A/N:I KNEW IT, I KNEW IT! Okiya was Akai all along, I freaking knew it! I knew someone that clever wouldn't kill himself off so easily. Besides, Shinichi had to trust him well enough. Also, I think Akai knew who he was from the beginning, meaning that he probably knows Conan is Shinichi. I have a slight suspicion that Jodie knows as well...of course, Ran knows in her heart that he's Shinichi...I just wish the damned manga would end and give us Shinichi permanently and get rid of Conan. The Conan plot is stupid and drags the whole storyline down...not only that, those freaking kids. God, how I hate them. That's why you won't be seeing them much here.
Chapter 18 The Black Organization
Shinichi noticed the brief look of panic sweep across his cousin's face for a moment before it shifted into a mock-happy look. He could tell his cousin was faking his emotions, he wasn't an idiot, after all. He had known for a long time how much his cousin relied on his poker face, even when it wasn't needed.
"Kaito, you are Kid, aren't you? We've got to get out of here!" Shinichi cried, pulling on his cousin's arm, but his cousin wouldn't budge. He tugged on his cousin's sleeve again, hoping to bring him back to his senses, but he still wouldn't move.
"Too late, meitantei-san. I told you they would catch me eventually. If it wasn't by your hands, eventually they would get me."
Shinichi looked at his cousin in horror, never even once thinking his cousin would be the kind to just give up like this without even fighting or resisting. "I refuse to lose you again, Kuroba. You may feel that it's worthless to fight, but I disagree. I want to go down fighting."
Kaito smiled sadly at his cousin. "Well, meitantei-san, since you know my secret now, you will probably have to go down with me."
Shinichi smirked. "Don't worry about me, I don't intend to die today."
"Well, then, the detective and the thief will just have to work together to stay alive, right?" Kaito guessed. Shinichi's only response to this was a smirk, which indicated that the answer to that question was an undisputed yes.
"Yep," Shinichi said, unaware that Vermouth was tapping in to them and heard every bit of their conversation.
Vermouth smiled as she listened in on them. "You two really are like twins, aren't you? You're so alike in every regard. Don't worry, Cool Kid, you'll be spared."
She sighed as she put out her cigarette. "I won't be giving this information to the higher-ups yet. I don't want them to kill you, Cool Kid."
Shinichi blinked. "Kaito, we should leave as soon as possible."
Kaito said, "So you don't judge me for being a phantom thief?"
"Baarou, of course I do. But right now, what's more important is staying alive." Shinichi said as both of them looked each other in the eyes and smiled at each other, knowing full well that they may not live through this experience, but both knew the most important thing to them now was to not lose each other. That was all that mattered most.
Kaito smiled. "Hey, remember that time when you were younger and we both got caught playing pranks on each other in class?"
Shinichi laughed at the memory. "Yeah, I remember that well enough. You got Ran covered in paint and we had to stay after school mopping the stuff up."
"Then we started to fight again," Kaito smiled at the memory.
"Baka Kaito, it's all your fault we have to stay after-school wiping up this stupid mess when we could be at home watching mystery shows!"
"You mean, you like watching those kinds of things. I hate them," Kaito taunted, flinging a small dab of paint at Shinichi's head as he mopped up the mess.
Shinichi dodged. "Okay, here you go, dear cousin. Here's something to take home to your mother!" He cried as he tossed another piece of paint at Kaito, who got it on his shirt.
"Shinichi, my mother gave me this shirt and now you got it soaked with paint! You know what this calls for, don't you?" Kaito said menacingly.
"A war?" Shinichi said as he stopped cleaning up the floor and eyed the paint on the ground. He picked up a few pieces and threw them at his cousin, who dodged most of them.
Before they knew it, pieces of paint and magic tricks were being lobbed back and forth at each other. Kaito tossed confetti at Shinichi's face, getting it in his hair, and confusing him so Kaito could attack him with some paint.
Shinichi tossed hair dye at his cousin, turning his hair pink. Kaito screamed like a girl and tried to get it off. Shinichi then resorted to tossing a piece of his fish sandwich at him. Kaito screamed even more.
The door opened then and a menacing shadow loomed over them. "KUROBA KAITO AND KUDOU SHINICHI, WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS MESS!"
Shinichi and Kaito froze upon seeing the figure of their teacher, standing in the doorway looking incredibly angry. She glared at them.
"Sorry, Kobayashi-sensei! We'll clean up this mess right away!" Both of them whimpered.
Sumiko stared at her recalcitrant students in annoyance before she sighed. "Fine, go clean this mess up and make sure it is completely gone as soon as possible."
"Yes, ma'am!" Kaito cried.
Sumiko listened outside and frowned as the two returned to arguing with each other.
'Still, they really are such close cousins. It's hard to believe they're not brothers with the way they fight all the time.' She thought and smiled to herself.
"Hey, Shinichi, get this fish off my head!"
"Only if you apologize and help me clean up here!"
"You heard Sumiko-san! You have to behave," Kaito said, imitating their teacher's voice perfectly.
"Excuse me, Mr. Kuroba, what are you supposed to be doing now?"
Kaito flinched. "Um...we're supposed to be cleaning up."
"Then get back to work."
"Yeah, it took me days to get the pink out of my hair," Kaito complained. "Your technique was pretty skilled then, Shinichi. I must know, why don't you join me in the thief business? Maybe then we can-"
Kaito paused upon hearing a doorbell ring. "I'll wait right here and see who it is!"
"Why didn't you open up, Kuroba?" A familiar voice rang out, annoyed and irritated.
Kaito and Shinichi looked at each other and then rolled their eyes. "Well, if it isn't Mr. Know-it-all-detective," Shinichi muttered.
"Look who's talking, meitantei-san," Kaito retorted.
Hakuba marched in, looking furious. "I received word that you're being tracked by a criminal organization, Kuroba! Why didn't you tell me about this?"
"For the last time, I'm not KID!" Kaito whined, but his pathetic acting was fooling no one.
"IF you're not KID...then I must not be British," Saguru drawled, looking at Kaito in distaste. His eyes narrowed as he took in Shinichi. "So what is he doing here?"
"For your information, I was invited over here by my itoko," Shinichi said, smirking at him. "So, don't act condescending towards me. I've been aware of his identity for a while."
Saguru flinched again. "You sure do know how to hit people where it hurts, Kudo." He said scathingly. "Anyway, what mess have you gotten yourself into this time, Kuroba?"
Kaito sighed. "They're after me on purpose. That's what I intended to do from the start by being KID."
"You barou, what were you thinking?" Shinichi cried. "You intended to get yourself killed by this organization!"
"Yes," Kaito said softly, "To avenge my father, Shinichi."
Shinichi's eyes lit up with a sudden understanding. "I see. It's revenge, isn't it?"
"Sort of," Kaito said, "Have you ever heard of a gem called Pandora?"
Hattori Heiji sighed as he waited for Kazuha to come out of the shower in the hotel they were staying at. "Oi, 'Zuha, are ya done in there yet?"
"No, Heiji, ya ahou! Don't ya come peekin' in here!" Kazuha retorted.
"Now why does she think I'll be doin' somethin' that stupid? What is it with women?" Heiji mumbled to himself. "Girls are all such stupid, annoying, idiots and 'Zuha herself is-"
"I'm what, exactly?" Kazuha said menacingly from behind him. She was now wrapped in a towel. "Ahou, it's your turn to use the shower."
"Nothin' at all, 'Zuha." Heiji said.
"Hey, dumb detective, there's a newspaper there if ya wanna read it," Kazuha said as she went back in the bathroom to change her clothes.
Heiji sighed as he picked up the newspaper and leafed through it. "The Tokyo people sure are weird...ara, what's this? High School Detective Kudo helps at the KID heist two weeks ago...engages in direct confrontation with KID himself. According to reports, Kudo was calm and composed the entire time he encountered KID and almost caught him."
Heiji's eyes widened as he continued reading it. "I think I may just have a rival in deduction."
"He sounds as weird as you are, Heiji. You and your detective ilk are so weird," Kazuha scoffed, as she walked out, her hair already pulled back into its usual ponytail. "Your turn."
Heiji stood up. "Right, right, whatever," He left the newspaper on the bed with the page where Kudo Shinichi was observed fighting off KID on the rooftop of the hotel.
Kazuha felt a warm blush crawl up her cheeks. "He's actually kind of cool," She said to herself.
Not that Hattori heard her; he was too busy mulling over his new rival and how he should present himself the next time they met. He swore the next time he saw him, he would be prepared to see which of them was the smarter one.
'Prepare yourself, Kudo.'
"A gem that cries tears? That sounds like a myth to me," Shinichi said, but his face had taken on a thoughtful look as he eyed his cousin.
"It's definitely not a myth, trust me, tantei-san," Kaito said. "Tousan was killed by this organization because of Pandora. I want to find it before they do."
"So you're stealing because of a gem that may or may not exist," Saguru said, "That's going to turn out well."
"Shut up, Saguru-san. I'm trying to think here," Shinichi snapped.