Chapter Text
-Conan-
"Haibara…" Conan spoke up, breaking the silence that had fallen over them as they both worked on their elementary school homework at the bar counter in Professor Agasa's home. "I've decided… I'm going to tell him that Edogawa Conan and Kudou Shin'ichi are the same person."
The girl sighed softly. "I was afraid you might say that…"
"And…?" Conan promoted, "Are you okay with it?"
"You said there's a possibility he already knows, right? That he might be Kaitou Kid?" She paused to sigh a second time. "I can't believe I'm saying this, but… you'd better hope he is Kaitou Kid."
Conan blinked as the words sank in, the sentiment causing a sharp, uncomfortable pang in his chest. "Why… why do say that?" He asked.
"Kaitou Kid has proven to be trustworthy. Even I have to admit that- despite being a criminal- he can also be a strong ally, potentially even stronger if he's genuinely invested in protecting you."
Before that moment Conan had only ever considered his side of the possibility that he was in love with Kaitou Kid. It hadn't occurred to him that, if Kuroba really was Kid, it could potentially mean having Kaitou Kid be in love with him.
His imagination provided him with an image of the white-clad thief diving forward to save him from some unseen, imminent danger. Gloved hands reached out to him, a mixture of determination, fear, and love glinting in familiar eyes.
The detective's heart squirmed in his chest, full to the point of bursting with fluttery, giddy feelings. He hid his burning face behind his hands in shame.
"Oh? Was the thought of your prince in white armor rushing to your rescue too much for your maiden heart?" Haibara teased in her monotone voice.
"Shut up!!" Conan violently shook his head, blindly flinging his leg out to kick her and hitting the leg of her chair instead. His friend had a difficult time stifling her laughter.
"On the other hand," she said, after calming down, "if Kuroba-kun is just a normal person, there's a chance he might be scared off by your situation, leaving you both heartbroken and with one more person knowing your identity."
Conan slowly slid his hands off his face. Obviously he didn't want to believe Kuroba would run away from him like that… but it was a possibility…
-
He sighed heavily, completely zoning out of the animated conversation the Detective Boys were having on the couch opposite Haibara and himself in the Professor living room. He didn't know what to think anymore. Half of him still desperately hoped Kuroba was innocent, and the other half was just as hopeful that he wasn't.
His most recent encounter with the thief- the Ryouma's treasures case- hadn't really given him any particularly helpful leads. He had wanted to get a good look at Kid's face, but, what with not wanting to get wet, and Kid staying in his disguise during their brief conversation in the restroom, he hadn't gotten the chance.
However, Kid had seemed unusually open with him, going so far as to tell him Phantom Lady was his mother. Conan thought back to that family picture in Kuroba's living room. He could only vaguely remember the woman having short, dark-mauve colored hair. Was she Phantom Lady?? Without proof all this speculation was basically meaningless…
The important thing was that he and Kuroba had been texting every single day since they met as themselves, and the possibility of actually dating him, which used to seem like an unobtainable dream, was becoming more and more likely all the time!
"Conan? Conan!" Genta's voice snapped him out of his thoughts.
"Huh? What?" The detective lifted his head and looked around at them.
"Do you want to go to the new water park that's opening this weekend?" Mitsuhiko repeated the unheard question.
"The Professor is offering to take us!" Ayumi exclaimed.
"Oh, actually, I'm already going. Ran-neechan won four tickets to it at the grocery store raffle," Conan replied.
"Four? Who else is she taking?" Haibara asked.
"Probably Occhan and Sonoko-neechan," he shrugged.
-That Weekend-
-Ran-
"Aoko was surprised Ran-chan wanted to invite us instead of her school friends," Aoko-chan said with a bright smile as the four of them walked the short distance from the bus stop to the water park.
"You're my friend too, you know," Ran said, giving the other girl a gentle, teasing nudge with her elbow, "plus, I thought it'd be good for Conan-kun to have someone to hangout with." She glanced back over her shoulder at the boys who were lagging a bit behind, talking about some new movie that was coming out.
"Not to mention," she continued with an exhausted sigh, "Sonoko has a bad habit of taking 'weird' pictures of me when I'm in bathing suits and sending them to Shin'ichi…"
Aoko-chan blinked in surprise. "You still haven't told her about Kudou-kun?" Ran shook her head.
"He doesn't want a lot of people knowing yet, and it's convenient for me anyway. As soon as Sonoko does find out, I'll have to deal with her trying to set me up with every single guy in school, so it's okay if she doesn't know for now."
They arrived at the water park and, immediately inside, headed for the changing rooms.
-Conan-
The boys stepped out of the changing room and strolled into the middle of the wide open plaza area, surrounded by a collection of vendors and paths leading off to the various pools and rides. They looked around, simultaneously taking in the scene and looking for the girls.
"Kuroba-kun's is blue with white flowers too!" Ran's voice exclaimed. Conan turned to see them just coming out of the other changing room. Ran was wearing her sporty, dark blue tankini with a large pattern of white flowers. Aoko-san had on a frilly, sky blue bikini with speckles of tiny daisies. And Kuroba's board shorts, just as Ran had said, were royal blue with the white silhouettes of hibiscus flowers. Everyone also had some kind of plain t-shirt or cover-up for when they weren't swimming. Conan felt a little out of place in his plain, green shorts, but they didn't dwell on it further.
"So! Where are we going first?" Ran asked.
"I was thinking about that ride over there," Kuroba said, turning to point behind them at a rollercoaster that loomed high above the others. "What do you think, Conan-kun?"
"Yeah!" The detective agreed.
"That's pretty intense to start off with, isn't it?" Aoko-san said. Ran nodded.
"Well, we can always split up. How about we meet at the wave pool at noon? Then have lunch and go from there," she suggested. Everyone agreed, and the group split up.
An hour later they'd been on three rides, and still had lots of time for more before they had to meet up with the girls. The lines for the rides were long, but that gave them plenty of time to just chat and joke around, which Conan definitely wasn't going to complain about.
-Kaito-
They arrived at their fourth ride of the day, already soaking wet, and found themselves behind a small cluster of girls, whom they simply ignored at first, since they were too busy talking to each other. The line crept forward, and their conversation drifted from one topic to the next, and eventually, Kaito made a joke that made a couple of the girls chuckle.
"That was a good one," the girl closest to them said, turning around.
"Thanks!" Kaito smiled, always happy to entertain people.
"Are you two brothers?" A different girl asked looking back and forth between the two boys.
"Nope, just friends," the magician replied, giving the detective's hair a teasing ruffle. Conan-kun swatted his hand away and smoothed his hair back down. The girls giggled.
"You definitely seem to get along well," the first girl said with a friendly smile.
"It's so great when guys are good with kids!" A third squealed. She leaned forward eagerly. "You wouldn't happen to be single, would you?"
"No- Er, I mean… I'm talking to someone," Kaito said, running his fingers through his damp hair and glancing to the side as a warm blush tinted his cheeks.
"That's too bad," the girl sighed.
He'd known he was fond of the detective, and that his fondness had been growing steadily ever since they started texting daily, but that "no" had been out of his mouth before he'd even fully registered the question. The rest of the unspoken sentence echoed in his head. No, I'm not single. In other words, that position has already been reserved for someone special.
Damn it… I said that right in front of him, too. There's no way he didn't catch it.
-Conan-
"I'm talking to someone…" Kuroba's words echoed in Conan's head. Surely… he means me, right? He thought, staring at the ground in shock. The sound of his heart thumping in his chest drowned out the rest of the magician's light-hearted conversation with the group of girls.
We've been talking every day, so… he must mean me, right?? Does he… really see me in a romantic way? The idea was thrilling. Joy and excitement swelled in his chest to the point it almost hurt. Damn it, I love him so much!
-
Approximately ten minutes till twelve, Conan sat beside Kuroba on a bench by a large, decorative plant near the wave pool, letting the sun dry them off before they'd go meet up with the girls for lunch.
They were quiet as they relaxed, simply enjoying the break from standing, when suddenly the peaceful atmosphere that had settled over them was broken by a group of familiar voices.
"There he is!!" Genta shouted.
"Conan-kun!!" Ayumi called out to him.
"And Shin'ichi-san too!" Mitsuhiko exclaimed as the three ran over, Haibara and the Professor trailing behind.
"Um, no, actually, he's not Shin'ichi-niichan," Conan said, gesturing to Kuroba with a nod. "Although, they do look alike."
"Huh? -- He's really not? -- But he looks exactly the same as the last time we saw him…" The Detective Boys spoke over each other, all looking up at Kuroba curiously.
"Sorry to disappoint," the magician said, giving the children his most friendly smile, "I'm Kuroba Kaito, nice to meet you all."
The kids stared for a moment as it sank in, and the next second they were eagerly introducing themselves.
"So this is the magician we've all heard so many good things about," Haibara said, looking Kuroba over. "He does indeed look a lot like Kudou-san…" She gave Conan a very pointed look. He shifted a little on his seat, avoiding her gaze.
"You're a magician?? -- Show us a trick!! -- Yeah!!" The kids crowded around Kuroba excitedly.
"Uh- I'd love to," he said, holding his hands up in an effort to placate them, "but unfortunately-."
"You can't really bring your tricks to place they'll get soaking wet, right?" Conan finished for him.
"Exactly…"
"Awww…" Genta and Ayumi wilted.
"I guess that makes sense…" Mitsuhiko hummed, though still a little disappointed.
Ran and Aoko-san arrived soon after that, and it was decided that they would all go each lunch together as a group.
"Aoko knows exactly what she's gonna have," the girl said, humming in anticipation as they walked in the direction of the food court, "A huge steamed fish!"
From above him, Conan heard a strangled sound of disgust. He looked up to see Kuroba shudder. The magician's face had gone pale and he was rather tense.
The others didn't seem to notice. Genta in particular had been inspired by Aoko-san's idea and was going off on an entire seafood wishlist, which didn't appear to be making Kuroba feel any better.
"Kaito-niichan…" Conan spoke up gently. "Do you not like fish?" The magician shook his head.
"I just can't deal with them at all. They're absolutely revolting!" He said, another shudder rolling through him.
"Huh? Kaito-san doesn't like fish either?" Mitsuhiko asked.
"Exactly like Shin'ichi-niichan!" Ayumi exclaimed with a little giggle.
Conan's pity for his crush dissipated instantly, and was replaced with utter confusion. "What??" He asked.
"Shin'ichi doesn't dislike fish," Ran said, looking back at them from where she and Aoko-san were leading the way ahead of them.
"He does!" Genta insisted. "He told us!"
"Yeah, that time when we were trying to catch Kaitou Kid together!" Mitsuhiko added. Ayumi nodded enthusiastically.
Kaitou Kid doesn't like fish… and… Kuroba also… Conan stared down at the brick walkway, a mix of emotions swirling in the pit of his stomach. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Haibara give him an understanding glance. It's still not technically proof, The side of him that clung to the possibility of innocence argued. Maybe not, The rational side agreed, but… this is starting to be a lot of coincidences…
He shook his head to clear the distracting thoughts away. I've already thought this through, He reminded himself. If Kuroba really is Kaitou Kid, that doesn't change my feelings at all.
-Kaito-
So this is it, then, The magician thought, glancing off to the side in a feeble attempt to avoid the detective on the other side of him. He definitely made the connection… He'll be more suspicious than ever now…
Anxiety coiled in the pit of his stomach. The detective had said, "Even you are Kaitou Kid, I think you're pretty cool," but it was hard to tell just how much Kaito could trust those words. Tantei-kun could change his mind, he might not have been serious to begin with, he might decide laws were more important.
For the second time that day, Kaito was surprised by his feelings. The thought of being betrayed or turned down by the detective struck fear and sadness alike into his heart. He wasn't ready for whatever this thing was between them to end.
The sudden feeling of small hand grabbing his startled him out of his thoughts. He glanced down.
"We can sit at a different table if you want," Conan-kun said, a small, reassuring smile on his lips, echoed in the gentle way he squeezed Kaito's hand.
Something warm bloomed in Kaito's chest when he saw the soft look in those blue eyes, framed by overlarge spectacles. His fingers curled around the smaller ones and gave a grateful squeeze.
"Yeah, okay," he smiled.