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 Miwato, 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 2: The Return of Kudou Shinichi
Once upon a time, there had been a little boy who looked exactly like Edogawa Conan. All he wanted was to grow up quickly so adults would take him seriously. He did grow up, slowly, but looking back at it, he didn't appreciate it enough. He only really had one and a half friends, because he continuously kept Sonoko at arm's length, deeming her Ran's friend and only Ran's friend. He'd rather lock himself into his room with a stack of books than live life and experience mysteries himself. He grew up to be an arrogant prick, who took things for granted. Took Ran for granted for her endless patience and loyalty, took the access he had gained through his father and the reputation he had slowly built for himself for granted, took being the one to solve a mystery for granted.
Until one afternoon at Tropical Land took all of that away. Took that boy away. And in his place, Edogawa Conan was left. The second time around, strangely enough, he found himself more appreciative of things. Of Ran's endless patience and loyalty. Of every time Takagi-keiji or another officer who had finally warmed up to Conan and gave him the benefit of the doubt would even just listen to him. Of... to be quite honest, even just of the fact that he got to solve mysteries still. He should be dead, Kudou Shinichi had been poisoned and left for death to claim, but instead, he had woken up as a small child, given a second chance. And he made good use of it.
He cherished the small things that he had taken for granted and he actually made friends. Even if he often complained about the Detective Boys when he had still been Conan, because he was annoyed about having to pretend to be a kid. But they had accepted him, with all his weirdness and quirks and how annoying he knew he could be. They were so kind and inquisitive and even though they were far from where Shinichi had been when he had been that age himself the first time around, he knew that with the right guidance, they could become great detectives one day. Haibara, the only one who truly understood what it was like for him, who always understood him, sometimes better than he understood himself. He spent more time with Sonoko than he used to as Shinichi.
There was Hattori, his best friend aside from Ran, a brilliant detective but so very different from Shinichi and perhaps that was exactly what made them work so well together; Shinichi's calm and calculated nature contrasted with Hattori's brash and hotheaded actions. And then there were the most recent additions to their little circle – Sera Masumi and Amuro Tooru, two brilliant detectives too, whose lives got closely entangled with the Black Organization and who had helped taking said organization down. They'd also both become good friends to him over the course.
Edogawa Conan had what Kudou Shinichi never had. Friends, a proper social life. Which was ridiculous. For two years, all he wanted was to get his life back and only when he finally did, did he realize that there wasn't much to come back to, actually. There was Ran and... that was it.
Which was jarring, because once upon a time, Ran was enough, Ran was all he wanted, needed. But now that he had gotten a taste of what it could be like, to have people care about him... all he could think about was what he lost, instead. He still had Ran, he always had Ran, even as Conan – but it had been different, instead of his best friend, he now had a big sister and that change, being that to her for two years, it had fundamentally shifted things for him. He had stopped looking at her the way he used to a long time ago. He still loved her, would always love her. But not like that. After so many months of her doting on him, he couldn't go back to how things used to be. That was the hardest part, because there generally was no going back to that time. Everyone and everything had moved forward without him and Kudou Shinichi had not been a part of that.
There were exceptions, of course. The professor, Haibara, Hattori and Sera, who knew who he was and who he had been in the past two years. With them, he got to slip right back into where he had left off when Edogawa Conan bid his final goodbyes to everyone, going into 'witness protection'.
There was a distance between him and Ran now, one that hadn't been there for twelve years of friendship. Being gone for two years, vague about his whereabouts, still keeping those secrets – because the truth, he knew, would break her heart at this point and there was no point in telling her now, aside from hurting and alienating her further. He had created that distance and he was determined to work hard to reduce it, because he loved her and she would always be his best friend.
Him and Hattori could easily pass things off as hitting it off right away, but he had to meet everyone for the first time again. Sera, Amuro, Tooyama, Kyogoku, the Detective Boys. It was... exhausting and frustrating. So often did he find himself tempted to refer to something he had been a part of as Conan but could not possibly know as Shinichi. Sometimes, he'd actually look longingly at the Detective Boys playing soccer with each other, remembering the fun they had together. He was trying hard to become a part of their lives without coming off as a creep. It was a hard balance.
And even beyond the people. The Mouri Agency was always buzzing with life. Ran's warmth and cooking, even Kogoro's snoring and screaming, the banter among them. It was small, but homey. The Kudou Mansion was... big and empty and strangely cold. Even heated, it still felt cold. Not physically, but emotionally. His parents were still away, Akai had moved out after the Black Organization had finally been taken out. It was just Shinichi, alone in the big house once more.
"I'm home, Kid-chan," called Shinichi in a tired voice as he closed the door.
Well. Not entirely alone anymore. Meowing came from around the corner and moments later, little white paws padded over to him quickly. Kid-chan was a beauty. Snow-white, fluffy fur. A Norwegian Forest Cat with piercing blue eyes. She purred loudly as she brushed her face against his calves, making him smile softly. About two weeks after his return to being Kudou Shinichi, he had found the cat in the streets, injured and half-starved. He'd nursed her back to health and had plans on bringing her to a shelter, but... by then he had gotten attached. It was when he had named her that he knew he couldn't part with her again. She always stole, especially shiny things that sparkled, taking them with her. So he had named the white little thief after another thief in all-white.
The look on his face darkened as he thought of Kaitou KID. With a dark glower did he head toward the kitchen, little Kid-chan slaloming in between his legs as he moved, as agile and tricky as the real deal. Once in the kitchen, he got a coffee going for himself and then opened a can of cat-food for Kid-chan. She meowed eagerly as he put it into her bowl – he had not been able to resist buying Kaitou KID merch there, due to her name. A blue bowl with KID's signature smiley on it.
"There you go, pretty girl," whispered Shinichi softly, running a hand down her spine.
At least one Kid who didn't let him down. His brows furrowed as he replayed his last conversation with KID in his mind. It still made no sense. He'd written it down, word for word – because he had gotten the security footage and rewatched it a dozen times. Was it some kind of code? Was there something he was missing? There must be. The two of them hadn't been playing this game for nearly two years just so it could end like this. Not like this. Shinichi shook his head, trying not to think back on the night he had arrested KID. Mostly because he didn't understand his own feelings about the matter. He knew he should feel a sense of accomplishment about arresting KID, after all this time. He told himself that it was about the way KID had handed himself in. Shinichi had not been the one to catch KID, he had not outsmarted the thief. He'd been robbed of that by KID. Which, he was aware of the irony of that. That was it. That was all. Nothing more.
"I'm so tired, Kid-chan," whispered Shinichi softly, voice empty.
He filled a cup of coffee and carried it over into the library to sit in his favorite armchair. After a few minutes, Kid-chan followed on silent feet and before he even noticed her, she was suddenly curled up on his lap, pawing at his thighs and purring. With a small smile did he start caressing her fur. Her personality and behavior reminded him so much of KID.
"Oi, oi, oi. Are you still brooding about KID? Get it together, Kudou. You look like a love-sick school girl whose crush rejected her at recess, you know that, right?"
Narrowing his eyes, Shinichi put his book away and turned to glare at his current house-guest. So the Kudou Mansion was less quiet and lonely and cold right now because he had temporary roommates in the form of Hattori Heiji and Tooyama Kazuha. At least until the couple found an apartment for themselves. Not that Shinichi genuinely minded, regardless of how annoyed he acted with Hattori's overall antics. Hattori offered him a cocky grin as he approached.
"I got home ten minutes ago. I didn't know you guys were home," commented Shinichi dryly.
"Yeah, well, Kazuha and I were... busy," Hattori flushed brightly and scratched his cheek.
Shinichi blinked repeatedly and stared at Hattori very unimpressed. "And I'm not... a school girl with a crush, Hattori. I'm irritated about a mystery I can't solve, because I don't have enough information. I'm missing something. And KID wasn't helpful."
Kid-chan in his lap meowed, as though she was protesting any such accusations. He smiled at her and played with the fur on her belly. When Hattori approached him, it was with heavy, slow steps. There was something on his mind, something he didn't know quite how to say. So Shinichi waited.
"KID aside. There's a reason I'm here, Kudou. Don't you think it's time you actually put KID aside and instead focus on the future?" Hattori raised his eyebrows. "KID's behind bars... and he's gonna be there for a long time. But we got plans to talk about."
Shinichi hummed, momentarily distracted by the white dove on the window-sill. She'd been coming every day like clockwork, ever since KID had been arrested. He knew she was one of his. In lieu of not knowing what to do, he just kept feeding her. More doves had started coming. All snow-white and tame. All, he assumed, KID's doves, looking for a new home.
"Hakuba-kun said he found a building he thinks fits our needs," offered Shinichi after a beat.
"Why," Hattori groaned and threw his head back. "Why him, Kudou. Why do you hate me."
Shinichi quirked his lips in a genuine smirk at that. The first one in a while. The animosity between Hattori and Hakuba was utterly delightful to him and the fact that both had agreed to work together regardless, because of him, was simply amusing. Hakuba Saguru was the first new friend Shinichi made, not Conan, not some attempt to mend what had been broken by two years of absence, not awkwardly trying to create a new connection with someone he had befriended as Conan. Yes, he had met Hakuba before as Conan too, but they had barely interacted. It might have been fate, or something like that, but the first heist Shinichi had attended as himself, he had met Hakuba Saguru.
Turned out Hakuba had deliberately not attended heists Conan had been to, because he knew KID would be taken care of with the famous KID Killer around. With Conan gone, a sense of responsibility had sent Hakuba back. Both had been bewildered to meet and had awkwardly waited together, at first, before conversation about Sherlock Holmes sparked between them. It was so easy to talk to Hakuba and for the very first time, Shinichi felt like he could genuinely talk about Holmes, in great detail, without having to hold back out of fear of boring his conversation partner. They hit it off right away and had also worked very well together at the heist and quickly became friends.
"You know I don't hate you, Hattori, don't be such a drama queen," Shinichi sighed. "I just happen to like Hakuba too. So don't make me choose between the two of you. You're both my friends."
Hattori grumbled and pouted, but at least he didn't protest anymore. Conversation between Shinichi and Hakuba had come to their plans for the future not long before KID's final heist, what with graduation coming up. Both knew the career they wanted and Shinichi brought up that he had come to truly appreciate working with other detectives to bounce ideas off and that him and Hattori were hatching this plan of opening their own agency, together. Hakuba had perked up in interest and, naturally, brought up that Shinichi could partner up with someone better than the hothead. Shinichi liked working with Hakuba, he thought the two of them complimented each other well enough at heists and, admittedly, he thought there would be entertainment value in having Hakuba and Hattori share office space with each other. The last member to join their agency had been Sera, who had been very eager and practically invited herself when overhearing the boys.
"Okay. Fine. We can look at the space Hakuba found," Hattori still looked pouty.
"You're going to find something about it that you'll hate," concluded Shinichi and rolled his eyes.
He got his phone out and started typing a message, making Hattori step closer. "Oi, oi, you're not texting the jerk, are you? I need a three day advance note before having to interact with him."
"I'm texting Sera," replied Shinichi. "I'm asking her to find a building for us. Because if you do, Hakuba is going to find something to disagree with. And I... honestly have better things to do."
Hattori actually seemed appeased by that suggestion. The two of them had talked casually about this for a while. It had been Hattori's idea, really. And Shinichi suspected he only had brought it up first back when Shinichi had started losing hope of ever returning. A goal to work toward. Something to give him hope, a potential future, something more concrete than just 'I want to be Shinichi again'. It had worked. Decorating that fictional agency in their heads, fighting over a name – Kudou-Hattori Agency, no, you jerk, Hattori-Kudou Agency – it made a potential life as Kudou Shinichi feel more real to Shinichi and he was incredibly grateful for that, even if he was never going to tell Hattori that. Though Hattori kept complaining, Shinichi also knew that he didn't actually mind Hakuba joining their little endeavor. Despite stubbornness, Hattori knew that Hakuba was a damn good detective and beyond that, he brought a different perspective than Hattori's in. Those were what was important. Different people looked at things differently. Such a simple and obvious fact, but the more Shinichi had interacted with actual competent detectives, the more he understood what that meant and how it could help him along too. Besides, four detectives working at the agency meant they could cover twice as many cases than if it were just Hattori and Shinichi – they could help more people and also increase their income. Hattori knew that too.
It was ironic that Shinichi first had to nearly die and lose everything to realize just how important it was to accept the help of others, to have people who would have your back. Taking down the Black Organization had not been a one man act, he had a vast network of help and he had come to appreciate how good it could be to have a team he could rely on. With the BO finally gone, Shinichi could claim his life again – could make a life for himself. And he was not going to make the same mistakes he had the first time around as Kudou Shinichi.
"You know there is a lot of paperwork to get through first," threw Shinichi out after a moment.
Regarding Hattori's complaint that there was 'a reason' he had come here. They needed a property, a place of operations, they needed to get their licenses. There was a lot to do first before they could officially call themselves detectives. Even though all four of them had done so for years already, they had all been... children, playing pretend. Having the skills for something did not make one a professional. Soon, they would be licensed detectives. The thought made Shinichi giddy.
"Yeah, yeah. You know I'm not the most patient," Hattori grumbled. "Kazuha is making dinner."
"It's okay, I'm not-" Shinichi startled when the dove flew over to pick at his head. "Ouch!"
"Even the sky-rats agree that your eating habits are unhealthy," Hattori laughed.
The comment about 'sky-rats' however got him the dove's attention and she flew over to pick at him instead, effectively chasing Hattori out of the library. Once that was accomplished, she returned with a nearly smug look on her face. Rolling his eyes, Shinichi petted her head.
"I know you miss your master," whispered Shinichi very softly. "...I do too."
That was the thing that hurt. Because Kaitou KID was the one person Shinichi had gotten to return to without any pretense at all. In front of others, he had to pretend to only know Haibara, Hattori and Sera for a short, few months. When it came to Kaitou KID there were no others. Theirs had never been a relationship in the public eye. It had been stolen moments in disguises, KID wearing someone else's face and Shinichi wearing Conan's face, quiet comradery between catastrophes, quick-witted banter on rooftops. There hadn't been a facade between them since the third time they met. Even before KID had learned that Conan was Shinichi, even though Shinichi didn't know who KID was in his civilian life, there had been such a sense of mutual understanding. Understanding the double life they led, understanding the way the other's mind worked. And even when Shinichi had to elbow his way onto the heist and past Nakamori-keibu, once it was just them, once he was out there, chasing the thief and cornering him on the rooftop, it was just them again.
Even around Haibara and the professor, he hd been more often than not forced to play Conan, because the kids were there or Ran was close by. With Hattori, he too only got stolen moments because Ran and Kazuha were always hovering nearby. But heists? Heists had made him forget that he was Conan.
There was rarely death when KID was around, which seemed so surreal to Shinichi, who was always surrounded by murders somehow. Just the thrill of the chase, the excitement of solving highly complex riddles, the opportunity to talk to a mind as brilliant as his.
Yes, KID was a thief, a criminal. But one with morals, as crazy as that sounded. No one got hurt. He never used a real gun, only his card-gun, he would even go out of his way to protect and help those at a heist if something happened. Sometimes, he even solved crimes. Uncovering stolen jewelry and shady people trading highly valuable art that wasn't theirs, and without KID, the police would be none the wiser. KID was an enigma, not just because of his complex heist notes and the mystery of the magic tricks he used during his heists. He stole and returned the jewels later on. Why? Why even steal at all, aside from the obvious cases of helping out those unable to help themselves.
Shinichi hadn't known, still didn't know, but he had long since accepted that Kaitou KID might be a criminal, but he was not a bad person. And with that realization, Shinichi's priorities had shifted. Or so it seemed. He had stopped intending to arrest KID. All he was after was the adrenaline rush of the chase and the joy of bantering with KID on rooftops.
Had KID mocked him when he let Shinichi arrest him...? Making fun of Shinichi for no longer trying? Going to prison for that seemed a bit of a high price to pay. And what KID had said, when Shinichi had finally visited him a month after his arrest...
I did it to save your life. And that's not making any sense to you right now and it might never make sense to you, but please trust me... I didn't do it to mock you. I did it for you.
Shinichi huffed in irritation, his eyebrows drawn together. He did it for Shinichi. He got arrested for Shinichi. To save his life. What did that even mean. His hands on his lap balled into fists, shaking. There was something else, pieces that he was missing to see the whole picture. Shaking his head, he got up and walked over to the table, where the dove had flown toward to pick at the newspaper.
"No, silly thing, I still want to read that," Shinichi sighed frustrated and pulled the newspaper away.
He folded it once, eyes scanning the torn-up page. Another breaking and entering in the richer part of town – not Kudou-rich, but Suzuki-rich. The second one in as many weeks, Shinichi believed. The police was warning residences to heighten their security, because these burglars didn't hesitate to kill the home owners if they were present. Mh. It seemed Nakamori-keibu was heading the case. Well, with KID behind bars, it figured the task-force needed to be put to a different use.
"It's time for you to leave, little one, before Kid-chan considers you her second course," warned Shinichi, one eye on the cat that was wiggling her fluffy butt. "She is not as inclined toward doves as her namesake, I'm afraid. Or rather... differently inclined."
The dove cooed, sounding oddly offended, if an animal could sound offended, and flew out of the window she had come through. Shinichi shook his head once more, trying to clear it, before he went and closed the window so no other unwanted visitors could come by. The newspaper found its place on the table once more, to perhaps be read later on, or tomorrow. Shinichi had never been overly good at keeping up with current events. There were pressing matters of cases demanding his attention usually, so what did the rest of the world interest him?
"Kudou! Dinner!" Hattori called out loud enough to have the walls shake.
It was admittedly nice to not live alone, even if this was just temporary. The months he had lived at the mansion alone after returning had made it feel so much more lonely than ever before. Kid-chan meowed and hurried toward the kitchen and, with a small smile on his lips, Shinichi followed her.
In passing, he caught a glance of Kuroba Kaito's picture in the newspaper.
Author's note: And here we have Shin's side of things! Next chapter, Shinichi is going to get suspicious~
