the window… priceless.
Kaito had felt his phone buzz in his pocket. He was a bit intrigued as he glides through the air. He no longer was worried about the police who probably didn’t even know where he was.
He pulls out his phone, just as it vibrates again. He raises an eyebrow. He opens the phone and looks at the texts that seem to be streaming from his phone.
He gets a sour look on his face. He wanted to play then?
[text] Really?! No way!
[text] I don’t believe you. I am going to ask Nakamori or Aoko.
[text] Kaitou KID is way to good of a magician to be caught by you.
He should probably send just one more…
[text] So does that mean you know KID isn’t me then? Going to tell me sorry?
A smirk graces his face now. He wanted to try and test him? Two can play at that game.
Hakuba sighed as the return volley of texts arrived in his phone. Kuroba Kaito was too smart to simply slip up in any meaningful way which was both infuriating and a relief. After all, if he were too easy to catch, this whole fiasco would be nothing more than an enormous waste of time.
Crossing the drive to wait for a cab at the side of the street, the detective drafted his replies. Paperwork could wait until morning, after he’d had a chance to cool off.
[text] Yes, as a matter of fact. I formally apologize for falsely accusing you of being Kaitou KID. I admit it; I was completely wrong.
[text] By now, the Phantom Thief should be finished with processing. I hope that he enjoys cold cement and uncomfortable benches.
[text] Perhaps you’d like to celebrate my great success with me at some point? I’ve some champagne that I’ve been saving just for this situation.
