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Chapter 10
Days turned into weeks, then months, and Conan found himself relying on Kaito more than he'd ever thought possible. He wasn't just a source of protection (or comfort, though that one was still a little hard to admit aloud), he was rapidly becoming Conan's main link to sanity.
Hakuba occasionally stopped by, giving resigned reports on how Kaito's family (as Conan knew the erstwhile thief thought of the Nakamoris and Jii as well as Chikage) was doing.
Nakamori-keibu had given up hope of finding Kaito alive, but hadn't told his daughter that. Jii and Chikage had been convinced he'd been killed since the third day, but neither would say it outright. Kuroba Kaito had been labeled 'missing' and Kaitou Kid's coinciding silence had the elder Nakamori getting suspicious.
Haibara, on a less depressing note, was making progress with her research on an antidote to the Apotoxin, and said she had something she wanted him to try, so do please arrange a 'vacation with his family'.
Conan knew exactly what his excuse would be, and when he called his parents, they were resigned to playing along. Something in his father's tone said that Kaito meant something to them—something important. It took a moment to click.
Kudo Yuusaku had been named Kuroba Kaito's godfather. He had to be feeling guilty, thinking he'd failed by not being there, by using his 'watch from a distance' parenting policy, and was probably getting less at ease with Conan being in Tokyo without his parents' protection.
Conan sighed when he hung up, glancing at the shimmer of white that—while hazy and transparent—was getting clearer every day. "Kai-nii?" he asked, always careful to use that form of address when in the Agency regardless of whether or not there was anyone else in the immediate vicinity.
White shifted and a phone buzzed, '?'
"Haibara has something she wants to test next week. I'll be able to be myself for a while."
A pause, then a second question mark.
"You still need an alibi," Conan pointed out.
'You want to stage a heist?'
"Not exactly," Conan admitted. "I can play the visible part, but you know I'm better at picking tricks apart than setting them up."
A slight modification to the previous text, 'You want to stage a heist with me?'
"Pretty much," Conan agreed. "You—haven't found what you're looking for, yet, right?" he didn't mention the fear he felt at the thought of Kaito actually finding whatever that was. If that was the reason he'd been able to stay, Conan didn't want him to find it. Didn't want him to leave. But that was selfish, and Kaito deserved better than this not-life.
'I'll head to the workshop while you're at kiddie school and start researching. I'll meet you at your classroom when your school gets out—please don't leave until I get there. I don't want to have to track you down.'
Conan nodded, "I'll be in the library if I'm not in the classroom."
A tap on his shoulder indicated acknowledgement, and Conan took a breath as the sense of presence and flicker of white (only seen from the corner of his eye) vanished together.
He sighed, leaning forward to rub at his face. Kaito was his anchor, now, but… he couldn't be selfish. Not in this. He'd help Kid complete his mission, and if that let Kaito rest…
It would be a good thing, Shinichi told himself, and he would do it. For Kaito's sake.
(He knew, by then, that Kaito would never ask, and if he was going to find peace, it would only be with Shinichi's offer.)
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It wasn't until Haibara asked what was wrong that he realized how much he'd come to count on Kaito's presence. That flicker of hazy white at the edge of his vision had become so much a part of his days that not having it there was more distracting than Kaito's random tapped English Morse messages.
Would he even know if something went wrong? What if Kaito just… disappeared?
"Edogawa-kun?" Haibara's questioning tone had Conan blinking and looking in her direction, wincing to himself.
If Haibara was acknowledging his twitching, it had to be pretty bad. "It's fine, Haibara," he murmured, keeping his voice low enough to avoid most of the class's attention, but since Kobayashi was hovering again… yeah, well, she had a vague idea, anyway. "Nii-san had to go somewhere today, but I've gotten so used to not-quite-seeing him that it's a little unnerving."
Kobayashi ruffled his hair with a cheery smile, obviously having heard. "Your Onii-san will be fine, I'm sure."
Of course she would think that, Conan didn't say. She thought Kaito was a Shinigami.
"I know," Conan chirped instead, "I just keep wondering if he's trying to sneak up on me again!" (Which was one thing Kaito hadn't—wouldn't do, under the circumstances. Kid at a heist? Sure. Kaito with Conan? Sure. Ghost-Kaito with Shinichi? Never.)
Kobayashi gave a combination of a wince and a smile, "Ah, well, I'm sure it'll be fine, Conan-kun."
Conan nodded, dismissing the topic, and tried to focus on the mind-numbingly boring schoolwork in front of him. Since it was kiddie school, he already knew all of the material, but it occurred to him that he needed something to actually work on that wouldn't have Kobayashi twitching.
… Handwriting? He did have really bad calligraphy, and it wasn't like improving his handwriting would raise any alarms…
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Hours later, a flicker of indistinct white resolved into a faint but familiar shape and Conan breathed out, relieved. Then he froze, realizing that he could actually see Kaito, not just as a flicker or indistinct shadow, but as himself in Kid-uniform (as he had been since that night).
"Kai-nii," he said softly, uncertain if anyone else was within hearing range between the stacks (being so short sucked), "I can… see you." As Kaito had described himself, like a reflection in a window, a little faded and see-through but there.
Kaito's visible eye widened, the monocle obscuring the other completely, and Conan saw his breath hitch. He wasn't sure Kaito needed to breathe, actually, but he did breathe and that was enough. His lips moved in a shocked exclamation, and Conan caught something, a faint not-whisper at the very edge of his hearing.
No, that was his mind assigning sound to the word he knew had been attempted. If Kaito couldn't hear himself, there was no way Conan would hear him. Still… "I said I can see you," he repeated in answer to the silent question.
Kaito swallowed and slowly, carefully went to one knee, spreading his arms a bit with an expression that was as much fear as hope.
Conan took two steps and flung himself into the requested embrace, understanding Kaito's need for proof and so wildly relieved himself that it was easy to let his usual reserve slide, just for a while.
Conan felt Kaito's lips moving against his hair and he huffed against a transparent cape-latch. "I can't read your lips from here, ba'arou. I've got a face full of shoulder."
Breath puffed against his head as the shoulder beneath him shook slightly in something that was probably more relieved hysteria than mirth, then he was being pushed back to arm's length to see Kaito repeat 'Thank you.'
He understood the sentiment, but… "You don't need to thank me. Even if I knew how this—you're family. I couldn't…"
Another huffed breath, 'Even so.'
Conan smiled, a little wry. "Let's get out of here."
Kaito grinned back, all Kid, 'We've got a heist to plan.'
xxxx
Grateful that he had no reason to hide, here, Shinichi glanced over the plans that had already been made. After a moment's consideration, he frowned, "I'm not sure how much of this I can do," he admitted. "I know you'll take care of most of the magic, but… well, I'm always kind of unsteady after an antidote. If it'll last long enough and we make sure the heist is after I've had at least twelve hours to adjust, it should be fine, but we need to double check that with Haibara."
Kaito nodded, then gestured to some of the equipment scattered across the tabletop.
Shinichi nodded back, picking up one of Kid's most iconic items. Aside from the outfit, cape-glider, hat, and monocle; the card-gun was probably the international criminal's best-known trademark.
Kaito grinned a Kid-grin and showed him how to take it apart and the two of them spent the next several hours going through equipment and plans.
xxxx
Haibara clearly thought Shinichi was an idiot when he explained to her, but she also apparently knew him well enough to see he wasn't going to stand down. "Well," she informed, "If you insist on seeing what it's like on the other side of the law, I can at least make sure your body won't shrink in the middle of the heist.
Shinichi relaxed a bit, "Thanks, Haibara. You don't need to worry about it too much, though—I've got a Kaitou watching my back."
A sardonic eyebrow quirk added several lines of subtext to the miniature scientist's next comment, "That is the only reason I'm not locking you up for the duration. I'll assume Kid has protective equipment that will fit you, and this particular batch of the antitoxin should last roughly ninety hours, with an error margin of six in either direction."
Shinichi breathed out in relief, "Good. That'll give us some time to practice if we set this up right—when do you want to start the trial?"
"Whenever you can arrange that 'family trip'. You may need to actually have your actress mother here to do so, however."
Shinichi shook his head, "It would be easier to arrange to have Agasa-hakase pick me up and tell them I'm going to meet my family at the airport."
Haibara pursed her lips briefly, "That is true. Well, either way, it's best you make sure to arrange things."
"I already have their okay, but Kaa-san did say they needed to know how long. So…"
"Make it five days," Haibara instructed. "If you end up lasting the full four, you'll still need at least a day in recovery after the fact. The usual warnings apply, of course, and I'll need to know as soon as possible to start arraigning my own schedule."
Shinichi nodded, noticing Kaito frowning at him from the corner of his eye, and gave a quick farewell before taking the passage to his own house. Kaito obviously wanted to ask something, and he wasn't having whatever conversation it was going to end up being within Haibara's hearing range.
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