I AM BACK :D

So this is a story I've been working on (*cough* lying around *cough*) for 3 years, which is around the time I created my other story L'Amour Club Cyprus. And of course I upload the story years later onto x'D

Will be updating LCC soon sometime later this week or next week after some more tweaks :D

Anyway, on with the story!

Prologue: The Incident of the Shrinking in the Night-Time

Kuroba Kaito, renowned high school detective, also known as the Saviour of the Police, had solved another murder case. Although he didn't want to admit it, if he and one Hakuba Saguru hadn't shared their information to each other, they both would've taken hours longer to solve the case.

The two high school detectives were competitive and tried to outdo the other whenever given the chance. It also happened to be an unorthodox method to get the Brit off his back from the unrelenting Kaitou KID accusations. He was a detective, dammit! And a quite well known one as well! Why would he want to risk tarnishing his name and reputation he painstakingly built up?

…is his main argument against Hakuba's 'You are definitely Kaitou KID'. Hakuba was correct but he didn't need to know of Kaito's extracurricular activities.

So, for Kaito, if it wasn't for Hakuba's hawk that picked up the hook and bloodied piano wire then he wouldn't have figured out how the murder happened. Likewise, for Hakuba, if it wasn't for the fact that Kaito had known the murderer was a professional gymnast then he would've been at a loss as to who was the culprit was.

Currently the three of them, Kuroba Kaito, Hakuba Saguru and Nakamori Aoko, were eating ice cream at a parlour near the exit. It was late so they were enjoying their frozen treats while resting their legs.

Suddenly a ringtone sounded from Aoko's direction. Fishing her phone out and flipping it open, Aoko checked the contents of the message.

Bolting up from her seat she exclaimed, "Ah! I forgot all about it! I've got to go now!"

"Aoko-san, what seems to be the matter?" queried Hakuba.

"I forgot all about Keiko's present I was supposed to pick up today! Sorry but if I don't leave now I don't think I'll get there in time!"

"Will you be alright going by yourself?"

"Yea, I'll be fine thanks," she replied

"Ahoko, alright by herself? Yea, right." Kaito rolled his eyes, teasing his childhood friend.

"Bakaito! Of course I'll be okay! Ah! I really have to go now! Bye Kaito, Hakuba-kun!" Shouting over her shoulder, the long haired girl ran towards the exit, soon blending in with the leaving crowd.

Kaito and Hakuba stayed, finishing their ice cream. When Kaito was almost finished, he spotted one of the two men in black from earlier. They were the suspects from the murder. Even though Kaito had known they had nothing to do with the earlier murder, something about them rubbed him the wrong way. It was the burly one with glasses he was looking at now.

Keeping his eyes trained on the man, he said, "Hakuba, I think I'll be going as well." Not waiting for a reply he walked off, towards where he saw the man wearing sunglasses turn.

Saguru's eyes narrowed slightly and they followed the messy haired teenager until he turned a corner. Kuroba had slipped his detective mask on – the one that said 'I-found-a-criminal-and-I'm-not-gonna-let-them-go'. Debating whether he should go after the magician, Hakuba remained sitting. In the end he decided to follow his fellow detective, getting a bad feeling about it – if it was a criminal then there was a chance the criminal was dangerous. He rose from his seat and headed for where he last saw the teen.

So the men in black were involved in blackmailing and illegal trading of weaponry? He quietly took his camera out and began to discretely take photos of the transaction.

Hold on a second, where's the long haired one?

Kaito didn't register what the voice behind him said. All he knew next was that he had a very painful, throbbing headache; he was drifting in and out of consciousness; and was on the ground.

"…damn brat snooping…"

"…we do, aniki?"

"…gun away… untraceable poison…"

"…not tried on human…"

He felt something small along with liquid going down his throat. Untraceable poison? Great. He just had to have a supposedly untraceable poison that hadn't been tested on human beings forced into him.

His body began to feel as if it was on fire.

Burning…burning…So hot! It hurts! Am I dying…?

With that last thought, Kuroba Kaito blacked out.

Hakuba Saguru grimaced. Why was it so easy to lose that idiot of a magician? There just had to be so many trees around this part of the amusement park.

Did Kuroba go into the toilets? No, his facial expression when he left was set in determination, and he would've said he was going toilet if he was going to go there.

Besides, no sound came from the facility, and there were no fresh, muddy footprints that should've been there if someone went in recently, as there had been rain not too long ago.

He checked his pocket watch. It had been 24 minutes and 53.8 seconds since Kuroba had left the table.

As he tucked his watch back into his pocket, a rustle behind him caused him to swerve around and approach the location the sound had come from.

"Kuroba?" he called out.

The figure in the shadows became clearer as he got nearer to the person.

For a moment, Saguru felt relief. Relief that Kuroba Kaito, fellow detective and Kaitou KID suspect, was safe. Until his sharp eyes quickly noted the differences between Kuroba Kaito and this lookalike in front of him, that is.

The person wasn't Kuroba, but could certainly pass as his identical twin. Firstly, his hair was neat with a stubborn cowlick at the back of his head, unlike Kuroba's messy, untamed hair. Secondly, the elegant way he carried himself was different to Kuroba's childlike, hyperactivity. Saguru could list more differences, but upon noticing something in the stranger's arms, his mind halted for a second. The mirror image of Kuroba was holding a bundle of clothes.

The double blinked at him, confusion evident on his face,

"Kuroba?" echoed the doppelganger. "I'm not Kuroba. I'm Shinichi, Kudou Shinichi."

The name rang a bell but Saguru couldn't make the connection from name to memory. "Sorry, you looked like someone I know. My name is Hakuba Saguru."

"Oh, you're the high school detective appearing in the papers on a near weekly basis. You don't appear for a few weeks and then you're back again. I'm assuming you go overseas during those weeks, presumably England?"

The sudden analysis made Hakuba wary. An average person wouldn't say things that sound borderline stalker-ish upon first meeting someone.

"Yes, that is correct. You were right in assuming I went to England. How did you know?"

"Your features are different from an average Japanese person – your skin is pale, hair colour closer to blonde than brown and your eyes are of a garnet shade. You speak Japanese fluently although with an accent and your hair colour is not one that people would immediately say is blonde. This gives the impression that you are half Japanese. Your accent led me to think that you went to England during the time you are away. Having an accent usually means you lived in England for a long time. So I assumed you went to England to, for example, see your family.

Saguru blinked. "That…was superb. You are exceptional at deducing." Even though he said that he was still slightly wary of the other.

"Thank you. By the way did you happen to lose a child?"

Surprised by the random change in topic, Saguru asked, "Why do you ask?"

"I found this child lying on the ground with a head wound all alone where I was certain I heard a teenage male voice scream from."

Teenage male voice? Was that Kuroba's…?

"May I see his face?"

The face Kudou showed him shocked him. It was a miniature Kuroba! This child had come from where Kudou heard a teenage male voice. Unless Kudou had been wrong. But Kudou had been spot on with even the detail just by looking at him and hearing his accent. Also, Saguru recognised the baggy clothes on the child as the same as what Kuroba had been wearing.

But that couldn't be possible, could it? There was no way to de-age a person…

"So do you know him?"

"Yes, he is my…" He couldn't say 'friend' or 'acquaintance' and tell Kudou that he thought a 17 year old had miraculously turned into a 7 year old child, especially when he didn't have any evidence. If this child really was an ordinary child who happened to look like Kuroba then he couldn't just take the boy to Ekoda. "At least I think he is my cousin on my father's side."

Kudou looked sceptical. "You 'think'?"

Saguru hastily made up a story from the top of his head. "I have only met him a couple of times and the last time I saw him was a few years back. He lives here in Tokyo in a district near this amusement park with our grandfather. Everyone else in the family is busy and takes care of themselves, so after his parents died no one besides his grandfather could look after him. Jii-san is quite lax so I had heard he comes to Tropical Land by himself quite often. I had come here today with my friends and did not know that he was here so I am quite surprised to see him. Although, I'm not sure if it really is him or not..."

It was like a twisted version of the real story. Ekoda is a district in Tokyo and Jii Konousuke was most likely old enough to be a grandfather; was a grandfather-like figure to Kuroba; and did not seem like a strict person…

With this cover story he would be able to be with the unconscious child until he woke, confirm whether he was Kuroba or not, and make decisions from there. If he was indeed Kuroba then he would have to figure something out, together with a conscious Kuroba. If he wasn't Kuroba then Kudou could take the boy to the police – being the one who found him he would be able to inform the police better than Hakuba could.

"What's your cousin's name?"

Saguru thought for a bit. Bloody hell, he hadn't thought that far yet.

"Kei, Takahashi Kei."

TBC