Written August 26 2021
Posted on Wattpad October 2 2021
Posted here February 4 2022


When Ginzo returned home with the takeout, he was moderately alarmed that Kaito was back in his wheelchair. As grateful as the teen was for the device, Kaito preferred to spend as little of time as possible in it. The inspector's gaze narrowed, Kaito's arm didn't look too good so his new but hopefully temporary ward must have put up a fight. Considering that the shrunken sleuth was just sitting quietly on the couch, he figured that whatever bad feelings there'd been had already passed "I picked up some pizza" He stated as he placed the boxes onto the coffee table. He'd gotten three boxes since leftovers were always nice.

Kaito's eyes lit up as he directed himself close to the boxes "I love pizza"

Aoko just smiled and left to go fetch everyone some plates "Don't touch it until you have a plate"

Ginzo eyed the tiny sleuth, the boy looked both sad and resigned "So did you go along with Kaito's plan?"

Lapin nodded "I will be going by the name Kuroba Lapin" He gave a small bow "Thank you for allowing me to stay here Nakamori Keibu" At least his new and hopefully temporary guardian was part of the police force. The presence of cases, even if they weren't murder related would be something familiar to him.

"Just call me Ginzo, or Keibu like Kaito does. Calling me by my last name would seem odd considering I'll be playing the role of your adoptive father"

"Wait, what will happen to the identity known as Kuroba Lapin when I go back to being myself again?"

Kaito paused from eating his second slice of pizza "We'll stage an accident" Then he'd just have a dead brother on paper "It's better than just erasing a person"

"I said not to eat the pizza yet!" Aoko gave Kaito an annoyed swat, the teen just grinned as he accepted a plate. Aoko tossed a package of wet wipes at him, not wanting Kaito to get grease on his wheelchair's buttons. It wasn't like he'd be able to wash his hands first before touching the controls "I swear..." She just sighed before getting two pieces for herself.

Lapin reluctantly just grabbed a single piece of pepperoni pizza for himself. He didn't really have that much of an appetite right now, but he knew that he should probably eat something.

"You can eat more later" Ginzo offered "I know that it's hard to eat when you're feeling down"

"Yeah, just keep all food out of my room, cleaning my room is hard enough as it is" Kaito eyed Lapin "Nothing but water is allowed in my room"

"Kaito once knocked over his chocolate milk, it took him forever to get everything clean" Aoko smiled. It had mainly taken so long since it'd spilled all over his desk and onto the floor. That and her brother was adamant on being independent when it came to his room "He keeps his room clean himself"

"Right" Lapin could do that, he could see why sweeping would be a hassle for Kaito if he got crumbs on the floor. The rules he's been given have been reasonable so far.

Once Lapin had finished eating his slice, Kaito decided to speak "I'll make the phone calls when we're all done eating" He'd doubted that the sleuth would have any appetite after being reminded of that fact, so he'd waited until the other had eaten. The lemon pie could be eaten later.

Lapin's heart rate sped up at the reminder "Okay" He felt nauseous. He didn't want to sever his ties with them, not when he didn't know how long it would take for him to return safely.

Kaito met Aoko's gaze before glancing back at Lapin "It's been a while since we've slept in the same room together, I think we're due for another sleepover" Lapin would need some space tonight.

Aoko nodded "Maybe you could give me some blue streaks in my hair"

Ginzo blinked "Why do you even have hair dye?"

The girl just smiled "I've been trying out temporary dye to see how I'd look, I think I want some blue streaks" While she was telling the truth, the way Lapin had been mostly avoiding looking at her face had hurt a bit. She knew that she looked very similar to his best friend, mainly because seeing a face so similar to her own in the papers had been a very interesting experience.

Indigos softened "I'll do my best to make it look great" It was easy to catch on to what she was thinking. They all ate and talked, except for Lapin who was just waiting for Kaito to finish eating. The teen ate a surprising amount. Once Kaito had finished and wiped his hands, he directed his wheelchair towards the stairs "It's time to make those calls now Lapin"

Dread pooled in the tiny sleuth's stomach as he followed Kaito to their room. He didn't want this, but it would be safer for them if they did this.

"Who first?"

"Ran then Hakase" Ran's call would be less panicked.

Kaito nodded, pressing Ran's contact on what was once Edogawa Conan's phone. Lapin would get a new one.

"Conan-kun, where are you? It's late out" Ran was quick to speak.

Changing his voice to match the tiny sleuth's, Kaito replied "I'm sorry Ran-neechan! I ran into my parents today" He added a giddy tone to his words "You won't believe it! They want me to come back home" His voice became smaller "I missed them so much" Indigo glanced over to see that Lapin had written something "We can be a family again"

It was odd for Conan to sound like that, but she hadn't heard him speak much about his parents "Oh I'm so glad!" She loved it when families got back together "When are you leaving?" She tried not to sound sad. It wouldn't be right for her to keep Conan away from his family...

"Oh" Kaito made himself sound regretful "Right now, my parents were very adamant that I come home now... I'm so sorry Ran-neechan! The plane- I've got to go!" He quickly hung up then turned towards Lapin "It's supposed to sound a bit suspicious to throw off your inventor friend"