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“To the passengers of flight four-three-two-seven, we regret to inform you that your flight to Hawaii, United States of America, has been delayed due to an unexpected systems error. Please be patient and we will try our best to assist you at the help desk, located in the far right of the waiting area.”
It’s the fifth time Shinichi’s heard the robotic message in the past two hours. He’d gotten there early, because it was always better to alot as much time as possible for international flights, and his day hadn’t started badly. In fact, it had been rather pleasant; he’d managed to beat the crowds when checking in his luggage (he’d had to very patiently explain to Ran that he did not need to take more white collared shirts, and that yes, the on-the-go blood testing kit was necessary, when you were Kudo Shinichi) and the cafe he’d had breakfast at was tastier than he’d expected. Unfortunately, his good mood had swiftly been ruined by the subsequent string of delays, each one sounding just a bit more frantic than the last.
“Not again,” he sighs, leaning back a little further into his uncomfortable airport seat. Another airplane takes off outside the massive windows to his right, and he eyes the smooth ascent with obvious jealousy. He’s half-caught in a stretch when his phone buzzes in his pocket, and he fumbles to pick it up. “Hello?”
“Shin-chan! How’s it going, dear?” His mom beams at him from the other end, smile obvious in her voice even through the tinny speakers. “Are you on the plane right now? People are awfully talkative these days on planes…”
He sighs again. Twice in one day, he thinks, then opens his mouth to respond. “It’s…Well, my flight’s been delayed for the fifth time, so not fine. I’m waiting in the waiting area.” The redundancy irks him, but he’s tired enough that he finds he can’t bring himself to care too much about making sure his speech is perfect. “They’ll probably cancel it soon.”
There’s a gasp, perfectly enunciated, from his mom. “Oh no! Shin-chan, should we come get you? We don’t mind coming to Tokyo for the holidays, really! Your father would say the same!” she wails, and Shinichi shifts in his seat uncomfortably at the dramatics. “We told you you should’ve flown private!”
“I don’t want to do that just for a visit,” he says, face flushed as was frequently the case whenever he had conversations with his mother. “It’s fine, I’ll sort it out and be on the next plane there.”
“Alright, but make sure you get here as soon as possible, okay?” she says, and he can somehow hear the pout in her voice. “Your father and I miss you very much! Dear, say you miss him!”
“We miss you, Shinichi!” a distant yell comes, and Shinichi winces and holds the phone away from his ear at the squeal of feedback. “Come soon, or your mother may expire from sorrow!”
“Alright, alright,” he grumbles, navigating to end the call. “I’ll update you later. See you guys.” He sits back in his seat again, slumping down even further as he closes his eyes in despair. It’s a long moment before he opens them again, sensing a presence in front of him, and blinks at what seems to be a very similar-looking young man holding a suitcase and fidgeting. “Can I help you?”
“Yes! You can, in fact, help me!” the stranger proclaims, before visibly calming himself down. “May I take the seat next to you? I’m just waiting for my flight!”
“Funny you mention that,” Shinichi says wryly as he gestures openly to the young man. “My flight’s been delayed for the fifth time now.”
“What a shame,” the stranger remarks as he sits down, motion easy and fluid, legs crossing elegantly. “Where were you headed?”
“Hawaii,” he says. “Meeting up with my parents for the break.”
“Do they live in Hawaii, then?” the stranger asks again, head tilting to the side in an expression of curiosity. “I bet it’s warmer there than here. Brr.”
“They’re kind of all over the place,” he says, which was a very understated way of saying They’ve lived in thirty different countries in the past ten years, and clears his throat again. “But enough about me. Where are you headed?”
“I’m headed to Hokkaido!” the stranger chirps, gesturing wildly as he does. “The food! The sights! I’m excited!”
“Hokkaido…that’s a shorter flight than mine,” he says, voice quieting as he squints at his phone. His phone politely blinks up at him, informing him that the next available flight to Hawaii was the next day at 15:00, and that he’d better book fast before the remaining 4 seats were taken. It’s information that has his eyes widening in horror, and he groans before throwing his arm over his eyes. “Ugh, no way.”
“What’s wrong?” the stranger asks, and Shinichi’s normally fairly private but something about his voice and coaxing tone have Shinichi straightening back up to explain the whole messy situation to him.
“The next flight’s apparently tomorrow at three,” he explains, miserable at the prospect of having to spend at least another fourteen hours in an airport. “And my home’s too far for me to justify going all the way there and back. Guess I’m spending all night in this chair, then.”
“Ah, that’s such a shame!” the stranger exclaims again, twisting his hands together in worry. The action draws Shinichi’s eyes to them, and they’re—they’re nice hands, long and dextrous, with a few scars that makes him want to ask about their history. He’s not quite sure why he wants to. “I’ll keep you company until then, handsome stranger!”
“Handsome?” he asks, amused. “Trying to up my mood, are you?”
“Ah, well,” the stranger shoots back, eyes twinkling. “I might have lied about the recognition thing. You’re Kudo Shinichi, aren’t you? Famous detective of the East?”
“And what if I am?” he shoots back. The deception makes him smile, lips quirking at the corners; it’s a welcome distraction from the misery of his current situation. “Please don’t presume I haven’t noticed our facial similarity.”
“Caught me,” the stranger says with a wink. “It’s a two-for-one—by complimenting you, I’m also complimenting myself,” they say, unintentionally mirroring Shinichi’s earlier thoughts. “If you were really curious, though, the facial resemblance is only a coincidence. As far as I know, we’re not related.”
“Maybe you should be tagging along with me on this flight,” he says, smiling a little wider. “Make a family reunion of it.”
“Didn’t I just say we’re not related!” they sputter, feigning anger, and it makes Shinichi smile even more. “My last name isn’t even close!”
“Your last name?” he asks, interest piqued at the reminder that he still hadn’t gotten the stranger’s name.
“Oh! I haven’t introduced myself, how rude,” the stranger responds, leaping up from his seat. “Ladies and…actually, just Gentleman, may I introduce to you the world-famous Kuroba Kaito, amateur magician and full-time student!” Kuroba Kaito spins around on his heel, an agile maneuver that has Shinichi wondering at his background. “Meitantei, I am pleased to make your acquaintance tonight.” A rose springs from his hand, and Shinichi claps politely at the trick as Kaito hands him the flower with a flourish.
“Very impressive,” he comments, tucking the rose into one of the pockets of his travel bag. “Have you been doing this long?”
“As long as I can remember,” Kaito says, and produces another flower from his sleeve. “Another one for you, meitantei.”
“Thank you,” Shinichi accepts. “World-famous, huh?”
“Ah…not quite,” Kaito responds, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly. “It’s more like…a very complicated work in progress? I’m still ironing a few things out, and I don’t really want to jump into the deep end before I’m done taking care of everything.”
“Fame isn’t always what it’s cracked up to be,” he advises, tucking the second rose away. “I used to be like that, then I realized that it’s not always fun when there’s people swarming an active crime scene. Messes with the evidence.”
“I’m well acquainted with the downfalls of fame, meitantei,” Kaito responds, shaking his head dramatically. “Must be tough being such a famous detective with hordes of adoring fans. Really, it must be awfully difficult for you.”
“Alright, alright, I get your point,” Shinichi responds, a laugh caught in his throat. “Yeah, there’s definitely good parts. I definitely get way cooler cases than I would if I didn’t have a little bit of fame.”
“Cooler?” Kaito says, visibly perking up at the idea. “Do elaborate!”
“Well, it’s definitely cooler to be working on a case where the murder was committed through an intricate series of poisoned coins than it is to be writing up a report on the fifth panicked-debtor-stabs-debt-collector case of the month,” he says, and sighs at the memory of the coin case. “That one was a good one.”
“A little gruesome, but I admire your taste,” Kaito says gamely. “I assume part of the fun is solving the mystery, then?”
“Yes, absolutely,” Shinichi agrees with just a little too much force, caught up in his passion. “Sorry. Yeah, it’s always part of the hunt. The game is afoot and all that. Although,” he sighs, “Sometimes it’s almost too easy to outsmart them. Like, you can only encounter so many locked room mysteries before you stop getting excited, you know?”
“Must be rough for a genius like you,” Kaito says sympathetically, clucking his tongue. “Poor bastards you put away for life can’t even be bothered to try to hide their tracks properly.”
“I can tell you’re teasing me, and I don’t appreciate it,” Shinichi says flatly, struggling to hide his grin when he hears Kaito’s outburst of laughter at the response. “Listen, when the day comes where someone actually sets up a clever mystery, you’ll hear all about it on the news because I’ll be the one goddamn cheering.”
“A properly clever mystery?” Kaito muses, tapping his chin with one slender finger. “Hm…I’ve got one for you, then, if you’d care to listen? It’s kind of a—hobby of mine, to come up with some fun scenarios like this.”
“Go ahead,” Shinichi says, and feels the familiar thrill of the chase starting to pump through his blood. He’s not sure why, but something about Kaito makes him certain he’ll at least have a challenge on his hands. “Do your worst.”
“Alright, what about this: You’re trying to catch a jewel thief, in the middle of the night. The setting is a crowded town square, teeming with people, and completely cut off from escape with twenty-meter nets all around the gem,” Kaito says, twirling a coin in his hands in obvious thought.
“A jewel thief?” Shinichi furrows his brows, lightly shaking his head. “I’m part of the homicide division. I wouldn’t normally be on a case like this.”
“Indulge me, meitantei,” Kaito purrs, and Shinichi flushes at the smug look he gives him. “Think of it as an exercise in the unknown.”
“Okay, okay,” he grouses, settling back into the rhythm of the scenario. “So, it’s basically only accessible from above?”
“Bingo!” Kaito says with a snap. “And there are guards watching the jewel and around the borders. Now, let me build the scene just a little further.” Shinichi’s drawn in despite himself, imagining the rush of people and the sparkle of the buildings at night. “The next thing you know, the jewel thief’s appeared in the middle of the square, without any indication h—um, she was there beforehand. Now, how did she manage that?”
“You’ll have to come up with a better mystery than that to impress me,” he teases. “Obviously, she’d disguised herself and hid in the crowd beforehand. My mother’s an actress,” he adds, resisting the urge to rub at his temple at the reminder of his mother’s terrifying disguise skills. “Maybe you’ve heard of her? She’s a monster with the makeup brush, could make anyone look like anyone.”
“Ah, yes, I’m actually quite a big fan!” Kaito enthuses, voice pitching higher in his excitement. “Her skills are amazing, and apparently so are her son’s—you’re quite right, she’d disguised herself beforehand. It’s what comes next that I hope will amaze you, actually.”
“I can’t help but anticipate it a little,” he shoots back, properly engaged. “What will our thief do next?”
Shinichi watches with amusement as Kaito visibly shivers, either from excitement or from something approaching apprehension. “Ah, that made a chill run down my spine, you know!” he complains, mock-petulant and whining. “I bet half the criminals you catch confess right away at that kind of thing. Or,” he adds, eyes sharpening at Shinichi’s audible groan, “is that part of the problem? Ah, my poor detective, doomed with criminals that blurt out their entire clever trap with one flutter of his eyelashes.”
“Don’t be ridiculous,” Shinichi says, growing warmer yet at his crooning tone. “I just wish I’d get a bit of a challenge sometimes, is all.”
“And a challenge you shall receive!” Kaito exclaims, and spins around his phone on the armrest between them. It’s a surprisingly detailed sketch, with clean thin lines outlining the town square and the setup that he’d described earlier. “I believe this mystery is best conveyed through the drawn medium, so I took it upon myself to sketch this while we were chatting.” Shinichi makes a vaguely approving hum, receiving a beaming smile in return. “So, your thief—”
“Ah, she’s my thief, now?” Shinichi says, pleased at the sight of Kaito finally blushing in return.
“Well, you’re obviously the detective hunting her!” he grouses, faking annoyance before returning to his previous bright smile. “The thief grabs the jewel, and announces that she’ll teleport and walk in the air before everyone’s eyes. She throws something down, vanishes in a flash—”
“Another disguise,” Shinichi comments, squinting at the smooth sketch and the indicator marks of the thief’s position. “She’ll try to escape in a different disguise than the first one, I’m sure.”
“But you see, meitantei,” Kaito says, voice lowering to a conspiratorial hush, “In the next moment, the crowd goes wild. Hooting, hollering, all of that good stuff. And can you guess why?” His hands are already sketching out the next piece of the puzzle, capturing dozens of fluttering rectangles in the air, alive with motion. “Why, playing cards have suddenly rained on the good people trapped within this town square, of course.”
“Playing cards?” he says, a little confused. It’s rather unlike the picture he’s gathered of the thief so far, not quite the theming he’d anticipated. “What for?”
“That’s for you to figure out,” Kaito says, and sketches a bold ten of hearts on the card largest in the forefront. “A woman turns over the card and yells— ‘Mine says three!’ Soon, another man declares that his says two, and finally, a high schooler calls out one. Can you guess—”
He’s abruptly cut off by the distinctive pinging of the airport speakers, which crackle to life soon afterwards. “Flight 5233 has begun boarding. All passengers, please make your way to your seats,” the robotic tone announces, and Kaito tsks in annoyance.
“Keep going,” Shinichi prompts, not wanting to lose the mystery, and Kaito refocuses his attention on him. Good.
“Ah, you want to know more?” he says, but it’s slow and measured—he’s clearly thinking about something. “Then…”
“If you’re busy—” Shinichi starts, feeling suddenly guilty, but Kaito shakes his head and cuts him off.
“Never too busy for a brilliant detective!” he suddenly proclaims, and shakes his head a second time, as if clearing his ears of water. “As I was saying, can you guess what happens when our last citizen finds the card with the number zero?”
“...Teleportation,” Shinichi says, but it’s half-hearted, already lost in his own mind. “But…how? It’s not scientifically possible, so there must be a trick to it…”
“Your thief appears at the top of the clock tower, right here, and starts walking through the air before disappearing into the night,” Kaito says, quickly sketching a rough approximation of a human. “Voila! Teleportation and a show, exactly as promised!” There’s a few extra lines that Shinichi notices as he squints at the drawing, too deliberate to be mistakes. “And if you see anything extra, that’s just a little hint from yours truly about the solution to this mystery,” he says with another charming wink. “Now, what do you make of this?”
“Teleportation…it’s possible that there could’ve been a body double waiting up there, considering that the thief is good at disguises and that there’s no logical way in or out of the barriers,” he muses, tugging at a string on his coat absent-mindedly. “But…a body double wouldn’t make sense, you’d have told me if there was this kind of element at play. It wouldn’t be a fair mystery otherwise. Besides, that wouldn’t solve the issue of the air-walking.” His eyes narrow and he turns to face Kaito, lips set in a pout. “Right?”
Kaito rushes to reassure him, nodding and patting his arm soothingly. “All the elements you need to solve the mystery are right there! Pay attention to the drawing, meitantei,” he says.
When Shinichi looks a little closer, there is in fact another person drawn in besides the thief, and he squints at the indistinct figure. “Maybe there is a body double, then?” he thinks, but—the conclusion’s wrong, not enough supporting evidence to declare it as fact. “No, the figure would be emphasized more clearly if it was intended to be a hint at a body double. This stick figure doesn’t give me enough information to declare confidently that a body double was used to appear at the clock tower.”
“You’re on the right path,” Kaito says in a sing-song, voice light and chiming. “Keep going!”
“The lines…” he trails off to stare at them again, sure he’s missing something crucial. “You drew a few extra here. Surely they wouldn’t just be for the sake of drawing the buildings, you drew those precisely enough already…” He feels like he’s about to make some sort of a breakthrough, but the speakers ping again and come to life.
“Paging passenger number one-four-one-two,” it rattles off, a real human person this time. “If you are present in the airport, please come to the boarding area immediately. Once again, paging passenger Ku—”
“Ah!” Kaito leaps up suddenly, running his hands over his pants to pull out what seems like a fairly fancy wallet. “Sh—Shinichi, do you want something to eat? I’m getting a little hungry!”
“Sure,” he says, cut off from his train of thought. “Should I come with you, or…?”
“Nope! No need! I’ll go get something myself!” Kaito half-yells, strikingly loud in the airport’s echoey building, and runs off.
“But I didn’t even tell him what I wanted…” Shinichi mutters to himself, then shrugs his shoulders. Oh well, back to the mystery at hand.
—
He feels like he’s almost got it puzzled out when Kaito returns, laden down with three different kinds of chips and sandwiches. “No way,” he says, struggling to stifle a laugh. “Couldn’t decide on just one?”
“I only realized after I went that I forgot to ask,” Kaito whines, dropping his bounty unceremoniously on the chair next to him and sinking down into his seat. “Console your poor pitiful Kaito about his vicious fight with the Christmas traveling rush crowd,” he says, blinking up at Shinichi, and Shinichi blinks before giving in and ruffling his hair, suddenly shockingly fond. “I’m never traveling this close to the holidays again.”
“You can say that again,” Shinichi sighs. “Maybe I’ll book a hotel or something nearby. Burn off some of that Christmas cash.”
“Not a bad idea!” Kaito perks up again, sending Shinichi’s hand falling back down to his side as he straightens up. “I bet you have like, hella travel perks.”
“That I do,” Shinichi says, thinking of the sheer number of flight perks his parents have unlocked. “Ah, but—the mystery!”
“Oh? Figured it out, have you?” Kaito says, eyes twinkling, and reaches out to rotate the phone back around. “Nice notes,” he comments upon noticing Shinichi’s scribbles on the margins, and grins at his ensuing flush of embarrassment.
“Don’t just read them,” he says, but he’s secretly thrilled at the compliment, even as used to them as he is. “But I’m not quite there yet. It’s definitely got something to do with these markings on the sides of the building, but I can’t figure out how exactly that’s connected to walking on air either…”
“What time is it, meitantei?” Kaito asks suddenly, abruptly enough that Shinichi turns to look. He’s looking down at a watch that he doesn’t have, and the falsely curious tone has the gears in his head turning. On a second glance, the clock tower…it’s sketched in a strangely different way from the other simple single-line buildings, building up its bulk with multiple lines. His eyes narrow at the insinuations.
“Thought I could use a hint?” he says, and smirks at Kaito, who waves his hands airily.
“Nope, never! Just was curious, you know,” he says, and Shinichi thinks to himself that Kaito winks an awful lot. “But I am curious about the time too. My phone is currently being commandeered by you, you know! Terribly unfair!”
“It’s nearing ten,” he says, glancing down at his own watch (a present from his father for his eighteenth birthday). “...I’ll need to maybe look into booking a hotel soon.”
“Sure, sure,” Kaito says, and blinks at him calmly, leaning back in his seat with an effortless projection of confidence. “Is this a declaration of loss?”
“Loss—No way!” Shinichi says, tugging the phone protectively towards him. “I’ve almost got it!”
“You did say it was getting late, though…” Kaito says, over exaggeratedly tapping his chin with those fingers in thought. “Why don’t you throw in the towel for tonight?”
“Speaking of being late,” Shinichi fires back, “What about your flight? Surely you’re not—” he quickly calculates the hours until the airport comes back alive, “—over ten hours early for a domestic flight?”
“Ah, well,” Kaito says, rubbing the back of his neck again in that uncharacteristic show of awkwardness, “Mine’s been delayed too. They’re not sure we’ll get another one out of here soon, seeing as how Hokkaido’s always popular in the winter…” His eyes, cat-like and blue, shine up at Shinichi through his lashes. He can’t take his eyes away from their flutter. “Guess I’m stuck here with you until you solve this mystery.”
“Not for much longer, then,” Shinichi declares with a burst of energy, making up his mind. In doing so, he misses the upset expression flash across Kaito’s face, there and gone in the next moment. “Let’s not keep you waiting.”
“...Go ahead,” Kaito says, but it’s a much slower pace than before, and Shinichi briefly wonders if he’s upset at how long he’s wasted on the mystery before plowing ahead regardless. A good mystery always solved everything, right? Right?
“So, if I was there—I’d have noticed the markings on the tower and the clock tower,” he declares with confidence he doesn’t fully feel, seeing as Kaito had had to point them out to him. “Before you say anything, it’s different in real life, okay.”
“Uh-huh,” Kaito nods skeptically, but he’s looking to be in better spirits now, mild amusement starting to shine through on his face.
“If there’s surveillance on this square, I can safely assume that there’s at least some sort of aerial monitoring, for a better view,” he says, narrowing his eyes as he stabs at a specific point on Kaito’s phone. “These sketches of what I assume are helicopters back up my theory. The thief obviously escaped through a disguise initially, but I think the culmination of the mystery is that she used some sort of tool to string lines between buildings—resulting in these marks here—and traveled up to them with the assistance of the secondary assistant here, who was operating one of the aerial crafts.”
“Oh?” Kaito says, a hint of fire in his voice, and motions for him to continue.
“After that, it’s easy enough to walk on the string—giving the appearance that she’s ‘walking on thin air,’ as it were,” he finishes, satisfied, and sits back. “How’d I do, professor?”
“...Close but not quite,” Kaito says, smug like the cat that got the cream, and Shinichi sits up again in shock.
“Not quite?” he says, and starts poring over the drawing again. “What do you mean, not quite? What’s missing?”
“You didn’t do anything with the clock in the end?” Kaito says, and Shinichi grimaces at the smirk.
“I did notice it, but I seriously couldn’t figure out what it had to do with anything,” he says, peeved at his own misstep. “I thought it might be used for the string, but the hands move. Then, I thought that it might be used for travel up into the air, but…the clock tower’s always lit up, that’s the worst possible spot to use to move.”
“Once again, thinking like a detective and not a thief,” Kaito says, tapping the rim of a seemingly imaginary pair of glasses. “There’s an old rule in magic, meitantei,” he says. and pulls out a deck of cards. “Make the audience see what they think is obvious. Make them focus on something else, something flashy, and hide your deception in plain sight.” He does something with the deck, and suddenly there’s a full fifty-two set of tens-of-hearts, spread out across Shinichi’s hands like the wings of a bird.
“What am I missing, then, Mister Magician?” Shinichi asks, withdrawing his hands and leaving all the cards behind but a single ten of hearts, which he waves in the air between them.
“Your idea for the helicopter wasn’t bad,” Kaito kid says, twirling the cards with a flourish and somehow, impossibly, turning them face up again to produce a full normal deck with one ten-of-hearts missing. “That was my first idea. But what’s better than sneaking around with a helicopter? Hiding in plain sight, of course.”
“Egotistical, aren’t you?” Shinichi says, but his heart beats faster for it.
“Here’s what really happened,” Kaito responds, leaning in even closer, quieting his voice to a conspiratorial whisper. “The thief slips out in a disguise, and fires the cards from a couple pre-set machines. The buzz from the numbered cards is enough time for him to go to the clock tower, and—here’s the trick of it—slip underneath the cloth with the projection of the clock tower’s face on it to simply travel up the side.” Kaito grins, cat-like again. “So what if the projection flutters? The light plays tricks on one’s eyes in the night, nobody would notice a bit of extra movement. Besides, you said it yourself: there’s no way anyone would use the clock tower, it’s the worst possible spot to use.”
“So—then, the accomplice…” Shinichi says slowly, pieces clicking together in his mind.
“Used as a drop-weight,” Kaito says simply. “Simple pulley movement. They drop, the thief rises. Miraculously quick ascent. You were right about the end, though,” he says, flashing an approving glance at Shinichi. “It was the wires that were being used to walk in thin air.”
“I see,” Shinichi says, digesting the information. It’s—exciting, to have been beaten at least partially. Despite his words earlier, it’s also equally as exciting to solve a mystery with no deaths involved; something engaging and stirring that didn’t involve Shinichi having to file a report with another photo of a gruesome murder. “You’re a clever one, aren’t you?”
“Nothing compared to the East’s very own Sherlock Holmes,” Kaito purrs out, and Shinichi’s eyes darken at the compliment that goes straight to his head (and his admittedly very inflated ego).
“With all the compliments,” he says, determined to return the favor, “I ought to offer a reward of my own, for managing to put forth a challenge.”
“And what could that be?” Kaito says in the same tone as before, breathlessly excited and promisingly rich.
“My fame does come with some perks, after all,” he says, and watches with amusement at the resulting obvious spike of excitement. “Would you like to stay with me overnight? I don’t mind splitting a hotel room if you don’t…”
“Ah, meitantei, I’d be honored,” Kaito says, fumbling to slide his phone back into his pocket in his eagerness, expression bright and eyes sparkling. “Don’t worry about my flight, I’ll go wherever you go.”
“I’m sure you will,” Shinichi says, letting his sharper grin bleed through as he pulls out one of his trump cards.
“Whatever could meitantei mean?” Kaito says, blinking innocently at him, but it doesn’t fool him for a moment.
“Your flight,” he starts, and the answering groan is enough for his suspicions to be confirmed. “Re-booking a flight to Hokkaido must be pretty expensive this time of year, no?”
“You caught me,” Kaito groans, throwing a hand over his eyes. “What can I say, I’m a sucker for intelligence.”
“Your effort was valiant,” Shinichi says, losing the battle against the laughter threatening to burst forth from his chest. “I especially liked it when you tried to stop me from hearing the airline call your name for boarding.”
“Ah, I knew it wouldn’t really work,” Kaito whines, and sinks impossibly deeper down into the chair until his back rests halfway on the seating portion. “Damn you detectives and your perception skills.”
“That is what we tend to do, yes,” Shinichi smirks, in his element at last. “Speaking of, Kaitou-kun,” he says, taking care to emphasize the pronunciation, “I found it especially scintillating that our mysterious thief changed personal pronouns midway through your explanation.”
“Ah—That—Um,” Kaito stammers and his already pale face whitens even further, an impressive feat. “That…”
“A not-so-amateur magician with a considerable degree of skill in both art and mechanics,” he muses, tapping his chin again with a dramatic flair. “Who just so happens to have intimate familiarity with how the police operate. If I put together all of these clues, I wonder what kind of picture it would make?” Kaito looks frozen at his side, half-stuck between flight and staying put.
“Kaito-kun,” he says, taking pity on his obvious panic. “Have you heard the recent news about a small-time jewel thief with a penchant for the dramatic?” There’s predictably no response, and Shinichi continues with obvious fondness in his voice. “There are almost no reports about them, since they’ve only ever conducted small-scale robberies, but the gems are always returned and there’s always a clever mystery behind the thievery.”
He can hear the sound of Kaito’s throat working through a swallow as he faces straight ahead, half-worried that he’ll bolt like an animal if Shinichi looks at him head-on. “Not sure if I have,” Kaito finally says, voice strangled.
“No matter,” he sighs, and it’s very dramatic, but he’d never promised that he was anything but a showman in his own way. “I, myself, only heard about it because there was a murder connected to one of the heists that was later deemed to not be the result of the jewel thief’s heist but instead a rather nasty family feud. The plan was boring, by the way,” he adds as an aside, and notes with pleasure that Kaito’s slowly easing back onto his seat, tension draining. “Something to do with poisoned wine? Way too detectable.”
“That’s—That’s very interesting,” Kaito says, voice stronger this time. “And what does the famous meitantei think about this jewel thief?”
“I think,” he says, and it’s his turn to purr through his words, voice deepened in a way that he’d only fully come into after his tumultuous teen years, “that if I met this thief, I’d like very much to ask him to stay the night.”
“Hm,” Kaito says, making an obvious show of thinking deeply about Shinichi’s offer, “I’m sure it’ll be to pick the brains of this obviously brilliantly intelligent and charming thief, so of course he’ll say yes.”
“Of course,” Shinichi agrees easily, already tucking his coat into his arm as he stands up. “It would only be the logical course of action.”
“Well, then,” Kaito says, smiling, “Lead the way, meitantei.”