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 6

Footsteps

It was fascinating, how quiet Kaito could be. Even though he knew it was just the magician's habit, Conan couldn't help feeling like he was always sneaking up on people.

"Hey, Tantei-kun, I hope I didn't keep you waiting too long."

Conan started and glared at the magician who was grinning down at him from the branches of the tree. "How many times do I have to ask you to please make some noise? You're going to give me a heart attack one of these days."

"Sorry, I can't help it," Kaito said cheerfully, utterly unrepentant as he joined him upon the park bench where he had been reading a folded up newspaper hidden inside a children's storybook. "Free thieves can't exactly go around being noisy if they want to stay free. No slip-ups allowed and practice makes perfect."

Conan snorted, adjusting his fake glasses. "You just like scaring me. Why were you late anyway?"

"Well," Kaito drawled, "turns out the soccer team at my university isn't half bad and they were holding a talent show competition for two free tickets…"

He trailed off and grinned when Conan's head shot around towards him, blue eyes wide with excitement. "You got them?"

Laughing, Kaito produced two pieces of paper with a flourish. "The crowd loved me. So soccer game this weekend anyone?"

Not that Kaito actually knew anything about soccer or was particularly interested, but there was something to be said for being able to go out and do something with someone again. And for once, not having to pretend to be anyone other than the very complicated person that he was. Yes, he was always on guard. True, he couldn't afford to drop his perfectly crafted charade unless he was at home, and sometimes not even then. But it was different when you knew you weren't alone. Everything was different when you knew you finally had someone to rely upon.

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Familiar

"Ah! He's dead!"

Now where had he heard that one before? Resigned, Conan turned his feet in the direction of the shout and ran, ducking around legs and clutching onto his glasses to prevent a passing lady from knocking it off his face by accident with her handbag. He arrived on the edge of the scene at around the same time as the police. A quick glance at them assured him that none of them would recognize him and he scooted around the space cleared around the body to get a closer look at the corpse.

"It looks like poison," one of the older detectives commented to his companion, and Conan murmured a silent agreement in his head. Now, to figure out who had set the whole thing up. Judging from the testimonies the poliece were receiving, he had a few guesses. Damn, he really needed to ask a few questions but he wasn't sure how to go about it in this crowd. Perhaps a familiar face or two would have been worth the risk of being recognized. Maybe he could lure one of the detectives into somewhere more secluded so he could dart them? It didn't seem likely, but it was probably his best option. Just as he was about to attempt this plan, however, a hand landed briefly on his shoulder. He jerked and looked up only to meet Hakuba Saguru's cool, brown gaze. Conan blinked. But Hakuba? Here? That was just way too much of a coincidence, unless…

"Kaito?"

For just a moment, Hakuba's nonchalant arrogance flickered to reveal KID's familiar smirk as if to say, "Who else would it be?". Then the façade was firmly back in place and the magician stepped calmly forward, clearing his throat.

"Excuse me…"

With Kaito acting as his voice, the necessary questions were asked. And Hakuba being a rather well known and respected detective himself, the whole situation went off surprisingly—or unsurprisingly—smoothly.

It wasn't until after the murderer had been led away in cuffs that Conan realized something. He glanced up at Kaito still disguised as Hakuba and it struck him that he'd barely had to explain to the thief what he wanted him to do. It was like Kaito just knew.

When had they gotten to know each other so well?

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Detective

"Be a detective?" Kaito stared dubiously across the kitchen table at Conan. "Please tell me you're joking."

"But why not? You could do it. And it was my original plan—a good detective would have a lot more access to cases that may involve Them."

"Shinichi, this is Kaito speaking, remember? Kaito? As in Kaitou KID, world renowned jewel thief and law enforcement's number one annoyance? Nakamouri would have a stroke."

"I'm not saying you have to be yourself," Conan sighed, exasperated. Of course he knew who he was talking to. That was why he'd made the proposal to begin with. "You can create a new identity for the purpose. You can't tell me you wouldn't have a lot of fun playing the part, if for no other reason than the irony of it all. You can handle the people and I can do the investigating."

The magician opened his mouth then shut it again, expression still dubious but also a bit thoughtful. "Design an amateur detective headed for international fame, huh?"

With Conan's help, it would probably be easy enough.

"And you'll get more access to police files," Conan added, sensing the slight change in his companion's attitude. "I know you like sneaking around, but getting caught snooping as a detective is a lot less risky—I'm just saying if," he added hastily at the look Kaito gave him at the mention of being caught. KID didn't get caught.

There was a long silence in which Conan held his breath for the magician's answer. Then Kaito shrugged and sighed.

"I get to design the characters, and don't forget that you're going to have to dress up too."

"Fine."

"Then all right. But we'll need another apartment for him, a sound address and legal documents. Hmmm, I guess I could deal with that no problem." He was finally starting to get into the idea. Leaning back in his chair, Kaito tapped his chin, pursing his lips in an exaggerated show of deep contemplation. "So what shall we call this new upstart?"

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Roles

Kaito had never really had the opportunity before to masquerade as a character completely of his own making. Usually, he went into heists impersonating someone, and that was a thrilling challenge in itself. But it did lack a certain edge of creativity.

Conan had been right when he'd said that Kaito would have fun. But then they really were getting to know one another too well.

"He should probably not be too well off, but not too bad either or it wouldn't make sense for him to be taking care of someone else," he mused aloud, browsing through the racks of miscellaneous clothes in the clearance isles of the store they were in. "How about this jacket? It looks formal enough, but also a bit relaxed. Hmmm, lots of pockets too. Do you think he should be the kind of person who likes to carry a lot of things on him—like being prepared?"

Conan looked at the mound of clothes piled upon their shopping cart. "Do you really need all of this?"

"Of course not. We still have to try things on and make adjustments. Besides, some of those are for you. I'll be a new college graduate trying to live on his own after his parents passed away in a tragic accident, someone who reads lots of books and has an excellent memory, of course. Hmmm, maybe he should come from somewhere more remote so it's not too strange if it's hard to confirm some of his records."

The mini detective plucked at the sleeve of one of the smaller outfits, his forehead scrunched up in thought. Something about the garment sent the alarm bells ringing in his head, but he couldn't seem to quite put his finger on it until—

"And you can be the overly curious and adorable daughter of a friend of the family's whose parents recently suffered from another terrible accident—sympathy for someone in similar straits, you know."

Conan's jaw dropped. "What? No! Why can't I be their son?"

"Because it amuses me?" Kaito suggested before going more serious. "We're going undercover, remember? The police already know about one amateur and boy detective who always seem to be on crime scenes together. No reason to make it easier for them to draw up similarities. And you never know, being a girl could be advantageous for you with how much trouble you can get yourself into. I often think they can get away with more."

"But…"

"You agreed that I could choose our disguises, remember?"

"…"

"Good, now go try these on. We haven't got all day."

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Doorway

"A crime scene photographer?"

Kaito nodded, fiddling with his new camera. Conan suspected that it was the small, silver device that had inspired the suggestion. The magician had a tendency to be spontaneous like that.

"I think it's a good way to get a foot in the door. It'll get us closer to the people we need to get to know—or rather, the people we need to get to know us. And, well, I am an artist."

Albeit an artist of a somewhat different sort.

The smile momentarily faded from his face at the thought. Thievery was one thing, but murder was quite another. And he was not looking forward to it at all.

Conan frowned, perhaps considering along the same lines. "What about being a journalist instead? It might be advantageous to have a voice like that. And you wouldn't be just following crimes."

They didn't need Kaito getting any crazier than he already was. And while neither of them were strangers to violence, for KID, it was personal.

"Hmmm, I suppose I could consider that. It might be less suspicious in the long run—more freedom too. Granted, perhaps it should depend on which job I can actually get. New college graduates shouldn't stand out too much too soon, no?"

"Not if we want to be careful anyway."

"Right, so we can each fill out one of the applications. Those new legal documents are by the phone. I just finished them this morning."

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Social

"I can tell people you're homeschooled so you don't have to go back to elementary or whatever, but you do realize that that means you're going to have to go out and be more social, right? It would seem weird if you just stayed cooped up in our apartment all the time except for accompanying me to work. It would make you seem like a pretty weird child and make me look like a really bad guardian," Kaito said, sitting back and examining Conan with a critical eye.

They'd spent the last several months letting the mini detective's hair grow, and it now hung a little past his shoulders. A change in hairstyles had quite an incredible impact on altering a person's appearance, but the really important part was getting rid of that cowlick in the back. Neither of them had wanted to cut it—Conan because he didn't particularly like tampering with these things in general and Kaito because he thought it was kind of cute. But luckily, with Kaito's disguise skills and a lot of carefully worked gel, they had finally been able to make the bit lie flat. It looked a little unusual but it would have to do.

"I know," Conan grumbled. That didn't mean he was happy about it though. He hated playing the "little kid".

"You don't have to act all naive or anything," Kaito responded as though having read his thoughts. He'd been doing that more and more lately and it was both kind of creepy and kind of nice that Conan didn't have to explain himself. "No one said you couldn't seem like a smart kid, and we can make you look just a bit older. You're already what? Ten? That's got to be better than being six."

"I suppose that's true."

Conan glanced down at himself and was a little surprised to find himself not cringing at the sight. They had decided to frame Erika—his new alias—as a bit of a tomboy, so at least he wasn't being forced to wear skirts all the time. Kaito could definitely be evil, but he was also practical and there was no point making the child more uncomfortable than he would already be. Conan wasn't that great an actor to begin with. Discomfort could only make it worse—until he got used to it anyway.

"It's too bad having you join a soccer team would be a bit too obvious," the magician continued to muse aloud. "Can you think of any other activities you might be willing to go out and do? Join a choir maybe?"

"Trust me," Conan replied dryly, "you don't want me in a choir."

"No good at singing?"

"It's practically torture."

The magician laughed. "For you or for your audience?"

"Both."

"What about art? I could enroll you in a drawing class."

Conan frowned. "I guess that wouldn't be too bad."

He wouldn't exactly call himself an artist, but he wasn't too bad at it either. It was perfect, especially considering the whole point here was not to be too memorable.

"Art class it is then," Kaito declared, straightening and giving his own disguise a last once over in the mirrored doors of the bedroom in their new counterparts' apartment. It was a good thing Conan had access to such great finances or they would never have been able to afford this kind of charade. Ah, the woes of a great thief who always returned what he stole. If Kaito hadn't been who he was, all those gems he'd been able to acquire in his less than legal night job would no doubt have been able to fund the purchase of several mansions. But alas, they would find other ways to manage.

"So, are you ready?"

TBC...

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