collecting-weird-rocks-at-2am

[kidconsky]

The difference in abs...

[scentedluminarysoul]

Every time I read a KaiShin fic and Kaito's hands are described as calloused from doing acrobatics/gymnastics, this is literally where my mind goes. Without fail

[peemanne]

i thoroughly enjoy the fact that bruiser's hidden arts are activated by repel. tak has to do all of these acrobatic gymnastic shenanigans with vicious charged hits, parries and perfect dodges. kaito just bitch slaps the guy trying to smack him and suddenly oooohhhh ahhhhh increased combo speed that man is decidedly dead now

[schro4444]

Ohh the idea of them pooling their skills together to create better disguises together is brilliant! the mimicking voices was probably Chikage (I imagine you'd have to have been training your voice constantly for a looooooong time to get the huge vocal range needed for that...I wonder how she became a thief actually, iirc she targeted corrupt corporations) but I bet it was Toichi who could do all kinds of interesting things with it - throwing his voice so it seems he's speaking from somewhere he isn't, making it seem as though it's far away or right behind you or simply making it carry (to his audience!), and yeah the acting through body language and reading ppl bc he needs to act like it was all part of the plan if a trick goes wrong and needed to improvise, and be able to read his audience to control where their attention goes and pull off misdirection. Also he probably does have very good spatial awareness, I cannot beLIEVE he went through LASER NET with a CAPE AND TOP HAT, he's RIDICULOUS

"as long as you're feeling agile enough" Chikage is, in fact, the one who was good at acrobatics while Toichi did a lame little side shuffle, she probably knew parkour too. Also ik it's not realistic but I was suddenly assaulted w the image of Chikage teaching Kaito and Toichi parkour and acrobatics together at the same time and Kaito being better at it than Toichi jhdgjsgf. bby Kaito probably used his parents as a jungle gym tbh, imagine talking to THE Kuroba Toichi, best magician in Japan (best magician in the WORLD Kaito corrects vehemently), all the while a 6 yo is doing a handstand on his shoulders or smth

Also I'm not surprised in the least that talking his way out was his plan, his advice to Kaito was "turn your critics into your fans" and THESE critics were out to ARREST THEM yet it STILL WORKED. absolute madlads

YESSSS perfect!! the ultimate combination of skills!!! I wonder how she became a thief too. like. was she raised in it? was it circumstances? revenge turned vigilantism? IDK!!! clearly she was tired of it by the end, but she also clearly was having fun. pls I need the prequel so bad

I think about the hat a lot actually. it’s so tall. between the hat & cape and the bandages OVER THE EYES you have to admire the kurobas’ commitment to the aesthetic

LAME LITTLE SIDE SHUFFLE SHFHDHD poor man. but you’re absolutely right. LISTEN I’m absolutely certain that chikage taught kaito parkour by pretending it was gymnastics practice or obstacle courses or something similar, so it’s not a huge stretch At All to include toichi in those lessons. that stuff is so hard to learn as an adult, too… cue 6yo kaito doing full trapeze acrobat moves with chikage while toichi does his absolute BEST to learn a back handspring before his next heist

toichi turned “fake it til you make it” into a successful international phantom thief career, it’s a magician’s Greatest ability. now kaito can do it too but Also with the help of Actual Crime Skills (everyone say thank you chikage)

ventriloquism TOTALLY has practical use in magic. okok I’ve actually thought abt this before—for toichi to be the best magician ever, his shows would need to be WILD. bc irl magicians can do some insane things. I think he totally just did the most bamboozling acts where he’d make himself disappear and then have his voice appear from 5 directions at once, or use ventriloquism + magic to convince people that inanimate objects were alive and talking, stuff like that. worldwide magic sensation kuroba toichi disguises himself as you in real time and then he calls your mom using your voice while escaping from a straightjacket. etc.

WHICH OF COURSE leads DIRECTLY to kaito using this nonsense to become the most chaotic little nightmare child EVER (beloved). he is a terror to his classmates and his parents are actively part of the problem. aoko comes into the house like “kaito where are you” and she hears “I’m coming!” from upstairs and then he appears directly behind her. she screams and goes to tell on him to toichi but toichi does the same thing to her. chikage apologizes for both of them using their own voices. this is just what it’s like in the kuroba household. when kaito gets in trouble at school they’re 100% the kind of parents to be more disappointed that he got caught, not about the fact that he was building a confetti cannon at his desk

[redrobin-detective]

📂

for DCMK, Kaito did gymnastics as a child in order to try and bleed out some of his excess energy. He took to it like a duck to water but instead of competing, he used his newfound flexibility and strength to cause chaos. He avoids showing it in public as Kid but he is extremely agile and an accomplished gymnast.

[squidpro-quo]

Roommates

AN: For @sup-poki and @mintchocolateleaves‘s emogust prompt “Roommates”, suuuuuuper late but I couldn’t forget athlete!kaishin and especially not Kaito as an acrobat

“Oi, Kudo! Can you stop staring for a minute and focus?” 

Shinichi turned away from his view of the gym and back towards Heiji just as a soccer ball slammed into his face, sending him reeling back with his nose stinging like hell. The pain was enough to snap him back to his current situation, not the daydream he’d been entertaining a second ago, and now he certainly had the focus to glare at Hakuba as he and Heiji jogged closer. 

“That’s the third ball to the brain cage this week, Kudo,” Heiji said, clapping an arm across his back and pulling his shoulder close as Hakuba passed by on his way to retrieve the ball. “I tried to warn you this time too!”

“I was paying attention, it just caught me off guard.” Shinichi grimaced as he pulled his hand away from his nose, gaze sliding unbidden back to the side of the gym. The assembled figures stretching against the wall, some now pointing down towards the soccer field with heads clustered together, were close enough for him to pick out the lithe one in the leggings and loose tank top bending down to touch his toes. Shinichi didn’t need him to look up just yet and see the disaster of a fool he’d made of himself at the moment, that could wait. 

“Aaaaand you’re still not paying attention,” Heiji muttered, snapping his fingers in front of Shinichi’s face, poking him in the nose once he refused to look away. “Seriously, I thought you guys were roommates? What’s making this so hard? You literally see him every day for several hours. You sleep less than ten feet away.” 

“Likely that is the source of his inability to kick the ball instead of receiving it with his face,” Hakuba cut in, returning with the ball in hand and calculating gaze in store. “You should ask him before anyone else does.” 

“Ask him what?” Shinichi tried to play dumb, but the ball must have shaken a screw loose or something because a second later his brain caught up to why this whole line of questioning was a bad idea. “Who’s going to ask him?”

“You can’t think you’re the only one who gets distracted by splits and somersaults, right?” Heiji tried to slap the ball out of Hakuba’s hand, but the other was used to the habit and stepped out of range. 

“If you keep drooling over the leotards then pretty soon someone else will take a move while you’re still recovering from your repeated brain injuries.” Hakuba smiled slightly, dropping the ball down to bounce on his knee. 

“You’ve got a chance, Kudo!” Heiji shook him in encouragement, Shinichi fighting to stay standing against his strength. None of their reasoning was convincing him to take the climb the grassy hill up to the gym and do something embarrassing in front of the entire gymnastics team. He could just imagine the way Kaito would look up from his stretch to smile and ask if he wanted to do some exercises together later. “He’s got his own puddle of drool.” 

That got his attention.

“What? How do you know?” Shinichi turned towards Heiji so sharply that his nose twinged from the speed of the movement. 

“You know you can be real blind to things right in front of you sometimes, right? Handshake trick, my ass, you can tell what someone had for breakfast but not that your own roommate stares at you when you’re not looking.” 

Shinichi wanted to glance up towards the side of the gym yet again but resolutely kept his gaze fixed on the soccer ball now passing from the tip of Hakuba’s foot up to his head. Balancing it for a second before returning it to his hands, Hakuba still had time to shoot Shinichi an unimpressed stare. 

“I saw him lose his balance when you scored in that scrimmage match last week. And he keeps watching you run by too. Doesn’t spare the rest of us half an eyeful, guess our shorts aren’t short enough.” Heiji grinned, before giving Shinichi a shove in the back. “Now hurry up, we’re taking a water break for your health. Don’t come back until you’ve done something about your very flexible distraction.” 

Shinichi looked up to find Kaito standing back up, eyes catching on his own and while he raised his leg above his head and braced it against the wall beside him, gave Shinichi a small wave. 

What the hell, he could always just ask Kaito a quick question and those two wouldn’t know any better until he came back and told them he didn’t do it. Shinichi started climbing the hill, hands braced on his thighs with each step from the steepness. His practice jersey stuck to his chest with each lunging stride but he managed to reach the top without becoming out of breath. Which was a relief, because he needed it available for it to be stolen when Kaito beamed at his approach and bounded out of his stretch to meet him halfway to the rest of the team. 

“Looks like you’re going hard today,” Kaito said, eyes brushing up and down Shinichi’s rumpled shirt and shorts with a meaningful look.

“No, no we’re not…” Shinichi scrambled for better words before he made a fool of a misinterpretation. “Yeah, coach is working us hard. You guys on the bars today?”

“Rings, actually. I’ll have noodle arms by tonight.” 

“Do you want some tonight?” Shinichi blurted, mouth moving faster than his slightly battered brain could keep up. Maybe Hakuba was right about potential concussions. 

“Some what?” Kaito leaned to the side, hands on his bare hips as he spoke, dipping into a stretch while Shinichi had to face the fact of how much of his skin he could, see from his shoulders to his waist. 

“Noodles. Do you want to get noodles tonight?”

“Uh, sure. I thought it was my turn to make dinner?” Kaito shot him a perplexed look, straightening up. 

“I was thinking we could eat at a restaurant.” Shinichi tried again. 

“Oh. Is this because you ran a load of your laundry right when I needed to do mine?” Kaito laughed sheepishly before adding on, “I actually just stole some of your shirts instead, so you don’t have to pay me back.”

“No, it’s not about that.” Though now Shinichi knew why he’d been faintly possessive when he’s seen Kaito yesterday. He gave up and went for direct instead. “Go out with me.” 

“I mean I’m cool with getting noodles somewhere, I’ll go out to eat.” Kaito shrugged, the strap of his tank top slipping off his shoulder with the motion. He pulled it back up and smiled, that infuriating grin that Shinichi now knew to be his mischievous one. 

“You know what I mean, Kuroba,” he muttered, his blood pumping from how riled up his damn roommate could get him, in more ways than one, and not from the rigorous practice anymore. 

“Just wanted to see how long it would take you. Too many soccer balls to the head will do that to you,” Kaito said, a satisfied look gleaming in his eyes. 

Before Shinichi could retort, one of Kaito’s teammates, Akako’s familiar wicked sharp voice, cut in.

“He fell flat on his ass so much he had to bribe us to keep quiet.” She pointed between the two. “Finally. You two are denser than a pair of weights. Get out of here, Kudo, you’ll have him all to yourself tonight. Right now he’s mine.” 

Shinichi glared over Kaito’s shoulder at her but Kaito took hold his arm and after a quick squeeze, pushed him down the slope. 

“It’s a date!”

If you’d like to know more, prompt me here

[mintchocolateleaves]

Cost of Freedom: (8/??)

Summary: In which both Kaito and Shinichi avoid asking the questions they really want to know, and ask the less important things instead. Prison ! AU

[Beginning]     [Previous Chapter]     [Next Chapter]

"I didn't kill them," Kudo leans his head back, voice hoarse as he closes his eyes. He shudders, a cough building in his chest. "I'm telling the truth, I swear."

Kaito struggles to think - The other could be lying, but the way he whispers is too genuine. Or rather, it sounds genuine, and Kaito doesn't want to overthink it, because how nice would it be if it were true? He decides to believe in the ex-detective, it's too much effort not to.

He smiles to himself, laughs under his breath.

Kudo opens his eyes, glances over at him, at the grin that's wormed it's way onto the thief's face. And he pales, well, most of him does - his neck remains splotchy, red and purple spreading across skin like a child's painting.

"I'm not laughing at you," Kaito says after a moment, his own eyes widening. "I believe you, but... just, what're the chances, you know? What are the chances that they'd arrest the wrong man and-"

He falters.

"We obviously need to talk about this," he continues, "but we also need to get you to the infirmary, okay?"

Kudo waves him away, gives a weak smile and rasps, "I'll be fine. Let's go back to the cell."

He grasps at the wall as he stands up, trying to stand on shaky legs. Kaito catches Kudo when he staggers, lifting one arm to settle around his shoulder, using his other arm to hoist him up.

"Don't be stupid Kudo," he says. The tone is not quite scolding, but it's wrapped with concern, is harsh enough that it lets the other know he won't take any nonsense. "You need to double check that it's nothing internal."

When he opens his mouth to respond, Kudo chokes on air. It hurts to hear - he wonders just how much it hurts Kudo, to feel that. Kaito gives him a look that tells him all his arguments are meaningless and that he'll drag him to the infirmary if he needs to.

Or carry him there, it'll probably be quicker.

"It's probably nothing," Kudo rasps when they're halfway down the corridor.

Kaito scoffs, "sure it isn't. It's not like being strangled is a big issue or anything. Of course not. It's not like this would have any future implications at all."

The other boy scowls, but doesn't protest again. Instead, he leaves Kaito to a sullen silence, letting him muse over what he's learnt. Kudo's going to die - which isn't an option, not if he's innocent. That leads to the question, why is the detective in prison in the first place?

Obviously, he's been framed. But why would anyone make it seem as if he's committed the murder of six people, especially when it's so contradictory to who he is as a person? He used to solve murders for Christ's sake - why would someone want to lead the public into believing he's guilty?

Unless...

No, he'll leave the theory until later, will wait until Kudo tells him what he thinks.

It's not coincidence that Kudo was thrown into prison, so there must be a reason behind it, and who better to tell him then the victim himself.

It's not long before they reach the infirmary. Kaito bundles Kudo inside, passes him over to the nurse and explains that he needs urgent care, right now, and that he should probably stay overnight to monitor his symptoms.

Kudo sends him a glance of disbelief, and only gets a shrug in response. His brows furrow as Kaito leads him over to a spare hospital bed, setting him down and looking at his neck. There are little red pinpoint spots - Petechiae - where fingers have squeezed against skin and worry flares in him, hot and boiling like rage but not quite.

"KID... I... Uh... thank you." Kudo mumbles as he shuffles against the sheets, trying to find a comfortable position. His hands bunch the blankets in his hand, and he looks almost as if he is curling in on himself, even if he's not moved much.

"Kaito."

"Huh?"

Kaito leans forward, trademark grin forcing its way onto his face. He says, "I think we're at the point where you can call me by my name. So... call me Kaito from now on, okay?"

Kudo's go wide. "I-"

"I'll call you Shinichi in return," Kaito continues, nodding to himself and turning around. "So, let's succeed with this escape of ours, alright?"

"Y-yeah."

The nurse decides to keep Shinichi in the infirmary overnight, much like Kaito had thought, just to keep watch and make sure the swelling stops without further injury. She hands him some inflammatory drugs, offering him a smile, before leaving them to focus on other patients.

Kaito stays for as long as he can, sitting against the wall. He thinks of different ways of trying to escape, wonders whether Shinichi's 'contact' would be able to get them floor plans, whether they could get him something better to pick locks with than the hair grips that he keeps hidden in his hair.

"The guard," Kaito says, when he's certain that the nurse is out of hearing range, "what are the limitations on what we can ask for?"

Shinichi leans forward, glancing over at him. His brows furrow and for a moment, he looks the part of the detective he used to be, eyes narrowed in thought. It's almost nice to see, Kaito thinks, regardless of the fact he usually hates law enforcement and detectives.

He should re-evaluate that, he decides. It might be that he simply hates Hakuba and has been assuming all over teenage detectives are as stuck up as he is.

"Can't be metal," Shinichi croaks, pausing to sip at some water. He winces as he swallows, but otherwise, he doesn't seem to be in too much pain, "it's got to be small, nothing that can't fit in his pocket or under any clothes."

"Hmm," Kaito says. If they can't bring in metal, then guards probably need to go through metal detectors every time they enter the prison. It's not odd, he himself has to go through some every time he leaves the west workshop to ensure he doesn't take anything out with him. Not that he has to worry in the evening, when the power is out. "Can he get the prison's building plans to us?"

Shinichi nods, "It shouldn't be too hard."

"Good," Kaito grins, pumps his fist in the air, "and a pencil."

48 days until March the 3rd and Oto-san manages to get them both a pencil and some building plans. During this time, Shinichi somehow talks a guard into bringing him a torch - 'For the evenings, because I just want to read some nights' -  and Kaito doesn't ask how, because he doesn't quite want to know what the other prisoner has done to acquire it.

He spends the day jittery, feeling like they shouldn't be waiting until lights out to look at the plans, even though he knows that they need to make sure the paper doesn't get confiscated.

In the end, he spends more time outside than he should, bouncing with energy. While Shinichi sits and watches him, he practises acrobatics, reminding himself of the time when he spent days practising front walkovers and dive rolls until his muscles are sore and he's certain that he can perform them without any failure, like he used to at heists.

He repeats back walkovers until he's confident that he won't stumble, before grinning over at Shinichi. When he's finished, Kaito collapses beside the other detective, closing his eyes and settling his breathing.

"You did gymnastics when you were younger?" Shinichi asks. He seems more relaxed around Kaito now, which is nice, if not a little odd with the countdown over his head.

Kaito hums, "I always had to much energy, apparently. Gymnastics was meant to wear me out."

Shinichi lets out a dry laugh, "I can't imagine you without all that energy."

"You've seen me without it," Kaito sighs, massaging his hands from stones have pressed against skin. Even the best spots in the yard aren't rock free - he's lucky that he's not cut into his hand. "I mean, after that phone call I had."

He's still not sure, even after a week of wondering, what Aoko had meant, and while he wants to know how to make things right, every time he thinks back on it, it leaves him wallowing in regret and a strange sense of self-pity. He doesn't feel any different when he's acting as KID as opposed to Kaito, and maybe that's the problem, maybe he's just too involved to find any answers.

"...Who did you call?" Shinichi asks, hesitancy clouding each word.

"A friend," Kaito turns his head away, bites on his tongue, "my best friend. She hasn't really taken well to me being KID."

An understatement, Kaito knows. He just doesn't have the words to explain how betrayed Aoko had looked when he'd been dragged away, the ashy pallor of her skin, the way she'd cried that it was another one of KID's tricks as he'd been forced into the police car, despite his cheeks having been pinched for any masks he could have been wearing.

It had been on that night that Kaito had finally understood why people hated silence - because it's never just quiet. Maybe no one had said anything inside the police car but it certainly hadn't been noiseless. His thoughts had exploded, ricochet against every corner of his mind. The had not been a moment in that patrol car where he had not replayed Aoko's cries.

"I don't imagine that it'd be an easy thing to accept." Shinichi says, and Kaito opens his eyes to glance at him, trying to read the emotions across his face - he's been through the same, Kaito knows, except he's lucky enough to have a few people who understand.

Or maybe they don't. He doesn't know.

"She told me that there's a difference between Kaito and KID," Kaito says, sitting up, "but they're both me, and well... I can't see things the same way she does."

Shinichi purses his lips, "some times people see the things they want to see... but it doesn't necessarily make her wrong either."

Yes, because that helps.

"I don't even know why I'm letting it get to me all that much," Kaito sighs, "it's not like I'm going to see her again. As soon as we leave this place, I won't be able to speak to her again - this isn't something I can come back from."

For a moment, none of them speak, then Shinichi says, "maybe that's why you want to know the difference so much, because if you don't figure it out now... you won't afterwards."

Kaito sighs, closes his eyes, and pretends that it's not stressing him out as much as it is. There's so much he wants to do - he wants to figure out what Aoko means, he wants to come up with a daring escape - but most of all, he just wants it to be the evening, so they can read over the building plans and take one step forward to being free.

"I don't know what she wants from me," Kaito says.

Sometimes it feels like there are more questions than answers, that he's unable to interpret anything that's been thrown at him. In the end, the day is not one of beginnings or endings, just a blur of unrest as they trudge through the in between, waiting for their ideas to come to life.