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icedroppedinparasolcider · 16 hours

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so, i started thinking (which is already a dangerous task for me to do at any given time), and it lead to me asking a question: "Why is WxS Kaito in Solid Heart?" and it sent me down such a deep rabbit hole of realisation that i'm going to word vomit everything into this post.

so first, for the unitiated: during the second april fool's day event, the cast of project sekai was stuffed into a single school: the All Music Mikudemy (or just mikudemy from here forward), and organised into four classes, with one from each unit entering each class. cautious heart, with honami, haruka, kohane, tsukasa, and mafuyu; passion heart, with saki, minori, an, rui, and mizuki; solid heart, with shiho, airi, akito, nene, and ena; and pure heart, with ichika, shizuku, toya, emu, and kanade. but one additional part of it is that the virtual singers also got shuffled into these groups, with one from each sekai (two from vbs) entering the four classes: 25ji miku in pure heart, mmj rin in passion heart, vbs len in passion heart, l/n luka in cautious heart, vbs meiko in cautious heart, and wxs kaito in solid heart.

we know it's these specific versions of the virtual singers because of minor design details shown through their live2d models and the way they behave (or, for miku, it's really obvious she's from the empty sekai). rin having the stage sekai ribbon specificially, len wearing the uniform like he does his street sekai jacket, luka's sweater having the same blue accents and her wearing the same locket, meiko wearing the same earrings she does in the street sekai and using the kamiyama uniform's tie, and kaito having the same mustache pin he wears on his wonderland sekai uniform. there's also the fact these six are considered the "initial" virtual singers of each group and were part of the cast of the 2.5 anni virtual singer event. which was probably what decided who would be part of the mikudemy in the first place.

all of this established, i again ask the question at the core of this: Why is WxS Kaito in Solid Heart? the way he behaves aligns far more with the vibes of cautious heart, especially with the fact he's the initial virtual singer of tsukasa's sekai. his controlled, older brother air (if emu's "kaito onii-san" says anything) matches the way tsukasa feels and behaves regarding saki, that's certainly a large part of what formed kaito into the sekai in the first place. he's the leader of the virtual singer theatre troupe, he handles most of the directing for their shows, he functions as the "straight man" to the comedic natures of the wonderland sekai cast. everything kaito is aligns with cautious heart, not solid heart. so Why?

the short, and probably real answer if we assume colopale didn't put a ton of thought into an april fool's event, is that they otherwise wouldn't have a virtual singer for solid heart. none of the chosen cast fits the description of solid heart, most of them significantly worse than kaito does at first glance, and cautious heart already has two of the major "mentor" virtual singers in l/n luka and vbs meiko. the closest to a solid heart rep beyond what they already have would probably be vbs len, but i definitely agree that he's better fit for passion heart, for reasons i'll get into later as i answer the big question (including but not limited to: keeping len with rin).

but i think there's an actual reason behind kaito's solid heart placement, something i discovered by looking through the other virtual singers and why they fit the classes they've been assigned.

first, let's look at luka, meiko, and cautious heart as a whole, since i already have a short (by my standards) description of what makes cautious heart cautious heart on my blog as is, it's just more focused on why tsukasa's in it in particular rather than about the class as a whole. cautious heart is, by description, a grouping of natural leaders that handle those around them with great care and kindness, often to a point it begins to reflect poorly on their mental health (look at honami and mafuyu). all of them come from some level of "talent"—haruka is regarded as a perfect idol, kohane has a natural gift for singing, mafuyu's... entire story—but where this separates from pure heart, who carry the same trait, is the way this impacts their lives, starting in some way negatively. as their talent brings with it expectation, either from themselves (tsukasa and mafuyu) or the world around them (everyone else), and this expectation is something that weighs heavily on these characters. a massive central part of all of their themes is this expectation, the impacts it left in their lives, and how they move forward with this expectation. some of them leave it behind them (mafuyu), some of them chase with the dream of overcoming it (kohane and tsukasa), and some of them completely redefine what these expectations mean (honami and haruka).

if we look at l/n luka and vbs meiko, we can immediately see a couple throughlines to this theming: namely the factor of talent and leadership. luka is the senpai of the school sekai, having knowledge of all four leo/need instruments to a degree that she can reliably teach the members of the band how to improve throughout their entire story, and being the only one to genuinely test shiho's mastery of the bass earlier in the story. the role luka plays in the stories of leo/need's members matches the role honami plays in the relationships of the band, sharing that same unending drive to care and support the others in the group, something especially shown through her roles in Stella After the Rain and Live with Memories. vbs meiko is very much the same way for the street sekai, being the owner and bartender of crase cafe and holding a mentor role for the other virtual singers and members of vivid bad squad. she doesn't step in to assist with improving their singing until vbs get noticeably better, roughly halfway into their journey to surpass rad weekend, because not only does it provide opportunities for the other virtual singers to provide their input, but her teachings exist on a level above what the others offer at first.

both school sekai luka and street sekai meiko stand on a level beyond the other virtual singers in their sekai, and choose to offer their wisdom akin to a parent or a teacher rather than peer-to-peer like many of the other relationships with the virtual singers tend to be. they are leaders within their sekai, even looked to as such by those that made the sekai they're part of. perfect fits for cautious heart.

then there's rin and len. the former is really easy to assign to passion heart; stage sekai rin takes most after minori, if not clear by her being the least experienced of the six and her role in Hear Me! Hopeful Stage and Connected by Painful Hope (performing two different roles for minori and haruka respectively but they're both parallels to minori's own role in the idol group; rin's empathy and understanding for minori's struggle and the extra perspective she gives to haruka that she otherwise wouldn't have considered). everything about mmj rin connects back to minori in some way, and as a passion heart student herself, it was a given that stage sekai rin would be assigned the same class.

but len approaches passion heart from a completely different direction, something that adds a new perspective to the class and their stories. because on the surface, len would be better fit for solid heart: his relationship with akito is one of the core dynamics of the street sekai, he's constantly in competition with street sekai rin, and even to some degree with miku (mirroring the early dynamics between akito and an), and he played a major role in akito's chapter of BREAK DOWN THE WALL. most of the evidence points toward solid heart vbs len, but i believe the part that puts him in passion heart is the fact rin is a given to go there. because rin and len are a pair. they share a number, they're both kagamines, and across every sekai they have a special relationship that works as a motivator for at least one member of the sekai. and out of every group, it's vivid bad squad that puts the most emphasis on the importance of partnership. it's a massively central and unendingly important aspect of its story and the growth of its characters.

street sekai len takes this pairing of rin and len to an extra level, as their relationship is the example of vivid bad squad's partner dynamic. every time conflict arises between the two, it's ultimately born from wanting to be a better partner for the other; something that's directly paralleled across both the bad dogs and the vivids. entire plot points are built from the importance of this dynamic, the fact they are the most important people in each other's lives (not even in a shipping sense, this is just direct storytelling; to deny that fact is to deny the essence of the group itself), and that manifests itself into the dynamic of rin and len. a pair of virtual singers whose relationship transcends sekai. no matter the circumstance, no matter the personality they're given, they are partners.

and when you look at passion heart through this perspective, you can immediately see a pattern: every member of passion heart strives to embody a certain light they were given. saki with tsukasa, minori with haruka, an with nagi, rui with tom gray, mizuki with yuuki. and, within their own groups, their stories develop their characters through their relationships with others, having entire events around a particular, vitally important person: saki's Parallel Harmonies with ichika, minori's entire dynamic with haruka, an's entire arc from Bout for Beside You to Whip the Wimp Girl!!, rui's relationship with tsukasa after the main story, and mizuki's My Footprints, Your Destination and Our Escape For Survival for ena and mafuyu respectively.

passion heart is built around its relationships, the importance other people play in their lives and growth. to not include the inseparable pair of rin and len in that class would simply be a mistake.

this brings us back around to kaito and solid heart. what about wonderland sekai kaito connects him to the themes of solid heart? well, if school luka and street meiko are cautious heart students at the ends of their journeys, and street len is a new perspective on the meaning of passion heart, i think wonderland kaito is meant to be both of these things. because kaito is the solid heart connection to cautious heart, a representation of what they're capable of by embodying a class solid heart often envies.

wonderland kaito pulls a lot from tsukasa's character (obviously so, as a manifestation of his emotions), and tsukasa's story, despite himself being cautious heart, reflects the themes of solid heart. specifically the events On the Stage of Dazzling Light and Towards the Phoenix at the Sky's Edge. stories about tsukasa's struggle to perform as the actor he wants to be, the latter specifically putting him in a position of intense longing for a goal he feels is lifetimes away from him. yes, both of these are for the sake of the character he's playing, but that reflects perfectly in the stories of solid heart, who put their all into their work to achieve the goals they've set out for themselves, and will put themselves through the most difficult climbs just to reach the top of the cliffside. if the way his story presents itself wasn't better fit for cautious heart, and nene wasn't already a perfect solid heart student, tsukasa would be solid heart. and kaito, carrying such a major piece of tsukasa: his dedication to his craft, is the solid heart within tsukasa. the drive to grow, the will to keep pushing no matter the challenge, the willingness to try anything that might lead to success, even if they get hurt in the process. yes, he acts more like cautious heart, but that's the point.

shiho has always been an odd one when it comes to solid heart's themes. yes, they act like a member of solid heart (all the way down to the common mischaracterisation of them being an asshole, a universal trait of solid heart characters), but their story has always worked in contrast to the rest of solid heart. solid heart characters come from a position of inferiority, feeling the need to overcompensate and push themselves to their limits in order to "keep up" with the rest of their groups' capabilities. shiho has never had this struggle; they've always been skilled, the most experienced member of the band. shiho has an entire event, Don't Lose Faith!, that has ichika confront them about the fact they hold back to not outshine the other band members, so they don't glow too bright and take the glory for themselves. it's the opposite of what solid heart has always needed to do. because shiho, like kaito represents, is already there. their drive was uninhibited by their environment, save for the struggle to find a band they can participate in. their actual ability as a musician has never been hampered by the world, while the rest of solid heart run off the belief they're worse than their group because that's what the world has told them, directly or indirectly. shiho is the sunlight that solid heart is capable of achieving.

so wonderland kaito, much like shiho represents, is an embodiment of what solid heart can do with their determination to grow despite the challenges. because they look up to the cautious heart students, they're envious of their skills and talents. but kaito is the proof that they can be that.

that, i think, is why kaito is solid heart. the virtual singers are representations of these characters' feelings and aspirations, and wonderland kaito serves as an embodiment of the goals of solid heart. their mission to be like the cautious heart students that seem to have everything together. kaito shows them that it's possible by being like cautious heart but still solid heart.

#project sekai #pjsk #character analysis #virtual singer #mention of like every character #mikudemy #mostly about kaito #after this i'm tempted to go off about each sekailoid individually #talk about what they represent for the characters of that sekai #maybe one day

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alexiethymia · 29 days

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In which Aoko meets Kaito?

Or someone who sure awfully looks a lot like him. What was it they said about karma again? Kaiao. Shinran. Here we go again.

sapphire & spade; Part of the shuffle the deck fic series; dcmk verse fics of rare encounters with the dcmk kids, while flirting loosely with canon. part character analysis, character interactions. much love for gosho’s couples.

Gong-gong

‘Oh no, Aoko’s going to be late!’

She breathes a panicked huff, still ruffling her hair to put it into some semblance of a nice chignon. Rather than anything elegant, she suspects that it probably resembled a bird’s nest. She tried to stem the tears she feels coming up. Aoko knew that this wasn’t like her, to be putting her hair up when she would just as comfortably let it flow loose. She remembered another time she acted like this – during her supposed ‘date’, but she could be forgiven for her nerves then considering that she was trying to prove her best friend’s innocence (ha, funny that).

Anyway, just as it was then, today was a special occasion. And just as it was then, it had something to do with Kaito.

Speak of the devil and he shall appear. Just there looking effortlessly cool wearing a dark jacket and slacks as he checked the time, stood her best friend. She blows away a strand of her hair in frustration. Kaito’s hair was as messy as hers, but why was it that on him it looked windswept rather than like her chaotic mess?

But her happiness overcomes her frustration and insecurity. It’s been a week since she saw Kaito last, something about taking time off work to guest star in a magic show in America. At least to herself, she can admit, she missed him. It was their anniversary – in more ways than one. Of when they met and many other new beginnings. He swore up and down it would be nothing like her near-disastrous birthday. He promised that he’d be there and on time. As the gong was about to strike twelve midnight, Aoko was as happy as she could remember ever feeling to see he kept his promise.

‘I swear, no more lies, Aoko.’

Except…

She slows to a stop in front of him.

“Aoko! Here you were making me promise to be on time, and you’re the one who was almost late. Good thing Cinderella didn’t turn into a pumpkin or anything like that,” he jokes with a wink.

His smile could blind her.

At the mention of Cinderella, she remembers a magical transformation and the warmth of his arms. But Kaito had never been her prince charming, rather he was the magical wizard who always did his best to grant her wishes.

Did his best…

Smile straining, she greets him, “Good evening, Kudo-san.”

At his honestly confused face, Aoko could very well applaud him. She could see that he inherited his mother’s skill.

“What are you talking about, Aoko?”

She breathes in and tries her best to be patient. “Kaito couldn’t make it, huh? I’m sorry you got roped into that idiot’s silliness, Kudo-san.”

“No, really,” he says, brows furrowed and looking utterly penitent, “What’re you talking about, Aoko? I am Kaito.” And as if to prove each and every one of her doubts wrong, a blooming rose still wet with dew appears in front of her face.

She would love to believe him, she really would, but Aoko’s had enough practice – and disappointments – in her life.

“Ok then. Aoko believes you,” she could have melted at his relieved expression, “So you’ll accept Aoko’s welcome home kiss, won’t you?” She clasps her hands behind her back and stands on her tip toes to draw her lips to his, closer and closer she draws and feels his breath intermingling with hers.

Just as she thinks they’re about to touch, a high-pitched noise makes her head ring just before she feels the softness of feathers caress her lips.

“That idiot…” she hears in Kaito’s voice, or something close to it. She’s impressed by the subtle shift. When before it had been laced with mischievous laughter, now it was smooth and mildly apologetic, “I’m really sorry about this, Aoko-chan.”

A slight shift in posture, a hand smoothing over his hair, and just like magic, instead of her best friend, there stood in front of her, one famous metantei.

Shinichi knew he shouldn’t have given in to Kuroba.

‘C’mon, Kudo, you owe me. Haven’t I dressed up as you enough times to save your butt?’

‘Yeah,’ he had replied while rolling his eyes, ‘Almost as many times as it caused me trouble.’

‘Onegai,’ Kuroba had pleaded, palms together. ‘Won’t you do your favorite cousin a solid?’

‘You’re my only cousin.’

‘Seriously, Shinichi,’ And he had looked serious, rare as that was, ‘I want to make this special for Aoko. Just think of it as practice for our body-switching trick for my next show.’

Shinichi had been ready to fall for it, before he sighed sufferingly, ‘Again, when did I ever agree to join –‘

‘Plus, if you do this for me, I promise I’ll get you a free three-night stay at the Ritz Carlton in New York. I got complimentary passes since I’m doing a show there. Isn’t your and Ran’s anniversary coming up?’

Damn it.

At the thought of Ran’s overjoyed and wonderstruck face, he decided not to listen to his brain for once. But looking at Aoko-chan trying to keep her smile up and herself strong had Shinichi rethinking this whole thing. No matter how happy Ran might be to spend their anniversary in New York, he’s sure she’d just as well get mad at him for putting one of her girl friends through the wringer. Again, he thinks with feeling, ‘That idiot…’

‘Why did I agree to this again?’

‘That’s no mystery. You pretend like you don’t care, Shinichi, but of course you do. I still remember how ‘Conan-kun’ helped Takagi-keiji out, and Kyougyoku-san too. As much as you say otherwise, of course you’d worry about Kuroba-san.’

‘At least I’m not as bad as you with Hattori and Kazuha-chan.’

‘Don’t fool yourself, Shinichi’, Ran had said laughing sweetly at him, ‘We both know you’re worse.’

Well, he’d agree with worse things than being accused of caring about his troublemaking cousin the moment she laughed happily like that.

Subtly guiding the forlorn woman to sit on a nearby bench, Shinichi tries his best to cheer her up. “You look really nice tonight.” Shinichi meant it honestly. While Ran looked great in lavender and red (probably one of the reasons why it was his favorite color in the first place), he tended to favor blue for himself. Meanwhile, blue seemed to favor Aoko-chan. In her glittering sapphire dress and crystal pumps, she looked every bit a modern-day Cinderella. Or maybe it was the total opposite and it was that modern-day Lupin running out of time. Speaking of…

While he knew he had an overinflated ego at times, Shinichi would like to think he wasn’t as bad as his dad. While he wasn’t as good as Kuroba, he thinks he’s picked up some things from his mother.

‘Ha, everyone knows I’m the one who took after Yukiko-obaa san.’

‘…’

‘I’m telling kaa-san you said that.’

‘W-wait, I actually have a reason I can call her obaa-san now.’

‘Ha, as if that’ll stop her.’

At the very least, he shudders to think he was as bad as Hattori, so he can’t help but ask, “How could you tell?”

Aoko-chan still seemed blue but lifts up a corner of her mouth in reply, “Kaito doesn’t usually wear dark clothes.”

Remembering countless pre-heist preparations, Shinichi opens his mouth ready to object before Aoko interrupts, “Aoko knows what you’re going to say, Kudo-san. Kaito wears dark clothes when he wants to hide, but for something like this he wouldn’t be able to help but draw attention to himself. He’d wear white or something bright.” Or something colorful and loud. Thoughtlessly she reaches up to stroke the feathers of the dove which had comfortably made a home on her head. She gives up the hairstyle for a lost cause and gets lost in her thoughts.

Aoko had always hated the dark. It reminded her too much of the silence of an empty home. But Kaito was always loud and bright, sometimes blinding. Like a beacon she would always be drawn to him in a crowd and then she wouldn’t be alone anymore.

She decides to continue, “Also, remember what you said earlier,” she smiles wryly, “Kaito wouldn’t compliment what I was wearing. You’re too much of a gentleman, Kudo-san, it still shows. You didn’t call me ‘Ahouko’ even once.”

Shinichi’s sure Aoko-chan’s expression was mirrored by his own deadpan look. They really resembled Hattori and Kazuha-chan at times, for better or worse. He knew that every couple had their own quirks and expressions, but he couldn’t help but worry. Since he wouldn’t ever admit being worried for that menace, let’s just say he was worried about Aoko and leave it at that.

“Still,” Aoko says while fiddling with her fingers, “You almost had Aoko fooled. You did his trick exactly like he would have done it. Is that why Heart-chan is with you?”

He takes a split-second before answering to ask, “Heart-chan?”

Aoko nods like he’s supposed to get it, “Yeah, Hato-chan.”

Shinichi deadpans. Well what else could he expect from someone who loved his punny riddles? Rather, ‘Heart-chan’ was supposed to keep an eye on him, and anyway ‘this little gal knows you already’ before said dove had disappeared into his clothes. Shinichi doesn’t admit to being impressed especially when he could tell how the other man had done it within five seconds. “Something like that,” he answers instead.

Kuroba should be satisfied that she’d done her job, Shinichi thinks, remembering the aftertaste of feathers. And yet he also remembers that annoyingly high-pitched feedback. Grimacing, he thinks that he better be satisfied. At the very least Shinichi was grateful so he gives the dove a pat of his own.

Shinichi was no magician, but if Kuroba could play at being detective, then he could do no less. If they were two sides of the same coin then something like replicating a trick he’s cracked the mystery to was as simple as child’s play.

Still, he was a detective and eternally curious at heart, “So how?” He simply asks, trusting Aoko-chan to understand.

Aoko smiles, a bit brighter than before, “The rose would have been blue,” since it was a special occasion after all, “And,” here Aoko pauses feeling herself blush, “Kaito breathes differently, ifthatmakesanysense,” she exclaims in a rush. She peeks up at the older detective, almost feeling embarrassed at being judged. She can’t help it, Kudo-san and Ran-chan always seemed to her to be so sophisticated and mature, a steady and steadfast couple if anything, that she worried if she was still childish in comparison.

Rather than shocked though, Kudo-san looks like he understands. “I get it, Aoko-chan.” And he really did, she didn’t have to explain. He’d compared women to mysteries once (with time he can look back on it now and see it as a child’s frustration and fear at not being able to understand the heart of the one dearest to him), but they were incredible detectives too. He remembers being shocked that Ran could tell Kuroba wasn’t him (sometimes he might underestimate her too much, it’s a lesson he’s happy to keep relearning), and surmises that this must be something like it. No wonder, Kaitou Kid had always been so tight-lipped. The greatest danger to his identity hadn’t been him, but Nakamori, albeit a different Nakamori than everyone thought.

Aoko breathes in the cold night air. It would be midnight soon. “So what happened? Did he…start again?”

Aoko released a huge sigh of relief when Kudo-san shakes his head empathically, “Kuroba knows better than to break your heart like that,” at her snort, he grins, “Well at least he should know better because you’d be the first to haul him right to jail, with me and Hakuba right behind you. I’m sure Hattori wouldn’t want to be left out either.”

At her energetic response of ‘much better’, Shinichi smiles feeling happy that he managed to allay a bit of her worries.

“It’s just that…he could have told Aoko he couldn’t make it. He said no more lies after all.” She sighed.

“Aoko doesn’t want to hold him back from doing what he loves. She knows how much he enjoys the stage and spotlight, but sometimes Aoko just enjoys the simple things. Just him being here is enough for Aoko. She wonders if she’s selfish for feeling this way,” she says while placing her chin on her palms, pouting.

Shinichi nods noncommittally. It’s not as if he doesn’t get it. Although it’s been years, his heart still twists at the memory of Ran bursting into tears after smiling so brightly. It wasn’t his place to say, ‘maybe he really had a good reason’ when excuses were just another kind of lie. ‘There was only one truth,’ right?

Even if he could understand Aoko’s pain, it also wasn’t his place to chastise Kuroba when he had been the same. Detective and thief, critic and performer, truth and lie - they were indeed two sides of the same coin because, unlike Hattori, unlike Hakuba, they made their home in that grey area in between.

One truth that he can be sure of though, enough that he can confidently tell Aoko is this, “At the very least, Aoko-chan, no matter what mischief that guy gets up to, he’ll always return home to you. If there’s anything he’d wish for the most, it would be your happiness.” For the man with a thousand faces who knew everyone and could become anyone, there was at least one person in the whole world who knew the person behind the mask absolutely and completely.

He hears a soft ‘thanks’ at the same time a small smile tentatively blooms on Aoko’s face.

3…

2..

GONG

‘It’s showtime!’

Ok, that hadn’t been a whisper from the mic he was wearing on his collar. He’s sure he had been listening in through that nifty accessory Heart-chan was wearing from who knows where, and finally decided to make his entrance.

Geez, that guy sure liked to make people wait (Shinichi thinks he deserves to be purposefully obtuse for once. He’s made too many comparisons between them already).

At the wonderstruck expression on Aoko’s face at the multitude of blue fireworks scattered across the night sky above the clocktower, Shinichi hopes that she and he would think this was all worth it.

Ironic that he’d find himself here again, finally facing his rival after so many years after that first meeting that they had both forgotten, and in vastly different circumstances too. He has to admit though that he is relieved to find out that that once moonlighting thief had managed to protect what was important to him.

He watched with Aoko as a glider with a jet engine sky wrote the words, ‘Happy anniversary!’ (As he remembers free falling off a blimp, Shinichi thinks wryly that he finally managed to solve that problem.)

Unlike Aoko though, he didn’t shout a delighted gasp of surprise when a pillar of pink smoke and glitter suddenly puffed in between them.

“Kaito!”

No matter how many times she’d seen it happen, she would probably always react in wonder as if it was the first time. (Not for the first time for him when looking at Aoko, he is reminded of Ran’s reactions after every successful deduction. Well, the very first time wasn’t really the awed reaction he’d hoped for. Still, he treasured that moment).

Kuroba Kaito, Kaitou Kid, the world’s most daring magician appeared with a bang. He might have had thousands of fans (in both personas), but from the wide grin and manic energy he had now it seemed like he was performing for the entire world in the form of one person.

“What’s that supposed to be, Ahouko?” He says pointing to the ruffled mess left of Aoko’s hair when Heart-chan left to return to her rightful master. It was teasing but still all the fonder for it.

“Mou, don’t tease, Kaito. Not when you’re so late,”

“On the contrary, I’m right on time,” and with a snap of his fingers, Aoko’s hair transformed into the elegant chignon she’d be wrangling it into the whole night.

Hands in his pockets, Shinichi observed the other man dressed to the nines in a white and blue suit. He could be accused of cosplaying a very popular phantom thief except the shade of blue was slightly different, and instead matched the eyes of his lovely companion. “Dummy?”

He was referring the obvious decoy still writing above them, but as expected when Kaito drew closer and narrowed his eyes at him, he’d gotten the double meaning.

“I thought I might have had to ruin my cue and come in too early, but good thing you were here, huh?” Kaito scratched Heart-chan on the top of her feathered head for being such a good girl, before whirling to point at his near doppelganger, “And you! A great detective shouldn’t be trying to steal a phantom thief’s job. That was way too close a call! Don’t make me tell on you to Ran.”

Shinichi scoffs lightly. Now he understood what Hattori must have felt back then, and inspired, he just says with a smirk, “Let’s just say we’re even now.”

Kaito narrows his eyes further if that were even possible. “You hold onto a grudge for way too long.”

“Says you.”

"Wow," Aoko says awed, "Looking at the both of you side-by-side like this...it's like looking at a mirrored reflection!"

"What're you talking about, Aoko? I'm obviously more good looking," Kaito boasts. "Anyway..."

Shinichi could tell he was planning something from how he was creeping closer but not even he could have expected being blindfolded with magic scarves.

“Oi, Kuroba!”

Kaito knew he probably should have just waited till Kudo left but he never could keep his cool around Aoko. In a whirlwind rush, he drew her in a dance position and finally stole her lips.

Could it be called stealing if they were his in the first place? He may have been a retired thief, and call him a hypocrite if you had to, but he would never let anyone steal this. He may have been forced to look for Pandora, but all the world’s jewels could not compare to this one precious sapphire.

The moment he saw her in her get-up, his heart stopped and he suddenly couldn’t sit still. It was a surreal experience watching her with ‘himself’ from the outside, and to still feel jealous even when it was his own plan.

Arghh, just call him a hypocrite and be done with it, because the moment of that near-kiss, his life suddenly flashed before his eyes and all those times he took Kudo’s place with Ran. He apologizes to the metantei in his mind. Man, even if he did use him as bait for his trigger-happy black organization, Kaito realizes that that little detective must have had so much patience with him to not just punt him to the moon for all the stunts he did back then. He suddenly shudders remembering that ominous flash of glasses that signaled an ass-kicking. On principle, he started staying away from glasses-wearing grade schoolers after that. Trauma ran deep after all.

But he felt everything settle into place the moment he felt Aoko melting into his arms. He thought he knew temptation when he had a chance to steal a first kiss back then, but he had been content to let Sleeping Beauty rest. And yet, even after biting the bullet (and the plush apple that was Aoko’s lips), temptation still continued its siren call every time he saw her.

He must have really missed her.

A rude cough woke him up from his wonderful dream, as Aoko squeaked and hid behind him.

“I’m giving you three seconds, so the moment I remove this I better not see anything scarring.”

“You wish,” Kaito responds childishly.

As Shinichi sighed sufferingly and peeked from beneath the blindfold, he remarks, “Should I be thankful you didn’t use sleeping gas?”

Interlacing Aoko’s fingers with his own, he shoots his cousin a finger salute and jokes, “Could still be an option.”

“Just try it. I’d tranq you first,” he says, narrowing his eyes at him, “But, I don’t want to ruin Aoko-chan’s evening after she waited so long for you.”

“Pot,” Kaito points to him, then to himself, “Meet Kettle.”

Shinichi rolls his eyes, but didn’t say anything knowing he had a point. “So, any reason why you couldn’t just wait until I left?”

“Because,” Kaito says cheekily before turning to Aoko with a bright, blue rose suddenly in his hand, “I just wanted to show you how it’s done.” Aoko looked even more delighted with the sudden gift.

“Right, right,” he says playing along, as he ruffles his hair. “Well, I’m off. It’s an early day tomorrow, and knowing Ran she’s probably waiting up,” partly to hear any ‘juicy details’ in her own words. “You kids have fun now,” he says with a wave as he turned away from them.

“Oi, metantei!”

When Shinichi turns back, he sees Kaito look unexpectedly sheepish, “Thanks again for this.”

With a small smile, he just replies with a ‘Hai, hai,’ as he finally leaves them to enjoy their anniversary in peace. He’d heard from Ran who heard from Aoko-chan that it was the anniversary of when they met, as well as the anniversary of when the Kaitou Kid had finally given up his mantle and the exciting life of a phantom thief to confess to his best friend. Rumor had it than even when he had the entire female population’s attention, he had only ever and truly sought after the regard of one specific person. Perhaps it was some kind of karmic justice that it was also the same person who hated his guts, and would continue to do so as long as he was still stealing. And so he’d given up the gold to get the girl. Or so the rumor went.

It was a long day and he’s just about ready to snuggle with Ran in bed as he entertained her with the kind of story she’d love.

From the excited gasp he heard behind him, he’s sure Aoko-chan had finally seen what his quick gaze noticed as soon as Kuroba whipped up that rose – another blue rose nestled in its petals, or more accurately it was an asteria, a star sapphire inlaid in a white-gold setting fashioned after a rose. Miniature vines made up its small band. Shinichi’s pretty sure it would fit perfectly, even imagined Kuroba dressing up as Aoko-chan to make sure it really did fit.

Another thing he noticed, the slightly off-kitler English letter ‘H’. Everything else in the message had been lowercase. Shinichi knew Kuroba, whether he was Kaitou Kid or not, being the perfectionist he was, wouldn’t make a mistake like that. Maybe it wasn’t supposed to be an ‘H’ and he had to improvise. Shinichi couldn’t be sure, but it almost looked like it could have been an English letter ‘w’.

Aoko-chan might not get the implications right away. Diamonds were traditional after all (like his and Ran’s), but when had Kuroba ever been conventional?

Seeing that gem had brought back memories of a fallen emperor, a chain of red lights, a forced landing, and a heartfelt confession. As if Shinichi could ever forget. It could have been the same gem that he tried to steal back then.

“I promise I didn’t steal this one, Aoko. Really!”

Just maybe scoured the world for it, which was why he had been missing for a week in the guise of a show. He’d used his own legal (and extra-legal too) contacts in the police, and even Shinichi’s. In the end he’d even asked Sonoko, Momiji-san, old man Suzuki, and when he’d run out of billionaires to ask, his dad and mom. They might have heard something. Even Kuroba as much as it pained his pride to do it, asked his oyaji who had heard of news of the missing gem during his own escapades.

Maybe he wasn’t a detective, and no longer a thief, but Kuroba was still a master storyteller. A star fit perfectly with the moon. And what’s more…

Destiny, Hope, Faith. What they had encountered was a fake empress with a fake gem, but he thought the genuine article fit Aoko-chan perfectly. That true and utter - some would say blind – faith in him, the real him under the smoke and mirrors.

Maybe he had almost lost hope, but just like Pandora, he kept a little bit of it close to his heart. So long as she was there waiting for him and believing in him.

And just like that, no matter how many obstacles there were of other’s and their own making, maybe it was just destiny for them to be. Together.

Or maybe, he laughs at himself, he was just the sentimental fool Ran said he was, to be comparing their situations.

They were alike, as much as he hated to admit it. Maybe blood really did run that deep. So, he can say that Kuroba could be as stupid as him sometimes. But at the same time, he knew that Kuroba knew how lucky he was to have her, after everything. And they could only be so lucky not to mess up again and end up having to let go.

Maybe his original plan was to make it into one spectacular show, but he’d always been good at improvising, and no magician worth his salt would leave a young woman’s wish unheard and not granted. And so, his original plans took a back seat, and he turned it into something private and just for them instead. Despite that, he can understand if Kuroba still needed his critic one more time, to have someone witness no matter what he decided, and to stop him from running away if needed.

But…

He takes one last look as soon as he’s far enough. Aoko-chan had her arms around him, tight as if she never wanted to let go as she admired the ring on her left finger over his shoulder. Kuroba looked caught off guard, bright red and blushing with no trace of a suave Phantom Thief on his face, just a man flustered in the embrace of the one he loved, before he held her back, equally as tight.

He doesn’t think he needs to worry about anything on that front. He’d once been a thief, and thieves tended to guard their treasures zealously.

And well, Shinichi thinks chuckling, if it was witnesses he needed, then witnesses he’d get. By tomorrow, everyone of their acquaintances would hear of the happy news, courtesy of Ran.

He’s sure to enjoy the chase.

‘Good luck, Kaitou Kid.’