#imagine when shinichi finds out that kaitou kid had always known his identity

[headcannonballs]

The thing about Yusaku and Toichi being friends and rivals (and Toichi once mentoring Yukiko) is that it strikes me as extremely strange that Toichi's 'accident' should be left uninvestigated for so long.

Which leads me to my headcannon:

The Kudous and Kurobas are family friends due to Toichi and Yukiko's mentor-student relationship. They are close enough for their toddler sons to play together, but not so close as to know everything about each other.

When Toichi's accident first occurred, Chikage's first instinct was to leave Kaito with the Kudous while she investigated what happened. But when she got hold of Jii who told her what had happened, Chikage reconsidered her position.

Toichi was a phantom thief, as was Chikage herself. Although this is history now (Toichi being dead and Chikage having retired), it would still reflect badly on the family and may even affect Kaito's future. So she definitely did not want police involvement in the investigation.

Yusaku, however, is not actually law enforcement himself. If he could be persuaded to help... But no, the Kudous had a young son too. Chikage has no idea how dangerous Snake might be, and she doesn't think it would be right to involve them in such danger.

Chikage was determined to revenge Toichi's murder, but it needed to be done without involving the Kudous. And the only way to do so without the nosy Yusaku (and even curious Shinichi) budging in would be to leave. So that is what she did.

Chikage took Kaito and left without notifying the Kudous. Being a former phantom thief, she did have some way of hiding her traces. And Yusaku, faced with a friend's sudden death and their family disappearing naturally tried to investigate. However as Toichi's death officially was regarded as an accident, the crime scene was not protected and any evidence quickly became contaminated.

Chikage's disappearance was also regarded as taking a break to mourn her husband's death, and by the time neighbours discovered otherwise the trail had gone cold. Combined with the fact that he had his family and his editors waiting on him, Yusaku had no choice but to let go.

A couple of years passed. By themselves, Chikage and Jii had not made much headway into tracking Snake. Finally, Jii suggests himself dressing up as Kaitou Kid to draw Snake out. At first, Chikage is reluctant, but the news that the Kudous are moving to America seems to be a sign. At the very least, it means there is no one else who could recognize the original Kaitou Kid, and Yusaku would not be alerted to their presence. Unlike Toichi, who was always very confident in his skills, Jii was way more careful, and each heist was meticulously planned before execution. Thus there were long intervals between heists to ensure all safety precautions have been taken, and the search for Snake remained slow and arduous. But Chikage didn’t give up.

Unlike his parents, Shinichi remained in Japan. As Shinichi grew up, he can vaguely remember an uncle Toichi, auntie Chi-chan and a childhood friend Kai-chan. But he never connects it to the world famous magician Kuroba Toichi because they had always felt more like family friends who came over occasionally to play with him. He had assumed they moved away (as some family friends do) and he never connected it with the magician’s accident (which felt like some important thing which affected lots of people and couldn’t possibly have anything to do with funny uncle Toichi who always tickled him too much).

However, the clock tower heist drew his attention to the mystery of Kaitou Kid. A little research had revealed his father had been investigating Kaitou Kid’s thefts and was even responsible for naming the thief. As such, Shinichi became even more determined to catch the phantom thief, but without telling his father about it, so that he can at last prove himself better.

As for Kaito, he does remember the Kudous somewhat fondly as an interesting family (what a pretty old lady!), but is aware that Chikage is keeping away from them. Although curious, he doesn’t pry out of respect for his mother. It is only after his discovery of Kaitou Kid’s lair that he connects the dots. Thus he actually actively tries to keep away from Beika and Shinichi Kudou, to prevent his identity from being found out. It was not until the clock tower heist that Shinichi accidentally happens upon the thief. And Shinichi’s sudden disappearance, although intriguing Kaito, was actually a relief as well.

That is, until he meets Conan. In the queerest case of deja vu, he has the feeling of meeting Shinichi all over again, not only because they knew each other from before, but because seeing Conan is like seeing Shinichi back at the age when they knew each other as childhood friends. In fact seeing Shinichi as a 17 year old would have taken Kaito longer (by a few seconds) to recognize him then seeing Shinichi as Conan did. But of course, Conan does not recognize him in return.

Kaito assumes that the age shrinking has something to do with magic (maybe Shinichi attracted the unwanted attentions of another witch like Akako) and thus just treats Conan like a long-lost friend and rival. He doesn’t ever really endanger Conan during heists (hell the tazer felt reasonable as he knew Shinichi was really 17 and didn’t think that size mattered), and helps Conan out of tight situations. Even more so than with his Kaitou Kid taskforce, Kaito treats the matching of wits with Conan like a game, precisely because he knows who Conan actually is. Just like the way they played together when young.

It is just as well that Chikage has never met Conan and doesn’t know who he actually is, or else I bet she’ll be furious that after all that hiding and moving away, dear little Shin-chan still got involved in the Kaitou Kid mess.

[mintchocolateleaves]

Cost of Freedom (1/??)

Summary: After a heist gone wrong, Kaitou KID has finally been caught. Now imprisoned, Kaito’s trying to survive until he can figure out a way to escape. His cellmate, ex-detective Kudo Shinichi, might be able to help. As the day of their planned escape nears, only one question remains in Kaito’s mind - Is Kudo really the criminal they claim that he is? Prison!AU.

@detectivegeekshin and I started talking about this AU yesterday. Now it exists.

Icy wind slashes at Kaito’s face, rain dancing on his head, but he doesn’t notice. Goosebumps spread down his arms, but he’s far more interested in the whimper of the man beside him - one of his new, fellow prisoners.

“Oh God,” the other man sobs. It belongs to another prisoner, with the number 035823 on the prison overalls he’s been supplied with, “I don’t belong here. I don’t, I really don’t.”

Water drips from Kaito’s nose as he glances across to the blonde haired man. He’s got short stubby legs, and a pudgy structure and Kaito decides that he’s not going to last long, not before the man breaks down completely.

Kaito shivers against the cold, “Dude. Shut up.”

“You don’t get it, I’m innocent, I don’t belong here!”

Kaito scowls as they are led out of the van they’ve been transported in. During the ride here, there have been seven potential opportunities to escape, except, without any of his usual tools, only one had been realistically possible. And even then, with the guards that had been stationed on each side of him on the bus, trying would have been pushing his luck.

Lady luck hasn’t really been on his side recently.

Mud squelches beneath Kaito’s shoes as he shuffles forwards. His movement is staggered by the shackles around his wrists and ankles. It’s useless to claim innocence at this point, he thinks. Kicking at the ground, he glances at the prison that’s going to be his new home for the unforeseeable future.

Mud splatters against one of his guard’s trouser legs, and Kaito has to suppress a laugh as the crying man behind him balks, wide eyed and terrified.

“Sure.” Kaito rolls his eyes, “and I’m the Emperor Akihito.”

As they continue further into the prison, Kaito surveys the security of the outside. The gates are high - his guess is that they’re at least three meters of reinforced steel - topped with barbed wire. Considering the guard stations nearby and the flickering of flashlights from inside, it’s probably too high to climb.

The man beside him continues to sob, and Kaito snickers as the guy stumbles over a rock. It’s not that he’s intentionally being cruel, but Kaito can only take so much broken pride before it starts to get old, and he’s already at his limit.

“You… you may be a c-criminal,” the guy says, “but… b-but I’m not.”

Kaito sends one the guards a look that practically begs for help in making the guy shut up. Without any help, however, he’s left to assess the walls dwarfing the gate, estimating the width of the walkways used by patrolling guards.

He wonders what type of guns they use to shoot down anyone who tries to run.

He reckons it’ll be a rifle, like the one’s the guards who’ve brought them in are carrying. The sight of it makes him miss his own gun, although these don’t hold cards.

“Dude,” Kaito turns to him with his best poker face, and tries to keep the exasperation from his tone. “Just own up to it. Stop it with the wounded puppy look, you’re like… at least thirty two. That’s way beyond sympathy level - now it’s just sad.”

He can feel the anger ooze off the other man, rolling from every pore like sweat. It is sudden, and it weighs the other man down more than the handcuffs ever could.

“Who do you think you are, huh?” He growls. “You think you’re better than me?”

Kaito gives the man a grin. “As a criminal, I think I might in fact, outshine you, sure. I mean, how many people can actually claim to be Kaitou KID?”

Before he’d set foot into the van, Kaito had decided that he was going to be secretive about his identity as a phantom theif. After all, doesn’t it make sense for KID to remain a phantom?

After a few minutes in the van with guards chiding him for being caught in the first place however, Kaito had thrown that idea away. Why should he bother to keep his identity secret? It’s been plastered over every news station, and he’s lost the part of Kuroba Kaito that was so precious to him.

Watching Aoko’s expression as they led him away had been heartbreaking.

Kaito’s decided he just wants to be KID from now on. No Kuroba-kun, just KID - if that’s who they’re locking up, then that’s who he’s going to be.

“Sure,” the man says, and this time it is his voice that breeds sarcasm. “And I’m the Queen of England.”

Kaito spares him another glance, “the queen has a lot more pride than you do.”

~~~

Kaito isn’t quite so sure why Lady luck is being so cruel towards him.

The blonde, sobbing man ends up as his cell mate. He’s called Himura Ryu, and even after he’s finally stopped sniffling, having been warned to shut up or deal with the consequences by their new warden, he’s still annoying.

He’s got the kind of voice that grates, prickling at his skin in a way that makes Kaito’s skin crawl. Himura takes the bottom bunk without asking - which isn’t that bad because Kaito likes being up in high places, but it would’ve been nice to be asked - and immediately starts snoring obnoxiously loud.

If only Kaito had some of his tricks - he’d have pranked Himura way worse than he ever did to Hakuba.

He’ll just have to find other ways to mess with him.

~~~

He starts by getting Himura in trouble with the guards.

As KID, he’s taught himself to mimic voices, and so whenever he can, he’ll imitate Himura’s voice, throwing him under the proverbial bus and spouting stupid comments that only increase his agitation.

Kaito knows it’s not necessarily mature, but within a week he’s already bored.

He misses being able to do something, and there’s nothing here to do but read and listen the radio in the background. He doesn’t have any paper or a pencil, so it’s not like he can even write down the various inventions for heists he will never attend, so messing with people is the best thing he can do.

About two weeks into his sentence, Himura tells him to shut up. It’s not the usual irritation, but curiosity, and his own boredom causes Kaito to sit back against his wall and listen out for whatever Himura has overheard.

“-Finally out of solitary-”

“-That’s the third time this month, surely they should just keep him there-”

This, at least, is interesting. Kaito hasn’t heard much about solitary that much, and information is always more interesting than bugging Himura, so it’s the better option, really. Raising his voice, he calls out, asking who’s just gotten out of solitary confinement, asking why they were in their in the first place?“

The voices cut off. Then Kaito hears the laughter of his fellow prisoners, all of them mocking his question, as if was a stupid thing to ask about in the first place. One of the guards bangs against the wall, ordering them to shut up because it’s lights out, but when they all start laughing, there’s very little that a single guard can do to get everyone to shut up.

"Oh, you’ll meet him soon enough,” one of the prisoners croons, “he’s gonna love talking to Kaitou Kid.”

Well… That’s certainly… ominous.

Kaito doesn’t know how to respond, so he doesn’t. Instead, he lies back down against his bunk, staring up at the wall and the spider’s web that remains in the corner. He hasn’t seen the spider since the first time he’s spotted it, which would be terrifying if he had arachnophobia rather than ichthyophobia, but instead is vaguely reassuring.

The spider’s absence reminds him that things can escape from this prison. Every time he looks up at the empty web, he imagines his cell door open, his cape fluttering behind him as he escapes to freedom.

The police have his KID suit now. He wonders how long they’re going to keep it in custody for. He wonders if they’ll keep it as a trophy, of sorts, to prove to people that Division 2 has finally come out on top against the man who’s been toying with them for years.

Kaito wonders, briefly, whether Nakamori-kiebu is satisfied with his job, or whether he’s as broken as Aoko looked when he was taken.

“Oh…” Himura says from the bottom bunk, “maybe it’s not so nice to be well known in here.”

Maybe not, Kaito thinks.

~~~

The only thing that’s bearable about this place, is the fact that Kaito gets an hour outdoors each day. For the first few days, they reinforced his captivity, only letting him walk around in an ‘exercise room’, but now, they’ve relaxed slightly.

The hour time outdoors gives him time to get a good idea of the prison grounds. He estimates the amount of time he’d need to scale the wall without equipment, he analyses the rocks at various points of the prison yard to see which side has the softest rocks, which side would be easier to burrow out of.

His hour is never enough. Kaito thrives off of fresh air, and while he knows he’s not free, he enjoys feeling the wind on his neck, the air alive and dancing, not stale and dead like it is inside his cell. He’s not sure how he will deal with being unable to go outside during the winter months, when the rain is too much and the ice too cold to let them outside.

“What’re you looking at huh?”

Roughly three weeks in to his imprisonment, after a new batch of prisoners have arrived, the first fight happens. One of the new prisoners, Yoshida something, (Kaito doesn’t care enough to ask), likes to mouth off, and seems to have personal vendetta against Kaitou 1412.

Kaito isn’t sure what his problem is, but then again, he’s not particularly bothered enough to find out.

“Rocks,” he responds, “geological structures.”

It’s enough to avoid being called rude, although his voice is curt enough to warn Yoshida away, to emphasise that he does not want to talk.

“I bet it’s a boring substitute compared to the jewels that you always used to steal away.”

Everything is a boring compared to his heists. 

Kaito shrugs, dropping the pebble he’s been brushing mud off of back onto the ground. It’s small, a dull black - tiny traces of onyx are inside, he thinks, but now isn’t the time to focus on the specifics.

Kaito hums his agreement, turning to face Yoshida. He’s tall, more brute than human - more muscle than fat. Kaito, who’s always had more of a lean, athletic build, is not sure how to respond.

He hides behind his poker face, and raises an eyebrow.

“It’s funny though,” Yoshida continues. His nostrils flare, and Kaito thinks that he is not unlike a rhino preparing to charge, “how you thought you were entitled to what you don’t own.”

Ah, Kaito thinks, he does seem like he’s from a rich family.

It doesn’t take him long to assume that the other criminal has been victim to one of Kaito’s own heists. He’s searching his mind for any heists involving the Yoshida family, or something related to him, when the other man throws the first punch.

Years of acrobatics and dodging traps set for KID are the only reason Kaito manages to move in time. He avoids the punch, dancing on his toes as he jumps backwards. It’s not the same without his cape and monocle, but for a moment he almost feels like he’s on a heist again.

“You stole my family’s diamond,” Yoshida growls, throws a second punch. Kaito jumps backwards, foot tripping backwards against a loose rock. He trips, curses his non-existent luck, and lands against the ground with a thump. “And then you made us all look bad.”

Kaito balls his hands into fists, wonders if he should fight back, before telling himself no. He’s never been the fighting type, has always been an escape artist at heart. Fighting is too hands on, and he’s always enjoyed having the upper hand.

If he tries to fight back… well, Kaito knows he’s not going to win.

Still, he’s never been good at helping himself, “it’s not my fault if your security was bad.”

Yoshida reaches for his collar, lifts him up. Kaito, kicking out, lifts his hands up to his face to shield his eyes. The third punch clips his ear as Kaito squirms.

The fourth hits him in the jaw, rattling his teeth, making him bite down into his tongue.

The pain isn’t too bad, considering he’s been shot before, but it certainly isn’t a welcome feeling.

“Oi, cut it out.”

The voice is one that Kaito has heard before, although he’s not exactly sure where. A fifth punch hits him in the shoulder as he tries to jerk backwards, forcing Kaito to let out a hiss.

“I said, cut it out.”

Yoshida stills, drops Kaito down to the ground before turning slightly to look over at their new visitor. Wiping blood away, Kaito shuffles backwards, wincing.

“What do you get out of telling me what to do?” Yoshida growls, getting back up to his feet. “Kicking me too… who do you think you are?”

Kaito isn’t sure what happens afterwards, the pain muffles most of the sound, although he can hear several other prisoners shouting warnings to watch out before someone ends up in the infirmary again.

Shit, Kaito thinks, someone’s going to be beaten to a pulp because of him, simply because they’d wanted to help.

More shouting, and then with widened eyes Kaito watches as Yoshida drops to the ground, hands covering his face. He jerks slightly, letting out a sound like that of a wild animal, leaving Kaito to look up at his saviour. The saviour who’s wiping his hands against his overalls, taking a few steps up to him.

Kaito has seen this guy before.

In newspapers, across various different news channels - he’s the same age as Kaito, but there is an innate difference between them that makes the other seem more adult, more dangerous. He’s not sure whether to thank the guy, or try to rush away.

“You okay?” Kudo Shinichi asks, coming to a stop in front of him.

Kaito remembers the scandal, the headlines, the case that heralded every news station in japan for the weeks leading up Kudo’s trial.

Teen detective lacks cases, so creates own.

The papers had told him everything he’d needed to know. Six people had been killed - the only link had been that victims had been residents in Tokyo, Kudo’s 'signature’ left behind at every scene, or so the newspapers had declared.

Kaito’s classmate, Hakuba Saguru, had mentioned that each victim had been a criminal. There had been no links with age, appearance or gender - the only lead the police had been able to pursue was that each victim had been brought into the police station to be interviewed for various different crimes.

It had lead to an internal investigation of the police, until the evidence had lead investigators to Kudo, the sixteen-year-old who’d been working the case with them.

His trial had been met with protest, so much controversy. People wouldn’t believe he’d murdered people so violently. But the evidence had held in court, and eventually the public who’d been following the case from day one, had been forced to admit they’d been manipulated by the young detective.

Kaito doesn’t exactly know how to respond.

“Oi, Oi,” Kudo’s voice makes him snap out of the daze he’s fallen into, “get back to earth.”

Kaito looks up, winces at the pain in his jaw. He’s tries to ignore the dread filling in his stomach - how else is he supposed to respond to a murderer? - and forces himself to nod.

He says, “I’m okay.”

Kudo kneels in front of him, hand grabbing Kaito’s chin in a way that’s not quite violent, but not exactly soft either. He pushes Kaito’s chin up, squints, before pushing back.

“You’re going to bruise,” Kudo says, offering his hand, “but at least you’re in one piece.”

Hesitating, he takes Kudo’s hand, pulling himself up.

“I guess…”

“Well,” Kudo takes a step, apparently he can read the tension in Kaito’s posture, and he seems to cut whatever conversation they could have possibly started short, “I won’t save you next time, so don’t get into trouble.”

~~~

It is not until later, when he’s leaning back in his cell, that Himura pipes up. 

He says, “don’t fool yourself into thinking that Kudo guy will have your back around here. The other inmates say that he’s gone completely insane.”

Kaito leans back against his bunk, and he thinks on it.

“Don’t worry, I know. I’ll stay away." 

~~~

In the end, he doesn’t really have a choice in the matter.

Himura loses his temper one evening after Kaito mimics his voice again, and the thief keeps pushing and pushing until eventually the guards have to open the cell doors to shut them both up. At least this time Kaito keeps his balance, because he’s not sure how far Himura will go now that his anger has snapped.

It’s all down to plan though, Kaito thinks, as he’s pulled outside of the room. In their haste to open the cell door, the security hasn’t been properly adjusted for inmates to be outside their rooms. So as soon as he’s outside, Kaito stomps on the foot of the guard holding him, pivoting to face him as he lets out a cry.

He strikes the guard’s solar plexus, and then, before anyone can react, he races down to the end of the corridor.

Kaito’s cell is on the second floor, but looking over the edge of the railings, he’s pretty sure that he can get down without using the staircase. He climbs over the railing, dropping down, hanging from the edge before dropping himself onto the floor below.

The second he hits the ground, he drops into a roll. Then, he’s on his feet, racing towards the door that’s been left slightly ajar. Shabby policing, Kaito thinks, as he snickers to himself.

He reaches the door seconds before the guards that are chasing after him do.

But he never exits it.

Instead, he hears the loud hiss of something behind him.

”Oh shit,“ Kaito mutters as he realises what it is.

The feeling of barbs embedding in his clothing stings, scraping the skin of his back. Electric pulses his synapses, his skin, his body, jerking his muscles as he realises that oh God, he’s being electrocuted.

It hurts.

He’s being tased, and it hurts.

His muscles are still jerking from the aftermath of the shock when the guards grab him under his arms, pulling him up. One is swearing, and he thumps Kaito over the back of the head, growling about how he’s going to get him back for winding him seconds before.

Kaito wants to say that he’s already gotten him back, seeing as they fucking tased him, but the most that comes out of his mouth is moan.

Heists used to be so much more fun than this.

"I have an idea…” Another guard says, voice overtly cheerful. “Let’s throw him into cell 409.”

Kaito has no idea what cell 409 means, but he’s certain he’s not going to like it very much. Not with how the guards keep sniggering behind him.

They carry him up three staircases - ah… fourth floor, now he gets it - and drags him to the cell at the end of the block.

“Oi, I got you a new roommate, you’ll play nice now, won’t you?”

They throw Kaito inside, leaving him to slump against the wall as they lock the cell behind him. His sight is bleary, and Kaito is pretty sure he’s bleeding where they’ve ripped the barbs from his skin. Rubbing at his eyes, he slowly slides down to the ground, letting out another groan.

When he finally rubs the pain from his eyes, awareness returning, he looks up meeting the widened, vivid gaze of his new roommate.

“I’ve got to admit, I wasn’t quite expecting this,” says Kudo Shinichi.

~~~

I love this AU so much. Tell me what you think! Maybe I’ll scream (politely) at you about it!

[Part Two]

[presumenothing]

till called for, ii

continues directly from here ��� third and final chapter of the main arc, epilogue to be posted shortly now up here!

(AO3) (FFN)

The photograph was of Irene Adler herself in evening dress, the letter was superscribed to “Sherlock Holmes, Esq. To be left till called for.”

“This is, without a doubt, the stupidest plan you’ve ever had,” Shiho said, voice making it abundantly clear that she was questioning her decision to go along with it.

“Give me a break, you’ve only known me for less than a week,” Shinichi retorted, attempting to sound significantly more confident than he felt.

Shiho only treated him to another unamused stare as she again tried to muss up his hair, which valiantly resisted the attempt, going right back to its usual cowlick once she took her hand away.

Finally she sighed, rolling her eyes in resigned annoyance before grabbing a baseball cap out of her bag (“I don’t even like baseball!” “Grin and bear it, Kudo-kun.”) and setting it on his head.

The plan (insofar as it could be called a plan, because Shiho was right, it was terrible and Shinichi couldn’t even begin to list the number of ways this could go wrong) started off fairly simple, relatively speaking – meet Akemi for lunch, and convince her not to go through with whatever it was the Organisation had planned for her.

That went off without too much of a hitch.

Miyano Akemi was nothing like the person Shinichi had been expecting. She reminded him somewhat of Ran, actually, which made him wonder how the two sisters could possibly be related, polar opposites as they were.

It turned out that Gin had made her a deal – a billion yen heist in exchange for allowing both of them to go free – that stank of a trap of some sort, and judging from Akemi’s expression she’d been well aware that of the possibility but had been determined to go through with it anyway.

(Shiho had paled when she’d heard Akemi talk about the deal, and Shinichi had tried to tune out the rest of their conversation, feeling oddly like he was intruding on a private matter.)

In the end, though, Akemi had accepted the alternative that they proposed. Which was fortunate, because Shinichi was already grasping at straws here - his forte was solving mysteries, not creating them, especially when he didn’t have access to his usual contacts.

Of course, no sooner had Akemi had left the cafe than a high pitched scream pierced the air.

Shinichi was on his feet before he even fully realised it, and only Shiho's quick but unyielding grip on his arm prevented him from moving any further.

“What do you think you're doing?” she snapped at him.

“Someone probably just found a dead body.”

“You don't know that.”

“I do.” It always is, Shinichi would’ve added, except then another person screamed about a dead body and made it a moot point.

“You can't be serious,” Shiho muttered under her breath, exasperated. “I don't suppose I could convince you to leave it to the police?”

“No such luck,” he confirmed, and she huffed in deep annoyance. “Look, we’re far enough from Beika that the police probably won’t recognise me on sight. And as long as I avoid giving the deductions like I usually do… unless you want to come along and help?”

He could see the exact moment when his words registered – Shiho shook her head empathically before letting his arm go. “Fine then, go play detective all you like, I’m not joining you.”

“Too late,” he informed her cheerfully, flipping his grip to pull her by the hand towards where the body lay, over the sound of her protests. “Time for your first case, tantei-san!”

.

The wind on the rooftop was bitingly cold, so Shinichi found the least exposed spot – the corner between the roof access and the ventilation unit – as he waited to put part two of the plan into motion.

Shiho had still been annoyed at him when they’d split up after leaving the cafe three hours ago, despite the fact that the case had been solved without anyone realising his identity. Though that had been mostly thanks to her concocting a plausible story on the spot when the investigating detective had asked them who they were, along with false names that Shinichi had kept tripping up on, until she’d pulled him aside and whispered dire threats if he didn’t get his – literal – act together.

She’d figured out the exact cause of death before he had, too: thallium poisoning, which Shinichi had read about before but never actually encountered on a case until now.

(“Maybe you should really become a detective,” he’d said only half-jokingly to her as they were leaving.

Shiho had looked at him for a long moment before answering. “The truth isn’t something I particularly care for, Kudo-kun.”

She’d refused to elaborate further, though, so he’d had to leave it at that.)

Shinichi was starting to regret not stopping to buy some hot coffee on the way here when the roof access door finally swung open quietly on well-oiled hinges, and a white-clad figure emerged onto the roof.

Kaitou Kid crossed half the length of the roof before stopping, though Shinichi didn’t doubt that the thief had already known he was there the whole time.

Kid spoke without turning around. “Quite the unexpected development, meitantei. To whom do I owe this pleasure?”

“Nakamori-keibu doesn’t know I’m here, if that’s what you’re asking. I’d prefer if it was kept that way.” Shinichi took a slip of paper out of his own pocket, holding it out to Kid. “I came to ask a favour, actually.”

Kid glanced over at his words, and Shinichi thought he saw a hint of surprise there, though it was difficult to know for sure, with the light of the full moon throwing the shadow of Kid’s hat brim across most of his features.

To Shinichi’s surprise, the note vanished from his fingers with a puff of smoke before reappearing in Kid’s own. “An address? And what should I expect to find there, I wonder?”

“Two people who could use your help,” Shinichi answered, his mind already racing. (The clocktower heist had been an impressive demonstration to start with, now that Shinchi knew who he’d been up against back then, but witnessing Kaitou Kid’s tricks firsthand was quite something else altogether – how had the thief managed that with two metres of intervening space between them?)

“I imagine that you aren’t referring to my less legal skillset, so… disguises, I assume?” Kid asked.

Shinichi shrugged noncommittally – it was true, but there was no need to give up the information when he still couldn’t be certain that Kid would actually help. (This was the riskiest part of the plan, really, but since Shiho remained adamant about staying away from the Organisation’s disguise expert, he’d decided to take a chance on Kid after recalling his disguise from the heist.)

“I’ll take that as a yes,” Kid said with some amusement. “Friends of yours?”

Shinichi chuckled dryly, and couldn’t help but imagine Shiho’s response to that question. “Not at all. Will you come?”

“A mysterious invitation, hand-delivered… how could I resist?” Kid grinned, and the note vanished again, failing to reappear this time. “Though I do hope this isn’t an ambush of some sort, meitantei, that’d be horribly disappointing. Not to mention rude.”

“No handcuffs, promise.” Shinichi’s words were punctuated by the thunder of the Task Force’s footsteps echoing up the ventilation unit.

“And that’s the cue for both of us to take our leave, I think.” Kid sketched a quick bow to Shinichi, still grinning. “See you later, meitantei!”

.

True to his word, Kid arrived at the empty warehouse where Shiho and Akemi had been waiting half an hour after Shinichi himself did. Though if the oddly reflective glint of light off a leg of one of the birds roosting in the rafters was anything to go by, the thief had already scouted out the location before actually turning up.

Shinichi would have been surprised if Kid had done otherwise, actually – he certainly would’ve been suspicious as well if their situations had been reversed, though he had been counting on curiosity to draw Kid out, based on what conclusions he could draw from the Task Force’s casefiles.

(Shiho gave him the stink-eye when he whispered I told you so, but he was definitely not imagining the hint of relief in her expression.)

Akemi was the one who moved forward to speak with Kid, who now wore a nondescript outfit and a small backpack, apparently having found the time to stash most of his costume somewhere on the way here. Which presumably meant that he was either still wearing his earlier disguise from the heist, or he simply didn’t think any of them were going to be able to discover his identity from his face alone.

Shinichi thought the former was much more likely – you didn’t stay uncaught for as long as Kid had by being careless, after all – until the thief walked close enough for both him and Shiho to see his face.

“…why does Kaitou Kid look so much like you, Kudo-kun?” Shiho asked in an undertone, her confusion mirroring his own.

“I have no idea,” Shinichi answered, staring at Kid, because Shiho was correct – there were only slight differences in their complexion and eye colour, and he wasn’t sure how much of the facial structure could be chalked up to latex prosthetics, but the overall resemblance to himself was singularly striking. “Either he decided to disguise as me on the way here for some bizarre reason, or my parents had another child who just happens to be a magician thief and forgot to tell me. What?” he added defensively at the incredulous look Shiho was giving him. “You don’t know my parents, that’s actually a perfectly plausible thing that might’ve happened!”

“I don’t know if I’d prefer that to be true or not,” Shiho said finally. “But it certainly explains quite a bit about you, at least.”

(Shinichi couldn’t even bring himself to be offended at that.)

“Oi, meitantei!” Kid chose that moment to call out. “Stop deducing things and come help, some of us would actually like to get home at a reasonable time tonight.”

“I didn’t know you even needed sleep,” Shinichi quipped as he walked over to where Kid was setting up a disguise kit from his backpack, Shiho trailing wordlessly behind him.

“Now, who said anything about sleep?” Kid retorted with the same grin from earlier before turning back to Akemi. “Okay, since you have to apply these disguises yourself I’m afraid they won’t be anything particularly elaborate, but I’ll see what I can do.”

True to his word, Kid worked only with the barest bones of his kit, which still boggled Shinichi with its sheer complexity – even considering that he was related to Kudo Yukiko, who Shinichi was convinced occasionally dressed up for nothing but the fun of it – and after he was done the sisters looked like…

…older versions of Ran and Sonoko, actually, Shinichi couldn’t help but think, and it wasn’t just because of the hair colour. Kid had focused mostly on Shiho’s features, working with latex to hide the sharpness of her brow and cheekbones, and finally producing a pair of oversized glasses that she’d reluctantly put on with a grimace. He’d also worked some gel into their hair, giving Akemi’s hair a noticeably messier look while straightening out the recognisable curls of Shiho’s.

The thief’s skills were impressive, Shinichi had to admit – despite the relative simplicity of the disguises, the pair now looked convincingly like two unremarkable college students rather than half-Japanese (and half-British, Shinichi suspected) sisters. It wouldn’t stand up to close scrutiny, even with the addition of coloured contacts and hair dye, but that was a risk they were going to have to take.

“So, how do I look?” Shiho had caught his assessing glance, apparently, her expression still acerbic from behind fake lenses.

…and completely at odds with her suddenly sugary tone, which was more than enough to give Shinichi goosebumps. “Please never, ever, do that again.”

“No need to be so serious,” Shiho replied with a moue of annoyance, still affecting the same tone, and Shinichi was having the sudden sinking realisation that she was actually enjoying this part.

Kid let out something dangerously close to a giggle, his disguise kit disappearing back into his bag with a snap of his fingers. “Right, I’ll be off then. And remember, you all owe me one!”

Shinichi was the only one who spluttered indignantly at that. “But – that – why do I owe you anything?”

“Clocktower heist, meitantei,” Kid answered cheerfully, already halfway to the exit. “Or did you forget the part where you fired a gun at me?”

“I fired it near you, idiot thief, there’s a difference!” he protested, but Kid merely waved jauntily before vanishing from sight, leaving Shinichi to mutter imprecations under his breath.

“Now that’s a story I’d like to hear,” Shiho remarked dryly, and Shinichi was too annoyed to be grateful that her tone had dropped back to its usual range.

“Shut up,” he grumbled, already deciding that he was going to turn up at Kid’s next heist armed with a dozen soccer balls and a tranq gun – because Shinichi didn’t aim at something without hitting it, and he was going to make Kid learn that the hard way.

.

The last part of the plan was in Akemi’s hands for now, since she apparently had some way of contacting the FBI, though Shiho’s expression when she mentioned it pointed at some unpleasant history behind that connection. (Shinichi had no delusions that she’d tell him the truth if he asked about it, though.)

They were back in the lab again, Shinichi drinking the last of the hot coffee he’d bought from a vending machine earlier. “I’d want to stay, you know,”

Shiho gave him another of her inscrutable looks before turning back to her laptop with a shake of her head. “You would do that, wouldn’t you.”

She had spliced in some old footage to the surveillance feed in order to cover her earlier absence – her weekly lunch with Akemi aside, it wasn’t a good idea to draw attention to the irregularity of both sisters being absent for an extended period of time. Shinichi watched her work in silence, and was almost surprised when she continued speaking.

“Well, it can’t be helped.” She didn’t look at him, only tapped a few more keys before closing the laptop and pulling out one of her notebooks instead. “I’m not some high school detective, just a scientist.”

The expression on her face as she’d said that was… not quite distant, Shinichi thought, but it was enough to prompt him into standing up and wishing her good night before going to the adjacent break room he’d been sleeping in.

It’d been a long day even by his standards, after all, and they still had more to do tomorrow.

.

Shinichi woke to a strong sense of deja vu.

Or, to be exact, he woke to the piercing glare of morning sun, and the feeling of having being propped up in an uncomfortable position for longer than was advisable.

Other sensations registered one after the other – the unyielding coolness of a wall behind his back, the rubbery numbness in his limbs, the cheerful cacophony of noise in the far background – and all Shinichi could think was really, this again?

Which said something about him, probably, but Shinichi didn’t bother thinking on that, searching his memory as he waited for feeling to return to his limbs.

His mind still felt a little sluggish, but he was fairly certain that the last thing he remembered was being in the lab with Shiho, which didn’t explain why he was apparently at an amusement p–

…hang on. Amusement park? Shinichi thought, wincing at the sun’s glare as he looked up. Don’t tell me –

But yes, that was the distinct shape of the Mystery Coaster, there was no mistaking it.

Shinichi groaned as he slowly manoeuvred himself into a more comfortable position. If he’d had any doubts about Shiho’s sense of humour, this certainly dispelled the last of them.

Couldn’t she have at least left him nearer to his house?

Because that was what had happened, clearly. Whatever her reasons (if it was anything about keeping him safe, she was being monumentally stupid given that he’d walked right into this mess himself), Shiho had ditched him along with the rest of his plan in Tropical Land, right back where he’d started.

Shinichi should’ve seen this coming, really. He’d expected it when she’d refused to tell him anything about her plans for after she and Akemi left the country, which made sense if she was trying to avoid making him a liability, but there’d been something off about her attitude even so.

His handphone chose that moment to buzz, and he took it out of his pocket with clumsy fingers, noting that it was fully charged despite the fact that he hadn’t even seen it for the past few days.

The screen suddenly went black, but before Shinichi could do more than blink in surprise, white text began to appear, scrolling smoothly past the screen.

Meitantei-san: I assume you’ve figured out what I’ve done by now. As far as anyone is concerned, I’m dead, and all traces of both my work and your presence here have been destroyed as thoroughly as is practically possible. Do try to keep your head down for a while – I would advise you to do so indefinitely if I thought you’d listen, but keep in mind what could’ve happened if you had run into anyone else. Some of my erstwhile colleagues may show a brief interest in you after this, though they will likely conclude that I was using you as a distraction to cover my escape attempt.

(And they wouldn’t even be wrong about that, Shinichi thought glumly as the text seemed to pause for a moment.)

This message will self-destruct after this, so I hope you’ve been paying attention. Do not look for me, meitantei-san – I’m sure that Watson of yours could provide you with some other mystery to unravel.

Shinichi’s eyes narrowed in puzzlement at that last line – his Watson? – but before he could re-read it the entire block of text disappeared along with the black screen, leaving him to stare at his phone’s lockscreen, which showed… several dozen missed calls and texts, at least half of them from Ran.

I’m okay, he texted quickly to both her and Megure-keibu, then brought up a browser window.

Shiho had said that she’d destroyed the evidence thoroughly, which most likely suggested – a fire? Shinichi hazarded a guess, typing several words into the search bar, and was rewarded with several articles about the major explosion of a building matching the approximate location he’d deduced the lab to be at.

He skimmed through the reports quickly, brief as they were. The incident had occurred well past midnight, and preliminary findings appeared to suggest foul play, with the rescue team confirming at least one casualty.

Shinichi leaned his head back against the wall and felt himself shiver slightly, though the aftereffects of the chloroform had long since faded. So Shiho intended to suggest to anyone looking that… she’d attempted to fake her own death, but had accidentally gotten caught up in the blast?

He didn’t doubt that the coroner would identify the body accordingly, since a blast of that magnitude would leave very little intact, and Shiho was more than capable of falsifying the necessary evidence – but that left the matter of where the corpse itself had come from, which –

You’d go for something cleaner, he suddenly remembered himself saying, back at the crime scene where this had all started.

(Do I not look capable of murder to you? Shiho had asked, and Shinichi didn’t have any idea how much of this she’d already planned back then – she could have gained access to some sort of morgue, and it was entirely plausible that the lab building itself had one, but on the other hand – )

His thoughts were derailed abruptly when his phone rang, and he pushed himself to his feet before answering. “Ran? I’m at Tropical Land, so – what? No, I’m not quite sure what happened but I’m not injured, there’s no need you to come over – ”

He didn’t know for sure what Shiho had done, but she’d been right about that much: Shinichi wasn’t going to look for her, not when it might endanger both her and Akemi’s lives, but now that he knew about the Organisation nothing was going to stop him from hunting down the rest of it.

It was what Holmes would’ve done, after all.

.

.

...this took a darker turn than expected at the last part? the original ending (EDIT: now up here) was completely different, but this suddenly happened and I had to rewrite the entire last third, go figure thanks but no thanks Shiho

as mentioned previously, the plot is not the point here, and there are definitely holes that I haven't patched up – hopefully it makes some semblance of sense at least, but I'm really here for the characters. so have some side notes on our three main players (or rather, two main players and a thief) here: 

Shinichi's suspicions in the last section are well-founded – remember, this is Sherry we're talking about here, whose opinion on the value of human life is... questionable at best. what exactly she did is left to your imagination, but her words here are very deliberate: the whole point is to scare Shinichi into realising what she (and by extension, the Org) is capable of, much as Ai does with the fake gun at the hospital. 

imo Ai's main change over time in canon isn't in personality (hence why Shiho's characterisation here remains fairly similar) but rather in her values/beliefs, which took a one-eighty or so after meeting Conan, and perhaps solving a case here is the first step towards a similar change for Shiho... or perhaps I just couldn't resist including that scene. my kingdom for detective!Shiho, come on. 

Kaito based the disguises at least in part on Aoko and Keiko, but only had on a minimal disguise himself because he was running low on supplies – he’s basically depending on the likelihood that none of them will report him based on this encounter, since they’d have to explain how it happened in the first place. (Jii objected to him turning up at all, obviously, but Kaito can be pretty reckless and soft-hearted when it comes to these things, as we all know.)