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Kuroba Kaito had a problem.
Actually, it would be more accurate to say that Kaito KID had a problem, but since the problem at hand was seeping into his personal life, it was a problem of Kuroba Kaito’s as well.
What was the problem, you might ask?
Well, the thing was, Kaito’s disguises were slipping.
It wouldn’t normally be a problem, and wouldn’t be unreasonable, if he made a slip once or twice, since he couldn’t account for all mishaps during his heists. There would always be a habit that close friends would be able to tell apart, missing speech patterns, mannerisms, or articles of clothing. No, Kaito wouldn’t be concerned if that were the case. It wasn’t so much that Kid’s disguises were slipping, but that his disguises were slipping to a certain someone.
A certain elementary school-sized detective that went by the name of Edogawa Conan.
Also known as the KID Killer, in the papers.
Kaito didn’t pay too much attention to this slip up at first. Sometimes, KID liked to be bold and pick difficult disguises. A bit of of psychological warfare on his heist targets, you could say, and to show that KID could disguise anyone, no matter what age, gender, shape or size they were. And most of the times those heists were great success (much to the chagrin of Nakamori inspector if he happened to be the inspector in charge on the scene). He’d wear his disguise, slip into the crowd early and mingle with the other spectators, then he’d pull out of his disguises in the indicated times on all the correct solutions of his notices. The same as usual.
Then, there were the heists Edogawa Conan was present in. Where the little detective would somehow make his way on the scene as well.
The early stages of the heists were usually well-executed, and Kaito got through them with little difficulty. As long as Kaito took his time, he could blend in with the others well. But the more exposure Kaito had with spectators who knew him, and with the little detective present, the easier it was for the detective to see through him and his disguises.
During heists like this, it wasn’t unusual if KID had to pull out of his disguise early. It didn’t harm his reputation, as long as he retrieved the jewel he’d set his eyes on. So long as he could still make a show of it all as KID, the heists would still be considered a success. He’d make sure to return the jewel, to the detective in one creative way or another.
Sometimes, the detective would let the heist go on. Kaito would steal the gem while the crowd was still waiting for something to happen, before making his escape. The detective would wait until after the jewel had been stolen, then meet with Kaito on some roof or other place in his escape route. Of course, the little detective seemed to enjoy cutting him off during this escape once Kaito shed his disguises, to reveal how he’d seen through him, and spared no time in explaining so. After his explanation, that was Kaito’s cue to flee from the scene, if he didn’t want KID’s legacy to end so prematurely.
But, oh how Kaito loved to see the flustered look on the detective when he managed to escape. How the detective would adorn a lovely red to his cheeks, when Kaito inevitably flew away in his paraglider after he slipped from the detective’s grasps.
(Though, the timing of the detective’s monologue often made Kaito wonder if the other was actually stalling on purpose, so that he could get away.)
It was fine, probably, if his exposure were just limited to heists.
Perhaps it wasn’t that significant if the detective was becoming extra keen on unraveling his disguises. The detective had inquired a few times the reasons for his continued heists, to which Kaito would not reply to, and it seemed that the detective would not obstruct his objectives so long as KID kept his own identity secret. Perhaps it was fine if the detective could see through his disguises as KID. It meant his deductive skills were the real deal.
Except, his reasoning skills weren’t just limited to heists.
The first time the detective called out Kaito outside of his heists was when he was on an outing. J One random Sunday, he went to a cake buffet in Haido city – thrown on the random disguise of a woman who didn’t even exist, and went. He wasn’t even on a heist and hadn’t even planned one for weeks, since it was during semester finals (and he did have to play the part of the genius Kuroba Kaito. He couldn’t let Aoko beat him unless he wanted to hear her gloat all semester long).
KID supposed that the detective hadn’t been thoroughly thinking either when he blurted ‘Kid!’ out loud, because even the waitress in that buffet told Conan on spot that KID didn’t have a heist planned, and never stole without sending a warning card first. To that, the detective reddened, and told her that he was just looking forward to the next kid heist and blurted it out in his excitement. Kaito used that time to continue stuffing his face with chocolate caked all while the detective glanced at his table with suspicion.
The second time wasn’t any better and KID had to worry and wonder if the detective was feeling unwell, for being so paranoid and unlike himself. He’d been out with Aoko and a couple of her friends after school, deciding to take the train to another city for some kind of exhibit they’d wanted to go. On the train, the kid detective had spotted Kaito, and once again blurted out his sighting of KID. It didn’t help that Ms. Mouri and Heiress Suzuki who was with him at the time had thought that Kaito had been dressing as Shinichi, and had been hanging out with another girl at the time. Aoko, who was surprisingly calm and mature during this time, introduced herself and Kaito to them, and noted that if Kaito was Kaito Kid, Aoko would be the first to know, as the daughter of the inspector of the very task force in charge of capturing KID, and as his childhood friend. It was a whole lot of awkward apologies, and remarks about how Shinichi and Ran looked so much like Kaito and Aoko, and Kaito was getting uncomfortable with how much information the detective was receiving about him. They couldn’t continue the conversation for long, as they were headed for different destinations, but Kaito was a bit uncomfortable knowing that the detective now suspected his civilian identity and knew the school he was attending.
The next few times he’d encountered Conan in and out of his disguises and out of his heists, the detective did act a whole lot more discretely, exchanging those sudden outbursts for long gazes at his civilian form. He didn’t call out to him, but Kaito knew that the detective was aware of his identity in the few encounters he’d had with him, and this made Kaito anxious.
Because the matter at hand was still the same.
Kaito’s disguises were in fact slipping.
And worse of all, it was the great detective who’d caught him, a detective who could reveal him to the police if their game of cat and mouse ceased. A threat that could stop his plans from capturing Pandora before those mysterious snipers could, and stop him from finishing the task his father started and was his to complete.
And Kaito couldn’t have that.
So, Kaito put on his guise as KID, and formed his plan on confronting the detective.
“What are you doing here, KID?” Said Shinichi, sitting leisurely on a couch. One that seemed too wide for a person of his elementary school kid figure. “Or is Kuroba-san, you’re here as?”
Kaito sat on the edge of the window, before leaping into the Kudo Mansion library. He had scoped around the block for any signs of police, but he glanced around the library once making sure there weren’t any traps.
“How much do you know?”
The detective tilted his head to look towards him. “After Ran mistook you for me the other day and Nakamori-san revealing your identity as a result, it wasn’t hard to put two and two together.”
At Kaito’s paling, he continued. “Your father, the a famous magician, Kuroba Toichi had passed away eight years ago, which just happened to be when the phantom thief stopped his activities. Then, eight years later, he returned, this time much more different in persona, and certainly looking a lot younger – somehow even being mistaken for the high school detective Kudo Shinichi when bare faced? There wasn’t much left to deduce from that.”
If Kaito seemed stricken by those words, he tried not to let it show. Always keep your poker face on, as his father told him. He twisted the card gun behind his back. Of course, he wasn’t going to shoot at the detective, but one couldn’t be too careful in an emergency.
The detective continued, eyes never looking away from Kaito. “Did you know, my mom used to study under your father? She learned all her makeup skills from him. She still remembers you by the way.” His eyes narrowed the slightest bit. “She said you gave her a blue rose on your first meeting.”
That was Shinichi’s mother? Things were a bit more complicated than Kaito liked. His father never mentioned he had disciples. Maybe Shinichi would tell him that they were half-brothers next.
The detective shifted a bit, and suddenly looked away. He caught the detective playing with his sleeve, and if Kaito wasn’t mistaken, the detective was blushing a little. What was that about “You don’t give everyone you meet roses do you?”
Wait, what. Kaito blinked. Was that what the detective was fixated about?
Out of all the things the detective knew about him?
He snapped into his KID persona right away. “Only the pretty ones, Meitantei.”
Even in the darkness under the moonlight, Kaito could see the detective flushed in the cheeks.
“Is that so? So there’s no meaning behind those roses whatsoever…” The detective trailed off.
Perhaps those weren’t the right words to say. It was at this moment, that Kaito recalled all the times his heist involved returning the jewels with roses as a prank on the inspector. Come to think of it, the detective did happen to be in a lot of them, and he was the one who ended up with those roses…
“Ah. So they weren’t for me then.” The child-voice interrupted, strained. “I figured. It wouldn’t be have been appropriate otherwise.”
The detective said this plainly, and though he looked composed, Kaito knew him enough to know that the detective was disappointed. Kaito stepped forward and kneeled beside the detective’s armchair.
“You’re wrong. Even if inspector Nakamori was the intended victim of the those heists, you were always the one I hoped would intercept me on my heists.” He placed his hands on both sides of the detective, and looked at him in the eye. “Even in heists I know you wouldn’t appear, I’d always hoped you’d make an appearance. I always have faith that you would solve my notices, and having you in my heists make them more fun.”
Kaito took a deep breath. “Somewhere along the line I got used to having you see through my disguises. Before I knew it, I’d begun searching for you among all those spectators.” He reached to lightly place a hand on the detective’s to loosen his tight grip on the armrest.
“My heists wouldn’t be complete without you, detective.” Kaito grinned.
The detective smiled, and Kaito got to look at him much more closer than he ever did before. Though the detective did look a little like Kaito did when he was a kid, there were a few differences. His hair was darker and smoother. His nose was a little taller than Kaito, and lips a little thinner. And his eyes were a dark blue, closer to aquamarine, than Kaito’s violet, and they were so, so much more beautiful.
“I didn’t know you though that highly of me, Kuroba-san.”
“Of course, detective! You mean a lot to me. I even dare say you’re my favorite.”
That let out a laugh out of the little detective. Not in the smug way the detective would chortle after revealing his plans to hinder Kaito during his getaways. A fonder one. “You really mean that?”
“Yes.”
The detective had a sappy, fond look on his face. It suited him. Kaito would do everything in power to see that look on his face everyday.
“And you? What do you think of me, Meitantei?”
“Well, you are the only thief around…”
“Kaitō. And you know what I mean, detective. Are as fond of me as I am of you?”
Shinichi let a cheeky grin slip onto his mouth. “Why do you think I keep letting you get away, Kuroba-san?”
“Kaito.”
“Hm?”
“Call me Kaito, from now on.”
“Alright, Kaito.”
At some point during their conversation, Kaito must have slipped out of his disguise without paying much attention, because when when the detective, no, Shinichi, leaned in and reached for him and caressed his face, his monocle was nowhere to be found.
Soon, Kaito would figure out that even though his disguises were slipping, and that he did have a problem of letting tiny detectives with an intelligence way too advanced for a kid of his stature and age see through him, it didn’t really matter if it was his detective that was seeing through his disguises. And sometimes, he didn’t even need a disguise to be around him.
Fin.