#kairan

She's squeezed in his lap, but he's not taking advantage of her, not even the fact that her breasts are mere centimeters from his face.

It's a long agonizing wait, perhaps an hour or more, before he relaxes. 

“I'll take you home,” he says, extracting himself from her.

Somehow, he's changed in that time into a ballcap, black jeans, and a dark turtleneck.

He holds her hand off the roof of the hotel, in the taxi, on the way home. He only lets go to deliver her into her father's sobbing arms before he disappears into the ether.

i.

A boy in a dark blue gakuran is at the door with a bundle of sunflowers. Ran doesn't know him, but he looks like Shinichi with a different hairstyle. Therefore, Ran knows him. “Come in,” she says quietly. “I'm sorry about the mess. My father is still out looking.”

“We both know he's not going to find him,” Kid says. He hands her the bouquet of sunflowers almost sheepishly.

“It gives him something to do,” Ran says, looking under the kitchen cabinet for a vase. “I need something to do. I'm going crazy sitting here waiting, and I'm tired of going crazy, and I'm tired of waiting.”

She puts the water in the vase, and then turns around, wrapping her arms around him and kissing him, desperately.

“Hey!” he yelps, stepping back, but still carefully cradling her in his arms so she doesn't fall.

“You like me, right?” she says. “I'll give you everything if you just—”

“Ran-san, no, that's not how it works—”

“Don't lie to me!” she said, beating her fist against his chest. “You pervert, I know you find me attractive, so why don't you just—” Ran's legs give out, and she collapses to the floor, sobbing.

“You're more than that,” he says, kneeling and wrapping his arms around her. “You don't want to do this, not really.”

“I do! I'd do anything to find him!” Ran cries. “Teach me!” 

Kid stills. “Teach you what, exactly?”

“Your skills! How to disguise and infiltrate, how to become another person, how to manipulate people into doing exactly what you want them to do!” Ran clings to him. “Please, I'll do anything! If you don't want me, then I have a little bit of savings, and my grandmother's wedding ring is at least a carat—”

“Stop,” Kid says.

Ran closes her mouth. She dries her tears, and stares at him, cold.

He helps her up, then sits her down on the sofa. He disappears into the bathroom, returning with a washcloth, which is warm when he wipes her tear tracks away. Then he sits down next to her. “May I tell you a story?” he asks.

“Of course,” she says. He's so grim. It's unlike the Kid she knows. 

“My father was a magician, and my mother was a thief, exceptionally skilled in disguise,” he smiles as if he's remembering a particularly fond memory. “The Lady with Twenty Faces. Then people were running insurance scams on things my mother wouldn't touch, targeting her specifically so she'd get the blame. My mother taught him, and he also became a thief, mostly to distract them from her.”

“And then you,” Ran says.

“And then me,” Kid agrees. “My father was the original Kaitō Kid, and I took over once I was old enough.”

“What does this have to do with anything?” Ran asks.

“My father had two students in the art. One has done terrible things with the knowledge, so my mother made me swear upon my life I'd only teach family. So that's why I can't—”

“Marry me,” Ran says.

“What?” Kid says, eyes wide, caught flat-footed.

“Marry me,” she says again. “Then we'd be family, just like your parents.”

The Kid's brows raise beyond his hairline. “And should you find your loverboy? A divorce can't take back knowledge.”

“When I find Shinichi, he'll understand. I did what I had to do to save him. Besides, it doesn't preclude lovers, does it?” Ran says with a half grin. “You'll have yours, I'll have mine. Don't worry, I'll have your children. You can raise them however you want.”

“Mōri-san,” Kid begins with a blush, “You don't even know my name.”

“I will do anything. Anything. To get him back,” Ran says. “Whatever you want me to do, I'll do it. If you don't help me, I'll do it on my own.”

“You're pretty good at manipulating people to do what you want already,” Kid says. “You know I cannot refuse in good conscience.”

“Help me save him,” Ran says, clinging to him. “I'm tired of waiting for someone else to do it. I want to find him.”

“Very well,” Kid says, “I will teach you,” and he leans in for a kiss. Ran is surprised to learn he is just as unpractised as she is. He cups her cheek. “My name is Kuroba Kaito.”

Kuroba Tōichi, the magician! He was the original Kaitō Kid! Aloud, however, she only says, “Kuroba Ran. It has a nice ring to it.”

“Still, I promised him I’d keep you safe,” Kaito says, fingering her hair.

“Well, maybe had either of you told me before, we wouldn't be in this position in the first place!” Ran says. “What good did ignorance do me but make me vulnerable? If you hadn't been there, they would have gotten us both.”

“Fair enough,” Kid—no, Kaito—says with a wild grin. “Now how are we going to go about this? I can forge my parents’ signatures, but what of yours?”

“I can forge my mother's perfectly,” Ran says. “And my dad will sign anything I put in front of him without reading it.”

“It seems you already have a touch of the phantom thief within you, my dear,” Kaito says. He leans over to kiss her again, fuller, deeper. Ran responds just as eagerly. 

This will let her find Shinichi, this she knows. And after what Kaito has done to keep her safe, to check on her only on the strength of his promise to Shinichi…He's the kind of man to keep his word.

“You know I'd never do horrible things with this knowledge,” Ran says.

“Many people don't know what they'll do until they reach a threshold where they will either bend or break,” Kaito says. “You are my responsibility now, every part of you. You already said you would do anything to find him. Let's do our best to make sure it will be nothing you'll regret.”

“Right,” Ran says, because she's already admitted it. She will do anything to get Shinichi back, and this is only step one.

“Let's get started,” Kaito says.

“Now?” Ran blinks.

“This is your life from now on. You have much to learn, and a very short time to do it. Hope you're good at learning on the fly.”

“Let's go get my father's signature and file it with the city,” Ran says. 

“Wonderful!” Kaito claps. “This will give you an opportunity to pick a person. At the end, you will come home with me for a more intense tutorial.”

“After the marriage, you mean,” Ran says.

“No time for a honeymoon. You will live and breathe Kaitō Kid until it's all you know.”

Realization dawns. “You want me to be your new assistant.”

“Assistant, distraction, decoy, me, whatever I need.” Kaito raises an eyebrow again, as if to challenge her.

She merely nods. “I said I'd do anything.”

“Good. Now, let's get started.”