Study in Romance
Disclaimer: The works of Detective Conan and Magic Kaito belongs to Gosho Aoyama-sensei.
Warning: KaiShin relationship.
A/N: And now, let me present you, another reason why Shin-chan is required to dress up. Again, another horrible attempt at humour.
Ch04: Shopping trips are messy
"No 'kaa-san." Shinichi stated resolutely, eyes never wandering away from the words on the pages. No matter how bored or how many times he re-read the same stack of books, he would not go along with his mother's plans.
"But Shin-chan~" She whined, leaning heavily onto his arm. He envied his father having the excuse to leave Japan. They had to establish a good story for Kudo Shinichi to return, part of it meant pretending he had been in the States the whole time. Seeing as his parents did not want to leave him alone in Japan for the time being, his mother volunteered to stay behind. And it seems she was bored.
"No 'kaa-san, I want to finish this book."
"But you've read it many times already." She pulled the book out of his grasp and Shinichi let out an indignant whine.
"I like reading." He tries to reach for the book but his mother already stood up, holding the book above her head. Shinichi sighed. "Ok, I'll bite. Though I'm not promising anything."
"Yay! Shin-chan's the best!" She immediately launched herself at him, hugging the life out of Shinichi. Regardless of how he struggles, his mother's grip was firm.
"I Didn't Agree Yet!"
"You see," she completely ignored his complaint and pulled out a leaflet from her pockets, "Beika Mall is having a special sale. There's a limit to how much discount a single customer can have, and a buying limit on certain goods as well." She then began to rattle off a list of things she wanted, Shinichi began tuning her out after the third item. "So?"
Sighing, he knew he would not be able to escape this trip, he nodded. "But I can't appear remember? I'm supposed to be in New York right now." He glanced at the international paper laying on the side table. Apparently, his parents (most likely his father) took the cold cases he had been working on and sent it to his Interpol friends. Many of the cold cases Shinichi managed to have his hands on were from the States though there were also a few based in Japan (quite rare for actual cold cases to appear in Japan seeing as there were so many teenage detectives in the area. No cases could go unsolved for long around this region).
"Of course I know that." She told him as though telling of a young child then pulled out something from a paper bag she carried in here with her.
"What?! No, absolutely not!" Shinichi frantically looked for an escape. "I can easily slip on something inconspicuous. Glasses worked for Conan, it would work for me."
"But Shin-chan, no one recognised you when you put this disguise on." She smoothed out the wig, patting down and running her fingers through the artificial locks of hair. "And I promise it would be something longer this time. No more short skirts. Or heels for that matter. See?" She pulled out the set of garments.
"Could that even be considered a skirt? Or even a one piece for that matter? It's a shirt! And those are not trousers, pants or jeans! They're thin!"
"It's a shirt-dress, oversized and long enough to cover you up. And those are leggings, you wear them underneath. It'll show off the shapes of your legs." She shook her head. "You're the son of a former actress, you need to know things like fashion and latest trends."
"I need to stress once more I Am MALE." Shinichi struggled against his mother's tug. In one smooth motion his mother had dragged him out of the leather chair, pushed the paper bag containing every bit of his disguise sans makeup into his hand, and pushed him into his room.
"That is not an excuse young man." She stated before closing the door. "And I'm giving you fifteen minutes to change. Any longer and I'll come in and finish dressing you."
He pulled out the various bits and pieces, wincing when he saw the familiar undergarments though this time was in white rather black. He supposed it was to match the shirt/dress thing.
"How did you even have all these...were you secretly preparing to ambush and instant-change me when you come home? Should I be expecting more sneak attacks once I return and live here?" He slowly, and very reluctantly, disrobed his garments.
"I have a friend who's an amateur designer. She designs really nice pieces, specialising in gender-reversal clothing. She travels quite a bit, touring Europe though mainly in Milan and Paris, but she visits New York from time-to-time. Most of her travels to the State have her in LA and Las Vegas. Those drag queens loved her work." Her voice was muffled through the wooden door, "she loves creating various pieces for the male gender, especially for cross-dressing. I talk frequently with her and we're really good friends."
"How come I've never heard of this woman then?" He grumbled, trying not to think about what he was putting on. At least the clothing were not overly uncomfortable. Sure, they felt strange but they were still quite well made.
"She's the wife of my late disguise instructor. But because she travels so much, we've never managed a gathering between our two families. Especially after her husband's passing, we mainly talk over the phone. Her son was the one we saw at the party."
Shinichi was in the middle of buttoning the shirt when his hands suddenly came to a halt. 'Then that means the person who designed these is the mother of KID, the Phantom Lady! No wonder the clothes felt more functional than actually a fashion piece. These were all designed with KID in mind, to support his disguises…' Shinichi was not sure whether it would be a good idea to reveal to his mother the hidden identity of her friend.
"Shin-chan? Finished yet?" His mother's voice reminded Shinichi he was on a time limit, no dawdling allowed.
"Nearly done." Quickly, he buttoned the rest of the shirt, grabbed the belt and looped it around his waist, before opening the door. His mother applied the right amount of makeup on him and attached the wig.
"There!" She declared with flourish, "Now we can go shopping."
"Whopee…" Shinichi's sarcasm brought narrowed eyes to his mother's face. "I mean, yes, let's go." He sounded slightly more enthusiastic this time.
Satisfied with the response, she walked back out to grab her things. Shinichi had no choice but follow his mother's whims.
Shinichi held back a shudder when they stepped into Beika Mall, which was filled with shoppers of every age though mainly of the fairer gender. He followed his mother dutifully a step behind, and suddenly was grateful he was in disguise. He eyed the several males who were unfortunately saddled with shopping bags of all sizes and colours, humping over tiredly as their female counterparts resolutely walked into another store.
"This way Shin-chan." She called out, at least this time the nickname did serve a purpose. She was pointing at the store selling accessories. "There's a quota limit on the amount we can buy at this store, I need you here."
He tried not to drag his feet as he walked towards his first shop of doom. He knew he would not have a break from this point onwards. His mother would ask for his every opinion on each of her selections. Sighing, he was resigned to a day of torture.
Fortunately, his mother had the decency to dismiss him when she approached the level of shops selling lingerie.
"Ok, Shin-chan. This is the part when I can let you loose." She waved him back towards the escalators, but not without a stern warning. "Though you'd better stay within the mall and pick up the phone when I call you."
"Right, right." Knowing his mother would take a very long time on these floors, Shinichi set about to look for something interesting. He knew there was a new novel coming out so he might as well go buy it now.
Unfortunately, his trip to the bookshop only lasted ten minutes as none of the other novels managed to hold his interest long enough to bother reading and apparently the book he wanted to buy was out of stock. Wandering around, Shinichi spied the game center currently quite vacant. It could be because all males know to avoid the mall on this day, that they would have been better off finding entertainment elsewhere. Those males that were actually inside the mall were all roped to carry bags and become pack mules. Shinichi was at least glad that his mother had requested all their bags to be delivered because she mentioned not wanting to ruin the image (Shinichi could not be sure what that image was).
Once the automatic glass doors opened, a cacophony of sounds bombarded Shinichi. There were a few students around several of the video games who looked up at Shinichi for a brief moment before returning to their game. Not paying them any attention, Shinichi walked over to the shooter games, intending to spend a bit of time at the simulator game. His skills in video games only extended to simulators, anything involving actual button pushing meant he would lose the game within five minutes of starting.
Pulling out several coins, he inserted five hundred yen and pushed the start button. He picked up the plastic gun and took aim at the screen.
'At least I can practice my shooting skills, even though it is highly unrealistic.' He thought as his arms automatically moved to the first target and began shooting.
On the ground floor, Kaito had been unfortunate enough to be roped by Aoko to help carry her bags for this shopping trip.
"Aoko had been saving for ages for the Beika Mall Specials. Last time, Keiko found a great deal here." She was extremely excited by the prospect of finding some new pieces of clothing to match her current wardrobe. "Aoko needed a few more shirts and dresses."
"I know girls loved shopping and fashion, but do they have to be this...crazy?" Kaito managed to catch a glimpse at the nearest shop where two females were currently in an argument over a purse. "It's not the end of the world if they could not buy a new purse or a new dress."
"Kaito doesn't know anything." Aoko, who had been determinedly walking towards a particular store, turned to face Kaito. "It may not be the end of the world, but it would mean everything when said piece of clothing makes or breaks the whole ensemble. No one likes mismatched clothes" She eyed Kaito critically up and down. "But then again, perhaps it is because Kaito never cared much about his looks that he couldn't understand."
"Hey, I understand the minds of females plenty." Kaito argues. He was, after all, a gentleman, so he knew what a woman wanted whether it was a flower or compliment, Kaito (and KID) always made certain those on the receiving end would feel special.
"If Kaito knows about woman then why is Kaito still flipping Aoko's skirt during classes?" She took a threatening step forwards. "Unless Kaito is saying it was what Aoko wanted all along, even when Aoko had yelled at Kaito for being obnoxious and perverted."
"You needed to loosen up." Kaito quickly turned Aoko back in the direction she was heading. "Besides, now is not the time to be dwelling on such matters. Don't you have some shopping to do?"
"Don't think Aoko will forget this." Aoko huffed and headed into the first clothes shop, leaving Kaito by the door. Twenty minutes later, she came out carrying a paper bag and pushed it into Kaito's hands.
"You know you could always have them delivered." He mentioned to his childhood friend as he took a peek into the bag.
"Delivery costs a lot, Aoko wouldn't have enough to buy everything otherwise." She walked hastily in another direction. It looked as though Aoko had done her research before coming, her route seems to have been calculated to make her trip the most efficient and effective, without wasting effort in walking and wandering about the shops.
Five shops and the same amount of bags later, Aoko pronounced she had bought everything she wanted.
"Wow, you only took an hour and a bit." Kaito was surprised. Never had he seen someone shop so efficiently. Though he was saddled with all the bags as Aoko browsed between shops.
"Of course. Aoko still needs to hurry home and make dinner. Aoko couldn't spend all her time here you know." She led them passed the game center on the floor they had been shopping at. "Besides, the Mall will become more crowded in late afternoon and early evening. That's when the crazy shopping starts."
Kaito suddenly halted when his eyes caught onto something interesting inside the game center.
"Aoko, sorry. Something came up. I don't think I can accompany you back home." He gave Aoko back her bags. "I'll make it up to you at another time?" He asked hopefully.
Aoko looked at him, eyes narrowing a fraction in preparation to yell at him. Though Kaito's attention were already drawn towards the back of the player at the shooting game and never saw the look of realisation dawning on Aoko's face when she looked between him and the object of his attention.
"Alright, Aoko will let Kaito go this time." Aoko took the bags into her hands. "Though Aoko expects Kaito to tell everything once he returns."
"What do you mean?" Kaito hesitated. "What would there be to tell?"
"It's because of that girl right?" Aoko pointed at where Kaito had been looking. "Kaito is interested in her. Kaito is always interested in beautiful girls, though why Kaito always reject Akako-chan is a real mystery."
"Urg, don't even mention her in my presence." Kaito groaned. That witch had been trying to seduce him for the whole year and it was becoming more of an annoyance than the entertainment value he received to see her fail each time. "And you're making me sound like I go skirt chasing because I see someone beautiful."
"But don't you Kaito?" She then lowered her voice to a soft whisper that Kaito nearly missed "Isn't that why you never noticed Aoko?"
"What?! No! It's just…" Kaito did not want to lie about the reason he pretended not to take interest in Aoko. The whole KID ordeal made it extremely difficult for him to form an intimate attachment to his childhood friend. He did not want her to be torn when forced to chose a side; to side with her law-abiding father or the law-breaking Kaito/KID. Not that it matters anymore seeing as Aoko seems to have taken an interest in someone else. "You're like a sister to me. We're family, you, your father, me. So you're close to my heart, only slightly different."
"When Kaito puts it that way…" The saddened atmosphere was lifted when Aoko lifter her head. "Alright, Aoko will accept that. Though Aoko still want to know how this turns out."
"Really, it's nothing. I just recognised her that's all." He needed to make it clear to Aoko that he was not attracted to that girl simply because she looked good, that he was not drawn to the slim waist, alabaster skin, rosy lips, clear cerulean eyes, and locks of midnight black. 'Oh no, those were all aesthetics, the superficial layers of a person. Am I really that shallow?'
"Yea, as if Aoko believes Kaito. But no matter, Aoko will leave Kaito to discover for himself." She left Kaito to wonder in front of the game center.
-TBC-