A Perfect End
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Shinichi have had enough of living his life as Edogawa Conan. The last thing he needed was to disguise as Kaitou Kid.
Edogawa Conan's existence was erased the moment Kudo Shinichi returned after swallowing the cure.
Yes, there were some things Shinichi missed after returning back to his old self; He would miss the bond he built with the Detective Boys, miss the ability to crawl through small spaces, miss the opportunity to act like a little brat just to get some things his way... He would miss many other little things, but he already had had enough of living his life as Edogawa Conan.
Basically, he didn't inherit the love for acting and disguising as another identity from his mother.
But here was the catch: When he swallowed that cure, the debt he owed as Edogawa Conan was also transferred to Kudo Shinichi's ledger. And the first, big one on the list was Kaitou Kid.
Long story short, Kaitou Kid's help had massively secured the checkmate on Shinichi's board, and he didn't want to owe the thief anything. So as a repayment, Shinichi decided that he would return one favour of any kind when Kid asked for it.
Just one.
Kid accepted the offer.
Being in his original form now, Shinichi had no qualms about doing anything for that thief. He had once begged to all the gods that he'd trade anything to get his body back, so doing this favour for Kid was no big deal. He could only wonder what that favour would be, and truth to be told, he was looking forward to the day when Kid asked of him. Whatever that came from that thief had always been thrilling after all.
Maybe he needed assistance to take down some organization? Or maybe he needed help to find the jewel he was always seeking for? Or maybe solve a murder he was wrongfully accused of? Or… Or—
Or maybe disguise as him?
"What?" Shinichi yelled across the empty roof as the sound of the howling wind, along with Kaitou Kid's flapping cape, were making it a little noisy and disruptive to converse. At least that was what Shinichi wished to believe after hearing Kid's request, thinking he must have heard wrongly.
"You heard me, little detective."
Shinichi scowled. "Stop calling me that."
"Sorry." Kid smirked, clearly not sorry at all. "But don't you know that it's takes at least 21 days to break a habit?"
"Let's see if it's your habit or your face that will break first." Shinichi muttered. This was one of the few rare times when he missed being Edogawa Conan, just because he could show his power-enhancing kick shoes to make his threats much real.
"Point-taken." Kid leaned against the roof door with crossed arms. "So are you going to do it or not?"
"Do what?" Shinichi snapped.
Kid tilted his head and sighed. "To give you the benefit of the doubt; since your hearing must have deteriorated after growing old… I said I want you to disguise as me."
"You. As in Kaitou Kid?"
"Of course."
Shinichi rolled his eyes. "Why? Because your true form needs an alibi?"
A beat of silence passed, and Shinichi thought time almost stopped.
"Whatever that floats your boat." Kid turned away, his voice suddenly levelled and plain.
Another beat of silence passed, and Shinichi pursed his lips as he registered Kid's request again. He didn't expect his wild guess to hit the mark, and what's more that this had been nothing but a genuine and serious request all along.
Kid wasn't playing any games.
Whoever he was hiding his secret from and needed an alibi to cover it, that person must have the power to drive Kid to seek such desperate measures.
Shinichi cleared his throat. "Why not the other way? Why don't I disguise as your true identity while you—"
"Please don't bother lowering your intelligence just for the sake of this argument." Kid pushed the brim of his hat up and revealed the weariness of his blue eyes. "You know there is no way I'll allow that."
"And you know there's no way I can disguise as Kid perfectly."
"I don't expect perfection. I just need you to put on a show."
"…What's the show?"
"I'll tell you if you are willing to do it." Kid tucked a hand in his pocket. "So are you, or not?"
Shinichi understood that feeling of desperation; how he couldn't bear Ran to know the truth, yet at the same time he was very much overwhelmed with all the lies he had made and built. But Kaitou Kid—no matter how annoying his attempts and tactics were—had saved Shinichi a couple of times from drowning in those pile of lies and gave him a chance to breathe some times.
So how could he ever say no, even if he did or did not owe Kid a favour?
"I'll do it." Shinichi replied.
"Ok." Kid nodded his head, his features remained as stoic as ever.
But that thief was fooling no one. It was the no reaction that was a reaction, and Shinichi knew it all too well.
xxx
xxx
"It's going to be easy" Kid (in another disguise) claimed before he passed his signature costume to Shinichi an hour before the heist.
Of course Shinichi didn't believe it, but he was still going with the plan anyway.
After that dreadful hour finally passed and he got the cue to start his act, Shinichi stood on ledge of the roof and exclaimed into the hidden microphone (while using the best of his ability to mimic that suaveness of Kid's voice) and proclaimed to the audiences below the building that he had stolen the jewel (which he did not but Kid's accomplice did), before jumping off to fly into the night in his hang-glider (which he knew how to operate since he learnt it in Hawaii).
Basically, Kid wasn't lying when he said it was going to be easy (but it just made all things stranger than it could ever be).
Shinichi was told to dispose of the costume after everything was done, which he did, because no amount of explanation would be enough for anyone if they saw Shinichi in possession of Kid's things. Besides the Edogawa Conan, many did suspect Shinichi to be actually Kid, which was ridiculous but complicatedly true too, in some sense…
That aside, Shinichi hoped Kid settled his problem on his end.
The next day when Shinichi went to the headquarters to get some work done, he found Hakuba Saguru in his office, face unusually solemn than usual. It wouldn't be that unsettling if he didn't know Hakuba was a frequent participant to Kid's heists.
Shinichi cleared his throat. "Good morning—"
"You were that Kaitou Kid on the roof yesterday, weren't you?" Hakuba said, arms crossed and watching Shinichi's every move.
Tentatively, Shinichi walked towards his desk while shrugging his coat off. He already had a conversation and story planned if something like this happened, but he just didn't expect the first person he would have this conversation with was Hakuba.
"I… don't get what you mean." Shinichi said slowly.
"The man I suspected to be Kid was not Kid yesterday." Hakuba's steely eyes continued to fixate on Shinichi. "The only person he could turn to for this plan to work is you."
Shinichi started to blink rapidly. "Wait, you are the person that Kid is hiding his secret fro—"
"No. Whatever that you are thinking: No." Hakuba ran a hand through his hair. "I just needed clarifications, that's all."
"Were you at the heist?"
"No." Hakuba shook his head. "Inspector Nakamori wasn't at the heist either."
Shinichi leaned back in surprise as he hung his coat over his chair. No wonder things were so quiet and easy… like what Kid claimed as well. "Why didn't Inspector Nakamori attend?" He asked.
When that question left Shinichi, Hakuba's face contorted into all sorts of pain one could imagine. He then turned to stare out of the window by Shinichi's desk, amber eyes distant.
"...His daughter had leukaemia and they were with her last night at the hospital." Hakuba said in an almost whisper. "She passed away this morning."
Shinichi gaped, allowing a few muted seconds to pass. "I'm… sorry." He really had no idea what to say, and all of the sudden, his stomach felt uncomfortable, and that unease started to spread to his chest.
Why was he feeling so bad?
And bad for whom?
Hakuba mustered a smile. "Thank you for your honesty, I was expecting an interrogation."
Shinichi shrugged. "I think Kid should be fine with you knowing."
Hakuba said nothing else. He bade a goodbye and left.
It took Shinichi a while later to realise that Hakuba mentioned a "they", and he finally understood the reason for that pang of unease he felt earlier.
And that pang of unease stayed on till night fell too.
I wasn't sure about posting this at first, but I'm like why the hell not and make some readers suffer? So I did.
This is the end, and yes Aoko is dead, though thinking that Kaito wasn't Kaitou Kid since he had an alibi. Yeah. it's a happy ending in some way.
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