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(36)
Invitation

Ran wasn't quite sure about inviting Shinichi—not because she didn't want him there, but because Kazuha was just as freaked out by supernatural things as she usually was herself, and had none of Ran's history with Shinichi to offset the shock. Trying to act as a mediator... well, it might work. Maybe.

Then again, the way Hattori was glancing between her and Kazuha probably meant he knew about Shinichi's 'condition'. Ran sighed, "It's fine, Hattori-kun. Shinichi—well, Takagi-keiji—explained, and you should see him with the kids! It's so cute!"

"Kudo told ya?"

She nodded, "I may have freaked out at him, but Takagi-keiji was there and he and Sato-san talked me down. Oh, and have you met Kuroba-kun? He has a friend who looks just like me! It's eerie! They're childhood friends, too!"

Hattori blinked at her, "Huh," he said after a few more moments. "Kudo's life is weird."

Ran snickered and heard Sonoko snort, "That detective geek? He's always been weird!"

Hattori made an acknowledging sound just in time for a very dry, "Thank you, I do try," to come from off to the side.

Ran wasn't the only one to jump. "Shinichi!" she complained, "Don't do that!"

Shinichi offered a sheepish sort of smile, and Hattori stared for a second, "Uh, Kudo—yer teeth're... ah..."

Ran saw Kazuha freeze out of the corner of her vision, and Sonoko tilted her head to peer at Shinichi more intently.

He pressed his lips together, looking annoyed, but he clearly knew he wasn't going to be able to avoid talking forever and his fangs were pretty noticeable at this point. "Thanks, Hattori," he sighed, and—yeah, those were the fangs.

Still, she'd last seen him well over a week ago, and they seemed the same size this time, unlike when she'd met him at the park a week-ish after she'd talked to him at the agency. "At least they aren't any longer," Ran offered in a weak attempt at comfort.

Shinichi snorted, ignoring everyone but Ran on what appeared to be sheer principle. "No, they've measured steady for a bit over a week. I think they're... uh, fully in."

Ran felt a little bad for him as he cast a wincing glance upwards, "Why don't we go inside?" she offered. "We'll at least be out of the sun."

He tipped his head and followed as she turned towards the door, Kazuha and Sonoko still kind of staring but Hattori snapping out of it.

"Ya okay, Kudo? Ya seem a li'l..." Hattori waved vaguely.

Shinichi rolled his eyes, "I'm fine, Hattori. I came straight from a crime scene and I have paperwork to fill out at the station tonight, and I've got a headache and I am a little hungry, but nothing serious."

Ran blinked, "Wow, Kuroba-kun's really training you to be honest about your health, isn't he?"

Sonoko snapped out of her daze, "Wait, wait!" she made a 'time out' symbol with her hands, "What's with the teeth?"

Shinichi growled, one his fangs glinting as the corner of his lip curled up before he quelled the expression, "Inside," he ordered. "I've been in the sun for hours and my head is killing me."

Ran giggled as Sonoko gaped, snagging Kazuha's arm to tug her along and leaning over to whisper, "Really, it's fine, Kazuha-chan. He's so careful it's adorable."

She shook herself and hissed straight back, "Ran-chan! Is he really?"

"Vampire?" Ran offered quietly, "He seems to think so, and the police agree. Apparently he got shot through the right lung in front of police witnesses and walked away. He was fine the next morning."

Kazuha gaped at her, a faint squawking sound catching in her throat.

"That was my first reaction," Ran smiled sympathetically, "but he's so careful not to hurt anyone that it really is cute. And Kuroba-kun seems to be training him to take better care of himself."

Kazuha's mouth worked for a few seconds and then she sort of deflated, "I'm going to be nervous around him forever," she mourned.

Ran patted her shoulder, "It's fine. He won't hold it against you, and neither will I."

Up ahead, she heard Hattori demanding to know if Shinichi had taken his 'meds', and when the answer was an irritated negative, the Osakan detective scowled and started rummaging through Shinichi's shoulder-bag while he was still wearing it, earning an indignant "Hey!" before coming up with a silver packet and a thermos.

"Will this dissolve wit' cold water?" Hattori asked, waving the packet in Shinichi's direction.

"No," Shinichi grumped.

Hattori nodded and jogged off towards a nearby tea-shop with both thermos and packet, much to Shinichi's visible exasperation. "Him and Kaito, really," he huffed.

Sonoko apparently couldn't keep quiet any longer, "Okay, what's with the teeth—and the growling, what's with the growling?"

Shinichi bared said teeth at her with another growl, this one sounding more frustrated than annoyed. "I," he stated distinctly, "want it on record that I did not ask for this."

"Shinichi's a vampire," Ran added helpfully.

Sonoko paused, blinked, and then pointed out, "Sun? Burning?"

Shinichi snorted, "And how many of the legends do you really think are true?"

Sonoko considered that, "Huh," she nodded thoughtfully, "Good point. So... which ones are?"

That was actually a good question, Ran had to concede.

"Fangs," Shinichi stated dryly before deliberately nicking his lip on one and licking away the tiny drop of blood to show the puncture already closed. "Healing—the sun gives me a headache after a while. My hearing's a little better, but not much and certainly not enough to be called supernatural. I think that's the healing—any of the usual degradation being corrected. A few other things are weird, and I keep growling at things—" the fact that he growled in frustration at that made Ran snicker and he huffed, visibly reigning himself back in.

Right about then, Hattori came back, thermos in hand and packet missing. "Here," he offered. "It's not too hot," he added, "Jus' added cold after I got it dissolved. Yer li'l doc makes weird stuff."

Shinichi nodded and unscrewed the lid, immediately gulping down some of the liquid therein before lowering it to lick bloody red from his lips. If Ran didn't already know about everything, she'd be severely creeped out. "Blood," he added, almost as an afterthought. "Although this is synthetic."

Sonoko stared, "So, I was going to bully you into joining me and Ran out at the villa near Otsu and invite Hattori-kun and Kazuha-chan as well, but now I'm not so sure."

Shinichi eyed her like she was nuts, "Has there ever been a villa-escape vacation that you've organized that did not have some mass murderer attend?"

"Which is why it was only going to be us. And Makoto and Honda-kun."

Shinichi tilted his head, "Yamato-san? I haven't actually met him."

"You'll probably like him," Ran assured, "He's a second cousin to an inspector in Nagano. Yamato Kansuke? Conan liked him when we were in Nagano's prefecture—Honda-kun isn't as harsh as Yamato-keibu, and he's got a good heart."

Shinichi hesitated, then sighed, "I suppose I wouldn't say 'no' outright, but..."

"You've been relying a lot on Kuroba-kun since this happened, haven't you?" Ran asked, suddenly a little concerned.

Shinichi nodded, "I know it's a little—but he had a witch in his high-school class, apparently, and he handles the whole thing like it's normal. It... helps."

"Witch?" Ran asked weakly, blinking.

Shinichi shrugged, a wry grin quirking his lips. "I'm hardly in a position to refute that, these days."

Kazuha made a whimpering sound, and Sonoko cackled outright. "Oh, oh, Kudo Shinichi has been wrong about something for years!"

Shinichi grimaced, "Please, Sonoko, my life has rubbed that in my face enough without you joining in."

Sonoko cackled for another few moments before settling somewhat, grinning broadly. "So... who's this 'Kuroba-kun'?"

Shinichi scowled at her, and Hattori blurted out a somewhat clumsy rescue. "Kudo's god-brother, apparently."

Ran blinked, "Really?"

Shinichi nodded, "Kuroba Toichi was my godfather. Tou-san's Kaito's. We didn't see much of each other after his dad died, though, not until... well. The whole mess with the Organization—they killed his dad and made it look like a stage accident. He's helped keep me sane, the past few years."

"Wait—Kuroba Kaito?" Sonoko demanded, bouncing to attention.

Ran twisted to blink at her, "You know him?"

"Yeah! Kaito-kun's my biggest rival for being KID-sama's number one fan!"

Shinichi snorted, "You win, Sonoko. You definitely win, hands down."

Sonoko gaped, completely derailed from whatever rant she'd been about to go on, and Ran had to give Shinichi a curious look herself. Shinichi shrugged back at her.

"Fans tend to be unreasonably enthusiastic. I might call Kaito KID's biggest supporter, but Kaito has good reason to support KID. Sonoko's just obsessed."

Ran choked on a snicker as Sonoko went from disbelieving to outraged.

Yup. Life was normal.

xxxx

When Shinichi popped up outside his classroom as his last class got out that day, Kaito was a bit concerned. Shinichi didn't tend to spontaneously show up on campus, after all—his fan base may not have possessed the enthusiasm that most of Kid's fans did, but it was just as widespread, and he wasn't particularly fond of dodging them.

And the fangs really did make for an awkward conversation with anyone not in the actual (or believed) 'know', as it were.

The fact that Shinichi looked like he was trying to decide whether or not 'amusement' was the appropriate response to whatever had brought him eased that concern a bit, but just to be on the safe side, Kaito asked as they started making their way down the hall.

The response wasn't what he'd expected.

"Sonoko's invited us to one of her family villas, the one out near Otsu, under the condition that neither you nor I is going to go on a mad killing spree. She's had bad luck with these things."

Kaito grinned, "Your luck, you mean?"

"That isn't funny," Shinichi scowled at him, seeming genuinely bothered.

Kaito immediately felt bad for teasing him on it, "Sorry," he apologized, scrambling for a way to cheer Shinichi back up.

Shinichi shook his head, "No, it's true. I've been there or Conan has, and… well, you know how that goes. She's only inviting people she's certain of, this time—her boyfriend, Ran and her boyfriend, Hattori, Kazuha, and me. Ran talked her into letting me invite you, but since you've apparently already met, that wasn't too hard."

Kaito tilted his head thoughtfully, "Suzuki Sonoko?" he asked, just to be sure.

Shinichi nodded, "I'd say no, but…"

"Ran and Hattori both want you to show."

"Kazuha, not so much," Shinichi grimaced.

"Ah… like Ran was, then?"

At the nod, Kaito offered a smile, slinging an arm around Shinichi's shoulders and tugging him sideways, bracing for the expected stumble. "She'll come around!" he declared, ruffling Shinichi's hair with his other hand.

Shinichi twisted free and tripped him, a quick grab guiding him to the floor safely but also keeping him from being able to catch himself.

Kaito pouted up at his boyfriend, "So mean."

Shinichi only raised an eyebrow and offered the same hand that had dropped him to help him back up.

Well, at least he was back to normal.

Kaito grinned and took the hand, bouncing back to his feet. "So, I can come? I won't be able to go with you unless you're willing to let me skip my Wednesday class, but hand me an address and I'll meet you there!"

Shinichi rolled his eyes, "Come on, you lunatic. Let's get you to a park for your daily walk—you have too much energy."

Kaito laughed, "Way to make me sound like a pet, Shin-shin. You're the one who needs looking after!"

But the antics were distracting nicely from the details, and no one had commented on Shinichi's presence or teeth. He was getting to be a bit of a magician in his own right, avoiding notice by attracting it.

Kaito was so proud.

xxxx