A/N:Time for the next chapter!

Chapter 17 Kaito and Shinichi

Kaito sighed as he looked at his KID costume in the corner. "Shinichi, I hope you never find out who I am," He whispered, "But how long can I keep up the masquerade? How long before he finds out?"

The young thief, honestly, did not want to know what would happen. He tucked a piece of his brown hair behind his ears as he lifted up the picture that showed a young Kaito and Shinichi, both of whom were smiling innocent grins. It was a time before KID, before his father's death, before all of the unnecessary pain and secrets, a time when they were happy.

Even now, their happiness together felt fake and artificial, too. He just couldn't bring himself to refuse having his cousin over because he felt like his cousin might avoid him if he didn't allow him to come over.

"Kaito, are you all right?" Shinichi's voice came from behind him, he sounded worried, though Kaito knew naturally he'd be worried. Kaito having retreated to his room and not talking to his cousin would have anyone worried. Shinichi was too loving and that was his weakness-the people who were hunting him down would show no mercy to anyone, even him, and that was why-

"Kaito, answer me!" Shinichi sounded panicked, like he knew that Kaito was enduring all of the pain on his own. Good old Shinichi, he always wanted everyone to be happy no matter who they were. Naivete to the fullest, he knew, but that was Shinichi-his kindness came by nature.

"KAITO!"

Kaito blinked, had he really spaced out for that long? He stared at his concerned cousin.

"For god's sake Kaito, how long are you gonna space out for? I was getting worried," Shinichi sighed, sounding relieved.

"Shinichi..." Kaito trailed off, turning to face his friend as he stared at him, his blue eyes full of concern. "I'm absolutely fine, meitantei-san. You worry too much." He teased.

"But, you know I worry about you a lot," Shinichi said, "It's just that you've been worrying me endlessly lately and you're acting strange. Did something come up?"

Kaito smiled the poker face smile, the traditional one he was used to. "You know full well that I'm fine. The thing is, the stress from all of the tricks is getting to me and on top of that, my plans for the next hei-er, are going well..."

"You were about to say heist, weren't you, Kaito? You going as yourself or as the main star?" Shinichi said warily, with a smirk on his face that told him that Kaito was screwed.

"Shinichi, you're mistaken. KID and I are different people." Kaito pleaded.

"Sure you aren't KID. I must be a thief, too." Shinichi said sarcastically. "Tell me, did you think putting Kaitou in front of your name would diminish the thought of people linking your first name to your occupation, Mr. Thief?"

Shinichi smirked, the detective's you're-caught-now-and-there's-no-escape look he often reserved for the criminals he deemed guilty of some nefarious deed or other, except for the fact that it was now directed at Kaito specifically.

"Um...I think I left the bathtub water running..." Kaito said, but Shinichi grabbed his hand.

"I think we have a lot to discuss, Mr. Thief. Namely, you signed the note you sent to me as KID, but did you ever think I wouldn't analyze the fingerprints on it? You should have wiped them, otherwise I never would have figured it to be you. After all, the results pointed to yours. They match perfectly with KID's fingerprints."

Kaito blanched slightly, something that didn't escape Shinichi's attention.

"So, tell me, what else have you been hiding from me?" Shinichi asked. "I want to know why you hid something like this from me. I could have killed my own cousin without realizing it. Answers now, please."

Kaito panicked inwardly, Shinichi was seeing him as a criminal, not as his beloved cousin.
There would be no mercy from him now.

"Um...I, um, need to go get dressed."

"In your KID outfit, I presume?" Shinichi said as he held it out. "I found this while looking around."

"Shinichi, you don't understand, I have no choice...I did it to lure out the group that killed Dad! Your uncle was murdered by the group! You figured it out, too, didn't you?"

Shinichi's eyes widened. "How ironic, we're both after the same thing...justice, but how exactly is crossing the line a representation of bringing justice?"

"Um...the police at the time dismissed it as an accident, even though there was enough evidence to tie it to murder! This organization murdered him and covered it up! The authorities were persuaded to keep quiet due to that group's influence!"

Shinichi raised a brow, "Likely story. I highly doubt the police would fall for a criminal organization."

"Meitantei-san, it's the full and honest truth! I'm not lying, I have no reason to lie!" Kaito said. "Besides, the police have been hushed up by these people before!"

"Really, now...I'll just have to ask Megure-keibu these things and see if what you say is true..." Shinichi drawled.

"Don't!" Kaito cried.

"Fine," Shinichi sighed, "But you will not be KID. Okay! I want you to follow the laws of justice, so no costume heist."

"Please..." Kaito whined, doing his best puppy-dog impersonation.

"No."

"Pleaseeeee..." Kaito whined.

"No. That's final, too." Shinichi said sharply.

"Please...I'll be right back after I take the jewel."

Shinichi sighed. "Fine, but I'd better not be dragged into it, too."

'Damn, he's perceptive.'

Meanwhile, Vermouth smirked broadly as she listened to the conversation through her wiretap/

"I know who KID is now...great job, cool guy, even if you weren't aware of it yourself, you have delivered justice to us."

Shinichi narrowed his eyes as he looked around the house they were in. "A wiretap! We're being tapped!"