Tonight this white-winged magician brings you a gift; a blog dedicated to everything Kaitou Kid related; canon or otherwise!
There are a few things you'll find on my blog, so please filter as you see fit! Tags and info below the cut
For canon appearances of Kaito Kuroba/Kaitou KID, please use the #starry sky queue-sion tag!
Currently I am posting Magic Kaito/Magic Kaito 1412 anime appearances!
note: all of the posts under this tag are queued, and I post two a day
The Secrets You Keep (Clover Twin AU): My personal rewriting of the Magic Kaito/Detective Conan universe in which Kaito and Shinichi are identical twin brothers.
For anything pertaining to The Secrets You Keep, please use the #clover twin au tag!
TSYK P1 - Conan Arc/Canon Timeline Arc
TSYK P2 - Time skip/Post APTX Antidote Arc
This AU is special in that the lore revealed depends on YOU, the readers! Meaning if you want something revealed, you have to request it!
If you would like to request a rewrite or specific prompt for the Clover Twin AU, send me an ask and include "Fic Request", "Twin AU" or any mention of the request being a rewrite. If you don't specify, I'll think it's just a normal question!
note: I tend to answer around 8-10 requests before uploading them to AO3, so Tumblr will ALWAYS get a fic first! However, AO3 releases will include special bonus scenes that will NEVER be posted to Tumblr. Make sure to check AO3 for additional scenes!
For any of my art, please use the #clover creates tag!
I NEVER use GenAI or any robots or tools to draw for me. All art you see is drawn by me and my hand ALONE, with my own blood, sweat and tears!
If you are interested in buying any art commissions from me, just send me a message on either tumblr or discord (under langannpolaris1412)!
For my series of Detco Themed Dividers, please use the #clover's dividers tag!
Direct Link to the Dividers series
Part 1 | Part 2
If you want a specific character or pairing made into a divider, send me an askbox request! Requested dividers will be compiled into their own part of the above series once there are at least 20 requests!
For my Kaitou Kid redesign series, please use the #clover's haute couture tag!
Masterlist for the Series is here
If you find any official art with Kaitou Kid in it that I haven't done/marked on my to-do list, send em my way!
For now, that's all. But I will be updating this post more as new tags appear. As always, let's meet again under the pale moonlight.
WAIT WE CAN REQUEST REWRITES WITH SPECIFIC CHANGES AND WHATEVER WE WANT?
Within reason yes!
You can request anything from retconning character deaths, pushing forward ships, or completely erasing details/characters/plots to give your favorites the spotlight!
All I ask is that the requests don't narratively back me into a corner (and doesn't retcon other fics) and that you guys stop asking for Menthe to die. That's gonna happen later down the line I promise, you do NOT need to keep requesting it!
I'm opening commissions after years of putting it off, haha
I have 6 slots open currently, so reach out to me on discord or email to take a spot!
I do also have a portfolio available for people to look at on request if you want to see more of my work before committing to the decision!
COMMISSION SLOTS
[OPEN]
[OPEN]
[OPEN]
[OPEN]
[OPEN]
[OPEN]
what if ran (and kaito) never found out conan was shinichi right away, so they both had to assume he was dead like the news said?
They wouldve been devastated, and Conan appearing would have been them trying to return to some semblance of normalcy.
Ran would also become fiercely protective of Kaito (because she wouldn't want to lose him too) and would have probably found out he was Kid WAY earlier. And also found out she was Pandora way earlier, most likely
detective koushien case but there's no conan at all. kaito goes there alone by accident and has to convince both heiji and hakuba he's really shinichi
shenanigans ensue, conan is losing his mind, ran has no idea whats happening
You are a little genius and I am holding you gently in my hands, like a hamster
Hopefully this lets other requesters know you can request all sorts of things in rewrites to make them more unique to the AU! (but I'm not rewriting the case solution cause it's so tedious, ust assume its the same as canon minus conan)
Fic below the cut 🍀
"Oh! Is Shinichi here??" Ran asked, looking a bit more excited than she might have meant.
"Who?" Tsuchio asked, and Kazuha immediately piped her on her end.
"Shinichi Kudo, the Great Detective a' the East!"
He's not gonna be here, cuz Kudo said he wasn't gonna show up. Heiji bitterly thought, glancing down at the empty space at his side. He'd asked Conan to come along, but Conan refused, giving some excuse that he was gonna look into Rena Mizunashi and didn't have time for some random Detective TV show.
You know I can't throw myself around on national TV! It's bad enough that people slap me in frontline news articles! Conan had said, and refused to budge.
So, Heiji was a little sore. He wanted to spend some time with Shinichi and get into a proper contest with him, but now he was just going to be stuck on a deserted island with some random detectives he didn't care for.
"Oh, that boy? Sure, he arrived a few minutes ago actually."
"What???" Ran and Heiji cried, startling Tsuchio.
"W-what's so surprising about that? We invited him, so of course he would show up?? He's actually waiting on the small transfer ship over at the dock."
Ran and Heiji sprinted past Tsuchio, going over to the ship he had gestured to. And there waiting and looking on his phone, was Shinichi.
"Shinichi!!" Ran cried, causing him to look up.
"Ran? And Hattori?"
"Why didn't you tell us that you were going to be in Tokyo??"
"Ah- It was just a sudden thing-!" Shinichi waved his hands quickly, and Heiji leant over to whisper to him.
"Didn't ya say ya weren't gonna come along?? An' how did ya get yer body back??"
"Wh..." "Shinichi" looked around and realized that Conan was nowhere to be seen. "Wait-"
"Too bad Conan ain't here! He woulda loved ta see Kudo-kun again!" Kazuha smiled, and Kaito mentally kicked himself.
He'd answered the call from Tsuchio about the Detective Koshien, and had automatically assumed that Heiji would tell Conan, and Conan would in turn tag along.
But now he sees that Conan didn't care for it at all!
"Uh, maybe I should-"
"Ah! We're running out of time! Hattori-san, please get onto the boat so we can get going!"
"Sure, sure!" Heiji hopped in to stand beside Kaito, who quickly averted his gaze.
This is bad, I have to tell him the truth!
"H-hey, Hattori-kun-" Kaito turned to look at him, and saw how excited he looked.
"This is gonna be great, we can finally have a proper contest! Aren't ya excited too??" Heiji looked at him like a big happy golden retriever, and Kaito felt his resolve fade fast.
"I....Uh... yeah! Super excited!"
"Let's go meet the others!" Heiji grabbed his wrist, pulling him into the seating area.
I-I'm so screwed...
―
Kaito felt completely out of place here.
Heiji didn't seem to care for the other two teen detectives, and they didn't really care for him either. They seemed to be talking about something, but Kaito was more focused on Tsuchio.
He looked suspicious, like he was nervously trying to hide his identity. Not only that, but Kaito noticed something off about his Nichiuri TV uniform.
"..."
"Ya noticed it too, huh?" Heiji whispered, grinning wide. Kaito put on his best indifferent Shinichi face, glaring at him.
"What do you think, I'm some sort of amateur?"
"Course not! Yer the only worth bein' called my rival, of course ya already got it figured out!"
Kaito huffed, crossing his arms over his chest.
Yeah right. All I know is that guy's definitely a fake. But the issue is, why is he doing that? Is it part of the Koshien...?
Kaito then inadvertently mimicked Shinichi's thinking pose, and the three other teen detectives were staring at him as if starstruck.
"So that's, like, totally the famous Heisei Holmes deduction pose~!"
"When Junya first heard about it, he wondered what was so great about a guy thinking, but that's straight aura-farming behavior from Kudo. Junya's so totally jealous, deadass!"
"That's my rival fer ya!"
Kaito's eyebrows twitched in annoyance.
T-this is so unbearable! How does Shin-chan handle these expectance gazes all the time??
This is nothing like the gaze of an audience, this is like having a bunch of little ducklings seeing you as their mother!
I gotta get out of this situation somehow...
When they finally touched down on the island, Kaito was happy to finally touch solid ground. Not that he disliked water, in fact quite the opposite, but he sometimes got severe motion sickness on small boats.
"Ya awright? Yer lookin' a lil green.." Heiji found his place at "Shinichi's" side, and Kaito immediately sobered himself.
"I'm fine! Let's just get to the lodge so we can get this over with, yeah?"
"Well, now that we have two Eastern representatives, this might seem a bit unfair..." Koya, the assistant who will be handling their time on the island, spoke up from a short ways ahead of them.
"What?" Heiji looked up. "Whataya mean two Eastern representatives?"
"We had sent invitations to the two popular East high school detectives since we had heard that Shinichi Kudo was hard to get a hold of, but they both had ended up accepting."
"What??" Natsuki cried, before covering her mouth. "Uh, I mean, isn't that like so totally unfair? Where's this other East guy?"
"The other Eastern representative arrived early this morning and is already resting at the lodge."
Kaito knew there was only one other detective on par with Shinichi in terms of popularity in the East. He practically ran to the lodge, throwing the door open.
There in the main room was exactly who Kaito was expecting.
"What a wonderful spot to hold a mystery," Hakuba said to no one in particular, looking down at his phone.
"Hakuba!" Kaito chirped, accidentally injecting a bit too much 'Kaito' into his tone.
Hakuba looked up in surprise, then in confusion, then slight recognition.
"Kudo-kun...? No, wait..."
Ah, that's right. I'm Shinichi right now.
"I'm―"
"Hey..." Heiji stammered, looking between the two. "Who's he? An' how're ya so close ta him...?"
―
After the introductions were done and everyone was sent out to their rooms, Kaito realized that he had to share a room with Hakuba.
Which made sense, since they were both the East representatives and there weren't enough rooms for everyone, so Kaito didn't seem bothered at all.
Well, they said we need to change into our school uniforms for this. I packed Shin-chan's uniform, but I also accidentally packed my own.
Kaito lifted the two uniforms out of his duffle bag, shaking his head.
"You have two school uniforms?" Hakuba asked, leaning over Kaito's shoulder. "...They're similar colors, but different styles? Wait, that second one..."
"This is the Ekoda high school uniform, it belongs to my brother. I must've packed it by accident!"
Hakuba nodded as if understanding completely.
"Aren't you going to get changed, Hakuba-kun?"
"My school doesn't have a designated uniform, so I'll be staying in these clothes."
"Huh? But you go to Ekoda while you're staying in Japan, why not just wear the Ekoda uniform? Since Beika and Ekoda are neighbors, wearing the uniform would cement the fact you're an Eastern rep. Plus, we'd match." Kaito held out the Ekoda uniform to him. "You can just borrow this one!"
"O-oh! Thank you, Kudo-kun... I apologize for my oversight." Hakuba bowed his head, and Kaito resisted the urge to tease him.
He was acting so tentative and proper, totally unlike his normal snobbish behavior to butt heads with Kaito. But then again... he wasn't Kaito right now. For some reason he found it easy to forget that fact while standing with Hakuba.
He hasn't acted like he usually does. I guess he likes Shinichi more than Kaito.
Kaito ignored the slight sting in his chest, setting the Teitan uniform down. He can't do a quick-change here because Hakuba would instantly realize who he really was.
Normal changing it is...
He started unbuttoning his shirt when there was the sound of running down the hall, followed by the door to their room being flung open.
"Hold it right there!!" Heiji cried, the culprit of the ruckus to the surprise of no one. But Kaito was worried that Heiji's outburst was targeted at him.
Did he realize I wasn't Shinichi??
Heiji stormed up to Hakuba, jabbing a finger at him.
"Ya got sum nerve watchin' Kudo undress!"
"What?"
What???
Heiji stepped around Hakuba, standing with his arms out to block "Shinichi" from his view.
"Go ahead Kudo, ya can change in peace!"
Your body isn't really doing much to cover me, you know!
"Is there some issue with me seeing Kudo-kun in a state of undress? It's not like he's some defenseless young maiden, we're both boys."
Heiji averted his eyes, his knack of having trouble lying on the spot surfacing with a vengeance.
Kaito glanced down at his chest. Out of habit, he often wore the same vest Shinichi did to flatten his chest, purely because Kaito was a perfectionist when it came to disguises. Heiji, who knows Shinichi's birth gender, would of course want to prevent others from seeing and potentially asking about it.
After all, Shin-chan is a man to everyone and barely anyone knows the truth.
The issue here was Heiji can't give a proper excuse without making it seem suspicious, so Hakuba was bound to figure it out on his own at this pace.
"Hattori-"
"Man, yer really a limey idiot through an' through huh?" Heiji scoffed, casting a disinterested glance Hakuba's way. "In Japan it's offensive ta watch other people undress wit'out sum sorta blocker or shield in the way."
Hakuba faltered. He didn't know much about Japanese culture, and often found himself mixing things up. It seems like Heiji said the perfect thing to get the blond teen off their back.
"M-my apologies. It seems like I just keep embarrassing myself in front of you."
"If ya know, turn around an' don't look! Me an' Kudo will look the other way too!"
Hakuba turned his back to them, and Heiji huffed triumphantly. He glanced over his shoulder at Kaito, as if expecting something.
"..."
I'm not praising you for this, you almost made things worse!
―
"So where'd ya meet Duke Snottington?"
Kaito looked up from his phone, seeing Heiji fastening the buttons on his uniform vest.
"Duke? ...Oh, you mean Hakuba?"
"Yeah, him."
Well I can't very well admit that I go to school with him.
"I just ran into him on a case a while back. Why?"
"Well ya two seemed awful close fer just a single meetin'."
Kaito couldn't understand where all of this melodrama was coming from. He figured that Heiji and Hakuba would get along considering how much they had in common, and yet it seemed like Heiji hated him for some reason.
He sighed, looking back down at his phone. He didn't have time for this, he had his own things he needed to figure out! But, he continued the conversation in an attempt to soothe Heiji's temper.
"If his sickly sweet tone annoys you, it's just how he talks. He's not doing it just to annoy you." Though, that reminded Kaito of something. Hakuba wasn't speaking in that honeyed tone that he often did when bothering Kaito. So... maybe he does do that just to annoy him?
The thought of it annoyed Kaito.
"The way he looks down his nose at people reminds me of ya!" Heiji leaned into Kaito's face, startling him.
"M-me?? I..." Kaito realized he couldn't really argue with that. Shinichi WAS pretty snobbish. "What, so you're saying I annoy you too?"
"Course not! Ya get a pass, cuz yer cute!" Heiji grinned, and Kaito instinctively narrowed his eyes at him. Surely he was just teasing, but unfortunately for Heiji, that sort of thing doesn't work on Kaito.
"Whatever." Kaito huffed, earning a grin from Heiji. It seems he might've thought that he embarrassed the other.
"Now that I got my uniform on, that means the case is on! From here on out, we're rivals! So no comin' runnin' ta me fer help~!"
"As if!" Ah hell, if I'm stuck doing my own deductions they're gonna see through me for sure. I need a way out of this...
Shin-chan, grant me strength..
―
"Hut-CHOO!"
"Goodness!" Ran pulled a handkerchief from her pocket and gently wiped Conan's nose. "Ever since Hattori-kun and Shinichi left for that island, you've been sneezing up a storm! I hope you don't have a cold..."
"Maybe someone's talkin' about 'im!" Kazuha said, apparently trying to lighten the mood.
It hadn't been long since they found out that Shinichi and Heiji were kidnapped right under their noses, and they had been trying to retrace their steps to potentially find where they had been taken too.
Out of all of them, it seemed like Conan was the most concerned.
I should've gone. Why didn't I just accept Hattori's offer? Now I'm here, and Kaito's there in my place.
What if something happens to him?
Conan nervously chewed on his thumb nail, looking off at nothing in particular.
He had it in his mind that this was his fault, and if anything happened to his brother he would be the sole one responsible.
Conan looked up to the sky, seeing storm clouds rolling out to sea.
"..."
―
Kaito was not a detective.
He was often detached from crimes that involved body counts, and balked at the sight of a corpse.
It terrified him to confront death, because it hung so heavy over nearly every facet of his life. When Kaito saw corpses, he saw himself superimposed over them. Or worse, he saw Jack Connery's body crumpled where Kaito had left it.
It was enough to drive him insane, and he usually had Conan around to soothe him.
But he didn't have anyone to rely on here.
Hakuba and Heiji had no idea who he really was, and everyone was expecting him to solve the case. Because he was Shinichi, and Shinichi was the perfect detective.
It terrified him, each time he looked at Junya Tokitsu's body. But he couldn't afford to be scared, because that wasn't in Shinichi's character.
Kaito was not a detective, but he wasn't an idiot either. He knew people, how they moved under pressure, how a normal person would dress, move, and act. He knew the rigidity of routine, and could see through the best of lies on those who didn't perfect their poker face.
So when Hakuba and Heiji were accusing Koya and Tsuchio of the murder, it was Kaito who grabbed Natsuki's wrist.
"It was you, wasn't it?" He'd asked, staring down into her eyes.
"W-what?"
The others stopped their argument, looking over at the two. Natsuki glanced back at them, waving her free hand.
"I-it's not true-!"
"But it is." Kaito insisted, leaning closer to her. "This whole time, you've been faking nearly ever facet of your personality.
"You used safe and stereotypical slang, acted cutesy, and couldn't get dressed in your uniform at the same time as the rest of us."
"B-because my school's rules are so strict!" Natsuki insisted, but Hakuba brushed her hair away from her ear.
"If they're so strict, why do you have pierced ears?"
"Oh, I get it! If her school has such strict rules, they'd never allow earrings!" Heiji concluded, putting his hands in his pockets. "That's why ye were hidin' yer ears ever since we got here!"
"Anyone with strict school rules would slowly fall into muscle memory with those rules in mind. If you had really been a student, you would have finished getting dressed around the same time we did.
"But you lagged behind because you were struggling to remember how to put on your uniform."
Natsuki sighed, caving under their gazes.
"...Alright, I'll explain everything."
―
"Man, ta think the only reason ye were invited is cuz Tsuchio insisted!" Heiji put his hands behind his head, standing beside Kaito and Hakuba.
"I didn't even notice anything odd!" Kaito lied, putting his hands in his pockets. Truthfully, he knew something was wrong from the very beginning, but he couldn't figure it out for the life of him.
It was only after everything was resolved that he'd realized the strangeness he felt was from how unprofessional the invitation was. Natsuki had confirmed that it wasn't the same as the ones she had sent out to the other detectives, causing Tsuchio is confirm he had written it himself using hers as a guide. But what Kaito couldn't understand is why Tsuchio wanted Shinichi to come so bad.
Having so many skilled detectives only made it easier for his secret to come to light, so why...?
"You're not Shinichi Kudo, are you?"
Kaito froze, slowly turning to see Natsuki standing behind him with her hands behind her back. Heiji and Hakuba had walked to the dock, waving down the boat that Kazuha, Ran, and the others were approaching on.
"You look just like him, and you have his mannerisms, but you're not him."
"Hoh?"
Natsuki stepped forward to stand beside him, smiling.
"I assume you want to keep it a secret from those two huh? But... Surely they should notice you're not who you say you are?"
Honestly, Kaito was wondering about that too. He was fairly certain that he wasn't doing a good job at all at being Shinichi, but neither Heiji nor Hakuba said anything to him.
Had he really fooled them after all?
"How did you know?" Kaito admitted, watching as Natsuki's shoulders relaxed.
"You're not the only one who's good at studying people. I noticed it under your shirt on the boat when you bent down to tie your shoe, but you wear a binder despite not having anything to bind. You didn't have it on tight and it seemed like you were more so using it as a tank top, and there was no bump where your bust would be due to wearing the binder incorrectly.
"I figured that meant you were only wearing it for show, as if trying to prove to people that you were who you said you were. Not to mention, but you didn't do a single deduction in there. Every piece of evidence you found against me was related to my mannerisms or how I was acting." Natsuki shrugged.
"You're probably in some profession that revolves around pretending to be other people and watching those around you to avoid getting caught. A criminal of some sort, perhaps?"
Kaito shrugged in response, and Natsuki laughed.
"I'm not gonna rat you out. You weren't supposed to be here anyways, so I feel kinda bad dragging you into this."
"You can't predict everything, so you shouldn't feel bad for things out of your control."
Natsuki lidded her eyes a bit, the sea breeze gently blowing her hair around her face.
"How old are you, Kudo-kun?"
"Hm? I'm 17."
Natsuki grabbed his tie and pulled him down to her height, kissing his cheek.
"N-Natsuki-san??"
"Hehe~ In a year or two, come visit me. You're like, totally my type!"
"Hah..." Kaito shuddered, feeling a shiver run up his spine.
What was that murderous intent??
On the rescue ship, Conan glanced over at Ran and Kazuha, who had been viewing the island through some binoculars.
"So? So?? Did ya see Shinichi and Heiji?? Are they okay??" Kazuha excitedly asked, wincing when Ran gripped the binoculars so hard they buckled under her grip, shattering and denting. "R-Ran-chan??"
"Tell the boatman to pick up the pace." Ran growled, dropping the binoculars to the side. "There's something I need to go handle on that island."
"O-Okay??"
Conan nervously chuckled, glancing towards the shoreline.
Are you tired of seeing Kaitou Kid in official merch and he's always in that white suit? Iconic sure, but when he's put up against multiple other characters who get unique outfits, he comes up lacking.
The Moonlit Magician, Master of Disguise and the Heisei Lupin, should be standing out in a flamboyant and loud way, not disappearing into the background because others outshine him.
Join me on my one-man crusade to give Kaitou Kid the outfits he deserves, as many times as it takes.
Welcome to Clover's Haute Couture, a special series where I single-handedly use my knowledge of fashion to create new outfits for official art of Kaitou Kid!
I plan to do this series for as long as there's art for me to reference, so if you find any official art I haven't done yet (or haven't teased as a future piece) send them my way, either by dms or by tagging me in posts!
As always, you are free to use my designs in any way you wish, as long as you credit me in some regard!
The full masterlist (with links and teasers to future pieces) will be under the cut!
[1] Kid vs Amuro Anniversary Card (Detco Trading Card Game)
[2] Movie 27 Promotional Art / Good Day! Good Travel! Collaboration
[3] KAYOU Detco Trading Card / Magical Miracle China Collaboration
[4] Valentine's Day / Halloween
[5] HAPPY DINER
[6] Silent Night / Heisei Lupin
[7] Cafe Whispers Collaboration / 30th Anniversary Commemorative Art (Shakespeare/Venetian)
[8] 30th Anniversary Commemorative Art (Music Festival) / Mystery-Solving Shinkansen Racing Along the Tokaido - JR Central Collaboration
[9] Special Birthday Illustration Series
[10] 30th Beika Town Sports Competition Collaboration / New Otani Super Sweets Buffet Collaboration
[11] Alice in Wonderland / Night Parade of One Hundred Demons
[12] 30th Anniversary Commemorative Art (Pastel Wedding 1) / 30th Anniversary Commemorative Art (Pastel Wedding 2)
[13] Detective Conan Cafe Official Art 1/ Conanland Official Art
[14] Detective Conan Cafe Official Art 2 / Sparkling Blue Sky Tower (Tokyo Skytree) Collaboration
[15] Detective Conan Cafe Official Art 3 / Conan Cafe in Bangkok
[16] Detective Conan Cafe Official Art 4 / An Eternal Moment Pop Up Shop Collaboration
We (by that, i mean i) need to know how far along subaru’s gotten with the disguising, quick-changing, and the acting! So if you could, may i request him, ruby, and kaito doing something related to that? I saw a comment on ao3 about the three of them and i would really like to see how their trio would work🥹
I said this cycle was gonna be entirely rewrites but you send me a Ruby Jones request and I'm gonna prioritize it
Incoming; the "Kaito is MY little buddy!" fic~
Fic below the cut 🍀
"You make pretty decent tea, M. Okiya."
Subaru looked up from his own teacup, raising an eyebrow at the comment. Any normal person would assume that if from a positive standpoint, that was a compliment and if from a negative standpoint, was a bit of a backhanded comment. But he knew better.
That was very much an insult.
Across from him, Ruby Jones sat with one leg crossed over the other. She held the saucer and teacup on her knee, staring at him. She was smiling at him, but it was a very tense and almost plastic smile.
Rehearsed, even.
"Jones-san, was it? Is there some reason that you've decided to visit?"
Ruby paused, before setting the saucer and cup onto the coffee table. Subaru noticed that she had fairly long nails. They almost resembled claws to him.
"I'm here to see Kaito."
"What does a grown woman want with Kaito-kun?"
"Why M. Okiya, are you assuming something of my relationship with him?" Ruby asked, her face and tone sweet but to a sickly, almost tooth-rotting degree.
"I just believe it's strange that a foreign woman with no familial ties is looking to spend time with a teenager." Subaru retorted, smiling in a very forced way that didn't reach his eyes.
The two continued to smile, the air around them going stale and tense as sparks crackled around.
She doesn't look strong in any regard. I can subdue her in seconds.
What braggadocio! He's surely thinking of something misogynistic right now.
In a split second, Subaru grabbed a butter knife just as Ruby grabbed a fork, and both swung their respective weapons at each other's necks just as the front door opened.
"I'm home!" Kaito called, shutting the door behind him and removing his shoes. He'd stepped into the entryway and looked up, surprised to see the two of them sitting at the coffee table. "Oh hey! Ruby!"
Ruby and Subaru had sat back down before Kaito noticed them, politely sitting as if nothing had happened.
"Hello Kaito! It's been a while, how have you been?"
"I've been great!" He hurried over to her like an excited puppy. "I had no idea you were coming back from America! Did you have a safe trip?"
"Of course! After all, I had that lovely hand-made omamori that you gifted to me before I left!" Ruby shot a triumphant glance at Subaru, who winced as if he had just been shot.
"I'm glad it helped you! Did you already get acquainted with Subaru-niichan?"
Subaru huffed proudly, taking a sip from his tea as Ruby recoiled in subdued anguish.
"N-niichan! I-is this man your relative..?"
Kaito tilted his head. "Nope, he's been living with us since his boarding home burned down. But I like to think he and I are are pretty close!"
Another hit to Ruby, much to Subaru's amusement.
Kaito, seemingly oblivious to this little back and forth, looked over at Ruby again.
"Well, I'm glad both of you are here. We can get right into the lesson!"
―
Kaito liked being a teacher.
Perhaps it was the idea that he could share his knowledge with others, or the fact that he was helping others gain the same skills that saved his skin on a near daily basis, but he enjoyed it immensely.
Even though he only had two students, he found himself extremely excited when their lessons could resume.
And today was an extremely exciting day; both of his students were in town and free for lessons!
Ruby and Subaru watched as Kaito lugged a luggage chest almost bigger than he was into the powder room, and he wiped his brow without a care to how he looked.
"Okay! First thing's first; have you guys been practicing in your free time?"
"Of course," both adults said in unison, before shooting each other a glare. Kaito clapped his hands together, apparently not noticing.
"Perfect! Let's do a test of your abilities and then we can decide where to go next!" Kaito plucked a bundle of papers out of the front pocket of the trunk, flipping through them.
Those must be his lesson plans...
"Found it! Let's start with a vocal test! Subaru-niichan, how about you try to emulate N―"
"Actually, Kaito-kun, would it be alright if I attempt to emulate someone of my choice?" Subaru asked, and Kaito looked even more excited, if that were even possible.
"Do whatever you want!"
Subaru removed his voice changing collar, gently setting it aside. Truthfully, he didn't need it at all for his usual disguise, but he tended to keep it on out of habit. Carefully, he cleared his throat, before speaking up in a sensual and foreign feminine dulcet tone.
"I often find myself willing to intrude on other people's homes under a pretense of closeness, not knowing that I'm a burden."
Ruby couldn't help the involuntary eye twitch.
"Oh! That was really good, but uh, what-"
"It's my turn!" Ruby interjected, raising her hand. She turned her chair to face Subaru, crossing her arms under her chest.
"I derive pleasure in living with a married couple and their teenage children because I have no life of my own to speak of, and I have no sense of fashion to boot." she said, her voice a deep and calm masculine tone.
A vein in Subaru's forehead throbbed out of rage.
"I'm a middle aged woman who's only meaningful bond is a teenager."
"I'm a middle aged man who happily lives as a glorified third-wheel!"
"I'm an insolent woman who has no idea who she's messing with!"
"I'm a chauvinist who can't see the value in women on equal footing to me!"
A little timer went off, startling the two out of their argument. They turned towards the sound, seeing Kaito holding an egg timer.
"You two did really well! A little more emotionally charged than I expected, but really good!"
"Uh..."
The two sat down, a bit embarrassed. Wasn't it odd for two adults to get into an insult match like preschoolers? What if Kaito begins to look down on them...?
"Now, shall we move onto quick-changing?" Kaito smiled, whipping open the large trunk and showing off multiple sets of clothing and wigs. "After this, we can work on mask making!"
Ruby and Subaru shared a confused look.
Perhaps he didn't even notice...?
―
During one of their public tests of their disguises, Kaito decided to stop at Poirot for their lunch break.
Subaru seemed a bit resistant to it, but Kaito insisted and Ruby wanted to do whatever Kaito wanted, so he was outnumbered.
"Why are you so adverse to a little cafe? Are you that enamored with your own cooking skills?" Ruby chastised, ignoring how Subaru glared at her.
"It has nothing to do with the food. It's the person who works here that I don't care for."
Ruby raised an eyebrow in confusion, but whatever question she was going to ask was derailed by the waitress approaching them. Ruby had rightfully never seen her before, but thought that she was quite cute.
"Azusa-san!" Kaito smiled, and Azusa quickly greeted him in kind.
"Kaito-kun! This is the first time I've seen you come around without Conan-kun!" Azusa glanced at Ruby and Subaru, before tilting her head. "Are these your parents?"
"Absolutely not." The two said in unison, and Azusa quickly waved her hands in embarrassment.
"I-I'm sorry! I shouldn't have assumed-!"
Ruby tilted her head towards Subaru, unable to hide the amusement on her face.
"Is this who you were so concerned about seeing? Very on par for you, M. Okiya!"
"This little stint of yours in assuming I'm some sort of misogynist is getting a bit old, Jones-san. Besides, she's not the one I don't care to see. It's actually-"
"Zero-san!" Kaito exclaimed, having left the group and approached Amuro who had just appeared from one of the back areas.
"Kaito-kun?" Amuro put his hands on his hips, looking down at the other. "Did you just get here?"
"Yep! Stopped by with my magicians in training!" He gestured to Ruby and Subaru, which earned an interested noise from Amuro.
"Okiya-san is learning to be a magician, you say? I wonder, whatever could he need tricks like that for~?"
Ruby laughed at the way Subaru blatantly ignored Amuro, finding his reaction a bit silly.
"What on earth could you be so sore about with a barista? Did he perhaps not add enough sugar to your coffee?"
Subaru let her get her laughter out, before leaning close to her to whisper in her ear.
"He's the PSB agent who nearly arrested Kaito-kun during the Queen's Bang heist."
Ruby paused.
She'd only heard about that heist offhandedly, because she was overseas at the time and couldn't help. But she had heard that Kaito had gotten into a bit of a predicament and was almost caught.
It seemed that Amuro had only let him go because of some sort affection he harbored for the Kudo children, according to what Conan had told her.
"...
"Well, he can't be that bad. After all, he's on Kaito's side now!"
They both turned to look at Kaito and Amuro again, and caught the tailwind of Amuro petting Kaito's hair. He had a soft, affectionate expression on his face, as if he were looking at his own child.
"Shall I make you your favorite today as well, Kaito-kun?"
"Hehe, it's almost like you know me the best out of everyone!"
A jolt went through Subaru and Ruby, as if they were struck by lightning.
Never mind, he needs to be stopped...!
They glanced at each other, silently conversing with their eyes before firmly shaking each other's hands in solemn agreement.
"Truce?"
"Truce."
―
Over Kaito's summer break, he personally worked with Ruby and Subaru to improve their disguise work. And boy, did he have a lot of work cut out for him.
Ruby often relied on masks and masculine clothing to be Chat Noir, and her only alias was her real name.
Subaru only had one alias too, but he wasn't very good at protecting it under pressure, plus there was always the risk that something could go wrong. And without a backup, he was doomed if anyone had caught on.
Thankfully, they were both fast learners and even faster at memorizing, so Kaito never had to tell them the same things twice. And despite their rocky meeting, the two had slowly gotten used to each other.
Of course, there were still points where they didn't get along, but they had gotten much friendlier with each other as the weeks went on. In fact, they seemed to grow even closer after that visit to Poirot.
They had even twisted their disdain for each other into a friendly rivalry, and sometimes the two even attempted to fool each other on the street with their disguises.
『That sounds like a hassle, are you sure you want to keep working with them?』
Kaito sat back in his desk chair, spinning a screwdriver around his finger. He was currently on a video call with Conan, who was in Osaka spending the last month or so of summer break with Heiji and Kazuha.
"I think it's fine, I mean, they're improving way more than they would have alone."
Conan looked unconvinced, shaking his head.
『Uh huh.』
『And when are you going to admit to them that you purposely set up a situation where they would meet without you around and get on each other's nerves?』
Kaito grinned, but said nothing in response. He decided not to mention that he also exposed them to Amuro in an effort to speed up their bonding.
『What would you have done if they ended up getting along right away? Or worse, they hated each other so bad they refused to be in the same room?』
"I knew that wouldn't happen, because they're both extremely similar! I just had to play to those similarities and manufacture the perfect circumstances for them to get angry, and then cool off!
"Honestly, I should do this more often for people we know that have similar personalities. This worked so well I almost fancy this a flawless experiment."
『Who on earth would you pick for something like that? Everyone in our shared friend groups get along fairly well.』 Conan seemed to pause to think about it, sorting through every shared friend that they had. He seemed to be stumped when his expression dropped.
Kaito grinned mischievously, knowing that Conan had caught on right away.
"Well? Do you think we could get Heiji-kun and Hakuba to get along~?"
『I think you'd have a better chance getting blood from a gemstone.』
Kaito blinked, averting his eyes in thought. Theoretically, he could get blood from a gemstone, on account of Ran being a living chunk of Pandora. But Conan doesn't know that, so he shrugged.
"I think it's worth a try."
『Do not do it. We've both had to deal with their bickering and displays of dominance before already, I refuse to do it again.』
『Do you hear me Kaito? Do not attempt it!』
"Byeee, Shin-chan~" Kaito closed his laptop to end the call, before slowly spinning around in his chair.
"I mean, it can't be that bad.
"But how am I gonna get Hakuba and Heiji in the same room together...?"
Part 5 of my crusade to redraw all of Kaitou Kid's official art!
Some design notes: I decided to offset Kaito's color scheme compared to the one seen on other male characters in this Happy Diner event by making his colors purple and orange instead of blue and yellow! This way, he's still a part of their set, but he's distinctly different enough due to not actually being a part of the diner crew!
Also, I traded in his monocle for a clear visor over the eyes. Best part of this series is finding unique ways to mask his face!
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4
Official art that inspired the redraw under the cut!
I really like that you changed Conan/Shinichi's possessiveness from being fixated on Ran to being fixated on Kaito instead.
I never liked how in canon Conan/Shinichi acted like he owned Ran even before they started dating and always got in the way of her speaking with boys. But it makes way more sense for him to act that way in regards to his baby brother because its rooted in being protective, not being jealous!
Also the fact Conan has gotten angry at both Heiji (in M3) and Hakuba (in Azure Throne) when they put their hands on/got too close to Kaito was super funny!
Conan has to be protective, have you seen Kaito's fanbase both as a civilian and as Kid?
If Shinichi often got lockerfuls of love letters, then Kaito probably got double that!
If you want to date his little brother you have to best Conan in hand-to-hand combat.
