Hey everyone, thank you so much for reading so far. This start of this chapter is going to be from Kaito's point of view, but the rest will be from Conan's. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I did writing it, I was literally in a fit of giggles at the end for no explainable reason.

Warning: DETECTIVE CONAN SPOILERS. Up to the Scarlet Arc(around episode 780 I believe). KaiCo/KaiShin.

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"The only problem now would be how to get past the 3rd set of lasers…" Kid hummed to himself in thought, looking over a blueprint while mapping things out in his head. He wrote something down next to a nearby vent, easily thinking out a way around them. "…I wonder if Shinichi's going to be there…" He had sent out the notice yesterday, and the heist time would be on Saturday of next week. There was plenty of time to get ready, and plenty of time for Shinichi to figure the notice out. Unfortunately, the detective wasn't the most devote Kaitou Kid follower. He only showed up to 1 in 4 heists at the maximum, but now that they were hanging out would he go to more? Kid found himself really hoping he would.

Kaito glanced lazily at his phone. It was Saturaday, which meant there were still two whole days before he got to drop in on the little detective's Holmes date. He wasn't really planning to go until he found out that Hakuba was coming back to Japan on Monday. He's going to the exhibit too, and while Kaito didn't care what the detective did in his spare time, Aoko did. She was going on and on about how it had been so long since the last time he came back from a case or a vacation, and how she wanted to hang out with him when he first got there.

He really wanted to see Shinichi's face if he decided to just drop in unexpectedly. He was giddy just thinking about it, but he thought he really should check in with Tantei-kun before popping in. The magician knew he was testing waters with how often he was hanging around him, but he couldn't help it! His favorite critic was at the touch of his fingertips. And before he really thought about it, he found himself texting the little guy.

how did the case go?
Kaito, 2:55PM

I'm not even going to ask
how you got my number…
I'm going to assume this
phone is disposable.
Tantei~kun, 2:56PM

Kid snickered to himself, at both the content of the response and at how quickly he had replied. He was using a practically untraceable disposable phone. It deleted texts set from and to the phone 2 days after they were first seen as well. He had Jii-chan's science buddy to thank for that.

but of course ^.^
Kaito, 2:56PM

It went well, I guess. As far
as cases go. It was a pretty simple
case, the victim's best friend did
her in. All over a big
misunderstanding, too. I really
wish people would just talk things
out before grabbing a gun for once.
Tantei~kun, 2:58PM

says the guy who left his
girlfriend out of the loop
for a year :p
Kaito, 2:59PM

Hey, I'm being serious here.
Besides, she's not my girlfriend.
Tantei~kun, 3:00PM

Kaito blinked, he had always just assumed they were a couple, then again, him and Aoko were practically the same way. Childhood friends—really close to each other but not quite dating.

rly? does that mean u'r
up for grabs?
Kaito, 3:02PM

Maybe that was a little too bold, Kaito frowned. He stared at his phone for a little bit without getting a reply. He continued doodling plans onto the blueprints he had. Marking an area "Chicken Feathers" and drawing a sign in the next room, "Come catch me if you're not too chicken. –Kid" He felt like Inspector Nakamori would get a real kick out of that one. He turned to his phone when he felt a buzz a few minutes later.

What? No. I'm not "up for
grabs". I grew up with Ran
you know? I always just
assumed that one day we
would just be together.
I used to dream about it
all the time. Now that I
know we won't work out,
I'm not really looking for
a relationship anymore.
…Why are you asking,
anyway?
Tantei~kun, 3:10PM

just curious. so since it's
not a date, would it be
okay for me to go with
you to the nerd con?
Kaito, 3:12PM

The Sherlock Holmes event.
Tantei~kun, 3:12PM

Kid chuckled at his immediate correction.

yeah, that.
Kaito, 3:13PM

I don't really mind, but don't
you have a heist to plan?
Tantei~kun, 3:14PM

He slyly looked over his blueprints, so Shinichi had seen his notice.

what do u think i'm doing
right now? ;)
Kaito, 3:14PM

… I shouldn't have asked…
I'm going to go now.
Tantei~kun, 3:15PM

awwww~ i'll see you
monday?
Kaito, 3:16PM

Come disguised. Ran
will be suspicious
otherwise.
Tantei~kun, 3:18PM

Yaay! O.^
Kaito, 3:18PM

Kaito tucked his phone away. He was pretty much done with his heist plans, so he didn't really have much else to do right now. After laying down for a while he ended up heading over to Aoko's, hopefully she would be as bored as he was and want to go do something.

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Next to the Ekoda library sat a lone kid. He was sitting on a short ledge, kicking his feet in the air playfully. He had on a blue suit with a red bowtie, his glasses resting just above his nose, perfectly positioned. His backpack was hanging loosely off his back as if he had come there straight from school. To onlookers, he seemed to be patiently waiting for his guardian. Conan was really just impatiently waiting for Ran to hurry up so that he could look at the exhibits. It took all of his self-control not to enter the library right now. It was still a little bit before 4, since he had rushed here in his excitement.

He looked up when he noticed someone beside him, he always had a knack for sensing Kid's presence, and he knew before even seeing him that it was Kaito. Kaito took one last look at his make up in a hand mirror. He quickly applied another layer of lip gloss before tucking the gloss and mirror back into his sparkly bag. He was wearing a really short blue dress that showed off his legs really well. It clung to his shoulders and chest, making his small fake boobs pop. He also had small red bowtie earrings for the occasion. What the hell? How could he look so girly? It didn't make sense, he was too pretty to be real. Of course, while he knew beyond a doubt that it was a disguise, but Conan still couldn't help the small blush that adorned his cheeks as he stared. Kaito bent down, publicly noticing him, he smiled widely.

"Ah! Conan-kun, are you here to see the Sherlock exhibit too?" Kaito asked, feigning surprise.

Conan looked up at him, actually surprised at the voice. Kaito was smirking victoriously, making Conan blush more, he didn't notice it right? "A-ah, Yamamoto-neechan… What are you so dressed up for?"

"Tsk, tsk. That's the first thing you say to me? I'm dressing up for me, but a compliment wouldn't hurt." Kaito pouted, "Geez, this is why boys are so difficult. They don't feel proud to look pretty once in a while."

The deadpan look Conan gave him at that was priceless, and he smiled brightly back, "Well I guess it was a little for someone else. He said he didn't want to see me in my normal clothes, and then had the nerve to stand me up! Said he had some big case to work on. Can you believe him, Conan-kun? I think he's cheating on me."

"Yup, he's probably cheating, Yamamoto-neechan. You should find a new boyfriend." Conan piped up, happily playing along.

Kid put his hand on Conan's shoulder, "Right? I thought so." He sighed, "I wish there were boys my age as cool as you Conan-kun. I bet you would never break my heart. Hey what if we went out anyway? I could treat you to all sorts of adult things, like coffee."

'Just what is he playing at? Besides, he had clearly been describing me as the guy who stood 'her' up. And what kind of 'adult thing' is coffee, anyway.' He thought to himself, ignoring the longing within him for a good cup of coffee. Conan gulped, nervously, "I'm just a kid, I can't date you. Sorry, Yamamoto-neechan…"

"Haah…" Kaito retracted his hand, "It was worth a try at least."

Kid was having way too much fun with this, Conan turned away. If he was going to tease him then he wasn't going to let him have the satisfaction of knowing that he was embarrassing him.

"It seems the young miss has noticed us." Kid winked, voice low enough that only Conan could hear, "So what should I do? Intrude on your date? If you don't mind of course. Another one of my friends came here, I can hang out with her if you want me to."

"Ran? Geez, I told you it wasn't a date, what's with you today?" Conan grumbled, a little curious about Kid's friend, he should have told him about them. Kaito already said his friends were suspicious of him being Kid, what if they realize he's hanging out with the boy who's considered his rival? He saw Ran approaching from the street, still a little ways away. Kid was quick to notice people. "Will you be able to stay disguised around them? Would it be a problem if we ran into each other later?" Ran was walking towards them curiously.

Kaito laughed, "Just who do you think you're talking to? It should be fine. I guess I'll see you later, Meitantei~kun." He stood up, starting to head away just as Ran got there. "Bye bye, Conan~kuuun!"

"Bye, bye Yamamoto-neechan." Conan waved back, annoyed that he had gotten caught up in the thief's pace.

Ran approached him, tilting her head, "A friend of yours, Conan-kun?"

"Yep!" He beamed childishly. While Ran knew who he was, they still needed to keep up appearances in public, so he continued to act like a child.

"I didn't know you knew someone so pretty..." Ran mumbled to herself. 'Hah, don't be fooled, Ran. That's a guy, it's all makeup and fake skin.' Though he still couldn't stop thinking about how Kid had managed to make his legs look so good, but that's besides the point.

"But I know you, Ran-neechan." Conan smiled, making Ran blush happily.

Ran waved her hand in front of her face, "Eh? I'm really not that pretty." She wasn't denying it too strongly though, "Let's go, Conan-kun." She took his hand and started heading inside, before suddenly realizing something and letting go, "S-sorry, it was just a habit."

Conan frowned, "It's okay…Ran-neechan." Part of him wished that he had never told her that he was Shinichi. He missed being able to support her as a little brother, even if the majority of the time he had been Conan he had considered her his special person. She was so important to him, and he wanted to be there for her. He's often wished that he had never turned into Conan, but almost as often had him finding himself wishing that he had just been born as Conan. That way he could grow up with such an awesome big sister, and not be someone who broke her heart. He could hang out with the Detective Boys, and maybe one day date Ayumi. Everyone could have been happy.

But if that had happened then he wouldn't have all of the memories he considers precious to him now. The Black Organization would probably be getting away with a lot more murders. Akai Shuichi would be dead. Haibara would be alone, having no place to call home. So many of the culprits he'd caught would still be out there. So many framed innocents would be in prison. Still…sometimes he would selfishly wish that he didn't have to deal with them. At the same time he knew that he wasn't the kind of guy who could ever leave a case open. He wouldn't let himself become the person who let murderers get away. The thrill of catching bad guys had started to become painful.

The sudden lonely swirl of empathic dread that filled his stomach made him want to reach out, to hold her hand. But he knew that that might be painful for her so he kept it to himself. He thought back to how Kid had held his hand without a second thought the other day, and suddenly wished he had stayed with them instead of joining his other friend. He shook his head at that, he was being silly.

They headed into the main room, the first thing they saw was a human sized Sherlock Holmes cutout.

"Ah! Look Conan-kun!" Ran pointed excitedly, "Do you want to get a picture with Holmes?"

"E-eh? No, I'm good." Conan waved his hands back and forth. The lighting in the library was bright, the picture would be too clear. He was wearing his summer uniform, there was no way his could naturally hide his face from the shutter. If it ended up in the wrong hands…

Ran frowned, excitement visibly lowering, "If you say so…"

Conan felt a buzz in his left pocket, a message to Conan's phone. He took it out to check.

r u ok?
Kaito, 4:05PM

He smiled lightly, suddenly feeling better. He hadn't even noticed Kid's eyes on him. He had been too distracted.

Yeah. Thanks, Kaito.
Conan, 4:05PM

He looked around, noticing 'Yamamoto-neechan' goofing around with Hakuba, who was dressed from head to toe in a Sherlock Holmes cosplay, and a girl who looked startlingly similar to Ran. They weren't being too loud since they were in a library, but his skill at lip reading had him unconsciously making out what they were saying. The girl's name was Aoko and she was complaining about how he had managed to look prettier than her. Hakuba was making pokes to him saying that this was why the task force couldn't decide if Kid was a woman or man yet and Aoko just seemed confused at that. Kid himself was nonchalantly brushing it off. He saw Kid look down at his phone, before looking up at him. Their eyes met, and Conan looked away, blushing at being caught staring. Kid was ridiculously good at paying attention to his surroundings.

"Aoko-chan…?" Ran asked, looking in the direction Conan had been looking. Conan turned up to her in surprise. Ran knew Aoko? When did that happen? "Ah, it really is! Do you know her Conan-kun? She seems to be friends with the girl you were talking to earlier…Let's go say hi."

"Ah, wait, Ran-neechan!" Conan hurried after her as she headed through the crowd. She was going pretty fast and he gave up trying to stop her and merely tried to keep up. When Ran got there she took Aoko's hand excitedly, causing Aoko to jump in surprise.

"As I thought, it really is you, Aoko-chan!" She smiled looking curiously over her shoulder at Hakuba, "Is this your friend, Kaito-kun?"

"Ugh…" Hakuba blanched, "Please don't confuse me with him of all people."

"Ah!" Aoko blushed, "Ran! N-no, that's Hakuba, Bakaito thought it would be a great day to cross-dress today, the idiot." She pointed at the girl in front of her, aka Kid.

"Huh?" Ran looked at him, confusedly. Conan and Kid shared a look as Kid winked at them. Ran blinked, "Wait, you're a…a…no way, but you're so beautiful, I thought for sure you must be a model or actress!"

Kid bowed down grandly, "But of course, disguises are but child's play to any true magician." He took her hand, kissing it lightly. She blushed, still barely able to comprehend the person in front of her. As he stood back up, a yellow hyacinth appearing in her hand.

"Wow…" Ran looked at it, her expression started as fascinated, but soon her brows came together and she looked suspiciously at the magician in front of her. Conan looked curiously, if he remembered correctly the meaning of a yellow hyacinth was…

"Hmm, an interesting choice in flower, Kuroba-kun." Hakuba piped in, "And what do you have to be jealous of Mouri-san for?"

"Jealous?" Aoko popped in, "Ah! A yellow hyacinth. Why'd you give her that, Kaito?"

Ah, so he had been right, Conan mused to himself. Kid shrugged it off, "It just happened to be what I had on me, there's no real meaning to it." Hakuba scoffed, indicating that he didn't believe him one bit.

"I don't get what she'd—oops, sorry-he'd have to be jealous of me for." Ran said still admiring the flower, "It's so pretty! Thank you so much. Oh I know." Ran smiled, looking down at Conan.

She turned back to Kid, "You two are friends, right? I saw you talking at the front. Could you do a magic trick for him? It's Conan-kun's birthday today, that's why I brought him here today, actually."

"EH?!" Conan jumped, putting a hand to his chin in shock, suddenly her inviting him out of nowhere made sense. And making sure they came here today, on Monday specifically. He took out his phone, checking to be sure. May 4th…oh God, he was so stupid, how could he have missed that?

Aoko looked down, "Awwww, he's so cute! He looks like a little Kaito. My name is Aoko Nakamori, happy birthday little guy!" 'Nakamori…? Oi, oi…you're kidding right? There's no way…' He glanced at Kid for a second before realizing that with Kid's luck...it was more than likely.

Kid stared at him, stunned for a brief moment before hiding it behind a poker face, making Conan wonder if he had seen anything else there in the first place. Hakuba 'hmmm'd, turning to him. "You're acquainted with the Kid Killer, Kuroba-kun?"

"Y-yeah, well I go to a lot of the heists, so we may have ran into each other once or twice. Isn't that right?" Kid gulped, looking just slightly suspicious. Conan wasn't used to seeing cracks in Kid's disguises, then again, he only really met him in professional settings before. Aka, heists.

"Yeah." Conan nodded, not wanting to bring up any heists in particular in case Kaito had pretended not to be at one.

Ran put a hand to her chin, "But how had he recognized you when you're dressed like a girl? Had you met him like that before?"

"Ah, but Ran-neechan," Conan started, "Kaito-niichan noticed me first, I wouldn't have known it was him if he didn't say hi to me in front of the library." Conan lied. He noticed Kaito's amusement at being called 'Kaito-niichan' and felt like this was not the time for him to be having fun with the situation. The careless idiot.

"Really?" Ran quirked an eyebrow at him. She knew just how good he was at deducing things so he couldn't really hide his lie from her. On the other hand she would probably think that he was just acting like a child because they were in public. It didn't really matter that she knew little things about Kaito, as long as she didn't see him. He knew that she would realize he was Kid if she saw just how similar to Shinichi he looked, and that didn't bode well for either of them.

"Pardon my rudeness earlier." Hakuba addressed Conan, "Happy birthday, Edogawa-kun."

"Thanks!" Conan smiled innocently. It unnerved him that Kid seemed to brush Hakuba off so much, he had seemed more than just a little suspicious about his identity. And with him being so close to both Kaito and his heists, he could easily find a way to swipe for a DNA sample or something similar.

"Anyway, Kaito do something! It's his birthday, you have to make it special." Aoko grinned, "You haven't had a real birthday until you see one of his magic tricks."

"Aren't you excited, Conan-kun?" Ran smiled down at him.

Conan looked up at Kid, not wanting to look too hopeful, he really did love seeing Kid's magic though, "Yeah…"

Kaito scratched the back of his head lightly, fake nails digging in his hair, "I can't really do much today, I brought as much as I could fit in my outfit and purse, but… I didn't realize it was you're birthday, most of the stuff I brought today is just make up…"

Conan's face fell a little bit, "It's okay…I didn't remember it was my birthday either."

"Auugh!" Kaito cried, "A magician is never caught unprepared, give me just one minute, I'll be right back!" Conan decided to ignore the fact that he was indeed caught unprepared today. Kid ran around, almost crashing into a Moriarty display but expertly maneuvering around it.

"Geez, the one time we need him to do some tricks and he doesn't have anything, that guy…" Aoko huffed.

Ran put her hands up, "No, I'm sorry for troubling him so much. It's just that Conan-kun looked so interested when he had given me a flower…"

'Eh? I…had…?' Conan frowned, not realizing how intently he had been staring earlier.

Hakuba frowned at the interaction, "Is it just me, or did Kuroba-kun seem more flustered than usual?"

Aoko turned to him, "He's seemed normal to me, you're probably imagining things. Besides, he and Ran-chan have never met, right?"

"Never met, huh?" Hakuba smirked to himself, "Of course, sorry about that. I really was imagining things."

"Right." Aoko agreed. Conan couldn't help but think of the time Kid had pretended to be him on the blimp with Ran. Had Hakuba been thinking that he and Ran might have met when he was Kid? There were a few instances that came to the front of his own mind, but he didn't know how many Hakuba knew of. He surely knew of one of his earlier heists when Kid had disguised himself as Ran, but he disguises as a lot of people, there was no connection there. But Hakuba might think about it differently…

They all looked up at the sound of a quiet 'pop'. There was confetti sprinkling around, swirling through the air making a pathway between Conan and a cloud of white smoke. A red ribbon seemed to wrap itself around Conan's pinky, making him look around it in awe. He tugged on it, expecting for it to be caught on something, but it merely brought forth a balloon. The balloon stopped in front of him, and he looked around for some kind of wire to be directing it—he found none. That wasn't what was the most stunning about the balloon though, no not at all. He saw a single rose directly in the center of it. How had it gotten there?

He unconsciously reached out to touch the rose, but his hand hit the balloon instead, causing the balloon to pop. He froze, expecting a loud noise, instead of the loud 'bang' that usually came with a pop of a balloon, however, was a note fluttering out. It said "Shhh, no loud noises in the library." Conan chuckled at it, utterly amazed. He took the rose and admired it as he turned it in his hands, the center or the rose was tied to the red ribbon on his pinky. How had it disappeared earlier? Just as he thought that, the ribbon disappeared again, this time it was off of his pinky as well. 'A red rose…love. But, that doesn't make sense.' Conan shook his head, looking around at the remnants of the trick, lost in thought trying to figure it all out. As he turned to the side he could hear the gasps of both the people in the immediate vicinity and Holmes fans who witnessed it nearby.

"Happy birthday." Kid said quietly in English in his own voice, making Conan smile widely. 'This guy…he really… that was way too little time to come up with something like this.' He really was a magician extraordinaire…

Ran turned to him, "That was amazing! Wasn't it, Conan-kun?"

Conan looked up at Kid, unable to hide his wonder, "It was just a trick, Ran-neechan."

"Deductive geek, leave it to you to take the fun out of magic." She sighed before giggling, "Your face doesn't match your words, though."

He was honestly too awed to care. Aoko jumped up and down, "See? Isn't he so cool? His magic is way better than even Kid's."

"I wouldn't say better." Hakuba put a hand to his chin, "I'd say they're about the same." He smiled looking proud of some inside joke.

"Hey, I'm way better than that thief." Kaito growled, appearing behind them, still in his Yamamoto Aoi disguise.

Aoko frowned at him, "You really should change out of that, you look too pretty. It's bothering me."

"Why, jealous that I look better than you, Ahoko?" He jabbed.

"Hey! That's not it, Bakaito!" She huffed.

"Still…" Hakuba added, "I'm quite curious as to why you gave him a rose."

Conan turned to Hakuba at that, he was curious too. Ran tilted her head, "He was probably just low on flowers, like he said when he gave me one."

Hakuba shook his head, "But why didn't he give the rose to you and the hyacinth to Edogawa-kun? Wouldn't it make more sense like that? Kuroba-kun's not one to give out flowers mindlessly."

Aoko looked at the rose in Conan's hand curiously, making Conan unconsciously take a step back. "Now that you mention it…"

"Ahh, stop it." Kaito sighed, "I just happened to have a hyacinth on me earlier and could only find a rose when I left just now, you're all thinking too hard about this."

"I guess that makes sense." Aoko agreed, "Besides he's just a kid, and a boy no less. Red roses don't just mean love you know, they're also gifts for celebration and used often for decoration. Other meanings would have to do with romance, true love and seduction…none of which work in this situation."

Conan could feel his cheeks heating up in embarrassment, 'S-seduction? True love?' Why were they so caught up on this, anyway…

"A kid, huh…?" Conan turned to see Ran looking at him intently, her eyes widened when she saw him staring at her. Just what was she piecing together now?

"Thanks for the rose, Kaito-niichan!" Conan smiled up to him brightly, blush still apparent. "We have to go check out the other exhibits now, right Ran-neechan?" Keeping this group of people together any longer was a bad idea. They were all too smart for their own good, if they started to figure out that Conan had met Kaito as Kid… or that they were friends, or they showed a picture of Kaito to Ran, or so many other possibilities… Hell, knowing Hakuba, he'd probably find some roundabout way that even the rose could tie to Kaito's identity as Kid.

"Ah, r-right…" Ran gave Conan a questioning look which he ignored for now.

Kid smiled back, "Yeah, have a good birthday."

"I will!" Conan chirped, starting to head to the nearby Moriarty display.

Aoko frowned, "Ah, couldn't we check out the exhibits together? We're going to be checking them all out anyway."

"But I want to check out the Holmes event first!" Kaito complained, grabbing Aoko's hand towards the front of the library.

"You?" Hakuba blinked, "You want to check out Holmes over Moriarty?" It was clear that he was more than a little suspicious about the mere idea, but ignored it in favor of the chance his acquaintance might be becoming a Holmes-fan.

"Eh, but Kaito—" Aoko started before Kaito interrupted her.

"—c'mon already, it'll be fun!" He smiled, she nodded in response, surprised at his sudden interest. Kaito then proceeded to spend the next few hours bored out of his mind, narrowly avoiding running into Conan and Ran a few times during the rest of the exhibits.

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Ran stopped when they got into the Moriarty room. There was a detective game going on inside. She pouted at Conan, lowering down to whisper at him quietly, "Shinichi…what was that about? The reason Kaito-kun wasn't showing his face was because he was Kid, right?"

Conan scratched at his head, everything about today was a bad idea! He knew Ran was too smart for this. Katio was being WAY too careless. "E-eh, what do you mean, Ran? He's just another magician right?"

"'When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.'" The irony of Ran quoting Holmes here was not lost on Conan one bit. "Kaito also happened to be the name of the magician who looked just like you that you met at the park. An Aoko-chan had said that you look just like a mini Kaito!" Ran rose an eyebrow, very unamused, "It's one thing to not tell me about him, it's another to lie to me about him. And besides, he dressed so prettily today and gave you a rose! He's not making you do anything weird is he? For one you're both guys, not that I have anything against that… but don't you think he could be using you? He's a thief, and even if your brain is that of an adult's your body is that of a kid's, I get that you wanted privacy and moved to the Professor's, but if he's doing anything…you know…" She trailed off, unsure of how to continue that sentence.

'OH MY GOD.' Conan couldn't believe his ears. "Ran, can we talk about this later? It's not what you think. I'll tell you everything later, but this isn't the place."

She stared at him for a while, "Fine, but only because it's your birthday. Here…I know it's nothing compared to the magic trick earlier, but I thought you might like it."

Conan blinked, taking the present from her hands and opening it. He could tell it was a book, he opened it, reading the title as the paper was ripped away. "The Cuckoo's Calling…I've been wanting to read this for a while. It's written by that English author who wrote about that popular school of magic. Thank you, it was really thoughtful, I'll read it as soon as I get home."

"You don't seem as excited as when Kaito performed that trick…" Ran frowned.

This was the worst, today was supposed to be a fun day seeing other Holmes fans and talking about different theories. "No, it's not that, I just, I'm sorry. I really am excited." 'It's just that…' Kid had risked so much in befriending him, and now there were already two other people who knew his identity. Granted, it was mostly Kid's own fault. He still felt bad.

"Excuse me, miss?" Conan and Ran turned to the new voice. There was a little kid, holding out a card with stamps on it, "Have you two gotten to the third part of the riddle yet?"

"No, we haven't started yet, sorry." Ran apologized before looking at Conan, "But we can catch up and try to help you, right Conan-kun?"

Conan nodded. They spent the next few hours checking out the exhibits and doing all sorts of silly riddles as well as listening to many speakers speak their minds on what certain instances in the books could mean. They didn't run into Kaito and the others at all for the rest of the night, and Conan had to silently thanked Kid for making sure they didn't run into each other again. After the rocky start, the rest of the afternoon was pretty fun. Ran was genuinely enjoying herself and pretty soon Conan was geeking out over all the Holmes stuff. The riddles were a little too easy, and Conan found himself wondering how fast the Detective Boys would be able to solve them. Probably fast, they were incredibly bright for their ages. Conan ended up winning a small Holmes figure and after the library closed, Ran and him took the train home together. Ran didn't mention Kid at all the rest of the night, but Conan knew she wasn't about to drop the subject.

When he got home, he went to his room. His room was surprisingly chilly and he shivered. It was unnaturally chilly considering it was summer, even if it was late. Conan looked around his room, dropping his book bag on the floor and setting his new book on his bed. He was about to place his rose down when he notice the color starting to change. "What…?" Conan blinked at it, confused. The red melded into white. As the white appeared, red scribbles were shown on the petals.

Happy birthday, Shinichi.

Love, K.

He looked at it, unable to figure out just how Kid had done that. He was pretty sure it had something to do with the cold of his room, but other than that… Not that he was going to give up figuring it out quite yet. He admired the stark white of the rose, tempted to rip at the petals to see what the rose's true color was, but not wanting to ruin the art of the gift. 'A white rose…' Innocence, secrets, dedication, loyalty. It this case it was probably referring to the secrets shared between the two of them. Not that they were all so secret anymore, Conan thought. At least he knew that Ran wouldn't tell anyone else without talking to him first. Then again, it was red first, secret love? Loyal passion? He shook his head, those made even less sense.

He sighed, 'Wait, cold…?' Conan put a hand to his chin, thinking back to when Kid had said that all he had on him earlier was make up. Being a disguise artist like him he was sure to have some rare kinds. When it comes to color and application, there are some shades that become lighter or darker when applied to skin because of the natural body heat. 'If you take that to an extreme…' He grinned broadly. 'But what about the words that stayed red? Did he paint all around them? His fingers are probably nimble enough… wait, but the way they trailed off...' His smirk widened, impressed, 'Not bad, Kid.'

Conan turned to the window when he felt eyes on him, he went to open it, letting in the warm air—as well as a stray Kid. The rose started to change colors again, slower than when it faded. It was currently pink, working its way back to red.

"It looks like you figured out the trick already, Meitantei-kun." Kaito said fondly. He was wearing casual clothes, no longer dressed as a girl.

"It wasn't that difficult, I mean it would have tricked me better if you didn't decide to make my room 60 degrees on a summer night. It's too noticeable." Conan went up to sit on his bed, finding it easily the most comfortable place in his new room. "Still, it's pretty amazing for how little time you had to think it up."

Kid smirked, "'Amazing', huh?" He headed over to sit next to Conan.

"Well don't get too full of yourself." Conan frowned, suddenly serious, "Ran knows, that you're Kid, I mean. She had doubts as soon as you gave her the flower."

"What?" Kaito panicked, "She doesn't have any proof though, right? Why does she think that?"

Conan shook his head, "She's smarter than you'd think… she put two and two together and came up with four. She's certain and believe me, Ran's stubborn as a bull. I don't really know how to lie my way out of this one." And he didn't want to, either, after all the time he spent lying to her about his identity. He purposely left what else she had thought about their relationship in the dark. It was too bizarre, and he didn't want Kid to feel awkward or offended.

"I…see…" Kid sighed, his top hat appearing on his head as he fell back onto the bed, using his arms as a pillow. "Sorry that I didn't get you something better for your birthday. I honestly didn't know it was today."

"What are you talking about?" Conan followed his motion, laying back, his head resting against Kid's side, "I lov…ed…it…" He found himself unable to stay awake anymore, the mixture of all the stress and excitement of the day, as well as the lack of energy in his smaller body-made it impossible to stay awake any longer. If he had stayed awake, he might have seen the blush adorning the thief's cheeks at the statement. As well as the way he stilled when Conan had laid back with him, and if he had stayed up longer past that, he might have rethought the true meaning behind the rose.

KaiShinKaiCoKaiShinKaiCoKaiShinKaiCoKaiShinKaiCo KaiShinKaiCoKaiShinKaiCoKaiShinKaiCoKaiShinKaiCo

I spent over an hour aligning the texting perfectly in the page so that it looked like Kid and Conan were texting each other on a smartphone, I didn't realize that would just push them all to the left and erase the arrows...

I'm writing Kaito as pretty dependent in this fic because reasons, the only reason Conan hadn't sent him away earlier is because he also enjoys his presence. He also can see that Kaito really needs someone in his life that he can be real with. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter! It's the longest chapter so far, it kind of had to be. A lot of stuff happened, and splitting it into two chapters would have been too short. I have a poll up on my profile page for some other story ideas I have, if you want to check it out.