Chapter Text
-Conan-
Conan clutched his book to his chest, cursing his short legs- and the added weight of the overnight bag on his back- as he practically ran to keep up with the appropriately sized teenager in front of him. Ran was walking at a brisk pace along the sidewalk of a residential area in Tokyo's Ekoda district, looking for the address of someone named 'Aoko-chan'.
All Conan knew was that Ran met this 'Aoko-chan' at a Kid heist Sonoko had dragged her to at the last minute a few weeks ago. Apparently the girl had been a very 'interesting character' at the heist, not at all afraid to stand out as the only person in the crowd booing everyone's favorite thief. Sonoko, of course, took issue with that and started an argument with the girl, forcing Ran to mediate. (Conan himself hadn't gone to the heist, as he'd been at Professor Agasa's house that night).
Being the type of person she is, Ran easily befriended Aoko and the two had remained in contact ever since. Which is how Conan found himself being taken to her house early on a Saturday morning.
Ran needed someone to watch him for the weekend since her dad was in the hospital with a minor injury he'd sustained while on a case, Professor Agasa was out of town, and she needed to be getting on a bus with her karate team within the next half hour.
"Ah! There it is!" Ran exclaimed, breaking into a full on run.
"Wait! Ran-neechan!" Conan pushed himself to run as fast as his already tired legs possibly could, up the sidewalk, through the open gate, and up to the door, not taking the time to glance at the name on the gate as he passed. He reached the steps and immediately doubled over to catch his breath, one hand on his knee, one still clutching his book.
The door opened. "Ran-chan!" Greeted a very chipper teenage girl.
"Aoko-chan, I'm sorry again for asking you to do this last minute," Ran apologized.
"It's fine! It's fine! Aoko is great with kids!"
An illeism? Conan noted, finally looking up. For a brief second he wondered if he wasn't just looking at an alternate version of Ran. The two had similar faces and exactly the same style of bangs, but, actually, that's about where the similarities ended. Aoko was shorter, and her reddish brown hair was tied back, several fly-away pieces sticking out in all directions. She was also wearing an apron and holding a spatula in one hand, apparently having been in the middle of making breakfast.
"Aoko's neighbor is great with kids too," she continued. "We'll have a great time!"
"Thank you so much for doing this," Ran said, breathing a sigh of relief. Then she started back towards the gate. "I really need to get going, I'll see you both tomorrow!" With that, she took off running again.
"See you tomorrow!" Conan and Aoko called after her in unison.
"It's nice to meet you, Conan-kun!" Aoko said with a bright smile, motioning for him to enter. "My name's Nakamori Aoko."
"Nice to meet you!" Conan automatically responded in his well-practiced child voice, while stepping over the threshold.
Nakamori? He thought, toeing his shoes off, and setting down his backpack. That would explain why she hates Kaitou Kid…
While Aoko-san went back to the kitchen to continue making breakfast, Conan carried his book into the living room, where Inspector Nakamori was sitting at the kotatsu, reading the newspaper while drinking coffee from a 'worlds greatest dad' mug.
"Morning, Conan-kun," the Inspector said, barely glancing up from his paper.
"Good morning," Conan replied, climbing up onto the couch.
He gave a contented sigh as he was finally able crack open the newest Detective Red Jacket novel he'd bought yesterday. Several minutes passed of reading to the background noise of cooking, and the growing smell of food. He became so engrossed in his book, that he barely noticed the sliding glass door opening behind him, and Aoko-san stepping out onto the porch, until the quiet ambiance was shattered by a shout of: "KAITO!!! BREAKFAST IS READY!!!"
Conan flinched and looked up. The Inspector, however, was entirely unperturbed.
Yikes… Is this a typical Saturday morning in the Nakamori household? I feel sorry for their neighbors… Except this 'Kaito', I guess. He must be the neighbor who's 'good with kids', that she mentioned earlier.
Conan refocused on his book. The sound of cooking in the background replaced by the clattering of dishes as Aoko-san set the table.
A few minutes later, the sliding glass door behind him was opened again, this time from the outside.
"Morning, everyone," came the voice of a teenage guy.
"Morning, Kaito-kun," The Inspector said, still not looking up from his paper.
"Kaito, introduce yourself to Conan-kun," Aoko said.
-Kaito-
Conan-kun? Kaito's eyes swept over the conjoined kitchen and living room space without spotting a single other person, meaning the person in question was small enough to be hidden by the back of the couch. Aoko did mention she met Mouri-chan awhile ago. He thought as he approached the couch and leaned over it, an all too familiar cowlick coming into view. Damn it… surely he won't recognize me, right? Even if he does he wouldn't have any proof so it'd just be another Hakuba situation… not that that's any less dangerous… It's not like I can avoid him like this… I just need to be as unsuspicious as possible…
-Conan-
The shrunken detective could feel the back of the couch shift with the weight of someone leaning against it. Several seconds of tense silence passed while Conan pretended to be oblivious to the presence of the person looking down at him.
"Is that… the new Detective Red Jacket book?"
Conan tipped his head back to look at the teenager above him, and for a brief second, it seemed like he was staring into some kind of warped, upside-down reflection of his own face. His face as it was supposed to look.
"Uh… yeah…" he said.
"I practically stayed up all night last night reading that. It's really good," Kaito smiled.
"Are you a mystery fan, too?" Conan asked, turning around on the couch to face the guy properly.
"It's not so much that I'm a fan of mysteries in general. I just happened to get sucked into that particular series," Kaito explained with a nonchalant shrug.
"Oh…" Conan's heart sank. It seemed Kaito wasn't a Holmes fan. Oh well, they could still talk about Detective Red Jacket. After Conan finished reading it, that is.
"I'm Kuroba Kaito, by the way."
"I'm Edogawa Conan."
"Nice to meet you, Conan-kun. Oh! Do you like magic tricks?" Kuroba-kun asked, his whole face lighting up with excitement.
Conan blinked. An amateur magician maybe? Truthfully he wasn't a huge fan of magic, but… Kuroba-kun seemed so excited, it would be rude to say no… So Conan nodded.
"I don't actually have any tricks on me right now, but maybe later I can put on a show for you," Kuroba-kun suggested.
"Kaito doesn't have any tricks on him??" Aoko-san's voice came from the kitchen, "Kaito always has tricks!"
"I didn't know there'd be someone new to show off to!" Kuroba-kun said, turning to face his friend. He then left the couch to steal bites of food while chatting casually about his magic. Conan wasn't really paying attention.
Seems he's a little more than just an amateur… He thought, watching the other boy dodge a swing from Aoko-san's spatula, as she berated him for eating before everyone else. I wonder if he's related to that magician Mom took lessons from… Kuroba Touichi, I think? If he's been doing magic his whole life he's probably pretty good.
An obscure thought suddenly occurred to him. Looks like me + Magician = Kaitou Kid. The idea of Kaitou Kid casually having breakfast in Inspector Nakamori's house was almost enough to send Conan into a fit of laughter. There's no way! It's gotta be a coincidence.
Although… I suppose it is technically possible, He thought, as the logical part of his brain went to work. He doesn’t seem nervous around me at all… but, Kid is a good actor… Still, Kuroba-kun seemed so genuinely excited to show me his tricks… Conan sighed heavily and shook his head. It’s impossible to tell at this point. I just don’t have any evidence.
-Kaito-
He doesn't appear to be suspicious of anything. Kaito thought, watching Conan out of the corner of his eye as everyone sat around the small dining table eating. In fact, the detective, seated to his left, almost looked like an actual child in that moment. Just enjoying his food, without any intense, focused expression on his face. Did I actually manage to fool him?
His shoulders relaxed as he allowed himself to believe he was safe, at least, for the time being. Obviously, he couldn't let his guard down completely.
"Conan-kun, would you be okay staying with Kaito for a few hours? Aoko always goes grocery shopping on Saturdays," Aoko said.
The detective simply nodded, as his mouth was full of food.
Looks like Tantei-kun and I are going to be spending some time alone together.
-Conan-
"So! What do you want to do?" Kuroba-kun asked, leading Conan into the living room of his own house.
"I want to read," Conan said, heading straight for the couch.
Kuroba-kun sighed. "Alright, I guess the magic show can wait till later." Then he hummed thoughtfully. "Maybe I should read too… Do you have any suggestions?"
"Holmes," Conan replied without looking up from the book he already had cracked open on his lap.
"Hmm… I read the first one a couple years ago…" Kuroba-kun murmured, eyes lifted to the ceiling as he recalled the memory.
"Really?" Conan looked up hopefully.
"Yeah… I didn't find it all that interesting…"
"The first one is a little slow…" The detective admitted, "You should try reading The Hound of Baskervilles! It's one of the best, and it's a stand-alone story too. I'm sure you'll like it, since you like Detective Red Jacket."
"The Hound of Baskervilles, huh? I wonder if my mom has that one… I'll go check." With that, Kuroba-kun headed towards the stairs.
When he was gone, Conan glanced around the living room, spotting a single, small family portrait sitting on the end table. A man and woman stood on either side of a young boy. Conan recognized the man. He'd seen the news of the tragic accident when he was around the same age as Kuroba-kun was in the picture.
So he is related to that magician after all… It's not proof of him being Kaitou Kid though. Conan frowned and looked around the living room a second time. Could I really be in Kaitou Kid's home right now? The thought of being in Kid's house was… uncomfortably intimate for some reason. He shivered and shook the idea from his head. This place seems too normal for that eccentric thief, anyway. I'd imagine him living in a mansion, more like my own home. Not that it matters, I should know better than to theorize before I have actual proof.
"Look what I found," Kuroba-kun's voice interrupted Conan's thoughts. He glanced over to see the magician descending the stairs, waving a familiar book.
Conan's chest swelled with excitement, and a nostalgic smile crossed his lips as he recalled his own experience reading that book for the first time.
When Aoko-san had first mentioned a neighbor who was 'good with kids', Conan had dreaded having to deal with two people trying to entertain him with things like hide and seek, or board games, when all he wanted to do was read. But not only was Kuroba-kun letting him read, he was going to join him! That day was turning out a thousand times better than Conan had expected!
Kuroba-kun laid down on the living room floor, and opened the book. Conan resumed reading as well, eagerly looking forward to discussing both books with the magician.
Two hours and several reading positions later, Conan found himself on the floor with Kuroba, occasionally glancing over to see how far the magician had gotten.
Suddenly, his Kaitou Kid theory drifted to the front of his mind once more. Am I really reading with Kaitou Kid right now? He wondered, glancing up at Kuroba. The thought was so outlandish, it actually made his head hurt. Kuroba and Kaitou Kid were so extremely different, his brain couldn't even entertain the idea of them being one person.
It's not like I know that much about Kid. How do I know they're really all that different? Is it the fact that I actually enjoy being with Kuroba? Or the fact that he hasn't teased me once since we met? He's so much calmer than Kid, too. Well, Kid probably doesn't act the way he does at heists 24/7 but, still…
"What are you thinking about?" Kuroba asked, abruptly snapping the detective out of his thoughts.
"Um… I was thinking about… Kaitou Kid," Conan replied honestly.
"Oh yeah, you are the 'Kid Killer', right? Aoko's dad has mentioned you a few times before."
"What do you think about Kaitou Kid?" Conan asked, leaning forward in earnest, "I'm just wondering because… you're a magician, but you're also close with the Nakamoris."
Kuroba gave a tired laugh and a barely noticeable shake of his head. "I'd have to say my feelings toward Kaitou Kid are… conflicted. Obviously I love magic, and I really like the tricks he pulls off, but… everyone is always comparing me to him. They always say he's better than me, so… I'm also pretty jealous." He paused to sigh, running his fingers through his fluffy, gravity-defying hair. "You probably suspect me of being him, right?"
Conan gave an awkward laugh. "It… definitely crossed my mind," he admitted.
"It's okay, almost everyone seems to think I'm Kaitou Kid," Kuroba said with a resigned shrug. "Hakuba-kun is thoroughly convinced. Even Aoko suspected me once. She asked me on a date at the same time as a heist just to make sure."
"Did… you go on the date?" Conan asked.
"Of course," The magician smiled. "We went to an amusement park."
Conan hummed. It wasn't the fact that Kuroba had allegedly been on a date at the same time as a heist that was beginning to really convince Conan of his innocence. It was the way Kuroba talked about Kid. He seemed so genuinely tired of the suspicion, without even the slightest hint of fear that he would be discovered. Kid was a good actor, but was he that good?
"So, are you and Aoko-neechan dating?" Conan asked, deciding it would be nice to change the subject.
-Kaito-
"I used to like Aoko," Kaito admitted, looking back down at the open Holmes book, "but… recently I realized… she's not really my 'type'."
"But if… you liked her, doesn't that make her your type?" Conan asked, tilting his head to the side, eyebrows knitting together.
Kaito breathed an amused sigh through his nose. For a detective, Tantei-kun could be surprisingly dense.
"Well… I had feelings for her ever since she and I were kids. Those feelings kind of just stuck for years, and since I was so young, I never thought to question it. I just assumed I'd 'found the one'." He sighed again and shook his head. "Anyway, it's like I said. I finally realized she's not my type. I haven't told her yet, though. So don't say anything about it."
"Okay…" Conan promised.
They continued reading, but Kaito kept finding his attention drifting away from the book to the detective beside him. Tantei-kun was laying on his stomach, absentmindedly kicking his feet in the air as his eyes swept over the pages.
Kaito had never seen that side of the detective before. It was almost… cute.
-Aoko-
Aoko returned from grocery shopping and- after putting the groceries away in her own house- went over to Kaito's house to see how the boys were doing. She entered without knocking, as she was quite accustomed to doing, and found the boys sprawled out in the living room floor, deeply engrossed in their books.
She smiled, taking her phone out of her pocket to snap a picture and send it to Ran.