A/N: Hey! A fast update and a sizable chapter for you all!
Thanks to LadyShadow26 for her amazing edits! I am quickly finding I am not actually a great writer, as all my other stories are failing, and this one is still close to my heart thanks to her.
Well, enjoy!
Chapter 7: School
Shinichi blinked himself awake, trying to get his unwilling body to move out from under the covers. The room he resided in was dimly lit, two windows with closed blinds letting the tiniest amount of light in from the outside. Had it all been a dream? That must be it. People don't just shrink. It was just an impossible notion. He must have watched something strange with Ran before bed last night... That must be it! The impossible hadn't really occurred. Perhaps he just had an overactive imagination. Or something along those lines.
That was when he noticed he wasn't in his own room. He was in the guest room from his... his... dream. So, maybe it hadn't all been a dream. Maybe it was real. It had sure felt real, after all. Well, there was only one way to make sure in this case.
Shinichi (or Sharokku, it all depended on the reality of the dream) reluctantly lifted a hand, a bit afraid to look at it. What if it hadn't been a dream? What if he really was in a child's body, freeloading with a teenage magician who just happened to look almost exactly like himself? Sharokku squeezed his eyes closed for a few minutes, holding his hand right in front of his face. Okay. This was it. Here goes nothing.
Opening his eyes, Sharokku gazed at the seven-year-old sized hand. His tiny, seven-year-old hand. No doubting it now. It was real, all right. No matter how much he didn't wish to believe it, the proof was right in front of his face.
Sighing, Sharokku pulled himself into a sitting position. Time to get the day started. Today was going to be busy, probably more-so than yesterday. He still had a lot of new stuff to get established.
"You're finally awake! It's almost ten already," a male teenager's voice so much like his own. Kaito. Sharokku turned his head to the side to see the magician perched on a desk in the room, his feet swinging and a wide, goofy grin plastered on his face. His eyes were filled with glee and a bit of amusement as he gazed at his shrunken house-guest.
"Good morning, Kaito," Sharokku said, frowning a bit and creasing his brow. How long had the teenager been sitting there? He looked like he had been perched there for awhile. Had the 'older' teenager just been watching him sleep? That would be a bit creepy.
"We need to get moving! We have lots to do today!" Kaito exclaimed giddily, bouncing of the desk and walking over to stand next to Sharokku's bed. He reached a hand out and started to ruffle the not-child's pink hair. The shrunken detective huffed at this, lifting his hand to swat away Kaito's.
"Yeah, we do. Have you made breakfast?" Sharokku asked once Kaito's hand was removed from the tiny tantei's head. He decided to let go of the whole 'Kaito-was-watching-him-sleep' thing. He really didn't want to know. Sharokku then let out a large yawn, stretching out his arms to either side. "I would like some coffee too, please," he added, almost as an afterthought. He blinked his eyes a couple of times. "My brain won't work right if I don't get some..." He muttered under his breath, half to himself. Kaito snorted, shaking his head.
"You rely too heavily on that bitter beverage, my friend," the magician informed, getting up off the bed. "And, yes. Aoko brought some breakfast over. My cooking isn't the best. I go a little... crazy with the ingredients. I can't stand to keep the recipe the same. I like to shake things up," he gave a nervous laugh, scratching the back of his head.
1412
Once Shinichi had gotten dressed and done other morning necessities, he headed downstairs where Kaito was using the stovetop to warm up the food Aoko had provided them with. Kaito looked up from the pan once he heard the footsteps coming down the stairs with a wide smile.
"I set some coffee out for you on the table," he informed, gesturing with his head towards the steaming cup that rested on the table. Shinichi immediately perked, his whole body growing visibly lighter as he drifted over towards the mug. As soon as he got to it, he took a deep breath, inhaling its comforting scent.
Kaito watched him do this with a small smile. It was amusing how just the scent of the coffee could make Shinichi's mood lift. He watched for a moment, then turned back to his pan. The rice was almost warmed to a good temperature. He just had to keep an eye on it and make sure it didn't burn.
"What exactly is on the agenda for today?" Shinichi asked after a minute of silence. Kaito thought for a moment, watching the rice in the pan closely.
"Well, we have to check out your new school. They are willing to give you a tour beforehand, which I accepted. We will have to do registration a bit later. We need to get in contact with your parents, first. They need to make the records," Kaito said, turning off the stove. Shinichi made a sound of agreement. Kaito then pulled out a couple of bowls and scooped the rice into them. He put the bowls at the two set places at the table. After that, he went back to the stove and grabbed the homemade vegetable soup he had warmed, which was served in bowls.
Once they were both happily eating, Kaito started up conversation again. "So, I know you told me of your skills last night, but can I know a bit more about them?" He asked. He wanted to know Shinichi's skills to their full extent, so he could make sure he got appropriate gadgets for the not-child to use.
Shinichi raised an eyebrow at him, looking unsure. Kaito had to admit, it was a bit of an awkward question to ask so out of the blue.
"Just like, you know, if you have good aim? I just want to be prepared so I know to give you in case you ever get into trouble. I have a few magician's gadgets that could potentially help," he informed, trying to sound convincing.
Shinichi gazed at him for a few more moments, then shook his head with a sigh. "Alright. I am a pretty decent driver, though now," he gestured at himself, "I guess that wouldn't really work," he said, furrowing his brow in disappointment. Kaito nodded, taking mental notes. "I can ride skateboards and bikes rather well, which would work better with this body," he said, and Kaito nodded once again. He hid it, but it amazed him that Shinichi could drive. In Japan, people couldn't drive legally until they were eighteen, which meant Shinichi must have learned illegally, or in another country.
Shinichi tapped his chin in thought, tipping his head to the side. "I am a really good shot, though I prefer to only use guns when necessary," he said after a moment of thought. Kaito's mind wandered off to the conversation they had held at dinner last night. Shinichi had come scarily close to hitting either he or Nakamori with a bullet. So, his aim was pretty much on par with Kaito's own. Might want to consider a modified card gun as one of the not-child's gadgets.
On a quick change of subject, Kaito asked; "Anything more suitable for, oh, I don't know, a child to be doing?" He noticed that none of the things that Shinichi had mentioned were something you would find a child of the shrunken detective's apparent age doing on a normal basis. His disguise instincts were kicking in. He needed something a little more "child-like" to work with.
Shinichi huffed. "I believe I mentioned this earlier, but I destroy with soccer. I play expertly. I often use it to stop criminals," the not-child said, pride tinting his voice. Kaito rolled his eyes. Talk about full of yourself. "Though, in this body, my kicks..." Something a little unsure and kind of sad crossed Shinichi's face. Kaito let himself pity the shrunken detective for a moment. To lose something you used as a form of self defense... Kaito knew if he lost the ability to use his hands as well as he did now, he would be rather disappointed. It must be pretty hard on Shinichi. Maybe there were some gadget Jii could get ahold of that would amplify Shinchi's kicking power.
The minute detective chuckled. "Well, I guess that's about it. I can also fly an airplane, go deep sea diving, and ride a glitter powered skateboard to the moon, but I figure those won't be of much use," Shinichi said with a shrug. Kaito nodded, chewing his lip as he thought on the gadget options.
"Wow. That's a lot. Where, might I ask, did you learn to do all that?" Kaito questioned, a little incredulous and a bit amazed. That was quite a bit for even a seventeen year old to know how to do.
"In Hawaii. That's where I learn to do everything," the tiny tantei replied, his face the picture of nonchalant as he lounged back in his chair, arms behind his head. Kaito nodded absentmindedly, then did a double take. Wait a minute...
"Did you just say you could fly a glitter-powered skateboard?" Kaito checked, stareing a tad wide-eyed at the not-child. Now he was immensely curious. That was just... insane.
"Yeah, why? It's no big deal," he said lazily, sitting back up and grasping some rice with his chopsticks and eating it. He then turned his head to Kaito, tipping it to the side with wide, innocent eyes.
"That... Are you pulling my leg?" Kaito asked, giving the shrunken teenager an accusing glare. He had to be. Sure, magic was real, Akako was proof of that. But for Shinichi to know how to fly a glitter-powered skateboard... That was just way too unlikely.
"Now, why would I do that Kaito-niichan?" Shinichi said, going full-child cutesy on Kaito, his voice going up an octave and a most innocent look plastered on his seven-year-old face. He set down his chopsticks and pulled his shoulders up, clutching his hands together under the table, his arms straight.
"You're just making fun of me now, aren't you?" Kaito harrumphed, putting down his own pair of chopsticks and crossing his arms.
"No, of course not," Shinichi drawled, his voice dripping with sarcasm, and he dropped his whole cute act. Oh, that little...
Kaito huffed, uncrossing his arms and picking his chopsticks back up. "Not appreciated," was all he said, plucking some rice from his bowl. Though, when he thought about it, if he could figure out how to get ahold of a glitter-powered flying skateboard, that might make an amazing heist tool. He'd have to see what he could do with that one.
1412
Hakuba was the first to class today, as usual. He liked to be early in this case, as it gave him time to prepare for the day ahead. Especially if Kaito was going to pull some frivolous prank as he usually did. He seemed to love to target Hakuba for some odd reason, so Hakuba usually liked to do some mental preparation. This included searching the classroom for pranks that had been set the previous day, or in this case, two days before. You could never be too careful, considering some of Kaito's pranks were set on timers quite often.
Aoko came in as Hakuba was checking inside his desk, looking around carefully for anything that looked out of place. Aoko was soon followed by Keiko, and they were chattering avidly about something that Hakuba had no interest in. He noted mentally that Kaito wasn't with them today, once again. Why did this not surprise him?
Well, Hakuba hadn't thought he had interest in it. It managed to spark some when Aoko started saying; "Aoko made them breakfast this morning. You know how Kaito is with cooking. He might of put some chemical in the food just to see how the food reacted to it. That would have been so terrible, especially for Sharokku!"
Hakuba had been only half-listening, but as soon as the girl had said 'Sharokku' his whole interest perked. Blame it on his love for Sherlock Holmes.
"Who is this 'Sharokku'?" He asked, leaving his desk to walk over to Aoko's where both the girls had been talking. Aoko looked at him, a smile clear on her face. Keiko looked over after her friend, giving a small wave to the half-British detective in greeting.
"He's Kaito's little brother," Aoko explained. "He just arrived yesterday! He's been travelling around with their mother this whole time, and Kaito didn't even know he existed. He's really adorable! He's only seven," she said, her smile growing a bit wider as she gave the rest of the explanation. Keiko nodded, her pig-tails bobbing.
Hakuba raised his eyebrow, intrigued. Kaito had a little brother, huh? That was actually pretty unexpected. It did explained why the magician hadn't been at school yesterday, and didn't appear to be coming today. Also, the name Sharokku was a bit odd, wasn't it? Hakuba had never thought that the Kuroba's might have an interest in the series, as Kaito came off as more of a Lupin fan. It was far more like something Hakuba would have done. Actually, he was planning to do it, but that was besides the point...
The question was, why hadn't Kaito known of the existence of this said 'brother'. It was peculiar that his mother wouldn't have told her eldest son, yet suddenly push the child off on him. Usually parents would at least inform their child ahead of time, if not just right out tell them they had a brother. Also, how had Kaito not noticed his mom being pregnant? Even if he was a young child, he would have been curious. What had caused her to take that action of keeping the second child a secret? Did it have something to do with Kaito being Kaitou Kid? If so, Hakuba might be able to do some investigating and find out for sure whether or not Kaito was the phantom thief. This might just be his chance!
Suddenly pumped, Hakuba gave a smile that might appear rather haughty to others. He excused himself from the pair politely, going back to his seat. He would have to pay Kuroba Kaito a little visit after school and meet this second child of the Kuroba's.
1412
Sharokku held his cell out on speaker as he sat on the couch with Kaito next to him. He kicked his legs lazily, waiting for those two to pick up. They were bound to do it eventually. They weren't ones to miss talking to him after finding out something as big as him shrinking. In fact, he was quite surprised they hadn't called already.
After the phone rang for about a minute, someone finally did pick up. "Shin-chan!" A woman's voice shrieked into Sharokku's ear, and he had to hold the phone away to save his poor eardrum from corruption. Kaito raised an eyebrow at him, giving him an skeptical look.
"K-Kaasan..." He said into the phone once he was sure him mother wasn't going to screech at him again. He laughed a bit nervously, sweat dripping down his cheek. It was quite the experience, talking to his mom over the phone...
"SHIN-CHAN!" She squealed again, this time adding a little more dramatics to it. "Is it really true? It sounds true! Chikage-chan sounded so shocked!" She said enthusiastically, and Sharokku could just see her bright eyes and wide, goofy grin. Kaito just kept staring at the shrunken detective, his eyebrow high on his forehead. It was a shocking experience to merely hear Shinichi's mother's enthusiastic voice. It would make anyone a bit dubious of Shinichi's upbringing.
"Yeah. Unfortunately," he replied, not exactly sure what all he should say. His mom sounded way to happy that he had shrunken. It was going to be interesting if they decided to come visit... He couldn't help but hope that wouldn't be any time soon.
"What do you mean 'unfortunately'? This is great! You're seven all over again! It makes me feel so young..." She said, her voice seeming just to be climbing higher and higher in pitch. It was almost like she was rubbing it in his face, though he knew that wasn't her intention.
"Yeah... great. Umm, we wanted to ask about papers...?" He changed the subject, trying to avoid any more high-pitched squeals. He swore his ears were going to crack from it all one day.
"Oh, those? We're actually on our way over now! It'll be much easier in Japan than in America, and we want to see our little Shin-chan~!" She sang, and he heard a pound on the floor on the other side that was most likely from her giving an excited bounce. "We're at the airport! The planes going to leave in an hour. We'll be there soon!" She said giddily, then she started humming something that sounded relatively like a child's lullaby. She was going to far with this.
"Ah. Alright, then! See you," and he hurriedly hung up, pressing the red button on the phone screen with a sigh. Kaito just kept on staring at him, his face blank, though his eyes were a bit judging. Sharokku sent him a glare. "I have eccentric parents, okay?" He said, a little exasperated. Kaito just snorted, a smirk on his face. Sharokku huffed in reply, sticking out his tongue in a childish manner. Kaito seemed amused by this, as he snorted again, holding back a laugh that seemed to be rising in his throat.
"You make a great child," Kaito said doing a scarily accurate imitation of Shinichi's mother. Shinichi briefly had to wonder how he was able to do that, then remembered his mom also had a talent in the skill. Kaito must have done some training with someone like Shinichi's mom had to gain the skill. Kaito then gave into laughter, not able to hold back anymore. It interupted Sharokku's thought train, and made him startle just a bit. The laughter... Sharokku couldn't help it. In the heat of the moment, he started laughing along, gripping his sides.
"Geez, Kaito. You're too much," he replied, hiccuping from the giggles that were still trying to burst from him. Kaito nodded, wiping away a few tears. Then, they heaved a sigh simultaneously.
"Well, we better get to that school. I scheduled for eleven thirty," Kaito stood up, recovering from the moment surprisingly fast. Sharokku looked up at him for a few moments, blinking.
"Dang. Elementary school all over again. This is going to be painful," he replied with a groan, his body slumping into the couch. Kaito looked back at him, his indigo eyes twinkling with amusement once again.
"It's so weird hearing that come from the mouth of someone who looks like they've just started their school years," he informed, then he walked over to the door, replacing his slippers with shoes and poofing on a jacket. "Well, are you coming or not? We're going to be late."
Sharokku moaned, lifting his body from the couch, suddenly feeling heavy. "Fine. Let's just get this over with," he sighed a bit sadly, following Kaito over to the door. Kaito smiled down at him, reaching down to ruffle his hair, stopped quickly by Sharokku's own hand.
"That's the spirit! Let us go!" Kaito said cheerily, pulling his hand away and shaking it a bit from the rather rough slap he had received from the not-child.
1412
"So, this is the classroom you'll be in. That woman over there is your sensei, Matsuoka Honoka. She is extremely nice. I'm sure you'll really like her," the woman who was giving them the tour of the school said with a smile. "You can go in, if you'd like. I'm sure she wouldn't mind. Maybe even introduce yourself?"
Sharokku gazed into the classroom with narrowed eyes. Great. This was just wonderful. There were tons of tiny kids sitting in a classroom staring at a chalkboard where the teacher was trying to teach them to subtract. The worst thing was, most of the children in there were probably taller than he was at the moment. This was going to suck.
Kaito gave him an elbow and a pointed look, shocking Sharokku out of his 'this-is-the-worst' trance. Sharokku looked up at the woman, who was looking expectantly at him, and smiled a bit nervously. "Sure. That would be great!" He said in a high-pitched voice, raising his arms in the air enthusiastically. Kaito looked like he was having a hard time not cracking up at this. Okay, so maybe it was a bit overkill, but whatever! Acting like a stupid seven-year-old all the time wasn't easy.
The woman stepped into the classroom, going over to the teacher and muttering something to which Matsuoka nodded with a small smile.
"Come in! Introduce yourself to your new class!" She called out in a sweet voice. The other students turned in their chairs, looking to see who she was talking to.
Sharokku stumbled into the classroom with a shove from Kaito to which he sent back a glare. The magician shrugged, and amused smile pulling at his lips. Sharokku huffed, then continued walking forwards, around twenty pairs of eyes following him every step of the way. It was pretty unnerving. Once he was in front of the board, he gave a nervous smile and waved, sweat dripping from his forehead.
"Tell us your name," Matsuoka said gently, a piece of white chalk against the board as she prepared to write his name. "Then, you can tell us a little about yourself."
Sharokku nodded up at her, his eyes a bit wide. Gods, he must look like some insecure child or something. He puffed out his chest, trying to change his air to confident and proud. Maybe a bit untouchable. He had no intention of making friends here. "My name is Kuroba Sharokku. I am the younger brother of Kuroba Kaito. I can't see very well without glasses, enough to get around, but my previous pair broke so we had to order new ones." Time to put to action another important part of his disguise. It was best to bring it up sooner rather than later. It would mean less questions asked. He could see Kaito out of the corner of his eye, the magician's own eyes filled with mirth. He was never going to live this down.
The teacher smiled down at him after she had finished writing his name on the chalkboard. "He's going to join us next week. Be nice to him, okay?" She said, bending down next to him and putting a hand on his shoulder. "I think you'll have lots of fun here," she reassured with a wide smile plastered on her face. Sharokku gazed at her for a few seconds, then nodded.
"See you next week, Sharokku-kun!" The teacher called out with a wave, the rest of the class waving with her as he left, cringing a little. Kaito was giving him the worst smirk, his whole aura reeking of hilarity. Yes. This was just great.
1412
Hakuba walked a little distance behind Aoko and Keiko, feeling quite awkward. He felt as if he was intruding on something he shouldn't be. The two girls walked in front of him, talking avidly. Aoko kept sending the occasional glance back to him, her eyes holding a bit of an apology, but Hakuba understood well. They didn't have all that much in common, and it was a bit hard to make conversation with him. He chewed his lip, holding his bag behind his back as he wandered after the two friends.
They had allowed him to come as soon as he had asked, of course. They had seemed to understand his reason, and they had almost seemed happy to have him tag along. It actually warmed him up a bit, too. To think that he knew people well enough to be allowed to walk home with them, that is.
He was immensely excited to meet this 'Sharokku'. He kind of hoped that he could save the poor child's soul before he fell to the malicious pranking way of Kaito. If the child hadn't already been affected by it, it might not be too late!
Keiko suddenly broke off from them, waving. "I'm off to my house! See you guys tomorrow!" She called as she turned, her pigtails bouncing and a wide smile on her face. Aoko waved back, calling out her goodbye and Hakuba watched her go with a polite smile.
Aoko fell back next to him, and looked around awkwardly as they continued on, neither sure what to say to the other. Finally, it was Aoko who spoke. "So, is there anything you want to know about Sharokku-kun? You seemed to be interested in him," she said, tipping her head to the side. Hakuba chewed his lip, thinking. He had a ton of questions stored up, but he wanted to make sure he was asking reasonable ones.
"Do you know why his name is Sharokku?" He tried. He was most curious on that. It was such an eccentric name, and he was sure that only true Sherlock Holmes fans would think to name their child that.
"Aoko... Actually doesn't know that one. He doesn't resemble Sharokku Homuzu as far as I can tell..." She said, her voice unsure. She gave Hakuba an apologetic smile, tipping her head to the side. Hakuba nodded, thoughtful. They had named a child Sharokku and even Aoko didn't seem to know why. If they were huge Sherlock Holmes fans, she probably would have mentioned it, yet that hadn't. How curious...
They walked the rest of the way in silence, both looking in opposite directions. Fortunately, they were soon at Kaito's house. Aoko opened the gate and started walking up the pathway ahead of Hakuba. Hakuba blinked a couple of times. He didn't think he'd ever really been to Kaito's house.
He followed Aoko up the pathway, coming to stand next to her on the doorstep. She rang the doorbell, and Hakuba could hear the loud ding vibrate through the house. It took a few moments, but eventually the door was opened by an amused looking Kaito. He looked as if he had just been laughing over something.
The magician froze when he saw Hakuba, his eyes narrowing a bit. "What do you want, Hakuba?" He asked, raising an eyebrow a little. Hakuba gave him a curt look, holding his head high.
"I came to meet your brother," was all he said, keeping it as vague as possible. Kaito looked a bit surprised at this, then sudden understanding crossed his face.
"Oh. I'll go get him, then."
1412
Kaito silently cursed. Of course Hakuba of all people would come to his door. It had most likely been the name 'Sharokku' that had ticked him off. The half-British detective had an intense interest in Sherlock Holmes. Wasn't it bad enough that he suspected Kaito of being Kid, though? He was bound to try and find something off about Shinichi. Or (and this was even worse) start telling the shrunken detective of his belief that Kaito was Kaitou Kid. That would lead to a whole other mess.
Kaito began walking up to the couch where Shinichi was sitting with a mug full of coffee in his hand, reading a book. He shook the minute detective's shoulder, pulling him out of his zealous reading. The shrunken detective looked up at him with an annoyed look. "What do you want?" He asked, taking a sip of his coffee.
Kaito sighed, gesturing towards the door. "There's another high school detective who wants to meet you," he explained. Shinichi raised an eyebrow at him, closing his book and setting it down.
"Why?" He asked, getting up off the couch and cradling his mug in his hands like it was some sort of precious gemstone. Kaito sighed once again, shrugging his shoulders.
"It's probably the name you chose. You are going to forever attract Sharokku Homuzu fans," he said, and Sharokku seemed to consider this for a moment.
"Maybe not the wisest name choice..." The not-child muttered after a moment, shaking his head. "Oh well. Let's just get this over with. It might be nice to know another Sharokku Homuzu enthusiast..." He said with a bit of a wistful expression. He then walked over to the door, standing on his tiptoes and opening the door fully with the hand that did not possess the mug full of coffee.
Kaito watched him for a moment, then followed the shrunken detective. He exited the house and pulled the door shut behind him. The scene he was met with was Shinichi and Hakuba gazing at each other, and Aoko standing awkwardly on the sidelines, messing with a zipper on her bag.
"Hello, Niisan! My name is Kuroba Sharokku. Nice to meet you!" Shinichi exclaimed in the most adorable child voice Kaito had ever heard. He gazed up innocently at Hakuba, who gaped down at him, seeming a little shocked.
"Hello, Sharokku-kun. My name is Hakuba Saguru. I am pleasured to make your acquaintance," the half-British detective said, blinking at the child a couple times. Kaito walked up next to Shinichi, and Hakuba blinked again, looking between the two people, no doubt noticing their similarities.
Kaito looked down at Shinichi, then up at Hakuba, wondering what was going to happen next. For now they seemed to just be standing awkwardly, none sure what do say or do next.
Finally growing tired of the dragging quiet, Kaito continued the conversation for them. "So, this is my little brother, as you can tell. Is there anything else?" Kaito crossed his arms. Hakuba gazed at Kaito for a few seconds, then took on a haughty smile and shrugged.
"No. I just wanted to meet him." The high school detective then directed his attention to Shinichi, leaning down a bit. "I'll see you around? There's a Kid heist soon. I hope to see you there, Sharokku-kun," Hakuba smiled, then stood back up straight, bowing to Aoko. "Thank you for allowing me to tag along. See you at school tomorrow." And then Hakuba was off, heading in the direction of his house.
Kaito cursed the half-British detective. Now, Shinichi was sure to want to try and attend the Kid heist. This was going to be a problem.
Kaito watched him leave, and once he left, Aoko went up to him and handed him a small stack of papers. "Here's your school work. Should Aoko expect you over for dinner?" She said, and Kaito took the papers with a nod. Aoko smiled and crouched down next to Shinichi. "Aoko can make dessert for you. What would you like?" She asked, ruffling his hair.
Shinichi smiled, gazing up wide-eyed at her. "Lemon pie is my favorite," He said, tipping his head to the side and smiling back. Aoko nodded at him, then stood up, a determined look on her face. "Okay. I can do that," she said, hitting a fist into the palm of her hand. She then walked down the path, heading towards her own home with a wave.
"Alrighty. That was interesting," Kaito said as he stood there, gazing ahead next to Shinichi. Shinichi made a sound of agreement.
"What's all this about a Kid heist?" The shrunken detective asked after a few moments as they both gazed off into the distance.
"Don't worry about it. It's just some thief's heist that takes place a couple of nights from now..." Kaito said, perfect poker face in full power.
Shinichi made a thoughtful sound. "I might attend, then. Sounds interesting." Oh curse that Hakuba! Now he was going to have an even harder time keeping his secret from the minute detective.
"If you want. I honestly do like them myself, but I don't think I'll attend this time," Kaito replied nonchalantly, trying to subtly drive Shinichi from wanting to go to the heist. If Shinichi attended the heist, it was just getting the minute detective a step closer to discovering his secret.
Shinichi didn't respond to that. He just made another thoughtful sound in the back of his throat. They both fell to a comfortable silence then, in which Kaito mentally freaked out about Shinichi and his own secret identity.
"Oh, and Kaito?" Shinichi asked, breaking the silence after a few minutes and looking up at the teenage magician. Kaito looked down at him in turn, cocking his head. "Can we head over to Beika tomorrow? My mom just sent me a text seeing if we could meet them there. I also want to check my mail."
Kaito considered this for a moment. He didn't see much wrong with it, other than the chance of running into people who might know Shinichi, but even that wasn't much of a problem. "Okay. I don't see why not. Oh! And we can visit that girlfriend of yours while we're at it! We might as well keep an eye on her, just in case," he replied, eyes brightening.
Shinichi froze, then shook his head. "No. I want to keep her completely out of this. Just no."
Kaito huffed, folding his arms. "She's got to be worried sick over you, and you don't even want to make some sort of contact? You're so cold-hearted!" He said dramatically.
Shinichi harrumphed, folding his own arms over his chest. "I said no, and I mean no. I just want to keep her safe," he replied. The not-child then turned heel and stalked into the house, leaving it at that. Kaito watched him go, then sighed, following him inside. Oh well. He had tried. He would probably just have another go at it later after Shinichi had thought on it a little.
Once Kaito had locked the door, he went over to the kitchen, hoping to make some hot chocolate for himself. He had a feeling tomorrow was going to be another busy day. They were going to need a good night's sleep again. No more watching stars from rooftops until one in the morning.