DCMK || KaiShin || DCMK || The White Collar Phantom Thief || DCMK || KaiShin || DCMK

Title: The White Collar Phantom Thief – The Secret of Pandora

Fandom: Detective Conan / Magic Kaito

Disclaimer: All rights reserved to Gosho Aoyama for he created the awesomeness that is Kaitou KID. Ah, and Detective Conan, too. This fanfiction on the other hand is entirely mine. No money is made with this, though reviews are more than welcomed.

Tags: m/m, future fic, post-Conan Shinichi, secret reveals, slow-burn, hurt/comfort, canon-typical violence/death, canon-typical magic, canon-typical crossdressing, fake relationship, fluff, adoption, found family, explicit intercourse, anal, oral, f/f, m/f

Main Pairing: Kaito/Shinichi

Side Pairings: Sera/Ran, Saguru/Aoko, Heiji/Kazuha, Makoto/Sonoko, Takagi/Sato

DC/MK Characters:

Task Force: Kuroba Kaito | Kaitou KID | Tsukino Guinevere, Kudou Shinichi, Hakuba Saguru, Nakamori Aoko, Hattori Heiji, Sera Masumi, Koizumi Akako, Furuya Rei | Amuro Tooru | Bourbon, Akai Shuuichi, Takagi Wataru, Sato Miwako, Jii Konosuke

Others: Mouri Ran, Suzuki Sonoko, Kyogoku Makoto, Tooyama Kazuha, Suzuki Jirokichi, Nakamori Ginzo, Megure Juzo, Mouri Kogoro, Kuroba Chikage, Kudou Yuusaku, Kudou Yukiko

Detective Boys: Agasa Hiroshi, Haibara Ai, Yoshida Ayumi, Tsuburaya Mitsuhiko, Kojima Genta

Black Organization: Gunther von Goldberg II | Spider, Snake, Rose

Summary: Akako gives Kaito a prophecy: If KID is not captured by the demon of light, both of them would die and only if he gets captured will he be able to reach his goal. Kaito would rather go to jail than risk Shinichi's life

With Kaitou KID gone, Snake starts going after the jewels more actively and people get killed. It doesn't take Shinichi long to see a connection to KID – and that this is the last branch left of the BO he had taken down.

Shinichi forms a special task-force to end the BO for good. And for that, he needs Kaitou KID's help.

The White Collar Phantom Thief

The Secret of Pandora

Case 18: The Secret of Pandora

"This was nice," Shinichi commented.

"...You are the only person I know who would call a murder 'nice'," Heiji side-eyed him.

"Not the murder," Shinichi rolled his eyes. "The… Just, us, solving a normal case. No fake fiance, no magical gems, no Black Organization. Just a jealous ex who killed her boyfriend."

Sera, her arms crossed behind her head, turned to look at Shinichi. "Ho—ow are you handling all of this? I mean, the return of the organization and… that whole fake fiance thing?"

"The fake fiance thing is weird," Shinichi frowned. "I'm not… It feels too much like playing a role again, and I thought I was done with that…"

"Really?" Hakuba raised his eyebrows. "That is the problem you have with it? Not the fact that it's-" Hakuba leaned in, his voice dropping to a hiss. "Kuroba?"

Shinichi tried to hide an amused smile. The way Hakuba could say Kaito's name, like it was the worst curse he could imagine. That was of course betrayed by the fact that those two were friends. No amount of denying could change that.

"I like Kaito," Shinichi whispered back, unable to suppress a smile. "I like him for him."

"Preposterous," Hakuba huffed, shaking his head. "Your tastes are flawed, Kudou-kun."

"Ri—ight," Shinichi shook his head. "I understand why he pranks you so much."

"Are you victim-blaming me?"

Shinichi snorted out a laugh. It felt oddly liberating, to be joking around with his friends. It let him forget the burdens of their lives, if just for a little bit.

/break\

Kaito had had a very, very good morning, actually. Shinichi had gently kissed his temple when sneaking out of bed, thinking Kaito was still asleep (so now Kaito knew that Shinichi was secretly very sweet and cute). And then he spent the morning with Mizuki-chan, playing hide and seek (and explore the mansion) with her. Around noon, he dropped her off at the professor's – who was always delighted to have a new captive audience for his riddles. The man had been born to be a grandpa and though life hadn't granted him any grandchildren of his own, it had gifted him a lot of overly inquisitive young minds to follow him around like little ducklings.

The afternoon was more somber, as Kaito sat in his KID Cave, listening to his father's recordings, specifically listening in for any kind of directions as to what to do after. What was KID's job once Pandora was found? What was to be done with Pandora…?

Hours and hours of listening to them, of having his father's voice in his ear. As a teenager, when he had first found these records, he had seen them as a blessing. The older he got, the more his view on them changed. They had been a burden. They had. He'd been a child when he started to risk his life for this mission that his father had chosen. It appalled him at times.

The problem was that he didn't regret it. He didn't resent his father for this burden. And that, somehow, made it even worse. Kaito stood behind this mission, even though he knew how bad all of this was. That him, as a kid, should have never gone out there provoking a dangerous organization of killers. Mh, there was a parallel drawn there to his beloved detective.

Perhaps that was what drew them together. They had done things too young that adults should do – no, things maybe not even adults should do. They never quite were the kids they should have been. And neither of them ever regretted it.

Still, there was a part of Kaito that felt bitter. Bitter that the burden had ever fallen onto him. Bitter that his father had… had left him at all, but had left this mission to him. When his mother was a professional thief, who had been stealing for longer than Toichi even. Bitter that his mother had left him alone, alone with his grief, alone with this mission.

He didn't always feel that way, he didn't resent his mother, but he couldn't help feel that way at times. Feel like there was a different life out there, one where he had gotten to grow up as a normal teen, worrying about nothing but his friends and school stuff.

Did he really want that sheltered life? No. Absolutely not. It would bore him out of his mind.

And he would also never want to give up KID – or worse yet, never having become KID, because then so many good things in his life wouldn't have happened either. Not just Shinichi. Jii-chan too. His beloved doves. Even his weird friendship with Hakuba. The people he had helped ever since he had become KID. He wouldn't want to undo any of this.

Still, at times he couldn't help but feel bitter and think about how things could have been.

With a heavy sigh did he get up. That was enough nostalgia for now. Listening to nothing but his father's voice all day made him feel… all kinds of things.

"Kaa-san," Kaito held his phone to his ear with one hand, tapping out a rhythm on his thigh with the other hand. "I was wondering…"

"Kaito! You call me so rarely on your own! What is it?"

She sounded so excited. He heaved a sigh. Walking over toward the couch, he flopped down.

"I'm…" Kaito paused, considering his words. "I just, I was wondering, if you ever… Did dad ever tell you how he planned on destroying the gem, once he found it?"

There was a pause coming from Chikage this time. Though he couldn't see her, he could imagine the myriad of emotions dancing over her face. For how often they talked about Kaito's mission as KID, they very rarely talked about Toichi, much less the burden he had left to Kaito.

"I…" Chikage trailed off. "No. I'm afraid he never got that far. He always thought he would figure it out once he had the gem, once he knew what it was. What shape, what material."

Another pause, this one more tense than the ones before. "Why do you ask, Kai-chan?"

Did he tell her? Should he tell her? This was his mother, after all. But he had asked Shinichi not to tell anyone else, and he ought to do what he had requested from his detective. Not tell anyone until the two of them, together, decided to tell someone.

"It's just something that me and Shin-chan had been talking about yesterday, and it made me wonder about what dad had considered on this matter."

There, nothing he had said was technically a lie. He simply omitted the part that had brought the topic on to begin with between him and Shinichi.

"Well, I would assume that you will be able to figure something out when you actually find it," it sounded like Chikage was smiling. "Ho—ow are things with 'Shin-chan'?"

Full-body blush on Kaito's part. "Uh… good? Great? Yeah. I mean, it is a little weird that I have to play a different person when we're out in public and we can't really go on dates as Shinichi and Kaito. But what we have here, in the mansion, it's great."

Chikage hummed amused, in that knowing mom way. "I'm happy for you, Kai-chan."

It felt like something was being left unsaid, and Kaito had a good idea of what that was. The same thing that Kaito still left unsaid so far. What would happen once this case was closed? Once they ended the Black Organization – and for the very first time, that seemed to actually be within their grasp. Not just a far away goal, but with Pandora in his safe? Kaito felt like that could be accomplished. With Shinichi's help, he truly could do anything, huh.

Once that was accomplished, what would happen with Kaito? Would he go back to prison? Would he remain Tsukino Guinevere… forever?

/break\

Grandpa Agasa was lots of fun. His house was filled with weird gadgets and things. Ai was weird, but that was also a lot of fun. Sometimes, she'd say really creepy things. Today, Mizuki had spent the entire morning with grandpa Agasa, because she didn't have to go back to school just yet, after what had happened with her… She tried not to think about it, every time she thought about her mom's smile or her dad doing silly voices, she had to start crying again.

"Hello," Mizuki blinked her large eyes. "You're really pretty."

There was a stranger standing in front of her current home's door as she returned from her visit at Agasa's. The stranger was a tall woman with black hair that seemed a reddish purple in the light of the setting sun. She wore a lot of golden jewelry, some of it snake-shaped which Mizuki found really awesome, and a fancy dress, the kind that Mizuki's mom used to wear at big parties. The woman turned to fully face Mizuki and raised first one eyebrow, then after a moment of taking the child in, the other eyebrow too. Making a curious noise, the woman approached her.

"And you are really magical."

Huh. What a weird thing to say. Mizuki loved it. A mysterious woman talking in riddles, it felt like the beginning of some kind of adventure!

/break\

Kaito made an irritated face when he opened the door to find not just Mizuki standing in front of it, but right behind her Akako. The witch visiting was never a good sign.

"I see you solved the riddle."

What. Kaito had had too exhausting a day to deal with her weird cryptic words. Resting a hand on Mizuki's shoulder, he led the girl inside, not stopping the witch from following in too.

"Mizu-chan, why don't you go upstairs and play some?" Kaito suggested. "I… guess I have a guest to attend and we'll have to talk about really, really boring adult stuff."

"That's a lie," Mizuki piped up. "This can't be boring! She seems very interesting!"

"Please go play," Kaito's voice had a begging edge.

Intelligent children were fun, until they used their intelligence against one. Mizuki nodded and skipped away up the stairs, leaving Kaito alone with Akako. Silence stood between them, because Kaito didn't really know what to do with that. What to do with her.

"Show me the gem."

Kaito turned around to face her. "How could you even possibly know that I have it?"

Akako looked eerily unimpressed at that. "Lucifer told me that there has been a disturbance."

"Right," Kaito wondered what kind of answer he had expected.

If she already knew, there was no reason to pretend otherwise. He was too tired for it, this entire game of play pretend between them as teenagers seemed childish to him now, as he looked back. He had denied a truth she knew, instead of using her powers and knowledge. Walking upstairs, he knew she was following close behind.

"Here it is," Kaito declared in the most anti-climatic voice as he produced the gem from his safe.

It wasn't anything special, on first glance. Well, it was still a Large Gem so in that, it was special. It was just not special compared to other Large Gems. Nothing about it screamed "I am a cursed magical gem that grants immortality". But then again, that would make the job too easy.

"Mh," Akako took it and turned it around in her hand. "The gem. Pretty."

She tossed it back at him like it wasn't the thing his life had been exclusively focused on for the past five years. He gave her a bewildered look as though she'd lost her mind.

"What is wrong with you, witch?!" Kaito hissed at her. "This is Pandora! This is it. The supposedly magic gem that grants immortality! And you toss it around like it's a plastic toy!"

"It might as well be," Akako shrugged. "It fulfilled its purpose and is no longer relevant."

"What," Kaito was having a crisis and wished Shinichi was here.

She walked out of the room and he couldn't help but follow. What was going on here?

"Its purpose? What…" Kaito trailed off. "Are you suggesting it granted me immortality for finding it? But it's not supposed to work outside the Volley Comet."

"Have you not figured it out on your own?" Akako tilted her head in mocking at him. "The gem isn't Pandora. The gem won't cry you tears of blood."

She finally stopped, and it was in front of Mizuki's room where the girl was playing quite loudly. Akako's focus was on the girl. It was on the girl just a bit too intensely. Kaito shook his head and walked away, phone out already. He needed his detective here.

"Shinichi, when will you get back home?"

"Hello to you too, Kaito. I'm five minutes out. Another murder came in the way."

"Of course it did," Kaito huffed to himself. "Okay. Good. I'll see you in a bit."

Akako walked past him toward the kitchen and after he pocketed his phone, he followed her. She sat down at the table, staring at him impatiently. After a moment of being stared at, Kaito started making tea. Mostly to have something to do, because sitting around and waiting wasn't his thing. By the time the tea was ready, Kaito could hear the main door unlock.

"Honey, you're home," Kaito called out. "Please come to the kitchen. We have a… guest."

Shinichi walked into the kitchen with furrowed brows that furrowed even deeper as he laid eyes on Akako. The witch was unsettling to him, because he believed in magic even less than Kaito. She was improbable to him. Also unsettling in general.

"Koizumi-san," Shinichi gave a short nod. "What a… surprise."

He couldn't even bring himself to say 'nice surprise', because something told him this was going to be unpleasant. The last time he had met her had been confusing at best. Walking over to Kaito, Shinichi took a cup of tea from him and also took a kiss.

"Do we know why she's here?"

"Pandora," was Kaito's answer.

Shinichi made a small 'ah' noise and started sipping his tea. Together, as one united front, Shinichi and Kaito turned to face Akako. The witch looked little impressed by them, more amused.

"So, catch me up. What have I missed so far?"

Kaito tilted his head at that. "Well, she tossed the gem around, claiming it's not Pandora because it 'won't cry red tears' and then she ominously hovered at Mizu-chan's door."

Within a second's time, Kaito could see emotions dance across Shinichi's face, until his features settled into that creepy but sexy 'I figured it out'-smirk of his. Kaito loved it.

"What does it mean?" Shinichi asked.

Wait what? If he'd figured it out, why would he ask that? Kaito looked between them in confusion.

"What am I missing here?" Kaito asked.

"You haven't missed it," Shinichi looked at him with something akin to pity. "You don't want to see it. What your friend here is implying is that Mizuki-chan is the real Pandora."

"Her descendant, more precisely," Akako nodded briefly. "The latest in a long line of women who carry Pandora's blood. The blood of the first woman created by the gods."

Oh. Well, a human did make more sense in the whole blood department, Kaito supposed. It was a terrifying thought, but it made more sense than an actual gem bleeding red.

"If we entertain this idea, what would it mean? For her?" Shinichi asked once more.

"That people want her dead so they can drink her blood," Akako said bluntly. "The red-glowing gem is merely a way to… identify the bloodline, so to speak."

Shinichi heaved a deep sigh and rubbed the bridge of his nose. This was a new peak. He'd thought it was ridiculous when she had claimed he was 'touched by the god Thanatos'. Or that she was speaking to Lucifer, the Roman god of the morning star. Or that she was a descendant of Medea in her descended form as a Roman snake goddess. In the context of this world she believed in, it fit that there would be a descendant of the mythological Pandora.

"What…" Kaito heaved a long-suffering sigh as he submitted himself to this. "What did Lucifer say would happen with Mizu-chan here?"

"As the prophecy says," Akako tilted her head. "The Volley Comet will make Pandora bleed and her blood is what can make you immortal if you drink it. Which is where the myth of vampires originates from. From people fulfilling this prophecy in the past and turning immortal after drinking blood. A bit misinterpreting, but then… the assumption of Pandora being the gem just the same. The gem is the means to finding Pandora, and you found her."

You'll know how to destroy Pandora when you find it. That somehow now felt very sickening. Kaito slowly sank down on a chair. Pandora wasn't a gem, Pandora was a person. A small child, at that. Kaito couldn't kill someone, much less a kid.

"Wait what about the comet?" Kaito tensed a little. "I always… I mean, if it only comes every thousand years, not many could have even just attempted to-"

"That's not what it means," Akako shook her head. "My divination told me that it's not about the upcoming comet, it's about a comet past that didn't pass over Earth but crashed onto it. A dagger was fashioned out of the stone, and the dagger is needed for the ritual."

"Naturally," Shinichi nodded. "A magic ritual needs special tools."

Kaito looked at him so weirded out. "That was the last thing I ever expected to hear from you."

A very tired sigh came from Shinichi. "I don't like the idea of magic being real, but I also know when faced with true evidence… I can not deny the truth. She's a witch. She has performed actual magic, not magic tricks, in front of me. We found a magical glowing gem. It would be ignorant to deny it when faced with it. So, if we take the premise and… accept it, then…"

"Then a magical special dagger for the ritual checks out," Kaito finished, nodding.

"So the…" Shinichi pressed his lips together tightly for a moment. "They weren't just after the gem, they were after Mizuki-chan's… mother, I assume?"

"The Pandora bloodline is a matriarchal one, yes," Akako confirmed with a nod.

"That explains the escalation of violence during the heist," a dark shadow befell Kaito's face. "So… we need to protect Mizuki-chan at all costs."

"Or end the bloodline of Pandora for good," Akako's voice was even and unmoved, not flinching at the vicious glare Kaito threw at her. "Don't look at me like that, thief. I'm merely stating a fact. Your goal is to keep Pandora from the crows and the best approach to that would be to destroy her. No more Pandora, no possible immortality. That is what you and your father set out to do."

It was. It was, and the thought now sickened Kaito. Destroying a gem was one thing, a thing he could have figured out some way. To keep not just the Black Organization, but also anyone in the future seeking immortality from ever getting it. However, even if he managed to protect Mizuki now from the Black Organization, he wouldn't be there for her great-granddaughter, or anyone further down the line. He couldn't protect them in the future.

A hand rested on his upper arm, startling him. When he turned, he saw Shinichi. There was kindness and compassion in Shinichi's sapphire-blue eyes and it warmed Kaito's heart. Right. Whatever kind of decisions waited for him in the future, he was not alone in them. He had Shinichi.

"We're going to protect her," Shinichi declared as he turned from Kaito toward Akako. "No harm will come to her while she is staying with us. She will not die."

His words were so firm and finite and for a moment, Kaito startled, not knowing if his mind was playing a trick on him, because it looked – just for a second, once he blinked it was passed – that Shinichi's shadow extended, grew larger and sprouted dark wings, darker than the shadows themselves. As though a winged figure was standing behind Shinichi, casting a shadow of his own on top of Shinichi's. And then it was gone again.


Author's note: The fun thing about this fandom is that there are hundreds of different takes on what Pandora really means and what Pandora really is. So, here it is, this story's take on Pandora! I hope it doesn't disappoint ;) Next chapter, the boys have to start looking for the dagger!