"Who exactly is Kuroba Kaito?" Shinichi asked. He and Akako sat down facing each other at one of the mansion's numerous tables. He didn't quite believe in magic and curses, but if Akako believed this Kuroba Kaito person was in danger, Shinichi had to do something about it.
"I believe you know him better as Kaitou Kid," Akako replied calmly. The change was obvious, she no longer seemed to be the girl who had, moments ago, begged him to save Kuroba Kaito. During the few minutes it had taken Shinichi to drop his backpack and get the two of them seated, she had clearly put on some sort of mask to hide her true emotions.
When Shinichi heard what she said, he jerked back, eyes widening in surprise. "Wha- how- why-"
Akako gave a charming smile. "Are you asking how I know who Kid is? It's simple. Magic. And why I told you? You're the only one who can save him, Kudo-kun." She frowned. "Though I wish I could do something myself."
Quickly recovering from his shock, Shinichi cleared his throat. "Well, magic doesn't exist, so that's not how you found out about Kid's identity…"
Akako sighed at that. "You stubborn fool… You have the proof of magic in your own head, yet you don't acknowledge it." When Shinichi gave her a confused look, she turned back to the original topic. "Kuroba-kun is a classmate of mine. I admit I've taken a… liking to him, though he clearly doesn't feel the same." Shrugging, she continued. "When I first made my move on him, he was terrified. I rationalized it as him being scared of my magic, but I quickly discovered that wasn't it. In order to make him become mine, I used magic involving fire."
"Fire," Shinichi muttered, remembering Kid's reaction at the heist to just a brief spark of flames. And his eyes… The same as the boy in his dream. The boy who, at least twice, died in a fire.
"Yes, fire is what Kuroba-kun fears," Akako confirmed. "I looked into it, wanting to see if he had a rational reason for fearing it. And he most certainly does." Looking Shinichi right in the eyes, she stated, "Kuroba-kun is cursed to die in a fire."
"Curses aren't real, though," Shinichi argued, though he felt a twinge of uncertainty as he remembered his dreams, with a boy - most certainly Kaito - continuously dying in fires.
"Entertain me, Kudo-kun," Akako muttered. "Even if you don't believe this is a curse, at least try to save Kuroba-kun. Please." And her eyes had that look they had moments before, when she had pleaded him to save Kaito.
She's scared, Shinichi thought. She just doesn't want to admit it.
"Alright," Shinichi sighed. "I'll do it." When Akako smiled, he continued on. "But I have a question. I keep dreaming of Kid dying in a fire, even before I learned about his fear of it." When Akako opened her mouth, he interrupted her. "And don't say I'm predicting the future. Because both dreams showed different situations."
That got Akako to pause. She looked at him curiously, then asked, "And what did you do in these dreams? Stand and watch?"
Shinichi shook his head. "No, I tried to save him."
"I don't know," Akako replied, standing up. "I truly do not know." And just like how she came in, she disappeared, as if she traveled via teleportation.
Sighing, Shinichi stood up. A call from his phone made him pause and pick it up. "Hello?"
"Shinichi!" Ran's angry voice came through, making Shinichi cringe. "You're late to school!"
Shinichi winced. "Sorry! I'm heading there now!" Hanging up, Shinichi quickly grabbed his bag and ran out the door.
Chikage had called Kaito the next morning, something she usually never did. Frowning, Kaito took the call. "Hey kaasan, why are you calling?"
"Hey Kaito!" Chikage replied cheerfully, the noise of Las Vegas loud behind her. "I just wanted to check up on you!"
"Huh," Kaito replied. He didn't really know what to say that wouldn't sound incredibly rude.
"How was the heist last night?" Chikage asked, still having that cheerful tone.
Kaito paused. "Well, I guess it was pretty good… But there was a fire." When he heard Chikage's sharp intake, he quickly clarified. "Only for a second! A tiny flame! But… it scared me, and now Kudo Shinichi knows about my fear."
"Oh, Kaito…" Chikage whispered. "Do you want to talk about it?"
Kaito looked down at his feet. "No, not really."
"Well, I'm always here on the phone, okay? Call me if you need me," Chikage said in a soothing tone.
"Okay," Kaito muttered. "Bye, kaasan." With that, he hung up and sighed.
"Bakaito!" Knocking came from his door, making the boy turn towards it. "You're going to be late for school!"
"I'm staying home today!" Kaito called back, faking a cough. "I'm sick!"
"You better not be lying!" Aoko shouted. "If you get in trouble again, I'm going to chase you with a mop!"
"I look forward to it!"
Aoko apparently left for school, so Kaito sighed and laid down on his couch. After that heist, he didn't feel like doing anything. Maybe he could just lay here all day…
After he arrived home, the first thing Shinichi did was research on Kuroba Kaito.
The moment he saw an image of the boy, his breath was taken away, because this was undoubtedly the boy in his dreams, with the same violet eyes and the fluffy hair. He looked similar enough to Shinichi to impersonate him without a mask, though looking closer, Shinichi could definitely see slight differences between them. Reluctantly turning away from the image, Shinichi looked at other information.
Kaito went to Ekoda High School, amusing Shinichi slightly as he remembered Saguru and Nakamori's daughter Aoko - both of whom he had seen at heists occasionally - telling him that was the school they went to. You're in dangerous territory, Kuroba. Based on how Akako called him her classmate, she was definitely a student at Ekoda High School too. Quite an unusual class they must have; a phantom thief, the daughter of the man who chases him, a detective who also chases him, and a supposed witch after his heart.
His mother, Kuroba Chikage, lived in Las Vegas, having moved away when Kaito was still pretty young. His father, Kuroba Toichi, died in a stage accident when Kaito was even younger. However, looking at the files closely, Shinichi frowned. Something about this didn't seem right. Dying surrounded by flames, yet with water around him? How could something like that have been an accident? Water was not a combustible element, after all.
However, other materials could be added to water to produce fire. Obviously, a magician of Kuroba Toichi's prowess would know this and avoid those materials before going into a water tank. But if someone else put those materials all over his clothes…
Shinichi sighed. He could be thinking too much about this. Everyone just had their bad days after all. Yet he knew the nature of Toichi's death still bothered him. Maybe talking to Kaito would help him, but wouldn't it scare him too? After all, Kaito still didn't know that Shinichi knew about his moonlight thieving.
His phone gave a chime indicating the receival of a message. Glancing at it, Shinichi saw a message from an unknown number.
This is Koizumi Akako. I figured out a way for you and Kaito to meet each other, if you're interested.
Oh, yes. He was.
After school, a knock came on Kaito's door. Sighing and expecting to see Aoko again, he reluctantly opened it. "Ahoko, I told you-" He froze upon seeing Akako standing there, smirking.
"You really thought I was Nakamori-san?" Akako questioned. "I think I'm much more beautiful than her." When Kaito gave her a bored and unimpressed look, she tacked on, "You're looking beautiful today too, Kuroba-kun."
Kaito groaned. "What are you here for, Akako?"
Akako took that as an invitation for herself to walk inside, which was not what Kaito intended, but he knew it was fruitless to argue. "There's a festival in a few days," Akako said. "One of those traditional Japanese ones." She narrowed her eyes. "I'd much prefer a festival for witches."
Kaito crossed his arms. "Okay, there's a festival. So what? Why does this matter to me?"
"I understand you had a bit of a shock at the last heist," Akako stated. Kaito flinched, thinking about the flames again. "You need the chance to lighten up. Have some more fun."
Kaito raised an eyebrow. "This isn't what I'd expect to hear you say to me. What ulterior motives do you have?"
Akako smirked. "Nothing. I'm just giving you happiness. How about you go there?"
Kaito opened his mouth with the intention of telling her to fuck off, then paused. She was right, he did need to lighten up. He'd been in a negative mood ever since the heist, and… why not? It could be fun, and besides, if it wasn't, he could just leave at any moment. Kaito sighed. "You've won, Akako," he muttered. "I'll go. This isn't a date with you, right?"
Akako laughed. "Oh, how I wish that it was. Have fun." She walked out the front door, leaving Kaito alone with his thoughts.
What did I just agree to?
Shinichi wasn't quite used to wearing the clothing for the festival. Today he had asked Ran if she could take him shopping quickly to choose some clothing, and she had suggested the indigo colored yukata he currently wore. Shinichi had wondered briefly why he couldn't just wear something that he normally wore, but Ran told him that the yukata was required for an event like this.
"I wouldn't like it if you showed up to my wedding in a t-shirt and ripped jeans," Ran had said.
"You're marrying someone?" Shinichi questioned.
Ran flushed red and glared at him. "No! It was just an example."
Eventually, Shinichi showed up to the festival in the yukata.
Akako had promised him that Kaito would be here, so Shinichi moved along the stalls, his eyes looking around to spot the messy haired boy.
"Hey, isn't that Kudo Shinichi?" a female voice called out, and suddenly all eyes were on him. Shinichi froze as his fangirl let out a cry of delight and rushed over. "Kudo-sama, an autograph please!"
"K-Kudo-sama," Shinichi whispered in horror as more people flocked to his area to see what was happening. A pen was shoved into his hand and a card in his face by the first fangirl, an excited look on her face.
And then, from the corner of his vision, he saw a messy haired boy with a look of shock on his face. Quickly, the boy - definitely Kuroba Kaito, turned and hurried away, trying to make himself seem casual.
"Sorry, I'm not available for autographing," Shinichi said in a rush. He gave the pen back to the fangirl and quickly squeezed his way through the crowd. He's getting away, Shinichi thought. Finally making his way out of the crowd, Shinichi began to head the way Kaito had gone, forcing himself to walk a bit slower, a bit more casually, so that Kaito wouldn't find out right away that Shinichi was deliberately looking for him.
And there he was, clearly trying to hide in the darkness between the stalls. Kaito wore a blue yukata and a kitsune mask on the side of his head, breathing heavily as if he had just ran. Shinichi paused, making sure he was out of sight, coming up with a plan to interact with the clearly shaken boy. Numerous ideas ran throughout his head before he finally came up with a good one. Quickly, he slipped into the gap between buildings and right in front of Kaito.
Kaito immediately reeled back as much as he could, horror on his face, but Shinichi pretended he didn't see that, eyes focusing on the ground. "Mind if I hide here?" Shinichi asked, pretending to be out of breath. "I'd rather not deal with a crowd today."
"Uh. Y-yeah, sure," Kaito stammered out. Shinichi lifted his head to look at his face and saw Kid's well known poker face appear.
"I'm Kudo Shinichi, though you probably guessed that already," Shinichi let out a chuckle, extending his hand forward. "Who are you?"
Kaito paused, then shook his hand cautiously. "Kuroba Kaito, magician extraordinaire."
"A magician, huh?" Shinichi chuckled. "I've met quite a lot of notable ones."
"Yeah, I heard you chased Kid," Kaito said, then quickly added, "I'm a fan. I know basically everyone who's after him."
"Don't worry, my chasing him is no secret," Shinichi replied. "If you're worried I'll suspect you're Kid just because both of you are magicians, then you're wrong. If I ever suspect you of being Kid, it'll be because of other factors." Internally, Shinichi cringed. Was that too risky?
Yet Kaito let out a laugh, seeming to relax. "You'll probably see a lot of factors, then. My classmate, Hakuba, believes I'm actually Kid. I'm a bit wary around detectives because of him, sorry."
Hakuba actually lets his prime suspect know he suspects him? Shinichi wondered, but didn't say anything out loud. "It's fine, a lot of people are. Especially those who believe they're a suspect for some crime."
Kaito smiled, and Shinichi took this moment to look over him again. And wow, the boy really was beautiful, especially when the moonlight hit him just right and illuminated all his features. Shoving the thoughts away from his head, Shinichi continued. "Well, want to get some fresh air? This small gap isn't really the best place, as you can see."
"Alright," Kaito agreed, still smiling. The two of them walked out of the alleyway and past the festival stalls to arrive at a grassy field. A few people were also there, but they didn't seem to care or pay attention to the two boys.
"I heard there's going to be fireworks here," Shinichi offered.
"How nostalgic," Kaito laughed, and Shinichi remembered their first meeting as Conan and Kid. Was that what Kaito was referring to?
"What do you think about being friends?" Shinichi asked, glancing at him. Was he moving too fast? Would Kaito grow suspicious?
Instead, the boy put a hand on his shoulder and leaned in a bit, smiling. "Yeah, sure!" And he had a grin on his face that Shinichi never wanted to see gone.
I'll protect you from the flames, Kuroba. You have nothing to worry about.
Kaito wasn't sure what he expected at the festival, but becoming friends with Kudo Shinichi was definitely not on his list. Yet it had happened, and Kaito felt excited. As Kid, he always had a sort of respect, trust, and fondness for the detective. And now, to actually be his friend, as Kuroba Kaito? He was definitely excited. Impulsively, after they had watched the fireworks together and played a few games, Kaito had invited Shinichi to come to his house in a few days, and now? He was definitely nervous, but the excitement still remained.
A knock on the door caught his attention, and Kaito immediately rushed over to see the detective. "Kudo! Come on in!" He exclaimed.
Shinichi chuckled and walked inside. Immediately, he was looking all over the area, but Kaito pulled on his arm lightly. "Do you want to meet my doves?" He asked, hoping that Shinichi would say yes.
"Of course," Shinichi responded, smiling at him. Emotions that Kaito couldn't decipher rose up in his chest as he led Shinichi towards the living room. Plopping down on the couch, Shinichi sat down on a nearby one as Kaito made a whistling sound, calling his doves toward him. Immediately, they were all over the place, landing on Kaito and on his couch.
"These are all my doves!" Kaito laughed. He grinned at Shinichi. "There's probably too many for me to give you all their names right now, you definitely won't remember."
One dove flew over to Shinichi instead, and Kaito's heart lurched as he realized that was the dove who Conan had saved during the Imperial Easter Egg heist. Shinichi apparently didn't notice as he pet the bird lightly. "Well, what's the name of this one?"
Kaito allowed himself to relax, and smiled at Shinichi. "Tamago," he replied. Tamago, egg, after that heist.
"That's a nice name," Shinichi replied, looking down at the bird with fond eyes.
"Well, wanna play cards?"Kaito asked, desperate to change the topic.
Shinichi nodded. "Sure."
Once again, Shinichi was plunged into a nightmare. The boy he now clearly recognized as Kuroba Kaito was burning to death once again, this time in a temple, with a crowd silently watching and Shinichi shoving his way through them to reach Kaito. Screaming was heard, and Shinichi was unsure who exactly it came from. Himself? Kaito? Someone in the crowd? It didn't matter to him, as long as he could put out the fire coiling around his… friend.
The crowd kept shoving him back, though, and Shinichi caught a few men dressed in robes chanting. He froze as he realized just what was going on. He let out a horrified cry, reaching once more toward Kaito, and-
Shinichi woke up.
"No, no, no," Shinichi muttered, grasping onto the blankets tightly, trying to erase that dream from his mind. The first and second dreams had been accidental deaths, and Kaito had just happened to be there to be consumed by the flames. But that time… He was literally being used as a human sacrifice. Shinichi wasn't entirely sure why he was having these dreams, but that was probably the most horrifying one yet.
Think of the good memories, Shinichi told himself, immediately pulling out said memories from his mind. All the times he had visited Kaito recently immediately came to him, but other memories from back when Shinichi knew him only as the phantom thief Kid were there too. Kid holding a gem up to the moon while Conan sat in the background, and his first heist as Shinichi, when Kid, dressed in his black outfit, had smiled, congratulated him, and gave him a rose.
Slowly, Shinichi's breathing grew regular again as the horrifying dream dissipated from his mind. "I have to tell Haibara," he muttered, getting up. But he knew his primary concern right now wasn't about the conversation he was just about to have, but for Kaito, blissfully unaware of his supposed curse.
A few hours later, Shinichi made a surprise visit to Kaito's house. Kaito stared at him, surprised, while Shinichi smiled awkwardly. "Nice outfit."
Kaito looked down at his clothes, feeling a flash of panic remembering how he had worn this same dress at a heist a few months ago, before remembering that Shinichi didn't go and the police had never found out who he was disguised as. Kaito had taken it out of his closet, thinking about how much of a waste not wearing such a nice dress would be, and had put it on. "Thank you," he muttered.
"Really, it looks good on you," Shinichi offered, and Kaito felt his cheeks heat up as he looked away. "Can I come in?"
Kaito nodded. "Sure." As Shinichi walked inside, Kaito closed the door behind him. As had happened in the last few visits, Tamago came out of nowhere and landed on Shinichi's shoulder. The detective chuckled as he lightly stroked the dove.
"Why the sudden visit?" Kaito questioned. Shinichi looked at him, and seemed to think a bit about his answer.
"There was a restaurant around here I wanted to try out," Shinichi said. "I thought I might as well pay you a visit."
That sounded logical. Kaito allowed himself to smile. "Can I come along?" He asked, grinning at the detective.
Shinichi gave an awkward laugh. "It's a sushi restaurant, sorry…" As Kaito deflated, Shinichi immediately said, "But next time I find a restaurant without fish, I'll invite you along."
Immediately Kaito's smile brightened. "Alright, Kudo!"
Shinichi stayed for a bit, talking lightly with Kaito and paying good attention to Tamago, before he left for sushi. And as he left, Kaito realized something.
He wasn't normally this cheerful even around Aoko. So what about Shinichi made him act this way?
Three days later, Shinichi visited again. Kaito gladly let him in, letting an excited smile slip onto his face.
"If you're this happy because you think I found a restaurant, you're wrong," Shinichi clarified.
Kaito shook his head. "Nope, just happy you're here. It's fun hanging out with you." He looked into Shinichi's eyes until the other boy awkwardly turned away.
"What do you want to do today? More cards?" Shinichi questioned.
If Kaito's face could brighten more, it probably did. "Sure! Let's go to my room this time." The last time they had played cards, one of Kaito's more mischievous doves stole his cards during a quick bathroom trip. The doves acted like every part of the house belonged to them, but at least they respected that Kaito wanted his privacy sometimes, and his room was the place to go for that.
Shinichi nodded. "Sure." He gave a quick goodbye to Tamago, who had landed on his shoulder the moment he came in, then followed Kaito to his room.
Kudo hasn't been here before, Kaito realized as Shinichi entered. Him coming into my room… This is kinda exciting, actually.
Once he entered the room, Shinichi's eyes were immediately analyzing the place. It lingered particularly long on the poster of Toichi, but he said nothing about it, looking at the empty fishtanks imbedded in the walls instead. "I've seen those tanks around everywhere in this house," Shinichi noted. "How come?"
"It's a long story," Kaito laughed awkwardly. "You'd have to ask my mom about it, she was the one who made that interesting stylistic choice." Shinichi knew Kid had a fear of fire, so Kaito couldn't let the detective know he had one as well.
Shinichi hummed lightly, before sitting down on a chair. Kaito sat on the chair next to that one and leaned one arm on the table. "What card game would you like to play today?" Digging into his pocket, he pulled out a deck with a grin.
"Let's do war," Shinichi suggested.
Kaito shuddered. "That's going to take hours ."
Shinichi smirked. "Eager to get rid of me so soon?"
Kaito's eyes widened. "No, no! That's not it! We'll play war!" He let a smile return to his face, however, when Shinichi began laughing.
"I'll shuffle," Shinichi offered, and Kaito passed the deck over to him. Shinichi began shuffling the deck.
"What's so fun about war, anyway?" Kaito questioned.
"The part where I win," Shinichi offered.
"It's a game of luck, though," Kaito muttered. "A game that involves more strategy is my type of game."
"Don't you play with luck too though, like with the Luna Memoria?" Shinichi questioned absentmindedly.
And Kaito froze, staring at Shinichi in horror. A few seconds passed before the detective realized something was wrong and looked up. His eyes widened, and he let out a soft curse.
"You… You thought I was Kid this whole time…" Kaito whispered, shaking. "This… This was all so you could investigate me, wasn't it?"
"No, no! You have it all wrong!" Shinichi floundered, but Kaito had already gotten out of his chair and was backing away.
"Get away!" Kaito shouted, quickly digging through his pockets in search of his card gun. "Get away from me!" Hurt was surging through him, a feeling of betrayal overwhelming all of his senses. "I thought you were my friend!"
Shinichi opened his mouth to explain, but Kaito finally found his card gun and quickly shot one card at Shinichi. It whizzed past his shoulder, and he turned to look at it, shock clear in his eyes.
"Kuroba," Shinichi tried again. "Let me-"
"Don't call me that!" Kaito shouted. "I'm just Kid to you, aren't I, Tantei-kun ?"
Shinichi froze, the use of that nickname, so distant from his real name, seemed to hurt somewhere inside of him. "I'm sorry," he whispered. "But I promise you, this isn't what you think it is." And with that, the detective left the room.
Shaking, Kaito collapsed to the floor, letting out a sob. These feelings were too much for him to recover from that fast. This feeling of being betrayed, not just by a friend, but by someone who he now realized was more than that… Kaito curled up into a ball and let himself cry.
Shinichi trudged home in misery, thoughts whirling through his head. The main one was I ruined it. He had grown to care a lot for Kaito, and now the magician thought he only became his friend to investigate whether or not he was Kid. When Shinichi tried to explain, Kaito reacted badly.
Stopping in front of Agasa's, he hesitated on whether he should head in and talk to Ai or not. Maybe she had more information on what his dreams meant. Pausing for a few moments, debating the pros and cons of this, Shinichi finally went inside.
Greeting Agasa at the doorway, he soon headed to Ai's room. The small scientist spotted him at once, and turned to face him. "Kudo-kun, you're here," she said.
"Yeah," Shinichi murmured, not wanting to get involved with small talk right now. "Have you discovered anything?"
Ai looked at him, seeming to figure out that something bad had happened, and then said, "Yes, I have."
That got Shinichi to perk up. "What is it?"
Ai searched for her words before continuing. "Well… Do you believe in reincarnation?"
"It could be possible," Shinichi admitted. "I'm not sure anymore." Especially since Koizumi-san showed up at my house claiming to be a witch…
"I think you're remembering your past lives," Ai said softly.
"Oh," Shinichi whispered. "And Ku- Kid dies in a fire in every single one of them?"
Ai nodded. "Yes… And I believe that in every past life, you were his lover."
And the walls inside Shinichi's mind began to collapse.