-FIRSTS-

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

Warning: KaiShin relationship.

A/N: Yay! More plot! There might be traces/hints of implied mature content (?)


First Snag

Kaito stared at the message sent to his burn phone with an incredulous expression, mirrored on Shinichi's as well. The text itself was short but the attachment, that was baffling.

"Who is that person…" He could not help but mutter, feeling the woman named Casablanca was more than what she let on.

The pair of them were just on their way to lunch when the burn phone vibrated in Kaito's pockets. Neither had been expecting someone to contact them through the number so it had come as a surprised. It was especially so given the incident that happened two days ago.

"A very connected informant. It would be best for us not to cross with her." Shinichi took the phone from Kaito's hands and plugged it into the university's computer. It would not do for them to directly download the information onto their own computer. "Can you…?"

"Right, let me run the usual checks and scans." Kaito plugged in his USB and began booting up the program to check for tracing codes, viruses, and the like. They can never be too sure and with the proliferation of technologies these days, it was easy for people to worm their way into their home network and steal information. When Kaito cleared the files, found them to be clean, he made several copies onto the special USBs and one for themselves before wiping the computer clean. The information will be kept on the burn phone, just in case. "So JSP, FBI, CIA, and TMPD?"

"We can stop by the TMPD after class, ask whether Megure-keibu would be willing to give us a favour and help pass the information to the JSP. Jodie-san has requested we meet up with her and James-san sometime this week to discuss what they've uncovered from that demolished building. But the CIA...I'm not too sure." Shinichi took a few moments to consider what else needs to be done. "We might need to make another copy for 'tou-san though, he said he might have some more backup lined up for us."

"Do you have any idea?" Kaito swiveled his chair around. "ICPO? MI6?"

"I don't think 'tou-san knows anyone from Scotland Yard, let alone MI6. Though I can never be too sure with him." Shinichi sighed and sagged into the seat. "I've always suspected he knows more people than he lets on."

"Well, that might be a reason why your father travels a lot then, to meet with all his contacts." Kaito tries to joke. There has to be more than just trying to avoid the editors for the set of parents to constantly be on the move and away from Japan. Kaito refuses to believe any parent would willingly leave their child behind. His own mother drops by regularly, once a month, and stays for at least a week. From what he heard of the Kudo parents, they were rarely even back in Japan, let alone spend quality time with Shinichi.

"You're frowning." Shinichi poked at Kaito's cheeks. "It's nothing serious I hope?"

"No." Kaito wondered if there were any benefits in hiding his thoughts from Shinichi. 'Probably not a whole lot by the looks of it.' Shinichi was staring intently at him, with the intensity of someone evaluating a suspect. Sighing, Kaito decided to speak his mind. "Just that I'm often left wondering how much your parents care. I mean I know they do care about your wellbeing. But they don't seem to be always at home."

"Kaito…"

"And they're really flighty. I mean I love them as much as my mother, they will be my in-laws in the future," a large blush formed quickly on Shinichi's face at the mention of future possibilities, "but...I guess it just bothers me a bit."

"They're not bad parents." Shinichi had to cough and clear the blush before continuing. No doubt the image of the pair of them together was prominent in his mind. Kaito decided it was a look he adored and it was a shame that he was not prepared to be given such a sight. "They stayed with me until middle school. Then, my mother decided it was ok to take on a few cameo roles and father's books were gaining popularity. I don't blame them for what they did. I chose to stay behind."

"Still…"

"Kaito, just...drop it. Please." Maybe Shinichi sensed his distress or maybe it was just a topic that Shinichi did not want to discuss. Either way, Kaito turned back to the screen to perform a final check of the computer.

They had to split up for class, but Kaito managed to extract a promise from Shinichi to meet him by the gates once class finishes. Both have classes in different buildings nearly on two of the furthest end of the campus. For a moment, Kaito feared Shinichi might leave ahead of him, but his beloved must have sensed something and nodded.

Both should have been used to the hussle and bussle of the TMPD yet, neither could fully relax the moment they entered the building. There was a sense of unease and sobriety in the atmosphere, as though sadness was lurking in the shadows. Shinichi was quick to respond and walked straight down towards the Division One corridor, leaving Kaito to deal with the reception and signing them both in.

"What happened?" He asked the petite woman sitting by the desk. He tries to give her the best smile.

"Kuroba-kun," most of the officers recognised both Kaito and Shinichi on sight as both drop in regularly (Shinichi for cases and Kaito for taking his detective home), "I think it has something to do with the letter sent over this morning…"

"Letter?" This week was just filled with coincidences, not that Kaito believed there could be such a thing. First the incident, then Vermouth (though that could be easily explained), then Casablanca, and now a possible threatening letter. "From whom?"

"Well...I'm not sure if the media has caught wind yet, so keep this between yourself and Kudo-kun. But the letter that came in, was addressed to Division One but the sender…" She glanced about, as though fearing someone would pop out from the shadows. "It's KID."

"WHAT?!" Kaito's eyes immediately flew wide open in surprise. He did not send any notice out, and he was sure Jii would not do so as well.

"Not only that, but I heard that the content...it's not like the notes KID sends to us." She leaned over to whisper, "it was a notice of theft alright, but theft of life."

"KID would never do that!" Kaito defends his alter-ego. "KID has strict moral standards, never causing harm."

"Yes, that's what Nakamori-keibu said when someone consulted him about the recent developments. His voice could be heard several corridors down. I think I still hear him ranting off in the distance." She motioned upwards to the floor above, to where Kaito was sure Division Two was located. "The note is being examined by forensics at the moment, but I'm sure if you or Kudo-kun asked, Division One would be more than happy to give you two a glimpse. I'm sure the Megure-keibu would appreciate any insights on who the target could be. It's not extremely often we receive such high profile death threats."

"I'll catch up to Shinichi then. Thanks for the intel."

"You're welcome Kuroba-kun." She waved with a jovial smile, as though the conversation did not happen.

Kaito ran down the short corridor, coming to a rest at the nondescript door leading into the HQ office for Division One. A succinct knock to notify its current users, Kaito forewent the usual bang and stepped into the tense room. A large whiteboard was set up to the side with an enlarged note displayed prominently in the centre. Shinichi stood facing the whiteboard, with a hand on his chin, and a contemplative look fixed onto his face. As Kaito approached, he nodded greetings to several of the recognisable officers, who seemed to be pouring over their own version of the note. Some held scribbled notes whilst others had doodles adorning the margin.

"You've heard then?" Shinichi asked without turning to look at Kaito, who immediately draped himself on Shinichi's shoulders.

"KID copycat sent a notice of theft of life." He stared at the white paper and black ink, carefully examining the caricature at the base of the note before turning to the actual content. "It's not written in a riddle."

"They knew it was a copycat immediately after opening the envelope." He made a gesture to a photo on the side of the board.

"Only a letter?" Kaito's eyes roamed over the board, from the timeline at the top stating when the letter arrived at the station and tracing back to when it arrived at the various post offices.

"You're expecting something else?" Shinichi finally peeled his eyes from the board and looked at Kaito.

"This letter," he motioned towards the words in particular, "tells us the copycat wanted to take someone's life. But does not give any indication beyond the intention."

"There's an implied time and date…"

"Impossible." Kaito also saw the implication of possible time and date of the crime. But he did not believe things could be so simple. "To actually send a letter here, this person is either very confident in their abilities, or their aim is to confuse the police."

"Much like a certain thief." A wry smile showed itself on both their faces, a shared joke.

"Yes, much like a certain thief. And if this person truly want to copy said thief, then they would also leave clues. Otherwise, they would not be able to flaunt their intelligence and skills. It defeats the purpose of sending a notice."

"Unless whoever sent this is not the actual person committing the act."

"Yes, well, there's that. But I don't think it would be the case here." Kaito tapped on several of the punctuation marks. "You see here? Handwriting analysis would be able to give you more in-depth about the person's character."

"Since when have you studied handwriting?"

"I live with you, so I pick up things here and there. Did you know you liked to impart strange tidbits of knowledge at the most inopportune times?" He wagged his eyebrows with a lewd smile. "Though I guess it's mostly because I have the ability to loosen your tongue and that iron clad control you have over your thoughts?"

"Kaito!" With the way Shinichi was squirming in his spot, Kaito could guess what types of thoughts were running around his detective's head. He could not help but widen the grin.

'It's always such a pleasure to rile up Shinichi.' He thought to himself, pulling the detective closer towards him. He had noticed, the moment he entered, that his detective was extremely tense. It felt as though his detective was shouldering everything, that the protection of a single life was in his hands. Kaito thought the only remedy he could provide to such a stressful situation would be distraction, hence the sudden comment.

"Ahem." Megure interrupted from behind, coughing loudly into his fist. Shinichi pushed at Kaito to regain some of the distance before facing the stern pseudo-father/uncle figure.

"Keibu-dono."

"Kudo-kun," Megure narrowed his eyes as he turned to address Kaito, "Kuroba-kun." For a moment Kaito thought the older man would call his officers to have him forcibly removed from the building. Thankfully, the inspector settled on an 'I'm-angry-but-trying-to-remain-calm' face with a hint of 'try-that-again-and-I'll-make-sure-you'll-suffer' face. "What can you tell us about the note?"

Kaito assumed Shinichi had already delivered the USB and settled on listening to the detective logic Shinichi laid out. He made certain to bring Kaito into their conversation, forcing Kaito to explain some of his own reasoning (probably his detective's way of revenge). He noticed Shinichi still managed to retain that little hint of pink on his cheeks throughout the conversation.

'How wonderfully enticing.' Kaito subtly licked his lips, certain his detective caught sight of his action, as the inspector called out for another officer to bring in some case document. He let the subsequent grin be extremely visible but vanishing before the inspector could see.

"Is something wrong?" Megure glanced between the pair of look-alikes.

"Nothing keibu-dono. Let's look at that supplementary information." Shinichi tries to ignore Kaito by putting his back to him. Not for long though as Kaito immediately attached himself on Shinichi's shoulders. "You'll behave right?"

"Of course Dear. Anything for you." Kaito managed to sneak in a chaste kiss on the cheeks before letting Shinichi go, falling a step behind to allow some strange form of privacy.

-TBC-