This is a little side project of mine, crossposted on AO3. Not beta'ed and the updates will come irregulary, I hope you still enjoy!
Eventual Kaito x Shinichi
Warnings: Language, suggestive themes (Rating will probably go up later)
Disclaimer: I don't own DC or MK.
Thinking back, Kaito mused, he was a fool to not have thought about it earlier.
Of course he's known that his favorite little critic wasn't really a grade schooler. Not from the beginning, he could admit. Call him crazy, but being shrunk by an experimental drug was less creepy than a six-year-old being so freakishly mature and smart.
It was better for his ego, too.
Finding out that Edogawa Conan was a shrunken Kudo Shinichi was something he was proud of, as intriguing as it was.
However, the knowledge was stored in the back of his mind, put on a shelf. Their encounters weren't that frequent, despite each being challenging and joyous, interesting in so many aspects.
When the news spread that a gigantic illegal organization has been taken out by the FBI and a newly returned Kudo Shinichi, Kaito was both happy and sad.
Sure, it was good his Tantei-kun had his old body back, and wouldn't have to keep hiding from the evil organization.
But Kaito had also grown fond of the tiny genius, and as rare as their encounters were, the knowledge he wouldn't be waiting on the rooftops anymore was dragging him down.
He's thought about sending out a personal invite to his next heist, but he figured Shinichi would need a while to get used to being back to his old self. He was pretty sure there was a lot to take care of after three years of being absent.
Despite the common opinion, Kaito was considerate. So he ignored his burning curiosity and refrained from spying on his favorite tantei during the first few months.
And, he had to admit, it kind of slipped his mind for a while, with his own busy life.
But then, after a particularly fun heist – his task force was getting really good, courtesy of Hakuba probably – he was about to leap off the ledge of the roof, when there was movement from the shadows.
Pokerface firmly in place, KID turned around, greeting his company with his typical smirk and a tilt of his head.
His thoughts ran wild, he was pretty sure he had all of the task force, including Nakamori-keibu and Hakuba, stuck in his honey trap.
His Pokerface has never been tested this much before, he mused afterwards, than at the moment Kudo Shinichi emerged from the shadows in all his glory.
Photos could only show so much. There was a faint similarity between Kaito and Shinichi, sure, but there were a lot more differences the longer you looked.
For one, the detective was a little shorter than him, by an inch or two, his features in general appeared softer and more delicate. His neat hair, safe for the cute little cowlick and rogue tuft in the back, was staying smooth even in the nightly breeze, opposite to Kaito's bird's nest.
And that were only the things the thief noticed on a first cursory glance.
However, there was one thing standing out, and it was challenging his calm exterior.
Usually hidden behind the glasses, now, as the element of disguise wasn't needed anymore, the view was clear. Those eyes. Those freaking intelligent eyes.
Like the most beautiful sapphire, no, even more brilliant, they shone under the moonlight. Kaito imagined he could even faintly see the stars reflected in them. It was breathtaking.
The confident smirk made him even more handsome, and the words of greeting coming from those pink lips made Kaito's own grin widen.
"Good evening, KID."
"I see you're back to your real self, Tantei-kun."
"Mh. I figured I'd let you know personally." Those tantalizing eyes flickered to the black diamond ring the thief was playing with. "I take it you haven't found what you were looking for yet."
"Ah, you know how it is. If it was too easy it would be boring." The gloved hand flicked, and the ring vanished from sight.
"Did you like my show?"
There was that smirk again. "Using the railings was clever. If your strings hadn't left marks I wouldn't have been able to figure it out." He shook his head with a slight chuckle, the sapphire eyes glinting with amusement.
"Though I don't know how you managed to rig the taskforce's clothes like that."
KID allowed himself a broad real grin. One, because he managed to slip something past his favorite detective's radar, and second, because it had been freakishly hilarious.
During his heist, he managed to redress the whole taskforce into ridiculous bee costumes, this time without using his smoke bombs, for a change. Instead, it had been a complicated mechanism that had taken him ages to plan, and was too unpredictable. He probably wouldn't use that technique again.
His dear Nakamori-keibu even got a nice little crown to go with it. And in their chase through the suddenly flower covered hallways, they set off the fast hardening honey trap.
It would definitely take a while to get out of there. And even longer to get clean.
"You figured out the flower trick then?"
"Of course. Though I do wonder where you keep getting your endless supply from."
KID engulfed himself in a puff of white smoke, vanishing from the ledge and reappearing in front of Shinichi in a gentlemanly bow, offering a pink rose.
"That's something you shouldn't concern yourself with." He winked. "Rest assured that I'll always have some up my sleeve."
For a moment, the detective was blinking at the gesture, but decided it was KID's typical attitude he's seen during heists, and, humoring him, took the rose.
He wasn't prepared for KID to grab his hand, the one visible indigo eye glittering with mirth, and pressing his lips to the back of it.
Fighting the blush that crept onto his cheeks, Shinichi forced himself to relax. KID was someone that fed off reaction, if his antics with the taskforce were anything to go by. The detective wouldn't give him the satisfaction.
"Welcome back, Tantei-kun."
The words murmured against his fingers were sending shivers up his whole arm, but before he could say anything, there was another puff of smoke and KID was gone.
All that was left was the pink rose and the black diamond ring that now sat on Shinichi's finger.
Yeah, Kaito really should've thought about it earlier. His favorite critic, the brilliant mind with the gorgeous eyes. Him being back to his now twenty-year-old body was Kaito's chance.
He just needed to find out if his Tantei-kun was interested too.
xxx
Kaito wouldn't be himself if he'd give up after a failed attempt. Or ten.
Alright, he should have expected that Shinichi wouldn't suddenly develop the same fanatic interest in his heists and catching him as Hakuba or Nakamori-keibu.
With him being in the homicide division, he had no business with the KID cases. Technically.
Still, Kaito would've thought he'd at least visit one or two. But no, the tantei was absent during the each of the admittedly more frequent heists.
His not-quite stalking had given him a little more information about his newest interest. He needed to be prepared, after all.
If he set his mind on something, he wouldn't stop at anything until he succeeded.
The blanks he came up with, he thought with a minimal amount of regret, could've been filled if he'd begun his information gathering earlier. So much for being considerate.
Kudo Shinichi was living in his absent parents' mansion. Living being a very loose term in this case.
He visited special classes in the mornings, so he could get his diploma. After that, he took university courses online, specializing on forensic medicine and criminal law.
It was funny, Kaito mused, that he didn't choose the direct police niche like Aoko had, but at the same time it made sense.
He already was a detective, more brilliant than the whole homicide division, why waste time and study what you already knew?
The rest of the afternoon and most of the night was spent at the precinct, where he worked on cases, which never seemed to cease. And that didn't even count all the bodies that happened to appear wherever his Tantei-kun went.
It would seem he was cursed, and the rumor that a shinigami was following him around was making sense.
Some evenings, Shinichi would let himself be chased out by the police, the whole division overly protective of him and his health.
There was also his neighbor, an explosion-prone professor, and a girl that seemed too mature to be normal, giving Kaito the impression that she too had been shrunk.
Either way, once a week Shinichi would visit them in the morning, but no matter what devices he used, Kaito couldn't figure out what was going on inside, only white noise.
One would think they didn't want themselves to be spied on.
Aside from his not-so-healthy lifestyle – coffee didn't count as meal, no matter what Shinichi has obviously been thinking – there were no weird surprises so far. Not that Kaito had expected any.
The outings with Mori-san, as rare as they were, appeared entirely friendly from an outsider's point of view. His eavesdropping gave him the idea that she had adapted the big sister role, despite her friend being back to his older body.
Which, on a side note, appeared to have been stuck on seventeen, instead of his original age of twenty now.
Probably had to do with whatever poison had shrunk him. Stored for later investigation. Back to the topic.
There was no romantic interaction, which was good, he decided. Going against a childhood friend turned crush would be fighting a losing battle. And Kaito knew first hand how bad it could turn out with these sort of crushes.
He's been lucky that Aoko had overcome hers quickly when he had confessed he was more interested in the, er, male population.
Perhaps his Tantei-kun and Nee-san had had a similar conversation? No, Kaito, don't jump to conclusions.
The thief had underestimated the detective the first time he's been tailing him, almost getting caught, because he had observed him too intently. It was like Shinichi had an antenna for being watched.
It kinda made the not-stalking even more fun. Almost like at a heist, he mused. The giddiness, the adrenaline.
Geeze, stay focused.
So far, Shinichi's social life consisted only of his weekly visits to his neighbor and his even rarer meetings with his childhood friend.
The school course and work didn't quite count, because the detective wasn't socializing in a way that mattered.
That couldn't be healthy either. So, Kaito made his mental list, as soon as he was actually a part of his tantei's life he'd make sure he was eating right and get him to socialize more.
Maybe introduce him to Aoko, though that would have to wait until they trusted each other enough.
Kaito let his pen travel through his fingers, tapping it on the paper he was using to sketch out his next show. His real show, as the famous magician Kuroba Kaito, for an elementary school.
There wasn't much elaborate planning needed, if he was honest, he could improvise the whole thing. Children were always easy too express. Except for his Tantei-kun.
With those all-seeing, gorgeous eyes, even more mesmerizing on the handsome grown-up face, that looked downright adorable when a light dusting of a blush covered his probably very soft cheeks... Argh.
Rubbing both hands over his face in frustration, Kaito sighed.
The detective's sharp mind has always been attractive, but he himself... the thief didn't even know how to describe him. He probably shouldn't even start to.
If he'd start thinking about how soft the skin of the fingers beneath his lips had felt, he'd begin fantasizing that those rosy cheeks were equally smooth.
He could imagine comparing, also using his lips, of course. And of course he'd have to check if the rest of him was as satin-like, for research reasons, obviously.
The pulse would quicken, he'd feel it thrumming beneath his lips as they'd wander over the expanse of the undoubtedly heated neck... Damn.
There was no way he'd get anything done like that. And he didn't even know if the object of his desire was into men. Or anything, for that matter. He'd need to clarify this, as soon as possible. For the sake of his own sanity.
xxx
No one could blame him for being paranoid. Not with what he's been through the past three years.
Given the circumstances, he was rather calm, compared to how he could be acting instead.
So if he kept looking over his shoulder repeatedly, always made sure to have his back against a wall, and could only sleep with triply looked doors and windows, it should be understandable.
It wasn't unjustified either, he thought. Even with the main group of the Black Organization taken down, there were still a few branches and members roaming around, according to Haibara.
It was possible they'd scatter with the main organization gone, but of course there was no guarantee.
Even if there were remaining members, it was unlikely they'd go after him. Still.
Being back in his own body was giving him a sense of security, even though he had some drawbacks. Like that his body was still seventeen, stuck when he had shrunk. That itself wasn't that big a problem, he figured. He'd grow.
The poison and antidote were warring inside of him, which meant he tired more easily. That clashed horribly with his busy schedule. He was set on getting his diploma, taking extra classes to do so. And to not lose any more time, he added online university courses, which was only possible without the diploma because he aced the entry tests.
Really, without a diploma, the world was set on making life difficult. Hence the extra work to get it done.
Then there was his work with the police, which he could never drop. Now that he was back, and Sleeping Kogoro was no more, they relied on him even more often. And Shinichi just couldn't refuse to help bring justice.
Not to mention the ridiculous amount of bodies showing up wherever he went. It wasn't like he could just turn a blind eye to that.
Haibara always scolded him to eat, sleep and relax more, but it just wasn't as easy as she made it out to be. Not when you were Kudo Shinichi.
It wasn't like he could just sit back and relax with a book when he knew there were murderers running around.
Ran had told him, repeatedly, that he wouldn't catch them all single-handedly, especially when he was completely overworking himself, but he couldn't just turn that off either.
He could admit that their coffee meetings were helping him to free his mind a bit. Not enough to actually completely relax, but... it felt good none the less.
The way his confession had turned out, he should be lucky.
At first, Ran had been – understandably – mad, but after he had explained the dangers of the BO, she had calmed a bit. It helped she had, with a detective as her father, witnessed so much cruelty.
The one thing she couldn't shake off though was the weird protective big sister mode. In a way it was comforting, if he was honest.
Now if only Sonoko would stop antagonizing him for not getting together with Ran... but that was another story entirely.
Getting back on track, Haibara's warning that he should try to take it easier, was also founded because, according to her, his immune system was totally wrecked with all the shrinking and de-shrinking he's done since becoming Conan.
It was a small price to pay, given that he should've died, that didn't make it less a pain to deal with.
Since being alone in his parents' house was only making him more anxious instead of relaxed, his idea of "taking it easy" was taking shape of attending one of KID's heists.
He'd admit, it was actually fun. Nobody died at heists, at least.
The notice was challenging, as he'd hoped, and the show itself was spectacular. While theft was illegal, Shinichi didn't see reason to actually arrest KID, since he always gave his loot back.
And honestly, even if Shinichi could catch him, he owed the thief too much to turn him in.
As it was, he just enjoyed the chase. There was a tinge of nervousness as he waited on the rooftop, since KID, while knowing about this real self, hasn't actually seen him since his return.
Even if there was nothing to be nervous about, of course. It was just his paranoia kicking in again.
Seeing him, face to face this time, was an experience. A good one, he decided.
Aside from putting up his typical flirty self, reserved for adults, he wasn't treated any different by the thief. It was a great night.
He hasn't quite managed to go to the heist after that one, with a big case on his hands, but an envelope with his name on his kitchen counter, containing a personal invite notice, he couldn't ignore.
Partly because he definitely needed to clarify that he didn't appreciate people sneaking into his locked up house.
xxx
The target hasn't been all that hard to find out.
La Lueur de la Nuit was a set of earrings. The background was that Princess Céline of the Pyrenees Castle had declined every suitor, every engagement gift, was said to be as cold as ice.
She had announced that she'd marry the man who would bring her the moon.
The legend says, that one night on a full moon a thief had sneaked up on her balcony, past a lot of guards and the king himself, and presented her the earrings. When the two tanzanites touched, they shone as bright as the full moon above.
Since it had been her own rule, the princess married the thief.
This story alone was enough of a giveaway for KID's interest. As Shinichi had already deduced a while ago, he was looking for a special jewel, that was connected to the moon somehow.
With knowing the target, the location was easy too. A stupidly rich heir had purchased the earrings a while ago for his collection, and was planning to show off said collection to his equally rich friends.
For the occasion, he rented a castle-themed hotel and spent a large sum of money to have it decorated even more medieval-like to match the theme.
Shinichi had come with the intention to only watch from the sidelines this time, just wanted to know why he's been sent a personal invite, but when Hakuba came to ask him about his opinion on one of his traps he couldn't resist taking a look.
He considered telling the blond to keep an eye on the decorative armors lined up around the room. In the end, he decided against it. He had a vague idea what KID intended to do with the contraception and actually wanted to watch it play out.
One could call him an accomplice, Shinichi mused, especially when he figured out which of the guests was the disguised thief and decided not to tell the task force.
KID must've noticed his stare, because the masked face actually winked at him before vanishing in the crowd of well-dressed people.
Shinichi allowed himself a small amused smirk at the behavior. There was still some time until the scheduled heist, giving the detective an opportunity to analyze the traps Hakuba had set up.
A few of them were not up to genius standard, though Shinichi suspected that was part of the plan.
Hakuba intended to confuse KID with numerous minor traps, to catch him off guard with more elaborate ones. The blond's smirk when Shinichi pointed that out was telling, but the half-Brit wasn't too keen on sharing his bigger traps.
Understandable, Shinichi thought, since he knew for a fact that he and KID looked similar enough to pose as him without a mask.
He was probably suspected to be KID at the moment, though Hakuba didn't make any comments on it. He had his own way of making sure, which was why Shinichi found himself roped into a seemingly innocent conversation about the lesser known Holmes' stories, those only real fans would know about.
It had put Hakuba at ease, at least, his tone more earnest when he was sure it was indeed his fellow detective he was talking to.
Shinichi waved off his apology.
"So you already have a suspect?" He asked conversationally as they waited for the clock to hit 11:45.
The taller detective nodded, eyes skimming the crowd from their place by the showcase that displayed the target.
Directly next to it were a few guys from the taskforce, Nakamori a few steps behind, back to the wall as he talked to the owner of the hotel.
"A former classmate of mine. I'm fairly sure it's him. What I don't have is proof."
Shinichi played with the red silken rope that divided them from the "normal" crowd.
"I see." There was his burning curiosity, but he found himself unwilling to inquire.
Simply hearing it would take the fun out of the chase. Shinichi wanted to actually catch him, to find out for himself. And if he never caught him... he guessed it would be fine too.
He didn't want his only way of relaxation to end. He needed the breather that came with a murder-free heist every now and then; the challenge that was a genius gentleman thief.
As the clock struck the scheduled time, the lights flickered. Following Shinichi's prediction, the empty armors began moving, saluting as one. Grabbing their swords and shields, they marched in place.
One of them actually moved forward, heading directly for the display case, only to get tackled by the taskforce.
In retrospect, Shinichi mused, it was his own fault for lingering with the police instead of staying in the audience. He practically asked for it.
As soon as the armor hit the stone floor with a deafening clatter, the helmet fell off and a dark blue smoke emerged, engulfing the whole taskforce.
Not quite having expected that, Shinichi coughed into his hand, using the other to try fanning the smoke away.
His eyes widened when he felt something shift, a few quick touches, and in the matter of milliseconds cool fabric had replaced his suit.
He didn't quite comprehend what he was wearing now, didn't have time to, with the smoke dissipating and the appearance of a certain white-clad thief on top of the glass case.
The earrings were held between his fingers, the typical smirk firmly in place. Amusement was twinkling in the one visible eye.
"Ladies and Gentlemen!" He called out, bowing slightly and simultaneously ducking one of the simpler traps.
"Thank you for attending this memorable occasion. Travel through time and witness a replay of the legend of Princess Céline, starring our wonderful taskforce."
Tipping his hat, he vanished in a puff of white smoke. As if waiting for that commando, the armors began walking towards the taskforce's members, who were dressed in various versions of knights, beggars and generally medieval-clad men.
Nakamori-keibu was wearing a pompous royal cape, the fabric too heavy to move freely, and an elaborate crown on top of his head. His face was a worrying shade of purple as he screamed at his men to stop fooling around with the fake armors and find the blasted thief.
Shinichi allowed himself to watch the spectacle of them chasing a dummy through the whole ballroom to the shouts of the enraged "king". KID had managed to re-enact the part of the legend with little to no effort.
A barely audible crash – it was rather loud, but with the commotion easily overheard – from upstairs had Hakuba perk up.
"One of my traps." He grinned, taking off up the stairs. The bells of his colorful costume, a fool, tinkled.
Shinichi was about to follow him, only to nearly fall flat on his face when he stumbled over... his own costume.
His face heated immediately; KID had put him in a royal blue ball gown. Not the kind of joke he appreciated. He could even feel a diadem perched on top of his own head.
However, this was not the time to dwell on it. He was sure KID was upstairs, though surely not in one of Hakuba's traps.
He gathered up the bothersome skirt to run upstairs, yelled for Nakamori to get there too. He passed a tied up fool, caught in his own trap, and dashed towards the corner he had just seen the white cape vanish behind.
The chase ended in a large suite-like bedroom. As soon as he had entered it, the door fell close and a lock fell in place.
Shinichi didn't switch on the lights, as he could see KID just fine through the open balcony doors, his white suit shining in the full moon.
Putting his face in a glare, the detective stalked outside and crossed his arms.
"Tantei-kun, I have to admit, this dress brings out the color of your gorgeous eyes quite nicely."
"You're getting lazy. Only the armors and a few dummies, I'm a little disappointed."
"You didn't enjoy the armor dance?" KID tilted his head, grin wide. "Or how fitting Nakamori-keibu was for the role of the outraged king?"
At the reminder, Shinichi couldn't help but give a small huff of laugh, shaking his head.
"I doubt that the thief back then stole the earrings from the king before presenting them to the princess."
"I'm sure he stole them from somewhere." He shrugged nonchalantly, the one visible eye fixated on the detective.
Shinichi was a little at loss at the intense stare and cleared his throat. He felt self-conscious, cursing himself for flushing.
The pounding on the locked door startled him out of his momentary daze.
"It's, uhm," he cleared his throat again, "it's not very accurate, either way."
"Ever the critic." KID tsk'ed and shook his head, elegantly jumping down from the stone railing to stand in front of Shinichi.
"How is it not accurate, my dear princess?"
"D-Don't call me that." Shinichi scolded, trying to keep a stern tone when he mostly felt unsure at the moment.
It was the tone, he figured. KID was not using his usual teasing tone, not a hint of joke in it.
His crossed arms tightened.
"You promised them a re-enact of the legend, but the main story takes place on the balcony. You don't have the audience here."
"You think?" The smirk widened slightly at that. He was not at all perturbed by the pounding on the door.
Shinichi's eyes widened when KID cleared his throat and went down to one knee and holding out his arms.
"My dearest princess!" He called out, rather loud, as if on stage, "Thou requested the moon to be gifted to thou by thou chosen suitor. So I appear before thou, to fulfill thy request!"
With a flick of both wrists, he presented the earrings in his gloved hands.
"Behold!" He brought the jewels together, and they both watched the moon's light catch in it, making them shine brightly. "The moon, brought down to earth!"
The light reflected in those oh-so-blue eyes, their wondering glitter, the image was burned in the thief's memory.
Unfortunately the moment was broken by the door finally giving in to the combined forces of one king and a freed fool.
KID flicked his wrist again, vanishing the earrings. Instead, he grabbed both of Shinichi's hands, touching his lips to the knuckles.
"You'd make a gorgeous princess bride, Tantei-kun."
With a cheeky wink, KID was gone in a burst of doves, leaving Shinichi to gape, fists tightening around the earrings the thief had slipped into them.
What the actual heck?
xxx
It turned out to be one of the longest nights for Shinichi. Contrary to his earlier beliefs, KID did have an audience. How he had managed to miss a camera was beyond him, but obviously it had been there.
And the live-feed had been projected to a gigantic screen that had showed up in the ballroom.
Of course.
He should've expected it. Honestly. What he didn't get is why KID had chosen him for the role of the princess.
It suggested things. Things that simply couldn't be true.
"For the millionth time, Nakamori-keibu, I'm not involved with KID." Shinichi stated in an exhausted tone, rubbing his temples.
"Don't give me that crap, boy! That has to be the reason he always gives the loot back to you!"
Hakuba cleared his throat, speaking up for the first time since the whole interrogation started.
"Keibu, I believe Kudo-san. However, that doesn't mean Kaitou KID doesn't show any romantic interest in him. One-sided, I might add."
"This is ridiculous." Shinichi sighed. "He's just being his usual flirty self, right?"
"Not to this extent, I'd say." Hakuba tapped his cup of tea. "It's safe to say he fancies you. We could work with that."
"I'm not playing bait. I don't have time for that. And it's not even my division."
"You'd only have to attend his next heist, stay in the crowd and don't draw attention to yourself. If he seeks you out like that, we'd know for sure and can use it to lure him into a trap."
Shinichi sighed. "He won't just fall for such a trap. If he was so careless, he'd already have been caught."
"Are you saying we're not effective?!" Nakamori exclaimed, slamming his hands on the table.
The blue-eyed detective refrained from pointing out that they've chased an obvious dummy for an embarrassing long time just hours ago.
Instead, he stood up.
"If I have time when the next heist is announced, I might attend. If not, I won't. Chasing a rather harmless thief is not my top priority, especially if there are dangerous murderers on the loose."
With that, Shinichi left the inspector's office, taking a deep breath when he finally stepped out into the clear night air.
Up on top of a nearby building, Kaito was snickering to himself. He should be offended that his detective called him "harmless", but the message behind it was clear.
He made sure to tail him, seeing he'd get home safely, while he kept listening to the conversation in Nakamori's office.
"That brat. The nerve!"
"KID's interest in Kudo is working to our favor."
"Yeah right, you heard Megure's lapdog. He won't assist us."
Kaito imagined the blond nuisance giving his stupid stuck-up smirk.
"He doesn't have to. Kudo doesn't attend that many heists,"
"Thank fuck." Nakamori murmured.
"which means, if KID is really as smitten with him as it appears, he will approach him sooner or later in his civilian form."
"So... we just have to monitor who the brat associates with..."
"Exactly. We'd have a good chance at finding Kaitou KID's real identity."
Kaito scowled, ripping out the earbud and cursing inwardly. He's so gonna get back at Hakuba for that, big time.
Of course he's known he couldn't let it go on like that forever. He would've to reveal himself to Tantei-kun if he wanted to have an actual future with him.
Leave it to Hakuba to spoil it all. With the blond already seeing him as prime suspect in being KID, Kuroba Kaito suddenly showing up to woo Shinichi would give him the unnecessary leverage he didn't need.
Showing up in disguise wouldn't do any good either. He wanted to leave a good impression on his detective, after all.
No, he needed a plan.
xxx
"We rarely see each other anymore."
Kaito smiled at his pouting childhood friend. "That's why I decided to pick you up from your class today, Ahoko."
"Are you eating dinner with us?" Aoko asked, holding up her bag of groceries.
"Y'know, I really missed your cooking, my bestest friend."
Aoko pushed at his shoulder, making him laugh. "Bakaito."
"Careful. Man, I already pity the criminals you'll be putting behind bars soon."
Pleased as punch, the woman grinned as they reached their street.
"Hold on, I need to check my mailbox real quick." He hasn't been home in two days, having been away at some hotel for a magic show.
It had been paid greatly, his fame picking up all over Japan. With the fanmail, his letterbox was always rather full.
A handful of letters in hand, he followed Aoko into her house. Nakamori-keibu was already at home, reading the newspaper with a cup of coffee.
After a short round of greeting, Aoko went to prepare dinner while Kaito began opening his letters, reading some of them out loud to share them with his surrogate family.
"Huh?" Kaito blinked at an unmarked envelope. There was no address, no sender, nothing.
Nakamori looked up and watched him open it, revealing a card.
"I know who you are. Daddy can't protect you anymore. I'll be coming for you soon, boy. You will pay for your failures." He read out loud. "... Is that supposed to be a tasteless joke?"
"Doesn't look like a joke to me..." Nakamori mumbled, taking the card. There was no signature, either.
"Oh well," Kaito let his poorly concealed agitation show, hunching up his shoulders as he laughed it off, "every great celebrity has a few haters. It's to be expected."
"That looks like a valid threat..." Aoko gasped as she read the note herself over her father's shoulders. "Shouldn't we get you a bodyguard or something?"
"Ahoko, calm down. It's just anti-fanmail. I doubt anyone is stupid enough to attack me."
"I don't know... I've got a bad feeling about this."
Kaito took the card and vanished it with a flick of his wrist. "Don't worry about it. If anything happens I'll call for help. No need to cause a fuss because of one silly note."
However, the elder Nakamori insisted on walking him home, despite his house being just across the street.
The protectiveness was heartwarming, really.
"Thank you, Naka-... oh..."
Both pairs of eyes zero-ed in on the splintered wood of the front door, standing slightly ajar.
Pulling out his gun, the inspector pushed Kaito behind him and entered the apartment.
There was utter chaos. Clothes, books, shattered plates, everything was strewn across the rooms. On the coffee table was a single white card.
'No police.'
xxx
"Whoever did this was smart enough to not leave any fingerprints behind."
"If he breaks into a magician's home he's stupid, not smart." Kaito brooded, arms folded.
Hakuba, having been called by a worried Aoko, rubbed at his chin. "Did you offend anyone?"
"Not intentionally. And not that I know of... At least nothing that would lead to this."
"Could it be a crazy fan?" Aoko asked, a crease between her eyebrows. "Or, a rival? I mean, that they mentioned your father would imply it's about your career as magician..."
"You're getting really good at this." Hakuba allowed a small smile to show on his face. Aoko grinned at the praise.
Kaito barely refrained from rolling his eyes. "Since they said I would pay for my failures, whatever they mean, I'd say it's not a fan. And a rival would mean it's a fellow magician... which wouldn't make much sense. A magician wouldn't have needed to destroyed my front door."
"Maybe it was just to prove a point. To scare you, you know?"
"I'm not scared, I'm furious. This is my mom's apartment, after all."
"You can stay at our house for the time-being." Aoko offered immediately. "And we really should get you a bodyguard."
"The intruder said not to call the police." Kaito pointed out. "And I really don't want to be shadowed by a policeman 24/7."
"This is serious, Bakaito. I'm worried about you."
"If they know you live here, they probably also know that Nakamori-keibu lives right next door. It's possible they infiltrated the police force already."
Nakamori narrowed his eyes at Hakuba. "You think it's that serious?"
"If it was only to unsettle Kuroba, the culprit would've just sent the notes. The fact that they went as far as to break in and thrash the place means they're not joking." The blond frowned at Kaito.
"It could be he was waiting here for you to come home, and when you didn't come because you were having dinner with the Nakamoris, he went wild."
Aoko had paled, gripping Kaito's arm. "I don't care if you don't feel like you're in danger, you need to be protected!"
"The problem I see here," Hakuba stated, "is that we have no leads whatsoever with your, er, fanbase. Anyone hired to protect you could be the culprit in disguise. We don't know how long they planned this, it could be he even infiltrated the police station. Perhaps he bugged it, so he'd know if you'd call the police."
Nakamori rubbed a hand over his face. "Aren't we giving them too much credit? We don't know anything about them yet."
"Well, my dad was a magician, and I am too. We've set up a few pranks in case of an intruder, and he managed to not trigger any of them despite the bold entry..." Kaito mused, expression uncharacteristically serious, which kind of threw Hakuba off.
Was it really that serious?
"For now, you should stay at keibu's place. We'll think about something to ensure your safety."
xxx
"This... sounds weird."
Shinichi couldn't help but agree. When Hakuba had called in an emergency meeting, this wasn't what he had expected.
The first thing that was unusual was that he'd been called to a lesser crowded part of Tokyo, a district Shinichi only barely heard of.
Crammed into a booth in a rather shady looking coffee shop, he was surprised by the presence of not only Hattori and Sera, but also four other people in their twenties.
Hakuba had introduced them as brilliant minds, detectives from all over Japan he had encountered during travels with his father.
A woman, and three men.
Each of them had been tested by Hakuba himself, asked questions only them would know. His own way of making sure they were, well, themselves.
The reason for the emergency meeting was a that apparently an old acquaintance, a friend, had been threatened and his apartment completely thrashed.
No fingerprints, no leads.
The case itself sounded interesting enough, though it wasn't their usual metier.
Shinichi had vaguely heard of the uprising magician Kuroba Kaito, through Sonoko's typical girl talk, which he had dismissed as her usual fawning.
The son of famous Kuroba Toichi, who had been killed in one of his shows. Common opinion was that it had been an accident, but Shinichi wasn't too sure, even by only a cursory glance at the details.
Either way, right now Kaito was the target of threats.
"It's unconventional, but without the police as an option there isn't much else we can do."
"This is stupid." Ryuga, one of the other detectives stated, arms crossed. "Just put him into witness protection or under surveillance or something."
"Yeah, I don't have the time to play babysitter for a... a magician." The woman, Emi, wrinkled her freckled nose.
Hakuba rubbed at his temple more or less patiently. "Kuroba is doing his shows for a living, so witness protection is out of question. And any surveillance devices we placed were mysteriously destroyed."
That piqued the detectives' interest indeed. The blond continued. "It doesn't help that Kuroba doesn't take to well to being 'babysat', as you put it. So setting him up with a bodyguard won't work. We don't trust any stranger, and we have reason to believe the station is bugged, so an officer in disguise won't do either."
Hence the plan he and Nakamori-keibu had worked out.
Under the pretense of a sort of week-long detective meeting at a mansion in the mountains, courtesy of Hakuba's father, which each of them would bring a guest to, they would work together on finding out who was out for the magician's life.
Kuroba being Hakuba's plus one, it wouldn't draw too much suspicion, and if the culprit did try anything, he's for sure be caught with eight excellent detectives around.
It was also giving them an excuse to "hang out" with the magician afterwards, to ensure his safety and gather clues as to who the psycho was. With their numbers, they could work in shifts, too.
With them being all around Kaito's age, the magician had reluctantly agreed, since it wasn't so much babysitting as it would've been with a grim old bodyguard.
"But are these measures really necessary?" Shinichi gestured to the lot of them. "I mean, eight detectives for this?"
"Yeah, there are a few murder cases that are a more pressing matter."
The half-Brit took a sip from his tea. "You have a week to think about it and to wrap up your open cases. And of course you can still continue working after the week, the meeting is just to give everyone a reason for knowing Kuroba personally. We'll just have to take turns spending time with him afterwards, to make sure we find the culprit before he actually harms him."
There was silence afterwards, the detectives mulling it over.
Sera was the first to react, slapping her hands on the table. "Well, I surely won't decline a paid vacation."
Heiji shrugged and leaned back in his seat. "I'll go if Kudo's going."
Shinichi sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. He wasn't sure if all this was as urgent as it appeared to be, but if he could prevent a possible murder, it was definitely worth it.
Despite his full schedule, and his last encounter with Hakuba, Shinichi couldn't turn down the plea for help from his fellow detective.
"Fine, I'm in."