Chapter 3

"You're supposed to be evil, you know that?"

The napping baby on Kaito's chest paid little attention to him. Kaito continued. "If Pandora actually did something other than glow, it was supposed to be something awful so I wouldn't feel bad about destroying it. I can't destroy you! You're cute. And squishy." He poked the baby's cheek to prove his point.

He sighed and stretched out more on the couch in Meitantei's library. What was taking Shinichi so long? Surely the stuff after one of his heists didn't take so long, right? Kaito had been led to believe that most of it was done the morning after and only by Nakamori-Keibu. What if someone had heard them talking and thought Shinichi was his accomplice? He pressed his mouth into a grim line. If that had happened, then the Task Force would have more to worry about than hair dye and booby-traps.

The sound of the front door opening reached his ears and so did a hesitant "KID?"

Kaito spoke loudly, though not enough to wake the baby. "In the library, Tantei-kun."

Soon, Shinichi appeared in the library doorway…carrying several plastic bags. Shinichi noticed his curious look. "I stopped at one of those all night superstores for supplies. He can't exactly stay wrapped up in my jacket forever, can he?"

"That was a good idea. Did you get any baby formula?"

"Yes," he said, dropping the bags on the floor to rummage around in them. "And diapers, and some onesies, and even a little bit of baby food. I think he's about 6 months old and when I told the lady on duty, she told me that this is the usual time to start children on solid foods."

Kaito raised an eyebrow. "My goodness, Meitantei. Did you learn something new today? I thought you knew everything."

Shinichi blushed and glared. He threw something in Kaito's face. "Just for that, you get diaper duty. There's baby powder in one of the bags." He stormed out of the room, a bottle of formula in one hand.

Kaito chuckled. "Okay, little guy. Let's try to get through this without peeing on me, huh?"

It took some time and effort, but Kaito managed to get the diaper on the baby without being peed on and without getting them both covered with baby powder. Unfortunately, the baby woke up in a rather unpleasant mood. Kaito picked him up despite his wailing and rocked him back and forth, cooing all the while. "It's okay, little Pan-chan. I'm sorry I woke you, please stop crying now…" With a flick of the wrist, a pink little bunny appeared in Kaito's hand. The baby stared in shock. "Look! It's an Usa-chan! Would you like to play with the Usa-chan, Pan-chan?" Pan-chan gurgled happily and reached for the bunny, which Kaito let him leave.

"We're not naming him Pan-chan," Shinichi said from the hall. "Not only will he be bullied for the rest of his life, but don't you think that it would be a good giveaway to anyone still looking for Pandora?"

"Yes, because people are definitely going to look at a baby and say "That child must be a magical jewel."" Kaito snarked back. "It's not like you're any better at naming things, Conan."

"If you're so good at it, go find a baby name book. There's one around here somewhere. I'll feed the baby."

Kaito handed over the responsibility in order to look for the before-mentioned book. After finding more detective novels then he'd ever wanted to see, he finally found what he was looking for. The only problem was that neither Shinichi nor Kaito could agree on a name ("We can't name him Sherlock! The other thieves would mock him!" "He is not going to be a thief! Plus, you wanted to name him Lupin!" "Lupin is a strong, masculine name!" "Really? I thought he was an ass." "Shin-chan! Watch your language around him!"). Finally, Kaito made a suggestion. "What about Rei?"

"I…actually, that one's not too bad."

"With the kanji for lucky one."

Shinichi sighed and looked up from the baby, who was trying to pull Shinichi's hair. Kaito thought it looked adorable. "If he is actually a combination of our genetics and doesn't just look like us, we might as well. With my luck and your inability to refrain from taunting the police, he'll need all the help he can get."

Kaito laughed and stole little Rei-chan from Shinichi's arms. "Did you hear that, Rei-chan!? Mommy thinks you grow up to be just like Daddy!"

"I am not the mother in this situation!"

Rei-chan cooed happily and reached up to try to grab Kaito's monocle. "Mommy's very grumpy, right Rei-chan?" Kaito took off his eyepiece and gave it to the baby who immediately put it in his mouth. "See, Shin-chan? He already wants to be the next Kaitou KID—what are you doing?"

Shinichi was deliberately looking away from him. "Nothing. What are we going to do with Rei though? He doesn't have a birth certificate and without that, he can't go to a hospital or school. And we have no idea how a gem turned into a baby!"

Putting his now slobbered-on monocle back in place, Kaito handed Rei to Shinichi. "I can deal with the birth certificate thing. You could pass him off as a child you adopted or even as the child of a one night stand you had while you were missing."

"Ran would kill me. And several people know who I was during that time. So the actual son thing isn't an option."

"Okay," Kaito agreed. "So we pass him off as adopted. Tomorrow I'll talk to an…acquaintance of mine who knows a lot about magic." He grimaced; who knows what Akako will make him do for information.

"Your witch, I assume. Are they…trustworthy?"

"On occasion. Sometimes she helps me; sometimes she tries to kill me. But she won't do anything in public, so I'll be safe." Kaito pressed a kiss to Rei's head, then stared into Shinichi's pretty, blue eyes. "Be careful."

"I will."

"I'm serious, Meitantei. Don't go out. The police can live without you for one day. Just…wait for me to come back."

Shinichi scowled. "I can take care of myself."

"I know. But you disappeared once by being reckless. Please don't do that to me." And with a flash of light, Kaito disappeared.

"…Showoff. Don't grow up to be like him, Rei-chan."