019. White
His life seemed to be filled with many strange things, often annoying or difficult to deal with at times, far more than the average person's, even if you took the saying "real life is often stranger than fiction," into account. One of them was, of course, his abysmal (amazing?) luck to run into dead bodies, murder scenes, or situations in which an actual crime was taking place. The other thing his life seemed to be filled to the brim with was the most annoying thing, to him, in the world; it was even worse than Kaitou Kid's strange brand of luck that seemed to twist his own will into reality. And that thing was irony.
Just as Conan was finally starting to accept that he would spend the rest of his not-so-natural born life in a body ten years younger than it should be with an identity that was more hastily put together than any one persona made by any witness protection agency…ever, everything changed…again. The universe really seemed to enjoy messing with his mind, or maybe it was just determined to make him lose his sanity. Whatever the reason, Fate seemed to decide that Destiny just wasn't doing it's job properly, and he was left floundering to put his life back into some semblance of order.
About an hour after he had settled down on the rooftop and just minutes after he'd gotten back to the point of deciding not to let what-ifs and could-have-beens rule his life, an explosion of white interrupted his life in the form of the one and only Kaitou Kid.
"Well, hello there, Tantei-kun," the phantom thief said with his trademark grin, half-smug, half-seductive and wholly confident, designed to make any young lady worth her salt fall instantly in love. "Fancy meeting you here, on a rooftop of all places."
"Hi Kid," Conan replied in a deadpan voice, looking away from the thief in a show to pretend he was not the least bit impressed with the charismatic presence that was all but glowing in front of him. He was also hiding the fact that a blush was blooming brightly across his face and that his insides were fluttering with excitement, all because of that stupid grin. Before, he'd never been affected by that stupid grin, but then, he hadn't been in love with the thief before. Or, at least, he'd never recognized it before. Of course, his mind was off running in circles again, wondering why on earth the thief would there, at the Kudo mansion. But it was also accompanied by the slightest thread of dangling hope that said, maybe, just maybe the thief wasn't as disappointed in him for sneaking a peak as he'd originally thought. After all, Kid had greeted him in pretty much the same manner as he had throughout their rivalry, and he'd much rather listen to that voice of hope than the one saying that Kid could easily be masking his true emotions since he was, indeed, a master of performance.
"Aww, Tantei-kun," Kid said in a very whiny tone, aided by a pout to complete the act. "You're not being very nice to me, and I came all the way here to see you specially. I thought you would be happy to see me, especially when we didn't even get to finish our conversation last night."
"Oh, so that's why you're here," Conan said as all the fluttering, hope, and excitement inside of him went cold. Really, why else would the thief seek him out for an in-person confrontation? After all, the thief had only sent a note when he noticed that the miniature detective seemed to be very, very sad. Obviously, the reason he had come here personally was to find out exactly how much Conan had managed to observe and deduce from those few seconds of direct eye contact. "You really don't have anything to worry about. I only saw that your eyes are violet and that your hair is brown. That really doesn't tell me much, but even if it did, I wouldn't use it. I really didn't mean to take advantage of the situation, and I am sorry that it happened."
"Silly Tantei-kun, I already knew all that," Kid said, sounding much closer to Conan than he had moments ago. For just a moment, the not-child was allowed to wonder if perhaps the thief had sat down next to him. Just as Conan was going to turn his head to check, a hand attached itself to his head and playfully ruffled his hair for a few moments before maneuvering the not-child's head to look up at a grinning face that was, of course, eclipsed in shadows cast by moonlight but was also not Kid's true face. Even though all the features were slightly obscured, Conan could tell; it was just too different from what he had seen the night afore.
"You wound me if you think that's the only reason I'm here!" Kid said in an obviously fake, hurt tone as he removed the hand attached to Conan's head and crushed it against his chest above his heart. He remained that way for a few moments before adopting a more serious pose. "Tantei-kun, I know that you didn't look at my face on purpose as well as I know that you're not going to use that information against me or tell it to anyone else. After two years, I know that, despite your age, you are not a detective that would use the ends to justify the means. You are wise beyond your years, and I'm still not sure how I feel about that when I think about the cause of it. But the reason I am here is not because of an accident that lasted a few seconds. I am here because I am honestly worried about my favorite critic who, even after a heist he very much seemed to enjoy, is obviously very sad. What's wrong, Tantei-kun? What happened?"
"It's complicated," Conan replied with a sigh. Although, it was sort of heartening to know what Kid thought really thought of him and that he did genuinely care about the miniature detective, enough for an in-person visit. "I know that sounds stupid coming from an eight-year-old, but it really is. Complicated, I mean. It's really, very complicated, and it's something I can't really talk to people about. Worse still, I have a feeling it's going to get worse before it gets better. But I'm going to be okay eventually."
"Nothing sounds stupid coming from you, Tantei-kun," the phantom thief said in a purposefully serious tone, that was also slightly gentle in an attempt to be comforting. "Is there anything I can do to help?"
"Just keep being you, whoever you are behind that mask," Conan answered with a small smile. "When they come, your heists really are a bright spot in my day whether it's solving the heist note or actually chasing after you on the night of the heists."
"I can do that easily enough," Kid said with a playful grin. "Although, one would think that, as a detective, you should really be trying to catch me right now before I disappear into the night and have another chance to steal something else."
"I've never been most people," Conan replied with a snort. "Besides, until you find whatever it is you're looking for, you're going to continue returning everything you steal."
"So, you even figured that out too?" Kid asked in a tone that really wasn't all inquisitive. "I always knew you were wise beyond your years."
"That's the second time you've said that," the miniature detective said, the part of his mind that handled all deductive reasoning suddenly decided to switch itself on. Finally, it was starting to analyze every word the phantom had during their conversation, and wasn't that a curious thing he was recalling? "You said you weren't sure how you feel about the cause of my apparently being wise beyond my years. What did you mean by that?"
"What do you think I meant, Tantei-kun?" Kid answered a question with a question. "You should know that I've observed you, kept tabs on you every now and again. What do you suppose I think the source is of the intellect you hold that is abnormally high for someone your age?"
"You know, it's thanks to Shinichi-nii-san that you're no longer dodging bullets at every other heist," Conan said, sort of but not really admitting to the fact that he'd known a lot about the Black Organization that had had quite a go at attempting to kill both of them. It wasn't really admitting anything anyway since Kaito obviously knew that the not-child was more involved than most people would ever dream of.
"I'm perfectly aware of that," Kid responded in a harsh tone that the miniature detective suspected was directed toward his older self…past self now. "I'd have to live under a rock or be incredibly stupid not to know that, and it's not as though I'm not grateful for it. But because of him involving you in his case, you've been changed, possibly more than anyone can ever know or guess. And as fun a playmate you make at my heists, if all it cost me was an amazing rival, I would gladly give it up for you to be an innocently ignorant child once more."
"Being wise beyond one's years always comes at a price," Conan stated rather directly. "I suspect you know that better than most; I suspect you have experienced it first hand. But it doesn't matter either way. My being involved, my knowing about the Black Organization, it was never something Shinichi-nii-san had any control over or any say in. And like I said before, I'll be okay eventually. I just have to learn to live with certain consequences I was determined to believe would never happen when they were always very real and distinct possibilities."
"Well, that certainly sounds complicated Tantei-kun," the phantom thief said in an odd tone, almost as if it was reminiscent. "And I think we've had enough complicated talk for one night. It's getting late, and I need to be getting home." As he said this, Kaitou Kid stood up in a swirl of white, and this time, Conan watched rather than look. "I'll be seeing you, Tantei-kun."
"Wait!" Conan called just as the thief was about to take off. Something that had been sitting in the back of his mind during their entire conversation was suddenly hopping haphazardly about in front of everything else. "How did you find me here?"
"Normally, I'd reply with, 'A magician never reveals his secrets,'" Kid answered with a smile. "But I suppose, for you, this time I can say that I might have gone to the Mouri Detective Agency to check up on you and might have heard Mouri-chan talking on the phone to her friend. I also might have heard her mention that her Conan-kun had gone to spend the night at Agasa-hakase's house, and after that, I might have come straight over here. Then, I might have spotted you on the rooftop of your cousin's house looking sad and might have decided to talk to you in person."
"Oh, by the way, here." He tossed something at Conan the sparkled softly in the moonlight, and with that, he flew off into the night, a bright white spot against the dark night sky. Conan watched him glide away until the phantom thief had turned into a small white dot that was only distinguishable from the shining stars because it moved in conjunction with the motion of the wind.
Conan, of course, had caught what the thief had tossed to him, what with having lightning reflexes and all, but he didn't look at it until he could no longer tell where Kid was in the night sky. Opening his tightly clasped hands, the shrunken detective saw a blue stone, a lapis lazuli in the shape of a tear, the Shallow Shroud, the Bringer of Truth, resting in his palms.