Disclaimer: I do not own Detective Conan/Case Closed.
Pairings: eventually Kaito x Shinichi
WARNINGS: Eventual shounan ai (boy/boy pairing), you have been warned
Dark Side Chances
By V. Shalyr
File 3
School
Conan could never decide whether he hated elementary school or found it a relaxing break. Usually, it turned out to be a mix of both, weighted towards one side or the other depending on the day.
Today definitely swung towards boredom. Elementary school had been dull enough the first time around, forget the second.
He sat at his desk trying to look interested as the teacher went through math problems he could probably solve in his sleep. This… This had to be some kind of torture. At least he could be pretty sure you couldn't actually die of boredom. Even he'd never run across a case like that.
He couldn't understand how Haibara, seated a few desks away from him, could not be falling asleep. Then again, he would bet that the things she was scribbling in her notebook weren't about math. Knowing the evil little scientist, she was probably working out the details for her next experiment or mulling over the results from her last one.
All of a sudden, the classroom door slid open and a young man who—Conan did a double take—looked exactly and suspiciously like Shinichi himself walked in and paused to speak with the teacher. She listened for a moment then nodded. The newcomer waved at Conan and he blinked before putting his stuff in his bag and getting to his feet. Neither of them spoke until they had made it out of the school building, at which point Conan glanced sidelong up at his companion.
"What are you doing here and why are you dressed as me?"
"I would have thought the answers to both were obvious," KID replied smoothly. "I'm getting you out of school for the rest of the day—or rather "you" are because it's more convenient that way—for me anyway. I don't have class today and I want company."
A motorcycle was waiting for them in the parking lot.
"You know, KID, this could probably be considered kidnapping," Conan remarked, accepting the helmet the thief handed him.
"Maybe, but admit it, you're glad to see me. You were bored out of your mind." He grinned crookedly and the detective found himself smiling just a little. KID's moods could be oddly infectious.
"And it's Kaito."
Conan froze with the helmet halfway on his head. Lowering it again, he stared wide-eyed up at the thief. "What?"
"Kaito," the thief repeated, crouching down so they were at eye level. There was laughter in those sharp, indigo eyes but there was seriousness too and Conan couldn't look away. "That's my name."
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Bookstore
Of all the places Conan had expected the thief to take him, he hadn't been expecting this. But then KID had always been good at that game.
Conan wandered through the countless bookshelves after his new companion—his new friend?—with his eyes wide behind his fake glasses. It wasn't that he'd never seen a bookstore of this magnitude before. It was how complete the collection here was on mystery and crime, and how old a lot of these copies were.
"This place is amazing."
KID chuckled. "I thought you might like it. Some of these books are pretty valuable since aside from the new stock, this place buys used stuff and the owner has an eye for first editions and rare books. Hakuba's here a lot too, but I'm pretty sure he's otherwise occupied today so we should have no problems avoiding him."
"Hakuba Saguru?"
"The one and only Absolute Nuisance, yes."
Conan snorted, amused despite himself. "I wasn't aware you two were acquaintances—outside of your heists that is."
"Actually, we went to high school together. He came to Japan to "unmask KID" and happened to transfer into my class."
Conan could only imagine what that must have been like. Probably some form of complete and unadulterated chaos. He wished he could have been there to see it. He couldn't help feeling like he'd missed out on so much.
He started when a hand descended to ruffle his hair.
"Hey, I didn't drag you out here with me so you could be depressed."
Conan batted the hand away and grumbled, "Don't do that."
"Aww, but you look so cute with your hair all messed up."
"I'm not a little kid!"
"How do you know I don't talk to adults like that?"
"…Why are you here anyway?"
"I've been reading my way through this place since I found it. If I find anything of particular interest, I'll buy it. Besides, I need inspiration for my next heist notice."
"And you decided to bring me along? And Sonoko wonders why the police think KID is crazy."
"I don't see any reason not to. It's not like you don't know now. Who else could I bring?"
Conan shook his head but refrained from any more objections as he reached out to pull a couple books from the shelves. It wasn't like he minded. It was just…unexpected—though in a good way.
"And it's Kaito, Tantei-kun, I thought I told you that already."
"Ah, right… Kaito."
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Nickname
KID—no, Kaito—seemed very fond of nicknames. Most people he saw and interacted with on a daily basis had dozens. Hakuba, for instance, could be "Tantei-san" when he was feeling charitable, "that nosy bastard" when he wasn't, or simply "the Nuisance".
But the only nickname he ever gave to Conan was Tantei-kun. Of course, he sometimes called him Shinichi or Conan-kun when they were around other people. But in the end, those were just names, brief references. To the thief, he would always be Tantei-kun, not famous detective Kudou Shinichi or Edogawa Conan, the strange brat who always seemed to be running into murders and tagging along with Detective Mouri.
And in a way…that was comforting. A place where he could just be himself—not who he had been or who people expected him to be, but himself as all his experiences up until that point had made him. And really, that was the best gift anyone had ever or could ever give him.
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Running
"Are you…" Conan hesitated. "Are you ever afraid that you'll get too used to running?"
Too used to hiding, too used to keeping secrets.
For a long time, Kaito said nothing though he had a pensive sort of look on his face. It was the weekend and Kaito had stolen him away for a visit to Ekoda where he had apparently lived for most of his life. Their outings had taken them to almost every coffee shop and café around the city. This particular diner provided a nice view of the Ekoda clock tower in the distance and the food was quite good—though the waitress had given Conan a funny look when he'd ordered coffee and Kaito a slight frown when he hadn't stopped him.
Finally, the magician shrugged.
"It's already too late for me to be afraid. And anyway, being afraid has never really been my thing."
Conan frowned. "What are you talking about?"
"I should be asking you the same thing." Indigo eyes didn't turn to look at him, but Conan could feel the gaze nonetheless as the thief asked in the half mocking, half serious way of his, "The question is, are you asking about me or about you?"
"And if I'm asking about both of us?"
"You'll have to decide that for yourself, no?"
"Do you practice talking in riddles, or does it just come naturally?"
"Mm, habit. But hey, "natural" is so overrated. Things are "natural" when people make them that way. It's just a fabrication like everything else."
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Thunderstorm
Kaito had often marveled at the unreliability of weather reports. Yet all the same, he thought this was a bit ridiculous.
The thunderstorm had swept into the city so quickly that they hadn't even had time to open an umbrella. The skies lit up with flashes of lightning and the roar of thunder added to the roar of the engines as he veered his motorcycle in the direction of the closest safe haven he could think of.
Both of them were soaked through by the time they arrived in front of his apartment door.
"Here, you can use the bathroom to dry yourself up," Kaito told him, showing him the way. "There are a couple towels in there and I'll see if I can dig up something for you to wear that won't look too ridiculous. My room is down the hall."
"You live by yourself?"
The apartment had more than enough space for two or three people, but Conan saw no evidence that anyone else shared the place.
"Certainly makes things easier. This way I don't have to worry about explaining myself if I'm injured during a heist or can't get home for whatever reason until dawn."
Conan cringed a little at the reminder of his friend's nighttime activities. He still couldn't believe Kaito had been playing such a dangerous game all this time. It was a miracle he was still alive. And the funny thing was that the magician didn't even seem a bit afraid. He wondered where that kind of courage came from, or if it was just plain foolishness as Haibara would no doubt have claimed. But then perhaps Kaito needed that kind of unfailing confidence in order to keep on surviving the stunts that he pulled. If you wanted to live, you couldn't go in believing that you would die.
By the time they were both finished cleaning up, Kaito had two cups of hot chocolate steaming on the living room table. Conan sat on the carpeted floor, his eyes wandering curiously around the simple furniture and extensive decorations—most of which he guessed were paraphernalia from Kaito's magic tricks.
"Does it ever get lonely?" Conan found himself asking on impulse, recalling fleeting moments when he'd lived by himself in the Kudou manor. He'd never felt alone then himself, not really. He hadn't understood what "alone" meant until Conan.
Kaito shrugged, leaning back against the couch where he sat opposite him upon the floor. "Maybe sometimes, especially when it rains." He paused then flashed his companion a sly, half smile. "But not right now."
And they sat together in silence listening to the thunder and the drumming of the rain upon the windowpanes.
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Expectations
"Don't touch that!"
But the warning came too late. The tiny and rather fluffy mechanical bird gave a soft, whirring chirrup and suddenly Conan found himself tackled to the ground moments before a small explosion made the silverware on the table rattle. Smoke engulfed them and they both began to cough even as Kaito hauled them over to the window and thrust it open.
"Note to self, Tantei-kun, don't touch anything I have lying around without asking me first. You never know what might happen. Hell, sometimes even I don't know what will happen. A lot of these things are still highly experimental."
"Sorry," Conan wheezed, relieved by the gust of damp but clear air that swept through the room. "I wasn't exactly expecting you to have miniature bombs sitting around in your living room."
Literally. And shaped like cute little birds with curious, beady, black eyes.
"Oi, it's me we're talking about here."
"Point taken. I suppose I should have known better. I'm surprised your neighbors don't complain."
"A lot can be said for good sound insulation. And anyways, I'm a magician. I might not perform on stage, but there's no way I was keeping that a secret."
It would be like trying to hide a fire in a dark room, and what would be the point in that?
"I assume you make your own sleeping gas too?"
"Well of course! Where else am I going to get all those different colors?"
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Curse
"A gemstone that has the power to grant a person immortality… Do you really believe such a thing exists?"
The two of them were sitting on the roof of the Kudou manor, peering up at the stars. Kaito seemed to like rooftops even out of costume. Maybe it was the solitude of it or the clear view of the sky he so often employed for his spectacular escapes. Or maybe it was just that feeling when you looked out across the sea of glittering lights below that you were standing for just the briefest moment above the entire world—untouchable.
"I don't know. But then I have no reason to believe that it doesn't."
Conan turned to stare at him. He was still disguised as the "old family friend" that the Mouri family had come to know him as, the one that had "recently" moved back into town and often dropped by to take Conan out. They had both thought it best Kaito didn't appear as himself, if for no other reason than to avoid any problems that would result from being mistaken for Shinichi.
"No reason? I would have thought there were plenty of reasons."
The magician chuckled. "Because there's no such thing as magic? Because people can't live forever? Coming from a person who had ten years literally taken off his life."
"But that's different. That was science."
"Science, magic, it's all a matter of perspective. After all, in a fantasy world, magic would be their science." He paused, musing. "I suppose that means that if this were a fantasy novel, you would be under a curse."
Conan snorted. "A curse, huh? Certainly feels like one sometimes. And what would that make you?"
"The mysterious magician who seems to know everything. There's almost always one of those." Kaito grinned. "You need them because they're the ones that make things happen."
TBC...
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