-FIRSTS-

Disclaimer: The works of Detective Conan and Magic Kaito belongs to Gosho Aoyama-sensei.

Warning: (Really) Slow developing KaiShin relationship.

Author's Note: Continuation from last chapter. Can be read on itself (though not advised). Timeline-wise...This story is on a floating timeline for the majority of the story. However, I'm going to say this takes place more than a week, less than a month since last chapter.


First Introductions

"Pray tell what am I doing here?" Kaito questioned the blond detective and his escort. He was dressed up in a pale blue suit jacket with red tie, white dress shirt, light slacks, and a pair of well polished Oxfords. A suit that is eerily similar to his KID getup. Normally, he would be at home sitting in front of the TV watching magic show reruns like any other Saturday night (with the exception of when he has a heist). Tonight, however, he had been dragged out of his house with much reluctance and forced into a suit of his companions' choosing (he has high suspicions that it was the blond who chose the suit and tie combo).

-3 hours ago-

He had been working on a new magic trick in the afternoon. It was supposed to be part of his next heist. He had been devoting more time to preparing for heist now that the Heisei Holmes is back. (Although the Meitantei rarely makes an appearance, Kaito always have to prepare for a surprise visit.) Just as he was about to have a breakthrough, there was a bang on the door.

"Kaito!" She shouted as she continued her assault on the front door. "I know you're at home!"

"What do you want?" He stuck his head outside his room window overlooking the front porch.

"Come down this instant!"

Kaito debated internally whether it was worth it to go down and face Aoko. On the one hand, if he remained where he is, he can have some of his props made but this could have very traumatizing results. On the other, should he yield to her demands, he might receive reprieve after satisfying her whims. Deciding sanity (or what little left of it in his mind) is more important, he left his room to open the door.

Only to find himself kidnapped by Aoko and Hakuba.

-Present-

"Because you have been avoiding Aoko. That's why Aoko asked Saguru to help." She was leaning heavily onto the blond detective's arm, which elicited a blush on said blond's face, as she adjusted Kaito's tie. "Aoko wanted to spend time with Kaito."

"By dressing me up like a penguin and attending some stuck-up's party?" He tugged on the collar again, more as an act rather than real discomfort. After all, Kuroba Kaito should not be used to wearing such clothing.

"The hosts were very gracious to allow me to bring guests. As soon as they heard your name, they were ecstatic. It seems they were fans of Kuroba Toichi and the thought of meeting his son must mean a lot to them." Kaito never understood how and why people like these sorts of things, the parties, glitter, and glamour is really not all that great.

"Great." Kaito did not believe this was all there is to the blond's scheme. "By the way, who are the hosts?"

"A pair of philanthropist who are interested in helping the younger generations establish themselves in society as the next great leaders, or so that was what I have been told. But I'm thinking this is just a PR stunt for them. After all, they are opening their home and displaying their latest art collection. My guess is that they are planning on holding an auction at a later date." Hakuba looked towards the pair of middle aged couple in the front of the room, surrounded the by media. "Come on, at least we should be courteous and thank our hosts."

"You go. You were the one who was invited." He moved towards the food table. Aoko elected to stay with Kaito.

Aoko was definitely having a great time, pulling onto Kaito's arms as they passed various famous people. Since Hakuba was not with them, the were left alone and were not forced to socialize. But their freedom was short-lived as Hakuba soon joined them once more. Instead of standing at one location (and would eventually be cornered by hoards of young ladies who are Hakuba's fans) they mingled in the crowd. Looking around, Kaito saw the famous young violinist, the youngest chef to have the cordon bleu awarded, athletes, and karate experts.

'Wait.' Kaito did a double take and glanced back towards the last group. There stood a familiar women, with facial features much like Aoko. 'Mouri-chan? And is that the young Suzuki-jou? And Tantei-chan is with them.' He quickly pulled on Hakuba's collar to catch his attention. The blond choked and was pulled back by the force. Aoko, now suddenly without her escort, turned to look at the boys. Hakuba waved her ahead, they were in one of the many galleries so it would be safe for Aoko to go off on her own.

"What are you aiming for?" Kaito whispered harshly into Hakuba's ear. Weary that his voice would travel far in the silence of this room.

"Whatever do you mean?"

"You willingly pair up with me and going off on Aoko's whim. Although I have to agree that she's a bit scary at times, but I don't see you as the type to let her pull you around. So confess, why did you want me here? Is this another ploy to prove I'm KID?"

"I may not have the evidence and my words may not hold that much weight with the police. But his words are favoured by the police." There was a somewhat sinister smile on the blond's lips. "Loathed as I am to admit, he is my better. He did earn his title and that he is more experienced in cornering criminals."

Kaito's eyes widened a fraction. Hakuba's smile only grew at his paling face. It seems the blond detective decided to change his approach to revealing him.

"Ah Hakuba-kun!" An enthusiastic voice called from where Aoko was standing, startling them both and effectively terminating their conversation. The women had a recording pen in her hands and seems to have been talking to Aoko before he had been identified.

"Miss Aomura." He addressed politely with a smile. "How have you been."

"Hakuba-kun, always a gentleman! And who are your companions?"

"Where are my manner. This is Kuroba Kaito, fellow classmate and magician. The girl you have been talking to is the daughter of Nakamori-keibu of Division Two. They are my guests for this evening."

"And she's such a nice girl! To have pointed you out to me!" Kaito had to hold back a wince at that fake voice. It was as bad as Conan when he pretended to be an ignorant kid. "And you, a magician you say. Your name does ring a bell."

"This is Miss Aomura, she's a reporter for the Tokyo Herald."

"Nice to meet you." Kaito gave the woman a polite smile and a bow accompanied by a white camilla.

"What a charming young man. Did you know you look a lot like Kudo-kun?"

"I get that a lot." Kaito scratched his cheeks as though in embarrassment.

"And Nakamori-chan, you are here with Hakuba-kun are you not? As his escort perhaps?"

"Miss Aomura, please refrain from trying to get an interview out of us. If you do want one, you will need to go through the official channels. It was something agreed by all media reporters upon Superintendent Hakuba's insistence."

"At least allow us a photo of you with Kudo-kun. He refused to be photographed ever since his re-emergence from his undercover work. If you are there, I'm sure he'll at least agree to one photo. We can get a shot of all of you!"

"I've been meaning to meet with Kudo-kun. If you can introduce us, we can surely repay that favour."

"When did you become so sneaky?" Kaito whispered in his ear as they headed towards a large crowd of people to one side of the ballroom.

"Ever since I realized conventional means is not a viable method to revealing KID."

It seems that everyone wanted to know about the top secret case that the Meitantei had been working on if all the reporters around him were any indication. There were also quite a few of the other guests in the midst, hoping to also catch his interest. Kaito, being a master actor, could easily see the unease in his eyes, the near-frantic search for an exit, underneath his media face.

"Kudo-kun!" The boisterous reporter called out, drawing the attention of everyone. "Care for a picture?"

"Aomura-san. Unfortunately I must decline the photo shoot."

"But you won't be the main feature. I'm doing a story on tonight's party, so it's only natural for me to get a few shots of the guests. Having a shot of you and Hakuba-kun together with his guests would help a lot."

Hakuba nodded from behind the women he was trailing.

"I don't think I have much choice then..." Shinichi sighed in resignation. "But only a few." The media around them nearly screamed in delight. After the two detectives shook hands (also while the reporters readied their cameras and phone), the group stood together and cameras started snapping. The reporters had the decency to keep the questions focused on the event. But that did not mean it didn't come as a jumble of words.

It seems to the group that the reporters were never satisfied. After the group photo, the detectives were pulled aside as a pair to have their photos taken. Kaito tracked the pair with his eyes, staring intently. He cocked an eyebrow when Hakuba had sidled up too close as the reporters pushed them together. There were looks and words of apologies and a light pinkish tint of embarrassment as flashlights go off. It wasn't until another celebrity arrived on the scene that the reporters finally left the pair.

"I apologise for that." Hakuba offered as they walked back to his companions.

"No, I should be the one to apologise. The reporters were after me."

"You were on media silent for a long time, it is no wonder that they will latch onto you as soon as you appear." Hakuba led them back towards where Kaito and Aoko were standing. Kaito suddenly had a bad feeling. "What brings you here this evening?"

"The hosts are old sponsors of my father's, they've asked quite a few times for my attendance..." Shinichi had widened his eyes slightly in recognition when he finally took notice of Hakuba's companions. Even though they had been introduced beforehand, he did not get a good look.

"You recognized my companions from somewhere?"

"No, just surprised that Nakamori-san looks a lot like one of my friends and that Kuroba-kun looks a lot like me." He smiled and shook his head. He directed a pointed look at Kuroba, one that seems to penetrate through all the lies saying he knew the truth.

Kaito could see the look of disappointment on Hakuba's face as he tried to suppress the urge to hide from the Heisei Holmes. There was something in those sapphire eyes that made him want to run away. At the same time, those jewel-like eyes had drawn Kaito in like a moth to the light, mesmerizing and mystical.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Why are you hiding here?" Kaito asked as he leaned on the blaster overlooking the dance floor below. He had initially come up onto the upper galleries to look at the art display but he found the Eastern Detective hiding in the shadows behind the ruby curtains framing the columns.

"Reporters." Shinichi carefully peered out, still staying within the shadows.

"Too bad you can't enjoy the night."

There was a moment of comfortable silence as Kaito continued to survey the dance floor, spotting Aoko and Hakuba enjoying themselves below. He had a sudden urge to rain down confetti just to create the atmosphere. Even though he disliked the blond, Aoko loved him and had threatened Kaito with marine animal induced body harm to Kaito should he try anything tonight.

"Are you actually friends with Hakuba or were you just pretending?" Shinichi spoke up all of a sudden, startling the magician.

"We know each other in school."

"Who would have thought." They both turned their gaze away from the floor below at the same time and faced each other as though in a confrontation.

"Ok, out with it." Kaito kind of know what the detective want to say, so he might as well pre-empt it.

"Do you take my for a fool or an idiot? Saying such things out in public is quite detrimental for you isn't it? Or do you really want me to confirm Hakuba's suspicion?"

Kaito was expecting the detective to accuse him of being KID outright, not in a manner resembling an adult admonishing a child. His face must have shown some surprise as the detective only sighed and shook his head.

"This is a black tie event, with an invite for a plus one, which generally indicates coming to the event with your significant other. For Hakuba to come with two companions is a little odd. I don't see him as the sort to have an unconventional relationship so Nakamori-san is most likely the plus one. You, on the other hand, doesn't look the type to be a third wheel, therefore it is safe to assume that he brought you here for a reason. Hakuba also isn't the type to approach the reporters willingly, for him to come along with Aomura-san is out of character. Therefore, his main aim, I assume, would be to approach me. The only reason would be he wanted me to confirm or refute something, this something being you. Hakuba is known to have a fixation on KID, it would only be correct to assume that Hakuba has a suspicion regarding the identity of KID and wishes me to confirm said suspicion. Am I right so far Kuroba?" It was the most Kaito heard the detective speak all evening.

"And?"

"Really? You have a death wish? You want me to proclaim your identity in public, where anyone can hear it? I know for a fact that you are not only being pursued by the police, but also by some unsavouries. To say my suspicions in public is courting danger."

Kaito laughed out loud, nearly bringing tears to his eyes. "It's good to know that you're not as cold as they made you in the rumours." He saw the detective cocked his head to one side. "You actually care." He said with a more serious tone.

"KID never did much harm to begin with. And if I condemned him to breaking and entering, I'll have to arrest myself as well. As long as KID sticks to his rule, I'm not about to use what I've learnt today." Shinichi noticed the reporters glanced up at his position, realizing his hiding spot is compromised, he needs to make a quick escape. "I'll see you some other time, Kuroba."

Kaito wasn't quite sure what had happened, only that it pleased him to know the Eastern Detective cared about his wellbeing. It looks like he would have to return the favour by sending out a personal invite to his next heist. 'I wonder if this also classifies as courting danger?'

-TBC-