Title: Mirror Sound
Summary: /Sequel to Petty Theatrics/ As Kaitou Kid's next heist scheduled on White Day approaches, Conan doesn't know how to deal with the thief after their duet performance, and pushes it out of his mind. When the day arrives, Kaito is surprised to find him not on the newfound singer's mind, but math instead. Will that dissuade the phantom thief from repaying the detective? Two-shot, KidConan
A/N: Reference:
Conan singing
Kaito singing
As a critic of the theatrical escape artist, Edogawa Conan was not amused at Katiou Kid's sense of humor.
Really, scheduling the heist to be on White Day? Obviously Conan would have to have a huge part in it.
The detective sighed, putting down the heist notice before staring at it with a passion, as if by glaring at it would cause for it to spontaneously combust into flames.
Sadly, he was not born with such a power. Nor was he willing to try out an invention to gain said power, no matter how many times Agasa-hakase asked. The detective knew that his attempts were in vain and softened the glare.
Besides, there were many copies of the notice out in the public already. Even if he were to destroy the personalized Mouri copy, he was sure that they could easily get more. It wasn't worth getting scolded, or a smack on the head, for either.
He studied the paper some more, trying to figure out the riddle. Conan sighed, placing his hand over his forehead in agitation. What was he missing?
He understood what the number meant and the reference to the roses, which had a musical note next to it. The doodle was winking at him too! Hopefully the police wouldn't put to and to together and like give him bodyguards or something.
Or worse, questioning.
Regardless, there was still almost a full month until the appointed due date. He supposed that he could keep the phantom thief out of his thoughts until then.
…
As if.
He couldn't keep the phantom thief out of his thoughts. He was the only one he'd been able to think about lately.
Conan thought about the notice concerning the heist, its inner meaning twisted underneath the pretty words and letters. And the fact that he just couldn't understand what exactly Kid was trying to tell the public, or him especially, just made him want to tear the note up in frustration.
No, he would just have to block out all thoughts of his mind of the magician to the best of his ability.
Burying the memory deep into his mind for a later date, he was sure that he could do it.
And block it out of his mind he did. A month passed with nothing extra out of the ordinary happening.
Not including all the random murder cases that occurred at least three times a week, as Shinichi was unfazed by death. At least the flowers went to good use - Conan decided to anonymously donate them to the affected devastated family members. However, he refused to part with his blue roses, which were still in bloom.
The only change in routine was his increased popularity from 'Kudo Shinichi-nii-chan' and his duet performance at the annual Tantei Elementary Concert. People truly thought that he had potential to be something really great. Wasn't that much to deal with in Conan's opinion, and just blocked them out as well, as it was associated with a certain somebody who shouldn't be in his thoughts anyway.
Hype of the heist died down, except for the police, where they were still scrambling to solve the riddle. Even after all this time, it just didn't make sense to them. As for Nakamori-keibu, he and his team became reclusive and couldn't be brought in for questioning or comments.
Still, with the date of the heist soon approaching, it was soon brought back into the public eye. Reporters were ridiculing the fact that, even with a month's notice, police still didn't understand what Kid had meant. Which made them furious, but didn't deny the fact that it was true.
From the card, all that was known was the date, which was March 14th. The time, place, or jewel in question could not be identified.
And before anyone knew it, it was the day of the heist, March 14th. At least everyone knew what date the theft was. As for the other details… perhaps not.
However, all thoughts of the heist and the phantom thief were nowhere to be found as Edogawa Conan woke up that morning of the heist.
Today was a special day. Today was one of Shinichi's favorite days of the year.
Today… was Pi Day.
Conan absentminded hummed to himself in his now perfectly relative pitch, wondering how was to spend the day. He's become very musical lately, constantly singing softly, much to the amusement of all fans of his newfound singing voice. Mind trailing over to his thoughts, he sang softly,
"Egao ga niau anata no tame ni
[For you, with your beautiful smile]
Itsudemo kono boku ga iru
[Whenever you need me, I'm here]"
If he were Shinichi, he would do so many pie related things that he could. Ah, the beauty of pi.
Unfortunately for Conan, restrictions apply and he didn't have as much freedom to do as he wished. For example, eating only pizza and pie today.
"Tsuki to taiyou nara
[If I have to choose between the moon and the sun]
watashi wa tsuki
[I'll be the moon]
kimi ga ireba kagayakeru yo
[When I'm with you I am shining]"
Conan halted in his music and slapped his cheeks. What was he singing!
Guess no matter how hard he blocked out the thoughts of the thief, if he wasn't paying attention he would admit it subconsciously. Not that it mattered anymore, as the month was up, but Shinichi was really stubborn.
Shaking his head to clear his thoughts, he vaguely wondered if Ran remembered the unofficial holiday as he finished dressing himself. He grabbed his bag and made his way to the living room and into the kitchen. He took his place at the table, where Ran's homemade breakfast was waiting for him.
Alas, it did not contain pie of any sort.
Did have circles, but that didn't really count.
Ran took a seat next to him and, after saying thanks, the two began eating while her father snoozed the morning away, as he has been with the police overtime trying to crack Kid's riddle and would need all his strength for tonight. Conan couldn't keep the smile off of his face as he took a hold of his chopsticks, continuing to hum as he ate his fish, rice, and eggs.
"What's made you so happy so early, Conan-kun?" asked Ran, the detective's happiness making her curious. She was about to provide some choices before Conan just answered.
"Don't you know it, Ran-nee-chan?" he replied, "It's Pi Day!"
"Pi Day, Pi Day… sounds familiar," Ran tilted her head, trying to remember. She formed a fist and tapped it to her other hand as it came to her. "Ah! Pi Day! Shinichi's favorite!" She narrowed her eyes at the child who was still humming yet almost done with breakfast. "How do you know about Pi Day?" she asked.
"Heh, Shinichi-nii-chan told me!" he hastily answered as he placed down his chopsticks on his plate. He jumped off the chair and dashed to the door. "Bye, Ran-nee-chan!" he waved as he left for school, leaving Ran alone with her thoughts and to get ready for school.
Under the drizzling rain, Conan wandered off to school, where people would still be talking about his outrageous performance a month ago. Some people.
"furi shikiru ame no naka
[In the pouring rain]
furi kaeru maboroshi
[I look back on the illusion]
mō todoka nai kotoba o kake
[Knowing it doesn't reach to you]
tada hitori kiri
[I utter a cry alone]"
And while that was still annoying, it didn't faze him today as he made his way to Teitan Elementary, wondering if they would be doing any pie things today.
Conan froze. That voice…
Promptly, he turned his head, to find no one behind him. His eyes lingered on the pole before he shrugged and turned back, continuing on his way to school.
"Nage dashita kono karada o
[I throw myself in the rain]
ame dake ga uke te kureru
[The only place I'm forgiven]"
Hmm, perhaps he should have brought an umbrella. Or at least even check the weather beforehand. He shook his face to rid himself of any excess water. While it didn't have much effect, he continued to grin like an idiot as he reached the school gates.
"Penny for your thoughts, Conan-kun?" a voice asked. He turned to find Kobayashi-sensei, kneeling down with her umbrella to cover Conan and herself from the rain.
"Oh, it's nothing, Kobayashi-sensei!" Conan gushed, causing for the teacher to raise an eyebrow as they continued their walk to school.
Figuring that he had no choice, Conan replied to her unspoken question, "Well, you do know what day it is, right?"
"Today…?" She made an 'O' with her mouth before grinning. "The Kaitou Kid heist is tonight, right?"
Conan shrugged, blocking out her answer from his mind. "Well, yeah… But, no, not that!"
This caused for her to do a quick double take. "Uh, White Day?"
White Day… An image of a white clad magician holding a red box flashed in his mind before he shook his head. "True, but wrong again!"
She seemed to be running out of ideas. "… That sold out Vocaloid concert tonight?"
"Concert…?" Conan was wide-eyed before he shook his head. "No, today, Kobayashi-sensei, today!" When Shinichi was excited to this point, he acted like a child. As Conan, however, he finally acted his appropriate age.
The teacher shrugged. "I'm all out of ideas, Conan-kun. What's so special about today?"
"It's Pi Day, Kobayashi-sensei! Pi Day!" Conan exclaimed happily, causing for his companion to raise another eyebrow.
"Pie day...?" Kobayashi-sensei was confused as they walked inside the building and towards the classroom.
"No, pi! In mathematical terms, pi is infinity, a number that goes on forever. Still, it's used in problems and its equivalent is estimated to be 3.14," Conan explained, "So..."
She got it, albeit a little dazed. "March is the third month, and it's the fourteenth day," she said as Conan nodded in agreement.
"Pi Day!" he exclaimed as they got inside the classroom. Quickly, he made his way to his seat as he was quite late. However, since he was with Kobayashi-sensei, he supposed he was excused from his tardiness. He was correct as he wasn't reprehended and Kobayashi-sensei began to teach.
"Now, as Conan-kun informed me, today is a special day that only comes along once a year. Does anyone know what day it is today? Besides Conan-kun, that is." Conan slowly brought his hand down, sadness in his expression as other hands were raised into the air. It was a wasted effort as the children began to call out their answers instead of letting themselves be called on.
"Kaitou Kid's heist tonight!"
"Baka, she said it happens once a year! Kid-sama's heists do not always happen on certain days of the year! It's White Day!"
"… The Vocaloid concert?"
She and Conan smiled - those were the exact answers she had just given just a few moments ago. "Alright, Conan-kun, would you like to tell them?"
"Pi Day!" he answered happily, ignoring the amused chuckle that came from next to him from one shrunken scientist, Haibara Ai.
"Pie? PIE!" Genta jumped up from his seat, causing for the rest of the class to laugh.
"Not 'pie' in a sense of dessert," Kobayashi-sensei replied as the class quieted down to listen to the teacher. "Rather, it's something that you'll learn in more detail when you're older. Spelled as 'P-I'." She wrote it down on the board as well as drew the symbol. "And to be very general about it, it represents infinity in math, which is never ending numbers. We estimate pi to roughly equal 3.14."
"I get it," said Mitsuhiko, "March is 3, and the 14th is 14. 3.14. Pi Day."
Kobayashi-sensei nodded. "So today, let's all do pie related things! And after school the boys could repay the girls for last month!" She winked.
The rest of the class cheered as Conan laughed to himself.
Perhaps today would be pi oriented after all.
The rain had finally stopped as Conan began his walk back home, school being dismissed early from all the chaos concerning Kid's mysterious heist. He was surprised - he didn't expect Kobayashi-sensei to be so prepared for something she didn't know about until just before entering the classroom. He felt that the teacher's gaze was on Conan constantly throughout the day, but didn't let it bother him as he celebrated the wonders of math and its wonderful, special number. For some strange reason, he was getting stares from Ayumi too. He shrugged it off as well.
After the quick math lesson, the class was more or less arts and crafts concerning the pi symbol, as well as being able to make and bake both pizza and pie of the dessert variety. For some strange reason, Kobayashi-sensei was singing in English while baking. Conan's head shot up at her voice, stared and narrowed his eyes at her. Her voice was lowered, familiar in a sense, but before closer examination, she switched back to her high tone of Japanese.
Of course, considering the fact that Conan couldn't cook at all, he let his partner Haibara do all the work, which she didn't mind at all. After all, it was a blast of nostalgia for her to remember Pi Day. Conan hoped that she had fun today as well. Even if he refused to take her food anywhere near his mouth. It was the most fun he'd had in a long time that didn't involve death of any kind.
The last time being…
"PONPON dashite shimaeba ii no…
[Clap, clap, it's okay for it to come popping out]" he murmured as he was about to open the front door.
"zenzen shinai no tsumaranai desho
[If that never happens, it gets boring, doesn't it?]"
Conan froze and quickly opened the door to find the complementary singer.
He found himself disappointed at who he found instead. "Oh, Conan-kun! A package just came for you!" Ran didn't even give him a chance to take off his shoes as a large white box tied with a blue bow was pushed into his arms. "I've got to go and meet up with Sonoko at the mall. She wants to go shopping for an outfit for the heist tonight. I left some food on stove!" She dashed out the door without waiting for a reply.
"Eh?" Conan received the words and managed to call before his guardian left, "They know where the heist is being performed?"
Ran turned back and stuck her head back into the Agency with an odd look on her face. "And you haven't yet, Conan-kun?"
Conan shook his head, and missed the grin that flashed on Ran's face before to a rushed expression.
"Not yet, but I'm sure they'll figure it out before Kid makes his appearance. Be back soon!" And with that she was off.
Conan sighed as he placed down the package, took off his shoes and formally went inside the Mouri Agency. He could smell deliciousness and walked over to the kitchen to find a personal pan cheese pizza that was just calling him.
"Sweet!" He took a slice and stuffed it into his mouth hungrily, not really trusting Haibara's cooking earlier that day and didn't eat lunch. There was only a quarter left when he realized that there was only enough for one person instead of two.
Hmm, maybe Oji-san ate already?
Conan shrugged, placing the last of the pizza into his mouth as he went back and retrieved the package that came for him while he was at school, placing it on his lap as he took a seat on the couch. He flipped the blue bow, inspecting the parcel. The color scheme was quite suspicious…
There was a sweet aroma coming from the box, of sweet red strawberry. The white box was also quite warm, which in turn warmed up the lap that it lay in.
Finally, Conan let curiosity take a hold of him, and risking the life of the cat, unwrapped the package.
And inside the wrapped white box, was a pie.
Conan stared at the baked pastry, confused and wondering if he was willing to risk his life to eat this strange, mysterious pie.
He eyed the blue and white color scheme once more before he placed the box that contained baked good down on the ground and quickly left to retrieve a fork and a knife.
Throwing the reluctant caution out of the window, Conan stabbed his fork, scooped up a piece and placed it in his mouth. He savored the sweet and slightly tart flavor of the red fruit, its filling of fruit and strawberry jam that went along added to the sweet flavor. The pastry crust was flaky and soft, a perfect vehicle for the dessert.
Conan smiled happily, savoring the taste. He had made the right choice. Inattentively, his fingers played with the blue bow as he found himself eating the pie happily. He was in bliss when his fork caught onto something at the bottom of the tray. He raised his eyebrow along with his fork that captured a transparent bag.
Inside the bag was a white envelope addressed to one Edogawa Conan.
Deciding to risk the life of the cat once again - with lament because even if cats had extra lives to spare, it was still a life - he opened the bag and pulled out the envelope. He turned, checking to see if anyone was around. He heard Mouri Kogoro's snoring, as it was still early afternoon, and carefully unfolded the envelope.
Inside, he found one sold out Vocaloid concert ticket with his name printed on it.
Conan was speechless as everything fell into place.
He twitched.
"Oh, that cheeky bastard," he muttered, glaring at the priceless ticket that had been sold out ever since it was available to the public, wishing that it would combust into flames like the heist notice from the last month.
"Conan-kun, what have I said about cursing?" Ran sighed as she came in the door, hands occupied with shopping bags.
"Ah, I'll help!" Conan placed the evil ticket in his pocket, the now empty of pie parcel on the table, and dashed to meet Ran by the front door. He grabbed a bag and, mentally cursing his lack of strength because of his size, heaved the purchases deeper inside the residence.
Strange… these were grocery bags…
"Hey, Ran-nee-chan," he asked as she followed him with more bags, "Did you see who delivered my package?"
"Eh? Package?" She was confused. "What do you mean, Conan-kun?" She saw the dishes in the sink. "Conan-kun! Were you cooking?"
"Eh?" Now Conan was confused. "You mean you didn't cook anything before you left?"
"What are you talking about, Conan-kun? I've haven't had the chance to come home since I decided to immediately go food shopping after school to catch the early sales." She placed the last of the groceries on the table and started unpacking the bags.
Conan stared at Ran, the groceries, the dishes in the sink, the parcel on the table, and felt the ticket in his pocket.
"Oh. My. God. What the actual fuck!"
Ran gasped. "Conan-kun!" She grabbed him by the ear. "I didn't know that you had such a colorful vocabulary!"
"Gak!" It was reminiscent of what happened a month prior at school. "Ow, ow, ow, ow! Let go, Ran-nee-chan!" She didn't at first, but dropped him when she saw the empty white box on the table.
"Conan-kun, what is that?"
He rubbed his ear, muttering incoherently before following Ran's gaze and Conan's eyes fell on the table. "Oh, that." His tone dropped. "A rude reminder of that is to occur tonight."
And on that note, "I'm going to sleep now, Ran-nee-chan!" he chirped.
"Eh?" She turned as Conan made his way back to his room to get ready for bed. "What about dinner? What about the heist?"
"Ate already, Ran-nee-chan!" He answered before muttering, "Thanks to a certain impersonator..."
"What was that?"
"A-ah! Happy Pi Day, Ran-nee-chan!" he said before closing his door to get ready for tonight.
"Kuroba Kaito! Where have you been all day?"
The teen in question moved away from Aoko to rub his ear as if it would soothe it. "Ack! Why so loud, Aoko?" He narrowed his eyes at his friend for the damage that was done to his hearing. Gods knew how much damage it already had to suffer by the voice of Edogawa Conan.
His pain didn't faze Aoko as she continued her rant, "You don't show up for school, don't answer any phone calls, didn't even bother leaving an explanation as to where you went," she replied, moving aside to let Kaito into his house. "What's gotten into you?"
Instead of answering either of her questions, Kaito grabbed his childhood friend's hands and placed a light blue cloth over them. "Aoko! Guess what?"
She raised an eyebrow, not amused at the avoidance of subject. However, she knew that she would have to play along if she wanted anything from him at all.
She didn't know what was going on with Kaito lately. He's been acting strange for about a month, ever since Valentine's Day. He's more spacey than usual, not as relentless with pranks at school, doesn't even tease her with her panties and started even humoring Hakuba-san about him being Kaitou Kid! He was constantly gazing into the distance and sighing. Aoko noticed that Kaito was constantly humming too.
If Aoko didn't know any better, she would say that Kaito was acting like a love struck teenager!
… But about who?
She sighed, knowing that she was going to have to face the music eventually. It might as well be now. "What is it, Kaito?"
"You know what day it is today?" he answered in the form of a question.
"White Day?" she replied expectantly. Somebody owed her something…
Aoko felt a weight be placed upon her hands as Kaito magicked a cloud of smoke and pulled the cloth to reveal what he had brought into existence.
She was confused. In her hands lay a single slice of…
"Pie?"
He beamed at her. "Happy White Day! However, won't you know it, it's also Pi Day!" He winked. "You know, pi being equivalent to 3.14, and it's March 14th! Pi Day!"
Aoko stared before starting to laugh dryly. "Ah, ha ha…" She eyed the slice of pastry as Kaito magicked up for her a fork.
Proud of his accomplishments of the day, Kaito smirked smugly. He also knew that the day wasn't over until the fat lady - or should he say holograms, and if all went as planned, himself and Tantei-kun - sings - or sing, depending on the verb agreement.
"I made it myself!" he exclaimed and, without Aoko noticing, maneuvered around her so that she was now outside. How he loved his dexterity and reflexes. He spared a glance at the clock resulting with a wide expression before turning back to his friend, who didn't notice a thing.
"You? Baking?" She laughed before staring at the pie in mortal terror.
"Well?" He raised an eyebrow, as if daring her to question his baking skills. "Try it!"
Aoko was scared. What could he have done to this innocent pie?
In the end she knew she was being silly, that Kaito wouldn't do something so cruel.
But… something deep inside her hoped and wished that his pie was rigged and tampered with, that Kaito was back to his old self of tricks and pranks and silly antics. Something that proved to her that he hadn't truly changed.
Unless, and Aoko didn't want to admit it, the fact of the matter was that he had changed, and she, his best friend since childhood, didn't know the reason as to why he did.
She sighed, pushing those thoughts out of her mind. "I suppose I might as well." Hesitantly, she stopped her quivering and took a small forkful of pie before raising it to her lips, Kaito watching expectantly.
Hoping at the very least that it wasn't raw, she brought it to her mouth, and her eyes grew wide as the explosion of blueberry assaulted her tongue and its taste buds. The crust was perfect, not soggy but flaky instead.
Who knew that Kaito had a talent for baking?
"Well?" Kaito's voice interrupted her euphoria, lowering her from her pie high just a tad.
She murmured softly, "You would make a fine wife someday," before quickly moving to devour her slice of blueberry pie. Within a few moments it was gone, with a time that would have rivaled his magic skills and the speed at which Conan ate Kaito's strawberry pie earlier that afternoon.
Kaito decided that he was going to ignore that wife comment and was happy that all was well, as expected, but he was starting to run late. The concert was to start in less than a few hours, and he wasn't even properly dressed yet!
"Well, Aoko," he said aloud as she basked in the pie afterglow, "I have to get going. Plans and the like. Happy White Day." Blushing, he quickly handed her a yellow rose and closed the door quickly behind him, hoping that by the time he had to leave that she would be home.
As planned, he was alone in the house. He'd asked and managed to have Jii take a long deserved vacation, not taking no for an answer as he readied himself for tonight's heist for a month.
And he knew that it would all be worth it just for tonight.
He switched on the telly and flipped channels to the news, where the headliner was that with while they managed to interpret the time to be sometime that evening, the Task Force has yet to discover neither the target gem nor the place by which it contained.
The teen sighed. Well, obviously it would happen in the evening if it hadn't happened yet. Kaito chuckled to himself as he donned on his attire, thinking back to earlier in the day decided to check and make sure that his precious Tantei-kun was able to interpret his riddle. Good thing that he did too. It also made the delivery of the tickets so much more fun and enjoyable.
Kaito recalled calling Conan-kun's sensei as her boss and notifying her that school had been canceled for the day due to the scramble of the police, deeming for it to be hazardous for so many children to be able to roam around during such a hectic time.
After all, it would be disastrous if the person he was masquerading as would turn up in the same area as him. Cover's blown and the jig is up.
After getting off the phone with her, he continued his way to Tantei Elementary and waited for Edogawa Conan to come to school.
Lately, everything had become so musical for Kaito lately. He found himself constantly humming, constantly mouthing lyrics, sometimes even singing aloud. He was starting to get looks from his classmates. Who knew that the choir club could be so annoying and relentless?
"Sakura saku maiochiru nani mo nai boku no te no ue
[The cherry blossoms dance, falling into my empty hand]
Hakanakute yasashikute kowaresou kimi mitai na hana
[Ephemeral, gentle, and fragile, this flower that seems like you.]"
Kaito felt a drop of water fall on his wig, and he looked up to see rainy cloudy skies. The rain was gentle and sweet, but Kaito didn't want the water to mess up his hair, wig or whatever. He pulled out his umbrella and continued his song, keeping an eye out for a certain detective.
"Itsumo no kaisatsu wo surinuketeiku ano ko wa sou
[That child who slips through the gates as usual]
Kagayaku me wo shite mainichi nanika tsukami totte yukun da
[His eyes sparkling as he grabs hold of something.]"
The teen sighed. Where was he? At this rate, they were both going to be late for school.
"Boku wa to ieba nani mo nai mainichi kurikaeshite
[And as for me, my empty days go on]
Hieta kokoro mottesa hana hiraku shunkan sagashite me wo tojiru
[And with a frozen heart, I close my eyes looking for the moment when the flowers would bloom.]"
Finally, Edogawa Conan turned to a sidewalk corner. Kaito was slightly excited from the look on the detective's face as he finally arrived. He murmured the rest of his song as he slowly approached Conan from a safe distance to not be detected.
"Sakura saku maiochiru nani mo nai boku no te no ue
[The cherry blossoms, it flutters down, on my hand where there is nothing]
Hakanakute yasashikute kowaresou kimi mitai na hana
[Fleeting and gentle, I'm afraid it might break, the flower that is just like you.]"
Kaito's heart stopped with Conan turned, but he quickly hid behind a pole. After a few moments, the child continued his way to school and continued his own song. The disguised thief heard Conan's melody as he subtly moved closer to him, to make sure that he wouldn't be noticed until he wanted to be.
Depressing lyrics, but it went with the weather, Kaito mused.
Ah, the voice was just as beautiful as when he last heard it. A month is a long period of time, but for a heist of this magnitude it needed his full attention for it to be perfect. And thus he was unable to bother the detective for a month, and as the days sluggishly went by Kaito's thoughts trailed over to Tantei-kun constantly before smacking himself for such impure thoughts.
He mentally smacked himself, as he was just about to approach his target and couldn't do it physically like he usually would have done. What was he doing?
It better be his hormones.
"Penny for your thoughts, Conan-kun?" He asked in his adjusted voice, brining himself to the present and out of his flashbacks - which this was right now, as he was currently getting ready for the heist in less than a few hours, but that's beside the point. So current flashback, as he remembered kneeling down to Conan to shield both him and himself from the rain while his hands adjusted some electronics in real time.
"Oh, it's nothing, Kobayashi-sensei!" Conan gushed, to which Kaito raised an eyebrow to, just in character. So all was well, he understood the riddle.
Great, now he was stuck babysitting brats all day.
But then he would look at his companion and decided that he would be worth it.
Conan was bright, and knew how to counteract the silence he made between them. "Well, you do know what day it is, right?" he asked in response to Kaito's acting, who continued acting in return.
"Today…?" He made an 'O' with his lips before grinning madly. "The Kaitou Kid heist is tonight, right?"
He was confused when Conan shrugged in response. "Well, yeah… But, no, not that!"
Wait, what? "Uh, White Day?"
The child seemed to be having a dilemma before shaking his head. "True, but wrong again!"
So he didn't solve it then… there went his excitement. Still, there was pride in the fact that he was finally able to create a riddle that even Tantei-kun couldn't decipher. Either that or Conan was incredibly dense when it came to this type of thing.
Which would make sense considering his age, but Kaito knew that the chibi was more mature than he looked; he certainly proved it as a detective during his heists.
He decided to give out some one more, obvious, hint. "… That sold out Vocaloid concert tonight?"
It seemed to have worked, but to a weak effect. "Concert…?" Conan went wide-eyed before he shook his head. "No, today, Kobayashi-sensei, today!"
Kaito just shrugged - if it wasn't his heist or at the very least White Day, he had no idea. "I'm all out of ideas, Conan-kun," he admitted, "What's so special about today?"
"It's Pi Day, Kobayashi-sensei! Pi Day!" Conan exclaimed happily. What the fuck was pie day?
"Pie day...?"
"No, pi! In mathematical terms, pi is infinity, a number that goes on forever. Still, it's used in problems and its equivalent is estimated to be 3.14," Conan explained, "So..."
… Oh. Okay, so that's how it was, was it? Gah, Kaito didn't know whether he wanted to strangle the kid or hug him from his adorkableness. "March is the third month, and it's the fourteenth day…" he trailed off as Conan nodded and led them to a classroom, which was presumably currently Kaito's charge.
"Pi Day!" Conan exclaimed before abandoning Kaito to take his seat, leaving the teacher imposter to take the floor. Slowly, he moved to the front of the class, who were starting to quiet down.
Oh crap, lesson plan? Perhaps he didn't think this through…
"It's Pi Day, Kobayashi-sensei! Pi Day!"
That'll do as a perfect lesson. Thanks, Tantei-kun!
"Now, as Conan-kun informed me, today is a special day that only comes along once a year. Does anyone know what day it is today? Besides Conan-kun, that is." Kaito smiled at Conan's disappointed look as he lowered his hand. The child's dismay at being unable to answer made Kaito feel slightly better over the fact that the diminutive detective didn't solve his riddle as he believed. Childish, he knew. Didn't bother him one bit.
Children whom Kaito didn't know the names of called out answers.
"Kaitou Kid's heist tonight!"
"Baka, she said it happens once a year! Kid-sama's heists do not always happen on certain days of the year! It's White Day!"
Kaito hid a grin. Praise is praise, no matter whom it came from.
"… The Vocaloid concert?"
He smiled at the answers, and noticed that Conan did the same. He supposed he could have mercy. "Alright, Conan-kun, would you like to tell them?"
"Pi Day!" the child answered happily, and his answer was accompanied by a giggle from his desk mate.
A student rose from his desk. "Pie? PIE!" The rest of the class laughed, including Kaito.
Time to put his awesome teaching skills to good use. "Not 'pie' in a sense of dessert," Kaito began his lecture and was amazed at how quickly the class quieted down. Children used to be this obedient and respectful when they were younger? Where did teenagers go wrong?
He saw a piece of chalk and decided that he needed some visuals. "Rather, it's something that you'll learn in more detail when you're older. Spelled as 'P-I'." Using his artistic skills, he drew the pi symbol. "And to be very general about it, it represents infinity in math, which is never ending numbers. We estimate pi to roughly equal 3.14."
Another student spoke, "I get it. March is 3, and the 14th is 14. 3.14. Pi Day."
Kaito decided to nod instead of winking. "So today, let's all do pie related things! And after school the boys could repay the girls for last month!" He eyed Conan especially as he said that, and noticed that the detective's mind had left the building and was daydreaming. Supposedly about his beloved pi.
… He shrugged. Whatever, Tantei-kun. Hopefully he could get school cancelled early so he could get final preparations ready.
As his students did their various pie activities, he managed to bake three pies: one apple, one blueberry, and one strawberry. The lyrics fell from his mouth as he left his Japanese tongue and switched to English.
"All you have to do is take a bit of flour
Add it to the mix!
Then you take a little something sweet, not sour,
A pinch of salt, just a pinch!"
He ignored his students as he readied his mitten.
"Baking these treats is such a cinch
Add a teaspoon of vanilla
Add a little more,
and you count to four,
and you never get your filla~!"
Kaito caught Conan's furried brow and hurried approach to hear his teacher more clearly. He quickly shut his mouth from any more singing. It was starting to become a problem. He frowned as he took the pastries out of the oven and switched back to Japanese. "Whoops, that song's for cupcakes."
He also managed to convince the principal as Nakamori-keibu for both Teitan schools to be cancelled early for the heist. Who knew that his heist had so many benefits for so many people?
As the students got ready to leave, swiftly he moved to deliver the pies with their respective roses.
Apple would go to Kobayashi Sumiko, with a pink rose. T'was the least he could do.
For the blueberry, he divided the pie into slices for a total of four; all slices accompanied with a yellow rose. One was for Yoshida Ayumi, as he noticed all the forlorn looks she was giving Conan-kun throughout the morning. The second to Haibara Ai - might as well, Kaito figured, as she was part of the Shounen Tantei group and seemed to have a close relationship with Conan. Another went to Mouri Ran, for obvious reasons. Tantei-kun owed him one. Or was it three?
And, of course, the last blueberry slice was for one Nakamori Aoko.
As for the strawberry…
"Mouri-san, you wouldn't happen to be heading home now, would you?"
Mouri Ran shook her head. "Not right now, Kobayashi-sensei. I have some grocery shopping to do."
Excellent. "Well, don't let me keep you. Ah, and don't forget to not mention the pie to Conan-kun, would you? He was awfully shy about it."
"Of course!" Ran answered happily as she cradled the delicate box, "I can't wait to try his pie! It was so nice of him to make me something for White Day, wasn't necessary at all."
"Well," Kaito replied, "it only comes once a year, and it's special. He wanted to thank you." His thoughts trailed over to the chocolate he himself received a month ago.
Ran blushed. "Really, the chocolate I gave him wasn't that great," she muttered, to which Kaito laughed.
"Have fun shopping, Mouri-san." And with a wave, they departed ways.
Quickly taking to the rooftops, Kaito transformed from Kobayashi Sumiko to Mouri Ran as he quickly sneaked inside the Mouri Agency with his last parcel. He didn't see Conan on his way here, which took him about five minutes because he was in a rush. At Conan's pace, it would take him about thirty-two minutes walking home.
What to do with twenty-seven minutes.
Kaito's stomach rumbled, so he decided to raid the fridge for anything to eat.
His stomach would have to wait for sustenance as an idea came to him. He knew what he was going to do with his extra twenty-seven minutes.
Kaito cursed his long wig and girls with their long hair that went down to their waist as he quickly searched and found the ingredients he needed to get to work and wasted no time in doing so. Skirts were fun though.
After his time was almost up, Kaito threw all the dirty dishes in the sink and quickly washed them. He knew that he was forgetting something when his eye trailed over to the pie that he had placed in the oven to keep it warm. Hastily, he pulled it out and placed it back in its white packaging and barely had any time to place the blue bow at an angle to look like a flower before he heard the doorknob wiggle a bit.
He heard Conan's soft voice as he approached the door.
"PONPON dashite shimaeba ii no…
[Clap, clap, it's okay for it to come popping out]"
Kaito smiled.
"zenzen shinai no tsumaranai desho
[If that never happens, it gets boring, doesn't it?]"
He moved to the door and pulled it open before the detective could open it himself. "Oh, Conan-kun! A package just came for you!" He quickly moved to give him the warm box. Without giving the chibi detective a chance to respond, he put on his heels to leave and made sure he had his purse with Aoko's slice of pie before heading out the door.
"I've got to go and meet up with Sonoko at the mall. She wants to go shopping for an outfit for the heist tonight. I left some food on stove!" The imposter decided to leave a different story so that Conan would know without a doubt that he was here and bolted out of the Agency.
He heard Conan let out an "Eh?" before calling, "They know where the heist is being performed?"
Kaito stuck in his head and decided to use this opportunity to make everything clear. "And you haven't yet, Conan-kun?"
As Conan shook his head, Kaito grinned at all the fun he had planned for tonight.
"Not yet, but I'm sure they'll figure it out before Kid makes his appearance. Be back soon!"
And with that, he was off to get ready for his heist for tonight.
Kaito smiled as he ended his flashback, mentally checking in his mind that all was in place and is order. He steadied his hat covering his face and wiped his forehead. He looked to the clock and to the window to see a swirl of orange red skies.
And as the sun started to set, Pi Day for Tantei-kun was over and would, finally, be moving directly into White Day.
A/N: Songs Used:
Kimi ga Ireba - performed by Iori (used in Detective Conan)
Boku ga Iru - performed by Takayama Minami (used in Detective Conan)
Rain - performed by Kagamine Len
PONPONPON - performed by Kyary Pamyu Pamyu, covered by Kagamine Len and Kanzentaicell
Sakura Addiction - performed by Kondou Takashi and Iida Toshinobu (used in Katekyo Hitman Reborn!)
Cupcake Song - performed by Shannon Chan-Kent (used in My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic)