Everyone must have continued speaking for quite awhile, because Kyouko was lost within a mountain of files when the door behind her opened. Her head whirled around - to her surprise, it was Kaito Kuroba.
    
Really, she expected just about anybody else. He wasn’t at the bottom of the list, but still pretty darn low in comparison to the other people here. Especially for the list of “people who might enter this room first”. Perhaps she should reconsider the weight of the secrets looming around her.

“Kuroba-san--” she nodded in greeting, “--I didn’t expect to see you here so soon.”

“‘So soon’?” the magician echoed, frowning. He looked at her and then up at the shelves of files before him. “Um… It has been about an hour since you left the meeting…”

Kyouko was certain he knew what she actually meant, but he showed no signs of it. She was aware he must have had something to hide - sure, he was Hakuba’s classmate, but that wasn’t a good enough reason to be brought here, was it? No, it couldn’t be. She wouldn’t accept it. Everyone was here for a reason. People who would make her despair; people who would make anyone she got close to despair. She was certain that the masterminds had this goal in mind. 

...But it was clear that Kuroba wasn't a detective. He didn't have the aura. He was definitely smarter than he let on though, and Kyouko was certain that was tied to the reason he was here with the rest of them.

“Has it? My apologies, it seems I lost track of time. Did everyone solve Fujisaki-kun’s murder?”

Kuroba brushed a finger over the files before him before seemingly choosing one at random. There must have been a graphic image inside, because his face went pale and he immediately snapped it shut.

“Um. Ah. No, not really. Everyone seemed to think it was that Genocider Syo, but apparently not. I think someone said something about how it didn’t fit the killer’s MO, and the location of murder was weird or whatever…”

He shrugged and put the file back where it came from. “I guess a file on that Syo would be here, right? With unsolved cases?”

“There was one,” Kyouko admitted, “but it was one of the files we took when we escaped. I should have it at home, actually. It’s a shame the others will have to make do without it. It was very useful for that murder...”

“Hm.” Kuroba took the hint and dropped the topic with her, returning to the shelves. Kyouko wouldn’t be subtle about it now - she closed the case file she was looking at and watched him. She already sat across from him at breakfast, so she got the opportunity to watch his expressions during their meetings. It was almost like she was watching a show - he was an animated character with a wide range of emotion. She wondered just how much of it was faked. 

“So, anything interesting in here?”

He wanted to ask her about something. Kyouko could tell that he was trying to nonchalantly find something. But after pulling out one file, it seemed he didn’t want to go through every single one just to have his eyes violated by a scene he didn’t want to see.

The detective glanced at the piles of files scattered around her. “It depends on what you consider ‘interesting’, I suppose.”

“Well…” He took a moment to think to himself. She was sure he was just stalling - to make it seem like he was trying to think of something, “...unsolved cases… how about…”

And suddenly, he broke into a grin - a grin of pure enthusiasm. He was just so excited about what he hoped to find!

“How about something about Kaitou KID? You know about him, right?”

Huh. Out of all the things he could have asked for. “Yes, of course I do. It seems he’s the only topic in the news these days.” Which she wasn’t completely unhappy about - it kept the attention away from her and other cases. But, on the other hand, the stupid thief was the highlight of the news every time he did something. Which, sometimes, was quite often. “Any reason in particular you want something about him? ...A follower of his?”

She wasn’t sure if he picked up on her mild distaste, but if he did, he clearly didn’t let it affect him. 

“Absolutely! As a fellow magician, I have to give him respect! Plus, anyone running Hakuba and the rest of the force in circles is pretty fantastic.” Kuroba snickered to himself in delight as Kyouko sighed and fished through her rather small pile of ‘files not worth going through’. Give him what he wants and be done with it, that’s all she needed to do…

However, Kuroba wasn’t done speaking to her about that thief yet: “Say, some of the others said you were a detective, right? How about it? Do you think you could catch him?”

Strange that he didn’t call her a “Super High School Level Detective”, because that would imply she was better than all the other ones that tried the case. Perhaps… those three didn’t tell everyone the entire truth. ...Something about that made her grateful. Kyouko held back a smile at the thought so she could focus on the conversation before her.

“Frankly, I don’t care.”

“Eh?” He looked disappointed for a minute, but then he offered a cocky smile. “Oh, I get it. You must be intimidated, or maybe jealous, or--”

“Let me put it this way,” Kyouko said, standing up with the appropriate file in her hand, “if, say, Kaitou KID was one of the people trapped with us... and I had to offer up one life to save everyone else... I would consider offering his before mine.”

His face dropped then - he was suddenly wide-eyed and serious as the detective pushed the mediocre stack of papers into his chest. He silently took it and flipped through it as Kyouko continued with a little smirk.

“I despise him. He’s obnoxious, annoying, and a complete waste of time and effort. Why would I waste time on a harmless thief? He returns what he steals and makes a mockery of great minds. Personally, I see no reason to bother with him. But, I won’t stop people from liking him or pursuing him. After all, someone needs to lock him up. Who knows what would happen if he didn’t get the attention he craved?”

Did she mean these words? Probably not. Kaitou KID was still a person like everyone else. But there was something about his flashiness that bothered her, so she dug deep into that nagging feeling to come up with these cruel words. Perhaps if she made Kuroba angry by insulting the criminal he clearly idolized, his mask would slip up and she could learn more about him. As if there was no ulterior motive to her words, Kyouko shrugged and sat down once again, picking up where she left off with some foreign assassination case. She didn’t look up at Kuroba again, even after the dulled tone in his voice rang through the room.

“So you would consider him worth the time if he was just another serial killer?”

Was she hearing some disgust in his voice? Well, it's certainly something other than his overexcited demeanour. Could she push him a little further? It left a bad taste in her mouth to work like this, but for the safety of herself and her friends, she considered it the means to a necessary end. 

“...I would. I’m sorry, have I disappointed you? I won’t pretend to think highly of such a frivolous individual. The rest of the world seems to think he’s above every other criminal - a hero, a performer, a healthy distraction… If he stole lives instead of jewels but continued to put on a show, he wouldn’t get the positive press. What a strange world we live in, hm…?”

Kyouko calmly flipped through pages upon pages of documents. Kuroba said nothing to her. She wanted to look up to see what kind of face he was making, but she held back. Surprisingly enough, she didn’t sense any malice in his voice when he spoke again.

“Hey… Kirigiri-san…”

But he never got to finish, because then Hakuba opened the door and stepped into the room. The two looked up at him and he stared back. The tension in the room dissipated and they were all left with wide eyes.

“...I’m sorry, did I interrupt something?”

Kuroba shook his head and grinned, pushing past the male detective. “Nah, I was just getting something for a little recreational reading. I’ll leave you two alone now!”

And then he was gone before Hakuba could stop him. With a sigh, he turned to face Kyouko again, and studied her ever-growing piles.

“Oh my. Would you like some help--?”

“I’m fine. Is there something in particular you’re looking for? If you are looking for information on Genocider Syo, you won’t find it in here.”

She returned to scanning information about some shadowy organization. She admittedly wasn’t absorbing any of it, but he didn’t need to know that. She was frustrated that Hakuba interrupted her investigation on his suspicious friend. Famous detectives are just so annoying! She refused to even look at him. She was busy - busy busy busy…

“...Kirigiri-san? Are you upset with me? I apologise for working against you in the trial…”

Nope, she wasn’t going to look up at him. He was going to have to deal with her voice mumbling into papers.

“I don’t care about that. You didn’t have a crucial piece of evidence - it doesn’t matter now. If you don’t need anything, I ask you leave me be. I want to finish this tonight.”

“But…” His voice was growing concerned, and Kyouko almost gave in just so he would definitely stop that, “...you still have all these shelves to go through, correct? It will be Night Time soon, so I could just take half…”

Tempting, but despite that-- “You should know something, Hakuba-san. I don’t trust anyone here who isn’t myself. I will read all of these cases by myself, no matter how long it takes.”

“Kirigiri-san…”

Boy, she was just disappointing and discouraging everyone today, wasn’t she? With a deep breath, she wearily looked up to meet his eyes, trying her damnedest to ignore his feelings about the situation.

“If it makes you feel better, I give you permission to check my room in the morning. Wake me up if you wish; I might sleep in.” She paused. “Or check in throughout the night. I don’t care. I’m sure you’ll want your rest. Nonetheless, I assure you I’ll be there by morning.”

“And if you’re not?”

“I will be.”

Just a bit of relief mixed with the blond’s expression. Kyouko could tell he was still (stupidly) worried about her, but he put on a smirk anyways.

“I’ll check on you before seven, then. If you aren’t there… I’m afraid I won’t be able to trust your word anymore, Kirigiri-san.”

Ouch. He was joking, but he brought it right back to what she said earlier. Mild regret, but, “I’m sure that’s not a problem. After all, no one should have a motive to kill me yet. The only one that will know I’m here is you. ...And the masterminds, I suppose. But I assure you, I won’t be killed by them.”

(Maybe humiliated or injured or framed, but not murdered. 
...They were all worse than the latter, though that was probably the point.)

“...You’re so certain of yourself. I’m a bit envious.” Huh. What an odd thing to say to her. “I suppose I have no choice but to believe in you.”

If Kyouko wasn’t encased by an impenetrable wall of folders, maybe he would have approached her for a more “intimate” farewell - a kiss on the hand (which she may or may not have slapped away), or… whatever those suave, gentleman types did. She didn’t know. But it didn’t matter, because all he could do was open the door, speak a soft “good-bye” and “be careful”, and leave her in the quiet of the night.

No one else bothered her there. Maybe Kuroba or Hakuba said something. Maybe they were busy with the case of Fujisaki. But the Night Time message came, and Kyouko readied herself for a long night.