When Kaito reached Aoko's house in the morning, he froze upon hearing the panicked voices inside. Stepping closer to the door, he pressed his ear against it and listened.
The voices belonged to Nakamori and the taskforce. Kaito frowned. Nakamori-keibu doesn't usually bring the entire taskforce to his house… Fear boiled inside him. What's going on? Did they find out that I'm Kid?
Then Aoko's voice spoke up. "I just feel bad… If it weren't for me, then this…"
"It's not your fault, Aoko, it's mine," Nakamori said gruffly. "And we are going to fix this, got it?"
"Yeah," Aoko murmured softly. She fell silent soon after.
"Should we bring Mouri-san into our investigation?" One of the taskforce officers asked.
"Of course!" Nakamori replied. "It's his daughter that has been kidnapped, after all!"
Kaito froze, his eyes widening. …huh?
Nakamori continued talking, at one point suggesting to Aoko that she leave, since the conversation was clearly upsetting her. Kaito didn't quite process what he said. Mouri Ran has been kidnapped? Why would this happen? And why is the taskforce involved? They deal with Kid, not kidnappings…
The front door opened and Kaito leaped back, surprised, and relaxed when he saw Aoko. His best friend was trembling, tears building up in the corners of her eyes, and the moment she saw Kaito, she jumped at him and wrapped her arms around him. Kaito didn't say anything, he just hugged her back.
It took a few minutes until Aoko detached herself from Kaito, using her sleeves to wipe away the tears. "Kaito…" she whispered. "It's horrible…"
"What happened?" Kaito asked, worry gnawing at his mind.
Aoko looked away. "A few days ago, a threat was sent to tousan," Aoko began to explain. "It stated that if he didn't catch Kid at the heist that took place two days ago, then his daughter would be kidnapped."
Kaito felt as if all the breath had been knocked out of him. "What- and- and then-"
"I'm fine, clearly," Aoko whispered. "But the kidnapper took someone who looked just like me by accident."
"Mouri Ran," Kaito replied, feeling numb.
Aoko only nodded in response.
"This- this is-" Kaito found he couldn't form words.
"Horrible," Aoko repeated her earlier words. "It's horrible…"
"Yes," Kaito whispered. "It is." He looked at the house. "So your dad and the taskforce are going to find Mouri Ran-san?"
Aoko nodded. "Yeah."
Kaito clenched his fists at his sides. "Alright. I'm sure they'll find her."
"I hope so," Aoko whispered.
A plan was already forming in Kaito's mind. A plan to find Mouri Ran, before the kidnapper discovered their mistake and… what would they do to her? Kill her, then take the correct girl? Kaito didn't know. But he knew he had to save Ran.
And unfortunately, there was only one person Kaito could ask for help.
Someone he didn't quite trust.
That was how he found himself in disguise on the doorstep of the Kudo Mansion.
Waking up to a phone call from your best friend's girlfriend wasn't the best way to start the day, especially when the call started with "Ran's been kidnapped!"
"...huh?"
Masumi's voice sounded panicked. "I said, Ran's been kidnapped!"
Dread immediately pooled into Shinichi's stomach. "Oh. Fuck."
"I'm working with the police department to find her," Masumi said. "Please, can you join in?"
"If I need to, I will," Shinichi agreed. "I'll do some private investigating first, and tell you if I find anything. Message me everything you already know."
Masumi breathed out a sigh of relief. "Thank you, Kudo-kun."
"No worries, Sera."
Masumi hung up the call and not even five minutes later, Shinichi found himself with all the case information discovered so far. Looking at the information, Shinichi decided his first step was to go to the Mouri detective agency and search around Ran's room for any trace of where she had gone the night before. He quickly made his way out of the house, which took way longer than Shinichi would have liked due to said house's size, and found himself on the doorstep facing a stranger.
Shinichi froze. "Who are you?" He hissed out.
The stranger glanced around, his eyes frantic, before they finally landed on Shinichi again. "Kaitou Kid," he introduced himself. "I'd like to help."
It had taken some convincing, but Shinichi finally agreed to accept Kid's help, and the two of them had investigated together for the rest of the day. Kid's information was limited, as he only had around the same amount as Shinichi. Shinichi supposed that it wasn't too suspicious. It would be more suspicious if Kid knew every single detail about what had happened. However, whenever he was in Kid's presence, Shinichi couldn't stop himself from tensing. It was clear that Kid noticed, but for whatever reason, he chose not to say anything.
Shinichi noticed Kid's mannerisms as well. The detective clearly wasn't the only one with some trust issues. He supposed it made sense. Kid was a criminal, Shinichi a detective. It was Shinichi's job to put Kid in jail. But Shinichi… never did. At this point, he wasn't even sure why - or maybe, he reflected, I do know why, but I just don't want to believe it. But that wasn't his concern right now.
The next morning, Kid showed up once again, and Shinichi had to ask him, "Why are you doing this?"
Kid paused, then grinned his usual Kid grin and said, "Oh, am I not allowed to help a lady?"
"Fine, don't answer," Shinichi replied, sighing. "But I know you have intentions other than being a kind gentleman."
Kid narrowed his eyes slightly but didn't object.
The rest of the day, the two got even closer to finding Ran. After telling Masumi about his new lead, Shinichi bid farewell to Kaito and once again went to bed, knowing he wouldn't be able to sleep until his best friend was safe.
Kaito was glad when they found Ran the next day.
Of course, he stepped back to allow Shinichi to comfort his best friend. Kaito swallowed as he realized that this could have been him and Aoko, had things gone differently with the kidnapping. But would Kudo still be working with me? He wondered. He had gone to Shinichi offering his help. But Shinichi didn't know that Kaitou Kid was Kuroba Kaito, so…
Kaito breathed out a sigh he didn't know he was holding in. Catching Shinichi's eye, Kaito nodded and left.
At home, as he took off his disguise and got dressed in casual clothes, intending to meet Aoko in a few minutes to see her happy expression at the news, Kaito noticed that something was in his pocket that clearly wasn't there that morning. Frowning, he pulled out a sheet of paper with a short message written on it.
Come to my house tomorrow morning. I want to talk.
-Kudo Shinichi
Kaito laughed slightly. "I didn't realize you knew sleight of hand, Kudo," he whispered, before he tucked the paper safely away in a drawer and headed over to the Nakamori's place.
Shinichi was leaning against the wall in front of his house when Kaito arrived at the doorstep. He looked at Kaito with gratefulness as he showed up in the same disguise he had been using for the past few days. "Kid."
"Kudo," Kaito greeted.
Shinichi pushed himself off the wall. "Thank you," he said. "For helping me find Ran."
"Ah, no problem," Kaito responded. Is that all he wants to talk about?
"And," Shinichi continued. "I noticed that maybe we're not as different as we think we are."
Kaito paused at that. "Oh, I… see?"
Shinichi huffed out a laugh. "Maybe you'll realize how someday," he said. "But I wanted to say that I want to be able to trust you someday. I know we're enemies, but I think that, maybe, we could earn each other's trust."
Kaito looked at him for a while, then whispered, "I'd like that."
If you enjoyed reading, please leave a comment!
Concurrent Works
-But I Know You'll Cause Me Grief
Date: 10/28/2022
Fandoms: The Mortal Instruments
Series: Nico's Whumptober 2022
Whumpee: Alec
Summary: Alec worries about Jace.
Upcoming Works
-Dream Sweet Dreams for Me
Date: 10/29/2022
Fandoms: The Mentalist
Series: Nico's Whumptober 2022
Whumpee: Jane
Summary: Jane hasn't been sleeping well lately.
-The Chosen Thief
Date: 11/1/2022
Fandoms: Detective Conan, Magic Kaito
Series: 70 Tuesdays of ABO
Pairings: Shinichi/Kaito
Summary: Kaito wasn't sure why Shinichi would choose him of all omegas to be his mate, especially when Mouri Ran was still available. Maybe he was just practice, and Shinichi really planned on getting with Ran after all. Shinichi has to reassure Kaito that he seriously wants him.
-(Never)ending Patience
Date: 11/4/2022
Fandoms: The Mentalist
Series: N/A
Pairings: Van Pelt/Jane
Summary: Van Pelt tries her best to be patient with Jane's shenanigans, but it's hard.
-Eyes on Me
Date: 11/8/2022
Fandoms: The Mortal Instruments
Series: 70 Tuesdays of ABO
Pairings: Alec/Jace
Summary: Alec is jealous of how much attention Jace gives Clary. Why couldn't he receive that attention instead?
-To Rely on Him
Date: 11/11/2022
Fandoms: Detective Conan
Series: N/A
Pairings: Shinichi/Heiji
Summary: After Shinichi is injured, he has to rely on Heiji until he recovers.