Chapter Seven: Surveillance
A/N: This chapter we get the return of a special character, who will be making repeat appearances for pretty much the rest of the story. A special character…. And friends. Lol. Also, I got zero reviews on the last chapter and, not gonna lie, I'm kinda fairly sad, but oh well, the story must go on! *Shrugs* I hope you enjoy the update!
Edogawa Conan was on the way home from school when he first noticed it. A quiet, yet distinct flapping sound, frantic and quick, and then a distance-muffled squawk and thwack that almost imposed upon him a sense of déjà vu, the "thwack" sounding a bit rougher and more like flesh-impacting-concrete than the last time he'd heard it. He stopped mid-step on the sidewalk and turned, looking around. For a second he thought he caught a glimpse of white near a building behind him before it ducked around a corner.
'What was that?' He wondered, turning around on the sidewalk and starting towards the building.
"Hey, Conan, where're you going?!" Genta asked, the rest of the Detective Boys also turning to look behind them, and Conan suddenly remembered 'oh, yeah, I'm not alone.' He'd been so distracted by the flapping he'd heard behind him for the last three blocks that he'd almost forgotten that Ai, Genta, Mitsuhiko, and Ayumi were there with him, all of them walking home together as they typically did.
"Did you see something Conan?" Ayumi asked, tilting her head in inquiry.
"Was there a crime?! Do we have a new case now?! What'd you see?!" Genta demanded.
"Yeah, don't hide things from us if you saw something, like you usually do! Just tell us!" Mitsuhiko insisted, and suddenly Conan was surrounded by the other children, the three of them crowding around him and demanding answers as he tried to back away, his hands up in surrender.
"Ahah, no, no, I didn't see anything, honest!" Conan insisted.
"That's right," Ai nodded, stepping up next to the others. "He's just looking out for his new friend."
They all turned to her, eyes going wide. Conan hadn't realized she'd noticed that someone was following them too. Conan himself hadn't been sure of it until Ai had voiced her own knowledge of their observer.
"What, a new friend? Conan, who's your new friend?" Ayumi demanded desperately, looking back at him, her eyes wide and hands clenched together in front of her. 'I hope it's not another girl!' She thought desperately to herself. The last time Conan made a new friend it'd been Ai he added to the group, and Ayumi had a hard time adjusting to her arrival, though she had warmed up to Ai by now, of course.
"No, no, it's nothing, honest!" Conan insisted. He laughed nervously and dodged around them. "Uh, race you back to Agasa's house!"
"Conan!"
"Hey, wait up!"
The three children began to race after him and Ai sighed, picking up her pace to a quick jog, but refusing to full-out sprint as the others were doing. As the distance between her and the others increased, she looked up and noticed the white fuzzy body that passed above her, heading in the same direction as the others. She wasn't one-hundred-percent positive that the bird was actually following Conan, or of who the dove belonged to, but she had a decent guess. If it belonged to who she assumed it belonged to, she honestly wasn't concerned about any security issues such surveillance could theoretically cause. If the Kaitou KID wanted to figure out all of Conan's secrets, Ai truly doubted that anything would be able to stop him, and while she wasn't entirely thrilled by the idea of her secrets being uncovered as well, she could think of many worse people to have snooping around. She'd take a boy in white over a man in black any day.
Besides, as she'd said it before, she did believe the thief was likely a rather kind-hearted person. If she ever got the chance, she'd tell him he was in the wrong line of profession. Either way, she rarely saw Conan as relaxed, happy, and excited as he was at KID-heists; they provided him the same intellectual stimulation as the best of his most complicated murder cases without the tendency to include dead bodies and real life-and-death stakes. If he failed and the thief got away with the jewel at the end of the night, it'd be returned in a few days anyway, so what was the harm? Ai could appreciate that and, secretly, she herself enjoyed KID's magic shows. They were entertaining, as to be expected from a world-class performer, and while she wasn't fanatical about him like some of his crazed fans, she could still mildly appreciate a charming young man from a distance.
The dove ahead of her was jerking about in the air a bit, and she couldn't help but wonder why it looked so….. Awkward was the first word that came to mind. Maybe it'd injured itself when it hit that wall earlier? That was another thing; KID's doves were well-trained and exceptionally cared for, so why was this one running into things…?
Conan didn't have such questions. He already had a good guess as to why this particular dove was so quirky.
When Conan and the others arrived at Professor Agasa's house they went inside, Ai arriving just a couple of minutes behind them. Dopey landed on the fence outside and was peering in through the large bay windows of Professor Agasa's house.
The others were still asking after what Ai had meant by "Conan's new friend," but Conan was busy staring at the dove while it stared back.
'It does realize I can see it, right? It's not very good at surveillance…. Which means, if KID sent it to watch me, he probably doesn't care if I know it's here.' Conan snorted. 'It's still probably supposed to be keeping itself hidden. He really is a dopey bird.' Somehow Conan found himself smiling fondly though, and he thought perhaps he understood why KID was more expressive at that heist all those weeks ago, when Conan'd first met Dopey. KID had been a bit more human that time, less phantom-thief and more caretaker as he mildly reprimanded his dove.
Conan wondered if the bird remembered him, and if it would react well to him if he approached it. Eventually his curiosity got the best of him and he opened the back sliding-glass door, Professor Agasa pausing in his motions of serving watermelon to look at him. The others noticed and watched Conan pause in the doorway too, Genta still eating his large slice as he watched.
"What are you up to now, Conan-kun?" Agasa asked, not really expecting an answer.
As Conan slid the glass door open, Dopey seemed to panic a bit. He started, flapped, fell forward off the fence (much to Conan's amusement), and then scampered off on-foot towards a nearby bush, having decided that the fastest way to hide after he'd fallen onto the plush green grass of Agasa's yard was to walk to the bush rather than try to get off the ground again and fly somewhere.
Conan stifled his laughter, Ayumi walking over to look over Conan's shoulder out at the yard, watching alongside him as Dopey scampered off into the bushes.
"That's a funny bird," she observed, though the bird being a bit strange didn't warrant such rapt attention from Conan, in her opinion.
"You have no idea," Conan mumbled under his breath before stepping out into the yard. "Dopey!" He called. "I know you're there already." The dove stuck its head out around some branches from inside a bush to look at him. "…. You remember me, don't you? Come here." Conan held out his hand in a similar way to how he'd seen KID do it before, his fingers outstretched to form a perch for the bird. Dopey seemed to consider for a moment before making up his mind and spreading his wings.
Conan wasn't quite sure how they did it, but he knew that most birds had a talent for being able to take off into flight even from the center of a bush or while in a tree. How they managed it with such limited space, surround by branches, without hitting their wings and hurting themselves, he didn't know, but he knew birds could do it.
Birds in general…. But not Dopey, apparently. The dove tried to take off, its wings getting caught in the branches, and it ended up face-planting in front of the bush, once again smacking onto the ground. Conan cringed in sympathy and wondered if the bird's brain had been rattled by one-too-many crashes.
Ayumi made a slight sound of distress next to him. "Aww, is that birdie okay? That looked like it hurt…." To Dopey's credit, he got up and shook himself off with gusto, seemingly happy enough and largely uninjured. He fell a lot, but always seemed to maintain his dopey happiness and pep, ruffling his feathers in excitement as he took off again, this time making it to Conan's hand. He almost over-shot and fell forward off Conan's fingers, but Conan lifted his other hand and steadied the bird before it could fall.
"I almost can't believe how clumsy you are," Conan said to it, and the dove pecked him lightly in retribution.
Ayumi's eyes were wide, and after seeing the dove come to Conan, the other two children were now leaving their watermelon forgotten behind them, rushing over to see what was going on.
"Wow! Do animals really love you enough to come to you like that Conan? It's so pretty! Do you think I could pet it?"
Conan nodded. "He probably wouldn't mind." Conan held the bird out to her and Ayumi cupped her hands. Dopey didn't look sure if he wanted to go to her, a stranger, but Conan shook his hand a bit and the dove, now lacking a stable perch, was forced into her hands. Once he was in Ayumi's gentle embrace he relaxed, realizing quickly that she wasn't going to hurt him. "Normal, non-domesticated birds wouldn't just come to me like that, Ayumi. I already know this bird, and who it belongs to. This is my new friend Ai was talking about earlier. I wouldn't really call it a friend of mine, but…." Dopey looked at him and let out what Conan could almost describe as a sad coo, but Conan didn't respond.
Genta and Mitsuhiko crowded around Ayumi, watching the dove. Ayumi's eyes were wide and gleaming as she looked down at the fluffy bird in her cupped hands. "It's so soft and plush!" She squealed happily.
Professor Agasa had, by this point, come up and was peering down at the animal as well. "It's a friend of yours, Conan-kun, and it's a domestic bird? Well, it looks clean and healthy, so you can bring it inside if you'd like."
Conan shrugged while the others enthusiastically nodded in agreement, Ayumi carrying the dove inside and sitting at the table next to Ai. Genta and Mitsuhiko stood behind her and Conan sat across the table, picking up a piece of watermelon as he went. He'd planned on eating it…. But his mind was changed for him when Dopey saw it and decided he wanted the seeds, attacking the slice and knocking it onto the table before landing on it and digging out one of the black little seeds, getting red juice and bits of the fruit all over his talons, beak, and under-side feathers. The kids laughed and Conan rolled his eyes.
"You like watermelon then, I take it," he observed. The dove cooed happily in response, still attacking the fruit merrily. "I wonder if your owner would approve of this. I really doubt it," Conan said, his tone slightly reprimanding in a 'you know what I'm implying' way. The dove ruffled his feathers and shook his head as if to deny Conan's accusation that it was misbehaving, but it did hop off the watermelon slice and shook itself off, little drops of watermelon juice flying about and landing on the other people at the table.
"Ahh, sorry for the mess Professor!" Conan apologized.
"It's alright, my boy. Watermelon juice is mostly water, so no harm done, and I already knew there'd be a bit of a mess. Watermelon is a messy food if you're enjoying it properly, after all! It won't be too difficult to clean up."
Conan nodded, throwing away his now ruined piece and grabbing some napkins before picking Dopey up and beginning to wipe the bird down, knowing that KID would be annoyed if his bird came home covered in sticky juice and with bits of dried watermelon caked onto its feathers. Conan knew that things like this were best to clean immediately, since it would be harder to properly clean the bird after the fruit dried out on it.
Dopey protested the wiping vehemently, but Conan ignored his struggles until both it and the table-top were clean before setting the bird back on the table, Agasa having re-located the watermelon onto the nearby countertop. Dopey eyed it and crouched, as if preparing to fly at it.
"You better not," Ai spoke up, looking at the bird. "Your master won't be happy if he finds out you were causing trouble." The bird warbled at her, but ultimately took her advice and stayed put.
"So who's bird is this," Mitsuhiko voiced the question. "It belongs to someone you know, right? What was its name again?" Leave it to the most studious of the children to ask all the questions.
Before Conan could come up with a decent answer, Genta spoke up. "Can I pet it too?" He asked, reaching forward. Conan started.
"Wait! Genta, just, be careful, okay?" Conan knew that birds were small, light, and fragile, and Genta had a tendency to get carried away. He was a massive boy for his age, strong and rambunctious. As annoyed as KID would be if his bird returned messy, he'd be down-right pissed off and upset if it came back injured. The way Conan saw it, KID had sent Dopey to watch him because KID trusted Conan to look out for the challenged bird, and trusted that Conan wouldn't hurt it, or allow it to be hurt while under his watch. If he'd been stalking someone else, like the Suzuki Advisor or someone he didn't know, Conan very much doubted that KID would have sent this particular bird to stalk them. Conan almost figured that KID had to of known that Dopey would be seen by Conan. Heck, he probably knew that Conan would try to interact with the bird; KID had a tendency to be three steps ahead, knowing what's going to happen before it actually does. The real question now was why had KID knowingly sent his (presumably) goofiest dove to (assumedly) interact with him? It could be that KID has a reason, or maybe he was just bored or didn't want to deal with Dopey at the time: KID did a number of strange things for a number of strange and/or unknown reasons, so any guess Conan made was probably equally as likely as any other guess.
Genta heeded Conan's warning and pet the dove gently on the head, treating it as if it were made of glass and still petting it just a little too roughly for the bird to enjoy. It looked annoyed, but put up with it all the same. It was largely neutral to Mitsuhiko's stroking of its tail feathers, but it cooed when Ayumi stroked its wings and chest, nuzzling into her light, warm, soft, and friendly touch.
Once Genta was done petting it, Ai tried to nonchalantly reach out and pet it, feigning disinterest and looking bored. When her fingers brushed Dopey's head and he cooed and nuzzled them back, a small smile forced its way onto her lips, and Conan decided that he wouldn't mind if KID sent Dopey over every once in a while. If this was the bird he was sending, then it wasn't as if he was seriously trying to pry into Conan's secrets, so honestly? Yeah, he didn't think he'd mind having Dopey come over at all. Even if it was a bit insufferable and reminded him of its bothersome owner.
A/N: I kid you not, I was out for a walk while writing this chapter (don't ask how) and as I was walking by my local oil change place a dove flew straight into the side of the little oil change place with a "smack". It didn't fall to the ground, just kinda bounced off the grey wall and changed its trajectory, flying off and up to a nearby tree. Still, it was hilarious. I was thinking "huh, so doves really DO just crash into walls if they're goofs. I guess Dopey's even more realistic than I thought…." Lol. He's slightly based on a parrot I've interacted with before that sometimes ran into and fell off things, but it was still funny. XD
Anyway, there's another one of my Author's Personal Anecdotes (my stories/Author Notes tend to have them). Hope you enjoyed the chapter! Thanks for reading, and please review~!
