Chapter 9

Shinichi practically shoved Rei into his arms before forcing Kaito into hiding. The thief scowled as he listened to Shinichi walk down the hall. Rei whimpered and Kaito held him tighter while his other hand gripped his card gun tightly. If it was a leftover member of the Black Organization… he'd move before they could.

The door opened and Shinichi exclaimed, "Ran!?" Kaito relaxed, but only slightly. It could still be a disguise. "What are you doing here?"

"Meguire called me," Ran answered. It was definitely her voice, Kaito realized, unless the Black Organization had access to Agasa's voice-changing technology. "He was worried about you… Something about you saying no to a murder case?"

"Ah! Well… t-that's because…"

Kaito could practically feel Shinichi trying to make an excuse from here. Rolling his eyes, he looked down at Rei. "If you want to start crying, now would be the time." As though he understood, tears instantly formed in Rei-chan's eyes and he let out a low noise of distress. Kaito organized his face into a proper panicked expression before bursting into the hall. "Shinichi!" he shouted as though distressed. He rushed down the hall and held Rei out to him, displaying the baby to Ran's shocked face. A smirk tried to crawl up his face, but he held it down. "Your child needs you!"

Shinichi instantly ignored Ran in favor of Rei and Kaito indulged himself by allowing his smirk to appear in a flash. Shinichi rocked and shushed Rei like a natural parent.

Kaito knew what Ran did to Shinichi. He knew that she had screamed at Shinichi for over an hour when he tried to apologize. How she moved on, dating another man while Shinichi was still Conan. How she broke his heart.

Just the mention of her name set his teeth on edge.

Ran looked at the three of them, confusion evident in her eyes. "Shinichi… who are these people?"

Kaito smiled at her, but his eyes were hard. He held out a hand. "Kaito Kuroba, at your service, Mouri-san." Ran grasped the offered hand. "It's a pleasure to meet you at last. Shinichi and I met during his 3-year case. And the baby is Shinichi's cousin, Rei Edogawa, now Rei Kudo."

"Edogawa?" she gasped and Kaito got a glimpse at the pain the small mention of her pseudo little brother. "He's Conan's brother? What is he doing here? And what do you mean, he's now Rei Kudo."

"Conan…" Shinichi started, but swallowed and turned his head away. To Kaito, he looked guilty, probably for lying to her, but to people who didn't know the truth about Conan, he looked grief-stricken. "C-Conan and his family… they passed away. In a car crash." Ran inhaled sharply and she clapped a hand over her mouth as tears started to flow down her flushed cheeks. "Only Rei survived."

Ran trembled, shaking with sobs that she tried to keep in. Kaito bowed his head. Okay, so maybe she didn't really deserve this. Shinichi had been gone for a long time and she did love Conan with all of her heart. She wasn't a bad person just because she couldn't keep her life on hold anymore. But these thoughts didn't stop the jealousy curdling in his stomach when Shinichi reached out and touched her shoulder. "W-Was…" she could barely speak, but continued to try. "Was there a funeral?"

"Yes. In America," Shinichi said, apparently making it up on the spot. "It was a…family only affair. But it was very beautiful. Conan would have liked it."

She laughed a little. "Conan would have tried to peek into the caskets… t-to see cause of death…" More tears streamed from her eyes as she sobbed for several more minutes, each second sending another pang of guilt through both the thief and the detective's hearts. "O-Oh, god… I can't believe he's gone…" She sniffled, trying to put herself back together. "A-And you're going to take care of Rei-kun? All by yourself?"

"That's what I'm here for, Mouri-san," Kaito said, placing an arm across Shinichi's shoulders. The detective raised an eyebrow at him while Ran's eyes widened. "Shinichi and I became very close during that case. Of course, I'm going to move in with him to help take care of little Rei-chan."

A very satisfying blush rose up on Ran's cheeks as Shinichi stared up at him, confused. "Oh, yeah…" Shinichi muttered, then shook his head. "Anyway, Ran, we were about to go out shopping for a few things—baby clothes and the like. Do you want to come?"

"A-Ah… no, thank you Shinichi," she stuttered, her lower lip trapped between her teeth. "I need to go… Dad would want to know about Conan… and I… I need some time alone. To deal with it. I'm sorry, Shinichi."

"I understand, Ran."

The two watched her go, both noticing that her crying had started up again. Shinichi made a move to go after her, but Kaito held tight. "She wants to be alone, Tantei-kun," he said. "I know you feel bad, but what else were you going to do? Pretend to be Conan over the phone for months—even years? What happens when she wants "Conan" to come visit?"

"I know, but… I wish I wasn't causing her pain." Shinichi looked down at Rei and ran a hand through the baby's hair. Rei cooed in response. "I'll call her later, just to check on her. Besides, we should get going. Who knows when the stores close?"