After sending Aoko home, Kaito rushed back home and the first thing he did was to crack open his laptop to research who was it again — Kudo Shinichi? The guy who gave him such a hard time in the heist today. He heard the name being uttered by someone in the Task Force through the walkie talkie.
Even during the heartfelt meeting with Aoko earlier, Kaito couldn't calm down. No matter how many deep breathes he took, he was just this jittery ball of nerves. The usual adrenalin rush he feels during heist should've subsided by then, but strangely enough, he just couldn't keep still. He did feel a jab of guilt for not giving Aoko his undivided attention on such a significant day, but fortunately it didn't seem like she picked up on his inattentiveness.
Ah. There it was. The ever present cloying sense of guilt from his continuous deceptions. It was different from the first jab of guilt he felt. This one was mixed together with disgust and regret. On good days he could push all these feelings to the back of his mind. On other days, days like this one, he would be reminded of all the lies he uttered to her. The fact that he could bear to lie to her was already enough to sour the years of friendship that they had.
But there was really nothing he could do about that. So he decided early on not to dwell on these negative feelings and to focus on other things. Things like this new consultant of sorts the Inspector has hired. Kudo.
He was different from the London brat. Hakuba was like an annoying fly that kept getting in your way no matter how you swat at it, (Nakamori was like an angry kid you can't help but mess with, plus vulgarities). This Kudo, quoting Akako: the devil light that saw through everything or whatever flowery shit she said, was predicting his every move, so Kaito started anticipating him predicting his every move and improvised accordingly. The heist that night became a game of sorts. With absurdly high stakes for him. And it was so. Goddamned. Exciting.
An equal. That was what Kudo was.
Dangerous, no doubt, like playing with fire. He knows he was lucky he didn't get burnt this time. But Kaito wanted, wanted so bad, to try it again. To feel that shiver up his spine one more time.
Kudo Shinichi. 17 years old. High school detective. Son of renowned author Kudo Yuusaku and actress Kudo Yukiko. Interesting.
—
There was no 'again'.
Kaito put so much effort in preceding heists, with countless back-up plans and escapes routes on a never before seen level of detail and precision, in anticipation of battling the new detective. Yet the detective never showed his face again. Hell, Kaito didn't even manage to see his face the first time around, with the helmet and all.
The asshole hasn't shown up after that time at the clock tower. And no one else has made him resort to his painstakingly drawn up back-up plans. Well, no one should've since he made them for Kudo. But still. Even Hakuba couldn't keep pace with his sudden new fervour and was left wondering what happened in his absence. (Stupid Brit blamed his incompetence on jet lag. As if.)
The silver lining to this was that whilst Kaito hasn't seen Kudo, nobody else seems to have either. The detective has been keeping a low profile these past few months. Though no missing person report or anything. How he knew all this information was inconsequential.
At least Kudo wasn't frolicking around with another thief or something. Then he'll be really mad.