This was written as a gift for Hebiaczek to celebrate reaching 100 reviews for Switched. Hebiaczek's prompt was "Kaito meets Vermouth". Hope you enjoy, Hebiaczek, and congrats for being the 100th reviewer! :)

In Which There Are Doubles

Hayashi Rin was an ordinary man. Except right now he wasn't.

Hayashi Rin was not supposed to be attending the party tonight. Except he was.

Kuroba Kaito was confused, because he was currently dressed up as Hayashi Rin, and there was a man who looked just like the balding forty-year-old standing opposite the drinks table.

It took Kaito a split-second to check through the information he had collected about his disguise. Hayashi did not have a twin. In fact, Hayashi did not have any living relatives. He was a quiet, unassuming man: wealthy, no partner or spouse, and liked to attend charity events. That was what made him the perfect person to utilise for this little reconnaissance mission. No one would notice or care that the real Hayashi never made it out of his house. Or, at least, should not have made it out of the house. There was only one explanation for why Kaito was staring at Hayashi Rin.

I'm so screwed.

Kaito allowed himself the pessimistic thought—if only for a second. Poker face was still in play, and he had always been good at improvising. Time to see if he could salvage the situation.

The other Hayashi had got over his initial shock at seeing a double of his own face and was now moving towards Kaito. Perfect. All Kaito had to do was get close enough to the man to slip him a sleeping tranquiliser and then it was just a matter of hiding the "evidence" in a closet for a while until he no longer needed the disguise. So he did not shy away from Hayashi; instead, he looped his arm around the man's shoulder, even as a tiny syringe slipped into his palm from the hidden folds of his sleeve.

"Excuse me—" Kaito began, and then froze.

The quick hand movements, the tiny flash of metal. Kaito's eyes had always been good, and it had him jumping back from Hayashi like a startled cat. The fact that the other man did the same was a small consolation. Both of them were holding syringes. Both of them had attempted to jab the other with a needle.

Kaito's eyes narrowed. "Who are you?"

"Well, I'm not Hayashi Rin," the fake Hayashi said calmly. "Then again, neither are you."

Kaito smiled in acknowledgement.

"I'm afraid there isn't room for two of us at this party," the fake said. "Will you give up your disguise, Kaitou Kid?"

Kaito's smile widened into a Cheshire Cat grin. "Perhaps we should discuss this somewhere more private."

The fake agreed and followed him through the backdoor and up the stairs to the roof. Kaito kept his guard up, not keen to get stabbed in the back—metaphorically or literally—though he got the sense his double was more curious than anything. He didn't get the same vibe of vicious antagonism that drenched the likes of Snake.

"So," Kaito said, turning around to face the fake Hayashi, and speaking in his normal voice. "You figured me out."

"Your signature is all over the disguise," the fake said with an offhand shrug. "There are few who can pull off such perfection."

"You did," Kaito pointed out.

"I learnt from the best."

Kaito was intrigued. There was something about the words that suggested a deeper meaning, as if the fake was trying to prompt him into reaching an epiphany. The problem was that Kaito had no foundation upon which to build his speculations; he didn't know of anyone else who could disguise like him except perhaps Kudo Shinichi's mother, but she wasn't quite up to his standard. Close, but not perfect. The same could be said of his own mother. His disguised companion seemed to understand his confusion, because a smile spread across the plain features of Hayashi Rin.

"You still haven't figured it out?" the fake taunted, but this time the person spoke in a smooth, feminine voice.

A voice that Kaito recalled with perfect recollection thanks to his eidetic memory.

"Sharon-san?" he breathed in surprise, taking a step forward.

In his head, he could envision the woman with the long, wavy blond hair who had used to meet with his father. She didn't remove her mask, but he could almost see the pretty features hidden behind Hayashi Rin's face, captured in the expressions that were entirely Sharon Vineyard's. The arched eyebrow, the faint smile hovering at her mouth; it was decidedly Sharon, and it left him reeling.

"You're supposed to be dead," he said, shocked out of his poker face.

Sharon's smile widened a fraction. "I could say the same to you."

Right. She must have figured out that Kuroba Toichi was the original Kaito Kid, but then—

"Except you're not the man I knew, are you?" Sharon continued in that soft, mocking tone. "The stance and voice are all wrong. I suspect it's because it would only upset you to truly take on the original character of Kaitou Kid."

Kaito sucked in a breath.

She stepped closer. "Yet you did recognise me."

Beads of sweat formed on his brow, hidden beneath the mask he was now very grateful to be wearing. "You are a famous actress," he said, piecing his poker face together. "Is it really much of a surprise that I recognised your voice?"

Her eyes glinted. "After only hearing me speak once?" She placed her hand on his shoulder, moving closer so that she was whispering in his ear. "Don't take me for a fool. The fact that you are carrying on the mantle of Kaitou Kid suggests you were close to Kuroba Toichi. I know that old assistant could never pull off such a disguise, and Chikage-san is in America. Which just leaves you." She pulled back and met his gaze. "Isn't that right, Kaito-kun?"

His heart thudded against his ribs. He swallowed, resisting the urge to make a run for it. That would only confirm her suspicions.

Kaito forced a smile to his lips. "One phantom to another? You have your reasons for faking your death, and I have my reasons for reviving Kaitou Kid. I suggest we just leave it at that."

Sharon arched her eyebrow. "A deal, then?"

"It would work in both our favour," Kaito pointed out. "I leave you alone, you leave me alone." His smile took on a razor edge. "Unless you'd like me to go digging?"

A laugh escaped her lips. "Is that supposed to be a threat?"

"Call it an insurance policy. I have no intention of closing the curtain on my heists just yet, and that means I don't need any skeletons banging in my closet." He met her gaze steadily. "We can part ways now and forget we met, but push me and I will push back. It's your choice."

Sharon considered him through piercing eyes that even the contacts could not disguise. Kaito was conscious of the sweat dampening the back of his neck, but at least his poker face had remained intact. His expression was calm and disarmingly at ease, not showing a hint of how nervous he actually felt.

"Very well," she said. "It's a deal."

Kaito resisted the urge to let out a breath. Instead, he pulled off his disguise in a whirl of cloth, leaving himself standing before her in moonlit white, complete with top hat and monocle. He bowed to her with a graceful sweep of his arm.

"Then have an enjoyable time at the party, Hayashi-san," Kaito said, and then he vanished in a cloud of smoke.

He had to resort to Plan C to carry out the rest of his plan for setting up his heist, having lost the advantage of his disguise, but at least there were no gate-crashing police. Sharon did not pursue him either, and he stuck true to his word by not shadowing her. It was only later—quite by accident, might he add, thanks to the machinations of a certain tiny detective—that he discovered Sharon Vineyard had quite a few alter-egos of her own. Most significantly, the codename Vermouth. Still, a deal was a deal, and since she had never broken her end of the bargain, he chose not to break his either.

But the warning did remain. If she ever did push him, he would push right back. Hard.