Summary: There's an old mirror in the Kuroba attic, and it has the power to grant Kaito's secret wish...his heart's desire. But hold on; who is Kaitou Shadow?

My Dearest Mirror

"Life is like a mirror,

we get the best results when we smile at it."

– Unknown –

Part 3

"Kaito...Kaito? Wake up, honey..." Chikage gently shook her son, frowning.

Hm. Yep. She nodded to herself. I can't deny it anymore. Someone drugged my baby.

Chikage sighed, sitting down next to her slumbering son. She picked up the black rose on his end table, idly twirling it in her hand. Chikage would be more alarmed, but he wasn't deeply drugged – if he was, she would be more panicked and calling the hospital.

Oh, what to do, what to do...

Obviously, the intruder hadn't been a danger to her son. If he had been, he would've done worse than just knocking him out. The man even tucked Kaito into bed and put away the attic stairs.

That didn't strike her as a particularly violent psychopath.

Perhaps a polite psychopath...?

"Ugh. Kai-chan!" Chikage bemoaned. "Why must you be so damn adorable? You keep getting all sorts of stalkers! First your pet detectives, and now this guy – and no, I'm not even going to get started on that pesky, trigger happy, reptile, either," She said, with a long-suffering sigh, as if Snake was nothing more than a troublesome hooligan from down the street. She knew that he was dangerous – the grim flicker in her eyes as she thought of Snake was proof of that. However, she purposely spoke lightly of him.

The best way to insult a person like Snake was by acting like they weren't worthy of being taken seriously.

Chikage sighed, the grimness vanishing, instantly replaced by an annoyed scowl. "Honestly. You take after me too much! Quit it!" Chikage demanded, gently swatting the smooth petals of the black rose against her son's nose.

A little known fact: The Phantom Lady had a lot of 'admirers' when she still prowled around, ranging from the people that she stole from, to various law enforcement officers, and other thieves (she even crossed paths with Lupin III, off and on – and she might've, possibly, dated him for some of those 'off and on' moments, but she wasn't admitting to anything).

Oh, those years of being a kaitou had been very interesting.

Chikage smiled fondly, her indigo eyes growing distant as she got absorbed in her memories.

She thought that it would never stop, that she would continue to 'rescue' the art of the world, until she either died or was forced to retire.

Back then, she mostly dealt with artwork, uncovering fraud copies, and revealing illegal trading rings for sacred artifacts (things that belonged in temples or museums, not in the bathroom of some drug lord, or worse). She did deal with false merchandise, though, like supposedly 'genuine' musical instruments from some famous craftsman, and other similar cases. However, whenever there was lull in activity, she also retrieved stolen items (stealing from thieves), and returned them to their proper owners. The entire time, she got her chuckles by scaring the shit out of people, and she generally made the world a better place while she was at it – one artistic piece at a time.

The Phantom Lady played the role a wrathful ghost, wrapped up in bandages as a homage to 'wounded artists' everywhere, a woman with many facets and sides to her personality – "The Woman With Twenty Faces" – refusing to be predictable and easily labeled as a typical criminal. The only thing that would ever be 'predictable' about her was the fact that she never hurt anyone. She gleefully caused (minor) psychological trauma for the sake of entertainment, but she never actually hurt anyone.

Of course, she eventually grew tired of it all, and shook off the disgusting little claws of her 'employers'. Ha, they had been more like her silly puppets, who thought that they were the puppet masters, mistakingly thinking that they were controlling her, until she stabbed them in the backs and ran away. She cut and lightened her hair, significantly changing her appearance in a simple way, and she even switched back to her birth name, Shiroki Chikage, discarding the fake name that she gave to her 'puppets'.

Chikage had managed to enjoy a nice, relaxing, two years in England, before she heard about a Phantom Lady heist that was going to be staged in Paris.

Honestly, she had been just as surprised as her old task force to hear about the news.

She intended to pop in, have a 'polite conversation' with her impostor (she refused to call it an impending cat fight), and then go back to her flexible lifestyle as a bartender in a cute little pub in England.

Then Kuroba Toichi swooped in, caught her off guard, and saved her life – and, after shaking up her world, he had the gall to ask if she wanted to "take up residence in his jewelry box". She had to give him points on coming up with the single, most corniest, line she ever heard in her life, however, so she lightly flirted back with him, with that strange magician who was planning on becoming a thief. It hadn't been anything serious on her part, merely humoring the man before parting ways.

She made a strong impression on him, however, and he managed to hunt her down after weeks of methodical searching (which was scary, when she stopped to think about it – that he could find her within weeks, while her 'puppets' never even managed to sniff out her trail). He booked a flight to England, took a cab over to her town, and then he causally sauntered into her pub and asked for a pint. He had been full of charming smiles and charisma, even when she sputtered at him in shock.

"What are you doing here?" Chikage hissed at him discretely, smiling warmly as she gave him his requested drink – an actress through and through.

Kuroba grinned brightly at her, his cobalt eyes glimmering with suppressed laughter as her indigo ones stared warily at him.

"You did agree to being in my jewelry box, my fair Lady," He winked at her, smoothly using a part of her kaitou name. "I'm not letting you go for the world!"

Chikage visibly twitched, feeling mildly irritated.

...and strangely flattered.

She (ironically) went through twenty different identities and bounced off to different points of the globe, trying to shake him off, but Toichi had been persistent. He determinedly followed after her, often dropping in unexpectedly and taking her out for impromptu dates. He pursued her, courted her – wined and dined her – gave her thoughtful little gifts, and made her laugh to the point of breathlessness. It was bizarre, it was weird, and it was fun.

He had excited her in ways that no one else could, and made every day feel like an adventure, even when they were laying on the floor and just staring at the ceiling, looking for patterns and shapes while they argued over the pros and cons of ramen noodles, and comparing the 'black' and 'white' parts in their surnames with amusement.

Gradually, her running away became a game, something enjoyable instead of something necessary, and she drifted closer and closer to him, a lonely butterfly that was forever attracted to warmth of his flames – a comforting heat that ensnared her, but never burned her.

Oh, she loved him so much – no, that isn't correct.

She loves him so much, even after all these years, when the only things she can cling to is their son (her baby boy) and all of the precious memories that they created together.

"Nnngh..."

Chikage blinked, staring blankly at her son with surprise, who was stirring into wakefulness. Her gaze flickered to his clock, and then her eyebrows flew upwards in shock.

Somehow, an entire hour went by without her noticing.

Ah...got lost in thought again, Chikage ruefully noted, with a touch of sheepishness.

Toichi tended to do that to her.

As her son slowly woke up, Chikage amused herself with lightly trailing the rose along his face, making him grimace and cringe in hilarious ways.

Finally, he smacked her hand – and the rose – away from his face, grumpily opening his eyes to glare at her.

"Stop it~!" Kaito whined at her, pouting in annoyance.

"No!" Chikage cheerfully denied him, tickling his nose with the rose, making his sneeze.

"Kaachan~!"

"Kaito~!" She mocked him, before suddenly leaning over him and leering at him. "What have I told you about sneaking strange men into the house without my permission, young man?" Chikage sternly demanded, half-joking. She quirked an eyebrow at him, "Who was that man in the black cape, anyway?"

For a moment, her darling child merely looked confused – a side effect from whatever knocked him out? – before his eyes widened with remembrance.

"...oh." Kaito blinked, before scowling darkly. "That asshole drugged me!" He yelped, indignantly.

"No cussing." Without missing a beat, she swatted him on the forehead with the rose.

Twice.

Really, it was quite amazing that the poor flower was withstanding so much abuse – Kaito did have a hard head, after all.

"Owww! Kaachan!"

Chikage tsked.

"I need to have another talk with Ginzo again, I see..." She shook her head, dismissing and filing away the thought for later. She loved the man like a brother, but sometimes he got carried away with that Nakamori mouth of his. "Now, we need to have a long talk. Starting with why you needed to go up into the attic so late at night, and why there was a stranger in the house, and why you didn't come get me? Hm?"

Kaito flushed, edging away from her.

"... … …"

"Well? I'm waiting~!" Chikage softly sing-songed, with a gleam in her cat-like eyes.

Kaito was so screwed, and possibly grounded for life, and he knew that, judging from the mildly scared and resigned look on his face.

She didn't raise a stupid child, after all.

Just a reckless one, apparently, which wasn't really all that shocking, considering who Kaito's parents were.

On The Other Hand...

Shadow hurried down the dark street, several blocks away from the Kuroba household, and then he ducked into an alley.

Moments later, a young man calmly left the alley, dressed in a dark gray shirt, an unzipped black jacket, causal jeans and sneakers. He smirked briefly, his blue eyes darting around the sleepy street, before pulling out his cell phone as he resumed his walk, looking perfectly normal.

He was just Kudo Shinichi, not a kaitou.

Shinichi almost snickered, but he contained himself, looking around. He was still rather bemused. How the hell did he end up in Edoka?

He had been in Beika. Beika. Yes, he was aware that the two places weren't that far away from each other, but it still required a car trip, or a hop on the train – it wasn't like he could just stumble one day, and suddenly end up in Edoka.

It didn't work like that.

My mind is terribly confused, Shinichi decided, frowning. He didn't know what was going on, and he was honestly starting to get nervous.

Everything felt...off, somehow. Or, rather, he felt off.

It was a strange, vague feeling, and it unnerved him. His sixth sense felt twitchy, knowing that something was up, but not knowing what it was, exactly.

Yet.

He was collecting little clues and puzzle pieces already, and he was sure to figure it out shortly, even though a large portion of his mind was silently trying to ignore where those clues were leading.

First, call Agasa-hakase...

Shinichi hit his speed dial, number two, and pressed his phone to his ear, slowly walking over to a bench next to a bus stop.

Beep. "I'm sorry, but the number you have called does not exist. Please check – "

Shinichi's jaw dropped, pulling away his phone to stare at it in befuddlement.

"What?"

Frowning, he hit speed dial number three, his mother.

Beep. "I'm sorry, but the number you have called does not exist. Please – "

"What the hell?" Shinichi muttered, feeling a sense of panic, and he hit speed dial number one, Ran.

Beep. "I'm sorry, but the number you have called does not – "

Numbly, Shinichi ended the call, staring blankly at the billboard that was drilled into the side of a building across from him.

What was going on? Was there something wrong with his cellphone? No, no. He called his mother a few minutes before the heist, and it was working just fine then.

Shinichi stared blankly at the billboard, his brain quickly skipping and jumping to different theories and explanations, and disregarding each one just as quickly, when he suddenly realized that there was something wrong with the billboard in front of him.

It was advertising a new fast food restaurant in Edoka. This wasn't unusual.

What was unusual was that the area code for the phone number wasn't Edoka's area code – it was Beika's area code.

...what?

Confused, Shinichi looked around, his eyes easily picking out the other phone numbers on the various advertisements in the area, and they each had that same error.

"Or is it an error?" Shinichi mumbled.

He directed his attention back to his cell phone, and he dialed Ran's number, with what was supposed to be Edoka's area code.

Ring. Ring. Ring.

Okay, this is promising... Shinichi thought, with a bemused expression.

Then, someone on the other end picked up.

"Moshi, moshi. Who is this?" Ran's voice drifted through, curious, and Shinichi was so unbelievably relieved.

He heaved a great sigh. "Oh, thank god. Hi, Ran."

Ran gasped, and Conan curiously looked up at her, lazily lounging on the couch with a manga book. Argh, he hated rotting his brain like this...

"Shinichi!" Ran cried out, sounding pleasantly surprised, and Conan almost fell off the couch in shock. "Oh, it's so good to hear from you again! How's your case going?"

Conan stared closely at her, straining his ears in an attempt to hear the other side of the conversation, and he was frustrated when he couldn't hear anything at all, aside from a vague mumble.

Ran looked confused. "Yes, your case. You know, your big secret case that you're on? That you've left to investigate? That case?"

There was a pause.

Ran rolled her eyes, sighing. "Oh, you're so hopeless when you first wake up. Where are you?" She asked, curiously. "Oh? America?" She glanced at the clock. "Hm, yes, it would be morning over there right now...oh, it's noon?" She laughed. "Geez, you wake up late and you're still like this? Stupid detective otaku!"

Conan was getting increasingly worried. Not only did he already call her a few days ago, but there was no way that was Shinichi.

He would know.

So, he jumped up from the couch and ran over to her, abandoning the manga, and he tugged insistently at the hem of her shirt. "Ne, ne, Ran-neechan! Is that Shinichi-niichan? Can I talk to him, too?"

Ran paused, and then she blinked at him.

She stared at him for a moment, and then she stared out into space for a few seconds, a look of suspicion and confusion on her face. Like she was baffled by something.

Conan blinked at her, thrown off at this reaction.

Before he could inquire though, she smiled nicely, and then she spoke into the phone to 'Shinichi'.

"Oh, Conan-kun wants to talk to you, Shinichi. Hold on..." Ran kindly gave Conan her phone, and, after giving her a questioning look, he pressed it to his ear.

"Hi, Shinichi-niichan!" Conan greeted childishly. Who are you, you bastard, and why are you calling Ran?

A small, confused pause. "Erm...hi, Conan-kun?" It sounded like a question, and it was his voice. There was no mistaking it. "How are you?" The impostor asked, in a polite tone.

"I'm fine, niichan! What about you?" He asked inanely, since Ran standing right there.

"I'm confused," The impostor replied dryly, in an honest enough voice. "But that's not exactly new, considering my life."

There was a sigh, and it sounded like 'Shinichi' was shifting around. Conan narrowed his eyes, hearing a car pass by in the background. It sounded like the impostor was near a street, somewhere.

"Hm. I think I have some investigating to do," The impostor said, with an ironic twist to his voice. "I'm going to have to go, then."

"Ah le le! But you just called!" Conan said in childish surprise and disappointment. "You're hanging up already?"

'Shinichi' laughed. "Yeah, I think I am. Tell Ran that I'll be visiting soon enough, okay? Maybe a week or so from now. I'll be sure to call back before then. Bye, Conan-kun, it was nice talking to you."

Click.

Conan quickly checked the number, and frowned. It definitely wasn't his number. Similar, but incorrect.

"You noticed it, too, Conan-kun?" Ran asked, kneeling down next to him. He glanced at her, and she gazed back at him. "That's not Shinichi's number."

"Well, that was weird," Shinichi decided, frowning.

A case? What? And who the heck was 'Conan'? He didn't know a Conan. Why is a little kid staying with Ran, anyway? Baby sitting? But she doesn't normally baby sit for people.

What was going on?

Ugh, it's a good thing that I'm so used to lying to Ran and coming up with on-the-spot lies...

Shinichi sighed.

He needed a computer...

Glasses: Sorry for the wait; took a while for me to sit down and properly edit this part.

I hope that it was worth the wait, though! XD