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Chapter 3

Kaito let out a shaky breath, silent and unnoticed. Realizing Jii was unable to see or hear him had just been relegated to the second most terrifying thing he'd experienced to date. Watching Tantei-kun jerk and go utterly limp had ranked into first.

As pale as the too-small teen had been, he'd looked dead. Kaito was pretty sure the lady who taught Conan's class was traumatized, but he couldn't bring himself to care that she'd been mostly scared of him. He'd been more concerned with making sure Shinichi was breathing than catering to modern views on the existence of the supernatural, and he didn't—wouldn't—regret it.

He glanced back at the hospital bed where Shinichi's already small form looked tiny and frail, an IV with a heavy dose of painkillers and a standard saline drip making him seem worse off than the doctors seemed to think he was.

'Migraine,' they'd said, oblivious to his presence as they called the Agency to let Mouri know what was going on. 'Stress-related', had been mixed in with doctor-speak, as had 'collapse' and 'exhaustion'.

Shinichi had shown it for a while the night before, and shown it again—a little—that morning. Kaito was afraid he'd been a factor in the collapse, though, because people didn't go from 'tired-but-okay' to 'passing-out-in-pain' that quickly unless something happened.

… and Shinichi couldn't be taking the whole 'ghost' thing as well as he seemed to be.

Kaito bit his lip and slid into a visitor's chair, tugging the hat and monocle off to rub his hands over his face and staring down through his feet to the wear-patterns in the floor. His feet seemed even more faded out than the rest of him to his eyes, and he idly thought that should worry him*, but he had other things on his mind.

Should he leave? Was his presence causing Shinichi more stress than he should be dealing with? What if he did leave? How would Shinichi take his sudden disappearance? Where would he go?

A muffled groan jerked him out of spiraling questions and he sat up straighter, reaching out towards the bed before aborting the motion. Shinichi didn't need to be reminded of the Kaitou right now.

He sat back instead, watching worriedly as Shinichi turned his head, eyes flicking over the room in restless jerks.

"Kai-" Shinichi broke off with a dry cough, moving to push himself upright.

Ah, no. Kaito leaned forward and stilled the detective with a gentle hand on his chest, reaching to the side for the glass of water that had been left for 'Conan-kun' on the small table beside the bed.

Shinichi relaxed back, letting out a breath. "You're here," he observed.

Kaito aborted his reach for the glass to press Conan's phone (lifted from the miniature meitantei before the nurse could take it) into Shinichi's hand and pulled his own away. The phone abruptly blinked from see-through to opaque, and Shinichi squinted at the screen.

After a moment, he sighed, dropping the phone to the bed. "Sorry. I can't focus my eyes enough to read."

Kaito frowned and took the phone back, pocketing it into his realm of silent transparency, then reached over to tap a simple o-k in Morse Code on Shinichi's arm.

"I should have just had Agasa call me in sick to school," Shinichi groaned, rubbing at his throat with one hand and his eyes with the other.

Kaito nudged the water-glass, drawing Shinichi's attention to it.

"Please," he started to sit again and this time Kaito helped ease him up and held the glass for him to drink out of.

Shinichi closed his eyes, sipping at the offered water, and three seconds later something clattered to the floor behind Kaito, a female voice yelping sharply.

Shinichi jerked, eyes snapping open and looking straight through Kaito to the open door.

Kaito barely managed to keep from pouring water all over the detective as he twisted, glass in-hand and forgotten as he saw a disbelieving Mouri, a terrified Mouri-chan, and a shocked doctor at the door.

Oops.

xxxx

"It's not—no, I don't need a priest," Tantei-kun pressed his fingers to his temples, "Ran-neechan…"

"Conan-kun, that wasn't natural! Something was here!"

Conan took a deep breath, clearly counting to something a lot higher than ten, and the pain evident around the edges of his eyes was a deciding factor.

Kaito scrolled down to Mouri Ran's contact in Shinichi's (now untraceable and number-blocked) phone and sent an irritated text.

Mouri-chan jumped when her phone beeped and pulled it out, then went very still.

"Ran, what is it?" Mouri may have been an idiot on many levels, but no one could accuse him of not caring for his daughter.

"Ran?" Mouri reached out to take the phone from her and immediately focused on the text.

'You are distressing my charge.' Simple and to the point; Kaito had taken care to word it as a guardian might. If he was going to be a haunting ghost, he wasn't going to hide it from Mouri-chan for long, paranoid as she was about anything supernatural.

A second beep as another text appeared and Mouri opened it, frowning.

'Not all those who walk beyond are hostile. The little tantei has friends in many places.'

"Who are you? How are you doing this?"

Kaito considered. He didn't want to make them think he was some kind of deranged stalker or criminal seeking revenge. He didn't want to convince them he was a ghost, either, but that was probably the better option for Tantei-kun's freedom. (The same Tantei-kun who was falling asleep under lack of immediate questioning added to painkillers. Kaito's reasoning had just been validated.)

He reached out and plucked Mouri-chan's phone from her father's hands, making sure they could see as he opened a new text screen and wrote out his next comment. 'A guardian. The little meitantei has come to be my charge.'

Mouri-chan swallowed and spoke up, voice quavering just a little. "What's your name?"

'I cannot grant you my name. I was a Kaitou, once, though not for greed. I did not find what I sought, but the title suits even now.' He held the phone out to her, and was pleased when she reached to take it, hesitating as her fingers brushed over suede.

Kaito sent another text, intending it to be the last to the Mouris, at least for now. 'I will watch over him as long as I am able.'

Mouri cleared his throat after his daughter read that aloud. "Why?"

Once more, then, his gaze flicking over to the dozing mini-teen. A truth, of sorts, in spirit if not blood: 'For family.'

xxxx

*Japanese lore generally holds that ghosts do not have feet.