Similar Differences
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When the hold around his neck finally loosened, Kaito asked somewhat dryly, "So I'm guessing you're not very happy being my little brother, huh?"
Kudo had a scary look on his face, the thief decided. It was that evil look that he knew and saw on Edogawa Conan's face when the shrunken detective would come up with an idea to catch Kaitou Kid...like blowing up a motorcycle. "Oh, I wasn't happy about being your brother since I arrived here," the meitantei stated, that scary look only growing worse as he dragged Kaito up some stairs.
"Oh?" the kaitou asked, nonchalant. "Do tell."
"Do you know," Kudo started, seeming very much over-eager to tell all, "what it's like to wake up in your own body after being shrunken for over two years, only to find out that 1) you're not where you were when you fell asleep, 2) people you know don't seem to know you, 3) people you don't know somehow know you, 4) your name isn't Kudo Shinichi but Kuroba Shinichi, 5) you have an older identical twin brother named Kuroba Kaito, 6) when said older brother finally comes he's the Kaitou Kid--"
"Man," Kaito broke in as they exited a door which apparently lead to a zone forbidden to students, "you have more identity issues than I do and I've posed as over a hundred people flawlessly--"
"Flawless my ass," Kudo huffed as they walked out onto the roof before letting the thief go. "I could always tell when it was you--"
"Well, you're weird like that." Kaito frowned. "And this whole twin thing is really getting to me. Are you sure we didn't land in some sort of alternate reality or something...?"
Kudo walked passed him to lean against the tall wall that wrapped around the roof's edges, looking out the horizon. "That's the thing..." he said quietly. "I've been here for almost a month now and I haven't been able to tell if this reality's the fake or--"
"That's not right," Kaito objected, coming up beside the detective, who looked over to him curiously. "A month ago, I had that heist involving the painting. Remember? I was dressed as--"
"Takagi. Yeah, I remember." Kudo frowned heavily. "But I have been here for a month. I've counted the days because I...started to think that this place is the real reality."
"That's not a pleasant thought," the thief said with much empathy, bringing a hand to his chin in thought. "But if that's true, why would we--?"
"Twins," the detective answered the unfinished question dully. "People say that they have unique connections of the mind and considering we're the only ones who remember that reality--"
"Shit," Kaito said meaningfully, lowering his hand. "No wonder you got like that."
"Wanna know what's worse?" Kudo asked with a wry smile.
"Heh?"
Kudo stood up straight and put his hand to his chin. "You did this."
Kaito stared. "Okay, I have never done that like that if I wasn't impersonating a detective--"
Kudo lowered his hand and turned his back to the wall, leaning against it. "You know," he said with a nostalgic air, "I learned that from my mother from whenever my father would skip out his editors and leave her clues to find him."
He lolled his head to where he was looking at his look-a-like once more. "Wanna know something else?"
Kaito eyed him warily. "What?"
Kudo pushed himself off of the wall. "About twenty years ago, a young, up-and-coming magician was put in an act with a beautiful, vivacious actress. They hit it off great and within two years, they were married. Another year later and they had a pair of twin boys--"
"YOUR MOM MARRIED MY DAD?!"
An irritated look crossed the younger twin's face. "You know he proposed to her." Kaito spluttered but was ignored. "Kudo Yuusaku is still a famous detective novel writer who skips out on his editors. At the moment, he's in Colorado--"
"S-so you're saying that I did the little detective thing..." Kaito rubbed at his eyes, feeling a headache coming on at trying to process all the changes. "But that makes no sense! Especially if your mom never met your old man--"
"I never said they didn't meet."
"...huh?"
Kudo sighed and slowly sat himself down, gesturing for Kaito to do the same. The older of the two quickly did so, bringing up his knees and lying his aching head atop them. "Yeah, I figured you needed to sit or you'd pass out. Unlike me, who just asked normal questions without acting too odd for others' expectations and doing this for over a month, you got yourself noticed and have to be told everything at once so you can act the part--"
Kaito muttered random things about 'karma,' 'life,' and 'God or whatever' into his knees.
"Anyway," Kudo continued, turning his eyes forward as he also brought up his knees but used them to prop his elbows on while Kaito watched him out of the corner of his eyes. "The present Kuroba Yukiko knows Kudo Yuusaku from some performance of hers or something, but they fell out of contact for six years--in which she married Kuroba Toichi and had us, apparently. After the six years--we were supposedly two at the time--Yuusaku decided to show back up rather dramatically.
"To put it simply, he put on a 'who-done-it' mystery for Yukiko and Toichi to figure out. Kidnapping one of the twins probably took it a bit far, but...since then, he's been an odd sort of godfather of ours who I supposedly look up to and read all of his books...feh..."
Kaito lifted his head, amused. "So that's why your detective-ness wasn't odd."
Kudo frowned. "I guess..." He sighed. "The point is though, you probably--if this is the real reality--learned it from our mother when Yuusaku-jisan gives her a mystery now and then."
"That makes a creepy sort of sense," Kaito said with a restrained tone. Then his brow furrowed in thought. "But..."
Kudo looked over to him.
Kaito blew a sigh. "Well," he said with an impatient air. "Why's your name still Shinichi if I'm supposed to be the older brother?"
The detective blinked. "Oh, that." He snorted with amusement as he looked away again. "Well, my mom fought for it. Said that you cheated in getting the number one spot because they had to surgically remove us from her womb--something about her not dilating properly, I think. It took them six minutes to locate me because I was already entering the birth canal. So, she thinks that I'm actually the older one. There's all sorts of jokes and familial bickering because of it, I hear."
"Hah!" Kaito laughed aloud. "I knew there was a reason our behaviors didn't match our roles!"
Kudo shook his head. "Anyway, don't get thrown off by others saying you're the older brother, so you should act differently. How you've been acting is how people who really, quote-unquote, know us expect you to act. Especially your whining about wanting to be the younger one."
"That was not whining," the thief said with a frown. "That was continuously making objections."
"Sure," Kudo agreed for the sake of moving the conversation onward.
Kaito picked up on the hint almost immediately. "So where are we?"
"Tokyo, Japan." The detective grinned a bit at the look he was given. "A private school of sorts," he specified, the grin falling into a dark look. "I actually don't really know the purpose of the school, but there's one thing I know."
Kaito stared. "And what's that?"
Kudo's jaw clenched for a moment. "Everyone...wears black." He paused for a moment to see if Kaito had anything to say, which he didn't. He only continued to stare at the detective. "The boys, the girls, the staff--all black. What's worse...the police in Tokyo wear black--all black. To be honest...the only person I know that doesn't wear black is Toichi."
Kaito suddenly felt as if someone slapped him upside the head with a two-by-four. "Oyaji, he's--?"
"He's alive," Kudo concurred, eyes narrowing slightly. "There's been close calls, though. He had to stop being Kaitou Kid for eight years, but he's back at it. The only one who doesn't wear black."
Kaito gaped. "So I...never...?"
"As far as I know...no, you haven't. Which is why I didn't care about you being who you were until you made the short joke...and called me a brat."
"You so deserved being called a spoiled brat," the older teenager said with a snicker, pushing the shock away for the moment.
Kudo rolled his eyes. "All I have left to say is be careful. I know about those people gunning after you when you were Kid. They wore black, too, didn't they? Never say anything about the other reality--which is becoming just plain weird to say, you know. For all we know, those people in black brought us here or something--"
"Do you realize how paranoid you sound?"
"Better paranoid than dead."
Kaito winced. "Ouch. Touché," he conceded. "So...dinner now?"
Kudo blew a sigh, looking up at the darkening sky. "Yeah, why not. I think that's all you really need to know. If something comes up, improvise."
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As soon as they walked through the caferteria doors, Kaito understood Kudo's "everyone wears black" spiel. He even paused to look at himself and Kudo, who was watching him carefully. Yep. They were both wearing black.
"...this is more than a bit weird for me," Kaito commented with a frown.
Kudo grabbed his elbow and pulled him on, whispering, "Deal with it. You can wear all the white you want when we're allowed to go home for the weekend."
"Unless one of us gets detention or something, right?" Kaito hesitated for a second before giving the suddenly quiet Kudo a studious stare. "You...haven't gotten a detention and would happen to know what they're like, would you?"
"There is no detention that I know of," the other teenager muttered.
Kaito sweatdropped. "That's...not a very happy though."
"Oi! Shinichi! Kaito! Over here!"
Kudo paused, dragging Kaito to a stop as they looked across the cafeteria. "That's Hattori and Hakuba," he said lowly before looking the confusedly blinking thief in the eye. "Remember. We're twin brothers here. So don't slip up and call me Kudo again or something. You'll spread rumors."
"Well, they'd be interesting rumors--ack!"
Kudo withdrew his hand from thwacking his twin who shot him a dirty look. "Can't you act like a normal person for once? Is this how you act outside of the suit?"
Kaito blinked at him again before giving him a suspicious look. "You aren't going to use knowledge of my civilian persona against me, are you?"
Again Kudo took him by the arm and dragged him on. "That we will discuss in more secure settings."
"Home for the weekend?"
The detective snorted. "You think it's safe there just because Toichi has that night job."
Kaito frowned but didn't respond.
Damn detectives and their usually-correct paranoidly-made points of arguments.
"So," Hakuba spoke up as the pair made it to the table set in a random corner of the cafeteria, "I take it that things are settled between the two of you?"
"For the moment," Kudo replied, taking a seat next to Hattori and nicking a fry, making Kaito raise an eyebrow as he took a seat next to Hakuba. "What about you guys? Fun in class?"
"With Nakamori?" Hattori asked incredulously. "He was on another caffeine high because he stayed up all night at the Kaitou Kid heist--"
"Ooooh!" Kaito interjected, leaning forward eagerly. "Kaitou Kid? Heist? What happened?"
Hakuba waved a hand airily. "Heist note, heist, Kid got away again unscathed--"
"Unscathed?" Kaito blurted out with an emotion akin to horror and anger. "What, people try to hurt Kid?"
Kudo sighed and grabbed another of Hattori's fries while the Osaka-jin stared at Kaito in disbelief. "Where have you been? Kid's dangerous, ahou." He paused before pursing his lips. "Though if you have amnesia, you wouldn't remember the details."
"Details?" A sudden sinking feeling entered the put of his stomach as he looked to his younger brother, who shook his head. This was all new information to the meitantei.
"For the reasons why the condition for Kaitou Kid's arrest is Dead or Alive," Hakuba specified before taking a sip of his drink.
No words seemed to want to come after hearing that statement. It was with much mute thanks that Kaito listened as Kudo asked, nonchalant, "So what exactly did he do to get something as old-fashioned as 'Dead or Alive' for his bounty? Tabloids just make him out to be a nuisance."
Hattori stared at him. "You don't know either?"
Kudo frowned. "Magician-thieves don't catch my attention--"
"What about the seven government officials he killed?"
Both of the twins froze at that.
"Killed?" Kudo asked, recovering first. Kaito could see that the detective believed in the idea of Kaito Kid being violent as much as he believed in aliens from outer space. It was a strange relief to know his look-a-like couldn't think ill of Kid.
Hakuba's eyes narrowed. "It happened eight years ago and was the reason Kid went into hiding. The people of Japan were outraged and wanted retribution." He shrugged. "So now, they take pot shots at him during heists. Sometimes it's hard to blame them--him stealing Pandora after killing their leaders--"
"Pandora!" Kaito exclaimed with shock only to be hurriedly shushed by Hattori.
"Dun shout it so loud," the dark-skinned teenager whispered, covering one side of his mouth with a hand. "That thing's name's taboo 'round here nowadays."
Hakuba raised an apologetic hand. "Being that I didn't arrive in Japan until early this year, I never really have been able to see it as a taboo--"
"People get killed over it, dun they?" Hattori snapped irritably.
The half-Brit shrugged and just as nonchalantly turned away from the conversation.
"And that's why they try to kill him?" Kaito asked, Poker Face slamming down to hide his outrage. "Because of that people hate him?"
Hattori's brow furrowed. "Why else?"
Kaito sat back in his seat, suddenly seeing the black everyone wore a little more keenly. Distracted by that thought, he then looked down at his own clothes and pulled at his school uniform for a moment. For some reason, he was finding it harder and harder to breathe...
"Kaito?" Kudo asked with an amount of concern. That was enough to catch both Hakuba's and Hattori's attention. "Kaito, you okay?"
His hand let go of the cloth, and he took a moment to inhale and exhale deeply before giving a small smile. "Yeah, I'm fine," he said before laughing a bit, "I guess I'm still really confused about a lot of things. Didn't mean to worry you--"
"Confused or not," Hakuba interrupted, eyeing Kaito with an air that was somehow becoming more and more like the one Hakuba-tantei would use, "you looked like you were going to faint. Maybe you should get yourself something to eat--"
"No need," a new, decidedly female voice interjected somewhat angrily. "This idiot would starve if I didn't keep an eye on him."
If Kaito looked faint before, he definitely felt like it right then. "Heiji...Saguru...Shinichi..." he said, absently remembering to be familiar with the three of them, "is there, by any chance, someone who would be labeled as an Amazonian glaring at me from behind?"
"Yep," Hattori said while looking back to his meal only to glare at Kudo who'd already eaten half of it.
"Appears so," Hakuba concurred, lifting his drink to take another sip.
Kudo remained silent, suddenly seeming to find the wall more entertaining.
Taking a deep breath, Kaito looked up into the angry face of--
Mouri Ran?!
The magician promptly fell out of his chair in surprise.
What the hell's going on?! Why is she glaring at me like that when she should be--
Oh, hell no! Kudo's her man! Not me! This is just getting worse and worse! No wonder Kudo hates me!
The girl who was supposed to be Kudo's soul mate looked down at Kaito with a 'hurrumph.' "Just what do you think you're doing down there?" she asked, eye twitching.
Don't say it! Aoko mop. Ran Karate. Do not. Say. Anything. Stupid--
"Ad-admiring the view?"
Even Hakuba cringed when a foot landed solidly on Kaito's head.
Author's Notes: Ahahaha... yes, I mess with ALL the pairings in this So you'll either A) be squicked and hate me or it, B) be squicked but read anyway, or C) oh you oeit, ohbby oh baby, give me more
But yeah. Messing with pairings... so much fun. And anyway, yeah, isn't this story so much fun? Which is why I JUST have to share it since it's kind of been sitting of to the side, pouting at me because I've only shared it on LJ so far. So... yeah. More to come sooner or later! Dunno when! You know me! Eventually:D