Written August 19 2021
Posted on Wattpad September 18 2021
Posted here January 21 2022
NEXT UPDATE is on February 4 2022
Lapin felt mostly lost as he followed after Kaito as the other directed himself out of the room. The wheelchair was obviously an expensive one, it made barely any noise despite being motorized. It also showed the subtle signs of use that a new one wouldn't have such as faded armrests. It was also just barely wide enough to hold Kaito's thin frame, making it less bulky than the average wheelchair.
When they got to the stairs, Lapin watched curiously as Kaito positioned his wheelchair near the top and, reaching down to secure the wheels into some subtle grooves that were embedded into the floor. A seat belt followed soon after, having been pulled out of a wall compartment "I designed this myself" Kaito breathed, having sensed the other's curiosity. It was different from the average stair climbing device. Now secure, Kaito pushed a button on the wall.
Seeing the platform descend while maintaining it's horizontal state was interesting. The staircase was covered completely by a wall on each side, allowing the platform to receive support from both sides instead of only being attached to one side. Looking closer, Lapin deduced that the one side seemed to be a new addition to the house compared to the rest of the walls "That's impressive..." He really didn't know what else he was supposed to say to that. Once Kaito had reached the bottom, Lapin descended the stairs.
Kaito hummed, eyeing his left arm. The bruising had worsened, it was an ugly purple and swelling quite a bit. It was painful, very painful. He really hoped that his arm wasn't broken. His bones didn't feel floaty like they had that one time he'd been stupid and slammed against a building. It'd been before Ginzo had gotten shrunk "Your kick's also impressive" Kaito remarked "I'll make you something similar to replace your shoes" The shoes were something that Conan had had, Lapin couldn't use the same tools.
Lapin hunched his shoulders, looking solemn "Right"
"What happened?!" Aoko was on them the moment they entered the living room, eyes wide as she took in Kaito's condition "You're hurt!"
Kaito flinched back as much as he could with a hiss as Aoko tried to examine his arm "Yeah, Lapin thought that I was faking an injury in order to get his guard down" He replied defensively cradling his injured arm.
Aoko turned to Lapin, ready to scold him before pausing. He looked so tired, more tired that someone his physical age should look. Lapin was obviously remorseful of his actions, and was probably already dealing with a lot mentally considering how long they'd been in Kaito's room. She glanced at Kaito, he also looked unusually tired. Turning back towards Lapin, she greeted him "I'm Nakamori Aoko, I'm sorry that we had to meet under such circumstances"
Lapin nodded "I'm apparently Kuroba Lapin, I wish the circumstances were better as well" He added on tiredly. Aoko looked so much like Ran, it made his chest hurt just looking at her. This was really happening, he was actually going to go along with Kaito's plan... Lapin swallowed, the action suddenly feeling very difficult "Thank you for letting me stay here"
Seeing Lapin so sad made Kaito feel sad, he didn't like it when people were sad "We have lemon pie for dessert" The situation was kinda grim, and saying that everything would be fine didn't seem right. So Kaito resorted to mentioning the food he'd bought specifically for the sleuth "We also have lots of coffee, even though it's inferior to hot chocolate"
Knowing that Kaito's injury still needed to be addressed, Aoko sighed "Instead of physio, you're getting your arm checked out tomorrow"
Kaito nodded "I wouldn't be able to do as much anyways" He only had one limb that was both functioning and uninjured "Can I have some ice?" The freezer was a bit too tall for him like this "It's not broken"
Lapin just dully examined the living room, it was nice. Spacious. The furniture was spread out enough for Kaito to manoeuvre, and the couches and armchairs seemed to be from the same set since all of them were a nice tan colour. It was also very clean, he made a mental note to himself to make sure that he didn't leave anything on the floor. He usually didn't, but sometimes he forgot. Unlike how it'd been at the detective agency, he would be staying with someone who'd need the floors to be clear of clutter. At least until Kaito healed, even then keeping up the habit would probably be for the best.
Aoko just let out a sigh as she fetched an ice pack and wrapped it in a towel before handing it to Kaito who quickly applied it to his arm "Dad went out to pick up some takeout so you'll have to wait if you want to talk to him"
Kaito grinned, greasy food was great comfort food "It's been a while since we've had takeout" His smile then quickly fell as he realized that Ginzo would inevitably find out that he'd managed to get hurt. He glanced back at the hallway that led to the stairs "Do you think that you could get me one of my sweaters?"
"No, I think showing off that arm of yours would be a good thing" Aoko replied, smirking.
Deflating with defeat, Kaito let out a dramatic sigh "Fine..." He then noted that Lapin seemed to be spacing out, looking lost "Hey Lapin"
It took a few moments for Lapin to realize that he was the one being addressed "Yes?"
"I know that this isn't going to be something that you want to hear, but I don't think I should just suddenly spring it on you"
Lapin blinked, feeling uneasy "What's going to happen?"
Kaito felt horrible, but knew that his way would be safest "You're going to have to get a haircut, preferably one that's make your hair messy like mine" Kaito's shoulders slumped at Lapin's sour face "Your current hairstyle is very identifying, you look too much like you" Indigos softened "Thankfully I look similar to you, so you won't have to change too much" Just enough to look more like Kuroba Kaito than Kudo Shinichi.
Azure dulled a bit "Okay"