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 23: The Take-Down
"Ladies and gentlemen," Kaito smiled brightly, soaking in the spotlight. "Welcome!"
Kaito was KID. KID was a part of him, so deeply a part of him by now. There was no life he could imagine without putting on the suit, standing in front of an adoring crowd. How could he ever give it up? How could he live without this part of his self?
Fans cheered all around him, so happy to see him again, Nakamori cussed beneath his breath, ready to hunt him down once more. But Kaito's eyes went to find his love. Shinichi stood aside, together with Sera and Hattori. Hakuba was in the background, behind the scenes, coordinating together with Furuya. Today was the day. Today was the day that they would take down the Black Organization.
Mizuki was safely with the professor and the children. The professor had gone out of his way to organize a fun trip far, far away from the museum. Takagi and Satou had tagged along because it 'sounded so fun', but really to protect Mizuki, just in case the Black Organization sent someone else after her. Akai was shadowing the trip too, an additional layer of protection.
Everything was set, they had contingency plans for every possibility. Nothing could go wrong.
/break\
Nothing could go wrong today and Shinichi knew how much that must bore his thief. The thrill was in the unknown. All law-enforcement in charge were in the know (sans Nakamori and his team, though they had Aoko with him and she knew what to expect). Nothing was left to chance. The dagger had been swapped for a fake, they had their hands in checking the fake's authenticity so there was no way it would be discovered, all entrances were surveilled by their people. Everyone was going out of their way to make this easy for Kaito, which meant boring to Kaito.
"How are you this relaxed?" Heiji's voice was a hiss. "If Kazuha was out there with targets painted on her back, I would be having a heart-attack and you're just smiling."
Blinking, Shinichi turned toward his friend. "I trust Kaito's abilities. I don't need to worry. I was just thinking how much this must bore him, everything is too easy for his liking."
"Ah, yes. I feel so bad for him," Hakuba's voice came through the intercoms, dry as the desert.
Shinichi huffed to himself but didn't argue with Hakuba. The blonde had suffered a lot under Kaito during their teenage years, Shinichi was going to let him have his sarcasm. His eyes found Kaito again, putting on a grand show – in every movement, Shinichi could tell just how much Kaito had missed this. Missed putting on a grand show. The smile on Shinichi's lips softened, drawn in by his boyfriend's magic. It had always managed to put a sparkle in Shinichi's eyes. Few things were as impressive as Kaito when he was fully in his element.
Perhaps that was why he wanted to pull through with clearing Kaito's name, because he couldn't imagine a world without Kaitou KID. As much as he'd claimed to want a more normal life just a few days ago, he knew they weren't normal. Neither of them. He knew Kaito needed KID in his life as much as Shinichi needed his detective work. And he also knew that he needed KID in his life. In the monotony of murders, Kaitou KID had always provided that bright, blinding light that led him out of the darkness. The joy and thrill of the chase, of solving the mystery, while knowing nobody had to die for this mystery. Selfishly, Shinichi wanted KID in his life.
"Target spotted," Furuya's voice in Shinichi's ear. "Spider is on the roof."
"On my way," Hakuba replied, voice tight and irritated.
Ah, yes. Hakuba's own nemesis. For so many years, Hakuba had been hunting this man. Most recently, he'd chased a lead in Kairo, but Spider had slipped away. Luring him here with the bait of the dagger and Kaitou KID had lured him out in a controlled environment where they could catch the Spider. Shinichi was quite content stepping back and letting Hakuba take the lead on this. Mostly because Shinichi's attention was needed with Kaito, ensuring his thief's safety.
/break\
Teaming up with Hakuba would never not be weird. Alas, Spider was their shared enemy. So Kaito and Hakuba found themselves on the roof together, facing the illusionist from two different sides. Jii and the professor had worked together to create goggles for them to see through the illusions.
It was easier to focus on this when Kaito knew he had so much backup, they were taking care of all other members of the organization. Leads from Rose, worn down by interrogations and lost hope, gave them the opportunity to raid the organization's head quarters. The FBI was surrounding the heist side, picking off crows left and right. Akai had five confirmed kills on his end, assuring them of the professor and the children's safety. Everything was going to end tonight.
"Nowhere to run, Spider," Hakuba's voice was unusually dark.
He had a gun trained on Spider – Kaito wasn't much a fan of that, but he understood the necessity. Kaito had his card-gun trained on Spider from the other side. The man didn't look impressed, he looked cocky. He thought it was just the two of them, like last time. A shot, a hit in Spider's thigh. Not killing him, but bringing him down on the ground with a groan.
"Oh, did we forget to mention we brought back-up? So sorry," Kaito made an apologetic gesture.
"You," Spider snarled, even as he went to get up. "You are mistaken if you think I am alone either."
"We fully calculated for that," Hakuba's glare was icy as he handcuffed the assassin, removing his gadgets. "You're the last one left."
Huh. There was something impressive about the detective being so serious and taking down an actual, dangerous criminal. My, Kaito could be much more of a fan of Hakuba if the blonde focused more on non-Kaito-criminals. The grin on Kaito's face faded a little. It was strange how easy this was when one had actual back-up, had people he could trust, people who fought at his side. How naive had he been, to think he could take a massive organization of assassins on all on his own, sixteen years old, just a child. Had he really thought he was invincible? Then again, didn't all kids?
"We got him," Hakuba confirmed through the intercoms for the others, before looking up at Kaito. "Time to give your final performance, thief. Everything about this has to look real."
Unfolding his trusted hang-glider, Kaito jumped off the roof to lead Nakamori away. Oh, how much he had missed this too. Flying. The freedom, the view, the feeling of the wind soaring around him. He closed his eyes, a near manic smile on his lips as he made his escape, carrying off a fake dagger. Knowing the real one to be melted in some volcano in Greece.
/break\
Shinichi was holding Mizuki close, in his bed. After today's scare with the assassins, she had crawled into his bed, asked to sleep in the safety of it. After today, Shinichi needed to hold her, make sure she was here and safe. He gently brushed her dark-red hair out of her face, marveling at how deeply this child had worn her way into his heart in such a short time. She was clutching her Kaitou KID bear tightly, even in her sleep, making Shinichi smile a little.
Everything had gone, more or less, according to plan. Takagi got shot, protecting the children. Upper arm. Nothing serious, he was in the hospital right now – Shinichi had dropped by with chocolates before picking up Mizuki. Many casualties on the other side though. Because this time, the good guys had been thoroughly prepared. This time, they had all worked together. Shared resources, knowledge, abilities. Shinichi huffed out a small, humorless laugh, thinking of the arrogant boy he had once been, hunting them all on his own. The fool who had followed two arms dealers into an isolated corner of an amusement park and nearly gotten himself killed. The genius idiot that he had once been, blinded by his own intellect, thinking there was no crime he couldn't solve all on his own. How being turned into a grade schooler had taught him the lesson that he was not a one man army, that he needed allies in his fight. A lesson learned slowly.
The window opened and Kaito sneaked into the bedroom. Shinichi turned toward him, pressing a finger to his lips. A bright grin spread over Kaito's lips as he spotted Shinichi and Mizuki. Dropping his KID costume, Kaito tip-toed over to the bed to slip in right beside Shinichi. The bright grin turned into a happy, soft smile as he wrapped his arms around Shinichi.
"You are fully unharmed?" Shinichi asked lowly.
"Minor scraps, nothing to report home to about."
Shinichi looked unimpressed. "I am home. I am requesting a full report."
"A bullet graced my arm, but Hakuba bandaged it all up. Some minor scraps on the knees where I went down after being shot at, but I am fine, I promise."
Kaito leaned in to kiss his boyfriend and appease him some. Sharp, blue eyes scanned his face to tell if Kaito was being truthful. Once he was pleased, he leaned in to give a kiss of his own.
"I did not expect you home," Kaito whispered. "I thought you would be with your FBI friends, overseeing everything and all of that."
"Mh," Shinichi blinked a couple of times. "I… The call, about the attack on the kids and the professor, I needed to see Mizu-chan for myself, I guess."
He looked wondrous at it, as though the concept of prioritizing something else over the case was very foreign to him. Which it was, Kaito knew that. The thief grinned and kissed Shinichi's cheek lightly. Mizuki wiggled around to get the perfect spot right between them.
"You've grown up, Shin-chan," Kaito whispered. "I'm proud of you."
"Shut up," Shinichi glared, looking so offended. "I will not hear that from you, of all people."
"Oi," Kaito huffed out a laugh. "Maybe I'm all grown up too."
Shinichi offered him the most unimpressed look. "Either way, I will go and check in with the FBI, and our team, tomorrow. For now, I needed… this."
Which was truly baffling to Shinichi, because it was true. He had needed this. Needed to be with Mizuki and with Kaito, at home. Five years ago, he would have scoffed at anyone who'd suggest he would be seeking out a family life and put a pin in case work. But so much had happened since then and he truly was no longer that arrogant teenager with the single-minded focus. He now had friends in his life, so many people he genuinely cared about, whose well-being were important to him. He'd spent years as a little kid, learned his lesson. Now that he had his body back and was a grown adult, graduated high school, worked as a licensed detective, he was a different person. He was a man, no longer a boy. A bemused smile played on his lips. Growing up was peculiar, wasn't it?
"Good night," Shinichi pressed a kiss to Kaito's temple. "Rest, thief."
"Good night, Great Detective," Kaito smiled as he snuggled up to him. "Sweet dreams. I, for one, am going to sleep so good, so deep and so long. We finally did it."
Shinichi blinked before he also smiled. "Yeah. We did. Together."
/break\
After a hearty breakfast and a good coffee, Shinichi was off to talk to Jodie and Akai. He got to sit in on a couple of interrogations. They were still bringing in new arrests. The promise of immortality had lured out the right people and they finally managed to kick off a domino effect that got them to fully take down this organization that had been terrorizing Shinichi and Kaito for so many years.
"You look pleased," Hakuba commented, looking no less pleased.
"Mh," Shinichi nodded. "We did it. Years of work finally paid off."
They stood together in front of a glass window, watching Spider's interrogation. Hakuba smirked and nodded. The strange thing however was that this didn't feel the way Shinichi had always pictured it. No adrenaline high, but rather a deep calm that washed over him. It was over.
"I suppose we should be heading to a debriefing of our own, mh," Hakuba suggested.
A heavy sigh from Shinichi. "Yes. That, and paperwork. Being an adult sucks."
"You're telling me," Hakuba chuckled. "It was so much easier when we were teen detective who had no care in the world and inserted ourselves into other people's investigations, mh."
"It really was," Shinichi rubbed his face.
"The only upside is that I get to see Hattori-kun struggle with paperwork too."
That got Hakuba a laugh from Shinichi, who had to admit there was a certain comedic appeal to Heiji's personal fights with certain aspects of the more bureaucratic side of their jobs.
/break\
"I am so proud of you, sweetheart."
The warmest smile spread over Chikage's lips as she reached out to rest a hand on top of her son's, giving it a gentle squeeze. The smile on Kaito's lips was thinner, maybe just an edge of forced. Yesterday, soaring through the skies, he had been ecstatic. At home, in bed with Shinichi and Mizuki, he had been filled with warm pride. Right now, sitting opposite his mother, he couldn't help but feel a strange sense of bitterness. Was it because of Mizuki?
Because he'd never fully questioned it, he had actually always seen it as his decision. To take on his father's mantle, to take on this mission, to chase his father's murderers. In prison, he'd started questioning things. The fact that his mother had been the Phantom Thief before his father, that his father had only taken on her mantle… and still, she had left it all to him. Now that Mizuki was in his life, he couldn't… He couldn't imagine leaving such a burden to her, all on her own, while he was still physically and mentally capable of at the very least aiding, if not doing it himself.
He loved his mom, still loved her very much, but there was a bitterness inside his heart, now that he was an adult, now that he had gone through all of this alone – until his Shinichi. Why hadn't she been there for him? Why had she left Japan, left him to grieve his father alone? Left him to pick up the pieces of Kaitou KID's mission alone? A mission that had been hers before. Why had she never attempted to avenge her dead husband, to find his killers, to see this to an end?
"Why did you run away," Kaito asked, voice soft and not angry.
For a moment, Chikage looked surprised, before she smiled, a sad smile. "I… wasn't made for this life. I became a Phantom Thief, and I was very good at it, but… it never fulfilled me, the way it does for you. I can clearly see that, every time I watch one of your performances. You live for this, you breath in this excitement and it fills your lungs like nothing else."
Kaito frowned at that, but he didn't argue, he waited for her to continue. "It didn't do that for me. When I met your father and he offered to take over for me, I never tried to argue, I never insisted on us just becoming a duo, a team. I was glad to have him take this burden from me. It was so easy for me to give it up and I never wanted to pick it up again."
She pulled her hand away from him, folding her hands in front of herself. Not looking at Kaito.
"I… am not proud of the way I left this all to you, but I… couldn't," Chikage sighed. "I just couldn't. It took so much from me, and then it took my husband too, and I… I resented it, I think. That's why I ran. Everything here reminded me of him, of what I had lost. And I blamed myself for it. If he had never met me, he would have been a brilliant stage magician, never gotten involved in all this crime stuff. You lost your father and it was… because of me… and I think… I could never forgive myself for that, I don't think I ever will."
Oh. Kaito bit his lips, unsure what to say. He'd be lying if he tried to disagree with her, because the tiniest part of him? It did blame her, for running away, for not being a duo. Maybe Kaitou KID and the Phantom Lady could have done it together. That wasn't fair, Kaito knew that, especially now knowing that his mother had never had the same passion for it, but these kind of feelings never were fair, they were just there. Strong and overwhelming. Bitter.
"I am sorry, Kaito," Chikage's voice was sincere and pained. "I am also glad that you seem to have found the right partner for you. Someone who… shares it with you."
A smile quirked Kaito's lips at that. "Yeah. Me too."
For a bit, the two of them sat in not so comfortable silence, both their thoughts drifting off toward Toichi, toward what could have been. Chikage had arrived in the afternoon, when Kaito had been alone anyway, Shinichi still gone on his debriefings and interrogations and whatever it was that little detectives did when thieves weren't with them. He'd asked, this morning, if Kaito wanted to be there too. But that wasn't his world, he just didn't belong on that side of the law. It had been a warm sense of vindication to see Spider arrested, to know them all arrested or dead, but he didn't need to be there for the rest of it. He left that up to Shinichi.
"Kaito-nii-san! Who is this? She is very pretty!"
Both Kaito and Chikage startled when all of a sudden, Mizuki came crashing onto the balcony, eyes large and curious. Her eyes were the color of honey, a dark brown that looked nearly golden the way the sunset's light was hitting them right now as she stared inquisitively at Chikage.
"Why, thank you," Chikage smiled warmly. "You are very pretty yourself, young miss."
"Ah," Kaito grinned sheepishly. "Mizuki-chan, that is my mother, Kuroba Chikage. Mom, this is… Mizuki, Shin-chan and I took her in."
"Oh, I have seen all the headlines," Chikage chuckled, one eyebrow raised, before she turned toward the child with a grin. "It is a pleasure to meet you in person, Mizuki-chan."
"Hello, Chikage-baa-chan," Mizuki's smile was huge. "I never had a grandma! Mama's parents were already gone when I was born and papa's died when I was very young, so I don't remember them. While I'm staying with Kaito-nii-san, are you my grandma?"
Chikage made a cooing noise and Kaito winced. While she was staying with them. It was time that him and Shinichi cleared his name, so Kaito and Shinichi could officially kickstart a process of becoming her legal guardians. There was no question left there, not for him and he also knew not for Shinichi. This little girl had changed their lives, she was a part of them now.
/break\
"Hello, Kaito," Shinichi pressed a kiss to Kaito's temple. "How was… your mother?"
Kaito's arms wrapped around his waist, pulling the detective onto his lap. A small huff was the height of Shinichi's protest. He knew the relationship between Kaito and Chikage was complicated at best – much like his own relationship to his parents. Love and abandonment and many issues, all wrapped up in one, entangled. He leaned against Kaito's chest.
"I think she is a big fan of being grandma."
A curious noise escaped Shinichi. Right. Yawning, he closed his eyes, resting his head on Kaito's shoulder. The thief's cunning fingers started caressing his side in a soothing manner.
"Did everything go well?" Kaito asked lowly.
"Mh," Shinichi gave a faint smile. "There is still so much work left behind the scenes, but… yes."
Silence. Warm and comfortable, filled with just the sound of their breathing. Faint meowing from where Kid-chan was roaming the mansion, accompanied by Mizuki's laughter – she should be asleep, but Shinichi was too tired himself to go and scold her.
"We did it, Kaito," Shinichi whispered. "All these years. We finally did it."
"Yeah," Kaito's voice was tight and filled with awe. "Yeah, we did."
Author's note: I feel like apologizing for the take-down, I am just not an action writer, I am more into emotional aspects! So have a bunch of emotions. I have very complicated feelings about Chikage, and I feel like Kaito, at least as an adult, would have more complicated feelings too, looking back at how his teen years unfolded. And since I deadass have NO explanation for her behavior (beyond "Phantom Lady was a FULL ON retcon and OG Chikage was literally just meant to be a housewive"), I landed on "she didn't enjoy/like the crime life, that's also why she so readily gave it up the SECOND she met a guy"
ANYWAY. Two more chapters to go. Next chapter, we will clear Kaito's good name ;)