Encounters

Encounter

Hectic breathing and thudding footsteps reached the ears of the overly strained and amused thief. Another set of footsteps following him were, in fact, smaller and quieter. But not because of the size. Quite the opposite since children often made more noise than not.

It was simply because of skill. A detective with the ability of the stealthiest of thieves (most flamboyant too, if he may add). Silently, Kaito acted like he was proud father. He knew Tantei-kun got into much trouble and by his techniques rubbing off on the little fellow, it armed him with just one more weapon against all things bad.

That was a pass in his book. 

At the same time, it filled him with dread. Encounters and close calls were fun but were becoming more often than not, tiring the white-clad thief out and exposing the child to even more danger. At the same time, his critic was becoming more of a thief protege by the day.

The thought, if stated out loud would most likely result in many soccer shaped bruises. But, he grinned nonetheless, it was still an amusing thought. 

When Kaito heard more footsteps, he set out his decoys and was relieved to find the task force follow them blindly. His luck only went so far as he heard the persistent and silent footsteps follow him even more closely than before.

"Tantei-kun~" He all but purred, turning around once he made it through the roof doors, slamming them open hard enough to create an echo that resounded loudly. "It's not nice to stalk people." The only reaction he got was the mini-detective shifting from one foot to another looking more mature than the average 7-year-old as his eyes glinted intelligently behind the dull black frames he wore. 

"I wasn't aware an international criminal could berate a child on stalking when he does it much more than even the average person. I think your dove is still being cared for by Ayumi. Someone threw something at it. You were lucky I knew it was following me, otherwise it probably wouldn't be okay right now." Conan said evenly, his voice deeper and Kaito found it easier to listen to than when he made his voice go all high-pitched and annoying. At the same, he let out a relieved sigh. Barely noticeable thanks to his poker face. 

"I'm glad." He replied honestly. Conan hummed, staring up to the sky. 

"Not the gem you're looking for?" He asked, his hand now resting on his wrist watch and the thief chuckled before examining the gem in the open moonlight. 

"Nope." He agreed and Tantei-kun shot at him in a frenzy causing the wanted criminal to go into multiple acrobatic forms in order to dodge. A happy laugh escaped his lips and found itself fading off slowly into the cool night air. Conan scoffed, attempting to grab at the jewel and the thief juggled it just out of his reach. "Shorty~" He teased. 

"Urusai!" The kid shouted and Kaito grinned. Ooh, he hit a pressure point. Tantei-kun was actually pouting.

"What are you going to do about it Chibisuki?" He taunted and Conan, growing angrier by the second answered with a swift and hard kick to the thief's shin. "Ow!" He called out in pain, back stepping and clutching the jewel even tighter within his gloved hands. 

"Barou," Conan stated in a displeased huff as he collected himself and stood a little straighter. 

"I should get a restraining order against you. You're dangerous." Kaito grumbled, putting slight pressure on his leg to make sure nothing important was wrong. Besides a little pain and perhaps a rather big bruise, he was okay. 

"I don't think they'll believe you. I'm only seven after all. Well, there's also the fact that you're a wanted criminal and I'm not sure you can make a case." The phantom thief found himself grinning at the reply he got and Conan was forcing a smile away himself. 

"Act freely." The thief encouraged. "I'm not an idiot and I know you're hiding something behind those glasses of yours." 

"Is that so?" The mini-detective asked, an eyebrow raised. "Well then," He chuckled. "Checkmate." 

Confused, Kaito watched him prance off, hands in his pockets. Squinting as he saw a small glint he gasped, mimicking the very thing he hated most. 

"The gem!" He shrieked, sounding like he just got robbed. And technically, he did. Oh, he growled. This was so not over.