Mangle
words: 370
Oh joy, another day at school.
"You continue to thoroughly mangle all expectations I have of you." Hakuba's voice popped the happy little bubble of Kaito's day dream about another bantering match with Shinichi.
Blinking blankly at Hakuba he asked, quite intelligently, "Huh?"
Hakuba reached over and tugged a book laying on Kaito's desk out from under a half open notebook. "Reading Holmes now, Kuroba-kun? Planning to masquerade as a detective?"
Kaito blinked in surprise. He hadn't even meant to pick that up! It must have gotten caught among his other school things.
"Not exactly the best book to begin with though," Hakuba murmured. "Considering Holmes dies in it."
"It was a gift from a friend," Kaito said churlishly. "And, I know, I've already read it."
The half-Brit gave him a surprised look then said, "You know Doyle brought him back to life in The Adventure of the Empty House, due to pressure from the fans. However most fans say that Holmes was changed, was never the same, after his 'death.'"
Hakuba was still talking, but Kaito wasn't listening to him. His mind had focused on that bit of information then blanked out for a second in shock. It couldn't be, could it?
What was that nickname they had for Kudou? The Heisei Holmes? Conan disappeared and Shinichi reappeared. There was disparity between one event and the other but...
("Sometimes things change."
"You should know, Kaitou Kid-san, that riddles aren't meant to make sense until you solve them!"
"Think of it as an exercise into knowing your enemy. You might learn something.")
The sense of familiarity, the way Kudou avoided speaking about the small detective, the intelligence far beyond a six year old's capabilities, the strange deja vu and vertigo he got when talking to him, and, of course, those other words...
("My associates no longer believe Kudou Shinichi is dead."
"Is that how it is? Never mind that, my sneaky Poltergeist, I'm sure I'm understood well enough.")
Kaito could remember his own response back then, and realized now, foolishly, that those words had to do with everything.
He understood now, but there was one question that remained: How?