Chapter 2
"I'm home!" Kaito called out to his empty house. His voice echoed back and Kaito let his happy mask fall, revealing tired eyes and a frown carved on his face. He shoved his hands in his pockets and shuffled up the stairs. "Geeze, Mom, would it kill you to be home for once? Or even in the same country?"
He flipped on the dying hall light and his eyes rested on one of the family photos that lined the walls. It was from 8 years ago, before Kaito's father's death. He and Aoko were smiling with gapped teeth and hugging each other, with their fathers smiling in the background. Those were the good days. He and Aoko rarely fought back then, back when there was still a chance he could use magick and that they'd be Blood Bonded. Kaito shook his head. God, he was getting obsessed.
Kaito touched the face of Toichi Kuroba tenderly, like the glass holding it would shatter under his touch. "Hey, Dad," he said as he smiled sadly. It was always so hard, seeing all these pictures of Dad around all the time. Maybe he should take them down, save himself the pain. It's not like Mom would care…
No. He shook his head, breaking him out of his sorrow. He needed these pictures. They were his last connection to his father and they reminded him every day of his goal. Kaito clenched his fists. He'd complete his goal even if he died trying and nothing was going to stop him.
Turning away from the photo, Kaito continued on to his room. It was a mess. Clothes flowed out of the dresser's drawers, various magic supplies littered the floor, and Kaito was pretty sure some type of new life form was growing under the bed. Kaito wrinkled his nose, but didn't comment on the mess. It was there for a reason, even if no one else realized it. Cautiously stepping over what appeared to be the remains of a failed firework, he sat down at his desk and logged on to his laptop. His screen saver—Hakuba in a rather…short dress—popped up. Kaito snickered at the memory; the usually stoic detective had been pissed at him for weeks for pranking him so badly. If it weren't illegal, Kaito was sure he would have been on the wrong side of a fire hex.
Magick was…complicated. It was everywhere, in everyone, but less than 2% of the population could use it. Demons could do some things with it, but their range of use was limited to a small aspect of one of the four elements. But Mages…humans born with the natural ability to harness magick can control all the elements, perform rituals, and do the impossible.
Dispelling the memory, Kaito video-called his mother. It took several minutes for her to pick up, in which Kaito's hands fidgeted their way through several scraps of paper and a piece of bright red string. Finally, her face appeared on the screen.
"Kaito!" she squealed, clutching her hands in front of her as her indigo eyes lit up with joy. Her hair had recently been cut and dyed into a purple bob cut, Kaito noticed. "Sweetheart! How are you? How's New York?"
"Hey, Mom. I'm fine and so is the city. Where are you right now?"
"Paris, of course!" She angled the camera so he could view the starry sky outside her window. "It's so beautiful! Absolutely wonderful!"
"Yeah, such a great way to spend Dad's savings…" Kaito muttered.
"Oh don't be so negative! You should be more happy, like Aoko. How is she, anyway?"
"She joined the Demonic Entrapment and Apprehension Division."
Mom made a face. "I swear, they named that Department only because they wanted to spell "DEAD." It sounds so xenophobic."
Kaito shrugged. He couldn't really disagree. The name did make it sound like they hated Demons, even if half of DEAD's employees were Demons. "She Blood Bonded to Hakuba two weeks ago."
Her smile dropped. He had constantly ranted to her in the past about his hate for the detective. "Oh, sweetie…"
"It's okay, Mom." Kaito couldn't stand her pity. He grits his teeth. It was time to get over this. He refused to continue to bitch and moan about not being Bonded to Aoko. This was the last straw. "Honestly, I've been expecting this for a long time."
She nodded and quickly changed the subject. "So, I heard that there is a Kaitou KID heist tonight! You must be so excited! Are you going?"
"Of course! I'm his number one fan after all~!" Kaito preened at her attention. KID heists were often open to the public, mostly because there would be a riot if they weren't. Civilians loved the phantom thief.
"Just be careful, okay? I hear that some DEAD officers are going to be there. They seem to have come to the conclusion that KID is a Mage with a demon accomplice."
Kaito snorted. Kaitou KID, gentleman thief, using magick spells instead of magic tricks? Ridiculous. "Don't worry, Mom. KID never loses to the police."
"But what if he does?"
"Then the world will have witnessed the single most unlikely thing to have ever happened in the history of forever."
His mom laughed, but was cut off by a yawn. "Glad you're so confident, honey. Whoo, it's just past midnight here! You better leave early if you want to get a good seat. Don't get into too much trouble, okay?"
"I don't get into trouble, it just finds me like it's some kind of weird stalker," he said, smirking. "Bye, Mom. I love you."
"Of course you do, I'm amazing. Bye-bye honey!"
As he closed his computer, Kaito ran a hand through his spiked hair. Tonight, KID was targeting a blue diamond called the Mermaid's Tear. The thief only went after gems with interesting stories and this one was no different. Rumors said any who owned the jewel gained incredibly good luck. Not that KID needed it. He was kissed by Lady Luck herself.
Kaito stood up and stretched, popping his back. He stepped over the mess to what appeared to be a blank wall and pressed a coffee-colored stain. As the secret button activated an internal mechanism, Kaito back up as the hidden closet opened reveal a familiar white suit, pressed to perfection. A tall top hat of the same color with a blue ribbon sat on a shelf above the suit. Kaito picked up a monocle—white, like everything else, with a four-leaf clover charm hanging off—and placed it over his right eye. Kaito smirked and began to overlook the supplies lining the bottom of the secret closet. A grappling hook, several multi colored smoke pellets, and instant hair dye were several of the things that caught his eye. The monocle glinted as he started to put on his suit.
He had a heist to pull after all.