I wrote a body swap story nearly a decade ago and it was one of my most liked stories on this site... however I never finished that story and I've always kind of regretted that. But I didn't have a plan for where it was going back then and my writing style is a bit different so I've decided to just reboot it and make it something more akin to what my original idea had been back then before I simplified it due to lack of information on certain characters (when I wrote the original we still didn't even know for sure who Bourbon was)

Well I won't waste your time with more rambling... whether you enjoyed the original and came to see how I've decided to reboot it, or you've found this without knowledge of the legacy it's renewing; I hope that you enjoy. It was certainly fun writing this kind of nonsense again.


Prologue: Stealing a Maiden's Heart

Kaito

There were more detectives than usual.

Not only that, but much to Kaito's dismay as he observed from his current task-force guard disguise, they were cooperating quite well for once.

Rather than sticking in groups that would be easy to mingle into or covertly move away from by creating a simple distraction- they had all pinched each other and split up. On one hand it would make it easy for him to approach disguised as someone, but the problem was that they were watching all the prime places for him to switch out his disguise and most of them had been given one of the task force radios to keep up with the situation.

Hakuba was watching the entrance like a hawk- alongside his hawk in fact. It would be difficult to leave that way with him watching, and even more difficult to leave then re-enter with a different disguise.

Hattori was keeping an eye on one of the hallways that was a blindspot for security, and while Kaito already knew of a rather exploitable weakness for him, as effective as it had been last time Kaito had no intention of risking his lips again.

Sera was watching the bathroom nearest to the gem's exhibition location, apparently Conan had noticed Kid's tendency to make use of bathrooms to change disguises and had asked her to loiter there to keep track of people going in and out. It'd definitely be suspicious for one of the guards to use the bathroom and just not come out, and it would stand out too much to use the further one.

The vents? No way. A certain very busy secret agent that moonlights as a innocuous café employee had requested the vents be fitted with security cameras and was watching the live feed from the security room.

Conan was supposedly keeping watch on the roof and making it unwise to try taking that route before it was time to escape without first creating a suitable distraction, he wasn't exactly eager to be concussed by a soccer ball today. He wouldn't be able to go there until the end of the heist.

There was a room the guards were lounging in on a rotation with hopes that having breaks would help them be focused when the time comes, and it would soon be time for the guard Kaito was impersonating to take his break shift, but even that room wasn't a safe haven because the sleeping Kogoro was sitting back in a chair there. He smelled of beer and was definitely the weak point in the security, Kaito could easily knock him out with some sleeping gas and slip into a disguise but it's entirely possible that's a trap the more competent detectives laid intending to manipulate his path through the museum.

Kaito liked having a crowd but it couldn't be helped this time, there were just too many troublesome opponents gathered in one place… luckily that Nagano inspector and karate boy weren't part of the ensemble as well but this much already would be difficult to the point that he wouldn't be able to have as much fun as he'd like. He hadn't sent the calling card yet, so he'd just have to find a way to sneak out and come for this jewel another night when they were less on guard.

Tonight's gem seemed rather promising too. A large sapphire that according to legend had been gifted to a maid by the princess that she was serving in return for helping her sneak out to meet with her illicit lover, supposedly it was a pair with one that the princess herself would often wear and that's why the two jewels had been given the names Princess' Confidant and Maiden's Heart.

The stories seemed to be inconsistent as to whether they were orange sapphires or the usual blue but now that old man Jirokichi had managed to get his hands on one of them it seemed most were assuming that both were the same deep blue colour. Perhaps the orange color mentioned in some of the stories is a color because one of them is an orange sapphire and the other is a blue sapphire, or perhaps one of the gems shines a warm orangish color when held up in the moonlight… it was more of a lead than Kaito usually had to go on at least.

Since Jirokichi had only gotten ahold of one but was still seeking out the other Kaito considered just waiting until the pair could be stolen together.

"You there!" Nakamori shouted out, Kaito found himself flinching slightly at the suddenness, "It's time for the shift change, stick with the others in your squad. Don't give Kid a chance to replace one of you."

"Roger that, sir!" Kaito replied and headed to the door behind three or four members of the task force.

"What's this…? A card?"

Eh…?

Kaito turned around just in time to see Nakamori picking a paper card off the floor that looked an awful lot like his usual heist notices.

After making sure no one was looking at him he reached into his pocket to check, just to find out that one of the cards he'd prepared in advance must have slipped out of his pocket. He'd written up several with different times and dates intending to subtly toss one out when he'd decided when he'd actually do the heist.

Crap, too late now… which one is it?

"Let's see… it says 'Tonight, I shall steal the Maiden's Heart and-'" The inspector read aloud.

I guess tonight's going to be a long night.

Whether or not it was a trap he was going to have to take the risk of using the guard breakroom to switch disguises after knocking out everyone in there. He had a sleeping gas grenade on hand that would do the trick… probably.

Come to think of it, the brat always puts that drunken uncle to sleep anyway, does he just go down easy?

- .... .. ...

Kogoro

Kogoro, in fact, did not go down easy.

Day after day getting pricked with sleeping drugs with ever increasing potency had made him into something of a monster when it came to resistance to such things. No sooner had the smokescreen of sleeping gas cleared as Kogoro yawned and found himself catching sight of himself.

He rubbed his eyes to fight off the faint drowsiness the gas had induced in him. The dashingly handsome figure was still in front of him, but he knew that that wasn't because there were two of them.

Damn thief, borrowing my face…

Kaito, having been thoroughly surprised that the sleeping gas failed to do it's job, quickly left the room, narrowly escaping a judo throw from the only drowsy Kogoro.

"Kid's here! He's disguising as me-" Kogoro shouted into the walkie-talkie as he chased Kid down the hallway, "Ah, no he removed the disguise, he's in his trademark suit!"

He lost sight of him as he turned a corner and an expertly timed jacket flew at his face, but there was no mistaking the outfit Kid had been wearing as he made that getaway. There's no way he'd be able to move around freely with such a flashy suit on- nevermind that it'd never stopped him before.

Of course even Kogoro knew that if it was just a voice on the walkie-talkies there's no way anyone else would be able to tell it wasn't Kid that had said it, he wasn't a total fool after all. But assuming that Kid was listening in on their communication frequency he'd now know that they were looking for him in either the white suit or disguised as a certain gallant detective and that would make him need to change his look as soon as possible.

"Keep your positions everyone, he'll be looking for an opportunity to change disguises." Hakuba's orders came through the comms clearly, "If we don't break formation then we can limit what actions he can take, and we'll be able to tell right away if he's disguised as any of us."

"Yeah yeah, bossy brat." Kogoro muttered and he headed back to the room full of guards sleeping through their break.

He sat back down in his chair with a yawn and continued to have a fairly uneventful night for the most part.

Every now and then he'd hear the walkie-talkie roar to life as someone spotted Kid or noticed some mysterious note.

"There's a note here saying that Kid's already stolen it! Everyone head to-"

"No, keep your positions, eight out of ten times if he leaves a note saying he's already stolen it, it's a diversionary tactic to make the task force leave the room. It's not yet the time he stated so if we wait him out he'll have no choice but to-"

That guy acting like he's in charge, it should be me or Nakamori-keibu calling the shots…

Kogoro's thoughts were interrupted by a sudden loud shout of 'Kid!' from the room where the jewel was on display as the trap mechanism Jirokichi had installed this time around activated spectacularly.

There was a pounding of footsteps in the hallway, apparently some of the taskforce was giving chase, Kogoro would have joined them but he didn't exactly want to make himself look like a suspect.

.. ...

Shinichi

It was fairly cold on the roof, and as the time passed Conan found himself thinking that maybe he should have been waiting at the entrance to the roof instead of on the roof itself.

Is that guy even going to come up here? He's seemed a bit more wary of me lately…

Just as he was thinking that the door to the roof opened and Kid stepped out with a calmness that made it hard to believe that he'd just been being chased around by the task force moments prior.

"You've finally made it… I was beginning to think you'd taken a different escape route."

"And miss this view? Wouldn't dream of it…. But isn't it past your bedtime meitantei-san?"

Conan watched as Kaito walked over to the edge of the roof and as per his usual ritual began to hold the stolen gem up to the light of the moon.

How does holding it up like that help him figure out if it's the gem he's seeking or not? Does it matter that it's moonlight?

"Aren't you the 'Kid' here?"

"You've got me there… ha ha…"

And then the gem started to glow an orange red, immediately snatching the both boys' attention away from their bantering.

What kind of trick is this? What is he planning?

Conan started prepping one of his soccer balls. Brute force wasn't the most elegant solution, but when your opponent has an unknown card in their hand you have to be prepared for anything.

"Wait is this really-"

Really what? Conan wondered. What does he mean by that?

It quickly became apparent to Conan that Kid hadn't been expecting this to happen either. It could have been an act, acting was one of Kid's specialties but Conan had spent enough time with him that he felt pretty confident that he could tell when Kid was putting up a front and when he was being genuine- and this looked an awful lot like genuine surprise.

Conan kept watching curiously as Kid tried to salvage his poker face… only to have it waver once more when the glow from the gem moved to from the stone to Kid himself.

"Oi, Kid? Is it supposed to do that?"

"Yes…. maybe." Kid answered with some uncertainty as the glow on him started to fade.

"You don't sound sure-"

Just then a beam of light shot from Kid's chest and hit Conan, causing him to glow a moment as well before shooting off again into the floor.

"I don't feel any different… do you?" Kid asked after a moment.

"No… what was that?" Conan answered.

"I'm not sure, I don't think it's the one I'm looking for but… it's definitely not normal, whatever just happened- I need to look into it, I'll give it back if it turns out harmless…"

He wants me to just let him get away?

Conan considered it for a moment.

There were other people-more dangerous people- besides Kid that were after the gem Kid is after, if anyone had seen what just happened perhaps those people would think that this was the gem Kid is looking for and start coming after it. Plus if that light was going to have any effects it wasn't difficult to assume that both he and Kid were going to be effected. It'd probably be safer in Kid's hands for the time being rather than being kept on display in old man Jirokichi's museum. But could Kid be trusted?

It was a bit late to be asking that now, Conan had already placed his trust in the thief many times before.

"Fine, I'll let you get away this time…" Conan sighed, pulling out his walkie-talkie, "Kaitou Kid slipped past me, he's escaped from the roof with his hang glider, he's heading west, police on the ground please give chase."

Then with a quick shift on his voice changer to Nakamori's voice, "You heard the Conan-kun! After him!"

"Oh? Actually helping this time, Meitantei-kun? How daring."

"Don't get used to it… once you get information on what just happened with that jewel you can repay me by sharing it with me."

"Tch, stingy brat, fine it's a deal." Kid replied as he jumped up onto the railing of the roof putting a hand out to test the wind currents.

"That wasn't me on the radio just now! It must have been Kid! He's trying to get us away, he must still be in the building!" Nakamori shouted into the radio.

"Yeah!" Conan responded quickly in his I'm-totally-a-real-child voice, "That wasn't me either! He hasn't come to the roof at all."

Kid grinned a bit as he leapt off the roof.

.-

Heiji

"Man… I thought tha' one was a great plan… can't believe he got past ya Kudo, and with the gem too," Heiji chuckled a bit as they were walking to Kogoro's place for the night.

"Shut up… he didn't get past me, I let him get away…" Conan muttered a bit under his breath, definitely not wanting to part with this information but it was important to share information that could be important with Heiji.

"Ya What?!" Heiji exclaimed, causing Kogoro, Ran, Masumi,and Kazuha to all turn to look at them. He quickly backpedaled, "I-I mean, what do ya mean you don't want ta eat okonomiyaki after a night like that, Conan-kun."

"I'd rather eat curry tonight, Heiji-niichan, ha ha," Conan chimed in without missing a beat.

"Ah… It'll be a late dinner but I guess I'll make curry, I should have the ingredients in the fridge already…" Ran said absentmindedly as she and the others turned back around.

After waiting a moment to let the others get back to chatting amongst themselves the two boys resumed their discussion.

"Why would ya let him go? Tha's not like ya at all."

"It was the best option… something strange happened with the gem, there was a light… Kid seemed worried that it'd be dangerous to give the gem back. I assume it has something to do with the people that have shot at him before. If it's not a normal gem… if it could be mistaken for the one Kaitou Kid has been looking for then I think it might be safer in his hands for now…"

"A light?"

Conan nodded, "Ah, yeah, the gem started glowing then the light passed though Kid then me and headed straight down…"

"Hmm…. I think it got me too, I saw this weird light come through a wall and it made me all glowy fer a bit… then it went down the hall…"

Heiji turned the thoughts in his head for a moment.

If it went from Kid to Conan and then through the floor but then passed through the wall to reach Heiji then there had to be at least one other person it had passed through, possibly another too since it's not like it had stopped with Heiji.

Heiji glanced at Conan, Conan glanced back, silently confirming that they were on the same page with this.

"So what was tha' light then, do ya know?"

Conan shook his head, "No… Kid didn't seem sure either, but I made him promise to tell me if he figured something out."

Kudo and tha' thief seem awfully buddy-buddy… what's up with that?

"He promised you? Do ya really trust him?"

"I wouldn't call it trust… I guess it's more like after all this time we have a bit of an understanding. He's helped me a few times, I still try to catch him, but sometimes I let him do his bit before I give away his disguise…"

"Eh? Hard ta tell if you're friends or rivals at tha' point, ain't it?"

"I think the word these days is 'frenemies'."

... . -.-. .-. . -