Kaito glanced down at the people walking around the gala below. He himself had only just finished performing at the event. It seemed Hakuba would never be able to deny Aoko, no matter how many times she was reincarnated. Of course Commissioner Nekomori Aoko was a different woman than she had been back in her mop wielding demon days as Nakamori Aoko. Both of them still shared the same loving soul that reached out to any in need. So when she had decided after the rush of cases involving child abuse that the children needed to see that there was still good and fun in the world. So when she announced that they would be holding a party for the child victims neither of the immortal men could tell her no. Somehow Hattori and Kazuha had even gotten involved, not that the seer and his soulmate wouldn't have come either way. A lot of the cases had been solved by the Osakan pair after all. Looking at them all now Kaito couldn't help but feel that ever present resentment in his heart. Of all his detectives the one he wanted to spend eternity with was the only one to end up being mortal. Of course he was happy and grateful to have his friends by his side, but he missed his tantei-kun. Hakuba was still on good terms with Akako, so she had given him a jewel to alert him whenever Aoko was reborn, and when she reached his apparent age it would show him her location. Hattori's soulmate was also immortal, so they were set. All of their friends tended to meet in all their lives, but this time it looked like Shinichi had not reincarnated. As they had met Ran, and even the Shōnen Tantei-dan were now in their teens. Haibara, who was only a few years older than Ran and Aoko, now worked as a well-respected pediatrician. If his tantei-kun had been reborn they would have met by now. It depressed the usually cheerful magician, but he had perfected his poker face long before he gained the power of Pandora. He shook himself from his dark thoughts, knowing from experience that it was all too easy to loose himself on that path. With a deep breath he centered himself and began a mental countdown until Kaitou Kid's latest heist would begin.
"Nii-san, please let me go. I'm supposed to stay with Mougi-nee-chan and the other kids." A familiar voice said, filled with fear that Kaito felt should never be there. His indigo orbs scoured the hall and finally locked onto Hattori who was carrying a familiar small dark haired child, who had their face hidden in the detective's chest.
"No worries Ku-kiddo. Nee-san gave me permission. Otherwise Arthur wouldn't have let us leave, right?" Heiji said in a low soothing voice. He motioned to the large black dog walking faithfully next to them, not that the child saw with his face still hidden. As if to agree with the Osakan the dog gave a soft bark. "Besides I reckon you'll appreciate the show a lot better from here. You wanna grow up to be a great detective right?" A shy nod answered Hattori's question.
"We don't have to get to close to him, right nii-san?" the child, a boy Kaito was sure, softly asked. The thief silently cooed at how adorable the boy sounded.
"You didn't care 'bout getting close ta the murderer we ran into last week. Why is Kid different?" Heiji asked a question said moonlight magician was pondering himself, of course he also wondered why Hattori was letting the child near a murderer but that could wait. The boy remained silent for a long moment, thief and detective both wondered if he would answer at all. Finally he spoke, haltingly, as if afraid of being punished.
"Murderers are simple. They kill and they lie, but you always know just what the worst they will do is. Thieves take everything from you…everything." The boy said quietly. Kaito would have missed the next part if he had not placed a bug on Hattori earlier in the night. "Tou-san was a thief. He stole money, cars, even lives. H-he hurt me. When kaa-san tried to stop him when she found out about the movies and games with the other men. He stole her from me. Thieves just make you hurt and leave you to pick up the broken pieces they didn't want to keep after they stole them." Kid felt his blood freeze and boil at the child's words. Even he could figure out what had happened to the boy tantei-han cradled so carefully.
"This thief is different. He has a no one gets hurt policy. His heists are just an opportunity to show off to others, and he always returns what he steals. Well eventually." Hattori told the boy in an encouraging tone. Kaito decided that Heiji would get a free pass for that. A slightly accented voice cut in at that precise moment.
"Quite right, only thing hurt is the losers' pride and he has no reason to keep any of them. At least not anymore." Hakuba Saguru replied. Coming to a halt next to Hattori. The child shrunk even more into Heiji, which caused Hakuba to flinch slightly. Kid decided he would have to ponder that later as the lights went out and he swiftly dropped down and took possession of the jewel he was after. A beautiful blue sapphire called Aquarius's Tear. A spotlight hit him just as he was standing. A glance at his audience showed a little had just returning to its hiding spot, causing Kid to grin. He walked down from the case as if there were invisible steps before him. Before he reached the floor pink smoke flooded the room from all corners. Aoko could be heard yelling for her men to catch kid.
Blue orbs opened slightly as their owner felt himself being lifted from his spot in the nice nii-san's arms. When they opened fully he found himself to be flying across the room to the stage that the performers had used earlier. As soon as his feet touched the ground he turned and saw the Moonlight Magician in the flesh. A horrified noise left the child's mouth as he stumbled back and fell to the ground. Tears of terror leaked from those enchanting orbs that caused Kaito to pause for a moment. While he had noticed the similarities, he had forced himself not to believe that this child was his tantei-kun. Now Hattori's and Hakuba's interactions with the kid made so much more sense. Of course the two would act that way towards the final member of their group. It pained Kaito to see his beloved so scared of him, but he would change Shinichi's feelings towards this thief, just like he always did. He gave the boy a grand bow, and pulled his hat from his head, releasing several doves. One flew to the boy and firmly placed herself on tatei-kun's head and began preening him. She'd always had a soft spot for the detective since he saved her all those lifetimes ago. With a flourish he returned the hat to his head, knelt before the boy, and produced the most beautiful red rose he had on him.
"Good evening aspiring tantei-kun. I am the Gentleman Thief, Kaito Kid. May I ask the name of our newest player?" Kid asked as he placed the rose behind the boy's ear. The child trembled furiously, but eventually he did speak.
"A-Ar-ARTHUR!" the little one yelled, and of course just as Kid looked over his shoulder the giant hound was lunging at him. Kid barely managed to activate a pulley that shot him out of the dog's impressive reach. Just before he dashed out the window, in one of his lamest exits in centuries, he heard the boy speak again. "Shinichi. Kuro Shinichi, detective."
Sure it had not been the best of first impressions, Shinichi being much younger than his own civilian identity, and the boy had already been through horrors that no one should have to live through. However he had found the other half of his soul, and while he was sure he would never make the first impression he wanted this one probably wouldn't be his worst. For now he would be counting down the years until Shinichi was old enough to meet him. After all by the time he was old enough to match Kaito's age his current identity would need to disappear. It had been a while since he had used his actual name, and Kuroba Kaito had been absent from the world for far too long. He would meet Shinichi again, and what an introduction that would be…