a/n: Erm, warning. Heavily, heavily AU and probably bordering onto the realms of crack.
It was a head on collision, completely and totally devastating two of the three cars. Three people were killed – it didn't even warrant a second page notice in the newspaper. Instead, all of the trouble, dead bodies, and still living people were dumped into the laps of the police.
"Alright, what's the lowdown?"
"Three cars were involved in a headon collision on Tuesday the 14th, thirteen clicks outside of the city on the southern bound highway. There were three deaths, and several injuries. The three people killed are currently unidentified- two of the bodies were destroyed past recognition by the fire, and the third John Doe was found protecting one child. The child is currently in the hospital, and unconscious, however, we've had no luck turning him up in the database. The only information we've received is that he is about six-years-old of Asian descent."
A picture slid out onto the table top. Init, a six year old boy with pale skin and dark hair lay on a hospital bed unconscious. A set of fingerprints was taped beneath the picture. "We hope when he wakes up he will be able to shed light on this situation."
A knock came at the door, and the five men around the table looked up curiously. "Come in!"
"We got identification of one of the John Does. His name is Toichi Kuroba, a Japanese citizen. He was killed in the crash leaving behind his wife and his own sixteen-year-old son."
"Any identification on the other two?"
"No sir, but there have been discrepancies among the eye-witness reports. They claim that two of the cars were forced into a collision, and further stated that they saw other cars scraping along their sides."
A low snort erupted from one of the men. "What do they think this is? Some b-plot movie?"
"Witnesses are witnesses, and it seems odd to me that three cars suddenly crashed and killed each other."
"Now we're going beyond the realm of facts and into speculation." The man bit out sarcastically. The man that had came in to report the death began edging towards the door. "Besides, why would anyone want to kill Toichi Kuroba?"
"Oh, did you know him?"
"Yeah, he's a really famous magician. Mark my words, there is going to be a lot of mourners when it comes time to bury him- or cremate him, whichever he decides to do."
"Anyways." The man at the head of the table spoke for the first time, drawing back all attention to him. "I take it that the Kuroba family is coming to terms with this news right now?" An eyebrow rose at the man, still half-way out the door.
The man in the doorway reluctantly dragged himself from the safe zone as he answered miserably- "The son is still whoozy from the crash, and Ms. Kuroba has asked that she be allowed to break it to her son in private."
"Mph. What about the kid that fell unconscious?"
"Well, the doctors examining him said they found trace amounts of some odd drug in his blood- however the trace amounts probably resulted when his and the John Doe whose car he was in blood intermingled-"
"Is that even possible?"
"Slightly. Diseases can be shared that way, but-" The man hesitated and shrugged. "I'm not doctor."
The man began edging back towards the door- the men gathered around the table allowed him to excape. "I wonder how the guys son *is* doing?"
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Bright lights, yammering voices. He moaned slightly, burrowing deeper into his covers, trying to escape the noise that assaulted his ears painfully. "Kaito, Kaito, Kaito! I need you to wake up Kaito."
Why…Why was his mother crying? He could hear the tears in her voice, and it pressed on his to wake up, even as something deep within him urged him to rest, to keep quiet after all, they couldn't know he was here otherwise trouble would come-
Trouble?
Blue eyes snapped open to look into equally blue eyes that he had inherited from his mother. "M-Mom?" He stammered awkwardly, beginning to push himself up out of the bed. Instantly she shoved him back down again, hair slightly tangled.
"Don't get up dear. You were hurt and lost a bit of blood."
Kaito allowed himself to be pushed back into the bed, before grinning up at the ceiling. "Ha! I bet this will get me out of having to do that trick for pops show, right?"
Her breath caught for a moment, before her head slowly lowered. "Yes, that's right. Kaito, I know this isn't going to be easy but- dear- father is dead."
Dead. It hit him, rebounded, and came back at him at full force, determined to tear into him. "Dead? There's no way that's possible, it must have just been an accident, right?" He could remember it clearly, he'd been stretched out in the backseat in a special seatbelt, right behind his mother, there was the sound of squealing tires, and then he was here. In a hospital.
His dad wasn't dead. The old man wouldn't die that easily. His mother laid a gentle hand on his shoulder, taking a deep breath and forcing herself to take a deep breath. "He's dead."
Amazing, wasn't it? What worlds, hopes, and dreams that could be ripped apart in two words. His eyes squeezed shut, attempting to block out the truth. A quiet knock came at the door. "Come in."
"Excuse me, but you are the Kuroba's, correct?" Blue uniform- a police officer.
"Yessir, we are."
"We- We would like to question you and your son separately ma'm to determine what happened." Kaito's hands itched for something- anything- to distract him. But no, here he was in a flimsy hospital gown, all tricks stripped away. He couldn't even find it within himself to flinch the mans I.D. to freak him out.
Dead. Dead. Dead.
The word was hammering at his defenses.
"Mother left, and the police officer seated himself beside him. This close it was more then easy to steal the I.D. He wondered idly if he should- Dad had always scolded him whenever he did it, but he always gave it back. It wasn't as if he kept it!
A small, slight trickle of amusement seemed to drift in from the back of his head, as if someone was soundlessly laughing at him from inside his mind. Yep. I've done it now. Completely flipped. All that's left is to lock me up in a mental institution-
A sudden flare of panic arose at the idea of being locked up, only to be quickly replaced by derision at the idea of staying locked up. No way, no how. Not going to happen on his watch. Kaito's hand lifted to his face, as he struggled internally with himself. There was something wrong, so dreadfully wrong here, and he couldn't stand it, feeling as if he no longer had a private mind-
"Excuse me, but… are you alright?"
Kaito's poker face slammed down Remember son, always keep the poker face as he looked up. "I'm fine. What was it that you wanted to ask me officer?"
The policeman watched him suspiciously for a few moments more, eyes attempting to pierce into his soul and drag it out to where others could see it. Kaito continued smiling falsely as if the entire world hadn't come crashing down around his ears and it he didn't have anything wrong with him. Nope. Nothing wrong with him, so please move on inspector, before he broke down bawling.
------
Somewhere in the back of the magician's mind, a white clad thief lurked. He was slightly amused at his predicament, just as much as he was pissed. Generally, whenever anyone managed to get their hands on Pandora's outer gem, he'd posses them to protect the soul – his soul- that lay inside while indulging his hobby of stealing. Generally the men that managed to get their hands on him were filthy rich old men whom he couldn't use properly to steal items.
His newest host was nothing of the kind. Young, thin, athletic, bendable0 and ooohhh- magic tricks? He could have fun with these things. A heck of a lot of fun, after being locked up inside the jewel for the pest hundred years.
I wonder what new name I should take for myself. After all, Arsene Lupin is hardly the best name these days, and it would probably stand out.
Lupin, master gentleman thief, settled back in his young hosts mind, silently regarding the problem that lay before him. Pandora's gem was certainly shattered. No matter, the inner stone would have moved itself to safety as soon as possible- even as he had integrated himself with his hosts body, the gem had probably popped up inside some other rare and precious artifact.
Of course, the only problem now would be finding it while not tipping off his host. Oh yes- his new host was simply so… innocent. Certainly, each must strip away the innocence at one point or another, but for some odd reason, Lupin hesitated to bring harm to his new host reeling from the loss of his father.
I am sorry, Kuroba Kaito, but I'm afraid I must use you to find Pandora's gem.
--------
He had never before thought there would ever come a time would he would completely panic and freak out that wasn't somehow related to his partner Ran. Of course, at this point she was probably laughing her butt off at him…
Concentrate Shinichi! Barked a voice that sounded scarily like Ran. What is going on here?
Going on here? Well, let's see.
Shinichi pulled up all of his memories, as far back as he could go.
Since the time he was six, he had begun training to be a killer, and murder. His first murder had been at age eleven, pulled off so smoothly that everyone had thought the woman had simply done suicide and didn't bother looking into it any further. He had thrown up in an alley – Hastily he moved past that memory, wincing at his small self-control of back then.
The murders had slowly grown in size and complexity, as he became known as the phantom killer. His partner in crime Ran Mouri, also his best friend, had begun looking unhappy, and mentioned several times about quitting. Shinichi had never believed her, but now…
Murder gone wrong. It was a murder gone wrong, and they were after Ran. So they… No, I allowed her to escape and was found out. They forced a drug into me, but I managed to escape. After that there was a car chase, and I crashed into a vehicle holding a person and a kid- who were they?
Shinichi twisted inside of the mind, attempting to calm himself down. He was trained to take down men. He could handle himself, whatever he had become. He could.
If only his body would start responding already. However- it was as if he was simply a observer, trapped within this body, as eyes fluttered open of their own accord. "Where- where am I?"
A young, childish voice filled the quiet (Hospital, they were in a hospital) room, as eyes drifted slowly to a beeping machine. His body, apparently completely ignorant to the fact that if he sat up it was probably going to hurt if he moved did just that. He moved.
Shinichi braced himself for the pain, only to watch in surprise as it flowed over him. It was as if he was experiencing it second hand instead of experiencing it directly like he was supposed to. "Where am I?" Again with the murmur- this time Shinichi finally registered that it wasn't speaking English.
He could feel it now, something that blocked him from the body. It felt like a nearly blank slate, with the bottom smudged and smeared instead of the crystal clear pictures that could have been there.
"Hello there little boy, you're finally awake?" The nurse was American, speaking in English. Shinichi's mind began working overtime. Boy? The nurse wasn't that much older then him. What did she think she was doing, calling him 'boy'?
"Now, calm down dear, can you understand me?" She switched to Japanese. A hesitant nod, as Shinichi watched in fascination as the previously smudged slate began to awkwardly scrawl what was going on around him onto it. Amazing. "Good, now, who are you? What's your name dear?"
A moment's pause, and the smudged part on the slate twisted. Shinichi's (he hated to say it like this) mind recoiled as the boy attempted to… remember? Was that what his own mind looked like? Maybe- perhaps.
"I-I don't know." The voice was trembling, terrified. Of course he's scared you stupid baka! Shouted a mind voice that sounded suspiciously like Ran's. He just lost all of his memories, he's in a strange place, he has to put up with you, and he probably just had his parents killed.
Oh yes, the accident was his fault. The nurse was looking faintly strained, but she managed to put up a good front. "Nothing? Nothing at all? Are you certain? Do you recognize this man?"
A picture was held up of- One Kudo Shinichi, currently trapped beneath this mind. Oh, boy. "We believe he's your guardian, since you were found in his car-"
Shinichi was suddenly very, very glad he wasn't in charge of this body, because if he had been, he would've killed the lady for suggesting that he was the parent of this kid- "No. I don't remember." Again, a waft of confusion and terror floated back towards him. He batted it away with a growl.
"Here, would you like to look at yourself in a mirror?"
The small child (had to be a child, only a child would be talked too in such a condescending tone) nodded, and a small mirror was fished out. And Kudo Shinichi found himself looking into the eyes of what could've been a carbon copy of himself at age six.
The six-year-old frowned at himself in the mirror, eyes traveling across the unfamiliar contours of the face. "Is that… me?"
"Yes, it is. Are you certain you don't remember a thing? It would really help us find your parents."
A flash of unknown dread pierced back from the child, and Shinichi perked up at the unexpected sensation. No, now is not the time to get interested in the body you are currently occupying, it's better if you figure out some way to get back to your own body-
"Neechan- that guy in the picture, where is he now?"
The bright fake smile faltered just a tiny bit before renewed. Oh, dear- "It's better if you don't know for now. Why don't I go get you something to eat, I'm certain that you're hungry."
The six-year-old was suitably thrown off track. However, Shinichi was not. He knew what that meant.
I'm… dead?
a/n: And there you go. If that isn't AU enough to warn you off, then congratulations, you've surprised me. Personally, this story I'm posting just for fun, so reviews aren't necessary but are very very much appreciated- but I do warn you that I might not finish it. The entire thing is up in the air at this point.