Archive of Our Own

Akako should have known that things would crash and burn the moment Aoko told her that Kudo would be joining them in seeing a concert.

Sonoko had scored herself multiple tickets to a huge concert apparently. Frankly, Akako didn't care because poppy, preppy music wasn't really her thing and she preferred classical opera instead but Aoko had invited her and she really couldn't say no to those doe-y gray puppy dog eyes and she cursed herself for being so soft on the girl.

The entire party was as followed; Sonoko, Ran, Aoko, Akako, Kudo and Hakuba.

It was rather disconcerting to see Kudo without Kuroba hanging off of him and Hakuba alone without bickering with a certain Osakan Detective but Akako waved it off as a friendly gathering and she regretted that, a lot.

The concert finished with lots of fanfare, confetti, loud music and callbacks. The witch was borderline murderous as the horny men behind their seats shouted out obscene phrases and words, Ran seemed rather pissed off too as she had shot multiple glares behind her back but none were taken seriously.

"I got us backstage passes~!" Declared Sonoko just as Akako was about to make a mad dash for the exit with Aoko in tow, "We get to meet Aqours, µ's and TRIGGER~! Kyaah this is like my second dream come true right next to meeting KID-sama~." The heiress swooned as she flashed the laminated cards in front of the group.

"We aren't that interested so we'll wait by the entrance," Kudo swiftly disengaged, taking light but hurried steps towards the entrance with Hakuba in tow.

"Too bad, I thought they could use some lightening up after working on that serial killer case for 60 hours straight," Ran let out a puff of frustration, backstage ticket now clutched in one hand while the other fanned herself.

"Their loss, let's go Ran-chan!" Aoko exclaimed, linking arms with her lookalike and stomping to the backstage entrance, "Let's go," The heiress looked stupefied at the divided factions of her friends as she walked after the other two with Akako following closely.

Backstage was dark, stuffy and overall sweaty as staff members hurriedly packed props, fixed equipment and more post-concert-y stuff.

"Their dressing room is here!" Squealed out Sonoko as she pointed to a white door with the sign 'For Idols' Use' and it was rather obvious seeing as how the entirety of backstage was black and it was the only white door in there. "Excuse me?" Sonoko called out, knocking on the door a couple of times.

"Is there no one in there?" Asked Aoko as a few minutes of silence, "I guess...." Ran looked around for anyone who looked like they knew about the room.

"Excuse me, we're here for a meet and greet but the dressing room seems to be locked?" Sonoko had pulled a lady staff towards the door. "Oh that's weird," The lady staff mused out as she gripped the doorknob and tried to turn the knob a couple of times, "The dressing room door shouldn't be locked as the idols come and go," The lady stopped to take a step back, "I'll ask my supervisor. Please wait a moment," The lady disappeared into a drape of curtains, coming back with a bespectacled man who held a bundle of keys, one moment later and the lock clicked open.

"Huh?" The door was certainly unlocked, but it didn't open, something was blocking it.

"Is it jammed?" Aoko asked taking a peek through the slight opening of the door, she let out a sharp gasp as she took a step back, "There's someone in there!" The brunette declared urgently as she tugged Ran towards the door.

"She's on the floor and there's— there's blood."

No further explanations were needed as Ran barked out for everyone to take a step back as she raised her foot and promptly kicked the door down. Akako heard a small crash as the door fell down revealing the sight before them.

On the floor laid a woman, no a man— Akako couldn't tell for the victim's frame was muscular but their pink hair and feminine features frozen in a surprised expression gave her mixed signals. "Everyone step back!" The earlier bespectacled man exclaimed as he herded the group of horrified girls away from the corpse.

Akako took the time to observe the presumed dead corpse. There was a small puddle of blood lying just by the side of the victim's head, probably from a head wound. By her, er their side was a fallen equipment box with buckles on it which could be the murder item but the door was locked, it couldn't have been.

"She's dead," The man spoke after checking the girl(??)'s pulse, shaking his head as he ordered the lady staff to call the police.

As expected, Kudo and Hakuba came rushing in after a few minutes. "Did anyone touch the crime scene?!" Was the first thing that left Kudo's mouth as all the girls huddled together in one corner.

"No one, inspector." Answered the bespectacled man as Hakuba swiftly wore gloves and began to examine the body. "Rigor Mortis kicked in a few hours ago, implying that they might have died while the concert was still going. They have a blunt trauma wound to the back of their head with a few scratches most probably from the fallen equipment box by the top shelves. All in all this seems like an accident," Hakuba's deductions were pretty much how Akako saw the scene in front of her but Kudo looked unsatisfied.

"Why would they lock themselves inside this room? Who is the victim? Why were they alone?" The Tokyo detective's query was halted by the sound of footsteps as three men came in.

"What's with all the commotion?" A man with the palest skin tone Akako's ever seen growled out with an evident frown, a shorter man trailed behind him with a calculating gaze as he pointed at the body on the floor.

"Anesagi?!" A cry was heard but from the third man who had tanned skin and brown hair tucked behind his ear, "We have to take her to the hospital!" It was a valiant attempt, Akako mused out as the tallest male tried to help the already dead body.

"She's dead, Ryu." The short male stated as his other two companions froze, "Who did it?!" The pale one exclaimed, snarling and standing to his full height in front of the detectives.

"We don't know yet but we think it's an accident," Saguru held his hands in front of him in a placating manner while Kudo hummed out,

"No, it's a murder." He called out from his spot beside the victim, gloved hands swiftly grazing the still warm skin of the victim. "The blunt trauma was a cover-up, the real cause of death is most probably this—" Kudo held up the victim's wrist that were rather purple, not too bruised imply that it wasn't that harsh of a tie. "They must have thought they could cover up the mark with the purple hue of their wrist but I can tell you that there is a faint pinprick that most likely had poison on it."

"So it's a murder?" Ran asked in a wavering voice, holding onto Aoko like her lifeline (Akako did not feel a twinge of jealousy).

"Yes, Ran. I did say something like that when I started to speak," Kudo had the nerve to be sarcastic in the middle of the glum atmosphere, "And all of you are suspects."

Thus started the murder case of TRIGGER's manager, Anesagi Kaoru.

"The victim is Anesagi Kaoru, TRIGGER's Manager of 5 years. They were last spotted a little before the concert outside the hall, holding drinks that they're most probably going to place inside the dressing room."

"The cause of death is by poison from a small pinprick around the wrist area and it is instant meaning anyone who entered the room is a viable suspect. The blunt trauma to the head must have been staged as the blood is rather dry, give or take 15 minutes must have passed already judging by the dryness."

Akako and the rest of the girls were interviewed by Hakuba Saguru, who held a notepad and a ballpen as he separately interviewed each and every one of the suspects.

"Like what the other girls have said, I was invited by Sonoko since she had multiple tickets to this concert and we were on our way home when Sonoko told us that she had backstage tickets so we went to check but the door was locked so we asked a staff to unlock it for us," Akako said with practiced ease having thought of her words before hand.

"So you pulled in the staff girl, Francesca Gradis to unlock the door but she couldn't since the key was held by her supervisor, Kawamoto Ishikawa?" Hakuba clarified and Akako nodded her head.

"Did you notice any strange behavior from the others when you saw the victim?"

"I only ever saw two people approach the body, and that would be the Glasses Guy and the Tanned Supermodel." Hakuba let out a sigh of frustration as he snapped his notepad close, "You just said what the others said." And Akako didn't know whether to laugh or to cry because Hakuba implied that they had no leads and the witch just wanted to go home, tell Igor to make her honey tea then go to bed.

"You can go join the others now," Akako left the room and was guided to a waiting room where everyone from earlier sat at.

Aoko sat beside the staff lady, Francesca as she patted her shoulder. Now being able to look properly, Akako noted the lady's bushy blonde hair, blue eyes and overall foreign look as well as observing Ishikawa's rather haughty attitude as the bespectacled man shifted and tapped his foot impatiently.

By the corner was TRIGGER, huddled together with paper cups in their hands, looking dead tired having just finished a concert. "I bet it's his doing," The pale man growled out while the tanned one shushed him and coaxed him into relaxing, "We don't have proof for that," The pink haired male informed with a slight downturn to his lips.

"This sucks," Sonoko spoke out in the loudest voice as she picked the dirt from her nails, "I'm literally sitting beside my dream idols and it's because of a murder,"

"Why don't we all lighten up a bit?" Aoko offered, patting Francesca's back soothingly and Akako decided to sit beside the gray-eyed lady just to make sure there was no funny business. "We don't know each other so why don't we all introduce ourselves?"

Ran went first, "I'm Mouri Ran, 20 years old, I do karate occasionally and currently a student in Tokyo Uni for Law."

"Suzuki Sonoko, same age but I'm taking private studies instead of Uni to take over the family business." The heiress was still frowning but the chatter of conversation seemed to have lessened the scrunch of her eyebrows.

"Nakamori Aoko! 19 but turning 20 soon in September, I study Criminal Psychology at Tokyo Uni too!" Aoko beamed the best smile she could muster on cue as an attempt to try and lighten the mood.

"Koizumi Akako, I study Literature and History at Tokyo University and I'm currently dating Nakamori Aoko." The aforementioned lady blushed a bright red as Akako boldly declared her status, giving the blonde girl a pointed stare throughout the entirety of her introduction.

"Francesca Gradis," The blonde started hesitantly, "I'm an intern from the international branch of Yaotome Productions, today was supposed to be my last day here in Japan before I head back to America but that doesn't seem like it's gonna happen today..." The lady chewed on her bottom lip as she revisited the memories of the earlier scene.

"Francesca might be too hard to pronounce so you can just call me Fran or Flan, like how my friends back in the US call me."

Akako went for 'Flan' because it was amusing to use.

"I'm Yaotome Gaku," The pale male from the corner spoke up, standing and squaring his shoulders in a twisted upfront facade. "TRIGGER's leader and I guess one of Anesagi's friends," His gaze softened for a moment at the mentions of the deceased. "I want to find out who murdered her and put them behind bars," His gaze was grey, just a tad bit darker than Aoko's but held more fire than Akako's own scarlet gaze.

"Kujo Tenn, TRIGGER's center and mostly lead vocalist." The pink haired introduced with a gracefully calculated bow, "I've known Anesagi ever since I started show business and it is truly a loss," His words were perfectly fabricated to hide any emotion but Akako could tell by the slight clench of his teeth and the balled up fists hanging by his sides that he was also shaken up.

"Tsunashi Ryuunosuke, you can call me Ryu. I'm TRIGGER's best-ish dancer? And I wish that I could have done something to prevent this and I—" Despite his tall stature and muscular frame, Akako saw the fragility Ryu held as he choked back a sob, hands gripping tightly on his stage outfit's sleeve. Yaotome had collected the taller male and gently shushed him, whispering soft words and patting his back gently and Akako wondered if they were like Kudo and Kuroba.

Last to speak was Ishikawa, who stood up and spoke in a frantic tone. "I'm Kawamoto Ishikawa, Ishi or Kawa is fine. I've been working for Yaotome Productions for 3 years now and I've just been promoted as supervisor and I'm greatly saddened by this accident,"

"Murder." Tenn corrected with a piercing gaze, almost like a challenge as cat-like pupils dilated ever so slightly.

"Yes, murder and I hope they catch the culprit soon," Thus ended their introductory spree plunging them all into heavy silence until they heard footsteps and a familiar voice outside in the hall.

"I know, I'm sorry Kaito. I can't go home right now since a murder happened here and no, I didn't cause it. I was called to the scene Kaito, it wasn't me. I promise I'll try to get back as soon as I can, I know. I love you too, bye!"

In came Kudo Shinichi, having divested himself of his earlier heavy coat and jacket, now just wearing a plain button up shirt and his jeans. So far he looked rather disheveled and tired as he had just come back from a 60 hours straight working spree only to find another case on his lap.

"I'd like to ask Kawamoto-san to come with me to the interrogation room again, please." The detective spoke in a tired yet firm tone, as if he was sure that he was the murderer. "You've interrogated me fifteen times, Mr. Detective," Ishikawa stated while standing, wearing a rather prideful smirk the type akin to Kaito KID's whenever he knew he was a hundred steps ahead of his opponents.

"I will definitely find your loophole," Kudo growled out and Akako wondered if he's had his daily coffee yet, "I will find it."

The two disappeared behind the door and the room was quiet once again.

"Poor Shinichi," Ran sighed out, taking gulps of her water, "Hasn't gotten a kiss nor a hug from Kaito in days, I'm impressed he's coping with the stress without Kaito's love taps."

"Have you seen Saguru though? He's not wearing his trench coat, his trench coat Ran-chan!" Aoko shrilly whispered and oh, yes Hakuba wasn't wearing his trench coat throughout the entire day. "I don't know about you but I think those two detectives are more liable for murder than anyone of us."

Akako had to let out a laugh because it was true, the look on Kudo's face was borderline murderous.

15 minutes later, Hakuba came bursting into the room shouting that Kudo had solved the murder, "Yay!" Sonoko, Ran and Aoko cheered out as they high fived.

"But," Hakuba added with a grim expression halting the celebratory cheers of the girls, "Ishikawa confessed that he was hired by a rival production company who has their sights on faking accidents on idols and idol company's staffs so we'll have to put you all under witness protection."

"Could this rival company be called 'Tsukumo Production'?" Kujo piped up with a small frown as Hakuba nodded his head and all hell broke loose as Yaotome got to his feet and exclaimed "I'll sue that motherfucker!"

"Gaku, calm down!" Ryu exclaimed, holding the man back and pushing him down onto the chair. "You can't just storm in like that, what if you get hurt?"

"Calm down, the police are currently investigating the company and it might take a while so Inspector Megure approved that you all stay together in a house away from the city,"

"What?!" Was the collective response of all of them, "You will all be staying in a heavily guarded house away from the city until we put the mastermind behind bars and have deemed that it's safe for all of you to go with your daily lives."

"But we still have the last leg of the tour!" Yaotome exclaimed and right, the joint concert existed. Akako was so going to have a headache from all the shouting.

"It's still a week away and we're hoping to clear this all up by then," Hakuba tried his hand at reassuring the idol but was met with more indignant noises, "We're going there now. Clothes and other necessities will be provided by trusted people like Mouri's father, Inspector Nakamori and the like."

"I ask on behalf of the Tokyo Police Department that you all cooperate with us until the case is solved."

Akako just wanted to spend time with Aoko, was that too much to ask for?!

The mansion was most certainly away from the city as Akako, along with the entire gang (including a murderous looking Kudo and a resigned Hakuba) were taken to a remote forest-like area. Arriving at their temporary home, they were greeted by a handful of riot soldiers, dressed in thick armor with shields and guns ready behind them was a simple 2-story mansion with pale white walls and vines climbing up the edges.

"This will be our temporary home until further notice," Kudo declared sullenly as he held what looked suspiciously like a card with KID's insignia on it, "And no one but police authorities can enter."

"You will be sharing this house with other witnesses too, including Aqours and µ's." Hakuba informed, unlocking the door and entering. The interior was cozy, the floors were wooden and it had a huge fire place by the side adjacent to it was a modern kitchen with enough food stocked to last them months, the bedrooms were on the second floor with each door being metallic and bulletproof, the lock was fingerprint activated and Akako wondered just how in the world did the TPD managed to find something like this.

"The others are currently in transit and will arrive in another hour or two, for now we have to prepare dinner because Kudo might pass out from hunger." Hakuba gestured towards the pale detective, Ran and Aoko fluttered to the kitchen and began to make curry, assisted by Hakuba who could surprisingly cook very efficiently.

Halfway through food preparation did the door swing open to reveal many colorfully haired girls who flooded into the room and Akako counted eighteen of them. "I certainly hope this isn't turning into a lesbian mixer because I want alone time with TRIGGER." Sonoko stated from her spot by the fireplace where she was reading traditional Japanese books to a fidgeting Flan.

The newly arrived idols all looked shaken up (no surprise there, they were just informed that their lives were sort of at stake after all) but managed to plaster on those idol worthy smiles that Akako loathed for being so perfect and pure. "Please take care of us!" They all chorused together and Akako swore her eardrums exploded momentarily.

They all introduced themselves and Akako had to write down all of their name.

There was Kousaka Honoka, leader of the senior idol group 'µ's' . Minami Kotori who was in charge of costume making, Sonoda Umi who was the lyricist, Hoshizora Rin who was forcing a smile and pretending to be hyper and energetic for the sake of her friend, Koizumi (they weren't related, Akako wasn't that pure) Hanayo who looked like she was on the verge of a breakdown. Nishikino Maki who briskly made her way to the couch to sit silently at, wearing an expression of anger/annoyance and anxiety? The last two were Ayase Eli and Tojo Nozomi who were holding hands and something told Akako that Sonoko's predictions weren't so far off from the truth.

Aqours was even harder as Akako was already juggling 10+ names in her head and another 9 was overkill.

Takami Chika was a brave girl, leader of the junior group who tried to put up a sunny front for the sake of her friends. Watanabe You seemed like a generically energetic girl but at the moment she looked as shaken up as everyone else as she fidgeted while introducing herself as the costume maker of the group, Sakurauchi Riko looked like the epitome of stress as she sweated and fumbled with her words as she stated that she was the composer of the group. Kunikida Hanamaru was quiet and soft spoken as she stood in front of Kurosawa Ruby who was bawling like a kid, trembling and shaking. Kurosawa Dia wasn't any different from her younger sister as she sniffled and attempted to hide the puffiness from her eyes with her hands while Matsuura Kanan held onto her and gently comforted her with a hug, last was Ohara Mari who's sunshine remained untarnished even in their current predicament as she boldly exclaimed that she would disown the Tsukumo Productions and put them in jail herself.

Lesson of the introductory? Akako was never going to listen to introductions ever again.

Dinner came minutes later as Aoko and Ran frantically prepared extras for the sudden huge crowd. Dinner was a mix of simple beef curry, fried battered vegetables, miso soup and egg rolls. Thankfully there were enough seats for everyone to have a comfortable spot as everyone dug in and ate.

It was mostly silent, with the exceptions of Sonoko's loud chattering, Flan's fumbling with chopsticks and the idols hushed conversations amongst themselves. It was only truly broken when an annoyingly familiar voice resounded throughout the dining room.

"Is this an anime hair convention or am I just seeing the rainbow personified by hair?"

It was a riot soldier, harmless and dutiful if it weren't for the prideful smirk that Akako immediately knew who it belonged to.

"Kaito?!" Kudo exclaimed, knocking down his glass of coffee all over his pants as he stood up in haste. Practically running over to the disguised ex-thief, Kudo collected the male in a hug before berating the magician. "What are you doing here? Don't you know it's dangerous? You're a civilian Kaito, you can't just waltz in to a danger zone. Gods, if I didn't love you I would have stabbed you already," And more cheesy lines as the magician divested himself of his disguise, revealing a casual tee with the words 'Best Boyfriend' written in cute bubble letters as the shirt was littered with Sherlock themed motifs and Akako wondered for Kudo, how in the world did the detective score such a caring boyfriend.

"Your amazingly perfect boyfriend has arrived," Kuroba bowed with much flourish as he made confetti and glitter bombs explode and just the mere presence of the entertainer seemed to have lighten up everyone's mood significantly.

"It's not safe here," Kudo whispered after an impromptu magic show from Kuroba that resulted in much wow and lots of sunny smiles, "Come on, Shinichi. What's one evil mastermind when we've faced an entire organization of them?" Kuroba argued in a hushed tone but Akako could hear them from her spot beside Aoko.

"Besides, I heard from Saguru that you're on the verge of either committing seppuku or murder so I had to check up on you," Akako averted her gaze as the magician pressed a soft kiss against the detective's temple causing Kudo to blush a satisfying color of pink. "Plus I heard you almost died of blue balls the other day, I wanted to take a pic of that but Joddie asked me to fill in for her magic show." The snort that left Akako was purely Aoko's imagination as the witch shoved a spoon into her mouth to stop the laughter from escaping.

"Heiji's on his way too!" Kuroba called out to the blonde detective who visibly perked up at his words, "He's bringing your trench coat~." Now Hakuba was positively beaming as he finished his curry rice and went to wait by the entrance like the whipped puppy he was.

Kudo cleared his throat after finishing his meal (or what was supposed to be eating as he spent half of dinner feeding Kuroba and acting all lovey-dovey that it almost made Akako sick), "Curfew is at 10, until then you have free reigns as long as you stay inside this mansion, if you wish to go outside you'll have to do a buddy system and are at least accompanied by one trusted police officer or by us detectives,"

"And Kaito," The magician interjected causing the detective to bristle and shove him away, "Not Kaito. Kaito will leave first thing in the morning." There were collective boos as everyone seemed to like the magician's company.

"Ha! The crowd loves me, I win Tantei-kun!"

The rest of the evening went on like expected, Kudo and Kuroba stuck together like glue, Aoko spent time with Ran, the idols were at the practice halls probably dancing away their worries, Hakuba spent time with the newly arrived Heiji who had brought his beloved trench coat, TRIGGER retired to their rooms early and Akako spent her time reading books about ancient witches.

The clock hit 10 o'clock and Kudo herded everyone to their specific rooms, as expected they were buddied up and thankfully, Akako was with Aoko.

"Hey," Aoko greeted her with a smile, gingerly taking Akako's hand into her. "Rough day, huh?" The brunette giggled out as the two got comfortable on their bed with Akako's arms wrapped around the smaller girl's waist while Aoko buried her face on the witch's chest. "Tell me about it," Akako bit back sarcastically with the faintest hint of a teasing smirk. "We'll get through this...." Aoko whispered, lulling herself to sleep as she enveloped herself in Akako's warmth. Minutes later, Akako listened to the soft snores of her lover before attempting to sleep.

An hour passed and Akako remained wide awake. Something about the events that have transpired set her on edge, muscles refusing to relax as her mind ran a thousand miles per second.

Carefully detaching herself from the sleeping lady, Akako took light steps out of the room which was technically against the rules but she was a witch and she did pack her essential magic tools and a measly human couldn't bring the heiress of Red Magic down that easily.

The mansion was unsurprisingly quiet as Akako walked down the halls, she passed by the studies whose door was slightly ajar showing one Kudo Shinichi and one Kuroba Kaito who stood in the faint light of an oil lamp.

"I just don't understand Kaito," The detective whispered so softly that Akako had to strain her ears to hear his words, "I don't understand why humans feel the need to kill others,"

From where Akako stood, she could see the faintest hint of tears threatening to spill from the detective's azure eyes and the witch wondered if she should be witnessing such a show of weakness.

Kuroba collected the detective in a hug, murmuring words of encouragements as he pressed butterfly kisses on the expanse of skin that was Kudo's face. "I can't give you the answer to your question but I'll be right here with you, Shinichi. There may be an insurmountable amount of darkness out there but I promise, I'll be here with you."

Akako wondered if she's ever said such cheesy yet heartfelt lines to Aoko as she watched Kaito press a light kiss upon the detective's lips and decided that enough was enough, any further and it would be taboo to watch them.

She left the studies and headed for the library but it seems that a lot of couples were awake as she spotted Kunikida and Yoshiko(Yohane?) sitting together by a lampshade, reading a bedtime stories book. "Fallen angels aren't bad!" The dark haired idol exclaimed as Kunikida read on, "They aren't at times but on other occasions they can be too, zura." Kunikida remarked with a flip of a page.

"Whatever species it may be, there will always be good and bad to balance things out. Just like us zura! I'm shy and soft spoken but you bring out the loudness in me just like how I tame your antics," Kunikida pulled the other girl into a gentle Eskimo kiss and Akako couldn't help but smile at how perfectly balanced they were. Did she have the same stability with Aoko, she wondered.

Her next place of solace was the fireplace but again, it was taken by Ayase and Tojo who were huddled up together in a cross stitch blanket with mugs of cocoa in their hands. It looked like a scene taken straight out of a movie just for how romantic it was as Tojo whispered jokes and casual conversations to the blonde Russian's ear whilst placing soft kisses on her nose and cheeks.

"You know you can lean on me, right?" The purple haired fortune teller whispered out as Ayase let out a small laugh and a shake of her head, "I do," The Russian agreed with a soft smile but Tojo didn't seem satisfied.

"We're partners, you can tell me all your worries and I'll tell you mine and currently my worry is that you're bottling up your emotions for the sake of others." Ayase took a moment to reply, letting out a long exhale.

"I can't lie to you can I?" Ayase pressed herself closer as she took a moment of silence to build up her courage, "I'm afraid. What if you die, I die? I can't decide which hurts more because I can't imagine a life without you or a life of you without me," There was a faint tremble to her words as Akako took a step back as a voice whispered to her, Has she ever been honest down to her soul to Aoko?.

The fireplace was definitely not Akako's place of solace as she continued on into the kitchen, only to find her how many-eth couple of the night. Matsuura and Dia stood by the fridge, with Dia retrieving a pack of pudding from the fridge. "We'll make it through," Matsuura stated as Dia physically stiffened at her words, "We won't die and if it comes to that I won't let you die." There was a soft noise that took Akako a moment to recognize as crying as Dia's shoulders shook with repressed sobs, "Stop it with your hero complex," Dia exclaimed, placing her pudding down and clinging onto the other girl as tightly as she could, "I want us both to live and I don't want to live without you, can't you understand that? I'm not afraid of suddenly being shot, I'm afraid of losing you."

"Then we're on the same page," Matsuura murmured with a soft smile as she returned the hug with much fervor, "I'll make sure that we both don't die."

Akako admired the tenacity of the two for working things out, she remembered her last argument with Aoko which ended in tears as the two spluttered to apologize to one another but inevitably left the topic (Aoko was worried that Akako kept overusing her mana to the point of over exhaustion while Akako simply defended her witch pride) and maybe next time Akako could clear things up and reach a mutual ground with Aoko.

By now, Akako has gotten tired of loitering around and it seemed like she wasn't going to find a place for herself other than her room so she decided to head back to her room, climbing up the stairs and was about to turn round the corner but then fell back from a sudden impact with a warm body.

"I'm sorry!" A slightly accented voice exclaimed and Akako saw a fluffy head of blonde hair from her cloudy vision as she sat up and looked at the foreigner who wore shorts and a simple shirt.

"No, I apologize. I wasn't looking properly," Akako stood up, dusting her nightgown and shaking her head. "Can't sleep either?" The witch asked, watching as Flan fidgeted and nodded. "I'm still a little shaken up from Anesagi-san's murder and all of this," She gestured to the entire mansion which was rather absurd considering the metallic doors and tight security. "Care to chat with me?" Akako offered seeing it as an opportunity for mutual comfort.

They made their way to the studies where Kudo and Kuroba have already evacuated from leaving only the oil lamp to dimly lit the room. "I was really happy to hear that I'll get to work for TRIGGER," Flan started as she took a seat on the plush velvet sofa. "It was like a dream come true that I'd get to meet my idols and converse with them on a daily basis." Akako nodded along, listening to her slightly accented Japanese.

"And I was happy to work for them but as time passed by, I realized just how dark the entertainment world could get. I scratched the surface when I heard President Yaotome screaming about a stolen song from a group called IDOLiSH7 and then now with the Tsukumo Productions and frankly it terrifies me." Akako extended a hand to awkwardly pat Flan's back with as the blonde trudged on.

"Have you considered cutting ties with the business yet?" The witch inquired in a soft tone, honestly if show business was so dark and risky why haven't these people left yet?

"No, goodness no. I've never even entertained the thought of it!" Flan held a mildly affronted look as she shook her head vehemently and Akako was surprised, "Why not? If it scares you so much then why not just leave?"

"Because I love my job," She didn't miss a beat, beaming up at Akako as if she had just said an irrevocable fact of the universe, "I love what I do, I love the people I've met through this job, I love it simply just because I do and that's enough of a reason for me to keep holding on."

Akako gave her a small crooked smile as the sudden confession seemed to have caught the witch off guard but make no mistake, Flan was now Fran in Akako's head as she gained newfound respect for the intern.

"We better get some rest," The witch stated, bringing herself up and tugging the intern along towards their respective rooms, "Goodnight, Flan," Akako bade her goodnight with one last smile before returning to Aoko's soft embrace and she slept peacefully feeling light and rather coy as her perspectives were once again widened by the humans around her.

The following morning came rambunctiously in the form of a Kuroba Kaito banging pots and pans together to make a ruckus while chiming out "Wakey Wakey, Rise and Shiny~!!"

Aoko had fallen from the bed with a jump as Kuroba opened the supposedly impregnable door with fingerprint scanners like it was an unhinged fence, "Wake up lovebirds, there's a breakfast for champions waiting down at the cafeteria!" The magician cackled out before moving to terrorize the next room.

"Good morning," Aoko sheepishly greeted from the floor, rubbing the back of her head and standing up. "Good morning to you too," Akako replied with a nod, sauntering to the bathroom to freshen up.

When the couple got to the 'cafeteria' which were multiple spacious wooden tables lined up perfectly and Akako had to verbally ask how in the world Kuroba managed to haul in 5 wooden tables undetected. "That's just Kaito being Kaito," Aoko giggled out as she took a seat at one of the tables. There was one marble table at the center of it all with a spread far more impressive than any buffet Akako's gone on and she was friends with people like Sonoko and Kudo and that was saying a lot already.

The table was littered with various savory and delicacy items, ranging from scones to French roast coffee to cheesecakes then pudding and from the looks of everyone's faces at least one item on the table was their favorite food.

"You even prepared sushi and sashimi?" Kudo asked as he stepped into the dining room, "Saguru helped me with that," The devil, er Kuroba informed with a scrunch of his nose at the offending raw dish. "Why didn't you wake me up? I could have helped," There was the slightest hints of a pout in Kudo's voice as he swiped up a lemon pie and a cup of French roast. "You looked peaceful in your sleep," Was all Kuroba said before clearing his throat and booming in a very loud volume.

"Ladies and gentlemen~!! Welcome to my breakfast show where I aim to treat my guests right so please sit back and enjoy!"

On cue, plates and utensils floated up and landed in front of each person while ghosts served them food, floating dishes serving all their favorite foods respectively. Akako would have believed that Kuroba finally tried his hand at real magic if it weren't for the faintest shine of nylon threads and small translucent hooks.

"This is delicious!" Aoko exclaimed from beside the witch as she devoured a flan topped with strawberry syrup and whipped cream, her favorite.

Akako looked down in front of her and found a dish of ratatouille with a smiley drawn under it and the witch felt a pang of nostalgia hit her as the phantom feeling of home washed over her, reminding her of an old crumbling cottage that housed her great grandmother.

She opted to finish her food but memories of certain couples from last night reminded her like an alarm, "Have a try," The witch hummed out, taking a fork of her ratatouille and holding it out for an increasingly redder Aoko who accepted with much happiness at the sudden and rather rare gesture from Akako. The scarlet lady seemed to also be embarrassed at her own actions as she quickly slunk back, "Want a try of my flan?" Aoko asked and Akako was stupefied because this was flan they were sharing, Aoko's favorite flan that she could devour 50 of and call it an appetizer.

"S-Sure," Akako opened her mouth hesitantly and the taste of sweet creamy flan coated her taste buds and she sort of understood why Aoko almost murdered Kuroba once when he stole her flan.

They fed each other their respective foods until they are everything on the plate and were too full to get more, Kuroba seemed satisfied with his handiwork as couples all over were sharing food and being all romantic. Except a certain trio that did nothing but brood.

"Everyone at TRIGGER table," The magician called out, casually walking on air like it was nothing. "Care to share some love?" Kuroba asked, stopping in front of the said table where the trio were frowning and just being generally quiet.

"We'll tell you after breakfast," Yaotome called out over his bowl of cold soba,

"I assure you, you will." Kuroba nodded his head and fluttered back to Kudo's side, who was busy arranging intricate pieces of fish all over Kuroba's plate just to spite him.

"I made breakfast for you and this is how you repay me?!" The magician was screeching and for the first time in Akako's life did she hear the highest octave a man could go, "This is payback for cooking with Hakuba and not me," Aah, Akako's image of Kudo changed once again from the soft defenseless one like last night to a spartan soldier and she didn't know if it was worse or better.

After a fancy breakfast, everyone huddled by the fire place where TRIGGER waited at.

"We'll spill everything and this is long so better get cozy," Yaotome informed as everyone took their places.

"Where should we start? I guess from Tsukumo Productions," Kujo had a far-off look in his eyes as he recounted things of the past, "Tsukumo Production is the rival company of Hoshikage Productions and the rivalry's been running for years, normally docile with only a few scandals here and there but everything changed when they got a new president. Tsukumo Ryo has, how do I phrase this, a hatred for idols due to some weird circumstances and wants to destroy each and every idol group starting with us, TRIGGER. He has tried in the past but we were able to overcome that and thrive but to think he'd use such underhanded tactics." Kujo paused for a moment as he remembered Anesagi Kaoru, Fran had her hands clenched together as Akako watched her from the corner of her eyes and she knew just how much TRIGGER and their staff were affected by it all.

"Tsukumo has tried something similar before but to our seniors and they were able to prevent it but this time, we weren't good enough," The pink haired male took a deep breath as he unconsciously shrunk back against Yaotome's side, "We want to out him behind bars but we don't have substantial evidence to support it at court and if we get too rash it could blow up in our faces and doom us from show business,"

Kuroba was the first to speak, "So technically he's the evil mastermind and if we put him behind jail we can all go home?" The trio nodded simultaneously, "Then it's decided! I mean, what's for dinner I just decided what's for dinner," Kuroba sheepishly made his way out of the room as Takami Chika asked, "What's for dinner?"

"A snake," Was all the magician replied before disappearing with a poof of smoke.

The day went on quietly with Kuroba having disappeared without a trace, Akako found herself spending time with the girls and the idols.

"You're welcome to join us," Ayase offered kindly as they did their warm ups, "We're doing easy dance practice for today and it isn't that hard." Try as she might, Akako couldn't look her in the eye due to her eavesdropping yesterday.

"That sounds fun!" Ran exclaimed, standing up and going over to join the idols, Sonoko followed in suit while Aoko looked at Akako expectantly, "I suppose a little dance wouldn't hurt," She watched as Aoko's eyes brightened up as the biggest smile spread across her face, accentuating the small dimples at the edge of her cheeks.

They danced a very awkward cha cha with Akako fumbling and occasionally stepping on Aoko's feet as the tempo changed and the like, Ran was paired with Sonoko and basically everyone was paired in twos and Akako had to admit it was rather fun.

"Thank you for letting us dance with you guys," The witch thanked Eli (yes it was Eli now) with a slight bow just as the song finished, "We don't mind, Honoka always insist the more the merrier!" The blonde answered with a shy smile as she linked hands with Tojo who had a smirk on her face. "Elichika is so kind~," The fortune teller sung out with a shine to her eyes, "S-Shut up!" Eli flushed a bright red as she stomped to join the rest of µ's.

"I'm glad that everyone's finally starting to enjoy themselves," Tojo mused out once Eli was out of earshot, Akako had to look left and right before realizing that Tojo was talking to her.

"Yes, indeed," Akako let out a short awkward cough into her fist, "It's better for everyone to keep their morale up especially during these types of times."

"Have you been in this situation before?" Tojo held a curious gaze as she shuffled through a deck of tarot cards.

"No, not like this anyways. When you're friends with detectives and corpse magnets, you sort of learn to expect something bad to happen," Akako droned on with a thoughtful tap of her finger against the metal railings of the dance hall, "By expect I don't necessarily mean you shouldn't condone murder or the like! Killing, whether justified or not is still bad and must be avoided at all cost!" God, now she sounded like Kudo.

Tojo let out a laugh that sounded like tiny bells, picking up a card from her deck and holding it up for her to see, "The cards tell me that you're a very tender lover," Akako spluttered and flushed a deep red as Tojo laughed a little louder, "Aoko-chan is a very lucky girl, and so are you for having found your soulmate," Akako never viewed the two of them as 'soulmates' but maybe they were, if the insistent erratic heartbeats Akako keeps having whenever Aoko smiles at her general direction had something to say then maybe they were soulmates.

"Treasure your relationship, death is always looking around the corner." Tojo warned her as she held up yet another card featuring a bony grim reaper holding the iconic scythe. "If death is around then I'll just ask my pet, Lucifer to shoo him away." Akako haughtily replied with a smirk as Nozomi (yes first name now too) smiled back and went to join Eli in dancing.

An hour later, everyone found themselves cozied up at the fire place playing 'Never Have I Ever'.

"Never have I ever been arrested," Watanabe stated and a moment of long silence overcame them before hands reluctantly shot up into the air.

"Seriously, Shinichi?!" Ran exclaimed as she looked at the Tokyo Detective who had his hand raised, "Right back at you, Ran." Kudo sniffed out as the karate champion also had her hand raised.

"Care to share why?" Sonoko dryly pressed on with a disinterested expression.

"I was in Paris with Kaito for a magic show," Kudo started with a fidget, "Every thing was going well until this guy tried to, in the simplest term, come onto Kaito and I may have broken his limbs," A slight wince from some people including Kudo himself,

"Crushed his testicles," Another wince and a gasp(?) from Kurosawa Ruby,

"And uhm, I might have given him a wedgie I don't really remember much since it turned into a blur after that," At this point, Akako didn't know if she was listening to a true story or a gag story,

"And when the police came in they were so confused since a bystander gave them a very vague description of the situation and they thought I was the sexual offender."

Ran and Aoko were dying from laughter now, as the lookalikes clutched onto the couch while gasping for breath, "This is gold, oh my gods." Aoko let out a strangled noise as she burst back into laughing.

"Shut up," Kudo sunk back onto his seat, "You guys arrested at least once too."

"I got arrested for jaywalking, Shinichi!" Ran informed between cackles, "I got arrested because I was running late for a tournament and I was a bit pissed off since you ruined my favorite cocktail dress then and I fought with the traffic enforcer!"

Akako wondered how in the world did she become friends with such a weird bunch but she was also wondering how in the world did someone like Kousaka Honoka get arrested?!

"She smuggled bread into a movie theater when the theater specifically told everyone to not bring food." Sonoda Umi clarified with a pointed glare, "We got kicked out from the theaters after waiting three hours on a queue."

Akako let out a sound of understanding as the game continued, "Never have I ever thought of murder," Ah the multiple hands that shot up was rather horrifying yet expected.

"Why are the detectives raising their hands?" Flan, who was one of the few who didn't raise their hands.

"Try spending more than 30 minutes with a drunk Kaito," Saguru suggested with a sick twisted smile, "I guarantee you, everything around you will look like a viable murder weapon."

Akako had experienced a Drunk Kuroba and it wasn't really one of her best days in life.

"Speaking of murder, how did you solve the case Detective Kudo?" Eli asked the detective. There were collective nods and interested hums as they waited for the detective's reply.

"Well, I knew for a fact that Anesagi Kaoru was still alive when you guys entered the room," A few surprised gasps, horrified expressions and mixed responses, "Anesagi Kaoru was paralyzed with Hyoscine or Scopolamine, a rather popular drug used for rape cases and the like. Side effects usually include hallucinations so that could explain Anesagi's expression when you found them."

Akako did not know the drug 'Scopolamine' existed until now.

"The door to the changing room could be locked from the inside and the outside, Ishikawa made the scene look like an accident by bashing Anesagi's head with the equipment box but we were able to determine that it couldn't have been an accident since the wound was a flat and the force applied was significantly controlled compared to a free falling item so we can rule out death by accident,"

"Ishikawa must have locked it from the outside when the concert started because if he disappeared during the live, he would be found suspicious. The door that you presumed was blocked must have been another equipment box that Ishikawa forgot to clean up," Kudo let out a soft sigh, "Well, just anyone could have done this but everyone's testimonies told that only two people approached the body, meaning only two could have killed Anesagi,"

Akako zoned out as the explanation dragged on, but Aoko seemed to be paying very close attention so the witch tried to listen closely.

"I body checked Ryuunosuke during his interrogation and he didn't have any trace of drugs or any pointy items and he doesn't have a motive for murder and Yaotome and Tenn were with him throughout the entire day leaving no room to sneak out to murder Anesagi."

Ryu gave his friends a shaky smile as he nodded along, while Yaotome patted his back reassuringly.

"Leaving only Ishikawa as a prime suspect and it took some time but I managed to dig some up dirt on him," Hakuba let out a bark of laughter, halting Kudo's retelling.

"You called Kaito halfway through your fifteenth try and even FaceTime'd him just so that he could mess with Ishikawa's mind," Hakuba flatly accused as Kudo spluttered and denied the claim vehemently, "I was there with you, I saw you bring out your phone, speed dial Kaito and asked him to mind fuck Ishikawa."

"Fine, I ask Kaito to play mind games on him and Ishikawa spilled a few secrets on the fly and I found out that he had white powder in his jacket's inner powder and I sent it to the lab and it was the drug that was used. Then he spilled, he told us that he was just hired to be a mole in Yaotome Productions but he doesn't know who his employer is, he just knows that he's gonna get paid for it."

"It's Tsukumo Productions," A voice that was definitely Kudo's but Akako saw that the detective's lips didn't move and the voice was a little further from the detective to be him.

"Kaito?! Where have you been?" By the entrance (that was supposedly heavily guarded but the magician walked pass it like a regular entrance) stood Kuroba Kaito wearing a simple black shirt and jeans, with a black sports cap on his head.

"Out," Kuroba answered sauntering over with a very wide smirk, "On the other hand, you are gonna love this," The magician pulled out an item that looked suspiciously like a recorder and pressed play.

'So Ishikawa failed? No worries, they have no evidence or leads to rat us out. Relax.'

"You idiot, how many times do I have to tell you not to act independently!" Kuroba hushed him with a kiss that lasted for 10 seconds and Akako was worried that the two would die from lack of oxygen.

'I had others plans we could use but next time failure is not an option. I want TRIGGER destroyed along with those wannabe school idols.' The voice that came from the small recorder was snarky and slimy, Akako almost shivered as she unconsciously held the hand of Aoko.

"I know that voice," Yaotome stated with a growl while Kujo's face was downright scary beside him, "It's Ryo Tsukumo," Ryu clarified with an equally dangerous expression.

"Correct~," Kuroba drawled out, pulling away from a (slightly dazed) detective, "Turns out they have the wonkier security known to man and they were begging for someone to listen to their plans,"

"He wants to destroy all of us?" Eli asked in a quivering voice as Nozomi held onto her arm, "Not on our watch," Heiji remarked with a small downturn to his lips.

"I stream-lined arrest warrants and search warrants," Kuroba stated, showcasing an entire briefcase of warrants.

"Did you illegally print them out?" Hakuba asked with an incredulous expression.

"Darling, who do you think I am?" Kuroba let out a sigh as he patted down his messy hair to resemble a certain Tokyo Detective.

"You disguised yourself as me?!" Kudo exclaimed with a frown, "Dammit Kaito, I thought we agreed that you'd never disguise yourself as me again."

"But it always works like a charm!" The magician whined out, distributing the papers to the detectives. "Enough of the scolding, I get it mum!" Kuroba pressed his hands against his ears as Kudo droned out about honesty and carefulness and more stuff Akako also drowned out.

"More importantly, Tsukumo Ryo is a slimy bastard so better take your chances and arrest him tonight," The magician's expression turned downright sexy serious as indigo eyes glinted with an unreadable emotion he usually reserved for when he was KID. "Let's go hunt down a fox,"

The detectives didn't seem to have any more objections as they sprung into action. Hakuba phoned Inspector Megure, Kudo disappeared into a secret room filled with weaponry, Heiji called Mouri Kogoro and other police contacts.

"I'm going," Yaotome announced, stepping in front of an armed Kudo Shinichi. "You're a civilian, I ask that you stay here until Tsukumo is behind bars," The detective didn't miss a beat as he side stepped and brushed pass the idol.

"If you did come and it turns into a gun fight, what will you do?" Kudo asked once more and Yaotome fell silent with gritted teeth and clenched fists.

"I'm going too, by the way." Kuroba piped up, wearing an entire that was suspiciously schemed white and blue, to top it off he wore a freaking monocle and Akako had to face palm because even if Kaito KID was retired, that didn't erase his long list of crimes and the witch silently prayed that the magician wouldn't be the one getting arrested tonight.

"Please stay safe," Fran called out from where she sat, nervousness evident on her face.

"It's just one guy, don't worry." Hakuba reassured kindly, "Believe it or not, those two over there," The Brit gestured to the male lookalikes, "They've taken down two criminal organizations together with the police and they've got lots of experience. No one's dying on them anytime soon,"

"Except for Kudo's death god powers," Kuroba added loading his card gun (as impractical as it was), "Except that," Hakuba corrected himself with a wince.

Fran let out a small giggle, "Thank you."

"Well then, everyone! We'll see you later, sit tight and get ready to leave~."

The detectives (+Kuroba) left minutes later, armed with their own personalized weapon. (Hakuba with a freaking rapier-handgun combo, Heiji with a mini machine gun and a kendo stick, Kudo with his tranquilizer watch and a handgun and finally, Kuroba with his card gun).

Akako silently prayed that they all make it back alive.

Dinner was quiet and suspenseful with Aoko and Ran completely silent as they worried about their respective childhood friends. Akako pitched in and helped them prepare dinner to try and help lighten the mood but the witch knew that everyone was on the edge.

Like the way Eli and Nozomi constantly looked at the latter's tarot cards, or the way Kanan would jump at any loud sound and hug Dia, shielding her with her entire body. Like the way Kunikida and Yoshiko always glanced at each other's direction as if to check if the other was safe, or the way Kujo would silently curl up beside Yaotome's side with a cup of warm milk and honey in hand.

Aoko wasn't any better as the lady constantly looked over at the door, as if expecting Kuroba to burst in bloody and half-dead.

Akako didn't know what to do to soothe her worries because she couldn't make any promises, and generally because she sucked at human emotions and general comforting but the witch tried. By tried, she meant by awkwardly pulling the smaller girl into a hug midway through serving dinner.

"They'll be fine, Kudo has Kuroba's back and they'd never let the other die. We'll be safe too, we have the police force guarding us," Akako wasn't sure if her own words were comforting because Kuroba had displayed many times how easily he got through all the defenses of the mansion but Aoko had a small smile on her face as she tip-toed to press a light kiss against the corner of Akako's lips that told the (now blushing) witch that she had somehow alleviated her worries.

Kuroba came bursting through the door with mad cackles as he hauled a man twice his size into the room, bound and gagged like a pig ready for spit roasting. "I caught us dinner!" The magician cackled out looking only the slightest bit disheveled compared to his victim.

The man that laid bound and gagged had purple hair parted to show a face paler than Yaotome's with eyes that looked like they belonged to a fox and a smirk that refused to disappear and Akako had to stop herself from stomping on the man's face.

"We have arrested, Mr. Tsukumo!" Kudo breathlessly exclaimed having just arrived with flushed cheeks and a very disheveled appearance, "I hate you so much Kaito, you aren't sane anymore. You in the world carries an arrested man away from jail?!"

"I thought that some of these guys wanted to clear up some things yeah?" Kuroba arched a fine eyebrow towards a certain trio, Yaotome was first to move, raising a hand to punch the bound man but was stopped by Kujo. "We're better than him, Gaku." The pink haired male whispered and it seemed to have knocked some sense into the other idol as he calmed down and took a few deep breaths.

"Just take him to jail," Yaotome growled out, turning his back on the foxy man.

"Roger that, sir!" Kuroba gave everyone a mock salute before disappearing with a small flash bang.

"Well," Hakuba started after a minute of blind blinking, "Now with the mastermind arrested, everyone can go home freely tomorrow."

The entire room erupted with cheers as couples hugged and kissed including Aoko and Akako themselves.

"For tonight, let's all celebrate and maybe get some early shut eye," The blonde promptly collapsed forward, caught by Heiji and carried (in a fireman's carry) to their room.

The rest of the evening was spent with merry-making, booze and general cheers as the group celebrated to their hearts' content.

"Hey guys, I got us tickets to the last leg of the joint concert of TRIGGER!" Sonoko squealed out as she fanned the tickets around and Akako surprised everyone (including herself) by being the first to agree to the invite.

"Having spent time with them, I can understand their struggles and their music isn't that bad," The witch defended herself with a light tinge of pink as Aoko giggled and nodded.

The concert was, in the simplest terms, amazing.

The stage was bright and borderline blinding as figures danced across it, singing to heavens above as the most brilliant of smiles were plastered on their faces.

TRIGGER was known for their mature songs but when their slow song, Destiny rolled in Akako could hear the emotions overflowing, she even caught Tenn swiping a tear away as they sang for their deceased manager.

Akako knew that God was cruel to some but she also knew that those unfortunate knew how to bounce back up and the witch knew that TRIGGER would be okay as Gaku gave the crowd a dazzlingly smile as he clapped his friends on the shoulders.

"That was amazing!!" Sonoko exclaimed as they exited the concert hall, "By the way, I have backstage tickets. Franchan sent me some before she left Japan~!"

"I'm here so I sort of cancel out Shinichi's luck," Kuroba reassured as Ran's expression turned grim at the obvious deja vu. "True," Kudo agreed with the nod as he made his way backstage.

"Knowing them, a murder is bound to happen," Aoko sullenly whispered as the detective disappeared backstage and as if on cue, someone inside screamed out causing Aoko to let out a frustrated sigh.

"Don't worry, we'll get through this." Akako gave Aoko a brief smile before entwining her hand with the other's, silently making a promise to herself.

She'll love her better than ever.