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Post by Mikauzoran on Jun 15, 2015 1:00:42 GMT
Hello and welcome to Poirot Cafe's first collaborative fic! Please see the thread here: www.poirotcafe.com/post/590/thread for the general rules and information. The first three pages are the general stuff. Also, you can find a summary of all of the important plot points here: www.poirotcafe.com/post/9490/thread on page seven. I'm going to be posting the initial post soon (hopefully tonight. If not, tomorrow night after work), and then after that the person who would like to post next should call next in the collab thread in the Writing Activities and Events section. Any discussion about the collab fic should happen there as well so as not to disrupt the flow of the story. I look forward to creating a fic with you all! Let's have fun and create an enjoyable fic as a community!
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Post by Mikauzoran on Jun 15, 2015 2:39:32 GMT
They were plotting something. He didn't know what, but the Shounen Tanteidan were plotting something. Conan could tell by the excited babble of whispers that always faded and mysteriously dried up whenever he approached. He wasn’t sure if it were a new game or some kind of scheme to further their detective brigade, but he knew it involved him somehow… And that this was going to end in a headache; he could tell by the cat-that-ate-the-canary grins that Haibara sent him. He gathered clues and waited in dreadful anticipation for the Tanteidan to spring this surprise on him.
Conan would have had a better idea of what his friends were planning if he kept better track of the date. As it stood, it was the end of April with his birthday fast approaching, and the Shounen Tanteidan were organizing a surprise party.
Almost all of the details were hammered out. It would take place at the Professor’s, and arrangements had already been made for the food and decorations thanks to Ran and Haibara. Genta, Mitsuhiko, and Ayumi planned it all, but Ran and Haibara were the ones to put those plans into action. All that was left was the entertainment.
They’d been considering a magician, reasoning that Conan would enjoy puzzling out the tricks. It was the Tanteidan’s secret hope that their brave leader would then reveal the secret and the three of them would be able to learn how to do magic…but all of the magicians that Ran knew were either dead, in jail, or on tour at the moment.
Ran turned to Sonoko, hoping that her friend might be able to put her in touch with someone either through her parents’ connections or her own friends from that online magician club that she was still a part of for some reason.
“Actually…” Sonoko hummed thoughtfully. “There is someone on my Kid fansite that said he was a magician—Kuroba Kaito. I can ask him.”
Meanwhile, Kaito was broke, living out the “poor college student” cliché of subsisting on ramen and whatever his wonderful/obnoxious roommate would treat him to, so when the offer came from Sonoko, Kaito didn’t ask many questions beyond date-time-location before accepting.
“A children’s birthday party?” Hakuba removed his reading glasses and turned to raise an eyebrow at the magician stretched out on their sofa.
“I need cash. They paid in advance,” Kaito sighed, letting his manga drop. It hit him in the face.
“They’re ten, right?” Hakuba turned back to the casefiles on his desk. “You’ll have fun spending time with people of your own maturity level.”
A pillow fight followed close on the heels of that comment…maybe only proving the detective’s point.
Soon the fateful day arrived, and Kaito found himself standing in front of an eerily familiar house in Beika, cursing his rotten luck…and literally cursing.
He consoled himself with the thought that maybe Tantei-kun wouldn’t recognize him out of uniform. All he could do was slap on his poker face and carry on. Because the money they’d paid him to do the show was already spent.
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Post by StarlightDragons on Jun 15, 2015 5:40:43 GMT
Conan sighed, rubbing his face with his hands. He'd like to tell his nervously smug classmates that yes, he knew that they were attempting to surprise him with something - for what, he hadn't quite figured out just yet - and that really, they rather sucked at keeping those kinds of secrets, especially from someone like him, but... He couldn't. They were just trying so hard, and it would be downright cruel of him to ruin their gleeful anticipation, particularly when they were to do something for him.
Though if Haibara's pointed look in his direction was any indication, she knew exactly how much he'd figured out, and she knew that he knew, too. And yet she would not spill the beans. Delightful.
Although he wasn't particularly aware of the date, he was highly aware of the day that the Detective Boys had picked out for their little surprise. Their movements jerky, chatter filled with quietly frantic hushes, and nervous laughter whenever he spoke to them was indication enough. Conan simply sent them all a raised brow as he trailed them to the professor's place, content in the feeling that at least it wouldn't be anything physically harmful... Right?
The Detective Boys' conversation seemed just a bit more forced as they arrived at the entrance to the professor's house, which of course did nothing to soothe Conan's warring nerves and straight-up curiosity. When they entered the house, Ayumi dragged Genta and Mitsuhiko hurriedly through the halls, leaving Haibara and Conan in the dust.
Finally, he asked out loud, "Do I want to know?"
Haibara appeared extremely amused, which of course didn't help matters. Her expression settled back into neutrality quickly enough. "Do you?" she asked back, calm as could be. "You'll find out soon, anyhow."
For once, he hoped she was right. The suspense nearly drove him over the edge with frustration, but -
"SURPRISE!"
- and his thoughts screeched to an abrupt halt at the shout and the pops that ensued afterwards, one hand already moving towards his other wrist... Wait. Was that confetti?
Blink. Blink twice.
And frown. "A... surprise party." Haibara walked on, joining the group of eagerly awaiting people, utterly unfazed. "Wha - why?"
"Eh? You don't know?" Ayumi cried, and Conan suddenly felt very judged by all the stares settling onto his shoulders, even as the little girl plunged on, "It's your birthday! We got everything planned and set up for you, and..."
He didn't hear what she said next, however, as the information was still turning in his head. Birthday. May fourth. Today.
Oh. Well, then. He swung back into focus just as Ayumi was wrapping up her enthused ramblings, talking about the excitement and cake and magic - why magic?
The answer came to him in the form of a poof of stage smoke and a golden paper crown settled securely on his head. Conan spun around, finding himself nearly choking in shock as he saw, for a brief instant, the face of Kudou Shinichi.
"...and a magician!" Ayumi was gushing, obviously delighted beyond imagination.
The familiar stranger - not Kudou Shinichi, that illusion shattered in an instant - grinned.
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Kaggami
Beta Reader
I´m freezing in my own house... winter, no one invited you yet!
Posts: 527
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Post by Kaggami on Jun 17, 2015 23:31:03 GMT
At first, Conan wasn´t sure what to say, or even think for that matter. All thoughts of birthdays and why magic escaped his mind as he stared at someone who could easily pass as his, or rather Shinichi´s, twin brother, wondering if he had a long lost brother of whom his parents had never told him. After all, they were like… like…
“So, Conan-kun, what do you think?” Startled out of his thoughts by Ayumi´s excited voice, the poor detective tried to smile; rather unsuccessfully judging by Haibara´s amused expression, still shaken by the appearance of his apparent doppelganger. However, he wasn´t dense enough not to notice how everyone, especially his friends, seemed to be eagerly awaiting his opinion, and quickly tried to get over it.
“Wow, I wasn´t expecting all of this…” Conan answered truthfully. After all, he was expecting trouble, at least of some kind, having completely forgotten it was his birthday. “But thanks, everyone. It was nice of you.” Even if he still couldn´t understand why they hired a magician, didn´t they know he didn´t enjoy magic shows, since they were never exciting enough, aside from Kid´s, since he had to admit heists were fun.
“Good.” Ran smiled at her small charge, urging him to join his friends who were already reuniting in the middle of the room. “Now that everyone is here, I believe we can start the party.”
Kaito had been dreading the start of the party, cursing himself for not checking on his employees before accepting the job. He should have known it was Tantei´s party. He knew his birthday was today, and since Sonoko was the one to ask him, and her best friend was Mouri Ran… Damn, he should have known! However, since he needed money, the magician hadn´t thought twice, and now he was regretting his decision.
Forcing himself to calm down, as he slammed his poker face in place, he vowed not to make any mistake. Sure, Tantei-kun knew Kid was a magician, but as long as he behaved as different from Kid as possible, everything would turn out just fine. Right? Right.
He had heard when the detective came in, watching hidden as his face grew surprised. Obviously, he had forgotten his birthday. Again. Kaito had done his job and investigated Kudou Shinichi, and apparently, the detective had problems remembering some important date, such as his own freaking birthday. However, it was none of his business; the detective could forget all he wanted as long as he came to the heists on time, so he concentrated on doing his job. After all, he was a professional and all. It had been easy to time his appearance with the little girl’s ramblings, and as he stood there, grinning, while laughing internally at how the golden paper crown seemed to suit the detective, he did what he did best: magic.
“Good afternoon everyone!” With a snap of his fingers, yellow roses appeared in a puff of smoke in the hands of the girls, while chocolate laid on the head of the boys. “My name is Kuroba Kaito, and I will be your magician for the day.”
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Taliya
Beta Reader
I'm increasing my tittle count. You should too.
Posts: 249
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Post by Taliya on Jan 11, 2016 16:46:48 GMT
Conan had to rather grudgingly admit this Kuroba guy was good—exceptionally so. The past ten minutes had been filled with sleights of hand that were so smooth in execution that the detective had not been able to see the trick behind the act. Kuroba “read” his audience member’s minds using playing cards, made said playing cards “teleport” into sealed bags of potato chips, and made glitter, flowers, and confetti fall in dazzling showers on his audience with the help of several doves.
The kids were utterly thrilled by Kuroba’s performance. Ran and Agasa had laughed and cheered at the magician's antics, and even Haibara had a small grin of enjoyment on her face. Kuroba's joyful enthusiasm was infectious, and Conan, ever the critic, smiled in spite of himself. Kuroba really was something else…
… and that something else was niggling in the back of his mind, urging him to remember—
—even though he could not for the life of him figure out what he was supposed to remember. Still, Kuroba seemed... familiar somehow, and not because he had proven the doppelgänger theory true. Had he met the magician on a case? He would have assuredly remembered a face that so resembled his own had he been his original age, so Conan knew for a fact that he had never met Kuroba Kaito. Conan continued to study the magician as he performed a close up card trick at the kids’ request, the three of them carefully watching his bare hands as an entire deck of cards vanished. His sleeves had been rolled up to his elbows, so there was no way the pack of cards had disappeared there. Kuroba reached out and plucked a single card from Mitsuhiko’s front breast pocket on his button up shirt. He flipped the card to show that it was a single blank before, with a flick of his wrist, where the single card had been he now had the entire deck from before. Kuroba laughed as the trio demanded an explanation behind the sleight of hand, and Kuroba only winked and repeated a phrase his father had once told him: A good magician never revealed his secrets.
Conan continued to watch, brain buzzing in frustrated irritation. Why was Kuroba so familiar…?
Conan studied the magician’s face. The resemblance to his was uncannily creepy. Yet there were minute differences that a less observant soul would have noticed. Kuroba had a subtly different bone structure to his face, with higher cheekbones and a slightly longer nose; his jawline was more oval than his own more heart-shaped face, and his eyes were a deep indigo instead of brilliant cerulean. Conan’s eyes narrowed in thought as Kuroba laughed brightly at something Ayumi said before replying with a cheeky grin.
The realization tore through him like an electric current. That grin… He had seen that one particular smile on one particular person. There’s absolutely no way…
Conan stared with a mixture of amazement and shock as he took in the face of an undisguised Kaitou KID.
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