Reunion

His wife's best friend was a witch. Said wife was a mop-slinging police officer who worked with said wife's best friend's husband, who was an English detective determined to capture him.

Aoko wasn't specifically working to catch him, seeing as she knew he was Kid, and she left that to Hakuba.

Speaking of which, he hadn't seen Hakuba in a few days.

The point of this? His life was a bit crazy...but nowhere near as strange as his favorite victim's life.

Kaito daylighted as a well-loved magician with a terrific moustache and a constant smile. Of course, his shows were only on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays most of the year.

That left lots of time for hanging out with his bestest friend EVER.

...although Shinichi kinda hated spending time with him.

Heh, not that he had much of a choice, considering Kaito had moved two doors down just to bother him. Er, to befriend him. Right.

The detective, who still looked fairly identical to Kaito, sighed as they walked down the streets on a nice afternoon. "I hate asking you for help, but I know you saw something."

Kaito blinked and smirked, remembering the previous night's heist. He had stolen a widower's priceless ruby...which still wasn't Pandora. He had stolen it straight from the man's home, and saw something a little inappropriate.

"You can tell his girlfriend that he's a cheater." Kaito answered, looking around the empty street to make sure no one was listening. "I saw him fooling around with a redhead. She wasn't Japanese, and I know his girlfriend is. She's the one I impersonated to sneak in."

Shinichi sighed, hating the fact that Kaito was actually useful. It made Kaito internally giggle.

"Okay, detective, as payment for the information, take me there." Kaito said, pointing to an expensive restaurant that he had been begging Aoko to take him to for weeks.

"I hate you." Shinichi said, feeling his pocket to make sure he had his wallet.

Used to this, Kaito began walking towards the restaurant with a smile. "You hate me because I remind you of the brother you never had. Siblings aren't supposed to get along."

Shinichi didn't respond, but he saw the detective's mouth twitch in a partial smile. "The twins are always fighting." He finally said, pushing open the door to the restaurant.

The host escorted them to a table and they placed their orders with the waitress soon after. Fortunately for Shinichi's wallet, Kaito didn't choose the most expensive items on the menu.

Besides, most of them were fish. He shivered at the very thought of the slimy, scale-covered squirming...

"How old are they anyway?" Kaito asked, scratching his head as he tried to remember.

"They're the same age as your son." Shinichi said, face falling. "Ten."

"My son is slightly older, by a few months." Kaito pointed out.

The detective sighed. "Will he be going into the family business?"

Kaito grinned. "Which one?"

Shinichi didn't find it amusing. "The illegal one. Does he even know?"

The thief shrugged. "He knows a little. We haven't given him all the details, but Toichi's a smart kid. He figures it out quickly. Did you ever tell your kids about your little problem?"

Remembering a certain apotoxin, Shinichi sighed. "Ran...Ran wrote a novel with fictional characters in the same situation. It's already been accepted, the publisher is excited."

"Embarrassing." Kaito said as the waitress gave them their food.

The detective poked at his plate. "There's a thief...Kaitou Red. He ends up helping the hero, Arthur, despite his bad reputation. He's not too bad after all. Just don't expect Arthur to admit it."

Kaito grinned. "Right...hey, this food isn't bad, detective. Ooh, I've been meaning to ask...rumor has it that Hattori's moving in down the street."

Shinichi dropped the potato on his fork. "What?"

"Yeah, I was checking records for my disguise system and it shows that they've bought a house just down the street. It's on the internet." The thief said, still munching happily.

Records? Disguise system? Shinichi did NOT want to know. But Hattori...moving here? With Kazuha and their kid in tow?

"Ran will be happy. Her other best friend is so in and out." Kaito commented, swirling something on his fork.

"Sonoko travels with her husband. Though Ran still buys the romance novels she writes. Apparently she inspired Ran to write the 'Arthur' novel." His pseudo-twin explained, taking a sip of water.

It was then that two voices rang out together, "Conan?"

He blinked, wondering if he had imagined that.

"Conan!" The female voice came, and Shinichi was suddenly hugged by a pretty brunette woman easily ten years his junior.

"I'm not--" Shinichi realized it was Ayumi and began to cover up but was interrupted as a bulky man approached.

"Whoa, Conan hasn't done well with time." Genta muttered to Ayumi, who ignored him.

"It's been so long!" She gushed. "When you went to America all those years ago we thought we'd never see you again."

"I'm actually Conan's cousin, Shinichi Kudo." Shinichi said awkwardly.

Ayumi blushed. "Oh! I'm so sorry. I didn't know...Um, well, I'm Ayumi and this is Genta...we're Conan's old friends." She remembered Ran's stories about the detective.

"He told me about you..." Shinichi trailed off.

Kaito decided to chime in. "He said you wanted to be detectives. He became one." He nodded proudly.

"Who're you? Are you Detective Kudo's twin?" Ayumi asked, blinking in confusion.

"Kaito Kuroba, magician. No relation to the fine tantei." Kaito bowed slightly from his seated position.

"Ah...well, Genta and I own this restaurant. We were about to go out when we spotted Detective Kudo and thought he was Conan." Ayumi explained.

Realizing something, Kaito's eyes glittered with mischief. "You two are married?"

Ayumi nodded. "And Mitsuhiko married Ai. They live in Canada now, I think. They're pharmacists."

"Are you married to Ran?" Ayumi blurted out, blushing. "And...eh...is Conan married?"

"Yes, I'm married to Ran." Shinichi said awkwardly, remembering Ayumi's slight childhood crush. "Conan's married too."

"So am I." Kaito said proudly, and he was ignored.

"Ah...that's great. Ran has always been so kind to us. Anyway, it was nice seeing you. Good luck on your cases! It was good to meet you, Mr. Kuroba. Please enjoy your meal!" She bowed and the couple walked away.

Shinichi watched her go, wondering if she was still crushing on Conan after all these years. He had never shown any interest or implied anything--why did she bother trying? She was already married.

Kaito snickered as soon as they were out of sight. "You just love the younger ladies, eh, tantei?"

That evening, when Kaito arrived home with soccer ball marks imprinted all over his face, Aoko decided not to ask.