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Chapter Text

Where am I?

What is this place?

These were the two most prominent questions that came to Conan's mind as he took in his surroundings. The room he found himself in was in fact was a medium sized auditorium that had bluish-grey carpet covering the ground and a decent echo. The ceiling was in shambles, and the walls were in a bit of disrepair except for the one that faced everyone; it had a large, almost new flat screen television on the wall. As Conan looked around, he realised that a lot of people that he knew were also in the room with him. "How on earth did we all get here?" Conan muttered, still looking around. 

He felt a hand on his shoulder, making him jump in shock and turning around to see the figure. But it was just Hattori Heiji, a teen detective like him and his best friend. "Kudo," he said, leaning down and whispering, "Do you remember how we got here?" 

"That's what I'm trying to figure out," he said, turning his head and seeing his own parents, Kudo Yuusaku and Kudo Yukiko, over near the other side of the room.

"The last thing I remember was being with Kaito Kid," Heiji said to which Conan nodded. "Do you think this is his doing?"

Conan shook his head. "Kidnapping a bunch of people in broad daylight including dozens of police officers, who were all residing in different places and towns by the way, achieving total amnesia from everyone about how they've got here and whose done this, whilst simultaneously stealing a bunch of swords that shouldn't interest him and are connected to a murder case? I doubt it," he said.

Heiji was about to reply when a loud screech filled the room, making people clamp their ears. The sound came from the speakers that stood next to the TV. The screeching stopped, and the whole room had gone quiet.

"What is this all about?" said Hattori Heizo, a police inspector from Osaka and Heiji's dad.

"Greetings," a rumbling voice said through the speakers. "Fear not, all will be explained in a little while. If you could please find a seat everyone, that would be helpful."

"And why should we listen to you?" a young voice questioned. Conan looked towards the voice, and saw that it was Hakuba Saguru, a teen detective that he had met before during a case. He was also Superintendent Hakuba's son. "This is a major kidnapping after all," 

"If you want to leave," the voice said in an annoyed tone, "then sit your asses down and let me explain."

The thing about sitting down was that there were no chairs. The only option was the floor, which seemed a bit crusty and old, and had mysterious stains that managed to give the carpet a multicoloured look. "Aren't there any chairs?" Suzuki Sonoko said, daughter of a rich chairman. "The floor's looking a bit... unattractive." Her troubles instantly vanished after seeing Ran, her best friend. "Ran!" she yelled, waving as she came over.

"Sonoko!" Ran said.

"Isn't this great? It's so mysterious how we were all brought here, almost like... magic!" Sonoko said, gasping at the last word. "Maybe my charming Kaito Kid brought us here?"

"But why?" Ran questioned. "It doesn't make sense. Right, Conan-kun?" she asked him, but Conan had that expression on. The one he always had on, when solving a mystery.

🖤🖤🖤

At last, everyone had begun to sit down. Everyone except for one person.

"BAKAITO! Sit down!" said Nakamori Aoko, who was the daughter of a police Inspector. She seemed to know the teen.

"What are you doing, Kaito?" Aoko's father, Inspector Nakamori said, who also seemed to know him.

"Umm, how do you know him Inspector?" asked Takagi.

"He's my neighbour," Nakamori explained, "and he's also Aoko's friend. He's a good kid really, just a bit mischievous sometimes."

The teen, who had been facing the wall the whole time, finally turned around. A few gasps were heard across the room.

"He looks exactly like Kudo!" Hattori exclaimed, turning to look at Conan.

"Shinichi..." Ran whispered in shock. Even Conan was stunned at the similarities between their appearances.

"I'm just checking the place out, no need to go berserk," The teen seemingly called Kaito said, aimed mainly at his best friend.

"Well now that I think about it, I suppose he does look a bit like that detective," Nakamori said to his colleagues next to him.

"I mean," Kaito raised his voice to address everyone. "This room is full of police officers, detectives, so and so... yet none of you had the thought to look for an escape route, or even an exit." 

Hakuba laughed at him. "Of course we did, Sherlock. You just didn't notice. What do you think everyone was doing during the first 10 minutes after waking up here?" Kaito began an argument with Hakuba, but his words got Conan thinking.

Waking up here, he thought. If we woke up, doesn't that mean we were all asleep? How come I don't remember it then...

During Conan's existential crisis, Yukiko got up from her seat next to her husband, Yuusaku, and went over to Kaito. "You look exactly like my son! What is your name?" she asked him, bubbly with excitement. Her husband, Yuusaku, just facepalmed, not surprised by his wife's antics. 

He bowed and pulled out a rose. "I am Kuroba Kaito," he said dramatically. "Here, for you.  A beautiful rose for a beautiful old lady." Yukiko roared at him to not call her old, which made everyone laugh.

"Just sit down, Kuroba," Hakuba said, an annoyed expression on his face. "You're making this longer." Kaito pulled a disgusted face at him and sat down.

Conan was sat with Hattori on his left, but the spot on his right was empty until Kaito came and sat down there. Next to Hattori was Kazuha, Ran, Sonoko, Sera Masumi, Aoko, Hakuba and Taiko Meijin (aka Haneda Shukichi.) On Conan's right was now Kaito, Amuro Tooru, who was Kogoro's apprentice, Subaru Okiya (who for some reason chose to sit next to Amuro even with their dislike for each other) Rena Mizunashi, who was a news reporter that had quit only a few months ago, and FBI agents Jodie Sterling, Andre Camel and James Black. Everyone else, which was mainly the police officers, the Kudos and Professor Agasa, were sat behind them in a row.

"Thank you everyone for your eventual cooperation. I will now explain what this is."

🖤🖤🖤

"So, you're saying that we've all been gathered here to watch videos of each other?" Amuro summarised. 

"How is that even possible? Firstly, how do you have footage of us in the first place?!" Megure exclaimed.

"Don't fret about things that are beyond your comprehension," the voice said. "You will be given information on crimes that have occurred and criminal organisations that threaten the future; isn't that useful to you, officers?"

At that Conan went pale, and he could see Amuro and Rena suddenly go tense. They know about the Men in Black? he thought. There is no other explanation for the 'criminal organisation' that they are talking about, because they wouldn't have gathered me and everyone else who isn't a member of the police here otherwise. 

"You have no right to release sensitive information like that," said a deep voice. Everyone turned to look at him. Kazami Yuya, a member of the Public Security Bureau who had taken over quite a few of the MPD's cases. 

"Oh?"  the voice said, amusement inflected in their tone. "Ahh, you know what I am talking about, right, Kazami Yuya-san?"

Kazami didn't react to his full name callout, and instead just continued talking. "This case is under the Public Security Bureau, and it is imperative that the information of this case remains confidential. So, there is no need for the MPD and the other police officers here to have awareness of it. I am sure you have all our names and information, if you have videos of us. Am I correct at assuming that?"

"You are correct," the voice said, "However, the police officers here have every right to know about this, along with the other citizens in this room."

"And why is that?" Subaru questioned.

"Because you're all related to it, in one way or the other."

Chapter Text

The room was eerily quiet - no one dared to speak after hearing this weird news. The large screen started to flicker on, and a low buzz penetrated the room from the speakers. 

"Let's begin," the voice said. 

Every stared straight ahead, as if mesmerised and lulled into the potential revealing that awaited them all. Conan broke away for a moment to look around, only to lock eyes with the stranger teen that had so dramatically introduced himself earlier, Kaito. He couldn't shake the weird feeling that he had met him before, but the thought was pulled away into the backspace of his conscious as a video started playing.

🖤🖤🖤

Currently on the screen was a barrage of clips, showing different people, ranging from Conan-kun and Ran-chan to the FBI agents and police. Each 10 second clip introduced the characters name, along with their general description and some video clips.

Edogawa Conan, age 7.

"Look, Conan-kun, it's you first!" Ran exclaimed as multiple videos of Conan acting both 'like a little kid' and his actual demeanour patrolled the screen. He could hear the police officers whispering but couldn't make out what they were saying as an overlaid audio blasted through the speakers, making the video seem light hearted and not at all stalkerish -  which is what most were thinking. Heiji nudged at Conan and leaned in to whisper, "This is so totally creepy." Conan was about to reply when the next person came on screen.

Kudo Shinichi, age 17, 'Detective of the East'.

d̶̡̛̺̝̲̬̃͑̓͘e̸̡̥̙̫̭͚̟̻̜͌͝a̷͈͉̘̗̤̖̻̿d̴̛͕̰̝̖̊͑͑̄̆̎́ͅ

d̶̡̛̺̝̲̬̃͑̓͘e̸̡̥̙̫̭͚̟̻̜͌͝a̷͈͉̘̗̤̖̻̿d̴̛͕̰̝̖͎̊͑͑̄̆̎́ͅ

d̶̡̛̺̝̲̬̃͑̓͘e̸̡̥̙̫̭͚̟̻̜͌͝a̷͈͉̘̗̤̖̻̿d̴̡̛͕̰̝̖͎̊͑͑̄̆̎́ͅ

d̶̡̛̺̝̲̬̃͑̓͘e̸̡̥̙̫̭͚̟̻̜͌͝a̷͈͉̘̗̤̖̻̿d̴̡̛͕̰̝̖͎̊͑͑̄̆̎́ͅ                                                

"My son!" Yukiko exclaimed as the room saw the face of none other than the famous teen detective, Kudo Shinichi. 

"Shinichi," Ran whispered to herself, her eyes swelling. Conan grimaced at having himself (albeit two different versions of himself) appear twice on the screen. A weird glitch flickered in the corner, the writing unreadable at first glance.

"What is that thing on the screen?" Megure asked, a look of confusion on his face.

"It looks like... a glitch," Sato stated, voice questioning. People asked questions around the room, confused at what was going on, if perhaps the 'speaker' was not all powerful as they first had seem and was facing technical issues. But many others narrowed their eyes, being able to distinguish the writing in it. 

'Dead'.

Mouri Ran, age 17.

"Ran its youu!!!" Sonoko flailed, shaking her best friend's arm. The atmosphere had been lightened, but there was no mistake about what had been seen previously, and the moment to announce it to the room already passed. The list continued on, everyone complimenting one another who came onto the screen.

But at one point, the screen froze, stuck on a black screen that had whispers of the next person on the screen. The speakers stopped blaring the upbeat music that had been playing and instead let out a low, steady hum that vibrated across the room. In shock, Conan and Heiji simultaneously looked at each other, brows furrowed.

"This screen is obviously a shit show. How are you going to kidnap us just to make us stay in an obviously abandoned room?!" Kogoro yelled, a chorus of agreements in the air.

"Can't you please remain quiet? I am trying to work something out he-" the speaker asked annoyed, before their voice was completely cut off and a new arrangement of videos played on the screen.            

Amuro Tooru, age 29, assistant detective to Mouri Kogoro - ä̴̢̼̦̻̖́̃͠l̸̰͇̠͈̅͐̐̈̓̆͘l̷̨̗̓̄͐̚ ̵̧̱̺̮̀̏̕͝͝ͅä̶̗́͂̿̆̊̌̋͘͝ ̶̳͍͂͒̕l̴̯̣͖̤̃͜ȋ̶̦̥̜͒̂͊̐ȅ̸̹͓̭͙̘̦̀̎ ̴̢̖̱̤͖͇̥͎̈́̂̎̅͠a̷͍̦̟͙͉̩̿̾̿̍͆̂͋̕l̴̛̪̱͚̽̉̅̑̈́̅͜͝l̴̨̡̢̫̣̦̳̙͊̀̐͒͗̂̉̇͝ ̴͇̠̪̺̺̤̪̗͕̼͗̐͐͘͠å̸̡͚̘̖͎͈̼͎̪̤ ̸̡̢̼͙͉͉̿͘͠ͅl̵̡̠̹̝͇̬̲̯̜̠͊̈́̐̀̑̿̕i̶̧̳̗̠͔̬͌͐ͅȅ̸͎͑̀ ̴͓̲͔̮̬̃́̀̽̋̑̓͝a̵̡̨̨̡̛̞̭͋̂͗̾͗̇̔l̶̨̥̠̖̲̩͓̖͌̐̏̋̾͗ļ̸͔̹͕̲̍̅̈́̂̀͂̽̎̇̀ ̷̲͈̪̺̅͋͘͠͝͝ȃ̵̗̩͉̯̟̳͍̻̓̋̀ ̵̨̧̧̛̭̗̘͖̣̊̄̅̋͒̋̔͜l̸̢̙͈̱̰̦̳̟̇i̸͉͎̬͇̮̹̜̬̘͍͆ę̸̖͇͔̰͕̖̊̔̎̆̚ ̷̲̲̈͛́̈́̊͊͂à̸̢͔͗̏̃͝l̸͈͓̾̊͊͘͝l̵̰̘̱̫̗̮̄͂͐ ̵̮̓͝ă̶̡̯̰̯͌͒͌͑͆̓̾͘͝ ̷͔͖̅̈́̓̉̕l̷̨̮̞͉͕̮͊͋͑͐̈́͊̕͝ͅî̶̡̬͍̠̦̯̙̽͂̃͑̄̆̇̕͝e̶̦̺̹̥͒̈̀̿͊͐̒͝͠ ̶̢̨̺͕͕̻̖̹̦͖̐̐à̷͇̈́ĺ̶̥̓̂̎̚̕l̴̛̛̬͙̖̯̗̤̥͒͂̾͐̓̊̿ ̷͕̞̐̀̊̂̚͜͝ḁ̵͒͑̊́̽̋̈́̿̽̑ ̶͖̰̞͒͑ļ̷̡̺̗͚̲́͛͜i̷̮͖̯̝̦͖̎̂̈̔̓̎͠͝ĕ̵͉̠̟̒͊ ̷̢͓̦̲̗̥̮͎̩͈̔͆́̓́̍̏͘͠a̶͙̱̣͛́̊́͆̾͌̇̚͝l̷̛̦̣͈͕͔̺̉͘͘l̶̛̤͔̪̽̂̈́̕ ̷̢̛̍̍̈̀̇͠͝ǎ̵̜͉̩̣͔̬̙̬̏̋̿͋ ̴̱̺͚̗̯̙̇l̸͔͎̮͉͗̀̏̚i̷̢͈͌͑̂̈̎̓̚é̵̡̛̛͕̖̹̠̃̃͌̽̕͘͘ ̴̜̰̜̝̼͊̑̐͗͠a̷̪̺̮͓̝̯̝̋̽̌̇̃̀̓̊̕͠ͅĺ̴̢̥̞̮̦͍̜ľ̵͓̭͍̘̫̪̆̊̓̀̌̋͠ͅͅ ̴̢̻̉̄̀a̵̢̨̩̲̯̮͉̎̾̈́̌̽͒̏͜͠ ̶̻̇̉̿̓̃̈́̚ͅḻ̴̛̮̝̔̿̽̀̄͛͘i̸͎̱̮̝͙͎͙̿͠ͅe̶̢̖̜̻̰̱̗͈̻̬̒̌̄͛̿̕͠͠ ̸̣̔̔̀̉͘͜ä̸̛̝͚̣̠̻̼͍̦͎̊̆̆͘l̶̹̮̀̇͊͋̒͂̽̆ļ̷̨͖͚̜̳̦̀͂͑͝ͅ ̴̧͔̜̰̪̖̄̓̆̚͝ͅạ̸̛̛̠͙̼̝̣͍̥͇͆́͌̂̑̈́̄̇ ̵̢͚̞̱͓̼͇̪́̎͆͑͗́͘͜l̷̮͗̔̎̈̆̍͘ị̸͉̰̑̌͛̌͝ḙ̴̛̟͕̗̼̤̦̩̻̂̊̾̾͌͗͑̈́͜ ̷̺̪̻̰͈̺̮̠̬̈́͗͠a̷̘̭͋ļ̵̧̙͈͕̳̦͆͑͜͜͠l̵͉̟̈́̍͘ͅ ̸̡̯̖͇̮̤̈́̒a̶̛̞̱̋̈́͑̐̔̈͑͝ ̴̧̣̮͗̐͛͛̿̃͋͌ļ̷͖̯͍̼͖̩̐̇͌̋̅͝ĭ̴̡̱̭͈̞̙̰̮́e̵͖̦̱̹̱͂̓ ̴̈̓̑̀̆̚̕͠          

"Amuro-san, what is this?" Megure asked, confused. A look of shock was quickly disguised by Amuro, who decided to feign innocence. 

"I have no idea," he said, loud enough for everyone to hear. "This must be a set up."

"How could this be a set up if it's just a harmless glitch?" Subaru intervened, earning a glare from the man sitting next to him.

"I don't know what's happening here," Superintendent Hakuba said, immediately shushing the room. "But the only way we can find out is to continue watching this videos with complete attention and scrutiny. 

"I agree," Yuusaku iterated. "We shouldn't jump to conclusions and blame Amuro-san for the effects on his video." And with that, he secretly winked at Amuro, who lifted the corner of his lip in appreciation, remembering the situation of the Tea Party Pact and how Yuusaku had stood up for him despite knowing his aggressive behaviours towards Akai. 

The glitch continued for the next few videos, showcasing Rena and Subaru. Jodie couldn't help but glance at her best friend, worried if the glitches symbolise something or could implicate him.

However, afterwards the glitch went away, and the rest of the people showed up on the screen.

"Now that you are all acquainted with one another, we can begin the REAL reaction."

"Real reaction? The videos we've been seeing so far aren't being considered as real?' Officer Morofushi from the Nagano division inquired.

"What I mean is you will now start watching the important information. What you just witnessed were brief montages of each of you, to help you recognise everyone. Remember, there are many of you in here."

Conan narrowed his eyes. What things will this supposedly 'all-knowing' speaker reveal? Will his true identity be exposed? Well, that's almost a given. Unfortunately.

However, the uncertainty of when these things will be shown was starting to get to him. And he wasn't the only one affected by this.

"This speaker is taking way too fucking long," he heard Kaito mutter beside him, bouncing on his seat with an almost bored expression. 

What is he so anxious about? Most of us have never met him before... so he must have some secret that will be revealed, Conan wondered, looking up at the teen sat next to him. 

"That's enough dilly-dallying. We're going straight into it!"

Chapter Text

What first appeared on the screen was a block of text that connoted, 'The first year of Meiji (1868). A period of transition from the end of the shogunate (Edo) period (1603 - 1868) to the Meiji era. Landing in Ezo, Hijikata Toshizo and the former shogunate army suppressed the new government army, making Hakodate Goryokaku their stronghold, and started preparing for the upcoming battle in spring.' Behind this text, images of a burning flame and the star shaped land was shown.

A large group pf people were seen running through an area with cottages on a snowy night. The scene changes to show inside one of the cottages where a man, who appears to be in his 30's, is kneeling on the floor with a candle lit next to him. Opposing him was another older man, who held out a sword.

"I don't get it." Sonoko drawled, looking around her for an explanation. "What are we watching?"

"It's showing us the past," Rena said, gesturing to the screen. "1868 to be precise. The text said there was a battle coming up."

"Against the government," Sato said, her voice a bit wary.

"How is this relevant?" voiced Kazami, who was glaring at the speaker as if it could cause the machine to self-destruct.

"Patience, people. Continue watching. I would not be pleased if I have to stop every two seconds." The speaker resumed playing the footage.

We're literally here to watch the videos in detail, obviously we are going to need to keep pausing it... Conan thought to himself sassily before going back to watching the large screen.

The man speaks. "This is... the Seiryoto." (meaning star-crested sword.) The younger man took the sword with his right hand. His name appeared on the screen. 'Hijikata Toshizo.' The star crest resembled the shape of the land shown in the beginning of the footage.

"Oh, so he's Hijikata Toshizo, leading the resistance against the government," Takagi announces.

"I wonder what's so special about the sword he's claiming." Hakuba thinks out loud.

Conan sees his parents talking to each other in hushed tones. He narrows his eyes, wondering saltily what they could be discussing in the middle of the video playing.

Suddenly, a group of men knocked down the door to the room, almost extinguishing the candle. Hijikata addressed the men as 'government forces' before unsheathing his sword and preparing a stance of attack.

"What's wrong? Why do you halt? Are you going to allow this opportunity to slip away?" he asks the small army. One attacks, however in a few quick strokes the man is on the floor, bleeding from the wide gash in his stomach.

"He's a pretty darn good swordsman, I'll tell you that," Heiji admires. Conan sees Kaito nod along.

Hijikata, with his peripherals, stabs through a man attempting to sneak up on him from behind. The man falls away, leaving the gash in the wall and blood around it to be shown. The open area begins to glow, and the screen zooms into it until inside the opening is seen to show none other than Edogawa Conan, looking remarkedly fascinated at the historics.

"Woah! That transition was amazing!" Yukiko says enthusiastically, partly due to seeing her son on screen.

"How did that work? Was it special effects?" Kazuha asks, to which no one answered sadly.

"A star?" Conan says aloud, as a burned star is shown imprinted around the stab wound from the other side, presumely from the Seiryoto.

"Wait... this happened yesterday," Conan says. 

Nakamori nods. "Yes, it did. That bastard thief-"

"Dad! There's kids here!" Aoko intervenes, shooting her father an angry look.

"So? They're only one kid here and he basically hangs out with the dude. I'm sure he's heard worse." As the daughter-father duo argue, Heiji leans in to whisper to Conan.

"They're gonna show me fighting with Kid." Conan looked at Heiji. An mix of worry and exhilaration covered his features. 

"So? What's the matter?"

"Well I did kick his ass, but..." Heiji didn't finish his sentence. Conan turned back to look at the screen, puzzled at his best friend's hesitation, but noticed Kaito leaning towards him slightly. Great, this kid was eavesdropping, he thought.

He didn't realise that Kaito already knew all about the events of the night before, and was also anxious about what was to be revealed.

As Conan continues looking at the wall, a voice is heard from elsewhere. "Please stay assured! The two wazikashis are confirmed to be inside this safe." (A wazikashi is a traditional Japanese sword with a blade length ranging from 30cm - 60cm.)

The voice belonged to Officer Nakamori, in charge of all operations regarding the thief Kaito KID.

"Inspector Nakamori, you're on the screen," Hakuba notified him, which ceased the argument occuring between him and Aoko.

"Currently..." Nakamori continues, looking at his watch. "It is 10pm. I won't allow it to be broken into until two hours from now." He is handed Kaito Kid's note from the man with him, which shows the officer trembling in anger at it.

The note is read aloud in Kid's voice: "I'll pay a visit to the residence of Onoe Takuzo and acquire the two of Higashikubo Eitatsu's wazikashis in his possession."

Nakamori exclaims, "Darn you, Kid!" before almost throwing the card at the floor.

"How did KID read out the note?" Officer Yamato from the Nagano division asked. He got a lot of shrugs as answers. 

Onoe Takuzo, which is the name of the man with the Inspector, tells Nakamori that he doesn't mind if they use the metal detector at the exit for security. Conan also comes down the stairs at that point.

"So at this moment of time, Onoe has two wazikashis that KID will attempt to steal?" Yuusaku inquires.

"Kid has stolen, you mean," Conan corrects. "The heist was yesterday."

"And you were there, Conan?" Superintendent Hakuba asks him. He turns around to face him and nods yes.

"I was there also, although I think it'll come up," Hattori smirked. The footage continued playing.

A van pulls up to the gates of the Onoe residence. A police officer talks to the driver, who notifies him that access to the property was prohibited tonight. However, the driver tells him he's come to pick up a scroll for restoration and hands him an official looking clipboard.

The officer attempts to look at the face of the driver, who then pulls off his cap. "Security, thank you for your hard work," he compliments. The officer lets him through, not seeing a problem.

The footage changes to show an overhead of the whole estate, with the van driving inside the garden path.

"Wow! It's a beautiful house!" Ran exclaims.

"An incredible residence indeed, Ran," Amuro agreed. "But did anyone else think that driver was a little off?"

"He most likely was our darling phantom thief in disguise," Subaru said charmingly. Amuro again gave him a frosty look, unwilling to talk to the undercover FBI officer next to him.

As Conan roams the residence, he overhears a phone conversation with Onoe Takuzo. "What did you say?!... That's right... It's attorney Hisagaki Sumito!... You can't get in touch with him?... He should be back in the country!..."

As Conan leans in to hear more, a strong arm pulls him off the ground, making him whelp in shock and Onoe realise his presence. The arm was indeed Mouri Kogoro, who scolded the kid. "Oi kid! Just cos you're the Kid Killer doesn't mean you can wander around freely." Conan rolls his eyes discreetly and says, "Okay..." resignfully.

"Conan! You shouldn't give attitude like that!" Ran chides from her seat. With a "Sorry, Ran-neesan!" they all return to reacting.

Sonoko is seen inspecting some books on a large screen, where she murmurs one being missing. When she notices Mouri, she greets him with a "Welcome back, Uncle!" and he apologises for leaving in between their conversation, still dangling Conan from his hand as if he were a piece of dirty laundry.

"Oh! The brat's with you too?" She asks him.

"Yeah, and so is the Osaka detective boy." he replies.

Conan almost scoffs at the way they address him.

"I am the Kid Killer after all!" Conan says in his cheerful, childish tone.

"Don't go boasting about yourself! Anyways, what about Onoe Keizaburo?" Kogoro resumes asking.

"Ah, we were talking about the Onoe family," The camera pans to a portrait hung in the room on the wall. "The founder, Onoe Keizaburo, was a prominent businessman who thrived in Hokkaido and laid the foundation for the Onoe conglomerate..."

to be continued!

Chapter Text

"After Onoe Keizaburo's death, his son Tadayuki took over the business and further expanded it," Sonoko continued explaining.

"I see..." Mouri expressed. "But the second generation, Tadayuki, also passed away from an illness a year ago." Conan was seen scrolling on his phone through a news article concerning Tadayuki's passing. As he zoomed into a photo of a man holding the deceased's photo, Mouri said, "And so the third generation is... Takuzo, Tadayuki's son, right?" 

"Correct."

"How insightful, Conan, that you looked up things on the Onoe family!" Sato exclaimed, impressed at the young child's eagerness to be involved. 

"He he he..." Conan's nervous chuckle surfaced.

"It feels weird to listen to conversations you've already had," Mouri mentioned, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly.

"Right? It's like a heightened sense of deja vu." Sonoko shivered, pulling her arms to her chest to emphasise her point.

"However, since Takuzo took over, unlike ours, it seems their business hasn't been doing well."

Kogoro seemed to know this, saying, "He was facing financial trouble, so he put up his collection for auction. The one who bought it all up was the Suzuki conglomerate, right?"

"But the wazikashi that KID's targeting has nothing to do with the big jewel, right?" As Conan asked that, the video briefly showed the van driver sinisterly smiling.

"It seems we were correct in assuming Kid is this person, then." Kazami says, for the first time actively participating.

"What is Kaito Kid's motive?" Sera Masumi (who was asleep until a few minutes ago) asks, with an annoyed tone. It is clear she still disliked him from when he undressed her and used her as a disguise.

"It'll show you in a bit," Conan said quickly before Hattori could begin his fanfare of deduction. "He told us just before we arrived here."

"Keizaburou was a big fan of Hijikata Toshizo, and seemed to buy all of the things related to him... But there were no jewels in this inventory." Sonoko told the two, holding up the inventory book.

"Looks like Kid's normal motive has flown out the window," Hakuba murmured.

"Moreover, the wazikashi Kid's targeting isn't that valuable. I heard it was forged by an unknown swordsman named Higashikubo Eitatsu." Mouri added.

"Oh! Isn't that the name of the person who gave Hijikata the Seiryoto at the beginning?" Ran asked.

"It is! Good spot, Ran!" Megure praised.

"That means the wazikashis and the Seiryoto are connected..." Subaru stated.

Conan realised the teen next to him had been quiet the whole time, so he decided to talk to him whilst everyone else chatted about the case. "Are you ok, mister?" He asked him.

Kaito snapped his head around, appearing to have come out of deep thought. "I'm fine, Conan, thanks." Conan raised an eyebrow.

"You know my name?"

"Obviously. You are the Kid Killer after all, you're famous where I live." he replied without missing a beat. This made sense, since he is neighbours with Officer Nakamori and so Conan probably has been mentioned before.

"You don't seem very engaged in the footage," Conan quipped, trying to gauge a response. 

"Well, sorry if I haven't activated my detective brain like the rest of you here." Kaito teased, winking at him. Conan felt a surge of familiarity that he didn't recognise. "I'm kidding, its just that... this has nothing to do with me? I mean, why was I even brought here?" he asked rhetorically, trying to play innocent.

"I'm not sure. But we'll probably have to watch you at some point." Conan told him as the speaker told everyone to quiet down.

How lovely that will be, Kaito thought to himself sarcastically, as he attempted to act normal in front of the great detective. He was going to be exposed soon, and he needed to steel himself mentally.

"I'll have to recheck the purchase list now," Sonoko sighed on screen. "Onoe family's inventory collection doesn't match the  catalogue. It's just one book, but thanks to that my trip to Hakodate has been ruined. It was a chance to meet Kid!" she whined, gradually moving closer and closer to her camera until her face took up the whole tv. Conan half-laughed, his expression knowing. The scene then changed.

"Let me double check the scroll once," a voice said as a gloved hand reached for the scrolls. As the van driver conversed with the other person, the garage door opened to reveal a shadowy figure walking down.

"Who's there?" The man says.

"My time to shine," Hattori smirks, pride in his voice.

The detective of the west, Hattori Heiji, walked down. He swapped the direction of his cap to face forward before he began speaking. "By sending a warning letter, he diverted the security's attention to the warehouse, and planned to confidently steal it from the entrance where the security had become shorthanded."

The driver is shown sweating. Heiji grabbed the scroll from the driver's hands and opened it to reveal the wazikashi safely tucked inside. After taking it out, he explained how Kid replaced the real sword with a fake one in the safe. "He wanted to take the real one with him as he was leaving but security was too tight, so even Kaito gave up on it."

"Sorry, who on earth are you?" the scrollman asked.

Heiji ignored him, continuing on. "By writing 00:00 hours on the card, he didn't mean the 12:00am two hours from now, but the 12:00 am from 22 ours ago when he placed the warning letter. In other words, Kaito Kid left that letter 22 hours ago when he snuck in to steal the two wazikashis!"

"Excellent deduction!" Jodie exclaimed.

"Well done, son. You did well with this one," Inspector Hattori noted. A  faint blush creeped across Heiji's neck, which he hid by pulling his jacket up.

"I looked into you too," Heiji directed at the 'driver.' Weren't you supposed to be on a hot spring trip with your family after you hit a lucky draw he other day? Then you can tell me, who the hell are you?"

The mans face changed from a look of shock to his infamous smirk as he transformed into his thief form. Kaito then proceeded to leap forward, attempting to steal the other wazikashi still sealed into a scroll tube. However, Hattori resisted and managed to get the tube off of him, but in a second Kaito snatched the exposed wazikashi and turned around, shooting his card gun at the detective. 

"Thank you!" Kaito said teasingly. As Heiji dodged the shots, a smoke bomb allowed the thief to escape with a wazikashi. 

"As if I'll let you escape!" Heiji growled, smashing the fire alarm button. As Nakamori and the others realised Kid was here, Heiji ran through a corridor.

"Kaito Kid... I haven't forgotten my grudge..." An image flashed up, with Heiji leaning over 'Kazuha' about to kiss her, when it was actually Kid in disguise.

Heiji went beetroot red, and Kazuha buried herself into her arms, even though it wasn't actually her there. Officer Hattori smiled at the scene, and everyone began teasing Heiji for it.

"How cute!" Ran beamed.

"You had some dirty thoughts, Heiji!" Another officer told him.

"Young love..." Jodie fake sighed, making James give her a questioning look.

Even Kaito smirked, not really regretting the situation he put the latter in.

Kid finally appeared in front of a stained glass window hall, where Heiji is heard shouting his name in contempt. His hand is seen tightly gripping the wazikashi, where he shouted, "I'll never, ever forgive you!!!" A crowd of officers and likewise had formed behind him, and Conan was seen at the side, thinking, "The grudge behind a kiss is scary."

"Wait..." Sonoko said, scrutinising Heiji. "You guys didn't actually kiss, did you?"

A quiet "I don't wanna talk about it," came from Heiji, who was looking around in any direction other than the group of girls who were about to go crazy.

"Damn... I didn't know Kaito Kid was gay," Aoko said to everyone, the hint of a smile on her lips.

Kaito's face almost combusted at that comment, and his precious poker face splintered for a second. Out of the corner of his eye, Conan saw the conflict on his face, but it was replaced with a mask of neutrality, as if he didn't react at all. 

He filed that information away for later.

"I don't think Kaito Kid is gay," Kaito said to Aoko across the room, a bit too defensively.

"It doesn't MATTER if the thief is gay or not. Please keep watching, this is the best part!" The speaker told everyone.

Conan side-eyed the cameras in the corner of the room, annoyed at the person's attitude as if they were just entertainment.

With a pull of the trigger on the rope gun, Kid is propelled out of the ceiling in an instant. A white cape is seen flying away, and hordes of police officers leave the estate to go searching for the thief. However, Kid actually climbed the side of the roof, still on top of the building...

to be continued!

Chapter Text

"Thank you so much," Kaito Kid strained to say as he climbed up to the rooftop, "for always falling for the same tric-"

"VROOM VROOM." Kaito stopped dead in his tracks, gasping at the loud sound.

Takuzo walked into the room with Mouri, asking him about the thief, when they both suddenly spotted the teen detective revving up his motorbike right in that room. "What the hell are you trying to do?!" It seemed that the owner was more occupied with potentially damaging the estate than catching the one trying to run away (or in this case, glide away) with his wazikashi. 

Using the stairs as a ramp, Heiji shot up them on his bike, being propelled towards the top window and shattering through it onto the roof. "I told you, you're not getting away!" he shouted at a very surprised Kid. As he rode towards the thief and came to an abrupt stop, he dismounted off the bike and unsheathed his wazikashi. "Such a childish trick! As if that'll work, you idiot!"

Kaito just smiled his toothy smirk, slightly unsheathing his sword in time for Heiji's attack. Holding him back, Kaito teased, "Way to go, Great Detective of the West!"

"SHUT YER TRAP!" Tensions building, he used all his strength to push the thief even more, before they descended into a full-blown sword fight. Clashes of metal and quick movements flashed in Conan's eyes as he watched from the window. They danced along the rooftop with elegant grace.

Finally managing to back Kid up, Heiji tells him, "Today of all days, I won't let you escape!" A very worried expression crossed Kaito's features, his eyes widening as he struggled to hold the detective at bay.

"Damn, Kid's out of his league here," Shukichi, aka Taiko Meijin, commented.

"He looks very scared," Aoko said, half-laughing. Heiji, having recovered from his embarrassed fit, also laughed. Conan knew his best friend very well, and could tell the laugh was one of nervousness, albeit it being hearty.

His eye also kept being drawn to the teen next to him. Although Kaito's face was impassive and pretty neutral, Conan could feel the thoughts swirling in the boy's head.

Almost flown back, Kid takes a breather. This was his mistake. With a war cry of "I've got ya!", Heiji swung the sword angrily at the thief who barely had time who raise his arms in defense.

"Woah, Hattori, were you trying to kill him?" Amuro hissed quietly at the boy.

"Chill, he knows what he's doing," Subaru replied, putting a hand on the blonde's arm to stop him from jumping up at the teen. Heiji didn't respond; his eyes were glued to the screen, knowing what was about to come.

"SLASH!" The thief's monocle flew up into the air and landed 6 metres away. Heiji's eyes widened in shock and a little fear as the white hat that Kid was wearing split open, revealing a slit her of his face. 

Kid's bright blue eye stared at Heiji, a mixture of panic and terror reflecting in his irises. Heiji was about to speak, but Kid shifted, his full face now on display. He put the wazikashi in his mouth, anger bouncing off of his features, and he turned away, running and using his glider to escape.

To say the room exploded was an understatement. Utter chaos transfigured people into banshees as they screamed at the reveal of Kid's identity to be... Kudo Shinichi?

"This can't be true," Yukiko said, looking at Conan a little suspiciously.

"It's not like him at all!" Megure tried to reason.

"It makes sense... He's been missing for a while now," Sonoko added. "But for my precious Kid to be him is too much to bear."

"It's not Shinichi!" Ran yelled, making the crowd quieten down. "I used to think it was Shinichi too. But I learnt that Kaito Kid uses Shinichi as a disguise a lot, which confused me! So it's not him..." Her voice trailed off at the end, adding doubt to her statement.

Conan, meanwhile, was thinking. It is true that Kid's favourite disguise was himself, he said so to Conan. But he never dreamed it would be because they looked identical. And who was in the room with them at this very second who looked like Shinichi's personal twin?

"I knew it," Hakuba said very loudly, his smirk aimed at Kuroba Kaito. "You can't talk your way out of this way, Kaito." 

Everyone turned to face the teen, whose face gave nothing away. "Come on Hakuba," he said slowly, raising his hands in defence. "There are loads of people with similar features to mine-"

"I've suspected you from the start," Hakuba interrupted, standing up now. "It was always so convenient, how you'd always decline offers to see the heists, or go out with friends. You live next door to the main Inspector, for god's sake. Of course you always outfoxed the police." 

Conan himself was stunned. He knew Kid had to be a teenager, and that the old Kaito Kid must have retired and passed the torch on, but he never thought about it properly. He always saw Kid as a rival, but never a genuine threat or a harm that needed investigation into.

"The only reason you're spouting this nonsense is because you don't like me," Kaito bit back, standing up now. "Have you guys even thought that maybe Kid was wearing a disguise under his clothing? He isn't this generation's best magician for nothing, after all."

"That makes sense," Amuro said, his face contemplating. He remembered his own encounter with the phantom thief, and how close he was to capturing him. But putting a kid behind bars?

"Kaito..." Aoko whispered, her eyes brimming with tears. His poker face splintered at seeing his childhood friend so upset; he knew she hated Kaito Kid with a passion. But it wasn't his choice to keep this charade going. Even more so, seeing Nakamori's expression, a mixture of disappointment and anger, carved a hole out in his stomach.

In that moment, he wished he'd never found the room.

"We don't have enough evidence yet, so everybody needs to sit down and calm themselves," Heiji said, surprisingly coming to his rescue. "Like Kuroba said, there are loads of Kudo-lookalikes. It could be them."

"And Kid is very good at disguises," Yukiko added. "Almost as good as me!" Almost. 

This is why Hattori kept checking me out, Conan thought as he observed the suspected teen. His face was calm. Way too calm. It was most likely a façade, or as some call it, a poker face. It was so well practised that he almost shivered. How long had the teen hid deception and lies beneath that innocent face of his?

When everyone sat down again, Kaito thanked the detective silently with his eyes, and received a curt nod in return. It didn't make sense for Heiji to do that given his grudge, but maybe he was offering an olive branch.

Because there was no way people didn't believe that he was Kaito Kid.

to be continued!

Chapter Text

"Well, it seems like a break is desperately needed," the speaker said, hushing all conversation. "You all have 15 minutes to sort out your affairs."

Several things seemed to occur at once. Everyone in the room stirred, anxious about not only the sudden reveal of an infamous thief but also the secrets in Pandora's box that have yet to be opened.

Firstly, two bathroom doors appeared on opposing walls, one of for the men and one for the women. Several of the teenage girls, including an teary-eyed Aoko, went into the stalls. Many of the police officers huddled in a corner, talking animatedly, whilst others remained seated or moved around the space.

Conan was pulled out of his seat and lead into the men's bathroom by Heiji, who was muttering under his breath. After scanning the area to make sure no one else was in there, he leaned down and shook Conan's shoulders. "This is crazy!" He whispered furiously, his eyes betraying his panic.

Conan couldn't respond. He was still a little struck by the power of the person who captured them, to have openly showed such a big secret. Honestly, although Kaito Kid annoyed the hell out of him, he still felt really bad for the teen. It wasn't fair for him to have been exposed like this; in fact, if this hadn't occurred, Kid would have most likely gone on to make use of his thieving career for a lot longer. 

"Is this why you kept checking me out this morning?" Conan finally willed himself to ask. "Because Kaito looked exactly like me?"

Heiji nodded in response, standing up and pacing the floor. "This isn't right," he muttered. 

Conan agreed. "He's most likely to be arrested if more evidence is shown on screen. Good save before, though." he complimented.

"Thanks. I wanted to talk to him first before we fed him to the wolves. Your mum also helped," Heiji noted.

"I think she took a liking to him." Conan said. "I feel bad for him, to be honest." he confessed, his voice softer.

"Me too. It would've been better to catch him in the act, not in here, where we're all trapped." They were both silent for a while, before Officer Takagi burst in through the door. 

"Oh. Hello, Conan and Hattori," Takagi nodded, slightly out of breath, before sprinting to the nearest stall.

"I think that's our cue to leave," Conan said, laughter behind his voice.

Heiji chatted as they walked out. "Ya know, I talked to him when we first got here."

"You did?!?" Conan exclaimed, incredulous.

"Yeah. He was actually pretty cool," Heiji told him.

"I don't doubt it," Conan replied as they both observed Kaito, who was currently sat with his knees pressed to his chest, alone. As they turned to look at each other, Heiji smirked. 

"You thinking what I'm thinking?" He asked. Conan smirked back, understanding Heiji's thought process. 

"Are you sure about this?" Conan questioned to double check, but nonetheless he was on the same page.

"Yeah. At least we'll know the thief will owe us one."

🖤🖤🖤

At the same time, in the other bathroom, the best friend of a certain thief was having a meltdown. Luckily for her, the bathrooms were sound-proof (which was surprising given the quality of the establishment.)

"I can't believe he would hide something like this from me!" Aoko expressed, her hands clawing at her hair.

"It isn't proven if he is Kaito Kid or not," Ran said, trying to calm her down.

"But if he is, I mean he has a pretty good reason to hide it," Sera muttered, earning a poke in the ribs from Kazuha. 

As soon as Ran and Sonoko saw Aoko running off, they followed her with Kazuha, Sera, and surprisingly, Officer Sato behind them. After they all introduced themselves, Aoko began her rant.

"But we've been best friends for years!" She replied.

"Kaito Kid has only resurfaced for a year," Sato told the teen girl, rubbing her back to console her. "You know him best. You'd know why he would choose not to tell you." Hearing that, Aoko stopped walking around, and thought really, really hard.

Did she really know Kaito?

Sure, they've been neighbours forever, and have been at each other's sides since elementary school. But she realised Kaito never really told her anything. She had to ask his father, when they were 7, what his favourite colour was. She learnt from Kaito's mum what his favourite dishes were, and even what he really hated (which was raw fish. Hilarious!)

When was the last time Kaito told her something about himself directly?

...

She couldn't remember.

"I don't," Aoko said, her head facing down, her voice a strain to hear. "I don't know."

Everyone in the room felt sombre, feeling pity for her. However, their melancholy conversation was paused with a knock on the door. "Girls, are you okay?" 

The voice belonged to Amuro Toru, who opened the door after being beckoned by Ran. "I noticed you looking upset before." he directed to Aoko.

"Thank you, but I'm fine," she said, wiping a stray tear.

"Your concern is noted, Amuro. However, this is still the girls' bathroom, and it'd be appreciated if you'd leave," Sato told him coldly. Throwing his hands up in defence, he backed out of the room.

"Well, Aoko, if you allow me to call you that..." Sonoko asked, using the opportunity to cheer her new friend up. "Let's change the subject and talk about something better, okay?" Everyone agreed, and the mood lifted.

🖤🖤🖤

Also happening at the same time was an important conversation between Kudo Yuusaku, Kudo Yukiko and Professor Agasa. 

"You're saying that the Seiryoto is the sword that is displayed on our alcove?!" Yukiko said, frantic. "I've been using that as a backscratcher for a while!"

"Really, Yukiko..." Agasa chuckled nervously.

"Well it's too rusty to draw the blade so... Anyways how did we end up owning that sword, Yuusaku?" she asked her husband. The Professor too was curious.

"It was from my twin brother, as a gift for the Macademy Awards," he said casually, as if he wasn't dropping some damning lore.

"TWIN BROTHER?!" Yukiko screeched, gaining the attention of some people nearby. She immediately clasped her hands over her mouth, sending them apologetic looks.

"This is the first I've heard of this, Yuusaku," Agasa told him.

"Well, I'm sure you've heard all of this before, Yukiko." He sent her a questioning look, but he explained anyway. "My parents were divorced for as long as I can remember, and while I was raised by my mother, my father took my twin brother. We haven't met in person in over 20 years, but he still sends me gifts and things of the like."

"No way!! Who is he?" Yukiko asked eagerly. Even Agasa was leaning in to hear.

"Well, you might have met him before," He said. "But we must get back to the matter at hand. My brother gave me the Seiryoto, which is heavily connected to this current case. I think we should inform everyone that it is in our possession." He said.

"I think that's for the best," Agasa agreed. They both turned to move back to their seats, but Yukiko stopped them.

"Wait!" She said, her hand reaching out. "About Kaito Kid... Do you think that young teen is really him?"

Yuusaku pondered for a moment. "It's possible," he said. "But the only evidence we have is his face, and like you said before, he could've been wearing a disguise. However, the short panic we saw on his face on screen seemed very real," he deduced.

"He's such a nice kid! I met him once, when I was younger," she told them, as if that wasn't a bombshell in itself.

"You did? Under what circumstances?" Agasa asked her.

"He's the son of my old disguise teacher. I learnt a lot from him," she stated, getting wrapped up in nostalgia. "However, he passed away 8 years ago unfortunately."

"8 years ago?" Yuusaku confirmed. "It lines up with Kaito 1412's disappearance... If Kuroba is really Kaito Kid now, then his father might've been the original Kid."

The pair took in the information. "Wow..." Agasa whispered to himself.

"You mean this poor kid is going to be arrested? He's only Shinichi's age!" She defended.

"His identity is not confirmed yet. These are just hypothetical. We should keep this to ourselves for now," Yuusaku iterated. They all agreed, and head to the group of officers who beckoned them over.

🖤🖤🖤

tbc!

Chapter Text

Hello everyone!

Very sorry this is not the update you were lucking for (and the story was getting good so far!)

I am going to be on hiatus until June time. The reason for this is I have some of the most important exams so far in my life coming up and I want to do well on them, so I need to use my time to study.

I am very sorry to all my eager readers who have been invested so far. Let me tell you now that this is not the end, and my plan for this fic reaches beyond many, many chapters. I hate having to leave my fic so early, but alas the time is not right.

Please do not forget about this fic. In June time I will certainly be adding more chapters and plots to our little detco reaction.

Once again, thank you to everyone who has supported this fic!!

Sincerely,

aliKK