This was a bad idea. This was a very bad, very stupid idea. Why had he signed up to this? How could that stupid thief convince him to do this? What had even made him decide to listen? Whatever the case, whether the thief managed to bend the laws of reality to his will (which always seemed to be the case) or just the stars magically aligned to cause him to lose his sense, this was still a terrible idea.

And, of course, it didn't actually hit until after the three months of endless planning. Shinichi wanted to bang his head against the nearest wall, but it was already too late for that.

Admittedly, those three months that led up to this point were almost fun. He never really had to hide around KID as Conan and the thief offered the same freedom as Shinichi. There was no judgement nor any serious secret to hide. He was smart and witty enough to match Shinichi which led to some rather interesting and strange conversations and KID—no, Kaito could truly empathize with living a double life, hiding from a shady organization.

Shinichi had forced the truth out of him on their second meeting or so after agreeing to this heist. It only seemed fair. He already knew everything about Shinichi and why he did what he did but Shinichi was left in the dark about the true reasons though he had his suspicions. Turns out he was right but also so so wrong.

Kaito was indeed not the first KID, having the mantle taken up from his father. KID was looking for something specific but so was someone else, someone less law abiding than the moonlit magician who became an internationally wanted criminal. They speculated whether or not his shady organization had any relation to Shinichi's own but after the takedown, that seemed unlikely unless this was just a small branch operating on its own. They hadn't come to a conclusive answer.

The thing is, Shinichi wasn't shocked by any of this. The organization, the thief, a murder, even a jewel that grants immortality, it all just seemed to make perfect sense in his mind. After all, he himself had been turned into a seven-year-old and returned from a failed poison. His boundaries of impossible had been skewed beyond belief and as his favorite idol always said, "When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth." Everything was simply improbable and with his luck meant extremely likely.

The only thing that surprised him was that Kaito interacted with Hakuba Suguru and Nakamori Ginzo and his daughter Aoko on a nearly daily basis. Then again, it was also KID and what better place to hide other than right under everyone's noses. He didn't even make a point to hide his magic skills. Shinichi resisted an eyeroll.

That was just what made Kaito Kaito and by extension what made him KID and after getting to know him, Shinichi wouldn't change that. The guy was fun. Overly dramatic and on a constant sugar high, but fun and optimistic and everything Shinichi realized he'd been lacking since his return. Even in those few months after, KID's heists had remained a safe haven where everything was right while the rest of his world crumpled, and he was forced to find new footing.

So it only seemed right that Kaito had to smash what shaky ground he currently stood on and Shinichi practically swan dived into the trap.

Which was why he found himself in a pristine white suit with a monocle and top hat obscuring his features on a roof of a police-guarded hotel mentally cursing to the high heavens that let him agree to this.

"Are you sure about this Kaito?" he asked tugging at the suit and shifting the hat on his head. Everything fit perfectly and Shinichi had to wonder if this was really just "a spare laying around" as Kaito had claimed.

"Course I am." Kaito swaggered forward not having slipped into his other persona yet and slapped Shinichi's hands down from his head. "Stop fidgeting with it. It took ages to get your hair to look right and we can't have you screwing it up now."

Shinichi forced his hands down and clenched his jaw. It had taken them a serious amount of hair gel and two hours for Shinichi to be able to replicate Kaito's wild style and to force down his own signature cowlick. Needless to say, he wouldn't be the one pulling any complex disguises tonight but that was never really the plan to begin with. Shinichi could act but nothing close to what needed to be done for a heist. So, he would be the main KID everyone saw while playing some quick switch ups. It was simple enough really. In theory.

"Loosen up Tantei-kun." Kaito clapped him on the back and checked his watch. "It's show time."

Hakuba Suguru waited with the rest of the task force in front of the display case. The Summer Sunset rested on a padded pedestal locked in the glass case. Of course no one expected this to hold off KID but the owner of the exhibit refused to let them hide the gem away. It needs to be shown off to the public, they had claimed, not locked behind bars like a common criminal. That didn't stop Nakamori from installing an invisible laser system around the case and shoving all the guests out near the appointed time however.

With precisely three minutes until KID's appointed time, he couldn't help but look in the direction of the bathrooms. Kuroba had excused himself fifteen minutes and thirty-seven point two seconds ago and still had yet to return. Not that Hakuba expected him to. Which was why he found himself floored when the boy himself came jogging up, apologizing for taking so long, claiming that the wait with all the KID fans here was insane.

Nakamori accepted the excuse easily and moved to go check on her father while Hakuba was left with a grinning trickster. With narrowed eyes, Hakuba approached, wary and on guard.

"Going to be late to your own heist Kuroba?" he asked casually as the boy leaned against the wall with a raised eyebrow.

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

The detective let out a huff and got in position, keeping an eye on Kuroba. He was up to something, something more mischievous than normal, and some part of the detective's mind was actually scared to find out what.

Someone called the ten second countdown and everybody readied themselves for what was to come. Eyes flickered around the room unsure of where KID would appear from.

7…

6…

5…

Hakuba glanced back over to Kuroba, still leaned against the wall with all the ease of the excited fanboy he was supposed to be. The boy practically vibrated with excitement and Hakuba subconsciously shifted away.

3…

2…

Everyone held their breath.

1.

The power went out.

"Ladies and gentlemen!" KID's signature greeting rung out in the darkness. "Welcome to my show tonight!"

Immediately the inspector started shouting out orders to get the power back on. Hakuba glanced out of the corner of his eye. Kuroba's silhouette shifted ever so slightly but didn't seem to actually move but that didn't mean he was still there. They had all fallen victim to too many dummies in the past for him to let his guard down now.

The power flickered back on and KID was perched on the case, already admiring the jewel in his hand. Nakamori let out his typical colorful commands while everyone seemed to rush forward. KID clicked his tongue in disapproval, shaking a finger in their direction. Hakuba quickly backpedaled in an attempt to escape whatever trap would soon follow.

Needless to say, it didn't work.

The room filled with smoke and each member of the task force found themselves tightly secured to the wall, floor, and any other solid surface with what looked to be duct tape but felt much stronger than it. Nakamori-keibu even had a piece stretched over his mouth. The muffled curses could still be heard. Hakuba's arms were restrained against what used to be a much farther away desk and as he tugged against the bonds, he became vaguely aware of just how much of a sitting duck he currently was.

Then there was movement from the corner of his eye and even KID seemed to tense, gaze sliding towards the shift, before a relaxed smile slid onto his face and he straightened, tucking the jewel into his pocket.

"Ah, Magician-kun. Seems you were finally able to make it to a show," KID hummed as Kuroba stepped past, peeling a piece of the tape from his clothes.

"Nice try KID but any magician worth his hat would be able to escape that one." Kuroba shot the thief a catlike grin. "And it's a pleasure to be here."

Nope. Hakuba had seen plenty of things in his time as a detective and even more just being in Kuroba's class but to see KID and Kuroba facing each other down in silent challenge took the cake. Not only should it not be possible in general with Kuroba being KID but the potential for reality-breaking stunts was almost too much.

"Besides, it would just be rude to ignore a personal invitation from my very own idol," Kuroba hummed.

What?

But there it was, a delicate card appearing in Kuroba's fingers, KID caricature bold against the white. He flicked it towards KID who caught it just in front of his face in the dramatic flare always expected of him. A wicked grin slid onto KID's face and the card vanished.

"I wanted to see the skill of the person checking over my precious task force's traps. You must be good if they brought you in even if you can't seem to keep me out still."

The temperature seemed to drop just from the look Kuroba sent KID. "Was that a challenge?"

"Only if you take it as one, Magician-kun."

Hakuba barely had enough time to register the blood draining from his face before the room exploded.

Pink and blue smoke blended into a nauseating purple. By the time it cleared, the task force found themselves in various states of disarray. Glitter plastered some and others found themselves recolored to vaguely resemble a rainbow. Some unfortunate others found themselves dressed as various Disney princesses and Hakuba didn't even want to know how someone had gotten Nakamori in an Ariel costume complete with wig, tail, and shells. It was impossible to tell who had done what.

He almost didn't want to see how he faired because heaven knows he didn't escape unscathed. No doubt his hear had been died some impossible color or pattern and he could at least see he was back in the Inverness cape of his own idol. The weight on his head said the deerstalker was there too.

KID and Kuroba stood in the center of it all, not seemingly unscathed either. Kuroba had a splotch of glitter marring his sleeve. The tips of KID's hair and hat were stained green. Both seemed invigorated and Hakuba heard a gulp come from one of the officers beside him. This was far from over and when the thought crossed his mind, the room erupted once again.

And so it continued. He lost count how many times everyone changed color or clothes or when gravity itself seemed to stop working. He refused to admit the sheer panic that shot through him when at some point there were two KIDs facing off followed very quickly by two Krurobas. Having them both in the same room was mind-breaking enough. Two was more than reality could handle.

Eventually, Kuroba dressed as KID jumped back from a shot rom the card gun and KID dressed as Kuroba smirked from his perch on the jewel case.

"Well, I hate to draw this to a close so soon but I do have other matters to attend to. You were a formidable opponent Magician-kun." KID paused, and a smirk overtook his features. It was the same one always used on heists but it almost seemed unnatural coming from Kuroba's face. This wasn't their usual prankster classmate's look. This was this was the thief. "But not good enough."

"Whaddya mean 'not good en-'" he started deploying a glitter bomb in his typical reckless abandon only to stop with a screech as KID tossed something in his direction. In no less than 0.2 seconds, Kaito had somehow latched himself onto Nakamori's shoulder's in a very catlike fashion while was… was that a fish? laid innocently on the ground.

Nakamori's furious face was hidden by the KID cape Kuroba currently wore but from the sound of the shouts, it would have probably been close to deadly. More than confused, Hakuba glanced from the fish to Kuroba to KID who stuck his tongue out in such an innocent Kuroba manner before flashing the jewel and dashing off.

That seemed to bring the prankster to his senses. "Don't you dare use my face to steal that!" And with that exclamation he leapt off the cursing inspector and raced after the thief, shedding the costume, only slowing to carefully skirt around the "cursed f-finny thing, that cheater" on the floor.

No less than twenty two minutes and thirty five seconds later, Kuroba sauntered back in with the Summer Sunset in hand and he released the task force with yet another puff of smoke. Everyone seemed to be reverted to their original states too yet with a glance down, Hakuba found himself excluded from that.

While the remains of the chaotic magic show were being cleaned up and Nakamori-keibu banned Kuroba from any future heists, a certain Kudo Shinichi walked down the road a block or two away, baseball cap pulled over his head and hair tips decidedly green, feeling more alive than he had in months.