Kid plays the part of a normal person really well. He's free with the magic tricks, but no one seems to bat an eye at the blatant link between Kid's supposed biggest fan and Kid himself. Being the son of a magician apparently gives him some leeway to be eccentric.

Or maybe everyone in Edoka is in on it, too.

Edoka as a whole seems to love Kid. The base for his international fan group is in Edoka. The clock tower he'd defended still rings in the hour. The task force determined to catch him primarily fills their ranks from Edoka.

Hakuba seems to be the only one not under Kid's magnetic thrall.

Shinichi watches the trio approach him, Kid between Nakamori's daughter and Hakuba. He looks eerily like what Shinichi did when he was still the proper age, but with fewer of Shinichi's elegant edges. He's roguish and sharp, edges like broken stained glass. He'll be able to pass himself off as Shinichi for a few more years without using a mask until the sharp lines fully flesh out his face.

He's obviously unconcerned about hiding himself from law enforcement. Kid makes strange friends for a criminal.

Kid spots him first, and to his credit, nothing more than polite interest shows on his face. Hakuba recognizes him instantly, and Nakamori lights up in surprise and astonishment.

"Do you have a little brother and didn't tell us?" Nakamori asks Kid. She jabs her elbow out at the thief, who avoids it without looking away.

"That's no relation, thank god. Aoko-kun, meet Edogawa Conan, also known as the Kid Killer," Hakuba introduces. "We've met before, if you recall."

"Hakuba Sugaru from the Detective Koshien case." Shinichi grins up at him. He has a feeling they would get along spectacularly when Shinichi's the proper age. "I remember you."

"But odd for you to be wandering around alone in Edoka. Are you lost, Edogawa-kun?" Hakuba looks concerned, scanning the crowd behind Shinichi for a guardian.

"I'm on a quest!" he says as cheerfully as he can manage. He smiles up at Kid in the center of the group, who is starting to look a little wary. He's also scanning the crowd behind Shinichi, but less obvious about it. "My friends and I were camping at Oaria Camp-jo. We found something there and it's been our quest to get it back to the person who lost it."

"Oh? What did you find?" Nakamori asks.

Shinichi smiles even brighter at her, and he gestures to his backpack. "Let me show you!"

He opens his bag and pulls out the box as carefully as he can manage.

"We found this in the cabin to start." He pulls out the map and offers it up.

Nakamori takes it with one hand and gasps. Her free hand comes up over her mouth and her eyes glaze with tears. "Kaito."

Kid leans over her shoulder and pales to near white.

"This is from that trip," he says, "We didn't get to go. I forgot he planned it."

Nakamori offers it to him, grabbing one of his arms and leaning into him. Hakuba looks confused, and Shinichi sympathizes. He hadn't understood the significance until he went looking for "Nonchalant Lupin" and found Kid.

"You solved his puzzles, didn't you?" Kid asks, pulling away from Nakamori to kneel in front of Shinichi. His eyes are blue and purple and flecked with green and glazed with tears that he blinks away. "Did you find the treasure?"

"Oh! Yeah." Shinichi pulls out the other clues they'd found, handing over the riddles one by one. "We had to solve a new puzzle to find the next clue and then solve those. We found this at the end."

Kid takes each of the puzzles, reading them and grinning. "Did you climb the pine tree to get this one down?"

"Yeah." Shinichi offers the little chest they found buried in the sand by the shore. Under a plank of wood marked with an "X" naturally.

At least Kid came by his showmanship honestly.

Kid cradles it carefully, taking in the wear on the soft wood. Obviously, it hadn't been meant to be left out in the elements for ten years, but it kept to the contents in good condition. Shinichi refuses to feel guilty for opening the chest and reading through everything.

Kid pulls out an envelope marked "Congratulations!" He opens it and takes out two tickets for the 1998 World Championship of Magic, a blue rose hair pin, a black clover hat pin, and a trick deck of cards.

Nakamori drops down next to Kid, leaning into him and biting her lip against tears. Hakuba hovers over the group, shifting in place with his arms crossed and eyes averted.

"He was going to defend his title that year. After he died, they organized a tribute instead and had the man he defeated return. They sent us complementary tickets, but we didn't go." Kid handls everything delicately, and he offers the blue rose pin to Nakamori with a smile. "He wanted you to have this, I think."

She takes it from him with the same care he'd offered it, and immediately uses it to pull her bangs out of her face.

Kid brushes a finger over it, eyes drifting back to the remaining items after a moment.

"You solved all of his puzzles and somehow found me so it would be where it belonged," Kid says softly, closing his hands over the cards, hat pin, and envelope. "How?"

And Shinichi pulls out the last thing they'd found buried with the chest.

"It helped that your dad was famous," he said, "Once I knew who he was, I asked my police officer friends to help find you."

It's a framed picture of a family, Kid obviously the small child wearing the miniature cape and top hat. His parents each had one arm around him, smiling into the camera and every inch the perfect loving family. Shinichi's parents immediately recognized the couple, and it only took them minutes to track down the son.

It took even less time with "Nonchalant Lupin and family" written on the back of the photo in careful script for Shinichi to piece everything together.

Kid's hands shake as he takes the photo, and even Hakuba abandons the distance between them to offer Kid comfort. Nakamori and Hakuba press into him from either side as Kid sucks in a shaky breath.

"It wouldn't have been right to leave that behind or to keep it when I could find the owner. Your dad put a lot of thought and love into making the clues and putting this as the prize in the end. I couldn't let all that go to waste." Shinichi doesn't care if he seems too mature or suspicious, because as soon as Kid looks him in the eye, he knows Kid will keep his secrets, too.

There has to be something in the air here that makes caring for the Kaitou Kid so easy.