familiar faces

rated k for now

summary: Shinichi stared at the man in front of him. "Have we met before?" "...Not like this." In which the Kurobas visit the Kudos, and chaos quickly ensues.

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Kudo Shinichi tilted his head, and his lips curved in a slight smile. "Have we met before?"

'No, I don't believe so.'

Kaito had to be careful.

'We have - once, as children.'

One wrong move, and Tantei-kun would see through his civilian identity in a heartbeat.

'We've met, many times. You just haven't realized it.'

But he couldn't help himself.

'Can't you tell? I'm the international felon you've been playing cat-and-mouse with for years.'

The incorrigible trickster in him couldn't pass up a chance to mess with this cordial, unguarded version of Tantei-kun that he rarely encountered. So Kaito smirked his trademark, phantom thief smirk, and answered with a cryptic, "...Not like this."

He regretted it instantly.

Tantei-kun tensed - Kaito could practically see the wheels in the detective's head spin out of control as he tried to identify Kaito. Who was he? Why was he here? How could their paths have crossed before?

Then Tantei-kun's let out a small gasp, the way he did every time he made a mind-blowing deduction, and as realization dawned on his face, Kaito wanted nothing more than to swallow a smoke bomb and disappear, preferably forever.

Screwed, screwed, screwed, screwed, Kaito was so screwed -

"Kaito-chan!" A sing-song voice called out his name, and Kaito's eyes widened in comical relief. Yukiko and Yuusaku waved at him from behind their son. "Long time no see, kid!"

Tantei-kun glanced over his shoulder, concentration broken, and Kaito took the opportunity to rush past the detective, plastering a huge smile on his face and greeting the elder Kudos with gusto.

"Ah, Uncle Yuusaku and Aunt Yuki- I mean, Yukiko-chan - "

Yukiko pounced on Kaito before he could finish his greeting and wrapped him in a deadly hug, wringing the breath of of him with each squeeze. Kaito gasped and sputtered for air; black spots danced across his field of vision and - this was it, this was the end of Kuroba Kaito, the end of Phantom Thief 1412, crushed to death by Tantei-kun's mother-

Just as Kaito made his peace with death, air rushed back into his lungs. Yukiko relinquished her grip on the blue-faced young man and gestured for her son to join them.

"Shin-chan, Shin-chan, come and say hi!"

Kaito hunched over, wheezing, as Tantei-kun strode past him to greet Chikage, who clasped the detective's shoulders and smiled.

"Time sure flies! You've become such a handsome young man, Shinichi-kun!"

"Ah, thank you-" Tantei-kun trailed off, and Kaito glanced up curiously. Oh, he realized. Tantei-kun doesn't know Mom's name. Yuusaku seemed to arrive at the same realization, because he stepped forward and gave his son a friendly pat. "You remember Aunt Chikage, don't you?"

Tantei-kun's strained smile said otherwise - Kaito would've laughed if he wasn't still trying to catch his breath.

"Of course I do," the detective lied. "Aunt Chikage, it's such a pleasure to see you again."

Chikage either didn't notice Shinichi's fib or didn't care. Kaito suspected the latter as his mother giggled and wrapped her manicured hand around his wrist. "Please, just Chikage is fine. 'Aunt Chikage' sounds so formal!"

Chikage giggled again, and Kaito snorted at the sound. His mother's grip tightened. Kaito winced as her french tips carved crescents into his skin. "Oh, where are my manners?"

She yanked, hard, on Kaito's arm, and he grit his teeth in a tight smile as he stumbled towards her. "This is my son, Kaito! He's the same age as you, Shinichi-kun. You've met once before, when you came to Ekoda. I remember the two of you got along so well together!"

"Ah, really? Well, I'm sure we'll continue to get along." Shinichi replied earnestly.

Hah, the dramatic irony.

Kaito bit his lip as he struggled to maintain his composure. But the sincerity in Tantei-kun's voice was too amusing to bear - Kaito's poker face slipped and his face split into a huge grin. 'Oh, Tantei-kun,' he laughed to himself. 'If only you knew.'

Chikage shot her son a look, clearly unamused, before turning her attention back to Shinichi and smiling as happily as ever. Yukiko traded giddy glances with her husband before clapping her hands in elation.

"Chika-chan, Kaito-chan, I'm sure you're hungry from travelling all the way here! Why don't we head back and Yuusaku can get started in the kitchen? He's got quite the menu planned!"

Kaito's stomach rumbled and he rubbed it with one hand, ignoring the protest from his lower ribs, no doubt bruised by Yukiko's hug. "That sounds like a great idea," he smiled, "I haven't eaten since breakfast."

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The two families had walked back to Kudo residence without much incident, Kaito and Shinichi staying behind their parents along the way. According to Tantei-kun, the detective wasn't too keen on his parent's overwhelming company, and chatting with Kaito was a much welcome reprieve.

Kaito, on the other hand, wanted to stay away from Kudo Yuusaku - he was the only man who had come close to figuring out Kid's identity, and Kaito wasn't about to help the elder Kudo make the final deductive leap. Against his better judgement, Kaito spent the walk teasing Tantei-kun, slipping subtle Conan references into their conversations until they'd entered the house and stumbled upon an awkward spot when Tantei-kun broached the topic of Kaito's dead father.

Kaito had brushed it off, though - he always remembered his poker face, after all - and deflected Tantei-kun's concerns about the elder Kuroba's suspicious death with another subtle Conan reference - this one alluding to Tantei-kun's alarming habit of tranquilizing and impersonating Kogoro Mouri to solve crimes.

"It's hard to find adults who take kids seriously." Kaito had shot Tantei-kun a smirk over his shoulder before walking deeper into the Kudo home. "You know how it is, don't you?"

Tantei-kun had no way of knowing how hilarious his reply - "You have no idea," - was to Kaito, who laughed to himself all the way into the kitchen, from which he and Tantei-kun were promptly ejected.

"There's not enough room in the kitchen for five people, Shin-chan! Go wait in the dining room."

Now Kaito and Shinichi were lounging in the dining room, sitting across from each other an nursing cans of beer. They drifted from topic to topic - their favorite sports (Shinichi's a rabid soccer fan and the only sport Kaito watches is tournament poker, which, according to Shinichi, is not a sport at all), leading to other programs they watched on television (Kaito was addicted to the latest crime drama featuring Oguri Shun as a high-school detective, but Shinichi found the criminals and their motives inane), which led to a conversation about Shinichi's job as an actual detective.

"Do you only investigate homicides as a Division One detective, or do you look into other crimes occasionally as well?"

"Well, I focus on homicides, but sometimes I'll get involved in a kidnapping or assault."

"Ah, I see. Leave the non life-threatening crimes to Division Two, right?" Kaito mused in a too-even tone.

"Exactly." Shinichi paused, peering thoughtfully at his beer. "Although... I guess I do make one exception for certain burglaries."

"Oh, really?" Kaito's eyebrows drifted up his forehead in feigned surprise.

"Have you heard of Kaitou Kid?"

Kaito nodded fervently. "Of course! Who hasn't?"

"I try to attend his heists when I can."

Which isn't very often, Tantei-kun, Kaito snarked to himself. Outwardly, he affected an air of starstruck awe. "Does that mean... have you met Kid before? Is he as cool in real life as the news specials make him out to be?"

Shinichi snorted and rolled his eyes. "Well, it depends on your definition of cool. Kid is... pretentious, and infuriating, and a total pain in the ass to deal with."

Kaito's face fell, but Shinichi continued, slower this time. "But he's also... annoyingly intelligent and oddly compassionate. And even though we're on opposite sides of the law, Kid's helped me out, even saved my life before."

"So...?" Kaito prompted.

Shinichi gave him a long stare before responding. "So, yes, I guess Kid's cool to a certain degree. For a criminal." Shinichi sipped his beer and grumbled as an afterthought, "Though I'd rather be beheaded on a Tropical Land rollercoaster before I'd admit that to his face."

Kaito's grin would have put the Cheshire Cat to shame. 'Oh Tantei-kun, you just did.'

Shinichi shot him a bemused look. "You look happy. Are you a Kid fan, or something?"

"Or something. I guess you could say I... admire Kid."

"Oh? What for?" Shinichi cocked an eyebrow, unimpressed. "His flagrant transgressions of the law or his ability to keep stains out of his ridiculous white getup?"

Kaito squawked in mock offense. "His suavity and magical prowess, of course!"

Shinichi's eyebrow inched higher up. "Hm? Are you a magician, too?"

"Well, I'd say I'm more of a, uh, magic enthusiast than an actual magician."

"Really?" Shinichi drained his beer. "Do you mind doing a trick or two?"

Kaito let out a nervous laugh. Dropping Conan hints were one thing, exposing his penchant for magic was another. Every magician had a unique style of presentation and execution, and even Kaito wasn't brazen enough to put on a show in the heart of the Kudo home. But the way Tantei-kun was looking at him, bright eyes expectant and cheeks flushed with Asian glow, Kaito couldn't refuse without feeling like he'd trampled on a litter of puppies.

He sighed. "Course not, but don't get your hopes up, okay?"

With a flourish and a puff of smoke, a pristine deck of red-backed cards appeared in his right hand. With a wave of his left, the cards jumped onto the table and arranged themselves into a fan. Kaito threw out both arms and declared in a theatrical voice, "Now, pick a card, any card!"

"Oh, we both know you can do better than that."

Kaito's eyes shot up from the cards on the table. Chikage was leaning in the doorway, smiling at her son with raised eyebrows and an all too predatory smirk. "You're embarrassing the Kuroba name, Kaito."

"Mom?" Kaito's voice pitched half an octave higher before he cleared his throat and tried again. "Mom, I thought you were helping Uncle Yuusaku and Aunt Yukiko in the kitchen?"

Chikage's lips parted, but before she could reply, Yukiko's voice chimed from the kitchen. "Dinner's ready! could the two of you bring some dishes over?"

Kaito heaved a sigh of relief all but sprinted into the kitchen, ducking under his glaring mother's arm and leaving a puzzled Tantei-kun in his wake. Moms, he huffed. Always trying to expose their sons' alter egos to their rivals.

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Glistening cubes of braised pork belly, pale pink shrimp and creamy tofu, string beans stir-fried with minced pork, crispy golden roast chicken, juicy tomatoes and scrambled eggs, glossy chayote shoots and sliced garlic, a milky soup brimming with stewed vegetables - Yuusaku really went all out on Chinese-inspired dinner, Kaito mused as they carried plate after plate of food into the dining room.

"That's everything," Yuusaku declared as he set the tureen of soup on the table. Kaito took a seat in front of the tureen, jostling the table as he scooted in.

"Whoa, my bad, sorry -"

He cut off with a strangled gasp. A gaping fish head bobbed to the top of the soup, settling on its side on the surface and fixing its sightless gaze on a blanching Kaito, who stared back, transfixed in horror. His breath came in unsteady, ragged gasps and his hands clutched at the chair's armrests until his knuckles bleached white.

"F-f-f-fish-" Kaito rasped.

The fish eye rushed towards him, choking Kaito's field of view until all he could see was blinding white. Then... nothing.

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a/n: hello! in the first chapter, i said this fic would be a three-part story, but i've decided to make this a four-part story so kaito and shinichi each have two chapters written in their pov.

did you enjoy this chapter? if you did, please follow and fave this story, follow me for updates on my other dcmk stories, and drop a review if you have the time - why do you think kaito is afraid of fish?

i'll be including my ideas about his ichthyophobia in the next chapter... :)