A/N: Let me take a second to once again thank my beta-reader miladyRanger—both for beta-reading, and for providing suggestions/plothole-fixes throughout. Also because this chapter has more Kaito than many of the others, and I learned to write Kaito from watching her do it brilliantly. Go check out her fic; if you regret it it's probably because you picked one of the sad ones.
I added an "AU-Canon Divergence" tag to the AO3 version of this fic because while most of the changes I'm making in this fic aren't ones that affect the overall trajectory of the heists and the canonical MK plot, with the exception of the changes to the way Corbeau went down, there are still a lot of changes and they're only going to get more numerous as the fic continues. I imagine you've all already noticed that this isn't exactly a straightforward AU. I leave it to you to figure out exactly what it is.
Finally, in this fic, Aoko retains her canon speech-quirk of referring to herself in the third person in spoken dialogue. In the narration, she uses "I," because it would get annoying after a few sentences otherwise, and since I think the third-person self-references are more an affectation than how she actually thinks.
Chapter 4: Stop Imagining
No one who knew Nakamori Aoko would be surprised to know that she liked Hakuba Saguru—or even that she had harbored a slight crush on him for a little while. But not everyone knew that she'd also been pretty angry with him for about as long, or that she still didn't quite understand him.
Aoko remembered the day that Hakuba had transferred in with startling clarity. But, it really had been a memorable day. Really, even an aloof girl like Akako would've been affected if she'd suddenly found a blond, half-British boy kissing her hand and offering to take her on a date—and Aoko wasn't nearly as cool-headed as Akako. On top of that, the boy had promised to catch KID—to get the thief that took her father away from her at all hours of the day and night. How could she not turn into the silliest schoolgirl imaginable in his presence? Especially when she saw his eyes—there was real longing in them, real longing for her. If anyone had ever wanted her that way, they certainly hadn't bothered saying!
And then, she'd realized that he'd been using her to bait Kaito. Her stomach had felt all twisted up and warm with something like betrayal, and she was about ready to swing a broom at his head for lying to her—but then he smiled at her, and she…she couldn't quite bring herself to, then.
He had one of those funny almost-smiles on, one of the ones she'd only ever seen on Kaito, but, honestly, there had to be other people like him who didn't like to show their sadness out there, so was it any surprise that she'd finally met one for herself? But Hakuba was only halfway smiling, and Aoko started thinking about what her father would be like, if he didn't have a daughter that he occasionally had to check on and act like a person around. What would he be like if he didn't have anything but chasing KID?
He might know more about having rivals than having friends, she thought. He might have forgotten what the right way to ask someone on a date was—or, in Hakuba's case, never even had a chance to figure it out.
That seemed like such a lonely way to live. And Aoko wouldn't allow it. Hakuba was the one who'd been friendly to her first, so it was practically an invitation, right? And if the fact that she was being friendly meant that Kaito hung around, suspiciously at first and then grudgingly interested and even willing to be friendly himself, well, no one could actually prove that Aoko planned it, could they?
People always forgot that Aoko solved math problems just as fast as Kaito did, because he was flashier. Someone less intelligent would get jealous. Aoko just enjoyed the camouflage. High school students could get mean if they thought you were too different, after all.
Somehow, Hakuba managed to dodge that without trying, too. Aoko wasn't really sure how, especially since he bragged a lot about chasing KID and Aoko was far from the only fan of the thief at the high school. Part of it was probably his looks. The rest was the fact that, for all that Hakuba was arrogant and tended to rub people the wrong way without even noticing what he was doing, whenever a situation was really bad, he suddenly got really good at dealing with people. It was more than the charm he'd pulled Aoko in with during their first meeting—she couldn't even quite explain it as his using his detective skills to understand people, because the way he spoke at those times…he seemed less stiff and formal, and more ready to react to whatever situation arose.
Only under pressure, though. Under normal circumstances, he was still awkward and formal and the nearest to natural when he was flirting, even though the flirting was never genuine and was nearly always directed at a teacher from whom they needed a favor. He didn't even relax when fighting with Kaito, and they were nearly always fighting. Especially that week where Hakuba had done some sort of weird reverse psychology to make Kaito stop the skirt-flipping. That had been weird.
Aoko blamed Hakuba for the fighting, by the way. No matter what Hakuba's suspicions were, the middle of class was not an appropriate time to point at Kaito and accuse him of being Kaito KID. Besides, he'd been wrong, and Aoko had known it—or, at least, that's what she'd told herself.
Truth be told, she was also a little angry at him for making her doubt her childhood friend.
She still didn't like him muttering about Kaito being KID—but if Kaito was willing to put up with it, and the police weren't paying any attention anymore, she'd put up with it. Other than that, she was fond of Hakuba's company, even with all of his quirks. Given Kaito, it was possible that she was just drawn to strange guys.
The strangest thing about Hakuba, probably, was the way he'd flit in and out of Japan like going home to Britain was going to Hokkaido for the weekend or something. Except that…she really didn't think it was. Sure, he left the country every five seconds, practically on a moment's notice…but he never came back looking like he'd been on vacation. To be honest, Aoko was a little worried about what the British half of Hakuba's family was like, since he always came back looking exhausted and on edge—worse than Kaito after full moons (Keiko had a theory about astrology, Hakuba had a theory about heists, Aoko believed neither).
She'd known him almost a whole term before she finally got up the courage to ask about it. He'd come back from a trip home with dark circles and stress lines circling his eyes, and even Kaito had noticed and restrained himself to only a few small pranks. Hakuba had actually been caught completely unaware by a glitter bomb, though he'd flicked the subsequent paint bomb back at its launcher and left Kaito covered in greenish goop.
She waited until lunch, and then until Kaito had wandered off to trade his carrot sticks for something "more appealing"—she was betting that meant "easier to juggle" rather than "tastier"—and then sat down near Hakuba.
"Do bad things happen, when you go back to England?" she asked, carefully. "Aoko was wondering." Sometimes, the childish sound of her speech quirk could be used to disarm the person she was talking to.
Hakuba seemed to study her. "Sometimes," he said.
"Then, why don't you stay here?" Aoko asked.
"Because worse things would happen if I didn't go," Hakuba said. "I'm a detective, Nakamori-san. You could say that 'bad things' are my job."
"But you don't go to England just to be a detective, do you?" Aoko asked.
"No, but that's a lot of what I do while I'm on trips," Hakuba said. "I enjoy detective work, but it can be very draining."
"I don't think I'd like to be a detective," Aoko said, speculatively.
"You wouldn't," Hakuba said, with an odd amount of certainty.
"Maybe I would!" Aoko protested.
Hakuba started backpedaling rapidly, looking nothing so much as panicked. "It's not that I don't think that you could do anything you set your mind to—it's just that I don't think you'd really get much out of it—oh, I'm not saying this right, just please don't become a detective to prove me wrong—"
He seemed…weirdly concerned about that possibility, like the idea of Aoko being a detective was somehow scary to him. Which, given that he wasn't one of the thousands of criminals she would undoubtedly catch, it shouldn't have been. But it was so bizarre to see actual fear in Hakuba's eyes that she dropped the subject without a second thought.
Hakuba was a nice person, even if he did make a lot of trouble for Kaito. Aoko just wished she knew how to get him to rely on the people around him a little more.
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"Why are you curious about Hakuba?" Aoko asked, blinking.
"I suppose I just want to know a bit more about Kaito's new friend," Chikage responded.
Aoko tilted her head to the side. "Hmm…well, Kaito must've told you about when Hakuba accused him of being KID, right?"
"He complained about it a little over video-chat," Chikage recalled. A little—more like, for hours, but who's keeping track?
"Well, Aoko was pretty angry too, but Hakuba-san has been a good friend other than that," Aoko said. "And Kaito played a lot of pranks on him, after that, for revenge, so maybe they're even now?" She looked thoughtful, then added. "Well, except that he keeps bringing it up. It's annoying."
"What is he like when he's not accusing my son of grand theft?" Chikage asked, keeping her tone light.
"Nice," Aoko said, with a small, fond smile, "but always busy with work, you know? And kind of…not shy…Aoko guesses the right word would be lonely?" she finished, touching a finger to her chin as she glanced off to the side.
"Lonely?"
"Like Aoko said, he's always busy with work," Aoko said. "Aoko doesn't think he spent a lot of time with people when he lived in England."
"Kaito says he goes there all the time, though," Chikage recalled. "You don't think he's visiting people he misses?"
"He said some of what he does when he goes back to England is detective work," Aoko said, shrugging. "He didn't say what else he does, but he comes back from trips looking tired and grumpy a lot. So maybe he's not there to visit."
"But you don't know what he is doing…" Chikage murmured.
"Why are you asking about this?" Aoko asked, eyes narrowed.
Chikage quickly grinned and decided to cut her losses. "Just curious. Thanks for talking with me, Aoko."
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Hakuba Saguru was lots of things to Kuroba Kaito—rival, accuser, critic, and closest male friend, to list the biggest—but he was also currently the subject of one of Kaito's most interesting theories.
That being that Hakuba and Kaito's Creepy Mystery Friend were the same person, AKA the Theory of Making No Sense.
So, to explain all of this, Kaito had to start with the Creepy Mystery Friend—or maybe Hakuba? Nope, Creepy Mystery Friend first, because Hakuba was pretty straightforward—British Holmes-obsessed high-school critic, flair for the dramatic, dangerous in every situation, even when helping—until you got to the bits that intersected with Creepy Mystery Friend.
So, Creepy Mystery Friend. He?—She?—They were a person who liked to sneak around Kaito's life doing things to keep him safe, except that occasionally the things violated his privacy or the law or both and were just generally a little stalkery. The stalkery part maybe should've been his first clue that Hakuba was a possibility.
As far as he and Jii could tell, Creepy Mystery Friend's grand debut had been probably their creepiest move so far—sneaking into Dad's hideout and sewing Kevlar lining into every spare KID costume in the place. That had been a few days after the first heist, right after just enough dust was gone that Kaito wouldn't've noticed footprints. Oh, and then Creepy Mystery Friend had impersonated Kaito—not KID, but Kaito— to ask Jii to add Kevlar to any future costumes he made. Which, right away, marked Creepy Mystery Friend as a person of many talents.
Now, Kaito was grateful, especially after the last few heists. Jewel plus Kevlar between Kaito and bullet equaled less bruised ribs equaled him being able to breathe normally sooner, which was nice all around. But he did not at all like the idea of someone else knowing where Dad's hideout was. He didn't really like the idea of someone impersonating him, either, even if it was for benign reasons. And, obviously, someone knowing that he was KID and Jii was KID's assistant was unsettling. Also, this person seemed to be…kind of stalking him? Well, him as in Kaitou KID.
Like, during the heist Akako crashed, someone broke her circle with a snowball. During the Crystal Mother heist, Jackal showed up on top of the train with bruises on his face and accused him of having an accomplice, while the prince had shown up later and said that KID's friend wasn't a very good babysitter but he was good at martial arts. Nightmare mentioned that someone had been trying to keep him from contacting KID but that he'd managed anyway—and then, Kaito's lost glove had vanished, completely, from the scene.
Akako disavowed any knowledge-she was the first one Kaito asked.
The help wasn't even consistent. If Kudou or his tiny alter ego were involved, Kaito was completely on his own, for some reason. It was all really confusing and Kaito was about ready to sympathize with his critics in his desire for an answer.
And then, at some point, it had occurred to him that only one person he knew had openly helped him, as Kaitou KID—Hakuba Saguru. Even his mom had only bailed him out of a problem she herself created, and then possibly created a freaky test for him, which was not helping, and if she incriminated herself as Corbeau Kaito was going to tell her that. Hakuba had called him from another country to tell him something about Chat Noir that kept the heist from ending in a disaster.
Hakuba had, in fact, helped him, and that was really friggin' confusing. Even more confusing was the idea that Hakuba could be Creepy Mystery Friend. For one thing, Hakuba lacked half of the knowledge—
Well, okay, so Hakuba had to know a little about costumes: see the Inverness. Kaito had seen him use lockpicks and scale walls at heists. He was obviously crazy-smart and made no secret of it, and he knew that Kaito was KID, for all that he couldn't manage to prove it. He was, in the most basic of senses, qualified to be Creepy Mystery Friend.
But what would be the point? What would lead Hakuba to do something like that? Creepy Mystery Friend's goal, as near as Kaito and Jii could tell, was to keep Kaito alive and safe; Hakuba wanted him in jail. The two were very much not compatible, especially since Creepy Mystery Friend had seen Jackal's face and if Creepy Mystery Friend was Hakuba, he would've researched Jackal enough to know about Jackal's organization, who would not let Kaito live in jail.
So, it was tempting to just bury the whole matter in a file labeled "The Theory of Makes No Sense" except that…other than the obvious logical disconnects, it really did make sense. So much sense.
The only person in Kaito's life who had as little regard for Kaito's privacy as Hakuba was Creepy Mystery Friend, and vice versa. The only people who knew about Kaito's nightlife outside of the people who knew his father, besides Creepy Mystery Friend? Hakuba (well, Akako too, but since Creepy Mystery Friend had been protecting him from her, she was cleared of suspicion). He and Hakuba were thief and critic, yes, but they were also friends…and, well, there were times when it almost seemed possible.
So once, just once, he asked.
"Hey, Hakuba-san, have you ever broken into my house?"
Hakuba goggled at him. "Why would you even ask me that?"
"Well, someone did, at some point?" Kaito said. "I'm narrowing down suspects. Like a detective!"
"Don't even think about calling yourself that," Hakuba muttered. "And why would you decide to ask me, of all people?"
"You were on hand?" Kaito said, shrugging, smile still in place. Hey, it's not like I can say, 'You seem like the kind of person who might break into a thief's hideout and sew Kevlar into his costume, that's all.'
Hakuba made an offended noise, as the commotion drew Aoko's attention.
"You had a break-in?" she asked. "Was anything important stolen? You definitely should've reported it to Dad!"
Did Hakuba just…smirk? Kaito wondered, staring at the detective's face. But, no, there was the customary annoyed expression. Must've imagined it.
"Nothing was gone, they just went through some of Dad's stuff," Kaito said. "I didn't really want a lot of officers going through and checking for prints…" Or finding out I'm KID…
Aoko nodded, serious. "But you shouldn't accuse Hakuba-san of things!"
Kaito practically choked on the irony. "I shouldn't accuse Hakuba-san of things?" he managed.
Hakuba smirked, and Kaito glared at him. Aoko giggled.
So, there it was. Whoever Creepy Mystery Friend was, they weren't Hakuba. Probably. Almost definitely.
Someday, Kaito would figure it out for sure.
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"Of course I'm being careful, and besides, there's Kevlar in the KID costume now, so I'll be fine!" Kaito insisted, fingers drumming busily on the kitchen table.
"Kevlar?" Chikage asked. "I don't remember—"
Kaito flushed a bit. "It's new," he said.
"That was a good idea," Chikage said approvingly.
Kaito looked abashed rather than proud. Ah, it was Jii -san's idea, wasn't it. He'll admit it eventually, I suppose.
"But that's not the only thing you have to worry about, is it?" she pressed. "What about Hakuba?"
"What about him?" Kaito asked, belligerent. "Sure, he's a pain, but I've stayed ahead of him this long!"
"I just want to make sure you aren't letting your guard down," she said. "After all, for him to suspect you in the first place—you must have let something slip."
Kaito grimaced, sheepish. "Guess I did," he said. "When I was starting out, well, I wasn't always careful. I guess not all of my reactions always made sense for someone who was just a KID fan—and I was probably flashier with pranks than I should've been."
"So that's how he figured it out?"
Kaito shrugged. "I mean, I guess so? It's not like I can ask him, without confirming his suspicions."
"So you have at least figured out that much," Chikage said, a bit severely.
"What?" Kaito said, defensive.
"I'm just worried that you're not taking him seriously enough," Chikage said. "He's a detective, and he's watching you nearly all the time. You have to be very careful."
Kaito scowled for half a second, before saying, very neutrally, "I've been doing all right for the last few months, haven't I?"
Chikage nodded.
"Then you don't need to worry," he said, grinning, and getting up from his seat.
This conversation is over, Chikage translated, privately a bit stunned. He's gotten better at Poker Face while I've been gone.
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Imagine you are in a dark room. How do you get out? Stop imagining.
—Source unknown
A/N: Although the quote lacks a source, I felt it was very appropriate for Magic Kaito's two resident unconventional geniuses (yes, I am one of those that will never let go of Aoko solving equations as quickly as Kaito).
Next chapter will be the Detective Conan crossover-y bit, so if your sole familiarity is with Magic Kaito, now would be the time to track down the Sunset Mansion case (DC anime episode 219/MK chapters 23-24/DC chapters 299-302) and the Detectives' Koushien case (DC episode 479/DC chapters 562-566). For the grand majority of you who already know DC and the characters, I will be writing Heiji's accent out, though I'm going to be careful not to make it too hard to read, and I'll be open to suggestions for making it easier to read if there are issues after it's posted.
I can still be found at .com for all your yelling-about-fic needs, and updates are also available by following the tag "riddle in reverse."