Warning:
This is my first fanfiction and I'm not a native English speaker, so it's probably slow to read and there might be grammar (and other) mistakes… sorry about that.
I also hope that I've used the Japanese honorifics correctly.
Thanks:
I've read a lot of fanfics from Luna Darkside ( u/4223661/Luna-Darkside). Her stories are part of why I even began to write this one here.
I recommend her to anyone who likes Kaito x Shinichi pairings that are equal (meaning no one is dominant over the other).
Thanks a lot Luna, for your great work and for inspiring and motivating me to write this story.
What you should know before reading:
Shinichi has his normal body again and his black organization is overthrown. However, Kaito is still on his search for pandora and his black organization is active.
Kudo has not and will not be together with Ran (she's not even in this story), since she's more like a sister to him.
Both Kaito and Shinichi had just started their career (Shinichi as homicide detective and Kaito as stage and close-up magician) and moved out from their parent's houses into some crappy apartments who knows where in Tokyo.
Shinichi has never before met Kaito outside of his Kid role, so he has no idea who he is. In reverse Kaito does not know the truth about Conan.
The code 1412 (which can be read as "Kid") is not known to the police.
The characters might be OOC… (sometimes even deliberately)
I guess that's all you need to know for now. The rest will become clear soon enough.
Sorry for the rusty beginning, short story snippets and perhaps run-on sentences (I did my best to get rid of the latter)
Hope you enjoy reading.
The Floating Rose
Somewhere in Tokyo the lonely weak light of a window competed with the illuminated panels from bars in a small alleyway. The light came from a tiny low-cost rental apartment, which apparently hadn't been occupied for some time until recently.
Inside, the floor was littered with notes, articles cut from newspapers and magic props. In the middle of the mess sat Kaito Kuroba, a young man in his twenties, with blue eyes and unruly hair that stood out in all directions. Suddenly he seemed to resurface from what he was doing and grabbed his phone.
Dammit! He thought. He had done it again… It was 5am and he hadn't slept a minute yet.
Anyway, since I'm still awake, I might as well just stay up the whole night.
As he turned his attention back to the mess on the floor, his eyes got stuck on an article showing a photo of a small boy, in a blue suit and a bright red bowtie. Thick glasses were hiding the boy's slightly smug expression.
"Tantei-kun…" Kaito sighed. Heists sure were less fun without the little detective around! Kaito missed the challenge, always trying to keep at least one step ahead. And then, there were all those discussions they had on the rooftops. Thinking back, Kaito sometimes wondered how Conan got him to forget, he was only around six years old.
Conan had been such a good friend to him, but only as he went to America, Kaito noticed how he'd taken the boy for granted. He had never really realized how much the boy meant to him, until then.
Panting Shinichi stood in the open door to the roof. Kid was holding the stolen diamond up in the blueish light of the full moon, his cape fluttering in the wind.
"I've come to say goodbye…" Shinichi shouted in Conan's awfully high voice. He was really looking forward to getting his normal body back. "What?!" Kid turned and ran towards the boy. "Tantei-kun what are you saying?" Kid looked upset "I trusted you with my story, my motives, even my life! You can't just…" He stopped staring at the boy in disbelief.
"Look," Shinichi explained, "My parents are in America and they already organized for me to go live over there. But you can still text me…" He gave the thief a post-it with his number. Kid looked at him and sighed. "Then I can't really do anything to convince you to stay, can't I?" "Guess not…" The boy said in a tired voice. Then they both gazed over the moonlit city in silence.
"Bastard! Kid!" The angry voice of Inspector Nakamori made them jump. "Go!" Shinichi said. Kid hesitated. "Conan-kun?" The boy looked at him with a questioning expression. Kid held out a hand towards him. With a flick of his wrist, a rose appeared and seemed to float in the air as the magician let go of the stem. "Take care!" With this, he bowed, turned and jumped from the building. Shinichi watched as the white hang glider disappeared in the distance. Reculantly he took the rose and put his other hand in his jacket pocket. He froze as he touched something cold and hard. Closing his hand around the object he turned towards a dumbstruck Inspector. "Here" he said and pressed the diamond in Nakamori's hand as he walked past him and into the building.
Shinichi woke up on a public bench at the subway station. Groaning he sat up and rubbed his back. He must have fallen asleep waiting for the train. He took a quick glance at his phone to check the time. "Crap…" He growled, as he realized it was already past 5am and he would have to stay on this bench for the rest of the night. He set his alarm clock, so he could sleep for another hour before going to work. He just hoped, the memory of the moment he had to lie to Kid, wouldn't spoil his dreams again. Then he stretched himself out on the bench as best as he could (as Conan, this definitely would have been less of a problem) and stared at the ceiling.
Wondering how the little detective was doing, Kaito took his phone and started typing:
Tantei-kun! how are you? Still a detective?
Miss you at the heists! Such a waste! Won't you come back?
K
He sent the message and found himself staring blankly at the plans for his upcoming heist, when his phone buzzed. It was a message from Conan. That was fast! Kaito thought. Oh, right… it's probably noon over there, so it's not very surprising that the boy had seen the message right away (though sometimes it seemed he was up too late for such a young boy).
Kid!
Forget it! I'm not coming back!
(But be prepared, my cousin Kudo Shinichi is going to destroy you at one of your heists sooner or later…)
C
Kaito grinned. It wasn't this bad in japan, was it? "The brat doesn't seem to like me very much" he chuckled. And sending his cousin… That was going to be interesting. He wondered what this Kudo guy might be like. His mood lifted a little and he went on planning his heist.
Kaito blinked at the window as a beam of morning sun reminded him that he didn't even go to bed. Wearily he shuffled towards the coffee maker and plugged it in… nothing happened. … o yeah, he remembered, it was broken, wasn't it… must have been a while since I had a coffee… Kaito realized. He looked in the drawer for some instant brew, but it was empty. "Guess I have no choice" he sighed, got his coat and wallet and started for the nearest coffee shop.
"Ohayo". He mumbled as he stepped in. It seemed he was the only customer. Yawning he sat on a bar seat and waited until he encountered a staff member to order his coffee.
That moment somebody came in, walked up to Kaito and slumped on the seat next to him. The newcomer, a slender brown-haired guy about the same age as Kaito, slapped his hands on his face and started rubbing in his eyes. Kaito could hear him mutter a scarce "-hayo" through his hands, before he leaned himself on the counter in a way that made him look like somebody sleeping through a boring school lesson.
"You don't seem to have slept much at all" Kaito stated dryly. "Rough night?"
"M" Was the answer. The man somehow managed to order black coffee without really talking at all. Kaito suppressed a grin. This one was definitely in a worse state than him!
They silently drank their coffee, as the morning sun slowly approached their seats. Kaito studied the man out of the corner of his eye. They actually looked kind of similar, though Kaito doubted the man's hair would be as unruly as it was now, when actually brushed through.
Suddenly, the other seemed to have awoken a bit: "You live here I guess?" Kaito was a bit startled to actually hear him speak. "Uh… yeah…just moved in though."
"Oh? Do you happen to know any apartments for renting?" The man asked.
Kaito frowned. "Two houses over from my place seems pretty empty I think, but I'm not sure who's the owner. So, you re new here?"
"Yeah, I got myself involved in a rather big case around here and I'm not a morning person, so I thought instead of commuting…"
"Case?"
"Serial murder…"
"Wait!... You're a detective?!"
"Oh sorry! I didn't even introduce myself… I'm Shinichi Kudo and yeah, detective." He smiled looking at Kaito.
No way! Kaito's eyes widened. "Kou-… Oh… yeah, nice to meet you," he quickly hid his surprise behind a grin, "I'm Kaito, by the way… Kuroba Kaito, magician".
After a quick handshake Kaito took out his phone. "Whoa! I've been here longer than I intended… Sorry I should go now…" He gave the detective a slip of paper. "For the apartment…"
Shinichi looked at the note. Two lines were written on it: a phone number and "to find your apartment, Kaito Kuroba".
"Thanks" Shinichi said with a frown. When the hell had he written this?!
Kuroba payed, stood up and walked towards the door while typing something on his phone.
"Wait, you forgot your coat!" Shinichi held up the bundle of anthracite fabric laying on the counter. The man stopped and turned then put the phone back in his jeans pocket. "Oh! Thanks!"
That moment Shinichi's phone vibrated. Kuroba hurried back, took the coat and started for the door again. Shinichi looked at his phone. Oh… a message for Conan!
Your cousin huh…
K
Wait! Didn't the other just text somebody? Shinichi studied Kuroba, as he went out in the alley and out of his view. No, it had to be a coincidence, he decided. It made him curious though, so he paid and went out in the alleyway, but Kuroba was already gone.
An ad sticking on the door of the coffee shop gained his attention: "Kuroba Magic Club" was written in an arc of pink ornamented letters. Was this where he worked? Apparently, they performed close up during the whole day and even had a real show every evening.
Shinichi decided he would go there some day after work, although he wasn't exactly fond of magic shows. But it could be interesting to watch that Kuroba guy he thought, as he walked towards the local police station to present his newest findings on the investigation.
The air was warm and thick in the crowded club. Not expecting much from the show, Shinichi leaned on a wall somewhere in the back. He was a bit startled when the curtain vanished in a poof of smoke as the show began. Against his will, he had to admit, the magicians were not bad… but still, he figured out most of their tricks in no time.
And then He came. As soon as Kuroba stood on the stage, Shinichi caught himself enjoying the magic. How did he do this? He wondered. Damn he was good! Oh! That's it… that has got to be how he did it… or… no way!... Shinichi was so caught up in figuring out the tricks, he almost missed the end of the show. He didn't really notice the crowd leaving either.
When Kaito came in with a mop to clean the club he saw the lonely figure of a man leaning on a wall in a dark corner. "Hey there! You ok?" he asked frowning. As the figure did not move, Kaito began walking towards him. "Hey! Do you hear me?"
Suddenly the person started grinning. "I know how you did it!" He jumped forward and jogged towards Kaito. "Huh?! Kudo-kun?" Kaito froze. Was he going to take him in? Did he know? "What are you doing here?!"
But against his fears, the detective started babbling: "You forced this card on the lady, didn't you? Then you switched the deck, see it's here!" He snatched the cardboard box out of Kaito's vest before the latter could do a thing. "then she put it in normal deck, which lacked her card and that's how you knew. But the card is shorter than the other cards, see every second card in the false deck here is, that's how you forced it, and you could just flip through the deck after letting the lady shuffling, to find her card… but you couldn't give her the card to analyze with the whole deck, so you exchanged the whole deck for shorter cards, so she wouldn't notice!" He snatched the other deck out of Kaito's shirt pocket and went through the cards. "See the seven of hearts is missing!"
Kaito looked at him baffled. "Kudo-kun?" The other didn't listen and babbled on: "But wouldn't it be great, if you hadn't got to flip decks? I mean look, if you let somebody take any card and put your finger in there and then the card comes on top and you shuffle like this…" He took the second deck out of its box and tried to do the move in a slow and clumsy fashion. "You see, then the card is on top and when you do this…"
Kaito looked at him with a frown. He was right, that was possible… "Can I?" He held out his hand for the deck. Kudo froze, mumbled something about what has gotten into him, then stammered he was sorry, while he gave the deck back and turned to go. "Wait!" Kaito grabbed his arm. "You are right!"
"Huh?!" Reculantly the detective turned towards Kaito.
"Take a card" Kaito said smiling stretching a card fan in his direction.
Then he performed the trick Kudo had just invented.
"That trick is amazing, you know! It's much cleaner than the one I performed today" Finally the detective looked at Kaito, realizing he was smiling. "Want to come again for tomorrow's show? You could definitely help inventing some magic!"
Kudo gaped at him. "I just… somehow… I don't know… I don't even like magic…so…"
"You know what? It definitely seemed as if you had fun today. So, considering how you were this morning in the coffee shop, you definitely should come tomorrow, here, ticket is free!" He took a ticket out of god knows where and gave it to the still gaping detective.
"Oh, and the apartment… I thought you'd call me. But since you're here: I found the owner. She doesn't rent it anymore, since it's a bit old, but she joked you can go in there for free if you invite her for dinner once you are settled in. If it's good enough for you, that is… Oh, and she said she's knitting a pair of house slippers she wants to give you, she's like everyone's granny."
He rummaged in his jeans pocket. "Here's the key, your new address and the landlady's phone number are on the key chain."
"Wait! Are you serious?!" Kudo asked amazed studying the key. "You…wow, thanks I guess!"
"No problem! See you tomorrow then?"
"Huh…whatever, why not."
Shinichi stood in the alleyway looking up at an old, abandoned building. The ground floor had apparently been home to a manga store. There was still a picture of a purple eyed girl in too revealing armor and a long-haired warrior stuck to the glass door. It wasn't locked.
The lights turned on automatically when Shinichi entered the building. Although the shelves were still there, the room was uncomfortably empty. At the back of the store, behind a fly curtain, stairs led to the upper floor, where a small wooden door blocked the way.
Shinichi took out the key and unlocked it. There was something pretending to be a genkan behind the door (it was more like a simple shoe mat sunken into the floor). The apartment was divided into a kitchen and a living room / sleeping area by a shoji screen. Shinichi smiled. This was more than he would have wanted, really! He didn't mind the paint falling off the walls or the rusty oven in the kitchen, as long as they served their purpose. There was a note from the landlady on the mattress in the living room, saying the sheets and blankets were freshly washed! Oh, that's sweet, Shinichi thought. Someday he'll really have to cook dinner for her. Smiling he threw his bags on the floor and faceplanted into the mattress.
Next morning, two houses beneath the detective's new place, Kaito was again sitting in the middle of his heist planning mess. "Here we go!" he said smirking and held up a blank playing card with his heist notice written on it. Proudly he contemplated his work, especially the kid doodle, before he put it in a small envelope. He addressed it to the police station and put a stamp on it. Since he would only be working at the club for the evening show today, he was planning to post the letter on the other side of the city, (so it couldn't be traced back to him) while buying some things for the heist. Excited he cleaned up his room, put on his shoes, snatched his coat walked towards the subway.
The day at the police station was dragging by slowly. Shinichi had just finished one of the reports he had to write about the newest results of their investigation in the serial murder case and was now taking a break. In front of him, he had spread out a deck of cards which he was carefully retouching on their backs.
He was a bit startled when Hattori came to his desk and tapped him on the shoulder. "What are you doing?!" Asked the other detective, grinning broadly. "I thought you didn't like magic!" Shinichi looked up. "Who said this has something to do with magic?" He deadpanned. "Look, we got some new intel." Hattori said, changing the subject. "A gun, possibly one of the murder weapons was found in the garbage bin of some hardware store. It must have been wiped though, since it's devoid of fingerprints. Apparently, there were other things in the bin, like a pen and a janitor smock. We've put a small team together to investigate. You coming?"
Shinichi was relieved. Finally, he could do something more interesting than writing reports and taking breaks. "Yeah sure! Quite glad to leave the reports actually…" He grinned apologetically.
Believe it or not, that was actually something he missed from his time as Conan. Since he didn't count as a professional investigator back then, he could leave the boring parts of the job for others to do, without anybody even caring about it.
He collected the playing cards after making sure the retouches were dry and wouldn't smear. Then he put them back in their box and stowed them away in his bag as he left the office with Hattori.
There was a bus stop close to the post office. Kaito took the opportunity to sit down on the bench and check his shopping list. Pink pigment, white water-based white paint and glitter from the art supplies shop… He took out a pen from his pocket and scratched the items through. Then three new decks of playing cards and fire paper from the magic shop - scratch - and some smoke bombs from a joke store - scratch. A bucket, rope, some extra strong adhesive, lots of tape and a can of latex for his next mask. He stood up and went to the hardware store.
He was busy comparing two different brands of latex, a plastic bucket full of duct tape hanging from his right elbow when he heard a familiar voice. "Kuroba?" He turned. "O! Hy there Kudo-kun! Didn't expect to see you here…" "Me neither, to be honest!" The detective looked at the latex cans, then shot a questioning glance at Kaito. "Uh… it's for… you know those rubber thumbs where you can hide things in? Mine is broken, so I have to repair it…"
Kaito struggled not to laugh out loud, he didn't even have such a thumb among his gimmicks. He just hoped the detective had bought the lie (which actually seemed to be the case, but one never knows with detectives).
Suddenly someone walked out between the shelves. "Kudo-san, we found something…" He looked at Kaito. "Oh, hello! I'm Hattori Heiji, I work with Kudo here." He tapped the detective on the shoulder. "Kuroba Kaito nice to meet you!" Somehow Hattori seemed familiar. Kaito remembered having seen his face before. Was he that detective he had seen with Conan sometimes?
"Say, are you investigating?" Kaito asked. "Well…" Kudo began, grinning, "…it's ironic! Now that I have moved, the culprit has changed his field of action. We found the weapon and other stuff in a trash bin… and I shouldn't be telling you these things…" He looked at Kaito like a puppy who knows for sure, it's done something it was not allowed to. Kaito laughed. "Guess I'll try to forget what I've heard then…"
He looked on his phone. "I should move along now, see you guys, have fun investigating." He nodded at the detectives, turned and went to finish his purchases.
"By the way, thanks for your help with the apartment!" He heard Kudo shout behind him.
Kaito walked the next step backwards smirking. "My pleasure!" He winked as he turned back. "Glad you like it!"
It was already late afternoon, when Shinichi, and the investigation team arrived at the police station. As they waited for the elevator to arrive Shinichi took out his phone and texted his boss that they were back and ready to discuss their findings in a meeting.
Finally, the elevator came, the doors slid open… and out shot inspector Nakamori, his head red as a tomato, fuming with rage. "Kudo Shinichi, I need you in my office at once!"
Gosh! What had he done wrong now?! "I just told my boss we're gonna meet him in a few minutes…" "Cancelled!" Nakamori shouted. With this he grabbed Shinichi's wrist and pulled him into the elevator. He closed the doors in to the faces of the whole investigation team, barking at them to take the stairs since they weren't in a hurry. As they ascended and the inspector proceeded his tantrum by staring angrily at the elevator wall, Shinichi took advantage of his silence. "Now, would you care to explain, what's going on?!"
Nakamori didn't respond but dragged the detective to his office as soon as the doors opened. He took small envelope from his desk and slapped it into the detective's hand. "The bastard is making fun of me…" he grumbled seriously offended.
Shinichi exhaled with relief as he understood that the inspector's rage was not directed at him. In fact, he had quite the idea wat was going on. Carefully he opened the envelope and took out what seemed to be a blank playing card. It was totally white, except for the familiar Kid doodle and a comment:
My dearest Nakamori-kun
I'll admit, I'm cool
But I'm not cool enough
(Kid doodle)
Shinichi frowned. What exactly did he mean by that?! Usually, Kid would write some riddle as to where and when his next heist will be but this… This was weird! Nakamori stared holes into the card. "Well?" He said in a waspish way, "What do you think?"
"Are you sure this is from him not from an impostor?" Shinichi asked while contemplating the surface of the card against the light. "Who the heck do you think has the arrogance to say stuff like this?! "Snapped the Inspector. There was a rough spot on the card's surface. Shinichi traced it with his fingers. Wait! This wasn't a stain, this was something Kid had put there deliberately, like some sort of ink! If he Looked closely the ink of the doodle and the text was somewhat glossy and a bit lighter where the surface of the card was rough. Suddenly he had an idea: "Nakamori-kun?" He asked. "Do you have a freezer on this floor?" The inspector looked confused. "What?! Why?" "Just tell me, you'll see!" Shinichi exclaimed as he ran after Nakamori to the lunchroom. There he put the card in the freezer. "Now we have to wait."
The inspector looked at Shinichi incredulously. "Invisible ink" the detective explained briefly.
"In about twenty minutes we should be able to see something, if I'm not mistaken."
He had to do his best, not to laugh at Nakamori. The latter was impatient as hell. He jumped up every few minutes, whereupon Shinichi had to tell him not to open the freezer yet and sit still instead, which was practically impossible.
Finally, after the inspector had fussed around for almost twenty minutes, Shinichi yielded and let him go to the freezer. Nakamori immediately jumped up, ripped open the freezer and snatched the card. His jaw dropped. "Whoa! Look!" He exclaimed.
There was a big Kid doodle where the card had been blank before putting it in the freezer. Nakamori flipped the card. The other side had changed too: The statement about Kid's or rather the card's literal coolness was gone. So was the small Kid doodle. Instead, there was a rather weird poem:
My dearest Nakamori-kun
One hand past present
Sundown you'll blame
But shift to the future
The sum of its name
Me for my taking
But do not complain
The Starbreeze smaragd
Though never for fame
Shinichi began to speculate at once. One hand… either that's the hand of the clock or a hand, which has five fingers. So, he probably refers to one, or five time-units, added to the present time. Shinichi glanced at his phone's watch. Wait! Why would Kid know when exactly he would be at this point, solving the riddle?
Shinichi read the first lines again. "Oh!" he exclaimed and Nakamori looked at him startled. The word "Sundown" was included in this sentence. Today's sundown was going to be at 5:06 pm, so Kid referred to this hour and something.
"Shift to the future the sum of its name…" this had to be the "Starbreeze". There was after all only one other name in the text and Nakamori was not an object. Shinichi looked at the word. He was sure, it had another timespan enciphered, which, past this sundown and added to this hand thing, would give him the exact time and date for the Heist. The word has ten letters, Shinichi thought. No, that was too easy, Kid didn't do these things. What about adding together the letter's positions in the Latin alphabet? S (19) + t (20) + a (1) + r (18) + b (2) + r (18) + e (5) + e (5) + z (26) + e (5) equals 119. That seemed more like it.
Now, if he meant minutes then the heist would begin in two hours, but Kid never sent a notice this short before the heist. Normally there were some days in-between, so the numbers probably meant Hours. Let's see then… Shinichi took out his phone and started calculating: 119 hours equals four days, 22 hours, 59 minutes and 57.12 seconds. Add this to the time of today's sunset and you end up five days from now, at roughly four pm. This is literally in the middle of the afternoon! Shinichi thought. Kid would never make a heist in full daylight! Then he remembered the first line of the poem. If the hand was the hand of a clock, one full turn of the hour hand would shift the heist to five pm, which was during sundown. Kid usually made his heists after sundown, because then he could conceal himself with a black velvet cloak and appear or disappear easily. So, it had to be a hand with five fingers… five hours past four pm was nine pm. That had to be it! He looked at his phone. Five days from now was Sunday… and full moon! That's perfect, Shinichi thought. People have time to come see the heist on Sundays and Kid loves his audience. Additionally, most of his heists happened on full moon nights.
"Got it!" He exclaimed enthusiastically. "Kid will appear on Sunday at about three seconds before nine pm, at the Tokyo jewelry trade show, where the Starbreeze smaragd will be featured as the main attraction."
By the time, Shinichi was finally standing in front of the lady and the warrior on his front door, he was exhausted. Explaining how he figured out the riddle and planning how they would oppose the thief and stop him from robbing the diamond had took a toll on him.
Mostly though this had been due to his motivation and looking forward to seeing kid again.
Somehow, this kind of work was a welcome interruption to his daily murder cases. He gladly overworked himself for such fun things from time to time. Nevertheless, it was good to call it a day and go hit the sack. He shuffled through the store and up the stairs, unlocked his door and went in.
He threw his coat in a corner, then shuddered. It was almost as cold as outside. Annoyed he touched the radiator, which as he had expected was cold as ice. Hurriedly he went down into the basement to check on the heater and turn it back on. Nothing happened. He swore. It probably broke because it was suddenly used again, after being shut down for several years. With freezing fingers, he scoured his bag for his phone with the aim to call the landlady, only to realize, it was a bit late to call an old lady. Out of courtesy he decided to wait until tomorrow.
He gave a start, when he found the playing cards he had stored away earlier. Hadn't he kind of promised to go to Kuroba's magic show again? He had totally forgotten and now he felt guilty about it. He ran up to the shop, burst out into the alleyway and looked across it, two houses to his right. There it was: A weak yellowish gleam pouring from a small window, competing with the illuminated panels of the alleyway's shops and bars. He exhaled relieved and smiled quietly, as he walked towards it.
Kaito was laying on his back, daydreaming, when somebody knocked on the door. Drowsily he got up, shuffled to the door and peeked outside. He stiffened. The detective! At his doorstep! Kaito panicked inside. He doesn't know, does he?! His brain was racing to search for something, that might have given him away to the detective… to no avail. Then why the hell was he here?
"Yo! Kuroba!?" Kaito jolted out of his stare. "Is there something weird with my face?" The detective asked disconcerted.
"Huh? O, sorry, do you want to come in?"
"Thanks" the detective said as he stepped in, frowning. "What's with you? Is this how you say hallo to people?" Kaito looked at him "Uh…sorry about that… I just wasn't prepared to find you in front of my door, I guess… So, why did you come here?"
"Actually," Kudo said, "I came here to apologize. There was this ruckus inspector Nakamori made when I got back to the station, because he had received a card from Kid. I got so absorbed in solving the riddle and planning an opposition that I totally forgot your show." He explained. "now I feel bad for it, since I originally wanted to come to the show to thank you properly for your effort with the apartment."
"Oh… Kaito said, not too sure what else he should say. "Don't… just… you know… don't feel bad or something, it's ok, really."
Relieved, the detective smiled at him. "Well, then I guess I have to thank you right now." He reached into his bag. "Here you go!" He said, grinning, as he handed over the small cardboard box to Kaito. "That's for the apartment and now for forgetting the show too. I know, it's not much but…" Kaito took it, frowning a little. "Cards?"
"Yep, but not just any cards! Take a look…" The box seemed to be pretty ordinary, so Kaito took the cards out. At once he began to do some fancy shuffling and cardistry tricks, enjoying the feeling of brand-new playing cards. "They feel great!"
"Maybe…" the detective grinned, "…but that's not all!" Kaito looked at him with a doubtful smirk and began closely analyzing one card after another, flicking their corners and bending them slightly. "I don't get it! Is one of them magnetic?" He asked exasperated as he finished examining the last card. Kudo grinned broadly but kept his silence. "COME ON! Tell me! That's not fair!" Kaito burst out in a ridiculously high voice.
The detective burst out laughing. "Okay, but I'll demonstrate it first." Kaito looked at him in disbelief. Was the magic-evading detective really going to perform a trick?
"Ready?" Kudo asked and Kaito nodded happily. "Okay then, shuffle the cards…" He did as the detective said, still not believing what was going on. "…then spread them out…" Kaito went to the kitchen and motioned for kudo to follow him. Then he spread the cards out on the small table in a fluid motion and pulled out two chairs. "Thanks… now, select a card, take it out and look at it." Kaito followed his instruction. "Then," Kudo said, "put the cards back together, your card comes on top. Then you put your hand on it and try to see it in your thoughts.
"Oh!" Kaito exclaimed grinning. "I think I've got it! That's brilliant!" "You're no fun!" Kudo quipped. "It's the five of diamonds, right?" Kaito nodded and immediately snatched the two topmost cards and scrutinized the pattern on their backs. "Wow, you did really well there, I keep overlooking it! Where did you mark them?"
Kudo looked at the magician with a proud expression. "See these tiny dots?" He asked. "When the first one is missing, it's spades, the second one gone means diamonds, the third one is clubs and the fourth one hearts. These are the same on the other side, so you see them, no matter how the cards are fanned. Then the four dashes over here show the card values in binary representation. It takes a little time to get used to, but I'm sure you'll manage." Kaito looked at him amazed. "This is awesome! You did this today? Thank you so much! I think I'm going to use this tomorrow at the club!"
"I'm glad you like it!" The detective smiled.
"Hey, Kudo-san?" Kaito said, suddenly veering off. "I was just thinking about cooking dinner, do you want some too? Or did you already eat?" "Huh?" Kudo asked astonished. "Actually…" He began sheepishly, "I'd be glad to… it's awfully cold at my place since the heater broke today…"
Kaito's eyes widened. When Shinichi realized what he had triggered he clapped a hand over his mouth.
"No way!" Kaito exclaimed. "Your heater broke?! Why didn't you say so sooner? Do you want to stay over? There's no use in freezing your butt off after all, is there?"
"W… what? I mean… really?" Kudo turned red. "Well, I won't say no, but are you sure? I mean… I don't want to impose on you and we hardly know each other… I might snore…and…" Kaito glared at the detective. "You're full of shit… just cut it out already!" With this he stomped away and shortly after appeared again with a foldable mattress. He threw it on the floor with a thump and unfolded it. "You stay here!" He said slightly irritated. "I don't want to feel guilty because of you catching a cold over there! Go get what you need for the night, I'll cook in the meantime."
Gosh! This is so messed up! Shinichi thought. This Kuroba guy was a weirdo… a kind weirdo though. "Whatever…" He mumbled, stuffed his pajamas and toilet case into his bag and left.
As he arrived at Kuroba's place, the door was standing wide open and it smelled delicious.
"Whoa!" He exclaimed, seeing the two huge bowls of ramen waiting on the table. They looked tasty! "Yokoso!" Kuroba greeted him cheerily. "Kuroba Kaito, at your service! Our menu of the day is house-made ramen with vegetables and eggs. Please enjoy your stay at Kuroba-Hoteru-Resutoran!" He bowed, holding a corner of his chef's apron in his left outstretched hand while motioning for Shinichi to come in with his other arm. His hair fell forward, obscuring only his sideways smirk. Shinichi inhaled sharply. Kid always bowed a bit like this, he thought. But then again, anybody could do it just like him. He shoved the thought aside and stepped in. "You really can't stop being a showman, can you." Shinichi chuckled. "Well," Kuroba said, "it's not just my job or a hobby, it's my life. It makes me happy. Come on, let's eat, shall we?"
They sat down and looked at each other, Shinichi a bit embarrassed, the magician proud of his accomplishment. "Itadakimasu" both said simultaneously and started slurping their noodles. "Damn, this is good!" Shinichi exclaimed. "I didn't know, you could cook like this!"
Later they both lay on their mattresses, Kaito practicing magic and the detective doing some kind of paperwork. Kaito glanced over at him interested. "Is this for your case?" "Mhm" The detective said without looking up. "Can I have a look?" Kaito asked. "I always wanted to know how to solve a murder case…"
"Now why would you want to know this? I's not as fun as you think. There are some gruesome photos in here." Kudo pointed at a folder. "Besides, it's restricted."
"Oh, come on! Would you say that too if I were your wife?"
"You're not my wife…" Kudo grunted.
"My dad was murdered…" Kaito said suddenly. He didn't even know why he entrusted this to the detective, but somehow it seemed the right thing to do.
"WHAT?!" Kudo shouted, sitting up and staring at Kaito with an open mouth. "You're kidding right?"
"No… it's true."
"How can you say that and remain so calm?!"
"It was fifteen years ago… the police considered it an accident."
"Wow… sorry for your loss…"
"I shouldn't have brought the subject up…"
"No, it's ok… I can look into it if you want…"
"No… please don't… I'm going to sleep now. Can you turn the lights off, when you are through with your file?" With this, Kaito slipped under his covers, he didn't want the detective to get involved with his father's killers. If something were to happen to him, he could never forgive himself. Besides, if he said more, Kudo would find out he was Kid.
"O my…" He could hear the detective mumble. Then the lights went out.
"Sorry…" Kaito said in a low voice "I didn't want to detain your work."
"It's okay. I shouldn't work through the night anyway. "
Shinichi's thoughts went round in circles. How could the magician be so cheerful all the time? Was it all an act? Why was his father murdered? Wasn't Kid's father murdered around the same time too? Was there a connection? Shinichi thought of asking Kid about it as Conan, but his phone was still over at his apartment. When he finally fell asleep, it was already well past midnight.
The next morning, he was woken up by a cheerful "morning detective, get alive!" and somebody shaking his shoulder. Shinichi opened his eyes and saw Kuroba's smiling face above him. "You forgot to set your alarm… Work is at 7:30 right? I already went to the coffeeshop, your mug is waiting in the kitchen" Shinichi studied the magician's face, his hair which always looked as if it was waving in the wind, his eyes as blue as the ocean on a sunny day. Kuroba was actually quite attractive. Shinichi blushed. "Morning." He stretched himself and then slowly got up. As the magician went back to the kitchen Shinichi rapidly dressed himself, then he followed Kuroba, rubbing his eyes. "Thanks for waking me up"
"No problem, here you go." The magician handed him a mug with steaming black coffee.
"Oh thanks! How did you know this was my favorite?"
"Last time at the coffee shop…"
They then drank their coffee talking about anything and everything, but neither of them mentioned their talk from the previous evening.
The next four days went through with not much excitement. Shinichi phoned the landlady and she sent for a mechanic to fix the heater. It turned out to be a rather difficult endeavor, so it was going to take several days. Shinichi promised the landlady he would pay the check himself, since he didn't pay her for the apartment. Also, he'd invite her to dinner as soon as the heater is fixed.
There was only the problem that he wasn't really good at cooking, but he could always learn that until then…
The detective could have just bought one of those small electric heaters and gone back to living in the apartment over the manga store. However, when Kaito heard that it would take several days for Kudo's heater to be repaired, he persisted that he should stay over at his place.
Since his mother was hardly home anymore, travelling around god knows where, Kaito enjoyed having somebody around. He actually quite liked the detective. Talking to him felt comfortable and he could be himself, just like those times on the rooftop with Conan.
One evening Kudo had asked Kaito to teach him how to cook. The detective did a terrible job at first, but it was actually surprisingly yummy at the end. And it was a lot of fun.
Shinichi went to Kaito's club several times after work and helped him test and improve new tricks. They would meet at the club, discuss the show and try out some new stuff on stage, one of them playing the audience, the other the magician.
Shinichi never thought he would stand on a stage doing magic, not even for a single person as an audience. Yet there he was, having fun to top it all!
He told himself he was doing this only to thank Kuroba for his hospitality but deep inside he knew, this was not the only reason. The Magician could make him enjoy those things in life he hated the most, like magic and cooking or even waking up early in the morning.
One night when he had trouble falling asleep, Kaito grabbed his phone and earbuds and was listening music under his covers, when a message from Conan came in:
How do you approach someone you like?
C
Huh? Conan was in love? Kaito grinned, how cute! Then he wrote back:
I don't know perhaps allow her to call you by your given name…
Or give her a rose and invite her on a date?
K
Not a girl…
C
Oh!
K
A boy?! Conan fell for a boy? Kaito was not too sure what to do with what he had just learned. For him it had always been kind of clear, that a man would have a relationship with a woman and not with a man.
He tried to imagine how this would be, just to understand the little detective. Images of himself being with another man began floating through his head. Surprisingly, it didn't feel weird at all. The man was faceless at first but suddenly he grew dark ash brown hair, his previously colorless eyes turned deep blue between his dark bangs, he had a very light skin tone and on his head some cowlicks popped up. "Morning" he said, smiling softly.
All at once, it struck Kaito: The man was undoubtedly Kudo Shinichi! And Kaito had fallen for him, but never noticed until now.
Kaito had asked the detective several times about his detective work. Finally, Saturday evening he was allowed to go through the files. Almost all victims were rich people but Kaito soon realized he knew more than the Police.
The victims all possessed a diamond that was not targeted by himself yet. He knew of the existence of most of them, but he didn't know where to find them. Kaito gasped. Was this linked to his father's killers? How come he never heard of the murders before? Someone must be really eager to find pandora as soon as possible, he thought.
He put the file aside and took the next one out of the briefcase. It was a list of the dates of the crimes. Kaito compared them with the dates of his heists of the last two months. He shivered, when he noticed, there was always a murder after each heist. This could have been a coincidence though, since the time between his heist and a murder varied greatly. However, there was never more than one murder between heists. They seemed to come as some kind of response.
With cold fingers Kaito picked up the next file, an envelope with photos of the crime scenes. He looked at them closely. There was something written in black on a victim's shoe: 1412! He inhaled sharply. "Told you it's ugly…" The detective said next to him. Ignoring him, Kaito rapidly turned to the next photo and looked at the shoes. There it was: 570P! He hastily got himself a pen and paper, then looked at the shoes of the next victims and wrote the codes down on a paper in chronological order:
1412! 570P! 012 U 12 N3X7!
(KID! STOP! OR U R NEXT!)
Shinichi watched the magician with concern. He was really acting weird since he first looked into the files. Now he was staring at what he had just written, hands shaking, his face devoid of color. Did he know something about the case, Shinichi didn't know? Was he… no, the magician was not a murderer. Perhaps the murders were tied to his father?
"Hey Kuroba! Are you ok?" The magician gave a start, pulling the paper through his fingers and cutting himself in the process.
"Ow!" He looked up with a weird expression on his face, as blood started dripping on the floor from the base of his right ring finger.
"Are you ok?" Shinichi asked again. "Go bandage your finger." He would ask him later about what he had found in the files and why this affected him to this extent.
Kaito went to the toilet, ripped his note into tiny pieces and flushed them down. He couldn't let the detective know anything about this. He couldn't tell him he was Kid and that the Murders happened because of him. Part of him wanted to cry, but he only sniffed and swallowed, thinking of his father. "poker face…" he murmured "… no matter what…". Then he took out his first aid kit and bandaged his finger.
When he came back, Kudo asked him about what had happened.
"I thought it had something to do with my father, but I know better now. After a while, you begin to imagine stuff…" He shrugged. "Thanks for letting me look into the files!" Kaito said with a strained smile, throwing himself on his mattress. The detective gave up asking and turned off the lights.
Since this had been the last night Shinichi spent at the magician's place, he packed his belongings Sunday morning and went to the kitchen, surprised to find Kuroba with a brand-new coffee maker, and two cups of self-made dark coffee. Shinichi had to admit, it was the best he ever tasted.
Then Kuroba gave him the recipe of the menu he had learned to cook, wishing him good luck for his dinner on Monday with the landlady.
"Thanks for everything!" Shinichi said. "My pleasure Kudo-san!"
"You know what? Call me Shinichi. It's weird to be so formal after having lived together for half a week."
"Well then, call me Kaito" The magician grinned. "Thanks, Kaito-san!" Shinichi said, testing the name. Then he patted the magician on the shoulder and left.
Kaito went inside, his smile giving way to a troubled face. Luckily the detective was at his own place today, he thought. He wouldn't have known how to keep Kid's identity a secret with him there. Although he kind of missed him already.
Kaito took a deep breath. He thought of the threat the murderer had made. Should he cancel his heist? Kid had never cancelled a heist. No, he wouldn't do that, it was not like him at all. He just hoped nothing would happen. Suddenly he thought of Conan. The boy had so much in common with his cousin, Kaito almost forgot him over the last few days. Perhaps he knows what to do in my situation… Kaito thought and took out his phone to text Conan:
Would you do a Heist, if you just got a death threat?
K
He waited a while, but soon realized, it probably was something past 2am at Conan's place.
Indecisive he wandered to the bathroom and checked on his finger. It wasn't bleeding, so he threw away the bandage.
After a long day writing reports at the station, Shinichi was sitting at one of the tables of a pop-up restaurant at the Jewelry Trade Fair, waiting for the Heist to begin. He observed the people around him and tried to make out if one of them was Kid. Suddenly his phone buzzed. There were two unread messages. One from this morning and the one that had just come in.
Would you do a Heist, if you just got a death threat?
K
No going back now… Tell your cousin to look out for me…
K
What?! Shinichi thought alarmed, the idiot got threatened and is still going to go through with his heist! He looked up, only to see the crowd that already gathered. Shit! He thought, as they started counting the seconds. I'm too late!
"Five!" Shinichi cut his way through the crowd.
"Four!" He looked up, searching for a sniper on the gallery.
"Three!" He ran towards where the diamond was displayed.
"Two!" He stopped panting.
"One!" Exasperated he tried to ignore the cheering crowd while he didn't know what to do next.
"Kid!" The people shouted, as the phantom thief appeared in a puff of smoke on top of the vitrine with the diamond. "Good evening everybody! Let the show begin!" He smirked, then flicked his fingers and the diamond seemed to jump up, through the glass and into his hand. The police taskforce lunged at him, but he jumped up and seemed to hover in midair, where they couldn't reach him. "Well then!" He said. "Today's show will be a bit shorter than usually. I'm terribly sorry, but the circumstances won't allow me to stay longer." He then waved at the crowd, spotted Shinichi and gave him a nod: "detective". Shinichi froze. How was Kid so sure about who he was?! Then the thief vanished, just as he had appeared a moment before, in a cloud of smoke. "After him!" Nakamori shouted, and the taskforce elbowed their way through the crowd and the fog to the stairs.
Immediately Shinichi texted Kid as Conan:
Don't go to the roof! There might be snipers…
C
I'm not there, but a pink, glittery taskforce in socks, because their shoes are glued to the floor ;)
K
Shinichi started looking around after the fog had cleared a little, for a clue which way Kid had gone, when a pink and glittery taskforce came running down from the gallery. He suppressed a grin, Kid couldn't help it, could he.
From the corner of his eye, Shinichi saw a black figure slip into the men's room. He went in there too, as inconspicuous as he could. One of the cabins was locked. Shinichi locked himself in the adjacent one.
You in the toilet?
C
How'd you know?
K
Trust my cousin…
C
"Kid?" He asked in a low voice.
"Detective?"
"Yes, do you have a female disguise?"
"Yeah… why?"
"The ventilation system crosses between here and the girl's room. You can climb in from here and descend in a cabin of the girl's room, without anyone noticing. Then you exit as a girl and mingle with the crowd."
Shinichi could hear the other changing his clothes. Suddenly part of Kid's costume slid through the gap underneath the separating wall towards Shinichi. "Hey, pay attention, where your costume goes…" he said and wanted to push it back, when he saw a dark red blot on one of the gloves. He picked it up and studied it more closely. It was the right glove and there was blood. Blood, on the base of the ring finger.
Suddenly, it all fell into place:
Kaito texting and Conan receiving a message at the same time, as they first met in the coffee shop. Kaito being a magician.
Kaito buying latex and whatnot in the hardware store.
Kaito bowing like Kid, the first time he ate at his place.
Kaito suddenly telling him his father was murdered and it was considered an accident.
Kaito going all white over the crime scene photos and cutting his finger.
Kid receiving a death threat and asking Conan for advice.
Kaito's cut must have opened again and bled into the glove.
Kid was none other than Kaito Kuroba!
Shinichi needed a while to let this sink in. He was about to pass the glove under the wall, when he noticed Kid was no longer there. He tucked the glove in his bag and left the toilet.
Shortly afterward he saw a girl in a dark green dress coming out of the girl's room, carrying a black leather handbag. She had beautiful chestnut hair, flowing around her shoulders and green eyes. He even put in contacts… Shinichi thought amazed.
He followed the magician with his eyes but before long he lost her somewhere in the crowd.
Later, when Shinichi was leaving the building, he passed by a bouquet of roses decorating a deserted stall. He stopped. How do I approach someone I like? He mused, remembering Kid's advice on the question. He chuckled. Maybe I should be a bit more like him. He waited for a moment nobody was looking, carefully pulled out a rose and hid it under his jacket. Feeling guilty he left some coins next to the flowers. Kid always gives back what he steals, right? On his way home, Shinichi realized how wrong he all, he wasn't going to get back his heart anytime soon.
Several hours later, Kaito finally got out of his disguise. He had managed to check out the smaragd and put it in Nakamori's jacket pocket in the turmoil after the heist, since it was not pandora. Then he had moved with the crowd until he was far from the Jewelry Fair. There had been no sign of his enemies at all. Kaito asked himself whether the threat was real or only to delay him in his search for pandora. He ruffled his hair and stowed away his costume and disguises when he noticed a glove was missing. Cursing he threw himself on his mattress, only to be reminded he hadn't eaten anything since breakfast today. He grumbled something into his pillow, then stood up unwillingly and walked into the kitchen, just as someone knocked.
"Argh, what now?!" He muttered and shuffled over to answer the door. "Kudo… Shinichi-san?" He let the detective in. "What are you doing here? Are you aware that it's already past midnight?"
Shinichi smiled and silently held out a hand towards him. With a flick of his wrist, a rose appeared and seemed to float in the air as he let go of the stem. Kaito was speechless. The rose trick he has shown Conan on that roof the last time he had seen him, performed so flawlessly, it could have been done by a professional. He hadn't shown the trick to anyone else neither before nor after.
"Kaitō Kuroba" Shinichi said smiling. He knows! Kaito thought, immediately forgetting about the rose. Why else would he pronounce Kaito like the word phantom thief? He took a step backwards. "You're gonna take me in, are you?"
Shinichi thought for a moment, then grinned "I guess I am going to do just that…"
Kaito stiffened.
"Oh, you haven't got it, have you?" The detective said as he slowly edged towards the door. "Wait! What are you doing?!" Kaito stared at the closing door, then at the rose. He took it and spun it between his fingers, frowning. Where the hell did Kudo learn this trick?!
Suddenly Kaito's phone started buzzing in his pocket. It was a message from Conan:
I promised I'd never take you in… remember?
S
Kaito stared at the screen. No… it couldn't be! Shinichi was Conan?!
He ran to the door. "You… What happened to you?!"
Shinichi was leaning against the wall in the corridor, smiling weakly. "I'm sorry… I didn't know how to tell you, but today I thought it was only fair to let you know, because I found out about you."
Kaito looked at him incredulously, then suddenly lunged forward and hugged the detective. "I thought I had lost you to America! I missed you! We have to talk… a lot!"
Shinichi relaxed, hugging him back. Kaito was taking it better than he had expected.
"By the way" He said in a low voice, "I've washed your glove, there was blood on it from your cut." Kaito pushed him back to look at him. "Oh? You found it?" "Actually, I took it when I saw the blood. That's when I realized who you really were. I wanted to give it back, but you were already gone."
"Thanks…" Kaito said slowly. "Say, what did you mean before when you said you were going to take me in?"
Shinichi smirked. "Well, take you in for dinner at my place, what else? After all, we both haven't eaten yet and I have to practice my cooking, right?"
Kaito hugged him again. "Jerk." He murmured affectionately into Shinichi's neck. Somehow, he didn't want to let go anymore, out of fear he'd lose his detective again once he did. "Shinichi?" "Huh?" "I… I'd like to get to know you better…"
"It's a date then." Shinichi said smiling happily, grabbed Kaito's wrist and ran out in the alleyway with Kaito in tow. "The rose…" Kaito said suddenly. "…when did you practice?" Shinichi stopped. "Just after I got home, why?" Kaito made a face, taken aback. "But the stores were all closed when… Wait!" Kaito stared at the detective openmouthed. "Did you…?"
Shinichi blushed and smiled apologetically.
"You're a natural talent! You should be a magician! Or a phantom thief…"
Shinichi put his arm around Kaito's shoulders. "Oh? How sweet of you! But you know full well I dislike magic… and thieves!"
"Well, I'm not so sure of that anymore…"
They both laughed as they went past the purple eyed girl and the warrior, towards a warm dinner and a shared future. Neither of them thought of pandora nor the death threat or the murder case. Right now, those were subjects for another story.
AN: Yeah, right… I totally ignored Kaito's black organization and the threat. But since I originally wanted the story to end here, I no longer know whether I should continue this or not and how I should do it if I do. So, if anyone has an idea, I'm open for suggestions.
Anyway, hope you enjoyed the story at least a little.
So long! rainyfox