A/N

Hahaha, yes, I do dare, Guesto. I did just give you all a cliff hanger… xxSnowxxAngelxx, thanks for letting me know. TBH, I'm flattered (I think?) Thanks anyways. But if there are... evident mistakes, I'd be grateful if you guys pointed it out anyways. Ahah, sorry, I got a bit caught up there. Hey people! Have I ever told you that I'm actually addicted to lullabies and baking?

Kaito hated outings, especially when it's with Aoko and her friends (most of them are girls, despite her obvious tendency to be a tomboy. He wonders why…) He sighed as he took a bite of him vanilla caramel sundae and watched as Ran and Sonoko joke about something, and Aoko didn't get it.

"Really, now," Akako said, sipping her tea (peppermint tea, it seems). Kaito raised an eyebrow at her in a silent question. "After that breakdown a few days ago, you both seem to be all good," she stated, as if it's something very obvious.

Well, in a sense, it is. It should be, at least.

"But I wonder about your… ex," she said with a smug smirk on her face. He then gave her a pointed look. "You don't snoop into my daily life daily, do you," Kaito said with a smug tone of his own. Her lips twitched in annoyance.

She then sipped on her tea again and Kaito took another bite into his sundae. "In a few minutes, you should go rush and check on your little critic," she then said calmly, watching her half full tea. She'd been sitting there for hours, and it's still that much? Kaito mused.

"Why would I?" he asked, certain that his little detective can protect himself, and would feel offended if he actually checked on him once every few days. "You'll regret not going, you know."

Kaito scoffed, earning himself a glare from the red witch. "I don't really want to tell you 'I told you so' just because it's rude, but—"

Suddenly, Ran's phone rang, and it seemed like she's having a conversation with Conan. He raised an eyebrow at Akako who sipped her peppermint tea coolly, as if she didn't say something which somehow worried the magician thief.

As much as he didn't like to admit it, Akako can be right in many things. Predicting the future was one of them. Being smug about it was an after-effect. Kaito stood, excusing himself from the group and putting some cash for his share, and went away.

Charlie placed the detective in a big bag, putting on a hat before walking down the stairs. "Hey," someone called, and Charlie turned to find Kaito, someone he vaguely remembered in the abandoned lab.

The one who tricked him into activating a bomb with his gunshot. He suppressed a growl and said nothing.

"Conan," he said which made Charlie twitch involuntarily. He didn't expect to run into someone who was close to Conan. "What about him," he said in a neutral voice, but he couldn't deny the statement tone rather than a questioning tone he wanted to use.

"Give him back," he said, eyes glinting murderously. Smirking, he pulled his cap down, hiding his face under a shadow. "Alright," he said, his eyes judging the teen in front of him. "But you have to answer me this; What are you to Conan-kun?"

Kaito narrowed his eyes, trying to make out what he was trying to tell him all the while keeping his poker face intact. "What are you getting at?" he asked, his hands in his pocket, letting out the impression that he was all cool and calm about this.

His fingers closed in on a ball-shaped container and gripped it tightly, just in case he needed it.

"No reason," he shrugged. "Just that if you're 'just a friend', then I won't give him to you, no matter if you'd actually risk your life to save him like last time."

Kaito contemplated his answer. "Or," Charlie smirked, "are you someone related to… Kudou Shinichi?"

Kaito gave him a KID grin.

"I'm not just related to the East Detective, oh dear kidnapper," he said with a challenging glint in his eyes. "I'm his boyfriend."

Charlie barked out a laugh at that, earning some passerby's curious glance. "So you're protecting your boyfriend, huh?"

"Can't let my favorite little critic get injured, now, can I?"

"Then you're Kaitou KID," Charlie concluded as if he was summing up the fact that potassium and H2O would blow up if joined together. "Now what gave that away?" Kaito said curious-sarcastically.

"Snake," Charlie said with a smirk. "Aah, little snake has been stalking me, I presume?"

"I dunno," Charlie shrugged, handing over the bag which consisted of a sleeping Conan. "But he had a talk with your boyfriend."

Kaito's ears perked up at that. "What did they talk about?"

"Not my business," he shrugged and shook his head. "If you're oh-so-curious, why don't you ask your stalker snake?"

"I might," Kaito said lightly, "if only I knew where he is."

Charlie's eyebrows rose and he gave him a sardonic grin after a few moments. "Next heist, I'll tell you where Snake is, but on one condition," he started. "A negotiation, huh?"

Charlie shrugged. "I want you to bring him for me," he gestured towards the sleeping boy in the bag. "That's all," he said. Kaito thought about the pros and cons first before settling on agreeing on the negotiation. "Deal."

Conan jolted out of his sleep in panic. His breathing was shallow, and beads of sweat formed on his forehead. He remembered what had happened, and was not willing for it to ever happen.

He looked around. 'This place is… Uncle Kogoro's bedroom…?' He furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. 'So I wasn't kidnapped? Then all that was just a dream…?'

He shook his head. 'Something like that, I should check it with Kai,' he nodded to himself and slipped out of the third floor to the second floor, and into the Detective Agency Office. Taking out Conan's cellphone, he searched for Kai's number.

His brows lifted in confusion. He swore that he'd seen his name on his phone once when the said magician called him last time.

"I'm his boyfriend."

'I don't remember ever having a boyfriend… or a love interest of any kind,' he thought with a furrowed brow. He then took out Shinichi's phone.

"Or… are you someone related to Kudou Shinichi?"

Sure enough, there was one contact in which he never knew existed—more like, didn't remember existed. 'Kuroba… Kaito?' he thought with a raised eyebrow. His thumb was on the call button when;

"Then you're Kaitou KID," a statement, a conclusion, not a question.

A few minutes later, Conan gasped and his face burned as realization hit him, hard. 'I was dating the international thief?!'

He wanted to laugh, he could see himself laugh at… himself. The greatest detective in Japan, one who had been entitled 'modern-day Sherlock Holmes'… was dating the international criminal 'Kaitou KID'. How ironic.

He pondered over wether he should call the thief or not. '"Next heist," he said… maybe I can ask him then…?'

He leaned into the closed door and sighed. That doesn't mean that everything's solved, though. How could he conveniently lose his memory of being together with the thief, now, right? It wasn't the whole truth after all, he concluded.

After he let the new information sink in, he decided to go back upstairs and go back to sleep. He didn't mind that his head throbbed painfully. It meant that he was close to some kind of big memory, whatever it is.

The very next day, there came a heist notice from KID, and Conan's suspicion was slightly confirmed. He needed KID's… no, Kaito's confirmation. For some reason he knew that the thief magician would be truthful to him if asked directly.

"What's this? Again?" Kogoro said, annoyed. "I feel really sorry for Nakamori-keibu, really," he continued his grumbling. "Conan-kun, you're trying to crack his riddles already?" Ran asked, pouring milk into her glass.

Conan nodded enthusiastically, not making eye contact with Ran.

Because he needed to know—he has to. And she didn't. She'll put herself in danger anyway if that happened, and he knew. His hand continued on scribbling.

A/N

Uhh… hi? Okay, so it's been days, I know, and I had this made within three days… record time, actually. I usually spend, like, a few hours before finally done with a new chapter. Meh. Thank you for everyone who reviewed! I really appreciate it!

And sorry that this is another short chapter… -…-" I can't help it. After a big soft cake, some éclairs and pies, and coconut milk pudding and mom's cake, I finally get to get my hot choco and work on this chapter… Oh well~

- To be continued -