Chapter One:

Prologue: The Invitation

SHINARA POV

Shinara sat at the open window of her personal library. She had now been living at Kudo Mansion for more than a year after her transformation back to a teenager from an eight year old child. It still felt weird to her to be here in this big mansion, when before, she been surrounded with constant noise as the lives of the Mouri family occurred around her, drawing her in as a member of that circle.

After having taken down BO and MKO with the help of her friends, the police, and the FBI, she had finally told Ran and Richard the truth about her having been Christie. She had expected them to hate her for lying to them for such a long time, but to her surprise, Ran had just smiled and said, "I knew it."

She had tried for hours to get him to explain how he knew, but he just would laugh and smile and find some way to change the subject. Eventually she gave up on trying to convince him to tell her, but she didn't miss the fact that her lying to him had hurt him. It had hurt him far more than she would ever know and far more than even he knew. The two were still close…are still close… but that relationship they had as Shinara and Ran as well as the relationship of Christie and Ran were no longer accepted. Ran went his own separate way after high school with Sonoko who she heard he later proposed to shortly after going to the same university. She wished them well, even if she was somewhat troubled by the lack of emotion she now received on his part.

Richard Mouri on the other hand had no problem with the fact that she had been Christie. He welcomed her to his home whenever she wanted to drop by and the two talked regularly as though he were an Uncle to her. The relationship was not what she was expecting, but it was something that became important to her rather quickly.

As for Kazuha and Harley, the two of them decided to be friends after high school. They had dated for a while throughout the last year, but eventually they both seemed to think that it just wasn't meant to me. Shinara was just happy to see that it hadn't affected their friendship though, as they both continued to hang out regularly.

Hakuba and Aoko on the other hand, became much closer after high school. Kaito eventually came clean to Aoko about his being Kaitou Kid and Aoko while angered and hurt by his lies, accepted it after quite a bit of time separated from her childhood friend. She still occasionally used it over his head, but anyone could see she had forgiven him, though hadn't forgotten. It had hurt her, just as Shinara had inadvertently hurt Ran. Hakuba on the other hand was completely accepting of the confession and after hearing the true story behind the cape of Kaitou Kid, he began his own search for the jewel, hoping to aid his friend so that he could retire his criminal persona sooner.

As for Kaito and Shinara…what else was there to say about two people who were so madly in love with one another?

Shinara sighed as her thoughts drifted away from the past year. She had graduated high school with her rightful class, barely. She had done day and night classes in order to make up for times missed in school during her poisoning, but all the work had been worth it when she stepped onto the stage to accept her diploma. The next day she watched Kaito accept his and the two moved in together into the Kudo Mansion.

So yeah, sitting in the library by the window, it felt weird to be home in the quiet of the late night hours, but she definitely wasn't lonely, because she knew a certain phantom thief would soon be strolling in…

BANG! "Ouch!" a voice whimpered from down the stairs.

She smirked. "Speak of the devil…"

"Shin-Chan!" Kaito yelled as he opened the door and literally jumped onto the couch, nearly sending her flying. She glared at him as he looked up at her, his face red and his eyes watery. She frowned.

"What's wrong with you now?" she asked with a sigh.

"I…I…"

"You?" she pushed.

"I got accepted into Tokyo University!" he yelled.

She sat there and stared, just blinking at him. He stared back, his face red as he swept the letter out of his pocket. Both his clothes and the envelope were soaked through from the rain.

Keeping a straight face, she took the envelope from him and opened it up, spreading the sheet of paper in front of her as she began to read it aloud.

Kaito Kuroba,

Congratulations on your admittance to Tokyo University! Competition this year for admittance was particularly rigorous, but after careful consideration, we have concluded that you would be a welcomed asset to our University.

We also wish to inform you that we have taken your plea to not live on campus into consideration and while it is normal for most first year students to live in the dorms, we have agreed to allow you to live outside of the campus so long as you keep your grade point average at a considerate level.

The TU Family happily welcomes you aboard and I cannot wait to personally greet you the first day of orientation this coming fall!

Kenji Akiko

Director of Admissions

"Kaito, this is so cool!" Shinara cheered as she turned to her overly happy fiancé, "What field did you finally decide on?"

"Err…I decided to do Physics as my minor and…" he paused, rubbing his head a bit nervously.

She watched him, surprised by his sudden uncertainty.

"Physics as the minor and…?"

He grinned as he stood up, his eyes closed in a squint to hide his nervousness, "And I chose Law as my major."

She gaped at him. She didn't mean to just sit there with her mouth hanging open, but she couldn't believe that he…the criminal phantom thief, had chosen Law as his major. Law! Of all things. He frowned as she continued to stare at him in shock. Was it really such a surprise that he had wanted to do law? Seeing that she was upsetting him, she shook her head and grabbed his hand as he started to stand up, "Sorry love", she said quickly, "I just wasn't expecting you of all people to go into something like law."

He sighed as he sat back down, but she could tell he was pouting.

"I thought that law might be a good fit…I mean, I know I want to continue doing magic, which is where the physics fits in, but I wanted to…" he paused and looked her straight in the eye, "I wanted to be able to support you, in my own way."

A fierce blush covered her face as she realized how serious he was and how he had done all of this for her, on her behalf.

"If that's what you truly want", she finally said, "but I don't want you doing something you won't enjoy."

"Oh, don't doubt I won't have my fun", he laughed with a sly grin, "I just want to support you the right way, the best way I know how. Not as a Kid…but as me, as Kaito."

She smiled as she reached out and gently caressed his face.

"You are always a support to me Kaito, even if you don't feel like it."

He leaned into her touch and smiled at her, "Thanks dove."

She grinned at the pet name and leaned forward, pressing her lips gently to his own. His tongue sought entrance and she gave it, gladly, as he pressed her down to the couch, his hands roaming over her stomach as they broke apart for air and just basked in each other's company.

KID POV

Kaito woke the following morning, his giddiness from last night having finally dissipated and left him feeling rather exhausted. He had kept Shinara awake late into the night and so he found it no surprise that she was still sleeping soundly by his side at noon. She wasn't a morning person anyways, but he found it rather cute that he had finally woken up before she had.

"Coffee", he mumbled as he started downstairs, his white silk PJ's sweeping the floor as he walked. Shinara was a coffee-holic and he knew she would need some as soon as she was awake enough to get up and out of bed. Putting the pot to boil on the stove, he grabbed his gray robe and slipped it on as he opened the front door and started towards the mailbox, as was his now normal custom each morning. Shuffling through the letters, he frowned when he came upon a small envelope with no markings but four numbers. 1412.

"1412", he whispered to himself, where had he heard those numbers before?

"Anything in the mail, love?" asked shinara as she walked into the kitchen, her silky blue nightgown hanging loose off of her slim frame.

"Nah, but do you recognize the numbers 1412?"

She froze and turned to him, her eyes wide with surprise.

"You said 1412?" she asked to check.

He nodded, confused why she looked so startled.

"That is the international number that the FBI assigned you as Kaitou Kid. They canceled it though when you helped take down BO and MKO last year. Why it would be on an envelope is…" she stopped and looked the small white envelope over before slowly slipped her finger along the inside, opening the seam.

Kaito didn't know what she was expecting to find inside, but he watched her, his own nerves on edge as he watched her cautiously open the letter. The frown that followed told him quite quickly that she couldn't make any sense of it. He stepped behind her and began reading over her shoulder.

K1412T1412O1412ICH14I12P21AN1412D41OR1412AUG1241USTILEO12ONE3257*PR

"It's a code", commented Kaito as he read it over, "I know this because my dad used to use a similar one that he made me learn. He always said it would be a language just between him and me, but this one is slightly different, though the idea is the same."

He grabbed a pencil from the nearby desk and sat down on the couch, Shinara joining him as she watched him begin deciphering the single line of crypt.

"There", he commented when he was done, "It reads Kid Toichi Pandora Hid 3257 Augusti Leone Puerto Rico."

"What does that mean?" asked Shin as she searched his eyes, seeing the faint hint of surprise behind his mask.

"It…it's a location for Pandora."

"What?" she asked in shock.

"My dad…he left a letter for Vermouth and Bourbon gave it to me last year after the operation ended and BO was taken down. It had the same type of code on it and it…" he paused and shook his head, his eyes tight.

"What?" she asked confused.

"My dad's other letter fits with this one. I never understood what the other one meant, but if I put the meaning of this one along with the meaning of the last one, it reads…

"Kaitou Kid. Toichi Kuroba. Pandora Hid, meaning hidden, place. 3257 Augusti Leone Estate. Puerto Rico."

"T-that…that would make sense that he would leave a clue behind, but", Shinara shook her head, something wasn't right, "how did someone know to send this second part to you?"

"That is what I would like to know" he muttered as he sat back on the couch, his eyes hard as he stared at the address and name. Turning to look at his worried fiancé, his eyes softened. "How would you feel about a final trip before University?"

She looked up at him and then smiled.

"You really need to ask?"

He grinned, "Nah, but figured I would make sure."

She smiled as she stood up, her hand in his. "You know we have to tell the others. They would never forgive us if we held back any sort of information like this. Especially Hakuba who has been searching so hard for you."

"I know", he answered with a nod and glanced at her again, "would you care if he came with us?"

"You know I wouldn't", she said with a chuckle, "Though you know that means Harley and Aoko will definitely be demanding to come as well."

Kaito laughed with a nod, "Yeah, but I don't mind. It might be fun to do a…treasure hunt of sorts with our friends before reality sets in."

"I suppose it would", she agreed as she poured herself a cup of coffee and watched her fiancé as he sat down on the couch, his cell phone out as he called Hakuba up. She could tell he was excited about the possibility of finding the jewel, but the fact that someone was clearly inviting them struck her as odd and rather worrisome. Still, she knew how much this meant to Kaito and she would support him, even if it meant one more trip through hell and back to get to the bottom of things. She just hoped her gut instinct was wrong.