It really was unfair, or, at the very least it felt unfair.

Aoko watched as her father glared twin holes into the morning paper, specifically, the headline talking about the return of the infamous phantom thief Kaito Kid. 8 years ago her father, Inspector Nakamori, had spent blood, sweat, and tears to try and catch the elusive criminal before his sudden disappearance. Many had presumed the thief to be dead. And now apparently he wasn't. Her father had once been obsessed with catching Kid, and now it seems the old 'passion' had been reignited. She let out a mental sigh.

I guess I'd better enjoy having a dad while he's still here.

Aoko was used to Kaito's antics. His daily outbursts made it hard not to. Did that mean she wouldn't try and brain him with a mop when he decided to peek at her panties? Nope- no way in hell. Just because she was used to such antics didn't mean she was going let them slid (seriously, why did her childhood friend have such an obsession with letting the class know the color of her underwear?!). She did have to admit the trich with standing on his hands and the robotic head was neat, but she'd never say that to his face- his ego didn't need any more inflating. The class was going on per usual, Kaito running from her mop-fu(as he dubbed it) while the teacher drilled them on math equations. The poor woman tried to trip them up, but it never worked.

"Nobody can beat me," Kaito said with a lax expression.

Aoko ran at him, swinging the mop head in an ark and forcing him to cling to the ceiling. Their fellow classmates awwed at his feat of skill.

"Not even you could beat Kaito Kid, Kaito!" She countered.

"Kaito Kid?" Her friend/tormenter asked. She wasn't surprised, he didn't read the paper daily like she and her father did.

"The phantom thief who uses magic tricks to steal."

Kaito snorted.

"Obviously I'm the better magician- I don't use my skills to steal." He retorted.

"He's probably a professional with years more experience compared to your own, their's no way you're better than him, even if he is a criminal!" Aoko responded.

"Says who?" Kaito verbally jabbed. "You aren't a magician- you can even stop me from figuring out your panty color."

Aoko fumed.

"I'll show you- I'll go catch Kaito Kid!" Aoko shouted.

Her mop clattered to the floor where she dropped it as she ran out of the classroom. She ignored the look Kaito cast her way in favor of focusing on her anger. She'd show that brat! She'd even show her dad a thing or two (even if her dad hadn't had any luck catching Kid 8 years ago)!

The only magician besides Kaito that she knew was Her friend's father, Kuroba Toichi. The man had passed away 8 years ago due to a failed escape trick, oddly enough, it was around the time that Kaito Kid had vanished. She stepped into Kaito's home and marched up the stairs into his room. It always amazed her how clean the area was, you'd assume a person like him would have at least a few clothes on the floor or something.

Her gaze drifted to the life-sized poster of the elder Kuroba. Kaito had looked up to him with such adoration, it was no wonder why the apple had fallen so close to the tree. After the man's death, her father had once brought up the theory of the magician being the infamous Kaito Kid, the timing of the two did add up, but it had been discarded soon thereafter. Kaito didn't need that kind of suspicion pointed at his now dead father. The sun was setting and soon Kaito would be home.

She pressed the pads of her fingertips against the poster, and jumped by in surprise when it began turning like a hidden door. The poster/hidden door flipped around a few times, exposing a second poster of Kuroba Toichi in full kid regalia, before settling back into place. Curiosity piped, Aoko pushed against the poster a second time, a little harder this time, and almost shrieked as the poster swung around, pushing her into a pit lined with darkness.

"Aoko, you here? You forgot to grab your backpack at school!" She heard Kaito call.

She wasn't sure how far down she fell, but her decent was stopped by a plush lounge chair. The light clicked on all around her exposing a large room with a black and white checkered floor. To her front was an odd looking jukebox, to her right was a gleaming silver car, and to her left were shelves housing various odd knickknacks.

"What in the world?"

She watched as the jukebox in front of her came to life. The club on the left part of the planned lit up as the internal mechanisms began working, the machine chose a record from the center of the stack.

"It's been a while, Kaito." A voice said from the speaker.

A voice she knew. The voice of Kuroba Toichi. Aoko paled. It appeared that the device was set to play the moment someone entered. This was obviously meant for Kaito, but she found herself unable to stand. She had to know just what in the hell was going on.

Up above in his room, Kaito flopped onto his bed. He didn't know where Aoko was, possibly in her room cooking up a plan to catch Kid. He hoped she was alright. He was pulled from his musings by a beep from his computer, his mom was calling. We strolled over to his desk and watched him mom's image blink onto the laptop's screen.

"Hey, mom." He greeted with a smile.

Kuroba Chikage looked as elegant as ever, cosmetics done lightly and her chin-length hair neat and straight. A far cry from his own bird's nest of brown locks. She was seated at what looked to be a table to some outdoor café, a cup of what was probably tea to her right.

"I trust you've been well?" She asked.

"Of course! What else could I be?" Kaito responded.

This earned him a chuckle from his mother.

"And how as Aoko-chan been?"

"Aoko's doing well, for the most part."

Chikage quirked an eyebrow at him. Kaito sighed.

"This morning she brought up the phantom thief Kaito Kid, apparently he's returned after 8 years. She decided she's going to try and catch him." He explained.

His mother said nothing as she took a sip from her drink, soaking in this information.

"And I assume you had some part to play in this?" She asked.

Kaito spluttered.

"W-why would you say that?"

His mother gave him a knowing look, they type that said 'did-you-even-have-to-ask' before glancing down at her watch.

"I'm sorry, Kaito, but I need to leave now. I'm on my way to see a magic show." Chikage said, bells ringing in the background.

Before Kaito could say anything, she ended the chat.

That woman really does things at her own pace.

"Kaito, I'm going to teach you the secret of being a magician." Toichi's voice said.

Aoko smiled. He obviously knew how much his son loved magic, it was a shame he wasn't around to continue teaching Kaito.

"To begin with, do you know what the most important thing for a magician is?"

The most important thing?

Aoko watched the needle slip off of the record, the message was over. The jukebox turned off as the floor opened and a closet-like box rose up. Before she could think about it, the doors swung open. She gaped in shock, the contents of the closet were a formal white suit with an equally as white mantle and top hat along with a monocle, resting against the side was what looked to be a cane or baton of some sort. Aoko got to her feet and moved recognized the suit from somewhere. As she observed the suit, it clicked into place.

"That's-"
The rod resting to the side felt to the ground and rolled to her feet. She picked it up carefully, so far there was nothing strange about it. She placed a hand on the top and turned to the left. After a few turns, the rod expanded into a glider. Her heart sank.

"Don't tell be Toichi-san was actually-"

Pressing her lips together, she made a decision. She'd get answers. She reached forward to grab the white suit.

"So, you dropped a dummy to fool the cops white to came up here to the roof."

The fake cop looked up to where she sat on the roof's entrance, mask hiding his face.

"It's a simple trick, really, old enough to do the name of Kaito Kid disservice."

"W-who the hell are you?" The supposed thief asked, voice quivering.

She didn't respond right away, instead choosing to casually stand up, the same make the covered Kid's face his her own.

"I've been waiting for you, Kid-san." She replied.

She walked forward and then descended to the rooftop. Kaito Kid, or at least the person posing as him, stared at her.

Now I can get some answers.

"Then can you figure out this trick?" Kid challenged, grabbing the right shoulder of his disguise.

The next moment, the masked man with Kid's signature hat and mantle stood before her, everything besides the head, hands, tie, and aforementioned mantle was gone.

Aoko forced herself to keep calm. She knew Kaito kid was no sorcerer, it was all a trick.

"How's this?" Kid asked. "You can't see my body."

She let out a Kaito-esk laugh.

"I'll admit it's a neat trick, but that's all I can say about it."

"What?" The phantom thief asked in confusion.

The wind around them picked up, catching the police disguise and whipping it up into the air. At that same moment, Kid's body went from the city to the night sky, the crescent moon above them reflected on his chest.

Got it!

"Prepare yourself!" The thief said.

Tut.

The thief halted in his tracks as the ace of spades card embedded itself into his mask vertically. At that same moment, she changed her position to right beside the thief, and behind her head in a casual manner. Or that's what it looked like. The false head clattered to the ground as Kid's mask broke. The thief was frozen in place as she stared at him, card gun in her right hand as the left one worked to support her body weight. The mirrors covering the thief's tuxedo broke away as his mantle came unclasped and was taken away by the wind.

"You memorized your body so it would reflect the surroundings, giving you the appearance of having no body." She explained as her opponent fell to his knees. She returned to her feet and crossed her arm, a triumphant smirk on her lips.

"An elementary trick."

The man raised his head and turned around to look at her.

"D-don't tell me you're…?!" He said, voice dripping with shock.

"Toichi-sama!" He gasped, crawling over to her.

The look on his face nearly broke her composure. He grabbed her right hand in both of his own.

"Then you're alive!" His face was a concentrated mixture of surprise and relief. What?

"This brings back so many memories!" He said. She could swear she saw tears forming in the man's glasses covered eyes.

He know's Kaito's dad's name, why?

She gazed at the man's face for a moment before realization dawned on her. She knew this man from someplace.

"It's me! Jii, your faithful assistant!" He said, voice laced with emotion. "Have you forgotten me after a mere 8 years?"

"Jii-san!" She exclaimed.

She remembered him For Toichi's magic shows, and from his final performance. He'd looked so heart-broken that day.

"I thought you died during that show 8 years ago!" Jii said, bringing her back to the present. "I thought that if I impersonated you as Kaito Kid, it would lure them out. The miscreants who murdered you!"

Jii had let go of her hand, both now on the ground, eyes downcast to the same place.

"What!" Aoko exclaimed. "Kaito's dad was murdered?!"

She placed her hands on Jii's shoulders, forcing him to look up at her.

"Who did it? Who killed him?" She demanded.

Confusion flashed across the elderly man's features. He stared at her face intently.

"Wait, are you…" He started.

"Oh crap!

"Are you Aoko?"

Aoko grimaced.

"Please… please answer this one question." Aoko said. "Jii-san, was Kaito's dad… what he a thief?"

The old man hung his head.

"What he Kaito Kid?" She asked again.

shadows from the clouds above veiling them both in a cloak of darkness.

Jii let out a strangled breath before looking at her.

"Yes."

"I see," She muttered, standing up.

"It seems Jii Konosuke has made a grave blunder, but at least Kaito Bochama is still unaware." She heard him say.

The rooftop's door swung open.

"I found you, Kaito Kid!" An all to familiar voice shouted.

She heard the sounds of footsteps as the police nearned them. Grabbing hold of the mantle, she stretched an arm out to hide Jii's face from view as she watched from over her shoulder. Her father and several other cops arrive.

"I'll distract them." She said. "While I do that, you need to escape, Jii-san."

"But what about you, young miss?" Jii asked.

She kept her eyes on her father and his men, the monocle and shadows from the hat hid enough of her face.

"I'm not "Young miss"," she said.

A helicopter descended, bathing them both in bright light.

"I'm Kaito Kid now!"

"Young Miss!" Jii said.

"Now, get away Jii-san!" She ordered.

She detached her mantle and threw it over the old man as she ran forward, the gears in her mind spinning with a plan. It's a good thing she'd brought that along with her.

"Stop him!" Her father ordered behind her. "Don't let him escape!"

She felt a bit guilty as she jumped over the railing, deceiving her father like this. But it had to be done. Kaito loved his father, and she refused to tarnish the image he had with the truth. In true Kaito spirit, she left the police a little something. A white rose.

The wings of the glider opened as she fell, catching the air and sending her off.

"This has got to be the craziest night of my life!" she said. To her surprise, joy was bubbling up inside.

"Kaito Kid eh, I guess it won't be so bad."

Out of the corner of her eye, Aoko caught sight of something human-shaped. Turning her head slightly, she saw the siloett of a person in attire similar enough to her's standing of the unfinished scaffolding of an unfinished building. Her eyes narrowed ever so slightly.

"Who's that?"

Their mantle fluttered in the wind for several seconds before the person turned around. She watched them jump down before disappearing from sight completely. Suspicion pricked at the back of her mind. She recalled what Jii had about Toichi's death as she continued with her flight.

"So just happened to accidentally forget to mention to your son that his father was an internationally wanted criminal?" Aoko asked, grumbling.

Chikage smiled at her sweetly.

"Well I have been very busy, it just seems to have slipped my mind." The elder Kuroba said.

Aoko deadpanned, then sighed.

"Well, I can understand why you would keep it secret from him, Kaito really looked up to his father." She admitted.

Chikage's expression softened into something resembling relief. The woman glanced at her watch.

"Oh, I'm sorry but I have to go know, I'm going to a party with a friend."

"Fan then, I'll talk with you later." Aoko said.

As per usual, she's going at her own pace.