Disclaimer: All characters from Detective Conan and Magic Kaito belong to their respective owners. I'm only borrowing them from Aoyama-sensei.
One Truth
By: mysteriousangelgirl
Chapter 1: The Truth
Conan was walking home one day, just like any other day, when he suddenly felt like he was being stalked. He glanced behind himself, but even finding no one in sight didn't make him feel any better. He continued on back to the detective agency when he heard a footstep behind him. Jerking around the split second his brain told him 'trouble!', he caught a glimpse of his stalker just before they disappeared. Conan stood staring at the place his stalker had just stood a moment ago. Who the heck was that? I've never been stalked before and I don't even recognize the person.....Conan was deep in thought when he arrived at the agency, so when Ran said, "What's up, Conan-kun?" he didn't even hear. As he continued walking to the room he shared the Ran's father, Mouri Kogoro, he was still in thought about his stalker. Who could it be? I have no idea.....He was so absorbed in his thinking that he failed to notice the person standing outside the agency window, across the street, who was staring at him. The man frowned. I'm sorry, Kudo.....but it must be done. Then the man walked away, disappearing into the dark shadows of the alley.
That night, while eating dinner, Conan heard Kogoro mention something interesting so decided to tune in.
"What did you say, Uncle??" Conan asked. Please tell me I heard wrong.....
"What did I say? Well, I said I solved a great case today.....and Megure was congratulating me....and....."
"Not that!!!" Conan sighed. That case was too easy.....I'll bet even Ran would see through that....."I meant what you said afterwards."
"Afterwards.....I don't know what I said.....Ran, what did I say?" the detective stuffed another glob of rice and who-knows-what into his mouth as he looked at his daughter.
Ran sighed. "I think you said that Megure-keibu mentioned a stalker in this neighborhood and told us to be careful....."
Conan narrowed his eyes. Is that why the stalker's here? To stalk me? Who is he anyway? If it's someone dangerous, I can't stay here.....Conan stood up. "Uh....Ran-neesan, thanks for the dinner, but I'm not feeling well today.....can I go and get some rest?" Conan put on a tired face and pretended to have a stomach ache.
Ran looked at him worriedly. "Sure, but are you sure you're okay? I mean, if you're sick or anything, I can get you some medicine."
"No, it's okay. I just need some rest." And with that said, Conan walked off to Kogoro's room, shutting the door firmly behind him. As he walked over to his backpack leaning against the closet door, he felt the hairs on the back of his neck prick up. He sensed someone else's presence in the room. But how's that possible? He argued with himself.
As he was turning around in a 360 circle, he caught a glimpse of white flickering by the window. He walked near it and just as he was reaching up to close the half-opened window, a white gloved hand appeared. It held onto the window, keeping Conan from closing it and as Conan stumbled back with fear, the person with the white gloved hand said, "No worries, tantei-san. I'm just need to talk to you.......privately."
"Who...who are you?" Conan asked, pressing the button on his watch, preparing the stun dart.
"Well, who else?" the man said, pulling himself in from the window and glancing at Conan's stun wrist watch. "Touchee, tantei-san. It's only me...."
"Oh. You." Conan lowered his arm, and sighed. "What do you want?"
The white-clad thief's eyes narrowed. "What with you?"
"Nothing."
"Riiiighhhttt." The thief said, stretching the word out to show his disbelief.
"I said, nothing."
"Well, since you're not going to tell me what's on you mind, I'm going to tell you what's on MY mind. First, however, we can't talk here, so would you care to join me on a ride to the park?"
Conan sighed again. "Wonderful. A late-night talk with Kid at the park. A midnight picnic! Sure, why not, first let me leave a note or something......" Conan fumbled around the messy desk for a pen and paper. "Not like they'll see......." he mumbled, scratching something on the paper. Then he turned back to Kid. "By the way, I wouldn't want to be seen talking with Kid, the Phantom Thief, so would you mind to change back to your normal self?"
"What, and let you catch me?" Kid said sarcastically.
Conan sighed. "I'm not in the mood for jokes, okay? It's a truce for now, you know that. We're both on neutral territory when you're not Kid and when, well, Conan, ok?" He rubbed his temples, trying hard to keep a headache from coming on.
"Alright, tantei-san. I can tell you're quite worried and stressed about something, but I'll press you about it later." In a flash of light, Kid disappeared and Kuroba Kaito stood in his place. "Now, let's go." He jerked a finger toward the window. "I'm also quite surprised you'd take me up on the truce offer."
As Kaito was getting out of the room through the window, Conan said, "Oh, one more thing. I think I'm being stalked, so if you don't mind being seen, then....."
Kaito froze. "You're being stalked?"
Conan nodded. "Sort of. Just noticed today, but now that I think of it, I've been feeling 'watched' for a while now, you know what I mean. I don't know who they are, nor which side they're on, but just letting you get a heads up..."
"......"
Conan looked at Kaito. "You still want to go out and talk?"
".................."
"Guess not."
"Actually, it's alright. Let's go." Kaito grabbed Conan by the arm, yanked him toward the window and together they landed softly on the pavement a floor below and in front of the detective agency.
Kaito walked along the street with Conan, silently, neither daring to start a conversation, until they were out of the street, safely on their way to the Beika Central Park.
"So.....well, what's up?" Kaito said, running a hand through his spiky hair.
"Not much, besides realizing I have a stalker, but it seems my stalker is asleep now because I don't feel anything, or at least being 'watched' that is....." Conan stuck his hands in his pockets, shivering slightly as the cool fall breeze aroused goose-bumps on his arms, and wishing he had brought a jacket or sweater with him.
Kaito was silent for a while. Conan looked over at his friend, or rival, whatever you wanted to call him, and remembered how they had first 'officially' met.
He had been falling, pushed by another murderer for figuring them out, and they had grabbed him by the shirt and before he could react, he had been flung off the suspension bridge where he cornered the criminal (very bad place to do that, but...) and was falling toward the water. If Kid hadn't suddenly showed up in his hang-glider and carried Conan to the shore, he would have drowned or died from getting hit by a incoming ship.
Kid, at the time, was in his white uniform, even if he hadn't been on a heist. He dropped Conan off on the shore, tipped his hat and then disappeared. Conan was only able to get a good glimpse of his face because of being so close to his rival. Although he hadn't recognized Kaito, after doing some researching and hacking into police files, he figured out who the Kid was. He never confronted him though. He saw Kaito around sometimes, they both lived in Tokyo, but they just nodded at each other, as if mutely saying 'thanks'.
Then one night, Kid, dressed normally, had shown up at Conan's window.
"Yo, tantei-san."
Conan rubbed his eyes, glancing at the clock and then back at the intruder and muttered, "What exactly are you doing at my window at precisely 3 in the morning?"
"Wow....you sound like Hakuba....." Kaito grinned.
Conan frowned, yawning and gestured to the snoring detective on the bed. "Ya wanna wake him up too?"
"Well, it would easier if you'd come out with me....."
"Alright, but then the teacher will wonder why her best student is snoring away during math class tomorrow morning....." Conan silently got out of his bed (a mat and blanket, really) and walked over to the open window.
Kaito grabbed him by the shoulders and lifted him out. They landed on the pavement below with nothing more than a slight tap. They had wandered around and finally ended up at the park. At last, Conan asked the question that had been bothering him for so long.
"Why are you Kid, Kuroba?"
"Then why are you Kudo Shinichi?"
"Kuroba.....you know that already...."
"Well, I know what I overheard and found out, but I don't know the real story. Once you've told me that, then you'll know the reason I wake you up at 3 to talk to you."
"Alright fine. So it started like this......you know I went to TropicalLand on a date with Ran, right? And then while we went on this roller coaster ride, we encountered a murder mystery, and I solved it....whatever. What catch my attention were two men in black, very suspicious, and so when I saw them again later that night, I decided to follow them to see what kind of illegal business they were doing. I was around a corner, watching and they were doing illegal stuff and as I was snapping pictures, Gin, the tall blond one, came up behind me and knocked me out with like a bat or something like that.....and while I was half-conscious, they force fed me the poison APTX4869 and when I wake up, volla! I'm a kid and then I get taken to the police station.....then I run home, Hagase finds me and then Ran finds me.....and you know the rest...."
"I see.....well, then I guess you're wondering what that has to do with anything, right? Well, first of all, my father was Kuroba Toichi, which I know you've already reached about. Yes, he was a famous magician, the best of the best, man. I didn't believe he died in an accident, not once, but back then I was only seven, so I accepted that he was gone, and went on. As I was getting older, I wondered about my father's death, why my mother wasn't too upset about it, as if she knew it would happen, and what not, so I did some research on my own. I knew that my father NEVER messed up, and if he did, he somehow managed to make it part of the show. Then he just suddenly died. I suspected later that he was killed, and when I asked my mother, she dismissed that idea just like that. She's always change the subject when I brought up Dad. Since my mom wouldn't help me, I researched alone, and finally one day, I found my dad's secret Kid's room.
Everything in there just told me my dad was Kid. I didn't believe it at first, but it was all there! It was evidence. There was a tape too, but it broke when I finally found it.....and then everything made sense. Kid's disappearance eight years ago, my father's death just around that time....well, so I used the message that Jii sent out, to find out if Dad really was dead, or just in hiding. When Jii found me, he was my dad's, as Kid, servant, and thought I was Dad and then he confirmed everything, about Dad being Kid and that. Then he told me that Dad had been murdered.....and so something made me take on the job of Kid, relieving him from the dead and bringing him back to life. It just fit, I guess, because, well Dad was the Kid. And you know the rest, I'm Kid, I steal things, but I return them.....and Jii helps me sometimes, basically to watch my back......"
"Kuroba, I'm sorry about your dad.....but how does that connect to my story?"
"Kudo, the people who made you like this," he gestured to Conan, "they killed my father."
"Are you serious?"
"Why wouldn't I be?"
"But.....gah, dammit, that freakin' organization!!"
"I know, Kudo, but just getting angry is enough."
"So you're luring them out, right?"
"Yeah....."
"You do know how dangerous that is?"
"Of course, from the moment I put on the white suit, cap, and monocle, I knew."
"Kuroba, if you die, I will NOT forgive you...."
"Oh, and why not?"
"Because then they would have killed another person, and I will not let them do that if it's the last thing I do!"
"But what if you die, Kudo?"
"Uh......."
"Exactly. So how about a truce?"
"A truce."
"Yeah, so while I'm not Kid, and you're not Kudo Shinichi, like right now, or while we're not on a heist, we're on neutral territory. No stun darts, and not card guns, ok?"
"Well.......I guess that's fair enough for now.....though I hadn't thought about using my watch yet......besides, I still owe you for saving me on the bridge."
"Nuh-uh. That's what got us started, and now that you've agreed to help me...."
"Since when did I say I was going to help you?"
"Well, Kudo, we're after the same people, going after them separately would probably just get us killed....."
"Alright I know. But still, I'll need to think this over...."
"Yes, I know, working with a phantom thief isn't exactly in your manual book of being a detective, I know."
Conan nodded and their conversation came to a abrupt end, as Conan turned to head back home, Kaito said, "You know what, I've always wondered why you look so much like me....."
"Yeah I wonder.....Ran mistook you for me once and then I got in trouble....."
Kaito snorted. "Well then, tantei-san. I'll let you get back to sleep, while I catch up on my ZZZZ's too.....so ja ne"
"Are you going to meet me again?"
"I'll come find you....." was the reply and then silence. Kaito had just disappeared. Conan found it rather spooky, but jogged him and quietly slipped into his room again. He was soon asleep again, as if nothing had happened at all that night......
"So, Kudo, do you wonder why I came back today?"
"To ask if I want to help you?" Conan guessed.
"No, well actually it's something much more important than that....."
"Like......"
"Well, since we've already established the fact that we're on the same side and that working together will be better than alone, I guess I should tell you about what I found out....."
"What did you find out, Kuroba??"
"Well, okay, how would you react when you find out that, since you're already living a lie, you know no offense or anything, but if you find out that what you thought to be true was actually a lie too?"
"I don't get you, Kuroba....."
"Well, Kudo, you're really not Kudo Shinichi......"
"What? Then who am I?" Conan asked sarcastically, thinking that Kaito was still kidding.
"Well, how should I say this? I mean....well, it's just that, okay....uhh...."
"Kuroba, just spit it out."
"You are my brother, Kudo."
-to be continued-
Eee, ya like the cliff-hanging ending?? Alright, I know it's not that good, but still I hope you like it so far. And please give me feedback, hint hint review!!!!!! Alrighty, I'll see ya in the next chapter!!!!