With the exception of the plot and the original characters that are depicted in the story, the author makes absolutely no profit off of this work of fan fiction, and no copyright infringement is intended on the franchise of Detective Conan that rightfully belong to its owner Aoyama Gosho.

I would to profusely thank OnyxKatana, J0kersGirl, and Momochan77 for their ideas and support that have created the twentieth segment of Paper Faces, especially since I'm now enrolled in a six-month pharmacy technician program through the local university. Nonetheless, I will continue this story until the final act is set upon the stage. And so without further do, let the intermission close and the chapter commence! :)

True to his word, Kaito came over to Clyro Villa the next morning to examine the spherical container that was in Shinichi's care. The design and locking mechanisms of it were not as unusual to the gentleman thief as it was to the detective. Furthermore, he had spent most of his time researching peculiar gemstones than an on-off affair with misfortune and death.

After spending two to three hours tinkering with the container, Kaito's enthusiasm in cracking the seemingly impenetrable vessel of Pandora increased tenfold. The mastermind behind the creation of this box definitely did not want anyone to steal their precious cargo. However, there was no lock or safe in the entire world that had outwitted the Kaitou KID. Personally, he'd like to keep that particular criminal record as pristine as possible until it was time for the Phantom Thief to permanently leave the world's stage.

Shin-chan herself was a little disheartened that her wonderful boyfriend couldn't solve the secrets behind the mystery container, but with a few pecks on both the cheek and mouth, she was back to her old self in a matter of seconds! Though by that, it meant that Kaito had to skillfully dodge a well-aimed soccer ball on the way out of Number 223.

Still, seeing that adorable expression on Shin-chan's bright red face was worth it~!

As much as Kaito enjoyed teasing the dark-haired sleuth like that, more questions buzzed inside his mind when his sneaker-clad feet brought him back to the front gate of the Kuroba household. If his old man really did find Pandora all of those years ago and gave it to Shin-chan's father for safekeeping, there had to be some papers that the first Kaitou KID kept on the priceless artifact.

Besides, it couldn't have sheer luck that Dad's heist target just so happened to be a gem that supposedly gives immortality on the night of a full moon. He had to have done some research on it. Indigo orbs widened ever so slightly at the passing thought before his hand hovered over his pants pocket, just for a split second, until his Poker Face returned. Prior to his departure from Clyro Villa, the Detective of the East gave him a yellowed envelope with the initials 'KT' neatly written on the front.

After she had deduced the identity of the sender thanks to the information she received from her father, Shinichi had planned on bequeathing the package to Kaito even without knowing the truth behind his family legacy. Furthermore, as a self-taught detective she had no right to go through any items that belonged to the deceased unless there was a search warrant as well as consent from the victim's family. That was just how his Shin-chan was.

Shaking his head, Kaito unlocked the front door and slipped off his shoes at the entrance, announcing his return to the homestead even when there was no one to greet him. The teen prankster went upstairs to the second room on the right, making sure to close the door behind him before activating the hidden mechanism behind a framed poster of his father. The sound of creaking gears echoed across the empty house for several minutes until there was a gap in the wall right next to the poster. Kaito quickly stepped inside the secret room and flipped on the lights just as the only entrance to his bedroom disappeared into darkness. Inhaling a deep breath, he immediately got started.

Fortunately for the young man, everything was organized just enough to manuever around the area without unintentionally making a big mess. He commenced his search for clues by going through the vinyl records in the jukebox. In the beginning of his night life as KID, they served as daily lessons on how to be a true magician, teachings that his father was unable to pass onto Kaito due to his murder ten years ago. But what were the chances that these sermons actually contained a secret message about Pandora? Kuroba Toichi was, and is still, the greatest magician in the world.

Anything was possible.

Therefore, Kaito played and listened each record carefully for anything he could have overlooked the first time he heard his father's voice. However, there was nothing to be discovered, prompting the teen to carry on his investigation in another area of the secret room. Time slowly passed and by the time he was flipping through a book in the cluttered bookshelf, Kaito was ready to call it a night. Most of its contents were detailed references on the construction and preparation of various "tricks" to be used for heists, some of which the current Phantom Thief still looked at from time to time.

What could I be overlooking? Kaito thought. We need to find out how to unlock that container or else those men in black will figure it out first and….wait a minute. That's weird. He rubbed a calloused thumb against the high-quality paper again. Why would a page from this small book feel heavier than the other pages? He moved it backwards and then forward, a contemplative frown stretching across his face. Is there...something hidden here?

Practically running to a nearby work table, the teen pulled out a toolbox from seemingly out of nowhere. Once he selected a razor-sharp knife, Kaito carefully sliced the top of the page, making sure to not unintentionally damage the sheet or its secret contents.

After almost seven agonizing minutes, the deed was done and the magician retrieved a small slip of parchment, roughly the size of his index finger.

"The Art of Deception?" Kaito read out loud. It was one of the more dustier tomes that sat on the highest shelf, though one the magician had read almost two hours ago. However if his old man had hidden a message like the one in his hand….could he have overlooked whatever was supposed to be hidden in that book? The young man immediately searched for the aforementioned item and, sure enough, found another piece of paper. However, this time it had numbers, symbols, and letters mixed together.

"A code of some kind? Or...is it a computer code?" He tried the former by using every possible coding system that had existed in ancient and modern history but no results had come forth. When Kaito punched them in his laptop, which he used in the secret room from time to time in case Ahouko snooped around the house when he wasn't around, he got a hit. It was a password to an encrypted file that his mother had installed inside the computer three years ago, right around the time she gave it to him for his birthday and before he took up the mantle as Kaitou KID.

There were two documents on it. The first was titled AN UNLIKELY FRIENDSHIP, and the second called WHITE OF CRIME. Kaito shook his head in disbelief at the headings. The Phantom Lady was about as enigmatic as she was before retiring from the spotlight. Shaking his head, he double-clicked on the first document. When the contents finished uploading, indigo orbs grew to the size of dinner plates.

"A...thesis on the friendship between Henry Houdini and Sir Conan Doyle?" He whispered. "And it was written by my dad?" He skimmed through it. "I'd never thought he'd have the time to do something like this, especially when he was the Phantom Thief. It's...well thought out and straight to the point. But why would there be one or two letters in a sentence be capitalized? Wait a minute," He maximized the zooming feature on the laptop and muttered the first word that was conjured by the first five words in the document. "K...A...I...T...O?"

Kaito kept reading the file, and came across three more words:

DespIte the remarkably diFferent viewpoints on the supernatural, DoYle was delighted tO find companionship in HoUdini, crossing paths with the rising magician As early as 1920. FuRthErmore, there was...

"IF...YOU...ARE?"

Suddenly realizing the method behind the madness, the local prankster pulled out another a piece of paper and jotted it down. The process of decoding the entire file took about ten to twenty minutes. Kaito could only stare at the sheet in shock. What was hidden inside the thesis were instructions. To be more precise, a mathematical formula to remove the false bottom on the container and a word of caution:

If there is even the slightest adjustment, accidental or intentional, from the proper way to unlock the spherical item as it is written down, you could possibly lose more than a finger.

Shuddering at the thought, Kaito quickly exited the document and erased the laptop's current activities with an extra amount of firewalls around the file. Just when the magician was about to turn off the laptop, dark blue orbs caught the glaring WHITE OF CRIME file. The teen frowned. It was already getting pretty late...but reading another file wouldn't throw off his biological alarm clock...should it? Inhaling a deep breath, Kaito brought the cursor over the document and opened it. Words immediately popped up.

Please read the message that the Night Baron has given to you - KT

"Night Baron? Is he...referring to Kudo Yuusaku? That is his literary character and pseudo code name, but how am I supposed to get in contact without endangering him or Shin-chan's mother? Or...is he…" Kaito then placed a hand over his pants pocket. "Is he...talking about this...letter?"

Pulling it out, he quickly opened the envelope and removed the sheet of paper from it. He found himself faced with a page full of random, jumbled text. Letters that seemed to be randomly thrown together. Another code.

"Dad, you really went all out on this, didn't you?" Kaito glanced upwards, feeling a headache building up at his temples. Time to get to code-breaking. He quickly scanned the sheet, running it through the usual simple ciphers, but he got no results. He tried shuffling the letters around but no combination made any sense. From the looks of the letter, it seemed to be a simple substitution cipher. Right when Kaito had run out of ideas, he noticed a single line of text at the back of the sheet.

Being a magician, I have many secrets, and only one means of hiding them. My son, remember my words, and never forget.

"Dad… you really are a genius." Kaito let out a long breath. Everything suddenly fit together, and he couldn't help but wonder if his father had been training him all along for this.

Suddenly Kaito was pulled back to his childhood days when his father had been teaching him magic tricks. Among them, his father taught him a few simple codes and ciphers. Kaito had been amazed by how seemingly nonsensical words could reveal hidden messages. His personal favorite had been the Vigenère cipher, a code where the message was coded using a password. Without the password, it was extremely difficult to break the code because there was no such pattern that could be traced. The best part was that it looked exactly like a simple substitution at first glance.

Kaito had a gut feeling that his father had used that very same cipher to encrypt the letter. He had cleverly hidden the password in the sentences on the back of the sheet, disguising the password within what seemed like a last message from father to son. It was cleverly coded, so that only Kaito would know. And if Kaito's hunch was correct, then the password was derived from what could be considered as Toichi's catchphrase.

POKER FACE. A fitting password indeed.

Quickly using it to decrypt the document, Kaito felt a grin bloom on his face as the jumble of letters fell together to create his father's message to him.

Then again, it was almost to be expected from the world's greatest magician who ever lived, to go such lengths in the art of deception. Now, the mantle and responsibility to bring down the Organization now rested on his shoulders. Though this time, he had Sherlock Holmes on his side to even the staggering odds against him.

In the secret room where a full moon was absent, Kuroba Kaito and Kaitou KID swore to end everything as well as protect Kudo Shinichi, and everyone else dear to him, with his dying breath.

xPFx

Shinichi and Kaito had been spending almost all their time in each other's company. The class had been brimming with gossip about what they could be doing, and had steady betting going on about the pair. However, so far, no one had placed their money on "trying to open a box that could contain the key to destroying an entire crime syndicate". That was exactly what the two teens had spent the major part of the week doing.

It was Thursday, and Shinichi was camped out in her room, looking over all her information on Pandora and the Organization to see if any other connection would reveal itself to her. Next to her, Kaito lay sprawled out, with his eyes closed and brow furrowed in deep thought. Shinichi's thoughts soon wandered to the messy-haired magician. The poor boy had been working himself to the bone in trying to open the box. It had taken both of their mental faculties and an awful lot of time with almost no progress.

It was during her musing that the teen sleuth realised something surprising. The two of them had been forced on dates with one another and even ended up getting together officially but they never had a real date as a couple. A smirk crept onto her face. That was it. She was going to take Kaito out on a date, no matter what he had to say on the topic.

It was with no small effort on her part that the detective was able to convince her magician boyfriend to go along with her plan for a surprise date. She had persuaded and cajoled him into letting her tug him along to wherever she wanted to. It had taken little prodding on the sleuth's part to sway Kaito to "please leave that infernal gem and its mysteries alone for a while." After all, neither of them knew when the Organization would make another move to find their target or an attempt to assassinate the Kaitou KID. However, Kaito kept begging her to let him know where they were going.

"Awh, Shin-chaaannn~! Where are we going? Just a tiny hint." Shinichi almost smiled at the adorable pout on Kaito's face as she pulled them down the street. Not that she would ever say it out loud, of course.

"No need to get impatient Kuroba-kun, we're almost there." And it was true. The two of them were about several minutes away from the new ramen stand that opened up the previous week. The Detective of the East had heard from a reliable source of information that Kaito had been wanting to try it, but hadn't found any free time to go there. He had been trading almost every window to relax for the research and development of their investigation. So what better way to thank him than a piping hot bowl of delicious noodles?

Though on top of that, Shinichi also had another surprise for the magician in the form of a piece of paper inside her purse. Earlier that week, she had gotten a phone call from Nakamura Publishing and had been informed that The Witch's Banquet was just about ready to hit the bookshelves as soon as next week. Not only was she getting an advanced copy of her book but they had also finished the changes to the dedication page she had requested at the last minute. In retrospect, Shinichi had dedicated her first novel to her parents and Professor Agasa for their support in her endeavors.

Now, the sleuth thanked her family, the eccentric scientist, and a "dear friend who had been there when she needed someone the most". If Shinichi directly stated "lover" or used another term to imply that she was in a romantic relationship, a certain retired actress would take a hold of that notion and pester Shinichi for grandchildren.

Shaking her head at the thought, the young woman resumed her focus on the main street and crossed to the other side of the venue with a pouting magician still in tow. Once the salty scent of cooked pasta tickled her nose, a small smirk stretched across Shinichi's face.

"We're here~"

The detective craned her head back towards Kaito, feeling her mischievous expression widen at the sight of his shell-shocked one. "Let's head inside. I heard it gets pretty hectic around dinner hours. But if we hurry, we can still get a discount for two large bowls of any ramen flavor that we want."

Those words seemed to pull her boyfriend out of his trance. "Shin-chan, you didn't have to do this - "

"Kuroba-kun, I wanted to do this."

"But-" Kaito tried to protest but he was soon silenced with a slender finger pressed against his mouth, which was then followed by a stern expression from Shinichi. "Nope, I'm not hearing it. I know you've been wanting to come here for a while and with everything that's happened, you deserve this. We deserve this. So tonight, let's go all out and relax. Okay?"

The local prankster pouted at her words, his expression rather cute in Shinichi's opinion, before he eventually surrendered. "Alright fine. We'll go in."

The sleuth hummed approvingly and continued the trek towards their destination. Once inside, they were heartily welcomed by a young man whom could not have been much older than them and were instructed to take a seat anywhere. The self-taught detective decided to take her boyfriend to a booth.

"This way we'll have privacy," she explained when they sat. Soon their drink orders were taken and both teens silently perused the menu. Shinichi looked thoughtful while Kaito seemed to still be miffed at being manipulated.

"Everything on the menu looks really good. Don't you think so Kuroba-kun?" The Detective of the East asked as she gazed at the dark-haired male sitting across from her.

When she saw the expression on Kaito's face, the sleuth raised an inquisitive eyebrow at him. "You're 'not' that upset about...all of this, are you?" She felt her heart sink a little at the thought. Deep down Shinichi knew there were secrets about Pandora that still needed to be solved. There was only more one week before her appointment with the antique dealer Ishikawa.

But...was it so wrong to at least give them a few hours to step away and just breathe?

Kaito looked up from his menu and as soon as he saw that sorrowful expression on Shinichi's face, he tried to reassure her. "What? No, no, it's not like that at all, Shin-chan! I mean...I'm surprised, definitely in a good way, since I'd never thought we'd come here with how busy we've been. It's just...I guess when it comes right down to it, I'm frustrated. You and I still have a lot of work with a deadline right around the corner. The fact that you and I haven't even been able to scratch just a tiny fraction beneath the surface...it bothers me. A lot. And I don't want our 'friends' to turn their anger for me onto you. The Rainbow Maiden incident was already a close call, you know?"

"And they won't Kuroba-kun. Three years ago, I was careless and let my guard down. Now, I'm more aware of what exactly those men in black are capable of doing." Shinichi reached across the table and squeezed his hand. "Furthermore, it's 'you' that I have to worry about." Just when the magician opened his mouth to argue, the young woman continued. "You might have had more run-ins with them than I ever have, but that doesn't omit the fact that they're prone to be more...trigger-happy at the mention of a certain gentleman in white."

That's when Kaito's face finally broke into a smile as he winked at her. "It's not my fault my amazing performances tend to draw such a rowdy crowd."

Shinichi rolled her eyes and almost threw a dry remark when a waitress came by to take their orders. The next half an hour was spent talking and laughing in between bites of house special ramen. Just when the pair finished up by splitting the bill, although Kaito had wanted to pay for it himself, Shinichi then remembered Kaito's second surprise.

The coffee-haired high schooler rolled her eyes and almost threw a dry remark when a waitress came by to take their orders. The next half an hour was spent talking and laughing in between bites of house special ramen. Just when the pair finished up by splitting the bill, although Kaito had wanted to pay for it himself, Shinichi then remembered his second surprise.

The copy of her book's dedication page.

Even though she was nervous about showing it to the magician, at the same Shinichi was excited. The Witch's Banquet meant a lot to her and she wanted to her appreciation for Kaito's support in its development. She just hoped he felt the same.

"Kuroba-kun, there's something I'd like to -"

BANG!

BANG!

BANG!

Shinichi was not able to finish her sentence because as soon as her hand rested on the tiny purse, multiple gunshots echoed across the ramen stand. What followed afterwards was a symphony of shattered glass, high-pitched screaming, and a sudden warm feeling in both of her shoulders before the detective's vision became clouded with darkness.

Please feel free to review or PM me with any questions, comments, or constructive criticism. Thanks to everyone who has favorited, reviewed, and added Paper Faces to their alert lists.

See you next illusion. - (KID caricature)