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 9: Red on White

It was supposed to be another heist. Just a regular heist night. KID doing his silly little tricks, charming people, stealing the gem, Shinichi hot on his tail. Hakuba wasn't here tonight, he was working a case for their agency. So the chase would have been all Shinichi's.

And yes, admittedly, Shinichi had been looking forward to it. The chase. Cornering KID on the rooftop. Their usual quips and snark. The adrenaline coursing through Shinichi's veins. From the chase, from figuring out the riddle, from... from standing there, on the rooftop, with KID opposite him, smirking like a pleased cat who got the cream (and oh boy, ever since Shinichi was actually a cat owner, he knew just how true that one was).

That was what it was supposed to be. The highlight of Shinichi's week. Not that he'd admit that aloud; that would just make the thief unbearably smug, really.

But things weren't meant to play out that way. Not this time, anyway.

"Kudou! Kudou, what happened? What's happening up there?" Furuya's voice was erratic.

He was down in the crowd with Ran and Sonoko somewhere, they'd run into each other and Shinichi didn't mind having some special protection for his friends. Not since he learned what kind of dangers were really hiding in a KID heist. Still, the voice washed over him, leaving him untouched, his eyes and mind glued to the sky.

"He got shot," Akai answered, cussing softly beneath his breath. "I lost sight of the shooter. I repeat, Kaitou KID got shot. Shooter was on the hotel on the other side."

"We're on our way to the hotel," replied Takagi quickly.

Kaitou KID got shot. A very simple, clean sentence. The impact of it though... Shinichi felt like he had been shot himself, like the metal tore through his stomach, clean through, but tearing everything in its way apart. All he could see was the red spreading over white, soaking the perfectly clean white suit. Red on white. That was all Shinichi could see.

"Kudou-kun. Kudou-kun, what happened?"

Shinichi jerked away when someone touched his arm. It took him a moment to recognize Nakamori. The man looked annoyed at first but then concerned. Fatherly instincts kicking in.

"He... got away," was all Shinichi got out.

"Are you okay?" Nakamori's voice was a little softer now. "Is that blood?"

Blood? Shinichi turned his head, looking at his sleeve. Red on white. Right. He'd reached out, for KID. KID had been standing at the edge of the roof when the shot had hit. Shinichi, he'd reached out for KID, had tried to... to catch the thief? But he fell backward, off the edge of the roof and then his glider was already disappearing into the distance and Shinichi remained standing, alone...

"I think I scrapped myself on the way up in my hurry," Shinichi replied on autopilot.

When had lying become so second nature for Shinichi? Had being Conan really warped him this much? Still, Nakamori seemed to buy it, as he nodded reluctantly and let go of Shinichi's arm. A pat on the back, gentle and encouraging, still worried eyes on him.

"Don't worry about it, kid, we're going to get him next time."

Next time, yes. Next time implied KID was still alive. KID had to still be alive. Right...?

/break\

"Shinichi!" Sonoko's voice was as demanding as it could get. "How was it? How was he? You let him get away again, right? Well, speak up, detective geek."

Ran sighed softly, shaking her head in a fond manner. Sonoko and her KID obsession... Her eyes wandered to Shinichi and the soft fondness changed into concern. There was something haunted to Shinichi's eyes, like he was looking right through them.

"Shinichi?" Ran's voice was gentle. "Is everything alright?"

"Yeah. Yeah, I... Yeah," Shinichi frowned. "It's been a long day. I'll head home..."

"Would you like me to give you a lift, Kudou-kun?" offered Amuro.

The two of them were something like friends, Ran knew. It had been a bit of a surprise for her, since they seemed to have hit it off right away. Then again, ever since his return, Shinichi's social skills had improved a lot. He seemed to hit it off easily with new people he met these days.

"No. No, I'll just... walk..."

Amuro didn't seem pleased by this answer, but he dropped it. Strange. Ran was quite tired of all the strange things happening, the stretches of silence filled with words that were left unspoken. Things Shinichi shared with others but not with her. To a degree, she thought he deserved his privacy, had a right to his secrets too. But only to a degree. Because she was his best friend and he should know that he could trust her, instead of hiding oh so many things from her.

/break\

Shinichi was distracted throughout the entire debriefing. He kept staring at Kaito, flying off on a loop on the tape they were playing. The team's words didn't fully register. Not beyond the point of 'lost track of his signal'. Because that was the one thing he had counted on. The tracker they put on his hang-glider. Had it been damaged by the shot?

"Shinichi-kun?" Aoko's voice was gentle.

She'd grasped his shoulder and was steering him toward the backyard of the Kudou Mansion. Outside, where the air was biting cold and the voices of everyone else were muffled, a distance. It was a relief, in a way. Still there was a heavy weight on Shinichi's chest.

"Everyone is looking for Kaito," whispered Aoko. "We'll find him."

"Do you really think that?" Shinichi turned toward her, fully facing her. "How can you... be that optimistic? I saw him get shot. I saw the blood... So much red. How can you be sure...?"

Aoko tilted her head. "Because Kaito promised. He promised not to hurt Aoko again. So it's really simple. He can't get shot and die on a heist, because that would... that would hurt more than anything and he promised not to hurt me again. So he can't do that."

The smile on Shinichi's lips was half-hearted at best. "It's that simple?"

"Yes," Aoko smiled, much more sincere. "Kaito is the most stubborn person I know. Much too stubborn to die from a gunshot wound. You should know that too."

Shinichi covered his mouth with a hand, to hide the smile that came out of nowhere. "The first..."

"Yeah?" Aoko sat down, patiently waiting.

"The very first time we met, at the clock-tower, I shot at him," Shinichi huffed out a laugh without meaning to. "And the third time we met, a professional assassin... shot him out of the sky... I saw him crash into the river, everyone thought he was dead. But... he wasn't."

"Because he's too stubborn. Like I said. Just give him some time to regroup and he'll get home."

When Shinichi looked at her, he could see the worry in her eyes. She was as worried as Shinichi, but she also believed in Kaito. Perhaps Shinichi did too. He knew the blasted thief had more lives than a cat – but then even those lives would also run out at one point, wouldn't they?

/break\

Kaito winced when he came back to it. Must have blacked out. Damn, he wished he was back in the realm of dreams, because in it, he had been sleeping with his head on Shinichi's lap, the detective playing with his hair. It had been very nice. This? This was less nice.

Pain in his shoulder. Throbbing. Red. His suit was soaked in blood. Well, that was never a good sign. That blood should be inside the Kaito. Okay, okay, okay. First things first. What was first?

Through and through. Make sure there was an even number of holes in his body, so the bullet(s) all made it out of him again and weren't still inside him. Let's see. He checked his shoulder. That was an exist wound in the front, he'd been shot from the back then. Good. Well, not good obviously, but having exit wounds was a very good thing because it implied the bullet was out.

Check for other injuries. Other shot wounds. Other... Everything was so blurry, his mind was fuzzy. What was it he was trying to concentrate on...? Pain. Right. Injuries, that was it.

Ribs bruised, possibly cracked. Hopefully not broken. Aoko didn't like broken bones, he had promised not to make her sad again. Leg hurt. Could he walk...? With much difficulty did Kaito push himself up. Pain shot up his leg. Okay. No walking then.

What was next...? His mental checklist seemed so far away in his memory. The image of Shinichi's lap where he could curl together was so much clearer in his mind. Wanted to be there, right now.

To get there, he needed to focus. Stop the bleeding. If he couldn't walk right away, he ought to stop the bleeding so he could think of his next step in peace. Pushing his cape off his shoulders, he used it to tie around his shoulder, use it as a bandage for now.

Closing his eyes, he tilted his head back. Just a second. Just a breath. He jerked out of his thoughts when he felt his mind drift off. No sleeping. If he slept now, he could bleed out in this ditch.

Tracker. There was a tracker on his glider. The team would find... Damn it. Kaito glared at the tracker, unblinking and clearly dead. That much for that. Okay, so Kaito had to somehow drag himself to safety, for now. Preferably somewhere with a phone so he could call Shinichi...

Oh boy. Shinichi was going to be so mad at him when he got home...

/break\

His doorbell rang. For a brief moment, Shinichi hoped it was Kaito. But then Kaito didn't seem to know doorbells existed. He'd been staring out the window like an obsessed fool for an hour now. Akai had insisted Shinichi sit this one out, because he was clearly rattled. He hated that. He just... He just needed to know Kaito was good. Safe. Alive.

"Ran..." Shinichi trailed off, unsure what to say. "What are you doing here? It's late."

"Yes, well," Ran smiled thinly. "I've been pacing at home until Masumi insisted I take care of whatever is on my mind, because otherwise I wouldn't be able to sleep at all."

"Sera does know you well," Shinichi offered the smallest smile of his own. "What's on your mind?"

He stepped aside and led her inside. If nothing else, seeing Ran would distract him from his worries. He should be out there, help with the search. Find his stupid thief.

"You are," offered Ran. "You seemed... Something was wrong, earlier. And I'm tired of taking a step back to let you deal with things in your own pace, Shinichi. I'm your best friend, I'll always be there for you. You can talk to me about whatever it is that's troubling you."

"It's... nothing," Shinichi ran his fingers through his hair. "I'm fine."

"When did it become this easy for you to lie to me?"

Well, that hurt like a slap in the face. And really, when had it. When had lying to those he loved become something he could do so casually. He was so tired. Tired of everything. Exhausted to the bone, now that the adrenaline had washed out of his system.

"I wouldn't even know where to begin," whispered Shinichi with a frown. "I want to talk to you, Ran. I wish I could. But... by now... there is so much and I wouldn't even know where to begin."

"Start at the beginning and go from there."

Ran smiled at him, kind and warm, the kind of smiles that always made Shinichi feel better. Like there was a light at the end of the tunnel, like there was an end of the tunnel. How could he... He couldn't lie to her forever, sidestep eggshells that he had put there himself. At one point, there would be eggshells everywhere around him and he wouldn't be able to take a single step. At one point, all of his lies were going to make him lose Ran for good. And how could he.

"Do you remember that day, when we went to Tropical Land together, to celebrate your win?"

It took Ran a moment, but she nodded. "That's been... years ago. What about it?"

Shinichi folded his hands in his lap and leaned forward. The two of them sat opposite each other now, having moved to the living room. The moonlight illuminated Ran from behind. She looked beautiful, like some kind of angel, but Shinichi couldn't see it. All Shinichi could see was red on white, terror in violet eyes as KID fell off the roof. All he could think about was KID and how could he possibly even begin to explain that to Ran without her knowing how deep their bond ran...?

"You always thought I'd just ditched you that day, for a case," Shinichi's voice was low, lacking emotions as he stared right through her. "I observed a deal between shady men... but I wasn't paying enough attention, I missed one. He knocked me out and drugged me, thinking he poisoned me. Thinking he killed me. When I woke up hours later..."

/break\

Kaito really wanted to be back home. Even if it wouldn't be Shinichi's lap directly, he just wished to be at the mansion, with Shinichi, his doves and Kid-chan. Home. The fact that he considered it that, that he had really grown this... attached. Not just to Shinichi, but to Shinichi's space...

"Pathetic, love-sick fool," Kaito groaned as he leaned his head back against the cool wall behind.

His detective clearly didn't feel the same way. Otherwise, he would lean into Kaito's flirting, would return it in some kind of way. Still, in his mind, Kaito liked to entertain the thought. And even if he couldn't be with Shinichi like that, he wanted to be back with his friend.

He wondered what Shinichi was doing right now. No. No, no time to focus on Shinichi. Had to focus on Kaito. The bleeding seemed to have stopped and he had managed to create a make-shift brace with the remnants of his glider, so he had been able to at least get away from the crash-site, in case the shooter would find him. Sure, his people may also find him, but in this fifty-fifty scenario, the chances for the ones who want him dead to find him were ab it too high.

Just had to make his way home. Which was easier said than done, because his vision was even more blurry than before. Concentration was so hard. Too much blood-loss... Was this how the great Kaitou KID was going to die? In some park, behind a tree, all on his own, bleeding to death...?

/break\

Ran sat shell-shocked in front of Shinichi. He'd told her everything. Everything. The poison. Conan. Conan. Chasing the Black Organization. The way KID had helped him out over the years, pretending to be Shinichi whenever Shinichi needed the alibi. Mostly in front of Ran. All those lies. Every time Ran had had a hunch, how Shinichi had tried to distract her.

"I was right," was the first thing Ran said in over an hour. "All this time, every time I noticed the similarities between you and Conan... I thought I was losing my mind. Going crazy."

"I know," Shinichi averted his eyes in shame. "I'm sorry. I didn't... I wanted to keep you safe. These men were dangerous. Are dangerous. I didn't want to drag you into it any more than I already had."

"But you had," Ran frowned at him. "You did drag me into it by moving in with me and my father! If you wanted to keep me out of it, why not stay with the professor? You dragged me in and still kept me out, kept me at arm's length. I spent years waiting for you, worrying, while you were right under my nose? You... You intentionally made me a fool, Shinichi."

"I know..." Shinichi buried his face in his hands. "And I'd understand if you never wanted to talk to me again, Ran. I'm sorry. That's all I can say. I'm sorry. At one point, it felt like it was too late. Like I had lied too long to come clean now. So I kept lying. And I thought it'd be fine now, but then... KID brought it all back up and I'm lying to you again and... it felt like it'd never stop."

"I knew about KID," Ran whispered, not looking at him. "About him being Tsukino-san. It wasn't hard to figure out. I'm not stupid, Shinichi. And I know you."

"I know," Shinichi looked at her like a lost puppy. "I know you're not stupid. I never... thought that. I just thought I could keep you safe... I'm sorry... Ran, please."

"I need time to digest this, Shinichi," Ran's voice was sharp, before it softened. "But what does all of this have to do with the now? I wanted to know what's on your mind right now."

"He got shot. This heist, earlier today, he got... shot," replied Shinichi, fingers clawed in his hair. "And I can't think straight, I can't focus. I know KID is capable, I know he won't be killed this easily. But it's... it's messing with me, Ran. I'm... worried. And I just... I can't... I don't know why this is messing with me so much... I know he'll be fine, he was always fine in the end... but I..."

"Shinichi," Ran heaved a sigh and reached out to take his hand. "You decided to stop lying to me. Now you just have to stop lying to yourself. Because it doesn't take a genius detective to figure this one out. I did, even without the clues and history between Conan-kun and KID."

"What...?" Shinichi looked up, confused and exhausted. "What do you mean...?"

"Your head isn't right because for once, your logical brain isn't taking the lead. Your heart is."

She got up, offering him one last, sad smile, before she left. Because a large part of her wanted to punch him, was angry with him, wanted to yell at him for lying to her. All those lies. All those things she had suspected for so long but always been made believe were false. Not tonight. She didn't want to say things in anger that may damage their relationship further. For now, she needed to be alone with her feelings. Even though Shinichi needed her, she needed herself right now.

"My heart..." Shinichi frowned as he stared after her. "What does..."

What did his heart have to do with Kaito? What was he lying to himself about? Having retold Ran all of his history with KID, it had felt... different. He'd felt his heart race in a manner it only ever did when it was about KID. His heart. His... With wide eyes did he clasp a hand over his mouth, effectively hiding the flush on his cheeks too. Kaitou KID made his heart race. Made him laugh. Made him worry. Made him feel at home. Kaitou KID was in his heart.

And not the same way Heiji or Sera were. All of those things were specific to KID. Things only KID made him feel, had made him feel even when he'd been Conan. Things Shinichi didn't know how to name, or rather didn't want to name. After all, what detective loved a criminal?

But... that was it, wasn't it? He'd be worried about any of his friends being in danger, but the way KID was messing with his mind. The pain he'd felt seeing Kaito get shot. How he couldn't concentrate at all now. How excited he'd been when telling Ran about all the heists, the thrills, the way it had felt to work hand in hand with KID to take down terrorists and killers.

Nobody could make his heart race like KID because Shinichi was in love with KID.

All the evidence was right there, staring him in the face. Laughing at him. The great Heisei Holmes, unable to put the pieces together when it came to his own feelings. Until his thief was forcibly taken from him. Not for good, he had to be alive out there, somewhere.

The more he thought about it now, the more obvious it seemed. It had been there all this time. Right there. The way Shinichi let the thief get away – found ways to stall him, or even excuses ('I won't take you in this time, since you helped'. Hah. Like being helpful erased a crime). The excitement of hunting KID, the way his heart-rate picked up whenever he saw a heist, how he had gone out of his way to attend heists, even though he was a murder detective.

All these years, he'd swallowed it. Ignored it. Refused to see the evidence staring right at his face.

"If you die out there, alone, before I can tell you... I'm going to kick your ass in the afterlife, stupid sneak thief," Shinichi whispered into the silence of the night, staring out the window at the moon.


Author's note: So this chapter just completely did what it wanted without consulting me xD I originally had no plans of letting Ran in on everything but it just... kinda felt right, that an emotionally vulnerable and confused Shinichi would want to share that with his best friend. And realize that to do so, he would have to come clear on everything. Now, next chapter we need to find our missing, hurt thief!