Chapter Text
Saguru stood at the edge of the ballroom, carefully sipping his glass of champagne just enough to seem occupied; as he did this he scanned the room, noting the extravagant decorations that glimmered under the soft glow of chandeliers, the live string quartet played softly in the corner their melodies weaving through the conversations that buzzed like bees around him. But he didn’t really care about any of that.
He was more focused on the people.
One by one he glanced at them, appraising them; and sorted them in his head based on the likeliness that they were secretly Kaitou Kid in disguise.
There wasn't any particular reason to believe that any of them might be.
This wasn’t the imminent scene of a high-stakes heist at a museum filled with valuable jewels, nor was he here in his capacity as a renowned detective, hunting for clues in the shadows of a crime scene.
No.
This was a charity gala- a gilded masquerade of wealth and pretense, where smiles masked intentions, and everyone was dressed to impress. Everyone here was here to show off their wealth and influence as they gossiped about those who were fortunate enough to not be present.
Saguru was here because his family was quite wealthy and it would make his parents look bad if their unmarried young adult son didn't at least attend and at least make a showing of talking and dancing with a few members of the opposite sex.
So there he stood, sipping his champagne and assessing everyone in visual range and ranking them by the odds that they were secretly Kid- not because he needed to find and unmask Kid, but rather because this was how he had chosen to decide his dance partners for the night.
The girl in the mauve dress to the left of the ballroom was much too short, even with the fullness of the dress ensuring that Kaito could bend his knees to adjust his height such a standing posture wouldn't be sustainable for the entire evening. The girl in green is out for the opposite reasons, she's too tall and her dress is too short, there's no room for a hidden mechanism to alter her height there.
On the right of the room was the young Suzuki heiress in a lively yellow dress, she was certainly a possibility, after all, Kid had actually disguised himself as her a few times before. However she would have to be a last resort, she had a boyfriend whom her parents had approved as a potential heir to their conglomerate and if the rumors about her were true she tended to flirt with anyone deemed handsome regardless of that fact. Approaching her risked a social faux pas; at best he would appear to be unsociable to be so ill-informed about her present status as a taken woman, at worst he may appear to be a homewrecker. Best not to risk it.
The girl in pink over by the refreshment table is wearing clip-on earrings, which could be taken as a sign of her being Kid in disguise… if not for the fact that he was so easily able to tell they were clip-ons from this distance. Clip-ons were presently out of fashion, Kid wouldn't allow there to be any part of his appearance that left room for such scrutiny-at least not unless he wanted to be noticed.
Saguru’s attention drifts to a girl in powder blue; her shoulders are around the same width as Kaito’s, her height is almost a perfect match too, but what strikes him most is that he doesn't recognize her.
He doesn't have a perfect eidetic memory like many of his contemporaries, even if the public have come to expect it of someone in the detective trade, but Saguru had been to more than enough of these types of events to at least recognize all the other people that tended to show their faces at a gala.
The fact that he didn't at least recognize her face could only mean a few things; perhaps she was from a new money family and this was her first time attending one of these, perhaps she had been abroad or ill for quite some time and hadn't been able to make the rounds on the social circuit lately, perhaps the young lady had simply changed her hair and make up style significantly enough that she'd be unrecognizable to someone who's only a passing acquaintance, or perhaps… Perhaps she was a thief that had slipped in eager to scope out the valuables of the wealthy people here.
The only natural course of action was to ask her for a dance.
A request which she obliged, and before long the two of them were locked in a waltz.
He finds himself assessing the way she moves. She’s a good dancer, and has definitely had plenty of practice- Which rules out the possibility of her being new money at least. That narrowed down the possibilities.
“What made you choose me?”
He considered for a moment telling her the unembellished truth and hoping she'd take it as the compliment that it was. But he quickly thought better of it, a young lady wouldn't find such a comparison flattering, better to spin it as a joke. Flash a smile, try to be charming, “Would you believe me if I said I thought that you might be Kaitou Kid?”
There was a silent moment as she stared at him before she chuckled, “what would you do if I was?”
“Well, I would probably ask why you're here instead of the museum down the road.” He had meant it as a light-hearted quip, but he could feel the weight of her gaze.
The museum had an exhibit that centered around a large garnet with the type of extravagant backstory that Kid often seemed to be drawn to. The exhibit was still being prepared and hadn't been announced to the public yet, Saguru only knew because he'd been invited to aid in preemptively discussing anti-Kid measures.
It would reflect poorly on him to expect this stranger to willing to talk about his work, he shouldn’t have brought it up.
“Maybe because the host has a large collection of antique jewelry that he refuses to let be displayed anywhere, and the security in the manor is thinner when one of these parties is going on…” she gave a bemused sort of chuckle, a playful smile dancing on her lips as for just a moment her voice leaned slightly deeper than it had been before, “but really, figuring out the why is your job isn't it, detective?”
Saguru blinked, his feet still moving in time to the music, but his mind had stuttered to a halt. She had just admitted to something he hadn’t expected. The thought began to circle, turning in his head as it mingled with apprehension.
She smiled back.
“No way…”
He received a shrug as an answer.
“There wasn't a calling card-”
“He seemed to think it was a joke, didn't even bother to show it to the police.” Amusement played in her voice.
“Why are you even telling me all this?”
“Consider it a reward for picking me out in this crowd, despite not expecting me to be here.”
He didn't really like the idea that Kid was feeling so comfortable as to be offering information freely to those he should see as the opposition.
“You're giving us treats now?”
“Just you.”
Saguru found that that actually made him feel better… just a little. To be told that he was in some way special to the thief. Even if he didn't have proof he meant it… even if he didn't actually have proof this was him. It could just be a girl who’s bored enough of high society to be entertaining his joking hypothetical.
“How sweet…” He let a trace of sarcasm slip into his tone.
“When you started coming over I thought you’d raise a fuss if you knew it was me…”
Okay never mind, Saguru was pretty sure this really was Kid.
He certainly could make a commotion, but that was probably exactly what Kid was hoping for in this situation; he’d use the uproar to run away and then Saguru will have nothing to show for it after making a big deal of Kid being there. And even if he did manage to beat the odds and catch him there’s a chance he’d still be lectured for bringing his work with him and not taking socializing at the party seriously enough.
Kid was toying with him, and Saguru was quickly finding that he'd like to play along.
“Raise a fuss? And risk my parents being upset that I did nothing but work at this dreadfully boring party? No, they'll be quite pleased that I’m being seen actually talking with someone my own age that seems to enjoy my company.”
The banter bouncing between them at this point was becoming every bit a part of the dance as their footwork.
“Are you saying I have a get out of jail free card for tonight?”
“To my knowledge, you haven’t done anything wrong tonight… yet. Except perhaps Identity theft. Who is this you're dressed as anyway?”
“Kiri Neta, she's from an old money family, real sickly though, hasn't made public appearances in over a year- her friends were really glad to see her feeling well enough to attend tonight…”
“You don't think it's a bit cruel to give them hope their sick friend is feeling better only to later learn she wasn't?”
“She'll get a few pictures where she looks her best and not like she's actively suffering out of the arrangement.”
“Pictures where it's not actually her- wait, ‘arrangement?’ Are you telling me that she's aware and agreed to let you use her appearance?”
“Are you asking as a detective, or as a bored gala attendee?”
“Both.”
“Then let’s just say, no. She knows nothing.”
“I see…”
So the answer is yes then. Saguru wasn’t sure if that was better or worse in this case- actually, no, he was sure, because if she did know and had agreed to this then Kid really hasn’t committed any crimes yet tonight. Sure, if he does end up slipping away from the ballroom to go steal jewels then it would be much worse because then this poor girl would be considered complicit in his crime- not that anyone would ever know. Saguru certainly had no intention to tell unless it became necessary.
“Where did you learn to dance? You’re quite good.”
“My mom taught me.”
“She taught you the woman’s part quite well. If I didn’t know better then I’d think that you’d been coming to these events all your life.”
“Save the empty flattery for the real women. You’re not trying to court me, young master.”
“I’m not trying to court anyone.”
“Then why are you at this flashy party dancing with a woman?”
“I already told you, I approached you because I thought there was a chance you were Kid.”
“Yes, yes, you thought there was a chance I was Kid, at the party you claimed to have no idea I’d even sent a heist notice to the host of. Or was that perhaps all a bluff, and you were hired by the host to try to prevent Kid from disrupting the party.”
“If you must know… my parents were invited, so I received an invitation as well. For these high society events it reflects poorly on you if you don’t properly socialize, I find it rather boorish, but my parents will lecture me if I don’t dance with at least two women around my own age-”
“Why two?”
“Because if I only dance with one it’ll make it look as though I’m interested in her, so if I don’t want to suddenly find myself with a fiance then I need to spread the attention…”
“Yikes- that doesn’t explain why you were looking for Kid though.”
“It was the criteria I was using to choose my dance partners… the likelihood that they were you.” Saguru was quite embarrassed to admit it.
It wasn’t a complete loss, he could see the tips of Kid’s ears turning pink- apparently not a part of the mask that he was wearing for his disguise nor heavily coated in cosmetics. There was the slightest pause before he shot back his reply, “It seems I was wrong earlier, maybe you are trying to court me.”
“Perhaps I simply-”
And then the song ended.
Kaito gave him a little polite curtsy after their shared dance so as to not make it look like Saguru had offended this young woman at some point during the dance- or worse that she was rude enough to not even do the minimum niceties expected of someone who was at this party to build connections with other wealthy people.
Then Kid was gone. He disappeared into the crowd.
Saguru stood, momentarily stunned, the thrill of the encounter fading into a sense of loss. He had wanted to continue their conversation, to probe deeper into the mind of the elusive Kid, but now he was left standing amidst a sea of vaguely familiar faces.
Should he chase after him? The question was answered the very second that it entered his mind.
He felt the magnetic pull of the chase urging him forward.