Detective Conan and Magic Kaito characters, settings, and ideas do not belong to me but to Aoyama Gōshō.
Warnings: References to major character death, angst like whoa
Return Triumphant
By Taliya
Heist: Revival
Summary: Kaitou KID's inaugural heist draws more familiar faces than he expected—and resurrects a few ghosts in the process.
With the help of Kuroba Chikage and Jii Konosuke, a heist notice from Kaitou KID had been written and delivered to the desk of one Superintendent Nakamori Ginzo, head of Division Two's Kaitou KID Task Force of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department. It had, after years of training, been child's play to slip into and out of the multistoried office unnoticed, and a small bug had been planted under the corner of the inspector's desk so that his reaction could be heard by the newly-minted thief and his two assistants.
The trio consisted of Chikage, Jii, and sixteen-year-old Edogawa Conan—who was in reality twenty-six-year-old Kudou Shinichi: homicide detective, and the third and current successor to the Kaitou KID mantle. They sat at the dining table in the Kuroba home one Friday morning in July, eating breakfast that Chikage and Conan had jointly prepared and chatting easily with one another, a small transceiver-speaker resting innocently on the center of the table quietly issuing the early-morning chatter of the members of the Kaitou KID Task Force. Jii had dropped by the home shortly after seven so that he could also listen to the metaphorical fireworks going off.
"Are you serious, Chikage-san, he really was that afraid of them?"
The widow smiled in fond remembrance. "Kaito was deathly afraid of them. Reacted like a cat touching scalding-hot water, though he put a lot of effort into hiding that phobia of his."
Jii chortled. "Never would have thought it considering he jumped off the Queens Elizabeth after the Black Star heist, did you?"
Conan chuckled ruefully. "I was a little more preoccupied with making sure Ran was actually wearing clothes. I thought that he actually had stripped her of her clothing and left her naked somewhere. I mean—" he flushed in remembrance, "—he even had lacy pink undergarments!"
Both Jii and Chikage burst out laughing. "That boy…" Chikage choked out, "was utterly shameless."
"You could say that again," the detective laughed. "I'm amazed that—"
"HAH?!" Nakamori's surprised voice crackled through the small speaker. There was a startled outcry from his subordinates at their superior's eruption, and the three at the table froze in their conversation only to stifle their titters at the inspector's reaction so they could listen in. They had not caught him entering the office. "This is—this is—"
"Na—Nakamori-keibu…?"
"KAITOU KID! I WILL CATCH YOU FOR SURE THIS TIME!" the Superintendent announced to everyone within a five kilometer radius, "I knew you hadn't died the first time, and I wasn't going to fall for that trick a second time!"
"Um… keibu…?"
"A notice! Finally! I have a notice here on my desk!" Nakamori began to recite:
"In the national sanctuary of heritage
When the pig greets the maker of rice cake,
I will claim the Phoenix's Egg.
-Kaitou KID"
There was a brief pause as the men absorbed the notice before the superintendent bellowed, "Konno! Have your team look up the Phoenix's Egg! Find out where the target is located! Yamabuki, confirm the date and time with the quarter moon and the pig! We'll catch him this time!"
There was a resounding chorus of agreement from the Task Force as they dispersed to perform their appointed tasks, and Conan reached out to shut the transmitter off with a chuckle. "Nakamori-keibu sounds fired up," he commented, grinning widely.
Jii wiped a tear from his eye. "It's been a while since I've heard that."
"Well then," Chikage said briskly, all business, "Why don't we recheck your equipment first before relaxing for the rest of the day? Jii and I will leave around seven this evening to double-check the preparations on our ends, and hopefully in two nights' time we'll give them a heist to remember." She winked cheekily. "I think both Kaito and Touichi would approve of this one!"
The rotors of the helicopter thrummed loudly in his ears as Jii expertly piloted the craft, the generated winds whipping at the black cloak he wore over the trademark white suit as he stood by the open passenger hatch. From this vantage point Conan could see the literal sea of people gathered outside the museum, all of them chanting KID's name.
The idea that these people were rooting for him, hoping that he succeeded was… breathtakingly amazing. The excitement from the crowd, added to the knowledge of what he was about to do and who he now was, sent his pulse racing in a manner he had only experienced when he had chased Kuroba Kaito as Kaitou KID all those years ago. It brought a nostalgic smile to his face, but he transformed it into KID's trickster grin because he knew Kaito would never want anybody to be unhappy on his account.
Conan had studied his face extensively in the mirror after he had initially donned the costume, trying out different expressions. The one that he knew would be his version of KID's smile had been a mixture of Kaito's mischievous, fun-loving grin and his own crafty, devious smirks. Even now it amazed him how similar he appeared to Kaito, and according to Chikage and Jii, his skill in magic and sleight of hand, while nowhere near close enough to rival Kaito's or Touichi's yet, was more than adequate to work for Kaitou KID, especially if he had help from his two older assistants. Still, both of the veterans had faith that Conan would soon reach his predecessors' levels what with how hard he trained to improve.
The only hitch in the whole thing had been his voice. Despite all the training that his mother had put him through, Conan had never been able to obtain that same vocal flexibility that either the previous KIDs possessed. To make up for it, Conan had asked his former neighbor Agasa Hiroshi to create an item similar to his old voice-changing bow tie—except that now, it was a thin, flesh-toned silicone strip that he wore around his throat, much like the one that Akai Shuichi wore during his stint as Okiya Subaru. It was sticky enough to stay without any additional adhesives and remained affixed through his practices in the clothing quick-changes and was practically invisible.
He was able to modulate his voice with the aid of two small, equally hidden electromagnets adhered to his right hand: one disc was stuck to the tip of his ring finger, the other at the base of the fleshy mound of his thumb. The relatively awkward locations of the magnets meant that he would not accidentally change his voice as he went about the heist—there was a very specific hand movement required to change his voice. Thankfully, Conan planned to use his normal voice with a slight lilting affectation that he could manage without the voice changer. It was in keeping with the manner that both Kaito-KID and Touichi-KID had spoken.
Jii maneuvered the helicopter into place above the back roof of the museum and rolled out an electronically retractable rope ladder. Holding the aircraft steady, Jii twisted so that he could see Conan and yelled, "Good luck, Conan-sama!" over the noise of the rotors. Conan smiled warmly back at the elderly man and began his descent to the rooftop. Jii had the helicopter sway a little as his searchlight roved the rooftop, presumably to preemptively spot Kaitou KID.
Once Conan made it to the roof, he muttered an affirmative into the small earpiece in one ear he, Jii, and Chikage were connected to via the same frequency, and the pilot pulled the ladder back up. The earpiece in his other ear was tuned into the police radio frequency, listening in to the Task Force's last-minute orders.
Conan was not surprised to learn that Hakuba Saguru had returned to Japan for the heist; after speaking extensively with Nakamori Aoko numerous times whenever she came home for the holidays he had learned that the half-Briton had long suspected and accused Kaito of being KID. That he would return from his native England for this was only par for the course for a detective who had dedicated a portion of his life chasing after the phantom thief. Now back on solid ground, the detective-turned-thief had to take shelter under an eave to forcefully calm himself down. He wondered if Kaito had ever felt so excited that he shook just before the start of a heist.
With a final breath, the phantom thief began the task of creeping to his appointed appearance site, every now and then ducking into the eaves as a searchlight rolled over his location. He made it with two minutes to spare and crouched behind the apex of the roof, eyes switching between the sky and his pocket watch. As Hakuba counted down the seconds in his earpiece, Conan readied a smoke bomb as Kaitou KID's grin spread across his face.
On the last second, KID dropped the pellet, engulfing the area in a blast of haze as he stood up on the apex of the roof, his black cloak stowed. As it cleared he stretched his arms wide to the roar of his fans and greeted them with, "LADIES AND GENTLEMEN!" in English. He took a few breaths to savor the moment before he tipped his hat and swept out his cape as he bent into an elegant bow, and the noise from his audience swelled.
Mixed somewhere in the ruckus of the crowd, Conan could hear the superintendent's promises to capture him this time. KID grinned rakishly as he dropped another smoke bomb and disappeared from view, when in reality he had slid down the side of the angled roof covered in the black cloak once more. He twisted right before he reached the edge, fingertips grasping the edge as he used his momentum to swing himself through a window Chikage had previously picked open.
KID tumbled into the hallway in a smooth barrel roll that had him rolling easily to his feet and he once again stowed the cloak. He glanced up and down the hallway to check for Nakamori's men, and finding none, grinned and sprinted down the hall only to quickly pop a ventilation grate in the wall open and slither into the ductwork with no one the wiser.
With the grate propped shut behind him, KID crawled through the duct and eyed the flurry of activity in the security room of the museum. There were officers watching multiple monitors showing camera feeds, most of them focused on the target of the heist: the Phoenix's Egg. The ovoid gemstone was a faceted crimson ruby that weighed in at twenty-three carats and was etched and inlaid with delicate gold filigree.
While the size of the egg made it noteworthy, it was the sheer intricacy of the gold ornamentation that made it one of a kind. Decorated with miniature likenesses of the East Asian phoenix, the ruby was a trade gift from the Chinese Qin Dynasty's founding emperor, Qin Shi Huang, to the Indian Mauryan Empire's fifth emperor, Dasharatha Maurya.
The Phoenix's Egg rested in a custom case much like the Fabergé Memories Eggs, which meant that snapping the case shut would keep the egg and its ornamentation safe from being jostled too much, as it was part of a traveling display. KID grinned at the image of his heist target on the screens and tapped a few buttons on a handheld transmitter before he backed away from the security room's grate. He continued crawling around the maze of piping, using a flashlight to light the passages until he reached the room with the Phoenix's Egg.
"How are you doing, Conan-sama?" came Jii's voice in one ear, the rotors of the helicopter still audible in the background.
"Just about to set off the smoke," he replied as he made a mental note to discuss how he was to be addressed during a heist. It would not do to have his earpiece fall out and have someone hear his name being called over it. But to be fair, the earpiece connecting him to Jii and Chikage was a safety precaution for this heist—a safety net for the newly minted phantom thief. Once he was more comfortable with running heists he would be on his own unless he specifically called them, though they both promised to be no further than a phone call away if he needed help.
The aging assistant hummed in satisfaction, and the former Phantom Lady replied, "Let us know if you need assistance."
KID replied with a quick, "Of course."
Resting just next to the grate was a smoke bomb with a wireless transmitter that Chikage had helpfully installed prior to the heist. The thief slid a gas mask over his face before pressing the small detonator. He watched with satisfaction as smoke billowed explosively from the device, the other grates in the room blasting similar white haze into the room. The looped feed he had initiated near the security room would prevent the officers in there from seeing the smoke, and the gas would knock out the eight officers in the nearby vicinity of the Egg while dropping visibility to nothing. A ninth officer was present as well—one who was not part of the police's plan—and who was none other than Phantom Lady in disguise.
KID eeled out of the duct with easy agility, navigating easily through the haze to his prize. Producing a small knife, he pried open the case opposite the invisible hinges Jii had installed when the display had been commissioned. The front panel swung open with ease. He snapped the case containing the Egg shut, whisked it from the case, and stowed it safely on his person via a custom-made harness that would keep it secure as he flipped and jumped. A handheld soldering gun adhered the glass panel back into place, evidence of his forced entry melted away by the heat of the gun.
By now, the smoke had begun to thin. The phantom thief hopped and flipped himself onto the tallest display case, up near the ceiling where a large, intricately woven area rug was hung. He slid into a lounging position on top of the glass cabinet, appearing completely at ease as he waited for the looped feed to cut and for the police to realize that the Egg was gone. A hand gesture, and Phantom Lady slipped out of the room to blend in with the other patrolling officers.
The magician smirked when a string of expletives filled one ear, courtesy of an enraged Nakamori Ginzou. He gave them thirty seconds to make their appearance in the gallery, and his eyes marked the various methods of escape he had at his disposal. The inspector and a veritable army of officers thundered into the room, eyes roving the smoke-fogged gallery through masks. "Where are you KID?" roared Nakamori.
"Just watching these good men take a nap," KID replied, waving his hand in a "hello" gesture as law enforcement finally discovered his location. Piece said, he rolled backwards and off the case, landing in a rolling crouch. A masked officer greeted him with a spare uniform, and the magician quick-changed in order to disappear into the sea of police.
"Spread out and find him!" the inspector was shouting as he directed his men to search every nook and cranny for the white-clad magician.
"He's not here!" KID called out with a disguised voice as he and the other officer he knew to be Phantom Lady appeared from behind the display. "He disappeared!"
Nakamori snarled. He might have been suspicious had only one officer appeared from behind the display—but two had appeared, and Kaitou KID was only one person. The idea of an accomplice never once crossed his mind, though to be fair both Kaito and Touichi had always managed to make it seem as though KID had strictly worked solo. While more and more men confirmed the lack of a hiding gentleman thief, KID and Lady escaped the crowd of police with little fanfare.
"See you outside," the disguised woman said once they reached the foyer.
KID nodded with a grin as he reverted back to the iconic white outfit. "I've an escape to stage." So saying, he turned and began to run up the main staircase to the fourth floor, waving merrily and grinning at every security camera he passed. Barreling his way into an emergency stairwell, he flew up the last flight and exited onto the roof.
A brisk wind plucked at his cape, tie, and clover charm, sending them fluttering and twirling. The full moon hung serenely over the Tokyo skyline, the cloudless sky twinkling with the few stars bright enough to penetrate the city's light pollution. KID pulled the case from its harness and cracked the outer protection open. Plucking the Egg from its resting place, he held it up to the moonlight for inspection.
Though the detailed gold filigree obstructed large portions of the ruby, there was still enough of it exposed that allowed him to see through the gem. The jewel appeared clear within, and KID knew that this one was not the one he sought. Well, you'll be going back to Nakamori soon enough.
"If you happen to be an impostor, you're a damn good one," a lightly-accented voice remarked over the soft whistling of the breeze.
KID turned on his heel as he slid the Egg back into its case, tucking it safely away before stuffing his hands in his pockets, eyes turning to his newest opponent. "Whoever said I was an imposter?" he asked evenly, the lilting tone Kaito had favored when he had been KID interweaving with his own voice. His tone was his own version of the gentleman thief—different, yet still the same. He withdrew the card gun from his right pocket and twirled it easily on a finger as he grinned rakishly at the shadowy figure. "Do you think an impersonator would have escaped Division Two's finest as easily as I have?"
He watched as Hakuba Saguru stepped out from the shadows of the stairwell, dressed in a lightweight trench coat. The half-Briton was dressed as impeccably as ever in a pressed button up, a silk tie held down with a polished gold tie clip, sharply creased trousers, and oxfords polished to a shine. His wavy blond hair was neatly combed and gelled, not a strand displaced by the wind.
Hakuba froze in his approach when he was about three meters away, hazel eyes focused on KID's face as he gasped in shock. His already pallid Westerner's complexion paled even more under the moonlight, and he looked immensely shaken—as though he had seen a ghost. The magician watched as the blond swallowed thickly, working his mouth in an effort to form comprehensible words. "Ku—Kuroba-kun?" he stuttered quietly, and behind his Poker Face the thief felt his heart break at the fragile, desperate hope he heard in the blond detective's voice.
KID bowed his head. "I'm afraid your friend has not been with us for a long time," he murmured, his voice contrite. It was a break in the character of the normally playful phantom thief, but it was Conan—Shinichi—who spoke the unvoiced apology, allowed his true self to bleed through for this one moment of commiseration.
He watched as Hakuba's shoulders visibly sagged as he ducked his head, and abruptly KID realized that the detective had suddenly lost his friend all over again at the shattered belief that the magician who stood before him had been his teenaged rival. He listened as the blond struggled to control his ragged breathing, and his heart ached for his loss.
"I am sorry," KID whispered, watching the Interpol officer grieve for a moment before he turned and made for the edge of the roof, both to escape and to give the other man the space to mourn in private.
"Wait!"
KID wished he could stay, could listen to what Hakuba had to say that weighed so heavily on his mind, but the orders being barked into his ear by the police warned him that they were on their way up to the roof. With a regretful glance at the blond. "I'm sorry I cannot stay," he began and watched as Hakuba's face crumpled, "But if you feel the need to air your grievances I wouldn't mind meeting you after…?"
Hakuba's head shot up, eyes alight with a near manic hope. "I promise not to arrest you," he quickly said in reply. It was a response that the magician knew a younger Hakuba Saguru would have never even considered.
And KID realized that the blond was subconsciously seeking closure. "Are you staying with your father for the duration of your visit?"
"Yes," the detective promptly answered.
The thief nodded. "I will find you there." KID forced a grin onto his face and tipped his hat at the staring detective. "Until then, have a good evening, Tantei-san," he said, and swan dived off the edge of the building. The pulley system that Chikage had previously installed and to which he had clipped himself into slowed his descent, allowing him to safely land on the ground. A push of a transmitter button had the clamps on the roof disengaging, and the cable was retracted into a coil that was anchored to a nearby tree. KID changed quickly into nondescript streetwear, taking the pulley and coiled cable with him.
He nonchalantly strode into the crowd and then past, mind churning on what Hakuba Saguru could possibly want to discuss with him.
"Conan? Status?"
Conan blinked, Chikage's voice rousing him from his contemplation. "Out of the museum," he answered, "and headed for the rendezvous point."
"Copy, Conan-sama," Jii replied, and there was silence from the earpiece that connected the magicians and phantom thieves.
The teen yanked the earpiece that was set to the police frequency out, no longer needing to listen to their orders. He ambled towards the parking garage that Jii's Vanden Plas Princess 1100 was parked in. Conan found the vehicle on the third floor, Jii and Chikage leaning against the back bumper and quietly talking. They both straightened to greet him, their celebratory smiles sliding off their faces at Conan's pensive and somewhat gloomy expression.
"What happened?" Chikage asked as she approached, reaching out to clasp his shoulders as if to physically inspect him for injuries, to reassure that he was not a ghost.
They traded concerned looks when Conan replied softly, "Hakuba Saguru."
"Oh," the Kuroba widow exhaled and dropped her arms from his shoulders. The heaviness in her voice made Conan recognize that her thoughts had instantly gone to her long-deceased child. There was silence for a long moment before she suggested, "Let's… continue this conversation in the car."
The three of them slid into the black vehicle, and it was a while before their driver broke the silence. "How was he?" Jii asked, cautiously curious.
Conan swallowed. "He—he didn't look so well…" His voice trailed off, and he had to clear his throat before he tried again. "I think it was like a sucker punch to the gut for him." He let that statement settle for a moment before he added, "I've agreed to meet him at his house." Both Chikage and Jii's expressions morphed into concern. "He won't unmask me," Conan said quickly, trying to quell their rising anxiety, "He promised he wouldn't and seemed to only want to talk."
There was silence before Jii hesitantly spoke. "If he has promised, then I believe it is safe for you to go." When Chikage opened her mouth to protest, the older man held up a hand, silently asking permission to continue. The woman subsided. "Hakuba-kun had always been a thorn in Bocchama's side. But in all my years of listening to the two interact, Hakuba-kun had never once acted dishonorably. I believe it was he who slipped Bocchama's glove away, kept any potential DNA samples to be gained from his glove out of the hands of the police when Nightmare fell to his death."
Conan frowned. "I remember that case, though not much of the details."
"Hakuba-kun had chased after Bocchama once he had stolen the Dark Knight—a pair of black opal earrings. He encountered Nakamori-chan chasing after Kenta Connery-kun, the son of ICPO officer Jack Connery-san. They arrived in a warehouse to Bocchama up on an aging catwalk with card gun in hand and missing a glove, Jack Connery on the floor dead with the missing glove in one hand and the earrings in the other, and Nightmare's mask several meters away with a card embedded in the forehead." The old assistant sighed.
"Because that glove touched skin, that was definite DNA evidence. And yet the police never mentioned obtaining Bocchama's glove as a piece of evidence. I can only conclude that Hakuba-kun realized that Bocchama had tried and failed to save Connery-san, and ensured the mask was off his face before Kenta-kun saw that his father was actually a murderer.
"So this is why I have faith that Hakuba-kun will stay true to his word and not unmask you. You should definitely be careful and have an escape plan or two ready, but I do not believe he will pose as the most obvious threat to you should you visit him."
Conan turned his eyes to Chikage to gauge her reaction. She sighed as well. "I've only ever heard Kaito insult that boy from day one. And yet despite the very prejudiced point of view, I could tell that Hakuba-kun was a respectable young man, if a little headstrong." She smiled faintly and stared at her live-in houseguest with warm concern mingled with sadness. "I think you should talk to him, Conan. Seeing you as you were tonight probably brought certain ghosts back to life."
"Yeah," Conan agreed heavily, "that's what I thought too." The rest of the trip back to Ekoda was quiet, each of the car's occupants lost in their own thoughts. Upon arriving at the Kuroba house, Jii asked if Conan wanted a lift to Hakuba's. "Thanks, but I'll be fine," the teenager replied. "It's really late, and I don't want you to accidentally be seen driving Kaitou KID around."
Chikage and Conan bid Jii a good night—or rather, morning at this point, and made their way into the house. "You'll be okay?" Chikage asked as Conan headed for the stairs.
Conan paused on the steps, turning to gaze upon the woman before nodding resolutely. "I'll be fine. Sleep well, Chikage."
"Come back safely, Conan," she replied before heading to the master bedroom on the ground floor to prepare for bed.
Conan murmured his confirmation, then made his way towards his room—and one of the entrances to KID's hidden workshop. He dropped through the revolving portrait, tucking the Egg safely on a counter before considering how he wished to appear before the blond.
The iconic white outfit was out. Conan had no desire to inspire flashback-induced panic attacks in the blond. But neither could he go with his simple reconnaissance blacks—it left too much of his near-identical-to-Kaito face exposed. So a partial mask would be used. Decision made, he shuffled to the vanity that housed all of his cosmetics, prosthetics, wigs, and contacts. The thief settled on just enough of a disguise to change the shape and angles of his face, and green contacts to further separate himself from Kuroba Kaito.
Jawline more angular with higher cheekbones and nose bridge, Conan studied himself in the mirror. His reflection appeared to be half Asian, half Caucasian when one included the changed eye color and the rust-brown wig. Tossing on baggy cargo pants, a blue and white-striped Tokyo Spirits jersey, and a faded black baseball cap bearing the curvy mountain and sun logo of the Whistler Blackcomb Resort, he tossed a few canisters of sleeping gas, his card gun, and a pair of lightweight tactile climbing gloves into his pockets. Conan could not recall if Kaito had ever been a proficient snowboarder—though he was a better than average skier—but as Whistler was renowned for their snowboarding trails, he felt it was a safe enough choice.
He glanced over an old blueprint of the Hakuba home before he left, and he could not help but wonder why Kaito had ever felt the need to obtain this particular set of blueprints. The early hours of the spring predawn was pleasantly cool as Conan made his way to the Hakuba residence at a light jog. As he neared the large house he slowed and hid in a neighbor's tree across the way, eyes searching for security cameras. He slid the KID monocle on and activated the night vision feature, confirming what he had seen with his naked eyes.
The entire house was dark, though KID spotted one balconied door on the second floor that had been left open. It was as clear an invitation as the magician thief was going to get, barring Hakuba highlighting up the unconventional entrance with neon lights. He double-checked the direction the various cameras were pointed and mentally mapped out the best route to get to the balcony without being spotted by the cameras as he pulled his gloves onto his hands.
Flipping out of the tree into a crouch, KID sprinted across the street, staying within the cover of the shadows between the street lamps. He vaulted over the exterior wall, landing in a blind spot. He slid around the areas monitored by the cameras, nimbly making his way through the garden without leaving a trace of his passing.
Sidling up next to the brick wall of the house, the thief tested his grip before he began the climb up to the second floor. The door in question was a Juliet balcony; there was just enough space for a body to crouch and hide in. KID flipped onto the balcony with barely a sound, ears straining to hear any sort of sound that would indicate a trap.
The house was silent—and rightfully so at a quarter past three in the morning—though with law enforcement inhabitants, sleep tended to be more touch and go. Using a small mirror, KID peeked through the open door. A bedroom greeted him, and sitting on the bed, dressed for sleep and partway under the covers, was Hakuba Saguru. The door leading to the rest of the house was closed, and—KID raised an eyebrow in surprise—several white noise generators were scattered about the room.
Marginally relaxing at the lack of security cameras or recording devices within the bedroom, the magician slipped into the interior of the home of the Superintendent General. "I will admit I was not expecting this warm of a welcome," he murmured, standing just inside the balcony doors and backlit by a beam of moonlight.
"I promise I pose no threat to you this night." KID turned his eyes on the blond detective. Even with the moonlight bleaching the color from his complexion, Hakuba did not look particularly healthy. His eyes were glassy, and he appeared to be in some form of shock. KID wondered how he had made it home, and whether or not someone was keeping an eye on his condition.
"You don't look well, Tantei-san," the thief remarked, a worried frown evident on his face despite the pulled-down bill of his cap. Despite the concern in his voice, KID made sure to stay near his best point of escape.
Hakuba chuckled sardonically. "I've certainly been worse," he replied, and his gaze abruptly sharpened with laser-like focus on the magician. "And you…" his voice trailed off and his gaze phased out and dropped to his interlocked fingers, which rested above the duvet covering his legs. "I don't—I don't know you… do I?"
The slight quaver in the blond's normally confident voice—hurt, though he had to hide it. KID tilted his head in curiosity as he asked softly, "Should you know me?"
A choked laugh escaped from Hakuba. "I thought I did."
"Tantei-san—"
"Don't call me that!" KID did not flinch, per se, but he did stiffen at the detective's sudden outburst. Hakuba's breaths were rough and shaky as he hissed sibilantly, "I went eight years without hearing that from anyone." Those hazel eyes rose to catch his, and the gentleman thief caught the glimmer of tears. "And then you come along—and you have the same voice, and from what I can tell the same appearance as—" He swallowed thickly before releasing a mixed chuckle and sob. "I'm just grasping at straws, aren't I?"
It felt like his chest was being compressed in a vice. KID knew what kind of man Hakuba was—knew how proud, how intelligent, how driven he was. And yet all he saw before him was a broken man desperately trying to shield the shattered pieces of himself from him. With great hesitance he gently proposed, "Then what would you like me to address you as?"
Shudders rippled across the blond's frame as he struggled to regain control of himself. "I… I don't know. I don't care, since I don't plan on participating in another of your heists ever again."
KID blinked, feeling as though he had been metaphorically slapped across the face. "You're giving up on me?" he whispered, feeling something inside him drop down to his feet even as disappointment welled up from within.
"No," Hakuba breathed with a shake of his head. "I honestly don't think I ever could." He paused, visibly calming himself with several deep breaths. "I want to catch you," he began, and once again locked anguished eyes with the thief. "I want to catch you so badly my chest aches at the idea of not chasing you. But if I do, I don't think my sanity would survive." The detective dropped his gaze yet again. "I'd only see my dead friend in you each time I saw you, and I—I just can't."
KID bowed his head mournfully. "I understand," he murmured in reply. There was a moment of quiet between the two before he said, "I meant what I said earlier, on the roof of the museum. I truly am sorry for your loss."
A sob escaped the detective before he could contain it. "Much as I would like to blame you, I have no one to blame but myself. I mean—" and here he laughed, a smidge hysterically, "—here I am trying to actively dig up my ghosts when most people would do anything to lay them to rest." He wiped his eyes with the cuff of his nightshirt, and had KID not been carefully listening, he would have never heard the whispered, "I never should have returned to Japan."
Words could not describe how wretched the thief felt for the blond. As it was, it took all of the Poker Face training that had been figuratively pounded into him by Chikage and Jii to maintain his air of miserable calm. "Hakuba-san…"
"I'm catching the first flight out in the morning, so you won't have to deal with me ever again." The words were sharp, as though he had forced them out. "But just—" He sighed, ruffling his hair in agitation. "I don't know who you are," Hakuba began haltingly, his voice strengthening and evening out the longer he spoke. "I don't know where you come from, or what kind of person you are. But if you are the kind of person that I think you are, then Kaitou KID is something more—has to be something more—something that is beyond just thievery and illusions."
KID watched the detective, who glared at the duvet with trembling lips and clenched fists. "And I can't help but wonder if I have been wrong all these years," he continued, his voice flavored by something heavy but at the same time, absent—as though he had forgotten that he had an audience. "If—I'd been the one to have gotten him killed with all of my accusations."
The thief's eyes widened at the other man's confession, at the guilt that he now realized permeated everything Hakuba had said. "No," he breathed, needing to reassure the detective that he was not at fault. "His death was not your fault!"
"It was stated that he died in a car accident," Hakuba mumbled before shaking his head. "But I don't believe it. He couldn't possibly have died in such a normal manner."
The phantom thief wished he could curl up into a little ball and disappear in the face of Hakuba's self-reproach. Feeling as though his tongue were made of lead, he quietly admitted, "He did die in such a manner. I know because—" KID paused, swallowing around the lump that had formed in his throat as he stared at the carpeted floor. "I know because… because I was the one to perform CPR on him on the way to the hospital."
Hakuba had completely stilled at the magician's admission before all the tension left him and he slumped into a curled, uncomfortable-looking heap on his bed. A low, hitched sob drifted from the general direction of the bed before a heartfelt mumbled, "Thank you."
KID released a shaky exhale. "I'm sorry that I am not the one you wanted. But I hope I've given you a little closure." Grasping the doorknob to the balcony's door, he murmured, "Be well, Hakuba-san," and exited the bedroom. Upon hearing the click of the lock Conan fled, tears blurring his vision as he returned to the Kuroba house.
Conan did not remember the journey back, but a restless Chikage was there to greet him with a tight hug and tears in her eyes that she refused to let fall. The two embraced for a long time simply standing in the genkan, seeking and providing warmth and comfort to the other.
"I'm sorry," Conan breathed, his tears dampening the shoulder of the woman's shirt as he apologized for nothing in specific, but for everything that the woman had gone through with the loss of both her husband and son.
Chikage said nothing, but the strength of her hug conveyed to Conan what words could not. At length she released him and gazed at him with red rimmed eyes. A hand reached up to brush his cheek, and she said with a wobbly smile, "Welcome home."
Conan smiled just as shakily back and murmured, "I'm home."
Author's Note: Apologies that it's been so long, but I've suddenly been struck by motivation to continue this AU despite my ongoing battle with depression that leaves me completely unmotivated to do anything at all. This did, however, make me realize how much I don't like heist planning… I didn't intend for this to take a nosedive into angstland, but… well, depression… With regards to the heist note, in addition to the yearly zodiac, a day was broken into twelve "hour" divisions according to the different animals, and the hour of the pig was from 9 PM to 11 PM. In Sinospherical—countries and regions in East Asia that were historically influenced by Chinese culture—folklore, the pareidolic image on the moon resembled a rabbit working with a mortar and pestle, opposed to the Western image of the man in the moon. Depending on the country, the rabbit pounds different things in the mortar, and in Japan, the rabbit prepares ingredients for mochi, or sticky rice cake. I hope you enjoyed it.
Completed: 16.05.2019
