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Kaito hated it when it was quiet.
It was a fact that had become sickeningly obvious now that he had nothing but his thoughts to keep him company. Suppose that’s what puts the “solitary” in Solitary Confinement. It wasn’t like he’d imagined it would be when he was finally captured. He imagined a thick, sturdy cell with metal bars and cement floors, constant chatter of other criminals locked up for the same reasons he was. (Theft, Vandalism, Destruction of Private Property, ect.)
He wasn’t expecting a rather spacious, carpeted room with a bookshelf and a door. Locked on the outside of course, but with no visible windows. The bed was better quality than he expected, and the place even had a private lavatory, so bonus for him.
Despite these accommodations, the place is unbearable. It looks fine, it smells fine, it’s much more like a bedroom than a prison cell than he was expecting when they finally caught him, but it’s so god damn quiet. He can’t even hear the wind outside from where he’s staying. The only noises are the ones he makes, like his breathing, or flipping the page of a book occasionally when trying to get his brain to focus on something other than how suffocatingly quiet it is.
At least if he was locked in a standard cell, with all the vandals and the grand larcenists and the like, he’d have someone to talk to. He’d more than happily give out autographs to possible fans and show a few tricks to an eager audience. Kaito was someone who thrived off of noise, cheering, heckling and chatter. Crowds were his cover and the eager looks of people waiting to see what he’ll do next gave life to his every performance, regardless how legal they were.
In this drab, lonely place, his only company was the sound of silence.
“I think I’m going to keel over from boredom if I have to stay here any longer,” Kaito calls out to no one in particular. It’s not like anyone can hear him in here, except whoever might be running the security. Cameras littered the cell, sending feed to some other secluded location Kaito couldn’t reach, so trying to strike up conversation with the guards is impossible too. He’d found all the cameras in the cell as something to kill time, though knowing where they are now doesn’t do him any favors.
“Bakaito! Maybe you should have never been caught in the first place!” Aoko’s voice suddenly echoes through the confinement cell. Kaito doesn’t even notice he’s mimicking her voice until he notices the strain on his vocal chords from pitching his voice into a feminine range. It’s probably what she would be saying to him if she were here, on top of demanding why he lied to her and why he did all those terrible things.
She probably doesn’t want to see him ever again, but it’s nice to pretend that they’re still friends. That Aoko would still talk to him after all of this. That Aoko would still tolerate him after everything he’s done. Kaito is sure that news of his capture is circulating through the police force at great speed, and with Inspector Nakamori being head of his case, word must have reached her by now. Nakamori-keibu would tell his daughter why her childhood friend wasn’t coming home, wouldn’t he?
“You’re right Aoko, maybe I shouldn’t have been,” Kaito answers his own accusation as if it was Aoko who had said it, shutting the book he was reading and placing it back on the shelf. The wooden fixture creaks with slight tension, the sound of paper and leather sliding against each other giving the slightest bit of life back to the dull and drab room.
“Then why did you get captured, huh?” Her voice parrots back. “Wasn’t Kaitou KID supposed to be this great, untouchable phantom who used magic tricks? Didn’t you say you were going to be better than him the first day he came back?”
“It’s obvious, isn’t it?” Hakuba cuts in, or rather, Kaito’s imitation of him. He’s got literally nothing better to do than imitate his friends because it’s so boring in this place. “Kuroba has clearly gone mad in his attempts to continue being Kaitou KID. His madness caught up to him and finally caused him to falter. Hence his capture at the moment the world needed him the most.”
Kaito can’t help feeling irritated, despite the fact that it’s only an imitation of Hakuba. “For the last time, Hakubastard, I’m not KID.”
“Do you really have any right to say that now, Kuroba?” Hakuba shoots back, and Kaito can feel the mental image of the stuck-up detective gesturing vaguely to the area around them. The area feels even more quiet than before as an awkward silence sets in. Kaito blinks a few times, shaking his head.
“Alright, okay, you have a point for once,” he concedes to Hakuba, leaning back on the bed provided. “But it’s not like I exactly had a choice, getting cornered between Meitantei and the uninvited guests that continue to plague the existence of any self-respecting phantom thief out there. I figured Meitantei was less likely to shoot me dead.”
“I warned you about this,” Akako’s voice drifts into the room airily. The real one would probably kill him if she knew he was imitating her voice. Then again she has a creepy sixth sense about everything, so she’s probably watching this from whatever witchy cauldron she has back at her sorcerer’s hollow or whatever it is actual, legitimate witches use to do their actual, legitimate magic with. “As I prophesied before you left that day: The Demon of Light will use his cunning to clip the wings of the wayward doves, and cage him where predatory crows dare not reach.”
“Yeah, cool, great. You were right too, are you happy now?” Kaito bites back at Akako, waving a hand at the red witch with an air of nonchalance. God, he must look like an idiot right now, talking to himself to keep the silence of his prison from suffering him. Caged bird, indeed.
“I will not be satisfied until you bow to me and submit your will, Kaitou KID,” Akako replies unhelpfully. Just what Kaito thought she would say. It’s almost like a typical day between Kaito and his classmates with how impeccable his impersonations tended to be. And, it was much better than just sitting here doing nothing.
“I always knew that I would be the one to catch you, Kaitou KID.”
Kudo Shinichi’s voice suddenly invades his imitations. Though, it’s more like the great detective had been there the whole time, and only now had chosen to make his presence known in order to shock and awe the target of his deductions, in order to stun them enough to keep them from making the next move. Classic move from Meitantei.
His mind has been on the events that lead to his capture ever since he was locked in here. Of course it was the most prevalent thought; he wouldn’t be in this room otherwise. His conversation with Meitantei slides back into focus as the events replay in his head. It was supposed to be like any other heist, but the whims of fate clearly had other plans.
“So there are splinter groups,” Kudo’s voice reverberates, and Kaito is taken back to that cold, winter rooftop where he had pushed the detective to the ground in order to keep him from being shot dead by his uninvited guests. Head to toe in gray and black, pointing guns at the pair as they lay prone on the ground.
Snake and his cronies go through the usual spiel about “pandora this” and “kill Kaitou KID” while pointing their loaded weapons at the two on the ground. Kaito’s heard it so many times over the years he’s been working this job that he hardly cares to listen anymore. The same song and dance had been playing out since the beginning and Kaito couldn’t care less about the motivations of his pursuers. He just wants them gone.
Meitantei was certainly happy to comply back there, pulling out his tranq watch and knocking out two guys to cause enough of a panic for the pair opposing the syndicate to get back on their feet. Kudo has also called in backup from his many, many, absolutely numerous police contacts to help put these guys behind bars amidst the struggle, leaving Kaito, the one white dove amidst a sea of crows and hawks dueling for territory, nowhere to run by the time the dust had cleared.
Cuffs were on his wrists the moment it had, despite his own help being contributed into the fray, and obviously protesting in the direction of the detective in the midst of arresting him. Damn his altruism streak, but he wasn’t going to leave when he was the only one with experience with this specific group. Knowing how to lead them into other agents on the job, and the task force, and the other gaggle of high school detectives at his heist on that night. And what does he get for it? Two fancy new metal bracelets and a condo in… whatever high security prison this is.
There was really only one thing keeping him here. He’s Kaitou KID. Even a top-of-the-line secure cell like this couldn’t keep him for long if he wanted to leave. He’d already located all the cameras, figured out how the steel door works, and would know how to pry open the metal paneling on the walls using the screws keeping his bed frame together to make enough wire string and a wedge to open the one exit this place would give him, and he could do it easily and covertly.
Except the moment he leaves the cell, he’s dead.
It’s also the reason he doesn’t feel more betrayed about Meitantei arresting him after everything they’d been through as tentative allies. Kudo Shinichi was saving his life by keeping him here. The moment he leaves the cell, the crows would get him. He’d had his cover blown, and the entire organization had been informed that he was not Kuroba Toichi, but instead his son. He’d be in danger no matter where he went, no matter how good his disguise. So, if they couldn’t find him, they’d draw him out by threatening those close to them.
The solution? So he doesn’t end up shot dead in the street or getting the Nakamoris killed? Hide him in plain sight. Put him somewhere the crows know where he is, but untouchable as long as he’s there. The “arrest” as Kudo had put it, was instead a coverup for an elaborate attempt at witness protection. As long as Kaito remained in the cell, he would be safe, and it was easy for the news to report his arrest as cover up for the true goal, finishing off the syndicate.
Kaito had agreed to it quid pro quo, demanding that he at least be compensated for his help in taking them down the moment this was all said and done. Kudo had offered him more than that.
“Once it’s safe for you to leave again,” the detective declared as they were working through the paperwork regarding the arrest with his, again, numerous international police contacts, “I can, at the very least, offer you a pardon. But if you’ll indulge me…”
Kaito was still considering the deal. Having been locked in this place for who knows how many days now (he stopped counting), he could use some excitement. Sitting still in one place for ages is really starting to wear on him, even if he does try to keep a somewhat constant exercise routine to keep from losing his reflexes and sharp instincts.
“Various departments have been reviewing your case files with the new information that’s come to be known,” Kudo continues. “They find your methodology intriguing, if not a bit counterintuitive. With the right backing from those on the right side of the law, we could create a rather interesting, covert way of exposing and arresting counterfeit rings dealing in fake treasures and art being sold illegally.”
“What can I say? I have my own way of doing things,” Kaito had replied in kind from behind the glass window his holding cell provided, during his meeting with detective Kudo.
“The Ryouma Treasures,” Kudo continues. “Would you be willing to continue work like that, as Kaitou KID? It would not be at the same rates as you’ve been keeping, since the heists would have to be regulated by whoever ends up keeping your file, but it’s the best I can offer. If you’re willing to comply, you’d become NOC. We can keep your identity from going public, and you’ll continue to lead a civilian life outside of what your employers need. The public will be satisfied, as Kaitou KID continues to dazzle and amaze his fans as you like to put it.”
“I’ll have plenty of time to think about it, Meitantei,” Kaito had replied. “I’ll give you my answer when the crows have all been rounded up.”
Kaito stares aimlessly at the ceiling as the memories subside again. Could he continue being Kaitou KID even after this? It was exhausting being the Moonlight Magician, for one thing. KID took up many sleepless nights in recent history, forced him to lie to his only friends, had bad people breathing down his neck to the point where if he leaves prison he’ll be shot on sight.
But Meitantei did have a point. He could do some good with the identity. There were some bad people out there that even the numerous contacts Kudo had couldn’t deal with, without a little inside help. And Kaito was very good at exposing the dark, gritty corners of gem thievery, forgery and counterfeiters. It was his specialty at this point with the intricate knowledge that came with knowing how to pull off a crime and enough of a reputation to force a squadron of officers to find more than just the white beacon that led them there.
Conversely, could Kaitou KID work with law enforcement? Kaito had never considered NOC as an option with everything considered. A phantom thief should be as solid as mist in the wind, never staying long, untouchable, not tied down or chained to anything.
This room is the exact opposite of that, and it contradicts everything Kaito should be, phantom thief or magician. Yeah, prison is a load of bullshit. He better be getting that pardon after this, because he never wants to be here, ever again.
“Wonder what school is like right now,” Kaito murmurs to himself. Winter break was probably over at this point, and the college classes were a lot quieter without his magic tricks to keep everyone entertained throughout the day. Kaito was majoring in chemistry and technical engineering, as well as sub-degrees in the performance arts. He still wants to be a world renowned magician after all this, and the major degrees will help him get inspiration for his magic tricks and gadgets he can craft for himself. Can’t rely on Jii-chan’s inventor friend all the time, now can he?
“I’m sure it’s a lot less interesting for your fellow classmates now that you aren’t here to annoy them 24/7, let alone the rest of the campus with how overly extravagant your midday performances are,” Hakuba replies through him with conviction.
“Don’t be like that, Hakuba!” Aoko interrupts him. “Kaito may be very, very disruptive, but the professors love him! I’m sure most of the class misses him now that he’s gone! I mentioned while I was leaving my criminology class that I missed having him bug me, because it got so dull without him! I didn’t think I’d ever admit something like that!”
“He’s been a constant presence in your life since you moved to Ekoda,” Hakuba counters. “The sudden, jarring silence of a normal school day would be strange for you, Nakamori-san.”
Kaito chuckles in his own voice. “Aww, so you did miss me? Maybe I should make my next performance so special, you’ll be able to see the show from across the campus!”
“Kuroba, don’t you dare-” Hakuba growls with a glare in his golden eyes.
“Yeah, if Kaito did that, he might alert his boyfriend to where he is,” Aoko replies with a teasing tone. Oh, no, not this again. “That’s why you keep running away and hiding from him, right? Because you’re a hopeless Bakaito who’s hopelessly in love with the most famous person on campus right now!”
“How many times do I have to say it, Ahoko! It’s not a crush! Kudo is just very intimidating!” Kaito argues back, folding his arms over his chest indignantly.
“It is rather incriminating, that there is one person on campus that you avoid the gaze of,” Hakuba interjects, putting his hands in his pockets smugly. “Could it be that you’re afraid of him exposing the truth that you are, in fact, Kaitou KID? But detective Kudo is a homicide detective, isn’t he? Perhaps there are forlorn feelings of affection there… seeing as you still talk to me rather easily despite my own accusations.”
“It’s not like that!” Kaito all but yells at the pair, turning his eyes away. “I’m telling you, the guy is intimidating! Have you seen that gaze, his eyes are like little targeting systems that glow when he finds a potential mystery! And have you seen the shinigami curse that seems to follow him everywhere he goes? That’s too many murders-”
“Someone’s getting defensive~!” Aoko sing-songs. “Kaito’s got a crush, Kaito’s got a crush!”
“Shut UP, Ahoko!” Kaito bites back at her cheery tone.
“You didn’t deny it that time,” Hakuba points out.
“Oh, don’t you dare start too,” moans the magician, covering his face with his arm. “I’m being bullied, I’m being slandered, why are you two the only people I ever go out of my way to talk to again?”
“Because you love us!” Aoko chimes unhelpfully. “So, what’s the details. When did you realize that you were hopelessly in love with the Great Detective of the East who coincidentally goes to Tokyo’s local college with us?”
“Kudo has been cited as a notorious Sherlock Holmes fan, so I certainly approve of adding him to our inner circle,” Hakuba adds with a smug look on his face.
“You guys aren’t going to let up until I go talk to him, aren’t you?” Kaito groans, scowling as he pulls his arm off his face. Could this really be going any worse? The only people he ever talks to and they’re accusing him of having a crush on Kudo Shinichi. The same Kudo Shinichi that has, according to someone who apparently talks to Lucifer on a regular basis, “has the cunning of the devil himself” or something like that.
The moment they were to meet with their civilian identities, Kaito predicts it would take all of three seconds flat for Kudo to clue in to his “little secret.” A magician, his age, who looks exactly like him, while Kaitou KID is painfully aware of how similar he looks to his detective rival? Kaito would be up the creek without a paddle if-
“Was someone talking about me?”
Oh god damn it, no. If his life were a sit-com, the comedic timing of Kudo’s arrival would be followed by a laugh track as Kaito turns beet-red in shame and embarrassment. The man of the hour arrives in a fine-pressed suit, his locks combed neatly aside his usual cowlicks and with the air of authority and determination that usually followed him. The presence of the Great Detective always puts Kaito’s hair on end. He could walk into a room unannounced and Kaito would just KNOW that he was there.
Kaito looks like a scruffy dog with messy hair and a wrinkled uniform by comparison, and the irony is not lost on him.
“Well, would you look at that, we summoned the pretty boy just by talking about him!” Aoko declares proudly, hands on her hips.
“I beg your pardon?” Kudo mutters, looking a bit flustered at Aoko’s words. His confident posture and sharp blue eyes had been traded for an embarrassed flush, the detective finding the air of the room awkward to stand in all of a sudden.
“Kaito has a crush on you, but he’s being a bit too much of a Bakaito to admit it, so we’re doing it for him!” Aoko declares cheerily.
“What! I do not! Ahoko, you’re going to pay for saying that!” Kaito snaps back at her.
“It is hard to ignore the facts, Kuroba,” Hakuba interjects, stopping Kaito from getting up to reverse their roles and chase Aoko around for a bit. “You constantly avoid just his gaze alone any time we’re on campus, despite the fact that you bask in attention like it’s a relaxing shower. Yet, you constantly talk about how much of a showman he is with his deductions, citing his admirability and how close he comes to catching KID compared to anyone else on the police force. Anyone with half a mind can easily concur that you are gushing about someone you find attractive, instead of just being a flirt mongerer like you are with anyone else around you, leading me to believe that this is genuine attraction and not just you being your usual self.”
“Wait, what? I… I never noticed that? The college did get inexplicably quiet after your arrest, and I’ve always suspected that KID’s civilian identity might be attending the same, out of the way locale, but-” Kudo is trying very hard not to stutter out his words.
“I’m being harassed. Meitantei stop them from harassing me, please,” Kaito turns to Kudo and begs him with a sickly sweet childish voice and big puppy dog eyes.
“KID, how am I supposed to stop you from harassing yourself?” Kudo grumbles. “I came in here to tell you that you’re free to go. We uh… we caught the last of the guys on your ass and finished processing your pardon.”
Kaito blinks at that, shaking himself out of his stupor to realize he was talking to himself to fill the quiet room with some noise again. It was a convincing enough display of his acting skills for him to fool himself, at least until the REAL Meitantei walked in and snapped him out of it.
“Are you… okay?” Kudo walks over to him with a concerned look in his eyes. “Have you been talking to yourself the whole time you’ve been in here?”
“...too quiet,” Kaito mumbles under his breath. “I hate it when it’s quiet.”
Thinking back on it, this probably isn’t the first time he’s slipped into pretending to be everyone in his social circle since he got here. This is the first time someone pulled him out of it before he realized it himself, that the cacophony of voices swirling in his head which he could imitate perfectly were his only source of company in solitary because he had to make his own noise to keep himself from going insane.
Or maybe he’s already insane? It hurts that he can’t really tell right now.
“Well, we have a lot to talk about now that the syndicate hunting you is taken care of, so to speak,” Kudo mumbles, sitting next to Kaito on the bed. He looks troubled, sitting next to Kaito on the bed and sighing. Kaito takes note of his exhaustion, and figures the detective had been dealing with the opposite problem. Things being too loud, too chaotic, too all over the place for him to get any time to himself.
At least his sense of introspection hadn’t failed the famous phantom thief yet, because the sigh the detective lets out has all the sounds of fatigue and burnout Kaito had expected to hear in it. Whatever had happened, it looked like it had been a lot for all of them. Kudo really was the only one who could really relate to him. Double lives, being taken out of their elements, forced to lie to everyone to avoid being murdered by evil criminal syndacates…
“Sorry, you said that they were taken care of? You arrested all of them?” Kaito turns his head to Kudo, perking up at the words the detective had given him. Before he had gotten distracted by his own thoughts. It’s still too quiet in this dingy cell.
“Well, all the ones that we COULD arrest,” Kudo sighs. “The ones that we didn’t are making nice, decorative statues where we caught them.”
“Statues?” Kaito asks incredulously. “What, did they turn to stone?”
“That whole “pandora” thing you were talking about, and what they were talking about at the time? That comet passed by while we were running a bust on them. They’d found the supposedly magic rock and it ended up crying the tears of immortality or whatever they were after,” Shinichi elaborates. “Well, it certainly did make them “immortal” after the fact.”
“Immortal,” Kaito breathes. Does that mean that despite his efforts, they got what they wanted? Wait, hold on. Kudo mentioned that they’d become… oh! Oh! That must mean. “So immortality in the sense of being unable to die,” Kaito mutters aloud.
“But you have to be alive in order to die,” Kudo continues, a tired smile reaching his lips. “To be “undying”, you would have to never be alive in the first place.”
“So Pandora really did turn them to stone?” Kaito balks.
“A rock is neither alive nor dead,” Kudo nods. “Therefore, it is immortal.”
“The irony in that is almost hilarious,” Kaito notes.
“Almost, yeah,” Kudo concours with a nod. “Well, now that we’re letting you go, have you made your decision regarding that offer I gave you?”
Kaito puts a hand to his chin for a moment. “Well, after everything that’s happened, I could use a bit of excitement to get myself back on track. There’s only so much I can do in here to keep myself sane.”
“Clearly,” Kudo replies dryly.
Kaito gives him a deadpan look before continuing. “That aside, it would be a lot to get used to. But if I’ve learned anything from being stuck in here for weeks, it’s that a normal, quiet life is not my style in the slightest.”
The magician turns his eyes to the ceiling again. Yeah, he’s sure he’s made his decision. His weeks alone in this place had more than given him enough time to think about things. About his future, about Kudo’s offer, about his feelings that he had unwittingly confessed. Yeah he’s going to have to work around the awkwardness of that one, since he didn’t intend for the detective to hear his mental constructions of his friends taunting him about the apparent crush he’d been denying for a while.
Mind made up, Kaito turns back to Kudo, poker face sliding into place. “I think I will take you up on your offer. It has been absolutely horrid on my psyche to stay in this place for as long as I have, and so the opportunity to work with those who had previously wanted me to stay here sounds lucrative as long as I never have to see this unbearably quiet cell ever again, Meitantei,” Kaito declares in his KID voice, using his lower register to turn up the charm.
“I don’t think the universe could handle leaving you alone in a quiet room ever again, I’m going to be honest,” Kudo replies in turn. “The poor security guards watching the cams couldn’t take another minute of you mimicking voices and looking around to see who had broken into your cell to yell at you about schoolwork.”
“Glad that we are in agreement, Meitantei. Never again,” Kaito declares firmly. “With that out of the way, how does this non-official cover thing work?”
-
“You’ve got another three on your left, 1412. I’ll meet you outside and we’ll make these arrests easily!”
“Roger that, 4869, moving into position now!”
Kaito takes another sharp left, the angry shouts of their latest bust screaming after him as he moves through the halls. The sounds of police sirens wailing outside, the thundering sound of footsteps, the sound of his heavy breathing moving through his ears as his heart pounds with every impact his white dress shoes make with the ground.
It’s utter chaos, and he relishes every minute of it. Sounds that reminded him that yes, he was alive, free and moving, and doing his damndest to take down these bastards. It was a job he could squeeze into his busy schedule, seeing he has a show coming up under his civilian identity in the UK some time next week.
Kaitou KID had returned with a vengeance to be an international criminal like his father was, over 25 years ago. The cover story detailed that KID had broken out of prison in order to keep up appearances instead of giving away the fact that he worked for the police. He worked his night job with Kudo Shinichi, and the pair had made domineering progress in exposing the shady corners around the world.
Oh, and also…
“Took you long enough to get up here,” Shinichi tilts his head in the thief’s direction with a knowing smile as they meet on the roof.
Kaito had hopped into the vent to evade his pursuers and lead them right into the waiting arms of the taskforce. Both Aoko and Inspector Nakamori (Aoko joined the Taskforce purely to keep chasing him around the world, so good for her.) had waved before readying themselves for the onslaught of criminals attempting to flee. Shinichi was waiting for him by their usual escape route.
“I would never leave you waiting long, Meitantei,” Kaito declares with a flourish, walking over to where his detective was waiting for him. He sweeps his cape around Shinichi’s shoulders and pulls him into a small kiss.
Shinichi blushes, but doesn’t pull away as they have their moment together. “Baro, we’re in the middle of a raid. Can’t we wait until we’re on the plane to Britain to start doing this cheesy stuff?”
“You know you like it,” Kaito murmurs. “These little moments that we get to ourselves, alone on a moonlit night, the two of us and the wind as the world falls into quiet slumber when the dust has finally settled~”
“Always the cheesy lines with you,” Shinichi shakes his head, pulling the white cape more around his shoulders as they share a moment. “Besides, I thought you hated quiet.”
“It’s bearable as long as I get to spend it with you,” Kaito reveals. “So I guess it’s not so bad."