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 8: A Witch and a Wardrobe

"This ought to be the ugliest piece of... anything, that you have ever stolen, KID."

Kaito hummed in agreement, because there was absolutely no arguing that. A wardrobe, huge wooden thing, embedded with gems. Among them, a huge emerald just atop the doors. Tricky one, with the wardrobe's size, but Kaito had a plan.

"This one is going to be a lot of fun," Kaito grinned. "I just love messing with royalty."

A deep sigh from Shinichi. The kind indicating that he was completely done with the thief. The wardrobe belonged to the princess of some small island kingdom somewhere between England and France. Tiny place, not even on most maps. But that wardrobe? A piece of pride and joy for the royal family. The oldest daughter of the current rulers was obsessed with Japanese culture, so she had convinced her parents to have an exhibit of their great treasures in Tokyo, in exchange for a display of Japanese art and historic objects, to be lend to their kingdom for a limited time.

"Royalty means even more police presence," Shinichi muttered beneath his breath.

"It also often means that the Black Organization gets involved," offered Kaito.

Shinichi's brows furrowed. Always worried. Kaito wanted to kiss the creased brows to ease the frown. He wanted to kiss Shinichi, on the mouth. Soft and gentle. Slow and deep. Heated and passionate. Absolutely every form of kiss there was, he wanted to share them all with Shinichi.

"You make my job of protecting you unnecessarily hard, KID."

"Ka-i-to," Kaito rolled his eyes. "Seriously, try using my name."

As usual, Shinichi just ignored him. One day. One day, Kaito was going to hear that. Hear what it'd sound like if Shinichi said 'Kaito'. Not in anger or in a prison cell like before. But soft and gentle. Whispered into Kaito's ear as the two of them laid curled together...

/break\

Shinichi was glaring. He'd been glaring all evening. Honestly, Rei found it kind of funny. Bit tragic too, but mostly funny. He was so clearly smitten with Kaitou KID, yet potentially the only person not to know was Shinichi himself. No. Rei frowned. Not just him. KID also remained oblivious to the fact that his feelings were returned, too wrapped up in his own pining to notice.

So here Rei was, visiting the exhibition as Amuro Tooru, watching Shinichi throw daggers at the princess of a foreign country because she kept being all over Kaitou KID. Part of her obsession with Japan was apparently Kaitou KID and Rei had a feeling that this was the real motivation for putting up this big show of jewelry. She was, what, seventeen? A doe-eyed kid making heart-eyes ad Kaitou KID, really. And he played into it, knew that the owner of the jewelry being smitten with him would be helpful. Kind smiles, deep bows, kiss to the hand. Nothing that crossed any lines, but enough to make her feel hopeful and special. And also enough to make Kudou jealous.

"There's someone suspicious here," Takagi sounded through the ear-piece. "Woman, wearing a black dress with a red rose at the center of her neckline. She's been getting close to the royals."

"Claims to be a historian," added Sato after a moment. "Goes by Sue Rosewood."

Ah. New lead, drawing Shinichi's attention away from glaring daggers at a princess. Immediately did the detective mindset get flipped on. Both of them turned to look at the supposed historian, covering it by making it seem as though they were admiring a painting next to her.

"I've seen her before, Shinichi," Rei leaned in to whisper to him. "Her code-name is Rose."

Finally a lead. Shinichi seemed pleased by that, before pausing. "I've seen her before too."

"You what?" KID's voice sounded nervous through the earpiece.

"At the Crystal Mother heist, in the train. I knocked her out. She wanted to..." Shinichi paused, his eyes widened. "She's an assassin. She wanted to kill the royal family back then."

"Makes sense," Rei hummed softly. "The assassins in the organization went all by alcohol code-names. From what Hakuba-kun gathered, the ones involved with the robberies all go by animal code-names. And they are... not very professional assassins."

The amount of bullets that had been fired at KID and missed? They had to blow up an entire stage to kill the original KID. Lacking elegance. The assassins of the BO wanted to go unnoticed. Killing a celebrity in broad daylight with a huge explosion wasn't overly professional, even if it got the job done in the end. Not that Rei was going to phrase it like that in front of KID.

"Miss Rosewood," Shinichi sounded charming as ever.

But when had he made his way over to a potential BO assassin? Rei glared. One of his own roles this night was watching Shinichi's back. Which was tremendously hard when Shinichi kept walking off. Cussing beneath his breath, Rei turned his back to them. If he recognized Rose, chances were that Rose would also recognize Bourbon. Damn it, Shinichi.

"And you are...?" Rose trailed off.

"Kudou Shinichi. I was asked to help out with the security, as a local KID expert," Shinichi replied, still polite and charming. "I heard the royal family invited a cultural expert."

"Yes, I've always been fascinated by the country of Leonia."

"What are you doing, Shin-chan?" KID sounded distressed and worried. "Stop that!"

And all Shinichi did was tap his ear-piece to quiet the noise. Rei heaved a sigh.

/break\

Akai kept his eyes on Rose the entire night. Most the time, she was too close to the king and queen though. Never too close; the team ran interference by making sure they were never alone. Making sure she didn't have a chance to kill them. She used KID's grand entrance to slip out though.

Mh. So she wasn't just there for the kill. The treasure too. Sure, there would be chaos and it would go unnoticed for longer if something went missing from the collection, amid the assassination.

Both things they were actively trying to prevent. If she posed an active threat, Akai was to take her out. Otherwise, a shot to the leg went a long way. They wanted answers. Clues. Dead people rarely gave them. Though ever since he'd met Shinichi, he had learned that the dead have a whole lot more to say than he'd ever really expected them to.

Akai chuckled to himself as he watched KID's plan unfold seamlessly. Just a little trick, a fake note to bait Nakamori and the wardrobe got moved to check. Making it possible for KID to check if it was the real deal, as it left the wardrobe in direct moonlight. Clever thief.

Akai knew what had drawn Shinichi in; Shinichi was the kind of person to be attracted to a mind over a body. And Kaitou KID? That was truly a frighteningly brilliant mind. If only Shinichi was as good at deducing his own feelings as he was at deducing murder motifs.

"I'm clear for a shot," Akai adjusted his stance one last time. "Ready?"

"We're in position," confirmed Takagi.

The two cops had been skeptical about shooting someone they had no definite proof. But in the end, the experts on the BO had convinced them that this was the safest way. And Akai wasn't aiming to kill. She went down with a scream, something falling from her hand. Takagi and Sato were right there, taking her away before anyone could notice. Far as the royal family would be concerned, Miss Rosewood had simply left early.

/break\

Shinichi stood with his arms crossed, watching through the two-way mirror how Rose got interrogated. Well. It wasn't much of an interrogation. She kept up the facade of Miss Rosewood and didn't crack, regardless of how long it went on. Kept playing coy.

"How about you leave? Get some sleep, a shower and breakfast," suggested Akai.

Shinichi heaved a long-suffering sigh. The FBI agent acted more like a big brother most of the time. Which was not a role Shinichi had been looking to fill, really. He'd had enough of that with big sister Ran during his time as Conan. Still, in this case, Akai might have a point. He couldn't interrogate her himself, didn't want his own involvement in the investigation of the BO.

"Call me the second you get anything out of her."

Akai just chuckled in reply and Shinichi opted to interpret it however he liked. Instead, he made his way back home. The heist had been long, the preparations before the heist had been even longer. Endless briefings with an agitated Nakamori, who absolutely hated having to navigate with the foreign country's own security. And an agitated Nakamori was even less fun to be around.

"Honey, I'm home," Shinichi called out in a snarky voice.

The first to greet him was Kid-chan, meowing softly as she brushed her little head against his leg. Smiling, Shinichi picked her up and carried her upstairs with her. Instead of heaving for the bathroom, he headed for KID's room, finding the thief in front of the TV, watching himself.

"Narcissus," Shinichi muttered beneath his breath.

"Oh come on, don't judge," Kaito turned to pout at him. "I'm just reviewing how the heist went."

Rolling his eyes, Shinichi sat down next to the thief. It had gone good, all in all considered. They'd gotten an actual lead, in Rose. At the very least, they'd put one more BO member away. Perhaps they'd get more out of her. Back then, Kaito had filled in, Snake had been there too. So she might have worked with him in the past. Maybe she could give them a lead on Snake's whereabouts.

"Not surprised this wasn't it though," Kaito sighed. "The ones used as fancy ornaments, I never really... I don't know, feels like too big a stone to put on a pair of cheesy shoes or a wardrobe."

"Would be interesting though," Shinichi chuckled a bit.

He was so tired. Stiffing a yawn, Shinichi felt himself lean into KID. More and more, the more tired he grew. The soothing noise of the heist in the background, until he drifted off to sleep.

/break\

Having his Great Detective fall asleep on him made Kaito's heart race. Besides, sleeping Shinichi was so incredibly cute! His mouth open in a little o as he breathed calm and even. The couch in his new lair wasn't entirely good for sleeping in, even less so sitting upright as they were. So Kaito adjusted Shinichi, very careful in doing so, and lifted his detective up.

"Oi, oi, oi, this was much easier when you were chibi-sized," Kaito grunted.

Still, he carried Shinichi into the other's bedroom and put him in bed, even tucking him in. The temptation to just crawl in with him and curl together with his detective was so great, it took Kaito a solid ten minutes to tear himself away and go to his own bedroom.

Not that Kaito really went to sleep. No, he was far too excited after a heist. All the adrenaline. And even more excited now that he knew they had someone associated with Snake. Finally a break. Perhaps he should have accepted help for all of this sooner. Thinking he could take down an entire evil organization all on his own. Where had that hybris come from anyway.

Then again, in childish naivety, he had actually thought that he'd find the gem stone, destroy it and somehow that would just... stop the organization. Now, years later, and with the experience he had gathered along the way, he could only scoff at that.

If that magic gem was even real, what were the chances of him ever finding it...?

/break\

Shinichi woke up because someone was clearing their throat very loudly. Furrowing his brows, Shinichi rubbed his face and sat up. In front of his bed stood a very eccentric looking young woman. Red velvet dress, so dark it looked like spilled blood in the night.

"Who..." Shinichi rubbed his eyes. "...You're Kuroba's witch."

"I take offense to that," she made a face. "Koizumi Akako, yes. The witch associated with Kuroba."

"Why am I getting a late-night visit?" Shinichi raised both his eyebrows at her.

"We need to talk about what you are after, demon of light."

"Why do you call me that?" Shinichi glared, disliking the sound of it.

"Because Lucifer perceives you as interesting," was the simple yet confusing answer.

Shinichi got out of his bed, to stand on eye-level with her. "Speak clear or get out. The only person whose riddles I tolerate is sleeping in the other room."

"How... precious," the witch smiled thinly. "You're touched by a God. And this is a godly gambit that our shared acquaintance is chasing after. I'm a sorceress, I get my magic from my bloodline. The bloodline of Angitia, the goddess of magic. You may know her as Medea."

"The scorned lover of Jason of the Argonauts, an Argonaut herself. One of the few female heroes of Greek tales," Shinichi narrowed her eyes. "You say you're descended from a goddess?"

"Elevated to godhood by the Romans. But I am her descendant from before her godhood," Akako tilted her head. "It's been many generations, but you can still feel the strong blood in me. You're not, but you are still... touched by a God regardless. The god of death."

"Of course," Shinichi nodded. "If any god, it'd be a death god."

"Don't sound so sarcastic, I'm serious here," warned Akako. "I am serving the god Lucifer."

"Roman God of the morning star and light. I'm sensing a theme here, with the Romans."

"And now consider why I might be involved in this."

"Pandora. An old... Greco-Roman tale," Shinichi reached up for his chin, fingers curling around it.

Even if he dismissed the truth to her words about gods and magic, the gem they were looking for was linked to the same mythology. The organization bought into the delusion of magic that would grant them immortality. As close to godhood as one could get, he supposed. They believed this.

He'd long since learned that the logic of the culprit did not have to be fool proof, it just had to make internal sense to the person at hand. Gods, magic, magical gems, immortality. There was an internal logic to it all that Shinichi couldn't deny it, even as he denied any possible truth to it.

"And how can you help then, sorceress?"

"I know how to destroy Pandora," replied Akako. "I know how to break this curse, so the power of Pandora can never be used by anyone again."

Great. More magic. Then again, Kaito had this vague thought of destroying the gem, Shinichi wasn't entirely sure how one destroyed a gem. Would the pieces no longer count, or would there just be more parts of it to be sought out by these criminals...?

"We'll stay in touch," Akako smiled, cryptic and dangerous.

/break\

When Kaito woke up in the morning, he was mortified to find Shinichi awake in the library. Because that never meant early morning, it meant painfully long night. Before confronting the detective, Kaito went ahead to make some coffee, knowing that always appeased Shinichi.

"Why are you still awake, tantei-kun?"

"Why are you..." Shinichi trailed off when he looked up. "It's light out?"

"Yes. We call it morning. You're supposed to see it from this side, not the other side. Irresponsible detective," Kaito sighed and put the cup in front of Shinichi. "Well?"

"Had a visit from your witch friend last night," Shinichi grabbed the mug and nearly inhaled it in one go. "Says I got touched by Thanatos."

"Who touched you?" Kaito tensed.

"Thanatos, the Greek god of death."

"Thought that was the fella with the three-headed puppy. Hades."

"No. That's the king of the underworld, ruler over the souls. Thanatos is the one collecting the souls," Shinichi pointed at a print-out article about the god. "I... If we were to put any value into her words, that would explain why people keep dying around me. Thanatos collects the souls, I'm drawn to the places of death because of that godly touch and I resolve... what keeps the souls around, allow Thanatos to take them to the underworld, with their murders solved."

"Makes sense," Kaito paused. "Far as magic and gods make sense."

"She says she's a descendant of Medea," Shinichi pulled out a different article. "Medea was famously the lover of Jason and mother of his children, who killed them. I suppose your friend is suggesting not all of them, seeing as she claims to be a descendant. Myths vary, so do records. But the goddess Angitia was associated with snakes."

Kaito huffed under his breath. "...That explains her tacky high school outfits."

Shinichi regarded him in confusion, but Kaito didn't feel like explaining snake-shaped shoulder-adornments and tiaras. Gods. That was something Kaito had not yet considered. He'd always taken Lucifer as the devil and her as some devil worshiper. But supposedly, before the Christian iconography, Lucifer had been a god to the Romans, counter-part to Eosphorus, the god of the morning star. Kaito's eyes were scanning the article on the god Lucifer as the pieces kept falling together in his mind. Pandora, now that went along far more well with a Roman god than a Christian devil and it would explain why Akako seemed so interested. So... invested.

"How much... truth... do you attribute to her words?" Shinichi looked up at him, wanting his input. "You're... You said you went to prison because of her words. Do you really believe in it?"

"I don't... know," admitted Kaito after a moment. "I just know that she has... Often, her words come true. And if I have the option of heeding her warning, I've learned over the years to do so."

"What do you think about all of this though? What do we do?"

It was hard to think when Shinichi treated him as an equal and looked at him like that. No longer thief and detective, but equals on the same side. Working together with Shinichi had always done things to him, because oh boy. Back in the day, it was easier, because his detective had been adorably chibi-sized. But now? When they stood eye to eye like this?

"I'm not sure..." Kaito ran his fingers through his hair. "Being touched by a god sounds heavy and I'm not exactly in favor of that, but then it... genuinely does explain some things about you."

"Yeah, it does," Shinichi shifted, clearly uncomfortable with the truth of that. "She says she knows how to destroy the magic of Pandora. No, break the curse, was what she'd said."

"Curse?" Kaito frowned doubtfully at that. "Thought immortality was a prize they were after?"

"Immortality. Gift or curse," Shinichi shrugged.

"Honestly, if she is offering her help and is on our side..." Kaito trailed off for a moment. "I mean, it's better than her opposing us. Believe me, I've fought against her before."

"So you want to hand the cursed jewel over to the witch when we find it?" Shinichi paused, a mortified look on his face. "I can't believe that's a sentence I just said."

"You and me both, Great Detective," Kaito laughed and nudged Shinichi gently. "But I suppose it's as good as anything I would come up in ways of destroying Pandora."

"That being said... We first have to find the damned thing."

"For now, the only thing you need to find is a bed," declared Kaito. "I'll call Hakuba and let him know that you're not coming into the agency today. Three detectives will have to make due."

Shinichi protested, but he let himself be steered toward his own bedroom.


Author's note: Next chapter, it's time to move things in the feelings department along a little bit ;)