A/N; A stray plotbunny that made its way to me, and that might get a brother. The Legacy of the Phantom Thief is a story in six pieces depicting the life of an idea; the idea of Kaitou KID.

Warnings;
Strange english, OOCness, Character Death

Chapter Genre; Romance, Hurt/Comfort, Angst
Uploaded; 2012-11-28
Chapter rating: T
Words: 3,400

The Legacy of the Phantom Thief

Chap. 1
The Recordings of a Magician

The detective, holding into his white phone, placed the earpieces in his ears and then pressed play for the first time that day, knowing what it said, word for word, and knowing that he had safe files of the recordings on his computer, on two memory sticks and one safe in his mail on the internet, just in case everything went wrong, not counting the original tapes hidden at home.

"Hi, Shinichi," a happy voice entered his ears and he smiled a sad smile as he looked out through the bus' window, not really seeing the passing world, "long time no see! I know that it's horrible of me to do things this way, but I thought that something was better than nothing. I know that you don't know me very well; I haven't even told you my name, so maybe I should start by introducing myself." There was a slight pause in the recording.

"The name's Kuroba Kaito! Magician extraordinaire!" Kaito's voice said with a joyous laugh, but then grew serious, "I know that when you hear this, if you hear this, you will know me, probably better than I know myself. I don't really know what to say on this, so I decided to fill it with talk, anything between heaven and earth, because I don't want it to be; Hi, I love you, click, and then it's over. Kaitou KID left a mark on the world. Kuroba Kaito did not, so this is what is going to be left; recordings of me talking. Not really as impressive as my father's Kaitou KID, but it might be of some consolation to you, Shinichi, my love, the beacon of light in my life. The funny thing is that you'll be able to hear my voice from beyond the grave, and you can destroy the tapes if you'd like, if they are too painful, but Kaitou KID will always be alive. No one might be stealing in his name, but the Gentleman Thief is not a person, he's just an idea, and ideas don't die... Did you get the V for Vendetta reference? If you didn't, then see the movie; it's great!"

Shinichi had been too confused to understand where the thief was going with the conversations the first time he heard the first recording, but when the magician began talking about death and leaving a lasing print on the earth he'd immediately checked up on him, but found out that he'd been killed the night before, murdered by a man that was nowadays in prison. Shinichi had been devastated, and hidden at his home, understanding that he magician must've sent the tapes by mail the night of his murder, as a last goodbye. He hadn't been able to hear all the tapes the first time; they'd been too painful, and he'd been too angry with the thief. He'd even held a hammer in his hand, lifted over his head, ready to destroy them, but he hadn't been able to, so in the end he just cried and listened to the magician's voice; soothing, happy, calm and excited as he told the detective about things that had happened.

There was a small cut in the recording as the thief stopped the tape and then began again.
"The First of February," the thief stated solemnly, and began his recordings in a diary-like way, "Aoko asked me out today, she even confessed her feelings, but I told her that I was gay and already had a boyfriend. She was confused. First it looked like she was going to cry, but I guess that she'd rather be rejected because of a guy than another girl. She smiled and asked about you. I could see that it hurt, but I guess that it didn't hurt too much… I told her about your blue eyes, so lovely that I could just drown in them. That smile you have, which could warm even the coldest of hearts," the magician sighed happily while his voice grew warm, "your intelligence that sees though every trick I try to pull, your sharpness that you use to peel off my masks and ask; 'what's wrong?' even though I can't tell you. How could I? Shinichi, I'm going to die, because of Pandora; I know that they will kill me, and if they fail you'll never hear this, but that's highly unlikely. You'd tell me to stop. You'd force me to stop, but they know who I am now, and they will come after me, you, mom, Aoko, my classmates and even Hakuba if I don't go. But there's still quite a while left for me to make these recordings. I love you, and I'm sorry, but I have to."

Shinichi felt a tear roll down his cheeks and he caressed the blue and white bouquet of roses in his hands and watched the single thornless red rose in the middle. It didn't matter how many times he heard the recordings; he still cried, even though they eased the pain of feeling completely alone. Someone sat down beside him and he sent the woman a glance, hearing her disrupt his peaceful recordings while she happily chatted with her two friends who seated themselves on the seats in front of him. He raised the volume a little, enough for him to hear Kaito clearly, but low enough not to let anyone know what he was listening to.

"The Second of February. You know Aoko -the traitor- told Hakuba that I'm dating a guy and he's curious. He tried to follow me after school, but I managed to lure him into an ''adult's'' store. You should have seen his face when he realised where he was! Oh, and all the things in there made me think of you. You just wait, I'm coming to get you now!" Kaito laughed heartedly, making Shinichi smile, but when he stopped there was silence for a second. "We had meatballs today, and that made me think that I should make snowballs, but I've got a better idea now!" In the moment of silence between the second and third of February he managed to pick up a single name from the conversation the girls were having; his own name.

"The Third of February." Kaito said and Shinichi paused the tape to eavesdrop, wondering if his light disguise had been seen though.
"Yea, I heard he solved a case the other week and ever got asked to consult in a movie from the victim's brother. Can you imagine if he becomes an actor like his mother! I bet that he's great at acting!" the dark-haired girl in front said with a smile while Shinichi held back an irritated frown, knowing that he was the worst actor the world had ever set its eyes upon, but he was training, getting better and better every day.
"You know," the girl beside him said with a smug smile, "Kudou-sama will be visiting us the next week, to consult on my brother's case."
"No way!" the other two girls chorused, "you have to invite us too!"
"And I've heard that he's still single," the first girl winked a bit flirtatious towards her friends and Shinichi felt his eye twitch, knowing that he'd promised a man named Yamagura to come and look into his son's accident, alleged murder attempt. Even though the women were irritating him he was happy that combing his hair down into his face, wearing black lipstick, equally dark eyeliner, baggy pants and a dark hoodie was enabling him to move around without detection even though he'd rather dress normally when he visited Kaito.

Shinichi pressed play again and listened to the magician's voice telling him how he filled the lockers in the girls' locker room with snow during the early morning and placed homemade colouring balls inside the shower heads, making the water turn to the colours of the rainbow, which would turn the girls' skin in different colours. Kaito had been chased through the entire school and ended up in an ambush, after which he was dragged outside and drenched in the snow. In the background of the voice Shinichi could hear a slight echo and splashing of water, letting him know that Kaito was taking a warm bath while doing the recording.

When his stop came up he made his way to the doors, seeing Aoko stand behind Hakuba as he paid for a ticket, back into the central of Tokyo. Shinichi got off, knowing exactly when Hakuba and Aoko visited the thief, since the blonde was a bit special when it came to the time, and sometimes Shinichi would go there before them and other times he would go after them.

"What a weird guy," a shorthaired woman muttered when Saguru sat down in front of them.
"Yea, but the flowers must mean something special, why else would you put a single red rose in a bouquet of blue and white ones?" The detective tensed from the statement and quickly got off the bus before it had even started, hearing Aoko call his name as she followed him.

The detective hid behind a tree, seeing the dark-clothed person with a hood kneel by the grave as he placed the flowers in an empty vase.
"Saguru?" Aoko whispered, seeing his serious face and hard gaze.
"It's him," he stated and nodded towards the grave while she followed his gaze, watching the stranger sit on the grass.
"That's Kaito's mystery boyfriend?" she mumbled sadly and watched how the stranger's shoulders shook as he cried.
"Yes, a girl on the bus said that someone had that special kind of bouquet that he always leaves, so it has to be him."
"Saguru," Aoko pleaded, knowing how he could become when he smelled a mystery, "this isn't the time nor the place."
"I know, but I want to know who he is… I saw him during the funeral, when he stood far away, staring at the coffin. He wore a hat and sunglasses, so I don't know who he was, but once we left he walked up to the hole and threw down a white and blue rose, bound together. I want to know if he knows who murdered Kuroba. He's the only clue I've got, and as distasteful as it is to observe him at Kuroba's grave; I have to find his murderer. Don't you want that?" Aoko twitched at his question, wanting to start crying. She found out who Kaitou KID was after Kaito died. She also knew why he did it, but she never got to tell her friend that he wasn't alone, that she understood, that her father would've understood if he told them, and that Saguru could help, but once she found out, it was all too late.

Shinichi got up from the grass and turned off the recording, listening to his own unsteady breathing.
"Hello, love. I know that I promised you not to cry in front of you, but I miss you so much," he mumbled, carefully brushing away the tears. "I miss you, and I'm so lonely, but I don't want to move on even if that's what you're telling me multiple times on the tapes. I can't move on, I love you too much to let you go." Shinichi sighed and tried to smile. "The training is going well, better than expected actually, I'll be ready in a month or so, according to Haibara. Yes, she's actually helping me, isn't it strange? But apparently she thinks that it's better to submerge myself into training than to hide in bed at home. I still can't understand how you went from a normal teenage magician to that. I've been living alongside the criminal world for a long time, but I couldn't have done what you did... I brought a deck of cards," he said with a faux cheery voice and pulled up the new deck. "See! It's Kaitou KID motives on them!" Shinichi shuffled the deck and then spread it out in a feather. "Pick a card!" Shinichi felt how he was near to burst out crying when he picked a card from the deck.

"Oh, no, he's…" Aoko mumbled while she watched the stranger perform a magic trick that she'd seen Kaito do thousands of times. Both of them stood and watched how the magician's boyfriend performed trick after trick until he fell down to his knees with the cards scattered around him.
"Kaito!" he called out and they could hear the distress in his voice, "why?! Why did you leave me?!" The man picked up something from his pocket and Saguru recognised the recorder he'd seen Kaito talk into once. He immediately calmed down once it started playing and slowly picked up the cards, placing them in their package. Saguru thought back on the last time he saw the magician alive, he'd been just as happy and just as crazy as normally, until the blonde had turned his back to him. Kaito had insisted that both he and Aoko would come to the café after school, no matter what, but once they parted ways and had said their goodbyes Saguru had looked back.

He could still remember the serious face the magician had had as he stared down on a recorder in his hands. He had then brought it to his mouth and then begun talking. The detective didn't know what he'd said in it, but he remembered the tears that streamed down his face and the way he'd looked. In retrospect he realised that the magician had had that same expression as someone who had accepted death as the next step. Aoko had then turned around, calling out; "See you tomorrow at school!" Kaito had hidden the recorder and smiled when he retorted with; "You bet ya! And expect my best tricks tomorrow!" but he never showed up at school, and Aoko had been certain that it was some kind of sick joke that the magician was dead.

Shinichi had fumbled with the recorder and made it jump to the very end.
"The last recording." Kaito's serious voice said in his ears, and it wasn't really the one he wanted to hear, "I just said goodbye to Aoko and Hakuba, I hope that they won't hate me too much. And my final wish is that you'll be happy and take care of yourself. I know that you like to ignore to eat in favour of a mystery; don't do that. Eat well and take care of yourself. Forget me, find love, have a family. Live. The first time will be hard, but time heals; believe me, I know. You might never be able to get over me completely, but I want you to be happy when I'm not around anymore. And I'm sorry that I'm going to ruin our anniversary by giving you these tapes." The magician interrupted himself.

"You bet ya!" he suddenly called out, "and expect my best tricks tomorrow!" There was a moment of silence on the tape until he continued. "That was Aoko, she said; 'See you tomorrow'. It's too bad, I wanted to celebrate together with you, but they won't be happy unless I show up, and I hope that you'll bring them in later; do what I failed in doing, but don't do anything stupid, like killing them." Kaito sighed and Shinichi stared down on the recorder; he had obeyed his dead lover and brought them in, but he hadn't been particularly gentle about it and Snake, who had been first, had resisted, and had been in intensive care for a month at the hospital since Shinichi had taken out a lot of anger on him. The other members, after hearing what he'd done with their leaders and superiors, had surrendered without a fuss, much to the detective's displeasure.

"I love you, with all my heart, and the only thing I want to do is repeat those words in eternity; I love you. I was so happy when you agreed to have our anniversary the first of April, when we first met face to face, and then they had to go and ruin it… I love you, Kudou Shinichi, the detective who caught me, my mind, body, soul and heart. I love you so much," Kaito's voice broke and Shinichi swallowed thickly, "farewell, my love. I hope that you can find happiness again." Shinichi could hear how Kaito began crying just before the recording ended, and he felt his heart clench at the sound. Kaito was never crying, he might look sad from time to time, but he never cried, not after his father's death, since no sorrow or pain could match that. Little did Shinichi know that the thief had been sitting on the sunny street and cried his heart out, while most people passed him by without a care in the world, and the ones that did stop he asked to leave him alone. The detective felt how tears streamed down his face and wondered how long he'd been crying, but the long days, hours and minutes that he was forced to be Kudou Shinichi, teenage detective, single, happy and full of spirit took its toll on him, so he just sat there in front of the grave and stared blankly at it. Every weekend he was always drained and locked himself up in his house, either hiding in his bed, somewhere dark or at a hotel under an alias. Anything to get away from the disgust he felt for himself when he pretended to be fine, and sleeping the entire weekend was a perfect cure to get enough strength to endure another week.

"You're not alone you know," a voice stated quietly behind him after what must have been an hour had passed.
"Nakamori-chan," Shinichi mumbled and got up without turning around, not wanting to reveal what he looked like or who he was, "I thought you and Hakuba left." Arms wrapped around him and a head was laid on his shoulder.
"You were Kaito's boyfriend, weren't you?"
"Yes," he answered with a whisper and swallowed, realising that he had missed the safety that an embrace provided.

"You're torturing yourself," another voice came, and Shinichi recognised Hakuba's voice, "you keep listening to his recordings don't you? Over and over again. From the first one to the last. Once a day? Twice or thrice? How many are there?"
"What about it?" Shinichi asked, suddenly angry, but Aoko kept holding him, "that's none of your business. Those recordings are mine, and mine alone."
"I don't want the recordings. They are Kuroba's gift to you, not me. But a question I do have for you is; do you know who murdered him? Do you know why?"

"Yes," he answered and ran a hand through Aoko's soft hair, feeling her quiet sobs, "the responsible are in jail; they will never see the light of day again, and if they do I might not be able to stop myself from killing them. And as to why he died. He died for us, everyone he loved. They found out who he was, what he possessed, and threatened with killing everyone if he didn't show up on the first of April. The comet passed, everything was lies and they killed him for their own fairy-tale beliefs. Kaito asked me not to kill them," Shinichi held up the device so that they both could see it, "and I almost did. I sent his murderers to intensive care. They're alive, but they won't ever be the same. I almost became like them. I lost myself that day and I don't know who I am anymore. What are my dreams and goals?" Shinichi paused and closed his eyes. "I'm dead on the inside. I can't feel anything but pain and all I want is for my life to end. Kaito says that it will get better, that I will feel again, and that's the only reason that I'm alive, because he wants me to go on. I'm happy that I could tell you this, because I can't tell anyone else. No one knew of your relation so I have to pretend that everything is fine. My poker face breaks sometimes since it's not as good as Kaito's, and my childhood friend wonders what's wrong with me, but how do I tell her? How do I voice my pain when there aren't even words to describe it? Agony, loneliness… Oh, Kaito." Shinichi sighed and grabbed into the girl's arms, "thank you for the hug Aoko, and the kind words; I really needed it."

"Who are you?" Aoko asked quietly, but Shinichi only shook his head inside the hood.
"I can't tell you, because ideas never die," he chuckled sadly, "in a month's time you'll understand what I'm talking about; some things must live on, to the end of time."