Stop prompting me! I end up writing when I should be resting! Meanies. (No, I'm not actually annoyed.)
A Day in the Life
Of a Very Odd High School Guest
Caregiver
Conan rubbed his forehead, frowning slightly. Normally he was actually relatively happy to be in school with Kaito, even if he had to pretend to do his kiddie work while listening to the actual teachers and occasionally running damage control on Kaito's more crazy stunts. It was so much more interesting than actual kiddie school that he was grateful, even though he'd found high school boring at his proper size. It was all about perspective—and it did help that Kaito was a year older than him, and thus a year further ahead in school.
Today, though, he was unaccountably tired and his head was starting to hurt. He didn't want to be getting sick again, but that's what the signs were pointing towards. Kaito would be annoyed if he tried to hide it, but he didn't want to go home. Home was boring, and he didn't feel bad enough to sleep, just yet.
But Kaito worried. More for him than he probably would for a real child, and—well, Kaito knew what had happened and some of the repercussions, so that was actually kind of understandable. Shinichi would worry if their positions were reversed, did worry when Haibara got sick, though her immune system was better than his own.
Conan sighed quietly, not really wanting to draw attention in class, but he was feeling worse faster than normal, and maybe things were getting a little blurry around the edges.
He sensed more than saw Kaito twist around to look at him as he ducked his head and closed his eyes, grimacing at a spike of pain behind his eyes.
"Conan?" Kaito asked, cautious, and Conan was distantly aware of the class discussion stopping abruptly.
He ignored the sudden silence but for a brief thought of thanks for the relief, grunting acknowledgement of Kaito's questioning tone.
"Migraine?" he asked softly.
Conan gave a sound of agreement.
"And we don't have meds for you—we need to look into that. Hey—no, don't do that," Kaito was there, keeping him from curling forward to rest against the desk. "It'll make it worse if your neck cramps. Come on; we're leaving. Do you want to just go home, or should I take you to a doctor?"
"Home. Not as bad as usual," Conan replied, voice carefully even. "Just hit faster."
He could feel the frown, "Right. Okay. I'll call your doctor anyway, see what she thinks, but for now let's just get you home."
Conan didn't respond, not really wanting to further aggravate his head. It had hit faster than usual, out of the proverbial left field, which could indicate something wrong. Calling Haibara wasn't a bad idea.
Soft cloth settled over his eyes and the light leaking through his eyelids disappeared. Conan gave a soft hum of thanks as he heard Kaito tell his teacher he was leaving. The teacher only gave a vaguely stunned-sounding agreement before they were moving, a door clicking softly shut somewhere behind Kaito.
As much as it sucked to be tiny and weak, it was… nice, to have someone who took care of him like this. It felt different than when Ran did—Kaito worried and sometimes hovered, but he didn't fuss. He helped without getting to the point of being annoying—Ran had fussed fairly often when he was sick and just wanted to be let alone.
And, okay, Kaito didn't leave him 'alone', per say, but he planted himself quietly in a corner and let Shinichi sleep uninterrupted unless there was something obviously going wrong enough to require intervention. It was… comforting, even, to know someone like Kaito was watching over him.
Kaito was safety and home and family. He hadn't had that in… a very long time. (He never thought he'd be grateful for having Kaito show up as a ghost, but the way things had turned out made him grateful for it all the same.)
xxxx
The teacher wasn't the only one left blinking at the classroom door when Kaito took his young charge out of the room after carefully covering his eyes with a dark blue silk scarf. The soft sound of relief hadn't been missed in the dead silence that had emerged in the wake of hearing Kaito being quiet, and Aoko finally made a sound of intrigue. "I've never seek Kaito act so…"
"Responsible?" Keiko asked.
Aoko shook her head, "Well, yes, but… I don't know. Caring, maybe?"
"Paternal?" Hakuba offered.
She nodded, "Something like that. I was a little worried when we heard that Kaito had been named Conan-kun's guardian, but… well, it seems to be going okay, and that was…"
Hakuba nodded, "Kuroba obviously cares about Conan-kun, and he's surprisingly good at finding a balance between treating the boy like the extremely intelligent mind he is, and taking care of him as children need to be cared for. Still, I am relieved it is working out as well as it has been, and that was enlightening. Although I admit to being sorry that Conan-kun had to suffer for us to see it."
Aoko frowned, "I didn't know Conan-kun gets migraines."
"Neither did I," Hakuba glanced at the door, visibly concerned, "He's young to have to deal with those. I hope he's all right."
"Looks like Kuroba-kun's doing just fine taking care of him," Keiko waved dismissively. "He'll be fine with a caregiver like that!"
xxxx
