Disclaimer: I do not own Detective Conan/Case Closed.

Summary: His secrets were like the jewels he stole, precious, and it was hard to think of sharing them. But this was something he had to do. Because living was a choice they had to make and neither of them could move forward on their own.

Pairings: Kaito x Shinichi

WARNINGS: Shounan ai (boy/boy pairing), you have been warned

With Each Season

By V. Shalyr

1. Summer

"What the hell happened up there?"

Those were the first words out of Hakuba Saguru's mouth when he and Shinichi finally made it out of Inspector Nakamouri's post-heist briefing and into the cold night air. Well, he thought of it as night air though it was practically morning. KID heists usually weren't very long, but the post-heist briefings were another story. Thirty minutes of chaos, three hours of clean-up and complaints.

"I told you that nothing happened," Shinichi sighed, knowing full well that the other detective didn't believe him for a moment. "He just gave me the jewel and left like he always does."

"And?"

"And what?"

Hakuba scowled, his brown eyes narrowed with suspicion and more than a little confusion. "What did he say to you?"

The black-haired detective turned his face away so the other wouldn't see the pink he knew was spreading across his cheeks. "Nothing, he just said goodnight."

"Why?"

"I don't know," Shinichi snapped, finally fed up with this interrogation. "This is KID we're talking about. Who knows what his reasons are?"

Hakuba fell silent at last at that, brooding, and Shinichi silently thanked whatever god was listening for that. Because the truth was that he did know what KID was up to at least in part and no way in hell was he going to talk about it with Hakuba.

Something had changed about KID; everyone in the Kaitou KID Taskforce had noticed. And it had started some time after Haibara Ai had found the cure and Shinichi had finally gotten his body back. Or maybe it had begun earlier than that and the secretive thief had just been biding his time before letting it show, the detective couldn't be sure. The only thing he knew for certain was that at that first heist back as teenage detective Kudou Shinichi—well, he had never been so shocked in his life, and that was saying something coming from someone who had woken up one night to find that some drug meant to kill him had instead reduced his apparent age by a full ten years…

.

Shinichi stared at the envelope on his kitchen table. It had arrived sometime during the night, somehow finding its way onto said kitchen table without his knowledge in order to greet him as he made his way downstairs for an early breakfast before heading off to class. He had seen it the moment he'd flicked on the lights, a simple envelope of thick, crimson paper—with a white rose lying across the top. He hadn't known what to make of it, and then he'd seen the KID insignia scrawled in gold on the corner of the envelope.

He hadn't been to a KID heist yet, not since he'd stopped being Conan and went back to being Kudou Shinichi. Really, he hadn't had the time. All his energy had had to be poured into catching up with his classmates so he could graduate high school on time and go to college. And on top of that, there was the strain of discovering that being Shinichi again wasn't going to be as easy as he'd once thought. Because even if the world hadn't changed, he had. He might not have been Conan anymore, but he also wasn't the Kudou Shinichi that everyone else, including himself, remembered.

"You disappear for three years and now it's like I don't even know you," Ran had said. "You're like a completely different person."

It was hard to tell if she had been disappointed by this. Probably a little bit, but not as much as she would have been a few years ago. They weren't as close as they used to be. It was like somewhere along the way after he'd been Conan, they'd both moved on, both grown up. Time and distance and secrets had changed them both, and sometimes, Shinichi wondered if either of them had ever really understood one another at all.

As for Shinichi himself, despite his new aversion for the spotlight, he was now more famous a detective than he had ever been with the overthrow of the Black Organization added to his already impressive resume. Inevitably, that meant more cases to add to the workload he already had from school. Sometimes, he had to wonder how he managed to finish it all. No wonder he was so tired lately.

Funny how time could slip away from you so easily. He had been Shinichi again for several months already, but somehow, it still felt as though he had only just gotten back. Like somehow, life hadn't really started yet. It was probably his own fault though. Work hadn't used to feel so much like…well, work.

Which brought him back to the envelope on his kitchen table.

The magician thief had been on his mind a lot lately. Mostly, Shinichi blamed it on the conversation he'd had with the man a good couple months ago. Shinichi, or rather Conan, had been standing on the edge of a building rooftop watching the last of the Black Organization heads being carried away in police cars. He hadn't heard the thief coming, but it didn't take him long to become aware of his presence.

"I guess it's finally over for you then, Tantei-kun?"

"I guess so." Especially since Haibara had told him only a few days ago that she had finally completed a proper antidote. "What about you?"

The thief tugged down the brim of his white top hat, shadowing his mysterious smile. "Not yet."

"What are you looking for?" Conan had been wondering about that for awhile now. It was refreshing to work on KID's cases now and then with the general lack of bloodshed and death, but mulling over the thief's many, many files had gotten him thinking about his reasons. And even though it was perfectly believable that the enigmatic magician would do what he did for the thrill and the challenge of it, Conan was sure that it was something more than that. The jewels that he stole were worth a fortune and he could easily have made them disappear as freely as he vanished from the clutches of the police, and yet he didn't do it—somehow always chose to give them back. Why? Perhaps because none of those jewels was the one he wanted.

"Mm, a dream."

"That's not really an answer."

"Perhaps I'll explain it to you someday."

"Why not now?"

"There's a time and a place for everything." Which was really no answer either, but that was KID for you.

"Thank you for giving me a hand in there," Conan said suddenly, still not looking around at the thief. He would probably have been in the hospital now if it hadn't been for KID's interference during the final confrontation. "That was you, wasn't it? But what were you doing here in the first place?"

"Let's just say that I have a dislike for criminal organizations. And of course I have to keep an eye on my favorite detective. I expect you to be around for a long time yet."

Genuinely curious, Conan craned his neck so he could peer at the thief's face, not that he could see much with the hat and the monocle and the darkness. "Haven't you got enough people chasing after you?"

The thief grinned that sharp, mischievous, shark's grin of his, the moonlight gleaming off his monocle. "No, I've got much more interesting plans for you."

Staring at the envelope, Shinichi wondered if this was part of that plan he'd been talking about. There had been something in the way he'd said those words, like a promise though Shinichi had no idea what that promise was supposed to be. With some trepidation, he extracted the letter and glanced over the message written in fancy golden ink upon the heavy paper. It was a riddle, he realized immediately, most likely the notice to KID's next heist.

A personal heist invitation from Kaitou KID. Nakamouri would have a field day.

But why the rose? He frowned at the flower for a long moment trying to puzzle out its purpose before shaking his head and heading to the cupboards for a tall glass to put it in. The magician thief was probably just being his usual overdramatic self. The important question was what he was going to do with the fancy invitation.

.

…Inspector Nakamouri had not been happy to see him when he and his Taskforce arrived at the scene of the next heist to begin their own preparations. But he had calmed down some after Shinichi reassured him that he had no real interest in trying to catch the thief with the rest of them or trying to steal Nakamouri's chance at that honor—however slim that chance was, but he'd kept that part to himself. No, the teen detective was only there to watch, and because he found the thief's games interesting. The good inspector hadn't needed to know that KID wanted him there for some reason.

And by the time the night was over, Shinichi had been more than happy that he had chosen to keep that bit of information to himself…

.

"What the hell?"

Swears and exclamations of surprise tore through the air of the plaza before the museum where, instead of going suddenly dark as was his habit, it had gone suddenly and dazzlingly bright. When they were at last able to open their eyes, they found that every tree and statue and even some parts of the pavement had been strung with lights, all culminating in the spotlight upon the thief who had been patiently waiting for their eyes to adjust from atop one of the museum's marble pillars. After a snarl from Nakamouri assured him that he had everyone's undivided attention, KID grinned and flung his arms out in a gesture of welcome.

"Ladies and gentlemen, thank you all for joining me tonight. Because tonight is going to be special. I hope you all enjoy the show."

For a moment, indigo eyes caught Shinichi's blue ones, and then all the lights winked out to be replaced by the bang and sparkle of fireworks high above their heads.

"Don't let him distract you!" Nakamouri was bellowing, directing himself and his men towards the museum. More guards had been stationed inside of course, but he had always been a do-it-himself kind of person.

Shinichi, however, was no longer paying attention to the officers. He had the strangest feeling in his stomach that told him KID wasn't interested in the jewel tonight, something about the glint in his eyes when they'd locked gazes only for the life of him he couldn't figure out what.

"What are you up to?" he muttered under his breath, but of course no one was around to answer.

As far as he could tell, the heist carried on like every other heist that had come before. There was the usual chaos, the yelling, bright colors and tricks, ending with the thief getting away with the target gemstone in hand. It wasn't until Shinichi arrived on the roof that anything out of the ordinary happened. KID stood at the edge of the roof, for all intents and purposes looking as though he had been waiting for him. At the sound of the door to the rooftop opening, he didn't look around, but Shinichi caught the sound of his voice carrying smoothly back to him.

"So good of you to come, Tantei-kun, and just on time too."

Before Shinichi could figure out what he meant, shrieks and gasps of surprise and wonder rose to their ears from the crowds below. And suddenly, everywhere in the air around them, the darkness of the night was lit by thousands upon thousands of glowing butterflies.

To say that the sight was breathtaking wouldn't have done it justice.

This didn't really seem like KID's usual game, Shinichi reflected. Yes it was an awe-inspiring sight, but it wasn't one of his danger-defying stunts or reality-bending tricks—not really. It was simple, beautiful…unforgettable.

.

…And really, that had been the point.

Thinking back, Shinichi still wasn't sure how the red flower petals had made it into the air around them or where the sudden scent of roses had come from. But none of that was important. What was important was that he could still feel that odd tingle that had started with the arrival of that scarlet envelope, still recall in perfect detail the way the moonlight brushed the rooftop around them, painting the magician thief in shades of silver-white and shadows.

"You didn't check the stone."

For just a moment, surprise flickered across the thief's face before he hid it with an easy, sly smile. "I suppose I should have expected you to notice that. But no, there's no point in checking this particular jewel."

"You already knew it wasn't the one you wanted," Shinichi said slowly, frowning. "But then why this heist?"

"Isn't it obvious?"

No, it wasn't—or it was but it also wasn't because it didn't make any sense. It didn't make any sense and that was why he hadn't been able to recognize the look in those indigo eyes until now.

"But I'm a detective," Shinichi protested, his mind still refusing to properly process the situation. The fact that KID was walking—stalking—across the rooftop and closing what little distance there had been between them was not helping. In fact, it was making him quite nervous only there was really nowhere to back up to.

"That doesn't matter to me."

A white-gloved hand reached out to caress his cheek and Shinichi flushed, rooted to the spot despite himself.

"And you're a thief." Brilliant statement really.

A familiar smirk flashed across KID's face and he leaned in close, his voice a warm murmur in the detective's ear, "Exactly." And then his mouth closed over Shinichi's and the detective's brain ground to a halt. He knew he should probably have at least tried to pull away despite the hand that had moved around to the back of his head to prevent this, but his body didn't seem to want to listen to him. He blamed it on the dazzling display that had come before and the atmosphere it had created, blamed it on the feeling of not quite belonging that had followed him since he'd taken the cure yet he'd stubbornly refused to pay attention to, blamed it on the arm wrapped around his waist and the warmth of the cloak that curled around them at the tug of the wind—and damn it but KID was a good kisser. He'd never been kissed like that before. There was fire in it and a kind of fierceness he would have expected from the infamous magician thief, but there was also an almost aching sort of gentleness and it made Shinichi wonder for the first time what kind of person the thief was when he wasn't being KID.

"I'll give you some time to think about it. Until the next heist then, goodnight, Tantei-kun."

Shinichi sped up his steps to get ahead of Hakuba, not wanting the other detective to see the expression on his face. He'd been lucky that night that neither Hakuba nor Hattori had been in attendance. He'd been so dazed and confused by the whole experience that he hardly knew how he managed to make it home.

It wasn't exactly common knowledge but neither was it exactly a secret that he and KID had a unique relationship, unique and inevitably complicated considering who they were. From the very first time he'd met the infamous criminal on the rooftop overlooking where the Black Star was on display, KID had left an undeniably deep impression, arriving as soundlessly as the phantom people called him with that oddly knowing smirk on his lips. If he'd been surprised by the cocky not-child and his flare, he hadn't shown it. Instead, he'd given credit to his reputation by taking it all in stride and answering in kind, employing his unusual talents to leave behind yet again a furious bunch of police officers and one stunned detective who had never before come so close to a criminal only to have him get away.

Kaitou KID was good at first impressions.

Shinichi wondered if it was something he had to work at or if it just came naturally. The magician did seem incredibly lucky, but he rather suspected that the thief was more meticulous and calculating than he was fortunate. He was a detective after all; he knew that luck could only take a person so far. And he'd seen too much of the world's misfortunes to believe that fortune would favor anyone in particular for so long. No, if KID was lucky, it was because he knew how to make his own luck and bend the world around him in just the right way. To be sure, it was a skill that drove Inspector Nakamouri crazy.

"Kudou," Hakuba interrupted his recollections, his serious voice laced with disapproval, "don't forget that he's a thief. If you know something…"

Shinichi shoved his hands in his pockets where he could clench them into fists without being noticed. Four weeks of dealing with Hakuba after the blonde had gotten back from England and learned of his new involvement in KID heists and he was already tired of dealing with him. No wonder KID went out of his way so often to pick on his fellow Holmes' fan.

"I already told you that I don't know anything, Hakuba." It was the truth too, Shinichi thought sourly. He really needed to sleep. "Seriously, how many times do I have to say it?"

"So then why the sudden interest in KID heists? You've never shown any interest in his heists before."

That wasn't true, but then Hakuba didn't know about Conan.

"It's a nice change of pace," Shinichi said instead, stifling a yawn. Now that the heist was over, his recent lack of sleep was catching up with him. "Frankly, I guess I'm a little tired of murders." And murderers.

Well, 'tired of" wasn't exactly how he would have liked to put it. "Sick of" would probably have been more accurate a description. But that was the problem with being a homicide detective.

For a long few minutes, Hakuba didn't say anything more, though Shinichi could feel him studying the back of his head. Then at last, the blond detective sighed. 'Find, but I'll be watching you."

If he hadn't been so exhausted, Shinichi would have rolled his eyes at that. But as it were, he was just grateful that Hakuba had given up on interrogating him for the time being. He had too many other things on his mind to want to add the blonde's suspicions to that list. It was really too bad that Hakuba hadn't stayed in England for just a few more months. Maybe this whole mess would have been worked out by then.

"Ah, Tantei-kun, it's good to see you again. I was wondering how long it would take you. Much longer and I would have had to come looking for you."

He had tried, really, he had. And yet in the end, Shinichi hadn't been able to stay away. And a few heists later, he again found himself waiting anxious but excited along with the rest of the Kaitou KID Taskforce at a diamond exhibit passing through town for the thief's promised appearance, wondering all the while at the spell that the thief seemed to have cast over him. Or maybe it was just the same spell that had his fans coming out every time despite the late hours to cheer him on.

"So have you thought about it?"

"It was kind of hard not to," the detective replied a little dryly.

"And your decision?"

"I wasn't under the impression that you were giving me a choice."

The magician shrugged, tugging his hat lower over his face, his expression unreadable. "There's always a choice, but the options may be different from what you imagine."

"You…really intend to go through with this? What about the consequences? The risks?"

"I've already weighed my options and made my choice. I assure you that this was not a spur of the moment decision, but I suspect you realize that. I'm quite serious." A flash of light upon a lens obscuring the eyes behind it, "So what are you going to do, Tantei-kun?"

His decision? Shinichi hadn't even known what his options were, not until that moment standing tensely with the thief's arms wrapped loosely around his waist looking up into the shadowed face. There had been determination in the gaze that caught and held his.

"If I choose to run?" Somehow, deep down, he knew he wouldn't but he had to ask.

"Then it'll be my turn to chase you, won't it?"

Shinichi looked away. "Why?"

Why now? Why here? Why me?

KID didn't answer right away and the two of them stood in silence, listening to the police sirens in the distance.

"Because your story is similar to mine," he'd said finally, for once letting go of the riddles and the not-quite-answers. "And I think you might be able to understand me."

To understand Kaitou KID, now that was a scary thought.

"Is that even possible?"

"I guess you'll have to tell me."

"And you really trust me?"

"I would like to."

The sincerity there had surprised Shinichi a little, but it also made him feel oddly warm. He knew what it was like not to be able to trust the people around you, even the ones you knew cared for you, and he found that maybe he did understand the thief if only a little bit.

"…Will you give me more time to think about it?"

"Mm, I suppose that's fair. But I expect to see you at my heists or else I'll come looking. I'm patient but I like to keep an eye on the things I want."

After finally closing the door of the Kudou manor behind him, Shinichi allowed himself to slump against it and reach up to pull the necklace from around his neck for a better look. It was simple but eye-catching, a white gold pendant wrought into a twisting pattern that looked a little bit like two birds in silhouette. KID apparently had pretty good taste in jewelry, but maybe that was what came out of being a jewel thief.

Trust KID to choose tonight of all nights to give him something like this.

"Hakuba's here," Shinichi felt the need to remind him as the magician thief leaned forward to invade his personal space.

He could practically feel KID smirk against his ear. "I know. So I'll refrain from stealing a goodnight kiss."

The detective flushed but forgot some of his embarrassment when something cold brushed against his neck. Then the other was stepping away, his customary grin firmly back in place.

"And what's this?" Shinichi asked, not moving his hand to touch the pendant that now lay beneath his shirt on a thin, metal chain.

"A promise."

That he was sincere, that he would be back and that next time, Shinichi would be waiting.

Because after more than a month of thinking about it, of re-evaluating where he stood and the direction his life had taken, he'd said yes. And KID had smiled what Shinichi was sure was the first genuine smile he'd ever seen on the thief's face, without malice or mischief or mystery, and Shinichi wasn't sure why he felt relieved and anxious at the same time. And maybe just a bit excited.

Choosing not to dwell on this—he'd never been good at sorting out his own emotions anyway—Shinichi tucked the pendant back beneath his shirt and headed upstairs to bed, wondering when the next heist notice would arrive on his kitchen table. Hopefully, it would be soon.

.

The entire way home, Kaito could hardly keep the maniacal grin off his face. The heist had gone off wonderfully, but it was finally acquiring Shinichi's acquiescence that really thrilled him. He'd been working towards it for months and next time… His elation subsided a little and he slowed as he reached his apartment building. Next time, he had promised to tell his detective a story—a very important story and one that he hadn't told to anyone or ever planned to tell before.

Taking a deep breath, Kaito let it out slowly before making his way through his darkened apartment. He didn't need to turn on the lights to see where he was going. Even if he didn't know the interior of his home like the back of his hand, his night vision was excellent. To be sure, it was a helpful trait for a master thief to have.

The idea of telling someone about Pandora and his father's murder still unsettled him, but he had decided that it was something he had to do no matter how accustomed he was to keeping it to himself. Human beings, he had decided, had never been meant to do things alone. And sometimes, Kaito feared that he was going crazy from so many years of doing just that.

Of course, most people thought he'd lost his mind a long time ago. Only a real lunatic, they thought, would go out of his way to provoke the police the way he did or make such a show of his heists when everyone knew thievery was best conducted in the shadows. It just went to show how little they understood. Maybe you had to be a little crazy to do the things he did, but you had to be something different to get away with it.

No, the reason Kaito worried over his sanity was much simpler than that—or much more complicated depending on how you looked at it. Because the fact was that internationally wanted jewel thieves could never let their guard down, not if they wanted to stay free. And freedom had come to mean a great deal to Kaito. Only somewhere along the way to becoming KID and carrying on his father's legacy, he seemed to have built himself an entirely different kind of cage.

The first time it hit him was when he'd found himself running background checks on his classmates upon starting his university classes. In a week, he could rattle off not only all their names but what they studied, where they lived, their ambitions, and the career paths of the other members of their immediate families.

It wasn't that he didn't like to know these things—because, face it, he was a nosy person by nature. But the problem was that he hadn't done it because he wanted to. He'd done it without even really noticing, carried out the research automatically because somewhere deep down he'd gotten used to hiding and having to know things—not because he enjoyed it but because he had to in order to stay a couple steps ahead of the game. He was just being careful.

The second time it had hit him, he had been going over the information he'd collected with the bugs he'd placed around his mother's house after having refused an invitation to perform at one of his classmate's parties. He was busy, he'd told them. And then he'd wondered the entire way home how he didn't seem to perform nearly as often now as he used to, not including his nighttime stage.

The third time it had hit him, he'd been dodging bullets after a close escape from a museum rooftop, and he'd realized belatedly that he hadn't been afraid at all. It had been about surviving, about the right move and staying ahead of his enemies, and it had been cold and calculating and precise. Not that he'd ever been one for fear to begin with, but he would have expected to at least feel something.

The fourth time…well, the fourth time it had hit him, he'd almost pulled the trigger on one of his would-be assassins, and he hadn't been aiming for temporary damage.

That was when Kuroba Kaito had decided that something had to change. Yes, he was an internationally wanted criminal. Yes, he was more than a little eccentric. But despite what everyone else thought, he was not—at least in his own definition—crazy and had no intention of letting himself become that way.

And that was when he made up his mind. He'd had enough of being by himself. He'd had enough of putting the rest of his life on hold for the sake of justice and a legendary gem that might not even really exist. He had to start living for real again, had to find a way to start reconnecting with himself before the constant paranoia, solitude, and vengeance turned him into something he didn't want to become.

He'd left a note for his mother so she wouldn't worry, gotten hold of a fast motorcycle and hit the road, needing to get away for awhile. Three days of just traveling to sort out his thoughts, to re-examine the people in his life and think about what he really wanted. There had been quite a large number of things on that list ranging in importance from a good mug of hot chocolate to his lifelong dream of being the best magician the world had ever seen, even better than his father had been. But mostly, what he'd really wanted at that moment was someone to talk to, someone he didn't have to hide anything from or watch himself around, someone he could trust and hold and care for without the distance that always seemed to separate him and the people around him these days.

He'd known who he wanted too, and KID always got what he wanted eventually.

"You! What are you doing here?"

"Making sure that certain elements I need for my plans don't get taken away from me."

"What?"

"I wouldn't worry about it if I were you, murderer-san. Where you're going, there's really no need for you to understand."

It was a real pity that Snake had not been part of the Black Organization after all. It would have put the icing on the cake when Tantei-kun had exposed the organization and gotten back the ten years he had lost. But he would settle for his detective not being hurt for the time being.

Honestly, he'd been tempted on that rooftop after the final confrontation with the Black Organization to tell the mini detective the truth or part of it at least. But something had held him back, habit perhaps or uncertainty as to how the other would react. Trust really was a luxury that most people didn't know how to appreciate.

And that brought him back to the matter of his story.

Pouring himself a cup of water, he stopped by the glass doors leading out to the balcony to examine the dark night sky. He'd searched a long time for an apartment with a balcony and a good location not too close but not too far away from all the action in the city, but it was worth the time and effort. For him, a balcony was like a second door, an entrance and an escape route. And the fact that you could watch the city and think on it was also greatly appreciated.

Somehow, Kaito didn't think he'd be getting much sleep tonight. Fortunately, it was Friday and he didn't have any weekend plans.

"There's one thing I want, though I assume you know this already."

"You want to know why."

"Yes, I want to know the truth behind KID."

"Ah, it always comes down to the truth, doesn't it?"

Shinichi hesitated. "Not always."

"No? I thought that was the way with you detectives."

"You could say that I've learned differently, but I think you knew that already. I've had enough of lying. Relationships don't last on lies. And somehow, I don't think you started all this with the intention of keeping everything a mystery."

KID chuckled. "It depended on you."

"Because you want to trust me."

"As I've said. Frankly, I'm not all that good with the truth, but I also find myself tiring of lies—well, sometimes anyway." That wasn't to say deceiving people wasn't still fun.

"So if I agree…"

"…Then the answer is yes."

Funny how much it had taken to say that despite his resolve. But then Kaito never made promises lightly. They were too important. It wasn't that he was nervous. No, he got over simple nervousness quickly. It was more that his secrets were like the jewels he stole only far more precious. And it was so hard to accept the idea of having to give even one away, let alone one as important to him as the story of the first Moonlight Magician.

"Well, Tou-san," he mused aloud, finishing the rest of his water in one gulp and starting for his bedroom at last, "I hope you're not too disappointed at having your secret found out by a detective at last after all this time. But this is too important. And you know what? I think you would have approved of him."

At least he hoped so.

.

The Devil was out to get him today, Hakuba was sure of it—and that Devil most likely had disheveled brown hair and a smirk designed to chip away at his sanity, or at least a white top hat. An amber pendant called the Gold Remembrance was scheduled to be on display in Ekoda that weekend and Kaitou KID had announced it as his next target. As soon as he'd found out the week before, Hakuba had tried to persuade the pendant's owner to either cancel or change the date of the exhibition, but the woman—and of course it had to be a woman—had refused on the grounds that it was good publicity and the thief would most likely give it back anyway.

Sometimes, genius detective or not, Hakuba Saguru thought he would never understand women.

Still, with or without the owner's cooperation, the police couldn't just let things be. Hakuba had personally overseen several of the security measures and had even made plans to arrive early the day of the heist to ensure everything went as planned. Only from the moment he'd awoken that morning, things had begun to go wrong.

First, he couldn't find his usual coat and had spent half an hour searching until finally giving up and digging around in his wardrobe until he found another suitable jacket. Then it had been his car keys, which mysteriously did not turn out to be where he was absolutely sure he'd put them the night before. A once-over of his entire house—and of course, his house had to be a small mansion—he'd finally located said keys hanging from a length of invisible wire from one of the second floor windows. When he'd finally been able to untie them, he'd gotten called out to a murder on the other side of town—though that, at least, probably wasn't the thief's fault. That case and the burglary alert after that had taken up the entire afternoon. And then finally, finally when he had been able to make it into his car and onto the road, the traffic had decided to take on rush hour characteristics despite being practically midnight.

Unsurprisingly, Hakuba ended up missing almost the entire heist. Though he did arrive on the roof just an instant before the thief tipped backwards off the edge. Technically, he should have been used to this. What he wasn't used to, however, was the glimpse he was almost sure he'd gotten of someone in the thief's arms moments before both figures were obscured by the folds of a billowing, white cape.

But it couldn't be. It just didn't make any sense. Then again, this was KID. Very few things about him made sense, at least from the British detective's perspective.

Hakuba frowned, glancing around the crowded room searching for a face that had recently become a regular at such meetings. When he didn't find it, he grabbed one of the officers and asked, "Have you seen Kudou?"

"Kudou Shinichi?" The man hesitated, his forehead scrunched up as he tried to remember. "I'm…not sure. But then he always seems to be disappearing off by himself. Maybe he left early today?"

Nodding stiffly, Hakuba let the man go.

So it had been Kudou he'd seen, unless his eyes had decided to play tricks on him today too. But if he couldn't trust his own senses, what could he trust? All he could do now was wonder why.

Because this time, KID hadn't just stolen the Gold Remembrance. He'd stolen renowned detective Kudou Shinichi too.

.

"So where are we going?"

Shinichi almost had to shout to be heard over the roar of the wind as the motorcycle sped along the highway. There were few other vehicles on the road at this late hour, leaving them alone with the hum of the engine and the streetlights zipping past above their heads.

"Mm, you hungry?"

"Not particularly."

"Then I suppose we're off to somewhere quiet, seeing as I owe you a few explanations."

Shinichi nodded and closed his eyes, tightening his hold on the person in front of him as the motorcycle sped up. He wasn't sure how long they were on the road, but it couldn't have been more than a few minutes. Then KID was pulling to the side and Shinichi found himself getting off on the side of a bridge overlooking the bay. They had a great view of the city from here too, but Shinichi only had time to admire it for a moment before his gaze was drawn to the young man beside him who had just taken off his helmet. Sensing his stare, KID turned and grinned at him, giving him his first good look at the thief's face.

Shinichi's first thought was that he was even younger than he'd originally estimated, probably only a year older than the detective himself at most. His second thought was that despite the little differences in their features, they really did look a lot alike. The biggest difference lay instead in the way they held themselves.

"Kuroba Kaito," the thief introduced himself, interrupting Shinichi's train of thought and holding out his hand. "And welcome to my home of Ekoda. I know you haven't been here often."

"No, I haven't," Shinichi agreed, shaking his hand and wondering just how much the magician knew about him. He'd have to ask him sometime. It was sort of unnerving not to know. Then again, maybe it would be more unnerving to be told. "I guess it's pretty pointless for me to introduce myself."

"A little, but you can if you want to. Introductions are important after all and I promise I'd hear you out."

"Um, that's okay."

"Well, let me know if you change your mind." With a shrug, Kaito slung an arm about the detective's shoulders and guided them over to the railing. "I thought a bridge seemed like a good place for stories, don't you think? A crossing place, something that connects two different worlds."

"Seems a little dramatic."

"And I'm all about understatement."

"Ah, right."

There was a soft tinkle and suddenly, an amber pendant was hanging from a thin, golden chain in front of Shinichi's face. The detective glanced questioningly from it to Kaito then back again, recognizing the target of that night's heist.

"Do you know what people say about this pendant, Tantei-kun?" Kaito asked, his voice light and teasing but with something else in his eyes that seemed altogether too serious. He'd thought a long time about how to begin.

"It's belonged to a lot of people who've all had very good luck," Shinichi said slowly, running through the information he'd found on the pendant before the heist. "And they say that it can hold memories."

Kaito nodded. "It's said that if you look at it in the right light, you can see something of the people who've owned it, the best and brightest moments of their lives. That's why it's called the Gold Remembrance."

Kaito lifted his hand so that they could watch the moonlight shining through the clear golden stone. With the silver behind it, it almost seemed to glow, and Shinichi thought with some awe that such stones weren't valuable for no reason. It really was beautiful, but Kaito just sighed and slipped it back into his pocket. The moment he'd confirmed that it wasn't the stone he wanted, he was no longer interested.

Tucking his hands into his pockets, the thief gazed up at the night sky, his expression pensive. For a long while neither of them said anything, Kaito trying to figure out where to begin and Shinichi sensing that it wasn't an easy tale for him to tell.

"Have you ever wondered what it would be like to live forever, Tantei-kun?"

The question caught the detective by surprise. "Not really. What's the point?"

Kaito chuckled. "Ah, detectives, and you wonder why I say you all have a lack of imagination sometimes. What if I told you that there's a jewel somewhere out there that can give a person immortality?"

Impossible, was Shinichi's first reaction, but the thief looked so serious that the words wouldn't leave his mouth. Instead, he found himself asking with more uncertainty than he would have thought, "Is there?"

The thief flashed a sharp but slightly rueful grin. "I don't know. But I hope so. Because someday, I'm going to find and destroy it."

Because more than a decade ago, the first Phantom Thief 1412, dubbed Kaitou KID by mystery writer Kudou Yusaku, had turned his search towards one particular legend—a mysterious jewel by the name of Pandora with the power to give someone immortality. And it was a search that would lead to his death on stage at the hands of the very criminal circle that had originally sought him out in the hopes of acquiring his services in their search for eternal life.

"So the original KID was a professional magician outside of his night job?"

"The best," Kaito said, his smile turning wistful. "I mentioned him at that magician's club incident, if you'll recall."

Shinichi thought for a moment. "Kuroba…Toichi."

"The one and only."

And now it was Kuroba Kaito's turn to continue KID's work.

"I found Tou-san's old stuff by accident one day. You could say I literally fell into it. And his old assistant told me about the rest. He flicked his wrist and was suddenly holding his trademark white top hat. He balanced it briefly on the tip of his finger then flipped it onto his head, yanking the brim down to shadow his face. "I do wonder sometimes what might have happened if I'd never found out, but I'm glad I did. I don't regret anything I've done since then. And really, I think I would have figured it out eventually anyway."

"And these people who went after him," Shinichi said, mulling over all the information he'd just been given with a slight frown developing on his face, "have you run into them yet?"

"A few times here and there," Kaito replied vaguely. "Nothing for you to worry about though."

But the detective's frown only deepened. "So they've come after you?"

"They've come after KID. They don't know who I am yet and I intend to keep it that way."

"How can you be sure?"

The magician laughed darkly. "Oh I'm sure. Trust me. If they ever do figure things out, I'll make sure you're the first to know."

"But—"

"Enough of that, Tantei-kun."

Shinichi stopped when Kaito put a finger to his lips. The magician caught his gaze and held it for a moment then smiled.

"I'm not asking you for your help. The whole point of KID is that other people, the people close to me, don't have to get involved. I don't like to get other people involved in my business, not unless I absolutely have no choice. I'm telling you all this because you asked for the truth, and because I want you in my life. Kuroba Kaito's life, not KID's."

"I was under the impression that they were one and the same."

"They are. But to the rest of the world, they aren't. And that's what matters for now."

The summer night was warm and the gentle breeze made it so easy to just let things go. And Kaito had the kind of smile that could put almost anyone at ease—with the possible exception of Hakuba, but then Kaito privately thought the Nuisance went out of his way to frustrate himself, not that Kaito wasn't more than happy to help him along.

"Fine," Shinichi conceded finally, "but I intend to help eventually. You're not the only person who doesn't like to lose the people close to them, so I'm sure you can understand."

Kaito seemed to give this some serious consideration then nodded reluctantly. "We have a deal then."

"So what now?"

"Well," Kaito drawled, hopping onto the railing and throwing his arms out to indicate the lights of the city behind him, "I thought I'd start by showing you around Ekoda."

"But it's one in the morning," Shinichi protested, not sure whether he was serious or not. "Can't that wait until tomorrow?"

"Sleep is such a waste of time! Fortunately, I've never needed much of it."

"Yes, well, unfortunately, I am a normal human being."

The magician threw back his head and laughed. Making his hat vanish again in a puff of smoke, he dropped down beside Shinichi, wrapping one arm around his shoulders and offering him a red rose with the other. "Fine then, I'll let you go for today. But expect me at your house bright and early tomorrow morning—or maybe that should be later today?"

"At the front door, I hope."

"Mm, I'll consider it. But windows are so much more interesting."

"And what is it with the roses?" Shinichi added in a grumble, torn between staring at the flower in front of him and wanting to look anywhere else.

"It's tradition," Kaito answered cheerfully, a wicked gleam finding its way into his eyes. "And you're cute when you're flustered."

Honesty, Shinichi reflected, perhaps wasn't always the best policy.

TBC…

AN: A. F. Dragonstar did a picture for this chapter. It can be found at

alaena-h. /#/d46sxxi