Daisuke: Hey guys! That's right, guess what time it is? Time for the next preview! Sorry it's so late in the day, but I've been caught up in a new game called Eden Eternal. The closed beta ended today about an hour before I'm typing this, and I only barely made the deadline for the reward. I didn't quite make the Alpaca pet (I wanted that one soooooo badly), but I made the best title, so it's all good. Anyway, I got a request for this one from one of my reviewers, so here's my Detective Conan/Soul Eater crossover.

The working title is 'A World of Difference', but I might change that in the future; it's kind of in pieces anyway, so I'm not really worried. If it gets enough response, this one is honestly among the easiest for me to pick up. To clarify for the future: this is in Soul Eater's world, and it's as if the Detective Conan world existed at the same time. Neither really knows of the other, but our favorite characters' roles are all still the same, plus being students at Shibusen. This, like the last one, is also a KaiShin, but it's rather darker than most of my others will be.

Story Summary: KaiShin. Soul Eater world based. Shinichi and Kaito. Weapon and Meister. They traipse through the night, taking down Kishin eggs and flushing out the Black Organization any way they can. Shinichi is a locally famous detective during the day (when he's not at school), and the two of them are great students. However, not until their first mission does anyone find it strange that no one's seen Shinichi's weapon form, not to mention the somehow core-level trust the two have in each other. But when the eyes turn away, Kaito takes on his father's mantle, Shinichi in hand, and draws the attentions of police and criminal alike, all the while battling with the black blood that was placed in Shinichi...during a time that only the two knew about. Conan seems such a distant memory now...

A shadow sped through the alleys of the city, darting from place to place as he chased after his prey. The sweet smell of the soon-to-be victim's soul filled the shadow's nose, enticing it and causing it to run just a little bit faster in order to catch up with the small woman it had picked to be its prey that night. The shadow leapt from window to window between the buildings that created the alley, spying the victim below it and getting just overhead before dropping to the ground, piercing the woman in a swift move. The shadow disregarded the body as the soul began to float before it, small and sweet as it slid down the shadow's throat, both satisfying and furthering the hunger deep within its stomach.

The shadow paid no mind to the two figures that watched from overhead, one perched precariously on the edge of the building while the other sat, legs hanging over the ledge of the roof. The standing figure seemed to be wearing a cape and top hat, silhouetted against the full, insanely grinning moon above. "Hmmm~~ I wonder, dear Shin-chan, do we dare go against the great Snake-sama?" The standing figure's toothy grin practically glowed in the dark, expressing complete glee at getting a chance to take the creature below from the world.

The sitting figure grinned identically, "Why yes, Kaito, I do believe we dare." 'Shin-chan' glowed briefly, forming an oddly shaped gun and spinning in the air before being caught by Kaito, cocked back and had the safety pulled off.

The shadow below turned to face the figure above, staring over the barrel of the odd gun at a teenage boy wearing a monocle and a white suit, a matching cape and top hat completing the picture. Snake had hardly a moment to attempt to lunge before the gun went off, shooting an Ace of Spades surrounded by an odd pink aura. The bullet passed cleanly through him and his body disappeared, leaving a crusted, red soul in his place.

Kaito leapt down to it, letting his gun drop for a moment as it glowed and untwisted back into the form of 'Shin-chan', who took the red soul and swallowed it, sighing when the job was done. "One down, 98 to go."

Kaito sent him a saddened glance. "We should go call up Shinigami-sama. He'll want to know the job is done." Shin-chan nodded, following his white-clad companion to the nearest window but grabbed the other boy's shoulder before he could breathe onto the glass. Confused, the white-clad boy looked at his Weapon questioningly, only to get a pointed look at his outfit. "Right. Thanks, Shinichi."

Shinichi just leaned back, hands in his pockets. "No problem." He watched in a slightly detached manner as Kaito pulled one of his quick changes and was then standing there in a t-shirt and jeans, dog tags glinting in the moonlight and bracelets dangling from his wrists as the last of the movement passed. Purple-blue eyes stared into deep blue, grinning like mad as Kaito's wild hair settled as well.

Shinichi just 'hmph'ed and closed his eyes, leaning back against the brick wall on the other side of the alley as Kaito leaned forward again to breathe on the window, writing out the number that would call up their boss/principal/leader. Ripples of light covered the window as it rang, much like a phone, awaiting a response.

A silly skull mask surrounded by a black outfit filled the window, a large white hand coming up in greeting as a silly voice greeted Kaito and Shinichi. "Ooosu~~ Konnichiwa, Kaito-kun, Shinichi-kun. I take it the mission was a success?"

Kaito nodded, grinning cheekily. "Aa. Complete success Shinigami-sama. We were just informing you that Snake is gone before coming home."

Shinigami nodded, "Good to hear. Come home safe~~~!" The window went blank, indicating an end to the call, and Kaito turned to his partner who was lightly dozing as he leaned against the wall, arms crossed over his customary blue suit. Kaito's grin turned mischievous as he snuck forward, hands making groping motions as he approached the unaware boy.

"Don't you dare, Kaito." Or rather, the seemingly unaware boy. Kaito dropped his arms to hang beside him, pouting and complaining about his partner's being 'absolutely no fun' under his breath. Then he straightened, Shinichi following him as they exited the alley and got into Kaito's car, the slightly beat up red 1960s Ford T-Bird sitting calmly next to the sidewalk, pink fuzzy dice bobbing slightly as Kaito adjusted the rear-view mirror. Shinichi made himself comfortable on the red leather of the passenger seat, grateful that the top was up as he drifted off to sleep for the slightly long ride home.

Kaito started up the engine, taking a moment of reverence as it purred to life, and drove off, heading for Shibusen at a leisurely speed.

It had taken Kaito ages of begging to get Shinichi to allow him to get the car, beat up and old as it was. The conversation had gone along the lines of their usual arguments over such things.

"It's junk, Kaito. I am not letting you get this piece of crap so that you can restore it. I'm not going to be caught dead getting driven in this thing."

"But Shiiin-chaaan! I can restore it before we go driving! And besides, it's red, shiny and comes with the dice! Pleeeeease?" Kaito had pulled his strongest puppy eyes out just for this.

Shinichi held his ground for all of ten seconds before caving, turning his head away and sighing as he began a pout that would last the next week. "Fine." Kaito had cheered.

So, keeping to his promise, Kaito had restored the car - including the engine - to nearly full glory before doing any driving, as much as he twitched to drive it the entire time. Now very happy with it, he had allowed Shinichi a month of small demands to make up for the one he'd made before they returned to routine again.

In his reminiscence, Kaito missed his partner falling asleep beside him, but his focus remained on driving anyway, making sure to get them home safely.

Shinigami-sama stood in front of his mirror in the room of death, frowning slightly at the conversation that had occurred a few minutes before between him and Kuroba Kaito. The boy himself seemed fine, obviously very used to late nights like that, but Shinichi had looked very tired. Shinigami knew that the detective Weapon had had to be brought along on Kaito's night job - the boy had a fierce protective streak for his Meister - and that having a mission the next night was going to take its toll on him, but the boy seemed far too tired for that alone to be the case.

Kaito had told him right off the bat about his personal mission upon entering the school, told Shinigami all about his father and what had happened to him, even about Pandora and the Black Organization that seemed to dog the pair's footsteps. That was why Shinigami sent the two after Snake, knowing that they would not feel even slightly at ease unless they were the ones to take him out. Perhaps that was the reason behind Shinichi's tiredness, the combination of stress over the mission before hand and the relief when it was finished was probably at least a large factor.

Oh well, now was not the time to be thinking about these things. He had a son to prepare for, as Kiddo was due for a meeting soon, and a new set of missions to appoint.

MMM

Kaito smiled at Kiddo as the younger boy walked out of the door to the room of death, "Heya Kiddo! On your way home for the night?"

Kiddo smiled in return, "Why yes I was. Are you two on your way to see father?" He nodded at Shinichi over Kaito's shoulder, earning a sleepy nod in return, before motioning to the door behind him.

"Yeah. Just finished our first Kishin mission. Need to hand in our report before heading home ourselves."

Kiddo nodded ascension. "Okay then. Goodnight, you two. See you in class tomorrow."

"Goodnight, Kiddo!" Kaito waved over his shoulder as Kiddo left. Then the smile dropped and he looked at Shinichi for a moment. "You okay? You're never this sleepy outside of the apartment."

Shinichi snapped his head up, coming out of his light doze. "Yeah, I guess the relief of having Snake gone is just a bit too much, among other things."

Kaito gave Shinichi a knowing look. "You mean like going off when getting called by Megure-keibu to solve murders in the middle of the night? And I thought MY double life was taxing."

Shinichi's head snapped up again, shocked and slightly guilty. "How do you know about that?"

"Please. You know perfectly well that I'm the expert on sneaking out at night between the two of us. Did you really think I wouldn't notice?"

Shinichi was a bit sheepish, agreeing quickly that Kaito could come with him next time so that they could give their report and go to bed.

So they marched their way down the row of guillotines that marked the hallway to the center of the room, finding Shinigami standing in front of the mirror and observing some scene or another, the current main Death Scythe, Spirit, standing off to one side and watching their approach. Kaito cleared his throat to announce their presence, allowing Shinigami-sama to turn around and see them waiting for his words.

"Ah~~ Kaito-kun! How lovely it is to see you again. Perhaps now you would like to report your successes?" The word 'mission' had been left out as a silent question.

"Yes, Shinigami-sama. Now would be the perfect time." Kaito gave his Poker Face grin, awaiting Shinigami-sama's action. The figurehead of Death City put up his hand and motioned Spirit to leave, earning a suspicious and concerned look from the red-haired man but also earning obedience. Now alone, Kaito's grin dropped and Shinichi straightened. "Snake is dead. He won't be bothering us anymore. But I have other news."

Shinigami-sama raised an invisible eyebrow. "Oh~~? And what would this news be, Kaito-kun?"

Kaito's eyes sharpened. "I have a new target."

Shinigami-sama turned serious. "I see. Have you set a date yet? I will need to prepare to excuse you two from class if you're injured."

Kaito nodded. "The police received my note earlier today, and the date is a month from now, the next full moon."

Shinigami-sama nodded, turning back to his mirror. "Good. But for the meantime I have a different mission for you."

Kaito nodded to say he was listening, Shinichi stepping up beside him.

"I want you to keep a closer eye on your classmates for me. There seems to be a rat somewhere in our midst that's involved with the BO, and I want you to find them." Kaito and Shinichi nodded their understanding before exiting upon Shinigami-sama's dismissal, telling Spirit that Shinigami-sama wanted to see him. The two made it home in all of five minutes, collapsing on their beds and catching what sleep they could before the school day started.

The class's heads snapped to the door collectively as a cloud of smoke erupted from it, fading rapidly to reveal their flamboyant magician classmate and his Weapon. Kaito was holding his arms up in the air in the perfect showman's pose, exclaiming loudly to the classroom, "Ladies and gentlemen!" and thoroughly ignoring the looks he was getting from his friends and his Weapon in favor of the laughs the class was emitting.

Shinichi simply ducked under his Meister's arm, walking over to the crowd of older kids standing to one side who were chatting and sending the occasional glare at Kaito. "Hey, guys."

"Hey Shinichi. You look tired. Did you have a nightmare again last night?" Ran, as usual, was worried about him, but he waved her off, planting on the smile that only Kaito ever found suspicious.

"Nah. Actually had a mission last night, but it was nothing I couldn't handle."

"A mission? But ya were okay on it? I ain't never seen ya train, what made Shinigami-sama think tha two of ya were ready?" Heiji leaned over from his place between his Meister and Kazuha, curious look on his face.

Shinichi scowled slightly, annoyed at his friend's pestering. He and Kaito had had to keep Shinichi's form from their friends because of their night job, knowing that especially Saguru, but all of them really, would know what they were doing and either hate them for it or try to help. They wanted neither reaction, so they kept quiet and Shinigami promised never to assign them missions with anyone else on the condition that they report their information to him and let him in on all their reasons. "We took care of it fine, Hattori, no need to get in my face about my training habits."

Heiji scowled in return, but leaned back, knowing when not to butt in further. Saguru gave a curious glance to his Weapon at this, unused to the brash teen giving in so easily. However, Kaito was by Shinichi's side at just that moment, cutting short any questioning that may have come and wrapping his left arm around the Weapon and his right around his best friend Aoko. "C'mon, guys! What's with the glum attitude? We still have a whole school day ahead of us! Who's up for watching another of Stein-sensei's dissections?"

Saguru's face took on a sour, but slightly smug look at the comment. "Says the one boy who really can't hold his breakfast during said dissections and never looks the teacher in the eye."

Kaito averted his eyes, smile turning nervous but never leaving his face. Shinichi coughed, "Anyway, Kaito's got a point. We do still have a day ahead of us and class is about to start. I'm just glad Black Star isn't extraordinarily early today or we really would have a reason to be solemn. We can continue this conversation later, yeah?"

The group gave a nod and broke off to get to their seats. Class went as usual, Stein not even bringing in a new exotic animal that day, and even Black Star hadn't gotten up after Maka's dictionary made impact on his skull. The older students - transfers, as it were, pulled back a few years since the Japanese branch hadn't gone so deeply into the roles of Meister and Weapon as Death City did - made idle chatter as they were released from the halls of the school until the issue of Kaito and Shinichi's mission came up again.

"So...what exactly was your mission, Shinichi?" Ran asked from behind him, her own Meister glaring slightly at Kaito for not mentioning it already.

Shinichi glanced at Kaito discreetly, asking permission to answer, and then sighed when he got a slight narrowing of eyes. Kaito wanted him to leave as much out as was possible while still deterring their suspicions. That meant making a big deal out of one of the obsolete details. Oh joy.

"It...was okay, I guess." He didn't offer anything more, knowing that their friends' curiosity would boil for a few moments and then get satisfied when he relented the obsolete fact as if it were the biggest secret.

Ran's eyes narrowed in response. "C'mon, I know you better than that Shinichi. If nothing else, you're hiding what your mission was. I wanna know." By the end, she was whining slightly and Shinichi had to ignore Kaito's minimal turning of his head, signifying that the thief was rather annoyed with the girl's attitude towards his Weapon.

"Well...I don't really know what to say."

"Tell us what your objective was." Saguru put in his two cents, making sure to keep his hawk-like eyes on his friend.

Suddenly a little nervous, Shinichi gulped and then began to respond as calmly as he could, making the detail about the mission seem like it was all the information there was. "We had to take out some guy named Snake." He shrugged, "It really wasn't that interesting."

Ran and Aoko, who had been leaning in from behind, straightened in slight disappointment, as if they expected something more exciting than that. Saguru stared for a moment longer, Heiji doing the same, to observe Shinichi's actions. Thankfully for him, Kaito had taken the time to teach him how to emulate the signs of telling the truth with seemingly no effort, it came in handy more than he liked to admit.

The group relaxed after that, resuming their typical after class routine as if the matter had never been addressed. Eventually, they split up and went home, Heiji attempting to dodge Kazuha and keep up with Saguru lest he be left behind, Akako merely watching her Weapon chase after the Osakan detective, Ran chatted with her Meister and tried to keep her away from Kaito as Kaito ran from his childhood friend screaming like a girl. Shinichi simply watched in amusement as the colorful stuffed fish got waved around the room following the bouncing ball of sugar before taking out a book and waiting for the last bits of action to die down before heading out to walk home, Kaito quickly catching up and saying goodbye to their friends.

Edit: Sorry to everyone who already read this, I'd meant to replace the 'M's with the ruler things, but it was so late when I posted that I forgot -.-' Anyway, thanks to those of you who already read!