Conan sat on a park bench, taking a moment to catch his breath. He was slightly winded from his comb of the nearby area, and needed a few minutes to assimilate it all. Not that there was much to assimilate.

Who was he kidding? It'd been six months! There was very little chance of anyone remembering that far back, and even less for evidence to remain. Maybe if he'd gotten started a little sooner, he would have caught the trail.

As it was, he had nothing. Nada. Zip. Even with the police's help, it was as if they'd disappeared off the face of the earth.

He let out a frustrated sigh, kicking his feet in the air as he leaned back against the wooden bench. It just…wasn't fair. Six months…Six months with no words beyond, "I'm leaving." No calls, no letters, not even an email.

He just wanted to know that everything was alright.

Conan was barely able to finish the thought when it suddenly went dark, a pair of hands quickly covering his eyes from behind and pushing his head against the wooden back of the bench. He struggled for the first few moments, but his yelp of protest was strangled by the teasing, very familiar voice that asked the usual question.

"Guess who?"

He could have sworn his heart stopped beating for a few seconds—seconds that seemed to stretch on forever. "R—"

"I can't hear you." The laugh that accompanied the words seemed to echo from both sides, even though he knew it came from behind him, "Aww, come on Conan-kun. It isn't hard!"

"Ra—n" The word died before he finished the final syllable, the joy that had been welling up inside him screeching to a stop and falling away, replaced by anger. Now that he wasn't focusing on the voice, he could tell exactly what was wrong with the situation. The hands over his eyes were not Ran's hands. "Kid!"

"Bingo!" Light flooded his senses, blinding him momentarily as his eyes sought to readjust. The pain didn't bother him though; it was nothing in comparison to the fury he carried for the thief behind him.

--

Feeling unusually pleased with Conan's deduction, Kaito let go of the smaller boy. He'd missed the little detective, he just hadn't quite realized just how much until now. Maybe he could find out where his Chibi-Holmes had disappeared to during the past couple months, "Not as sharp as usual, Tantei-kun." Kaito shook his head disappointedly; he'd expected Conan to notice the hands first, "Have you been slack—"

"Don't ever use her voice again." The kid's body was trembling, his voice low but completely and utterly serious. The sheer intensity of the anger in the child's voice was completely unexpected, causing Kaito to take a cautious step away from the child, wary of suddenly finding a soccer ball flung at his face. He really hadn't expected that type of reaction. Annoyance he'd been prepared for, but not outright fury.

Conan jumped to his feet and stood on the bench, whirling around to face the not-so-disguised thief. Kaito was glad he'd stopped to pick up a cheap pair of sunglasses to go with his hat, the intensity of Conan's scrutiny would have probably seen straight through the shadows Kaito usually used to shield his face. "What do you want, Kid?"

"I just wanted to see my favorite detective." Kaito was really wishing he'd had a better disguise with him, but he supposed he did the best he could with what he had. There were times he really hated Aoko's insistence on leaving all of his tricks behind, "I've been wondering why he hasn't shown up to critique me."

"I'm not like Nakamori; I'm not going to follow you around like a little puppy." Conan crossed his arms, the added height of the bench leaving him at about Kaito's shoulder, "What's your real reason?"

"Do I really need one?" Kaito had to resist the urge to just lean forward and poke Conan on the nose, but he knew that doing so was just asking for either the dart watch or the power shoes, "I came to you without a disguise, Tantei-kun. Nothing between you and me but a pair of cheap glasses."

He could see the disbelief that nearly radiated from Conan's posture, his eyes narrowing behind square-framed glasses, accusing him of lying. "I don't believe you, Mr. Thief."

Kaito shrugged dismissively, waiting for him to rise to the bait, "Whether you believe, or not, it's the truth. It was pure chance I saw you from the theater. So…" He took a step toward the bench, resting his elbows on the back-rest and leaning over until his nose was mere inches from Conan's, "Are you going to try and unmask me, Tantei-kun? You swore you would."

The boy didn't flinch at the close proximity, his eyes seeking out and capturing Kaito's despite the glasses. He reached up, and Kaito readied himself to pull away the second the small fingers were in range, only to find himself roughly shoved away. Kaito reeled from the surprise, looking down at the child to find him stuffing his hand into his pocket. Conan's eyes were hidden by the glare off his glasses, his expression unreadable as the child detective turned away, "No."

Dumbfounded. Flabbergasted. Thunderstruck. Taken aback. None of the adjectives could quite describe the level of shock he felt, not to mention the blow it sent to his self-confidence and his ego. He kept remembering every time he'd squared off against the Chibi-Holmes. Each time he'd reaffirm the vow he'd made during one of their first meetings, the first time he'd sworn to catch and unmask the elusive Kaitou. Here he was, mere inches away from fulfilling the vow, and Conan decided to push it away?

Something really wasn't right here.

Conan hopped off the bench, his hand knocking over his skateboard so it landed with its wheels against the ground, "Sorry Kid, but I really don't care about you right now."

The kid jumped on the skateboard and pressed his foot down on the turbo switch, miraculously maintaining his balance as the skateboard accelerated from zero to fifty in less than three seconds.

There was definitely something wrong, and he felt a nervous itch to figure out what it was. If he didn't, he might never get his little detective back on the job.

Playing detective huh…Maybe Akako was right.

Something glittered as he moved, his shadow shifting off of something that had been left sitting on the bench. He reached over and picked the cloth covered object up, holding it up to the sun as the tissue slid down around his fingers, "Hello again…"

In his hand was the jewel he'd just stolen, a jewel he'd believed had been returned to police hands when he'd lost it last night. Apparently it hadn't, otherwise Tantei-kun wouldn't bother returning it to him. Speaking of Tantei-kun…he glanced in the direction the boy had taken off, how had he happened by it anyway? As far as he knew, the detective hadn't been anywhere near the heist.

"Curious…" He let his voice drop out of Kid's normal sound, returning to his true voice. He wasn't stupid enough to use his real voice as an internationally famous criminal who was often caught on tape—both video and audio. It was similar, but Kid's had an airy quality to it that warped the sound, and he often changed around the way he pronounced things. Kaito rewrapped the jewel, placing it in his jacket pocket.

Kaito sighed as he noticed a small stain on his white jacket and shrugged it off, folding it inside out so that it was black on the outside, white on the inside. A small smile crept along his face, pushing aside the troubled thoughts that were dancing through his head from his meeting with Conan. Reversible clothes weren't really considered tricks, and as of so far had slipped under Aoko's radar. They didn't look like they were inside out, they were made not to.

Aoko…

Well, he couldn't really return to the movie now, she'd be pretty mad at him for ditching her like that. Hopefully she'd cool down by tomorrow and he could offer up some sort of credible sounding excuse to placate her. Even if that didn't work, he could handle anything she threw at him.

Except the f…f…those things. But he didn't think she was that cruel.

Kaito pulled off his cap and glasses, running a hand through his hair to remove any traces of hat hair and returning the spikes to their normal wild mess. There wasn't really a point to the disguise anymore. He then stuffed the remains of his disguise into one of the many (now)inside pockets of his jacket and started off down the path Conan had disappeared down.

--

Conan had to admit; zero to fifty was a little overboard to go less than a quarter of a mile. At the time, he hadn't really cared; he just wanted to get away from Kid as fast as possible. He'd finally slowed down and stopped the mad escape less than two minutes after starting—as soon as he realized that he had nowhere to go.

He was near one of the park's fountains when the thought finally hit him. He had no leads, no more sources of information he hadn't picked dry. The only thing he had any hope left in was the police, and he'd already checked with them today. Only a few hours and his search had hit a brick wall, leaving him empty handed.

With a resigned sigh he stepped off the skateboard, leaning it against the rim of the fountain and sitting down on the stone edge. There were a couple others in this section of the park—mostly surrounding the ice-cream cart along the edge of the path—but he only received a curious look or two. It wasn't because he wasn't with a parent—the park was considered safe enough to let children play while the adults wandered about and chatted—but was because he was by himself. Normally children traveled in packs.

Conan let his fingertips just barely brush the surprisingly clean water as he thought back to the confrontation, anything to keep his mind off of his seemingly fruitless search. What the hell had that just been about? A city park was the last place he'd expected to run into that thief. What was he up to? There was no way; no way Kaitou Kid just walk up to him in such a flimsy disguise without having some devious plan in mind.

Devious plans were something that he made a mental note to avoid in the future, especially if they were concocted by a thief magician who always seemed to be two steps ahead of the world. He had enough on his plate as it was; he didn't need to be worrying about whatever Kid was scheming on top of it. He didn't even care about what the Kid was planning.

Conan hadn't missed the utterly floored expression that his admittance had elicited; in fact it had been his intended reaction. He needed something to distract the thief and keep him that way until Conan was able to get out of sight. The fact that he'd left the jewel behind had also been a delaying tactic, but this way he didn't have to confront Kogorou with it, so it was helping him in the end—he trusted Kid's professional pride to return it eventually.

One thing out of the way…Conan's hand rose from the water, his damp fingertips chilly in the autumn air as he kneaded his temple—an attempt to stave off the impending headache. He still had at least one more thing. It was 'at least' because he didn't know just how much he'd have to do to find the answer.

His eyes drifted to the surface of the water, his reflection distorted by the constant motion of the fountain. If he let his mind wander enough, he could imagine another reflection next to his, one that he wished sorely was really there.

Where are you…?

The wavering phantom reflection was getting a little clearer with each step his mind took away from reality. He knew exactly how Ran had felt since he'd stumbled across Gin and Vodka that day at the amusement park. Constantly wondering where the other was, and wondering if they were safe, if they were happy. At least he called!

"I'm leaving."

There hadn't even been a letter. Not one.

"I promise I'll write, Conan-kun."

...liar.

His thoughts skidded to a halt, tossed back into reality with the force of a train crash.

That reflection…

…isn't Ran.

"Yo, kid. You're looking a little down." Conan turned around, meeting face to face with the reflection in the water. Because of the constant ripples he hadn't been able to get a good look at it; he only knew that it wasn't part of his imagination. That one had been like looking into a mirror, completely still and clear.

The person towered over him, clear blue eyes looking down at him from beneath a messy mop of brown hair. A smile crossed his face at being noticed, and the teenager(late teens, if Conan's guess was correct) sat down on the cobblestone path at the base of the fountain, "I've seen you here before, but never alone. What's the matter?"

Because of the positioning, Conan was easily able to meet his eyes. It was an unfamiliar act; usually he had to crane his neck to see anyone his real age. It felt a little reassuring even as it surprised him. Conan was quiet for a moment after the question, debating whether to answer.

"Don't be like that…" The elder boy took his silence as a rejection, a thoughtful look drifting into being, "Well, at least there's one thing that always cheers people up!"

He held his hands in front of him and made an exaggerated gesture, resulting in a small puff of grey smoke to obscure his hands. The motion sent warning bells off in Conan's head, before he clamped down on the alarm and shushed it. The little run-in with Kid had really shaken him up, and now he was seeing the thief in every stranger that passed him by!

"Ice-cream!" The cloud had dissipated, leaving a small cone of vanilla ice-cream in his hands. He offered it to Conan, "I didn't know what kind you liked, so I figured vanilla would be safe."

The detective eyed the frozen treat, accepting it, but not quite willing to eat it yet. The piece of paper wrapped around the waffle cone had the same logo as the park's ice-cream carts, he could have gotten it from the one just down the path, "It is fall…"

"So?" He shrugged off the implication that ice-cream was out of season, "Ice-cream is always good, even when it's freezing outside."

Conan still wasn't willing to eat something from a complete stranger. Apparently the other could read it on his face because he sighed, frustrated, and pulled out a plastic spoon. With a small motion he scooped a small section out of the treat, and ate it. "Satisfied? It won't kill ya."

Conan shrugged; he was satisfied, and started on the treat. After a few cursory licks, he paused, "Why do you bother?"

"I don't like seeing people down." Conan tensed a little, waiting for the inevitable ruffling of his hair that was sure to come. He was surprised when it didn't; indeed the teenager's hands were busy fiddling with a napkin—tearing it to pieces. "Especially kids. It makes me feel like I've failed or something."

He stuffed the pieces of the paper into his fist, before opening his hands to reveal a fully restored napkin. "As a magician, it's kinda my job to make people smile, ya know?"

Conan just quietly ate his treat, watching as his hands started moving again. The paper was crumbled up, and hidden in between cupped hands, "You just looked kinda lost over here, so I wanted to try and cheer you up."

"Not lost." Conan shook his head, "But I am looking for something."

"Oh?"

Conan shrugged, ice-cream or not, he was not going to burden the stranger with something he couldn't help with. From what he had already learned about the teenager, he could already tell that he would offer to help. The frozen treat was almost gone by now, only a little bit of the cone left, "…thank you."

"No problem." The teenager smiled, "I'm Kuroba Kaito, amateur magician."

"Edogawa Conan, detective."

A/N: Quick update cause I wanted to catch Masq up to Luck. The chapter is slightly longer than usual, but that's a good thing right? I had a bit of trouble coming up with the parts after Kid got the jewel back...but eventually decided (with help) that KaixConan interaction was needed.

I'm almost positive people will be able to guess who he's looking for --; it is kinda obvious.

Hope you enjoyed the chapter, and until next time!

P.S. Reviews are nice n.n