Kaito scowled at the newspaper, imagining setting it on fire and ridding the world of one more critic's bad review. The man called him obvious and tacky and contrived. Just because he wasn't doing the kind of magic his father did, did not mean that he was contrived.

"I see you read the paper," Hakuba said, sitting at the table. "Isn't there a rule about reading reviews after a performance?"

"When have I ever followed a rule," Kaito muttered.

"Fair point. You know, one bad review doesn't mean much. Especially not from Edogawa Conan."

"What?" Kaito asked, startled out of his murderous thoughts. He looked up at Hakuba, sipping his coffee as if nothing was wrong. "How did you know which review I was looking at?"

Hakuba shrugged, "I assumed. He's probably the harshest reviewer there is. I don't remember him ever giving a positive review. Yours was actually pretty good in comparison."

Kaito unlocked his phone and pulled up Google, curious to see how bad others had been. Hakuba snorted, taking a bite of his breakfast.

"I'd look up… What was his name, Hondou something?"

"Hondou Eisuke," Kaito agreed. The kid was his age, and not the best illusionist Kaito had ever seen. He had a lot to improve on. The review was easy enough to find… It looked like Edogawa agreed with him. Kaito winced in sympathy at each harsh word spoken against his fellow magician.

Kaito realized with a start that he'd already made a decision regarding the situation. He turned back to his review, pulling a pen from one of his hidden pockets, circling the important points Edogawa made about his performance.

He was going to prove Edogawa wrong.

When he finally looked back up from his frantic note taking, Hakuba was eyeing him over his mug, looking wary. The last time he'd seen Hakuba look so unnerved was when he'd first asked him to share an apartment with him, so something about his behavior must be particularly strange.

"Something wrong?" Kaito asked.

Hakuba shook his head, leaning back in his chair, "I don't think I've ever seen you take a critic so seriously before. Why Edogawa?"

"I'm going to make him give me a positive review. His first positive review."

Hakuba rolled his eyes.

"Good luck with that."

"You got an invitation in the mail," Ran said as she walked into his study. Shinichi glanced up from his research in surprise.

"An invitation?" he asked. "For what?"

"Good question. I think it might be in code? It's addressed to Edogawa Conan, so probably a magic show?"

Shinichi pushed his papers to the side, reaching for the card, trying to ignore the smirk on her face. If she had something to say, she'd say it.

The card was made of thick paper, embossed, but the invitation, if one could call it that, was handwritten and definitely in code: Every character on the page was a number, separated with hyphens and slashes.

Shinichi frowned at it, trying to parse out the order and what it could mean. Ran coughed. When Shinichi glanced up, she looked amused.

"Didn't you have work to do, consulting detective? I do believe that paperwork is due at the station by day's end, isn't it?" she asked. Shinichi flinched.

Right, paperwork. He could spend time on the code after he was done.

OOO

The numbers did not extend past 26, so Shinichi figured each number must instead represent a letter, but that still left him with gibberish:

Ba gur gjragvrgu bs ncevy, v jvyy or cresbezvat n fcrpvny zntvp fubj ng gur fhmhxv snzvylf svsgvrgu naavirefnel pryroengvba. V jbhyq or ubaberq vs lbh jbhyq nggraq naq tvir zr n frpbaq punapr gb vzcerff lbh.

Lbhef, Xhebon Xnvgb

How many codes did this person use? On a whim, Shinichi began putting the letters through basic algorithms and common code breakers, running through each one he could think of.

"Shinichi, it's time for dinner," Ran said, frowning in the doorway. "Take a break and come back to it, okay?"

Shinichi sighed.

OOO

At 4:37 a.m., Shinichi cracked the code. It was an off-set algorithm known as the Caesar Cipher. Each letter in the code was off-set from its original letter by 13 places (in this case), and then each letter was changed to a number.

Under that method, the message translated to:

On the twentieth of April, I will be performing a special magic show at the Suzuki family's fiftieth anniversary celebration.I would be honored if you would attend and give me a second chance to impress you.

Yours, Kuroba Kaito

Shinichi frowned at the message. What kind of person would invite a critic to a special performance? What kind of person would invite a critic in code?

Magicians in general were a strange breed to be sure, but Kuroba was… something else, it seemed. Shinichi couldn't help but be intrigued.

And he'd never been one to refuse such a… polite invitation.

Kaito bounced on his heels, glancing from the stage to the audience with a wide grin. He ignored Jodie Hopper laughing behind him, steadfast in his excitement.

"What's got you so eager, Kuroba?" she asked, her voice amused but low so as not to carry to the house.

"I invited Edogawa Conan, and I think he actually came," Kaito told her, voice just as low, staring at the table he'd reserved for his critic.

A young man and woman were taking their seats, well dressed and graceful. The young man was wearing a pair of large-framed glasses and adjusting a bow tie, while telling his friend something. The young woman was tucking her hair behind her ears and laughing at whatever it was he said.

"You invited the toughest critic in the city to our performance?" Hopper asked, sounding incredulous. "Why in the world would you do that?"

"I'm gonna prove him wrong. He called me tacky," Kaito insisted.

"Yeah, and he's called me too flashy. (I breathe fire; of course my act is flashy.) Doesn't mean I want a second dose of punishment," Hopper muttered.

"It's not punishment if I change his mind. Dad always told me to show the curious kind of critic the impossible to make them into an ardent fan. Edogawa took the time to solve a code to get here, so I think curious is a good descriptor for him," Kaito grinned.

The curtain was about to go up on the performance. He was second to last, just before Hopper took her spotlight as the troupe's senior magician.

"Only you would invite a harsh critic to a show in code. Unbelievable."

Kaito only grinned wider. Hopper was prevented from commenting further by the lights in the house dimming, and the announcer beginning to speak.

"Ladies and gentleman!"

Kaito returned backstage. He had a lot of prep work to do if he was going to really wow Edogawa tonight.

"Conan, wasn't that amazing?" Ran asked, hanging on his arm and leaning into him, thankfully remembering not to call him by his actual name. Shinichi shrugged.

"It was alright," he allowed.

"Alright? Surely you're joking."

"Ms. Hopper was in top form tonight, and I will grant that Kuroba at least took my comments into account."

"But?"

"But there's still a lot he could improve on."

Ran groaned, "Can't you give a nice review? Just once? He invited you to see him; doesn't that deserve some leeway?"

"Of course not. I'm not going to go easy on him. I'm a critic, not a reviewer. The day I have nothing to critique is the day I retire," Shinichi declared.

"Honestly," Ran sighed.

Shinichi thought for a moment he could feel eyes on his back, but when he glanced back, there was no one looking at him. He shrugged it off and kept walking. He had a new piece to write, after all.

"Kaito, you're running yourself ragged. Please take a break," Hakuba urged. Kaito didn't bother to spare him a glance. If he wanted his attention he could come fully into his workshop instead of hovering in the doorway.

One of his doves settled on his work, eyeing him. Kaito stared back, frowning. He felt like she wanted him to leave. How long had he been there?

"What time is it?" Kaito asked.

"It's 7:33:47 a.m. I think you should be asking what day it is," Hakuba said. His voice was disapproving at the least. Kaito turned to face him. His voice was disapproving, but his face was all worry.

"That late, huh? Guess I got a little carried away," Kaito laughed, leaning back against his workbench. Hakuba frowned.

"Aoko and I are going to meet a few friends of hers for dinner tonight. You are going to be joining us," Hakuba told him. "I'll be back here at 6:30 p.m. precisely. Please sleep and shower before I return. And do wear something nice, won't you?"

"Yes, sir," Kaito said, saluting. Now that Hakuba mentioned it, he was exhausted. Sleep was probably a good plan.

"Remind me why we're doing this again?" Shinichi asked, frowning at the shirt Ran had picked out for him. It was very nice and dark blue, one of the shirts she'd gotten him for when he finally asked someone out.

"Aoko feels bad that her friend isn't dating anyone, so we're going to see how the two of you get along," Ran reminded him from the other room, sounding unconcerned. Shinichi sighed. It just figured that she'd leave out her end. Just because the last person he'd been properly interested in was her, did not mean he needed help finding a date.

"And you didn't think to ask for his name?" he asked.

"Sorry, it didn't really occur to me at the time," Ran said.

He knew nothing about this person. For all he knew, he could be some complete psycho. Maybe even a murderer, although it seemed unlikely that an inspector's daughter, one training to follow his footsteps even, would be friends with any kind of criminal.

Shinichi adjusted his slacks, before facing the mirror, giving himself a onceover. He fixed his bangs and adjusted his shirt once more before he sighed again. Acceptable, which meant it was time to face the music.

"How do I look?" he asked Ran, stepping into their living room.

"Oh, Shinichi, you look so handsome," she said, beaming at him. He rolled his eyes. "You're really going to wow him, I'm sure of it."

"We'll see."

OOO

"Sorry we're late," Ran said, bowing her head. "I hope we didn't keep you waiting too long."

"No, not at all," Nakamori laughed. "In fact, Saguru and Kaito only just arrived themselves."

Shinichi lost track of what she was saying after that, startled by the familiar face sitting on the other side of the table. Kuroba Kaito, the magician who kept sending him personalized invitations, the magician who was quickly becoming Shinichi's favorite.

Shinichi shot Ran a betrayed look. She avoided his eyes.

She knew. She planned it. Shinichi was going to tell her exactly how he felt about that the moment they were alone. Just because he introduced her to Masumi did not mean she had to somehow repay him, and certainly not like this.

"I'm sorry, Kudo, but have we met?" Kuroba asked, tilting his head. When he wasn't in that gaudy top hat and ridiculous cape, he was actually…

"I don't believe we have. I've heard of you, though. You're a magician, aren't you?" Shinichi asked, trying to cover up his lapse in attention. He glanced at Ran again, but she smiled like she was encouraging him, going so far as to nod. He'd deal with her later.

"I am. I've been working nonstop on my next show. I'd probably be working right now, but these two insisted on pulling me away," Kuroba narrowed his eyes and glared at them, but there was no heat in it.

Kuroba had been doing all that just to impress him?

"Ms. Mouri, before I forget to ask, were you at the Sonoko family's anniversary party?" Kuroba asked.

"I was, why?" Ran asked. Shinichi frowned. Had Kuroba seen them at the party? Did he know who he was…?

"Oh, I saw someone who looked a lot like you sitting at the table I reserved for Edogawa. I was wondering if the two of you were friends," Kuroba said, leaning forward. "I'd hoped I might learn something about the mysterious critic. Have I made an impact at all?"

Shinichi stared hard at Ran, trying to communicate to her that whatever plan she had to smile like that was not something she should do. Really, she should say nothing or shrug it off or something.

"Oh, we're very close. He's my best friend," Ran said, grinning. "I keep trying to tell him to ease up on the magicians he reviews, but he always says something about his sacred duty as a critic," Ran laughed.

"So he's not just being cruel," Hakuba mused.

"No, definitely not," Ran defended. "Although, Eisuke's was out of line." Ran shot him a quick look. He winced. "Eisuke is actually a good friend of mine. He was going to ask me out, until Mr. Critic decided to give him a review so brutal… Eisuke said he'd come back from overseas and try again when he was worthy."

"That's… unfortunate," Nakamori said.

"Was Edogawa in love with you or something?" Kuroba asked.

Ran hesitated, "At the time? A little bit. It faded pretty soon after that. And while Eisuke is still overseas—we're pen pals, now—Shinichi introduced me to Sera. She's amazing. I asked if she wanted to come, but she was in the middle of a case."

Lie, Shinichi thought to himself.

"That's too bad," Nakamori said. "It's been too long since I saw her…"

"I hope her case goes well," Hakuba said.

Before anyone else could continue, the waitress came up to take their orders. While everyone was ordering, Shinichi was startled to find Kuroba's eyes settled on him. Every now and again, they would drift from his face to his hair, then down his chest and back up again. Kuroba's gaze was unnerving in its intensity.

Kuroba was probably making connections. Kuroba probably knew or would know soon. Ran and Nakamori took charge of the conversation after that, drawing it this way and that, keeping Shinichi and Kuroba engaged and speaking.

After the food came, Ran, Nakamori, and Hakuba got into something of a disagreement about what Shinichi thought might be proper police procedures. With such differing points of view—a prosecutor, a police officer, and a private investigator, respectively—Shinichi was sure they would be at it all night.

"It has to be you," Kuroba said, his voice low, so as not to draw the others' attention. Shinichi met his eyes. "You speak in the same manner as Edogawa's writing. You're him, aren't you?"

"The point of an alias is to keep people from knowing who you are," Shinichi drawled, taking a drink and feigning disinterest. Kuroba's eyes seemed to flash.

"So it is you," Kuroba decided. "You know, the next show's going to be the best yet. I'm sure this one will convince you to give me a positive review."

"And what then?" Shinichi asked, watching Ran arguing, Hakuba rebutting (or trying to). "After that, what will you do?"

"What will I…?" Kuroba considered him for a long moment before relaxing, smiling at him. "I'll probably frame it and then move on to the next show."

"Oh?"

"The show must go on, after all," Kuroba waved a hand. "I'll probably ask you out, too, but that doesn't really have anything to do with the review. I'd probably do it even if you weren't my favorite critic."

Shinichi blinked at him, unsure if he'd heard right.

"Really?"

"Yeah. You're both hilarious and handsome, qualities I look for in a potential date. Plus, I know for a fact you can keep up with me. Unless someone else was solving my riddles and codes?" Kuroba winked.

Shinichi snorted, "Like I'd ask for help. Especially not when I was trying to impress my favorite magician," Shinichi admitted, trying to sound casual about it.

Kuroba laughed, beaming. The others finally remembered they were there—poor timing.

"What have you two been talking about, then?" Nakamori asked, nudging Kuroba's shoulder with a grin. "It seems far more pleasant than our arguing."

"Oh, nothing much. I was going to take Kudo on a date sometime, that's all," Kuroba said, his grin turning wicked.

"My, you're confident," Shinichi teased. "What makes you think I'd agree?"

"I know your weak point, Kudo Shinichi," Kuroba said, his voice dropping to something dangerous to match the razor's edge to his smirk. "You can't resist a puzzle."

Ran laughed in surprise.

"What, are you supposed to be the puzzle I can never solve?" Shinichi asked, leaning his chin on his hand.

"You can count on it, Kudo."

Hakuba called for the check, muttering something about not wanting to watch such blatant flirting and sexual tension. Kuroba just winked and finished his food. Ran and Nakamori fell into quiet discussion, probably about how all their scheming had paid off.

Shinichi was still annoyed, but at least he'd gotten a date with someone he was actually interested in. That was going to be… entertaining.

True to his word, Kaito framed Edogawa Conan's first positive review. The frame followed him out of his apartment with Hakuba and into his apartment with Shinichi. Shinichi smacked him when he saw it on the wall, but never made any moves to take it down. Moving it to the house after that was just a given.