If you can fill the unforgiving minute
"It's not that you're helpless," Ran said anxiously, as she meticulously wrapped the books in brown paper before stacking them carefully in the boxes lined with bubble wrap. Spine down, Shinichi had insisted, and made the screen flash multiple colours for emphasis. "It's just that we'd feel better if there's someone else here too since both of you have different needs." Her voice faltered slightly over the last few words, and Shinichi tried to stifle a flash of resentment. It was true after all, and she was only thinking about their well-being. It would be much more comforting to not be alone in case the phone rang, which had been a point of difficulty for him the past week. There were occasions when he forgot in the rush of a crime scene, and too-quickly dialed a number for the police or an ambulance, before realizing he couldn't respond to any of their queries verbally. It had been very frustrating.
He briefly clasped Ran around the shoulders, before letting go, and signing Thanks. Ran smiled, relieved. Shinichi felt slightly guilty, as Ran had been walking on eggshells around him ever since the incident in the hospital, when he mistakenly vented his bad mood on her. He was rather embarrassed about his childish behavior, but Ran hadn't mentioned it, and Shinichi had been eager to put it behind him and forget about it too. Still, he told himself to be especially nice to her to make up for it now.
"It'll be nice to live with Chikage!" Ran said optimistically. "You get along well with her, right? And Hakuba will even be in the same area. I know you guys aren't working in the same department, but just having someone else there too will be good, for cases. Just in case of anything." Shinichi huffed silently, sardonically amused. Although it could be said that in Beika, Shinichi also had Mouri as a fellow detective, while many people's behavior had adjusted around him after he became… nonverbal, Mouri had remained just the same- completely and utterly dismissive of Shinichi. While not very helpful for Shinichi, it had been an oddly comforting familiarity. The infinite things in the world: the universe, human stupidity and Mouri's dislike for Shinichi. Sounds about right.
He didn't openly admit it even to himself, but he was slightly nervous about living with Chikage. While Chikage had always been pleasant to him, it was Kaito's mother after all. Still, he maintained a polite, affable, if distant, relationship with her that he was fairly sure he could do even while in the same house with her. Right.
Ran took the last book off the shelf, wrapped it up, and slotted it in, before shaking off the dust in her hands. "Gosh, Shinichi, do you ever clean?" Shinichi frowned at her. Of course, it's my beloved library. "Obviously not enough," she concluded. "Well, if we're done here, let's check on Kaito and Chikage."
They gingerly carried the boxes down the steps and to the front door. Chikage was sitting serenely in the living room. Kaito was nowhere to be seen.
"He said he forgot to pack something, and refused to let me see," Chikage said, sounding amused. "So he chased me out."
Shinichi frowned. Was that safe? After moving, they had scattered and moved a lot of furniture to make space for boxes after all, and even with his cane, Kaito could easily trip. It would only take a stray object in the wrong place, at the wrong time, for Kaito to fall and break his neck down the stairs. He tapped Ran, signing that he was going to check on Kaito. Ran nodded, looking as if she was trying to suppress a smile, and hefted the full weight of the box. Shinichi hurried up the stairs, heading to Kaito's room, where the crashing sounds were echoing from, taking two steps at a time.
It was barren in the room. Kaito was checking the drawers, and once he was done, he flung them shut with abandon, moving on quickly to the next cabinet. Currently, his head was buried in a cabinet which he didn't even know had a hidden drawer. And he lived in this house for the majority of his life. He quirked an eyebrow at Kaito, and tapped him on the shoulder with a special rhythm they had agreed on, drawing a question mark on his bare arm.
"Ah, sorry, Shinichi." Kaito apologized, sounding greatly distracted. "I just remembered something, and I wanted to make sure I didn't leave any questionable objects behind-" Another cabinet door banged shut. "I should be done soon- hmm." He picked up his cane, walked over to the far end of the room. He tapped at the floor with the cane, brows furrowed. "Help me look for it." Shinichi sighed in exasperation and started knocking on the floor for a hollow panel. He struck one and whistled loudly. Kaito bounced over, and fumbled, before sliding a hidden panel aside and flipping the latch. The panel swung up and-
I'm not sure this is legal. He pushed the wrapped card gun into Kaito's hands, with a scowl. He'd better not be installing these without my permission! He had no idea that this room had so many hidden mechanisms. Even Kaito wouldn't be so paranoid as to set up all of these, right? Ah, who was he kidding- this was Kaito. Of course he would.
"Don't mind the little details," Kaito said brightly. He was turned away, but Shinichi could hear little clicks that were presumably Kaito checking over the card gun. How would he even use a gun now anyway? Though given Kaito, he might just turn add extra features to it to give unsuspecting assailants a surprise. Like a stun gun. He turned back, tucking the card gun away so quickly Shinichi couldn't catch it. "Shall we go?"
Shinichi sighed and grabbed Kaito's arm and quickly but carefully pulled him out of the empty room. He wondered if he was crazy for agreeing to stay in a house that Kaito originally inhabited and had the whole of his childhood to create tricks and pranks in. Don't jinx yourself, Shinichi.
It was fairly well done actually. He had seen Kaito's old house before, but it was obvious that Chikage had done her research and cleverly changed the locations of some of the furniture, making the house seem more spacious. The rooms were clean and uncluttered and the hallways bare with high maneuverability. Wind chimes hung in front of the front door and windows, the former made of metal and the latter wood, so that the sounds would differ clearly. He approved of the lively, bright colours. While far from the classic, expensive sophistication of his old home, the house was very welcoming.
He curled up on the armchair furthest from the window absorbed in a book- he personally claimed that armchair, and made it a point to sit there whenever they gathered together in the living room. He had to push Kaito out of the armchair occasionally, with many a protest. Chikage had picked up the hint easily, and had swiftly shifted to another seat with an innocent excuse, upon noticing Shinichi's disgruntled look the only time she had sat there. The only other armchair was next to the window, and the wind chime's clacking sounds, less than 30 centimeters away from his ears, was distracting. Chikage was sewing a sleeve Kaito had mangled in his attempt to restitch on his own, back onto its rightful position on the shirt.
The phone rang. Being the closest to the phone, he instinctively leant forward to pick it up- Only to stare in dismay at the receiver as he realized he couldn't reply. He cursed himself, mentally apologized and was about to replace the phone on the hook when Chikage swooped in and swiped it so smoothly from his hand, he could only stare blankly. "I'm sorry, the phone cord was disconnected," Chikage said cheerfully. "Hello, this is Kuroba, can I help you? Ah, it's Momoi! Sorry, Kaito isn't in at the moment, maybe you could call back again later…" She winked at Shinichi conspiratorially and patted him on the head kindly.
He blinked at her, nodded at her awkwardly, then looked back down at his book. When he looked up again, she had already finished her conversation on the phone and was folding the shirt. He dropped his legs down from the chair deliberately and she looked up at him questioningly. Flushing, he jerked his attention back to his book, trying to look natural. Out of the corner of his eye, Chikage smiled at him motherly, patted him on the head again, and strolled out with the shirt. He turned his eyes back to the book, but it was a while before he could concentrate enough to read it again. It was an odd feeling, like the tiny, but potent warmth of a matchstick.
Shinichi had dozed off in that comfortable armchair. He sat up wincing and feeling his neck protest acutely. He wasn't very sure how long he'd been asleep.
"-and I wonder if you've been thinking of me too. I've been having these odd dreams lately, Shinichi-" He jolted up guiltily, reflexively catching the book he had covered his face with before falling asleep. Had he fallen asleep on Kaito? Surely not. Did Kaito somehow think he was awake? Self-reproach gnawed at him with sharp teeth. Kaito must have felt odd that Shinichi wasn't responding-
A hand laid on his shoulder. He looked up blearily and saw Chikage standing behind the couch in the gloom. Her face was quiet and sadder than he had ever seen it, which made Shinichi feel vaguely upset, as if he had been privy to something private, like a family mourning.
"Kaito, what are you doing?" Her voice was deceptively light as she walked towards Kaito, sitting down next to him. Shinichi thought that her footsteps were deliberately louder now, as compared to the positively undetectable ones when she snuck up on him. "Shinichi isn't God, you know," she laughed. "He won't be able to hear what you say if he's not awake." She nudged him with a shoulder. "If you want to cuddle with him, why don't you?"
There was a silence, and it was hard for Shinichi to make out Kaito's expression in the dim light. Shinichi cursed Kurobas for being born with good night vision. He discreetly flicked on a lamp. Warm light flooded the area. Kaito's face was blank, but somehow the blankness troubled Shinichi. His hands were fisted tightly, clenched around the edge of the couch.
"I'm afraid." Kaito's voice was eerily low, and paired with his implacable expression, Shinichi felt a chill of distress. "I'm preparing myself for the day when I'll be alone." He laughed, but the laugh cracked, and was dreadful. Pain stabbed Shinichi, and he reached into his pocket futilely, wordlessly, intensely hating his disability. The black box, as useful as it was, just lacked the fluidness of conversations that speech had.
But Chikage was speaking, lightly coolly, like it wasn't of importance. "How come? I don't think Shinichi would ever leave you voluntarily. You're lovers, aren't you?" Shinichi felt his cheeks burn, but his eyes were fixed on Chikage's. Her gaze was sharp and intent, but her hands were deliberately relaxed, in direct contrast to Kaito. Shinichi wondered at the strange, forbidding feeling that Chikage was giving him. Like a once-hibernating predator, now awake.
Kaito looked as though he was about to give that despairing laugh again, but shook his head instead. He hung his head, propping his elbows on his knees. "It's not that I think he wants to go," Kaito told his knees. "But his job is so dangerous, and now Shinichi is like that- he can't even yell for help if he needs it- And I'm like this! I can't even protect him-" He moaned, pressing two fingers to each temple and rubbing viciously. "What can I do? I really- I really don't know what to do," His voice dropped to a hoarse whisper.
"Why do you need to do anything?" Chikage queried mercilessly. Her voice was chilly and unsympathetic. "Shinichi seems like a capable young man to me. He can take care of himself."
"What if things don't work out? He can dodge twenty bullets, but what if the twenty-first kill him?" A pause. "Mother…"
"Kaito, you know this, but you can't come to terms with it," Chikage was juxtaposition of gentle and harsh. "You're not capable of the same things as you were before you became blind. You can't dash in out of nowhere to save the day anymore."
Shinichi thought he saw the exact moment Kaito's mask shattered. His face crumpled for a second, before he ducked his face into his arms and laid so still that Shinichi worried. Chikage pushed the tissue box at him. There was no response for a few moments, then a trembling hand reached out to grab a few pieces, followed by the noisy wheeze of a nose being blown. Then Kaito looked up. His eyes were rimmed and swollen, and his mouth trembled slightly, but his face was otherwise composed.
"Are you ready to listen now?" Chikage questioned, with an arch of her eyebrow. Shinichi wondered how anyone ever mistook this woman as harmless.
Kaito nodded, sniffling slightly. "Ah… Mum, you have no mercy."
Chikage smiled serenely, "Only for those who deserve it," she countered with a sweet, sharp smile. "Now, Kaito, you're not a silly person. Even if you had your capabilities prior to the incident, you can't monitor Shinichi's movements all the time by yourself. You should delegate the work more; stop thinking in such an analog fashion."
Kaito seemed to be thinking about this deeply. "Well, in the past, I used tracking devices on Shinichi," he admitted slowly. "So… I should use them again. And maybe emergency call buttons that can transmit Shinichi's location to the police or hospital or us when he needs it since he can't call using the phone. And listening devices…" He leapt to his feet, a new purpose in his red-rimmed eyes and a bounce to his step. "Thanks, Mum!" He grasped her arm, roughly kissing her on the ear and a bit of hair. He didn't seem to mind, laughing as he tried again and managed to kiss the cheekbone on the second attempt. "You're the best, even if you're a bit mean sometimes. I'm going to call up Jii now!" He practically flew to his bedroom, cane dragging against the ground.
Shinichi sat there feeling silly, before he mustered up his courage, and before he could change his mind, tapped his foot on the ground. Chikage turned around and smiled at Shinichi, a question in her quirked eyebrow. He coughed awkwardly and signed Thanks.
Chikage's brow relaxed and she reached forward and patted Shinichi on the head. He suspected she liked doing that. Thanks for comforting him and… you know, he signed. He sighed. Where did all his eloquence when confronting criminals go? It would be much appreciated now.
He tried again. It's normally so hard to talk to him like this… The black box isn't so good at conveying long sentences. I was worried about him, thank you for snapping him out of it. Even if she was very scary while doing so. He made a prayer that he would never get on Kuroba Chikage's bad side.
Chikage's eyes widened in understanding and she hummed thoughtfully. "I'm his mother, it's practically in the job description," she laughed cheerily, waving it off. "And… if you need a translator, I would be glad to help." She winked at him. "I'm very discreet." She put a finger to her lips playfully and pretended to zip them. "I'll take your secrets to the grave!"
He huffed in surprise. Somehow, I'm not surprised Kaito turned out like this now. He nodded in acceptance of Chikage's idea, and turned away to leave, then hesitated and turned back. Chikage's face had collapsed into a mask of weariness. He felt a pang and impulsively stepped closer and leant forward, wrapping his arms loosely around Chikage. Chikage stiffened up slightly and he was about to pull back, embarrassed, when soft arms curled around his back to hug him tightly. She smelled like lavender.
This wasn't a betrayal of his mother, he assured himself as a strange surge of emotion stuck his throat painfully. Mother smells like vanilla and honey. He clung to her for a few moments, absorbing the warmth of the motherly hug. Chikage let him.
Ending in one more chapter, if I estimate right. Thank you, everyone! C: