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(11)
Shadows
Hattori had taken it reasonably well, all things considered. They were trolling him as much as the police force, after all, as Haibara had dryly pointed out that Hattori was painfully honest and thus incapable of keeping a secret. It was a miracle that no one had caught on from how often he'd called Shinichi-as-Conan by the name he couldn't safely use.
Thus the 'no talky' rule, as Kaito called it. As far as Hattori was concerned, Shinichi was a bona fide vampire (which he was, kind of, on the simplest interpretation). There was to be no mention of how he'd gotten that way, which meant Hattori still thought Shinichi was missing a few days' worth of memory.
That part, he didn't take so well.
"Kudo… that kind a' memory loss ain't like ya," he pointed out. "Ya didn't even block out get'n shrunk. What could make ya forget somethin'?"
Kaito apparently decided to field that one before Shinichi could come up with a better response than a discomfited grimace. "Hattori-san… every story I've ever heard has painted vampires as dead-and-back. Even the ones where they have heartbeats—which Shinichi does, thankfully—the legends say that they had to die and then be dragged back out of the afterlife. I don't know about you, but I think that sounds pretty traumatic."
Shinichi's grimace deepened. That did sound traumatic, and now he was disturbed by the idea. The careful-toned comment had stopped Hattori cold, too, and the Osakan's expression twisted in something between alarm and worry.
"Right," Hattori managed after a moment, shifting uncomfortably. "That… makes sense. Sorry, Kudo, shouldn't'a asked."
Shinichi shrugged, looking away. After a moment, he shook himself and glanced back at his Osakan friend, "Changing the subject, is there an ice-rink anywhere nearby?"
"Ice-rink?" Hattori blinked at him, clearly derailed from the 'undead by force' train of thought. "Yeah, there's one. Why? Ya wanna go?"
Shinichi gave a wan smile, "I would, yes. Kaito…"
Hattori followed Shinichi's glance to Kaito's disgruntled expression. "I can't skate," the magician informed Hattori, ignoring Shinichi entirely. "Shin-shin said he'd teach me, and I did agree earlier, but this is going to be humiliating."
Hattori only looked a bit confused, "Only if ya let it be, ahou. Kudo won't make fun of ya for not knowin' how ta do somethin', an' neither will I."
Kaito paused, considering Hattori for several seconds. Then he grinned.
Shinichi wasn't sure whether it was a good grin or a bad grin, but he had a moment of wondering if Hattori was going to still have black hair in the morning. Then he shook it off—Hattori was a bit… intense, sometimes, and more than a bit brash, but he was a good guy and really wouldn't make fun of Kaito's skating. He was probably safe from any individually-directed pranks.
"Thanks, Hattori-san!" Kaito's grin softened a bit, "That makes me feel a bit better. Shall we?"
"Yeah, sure," Hattori paused, "Well, once Kudo's finished?"
Kaito blinked and looked down at the giant mug he was still holding. "Oh, whoops—sorry, Shin-shin."
Shinichi rolled his eyes and took the mug back. He was just glad Kaito hadn't filled the thing. It had only been about a third full when he'd gotten it, and there was only about a third of that left. He chugged the remainder and dodged into the kitchen to rinse it out, not wanting to find out what Hattori's mother would do if she came home and saw something that looked like a bloody mug without an explanation.
Two minutes later, they were heading out the door. Another forty and they were walking into an indoor ice-rink, some with more enthusiasm than others.
xxxx
"It wasn't that bad, was it, Kaito?" Shinichi asked that evening as Kaito inspected a colorful patch on his forearm, sounding a little concerned.
Kaito considered. Yeah, he had a few bruises—most to his pride—but… well. "I guess not," he agreed, thinking of how Shinichi had steadied him over and over, showed him how to place his skate-clad feet and glide instead of walk (which had been where he'd been repeatedly going wrong, apparently, trying to treat ice like earth when it was water), and how even Tantei-han had offered tips without teasing. In the end, he was no pro-level skater, but he could start, stop, and turn without wrecking, and he could always practice until he got to a satisfactory level of ability. "It was… nice."
Shinichi smiled hesitantly and Kaito couldn't help but smile back. "We should do it again!"
That was apparently enough to settle whatever concerns his favorite detective had, because Shinichi relaxed and his smile turned more genuine. "Probably not here, though," he temporized, "I'm sure Hattori has places he wants to show me, and he's pretty happy to expound on the glories of Osaka to anyone he can drag along."
Kaito waved dismissively, "Eh, standard Osakan pride. If he wants to lead a tour, that's fine with me!"
Shinichi grinned, "You might regret saying that."
"Nonsense!" Kaito gave his own grin, "A tour from a native? All I need to do is mention my love of high views and I'll have a great map of how to glide Osaka!"
Shinichi made a sound between a laugh and a groan, covering his eyes with one hand, "Oh, gods, I'm abetting, now."
Kaito's grin only grew.
xxxx
The next day went peacefully enough, up until a murder outside one of the train stations as they were heading back to the Hattori estate. It hadn't been planned, an obvious crime-of-passion with witnesses, which made it quickly dealt with, but the darkening sky had Shinichi noticing something that he really should have thought of earlier. The bands on his wrists and ankles glowed softly, which wasn't even visible in the light, but if he ever had to stay out of sight in the dark…
He shook his head, stepping back to let Hattori explain the situation to the police, and tilted his head at a clearly upset Kaito.
Well. 'Clearly' being a relative term. The need to contact the Hakase and Haibara for an alternative would at least provide a distraction, so…
"Kaito?"
As the magician focused on him, he shifted his sleeve up just enough for the blue glow to catch Kaito's eye, and the way Kaito's focus zeroed in on the problem was confirmation that the murder had really upset him.
Shinichi decided to talk to him about it when they were back in the relative privacy of the Hattori guest room they were sharing. Meanwhile, though, the distraction would have to serve. "Could you call Haibara while I help Hattori deal with this? Maybe for a color-change effect instead of luminescence? I'm pretty sure it's an electro-chemical reaction."
Kaito nodded, "Yeah, you don't need to be a blue firefly."
… Definitely needed to talk. Shinichi hated the murders, but they were so routine that it wasn't hard to separate them out from the rest of his life, anymore. He'd had far too much practice at separating out his work from everything else—he had to, or he'd lose his mind. He couldn't think of all the death as part of his life; there was too much of it for that. He knew how to compartmentalize… and, if Kaito was going to be sticking around, he'd have to learn how to do something similar.
Kaito wasn't a detective. He hadn't signed up for death—well, neither had Shinichi, exactly, but Kaito had chosen to follow a profession-set that really was meant to entertain and bring happiness. While Shinichi hadn't asked to stumble over death everywhere he went, he had chosen to be a detective, to track down the killers and get justice for the victims.
He pushed away the thought that Kaito might be better off staying away from him. They'd talk. If Kaito made that decision, then… well, Shinichi would deal with it if it came. But it was Kaito's decision to make, and Shinichi had to trust him to know if he needed to make it. He wasn't going to be the one to walk away, not this time.
But he wouldn't hold on, if Kaito was the one to leave.
xxxx
