The women seemed confused by this realization, and Dahlia knelt to him.
"How old are you, Valerian?" she asked.
"That's a loaded question, and I'd rather not answer." he retorted with finality.
While slightly perturbed that their leader was a child, they let it go and proceeded to the debriefing. They had slightly more information than the boss had been able to give over the phone. The two agents had been following the actions of two decently important figures and gained intelligence that they were meeting here. Of course, further details were almost impossible to obtain with the secretive nature of the Black Organization. The only definitive piece of info they were able to derive was their names. Apparently, Renya Karasuma, A.K.A. Anokata, had created a small group led by Gin. They were all given cocktail names and tasked with small deals and grunt work that their leader couldn't be bothered to do. There were only around fifteen assigned to the task force, which placed flags on their importance. Gin had interacted with each of them personally. According to intel, they were trading to small-time arms dealers without any connection to the Organization otherwise.
The two teens absorbed the information and asked appropriate questions until they had all agreed upon roles. Because a child would be less suspicious, Shinichi would be the one to most closely interact with them. Dahlia would watch from afar, acting as his guardian if anything went south. Hattori would create a scene to gather a large group of people so that the deal would have to be pushed outside. Chamomile would be stationed a decent distance away so that she could snipe the larger man. No doubt, after that the woman would try to run, but one of the people on the ground would remedy that. Agreeing on their plans, the group split up and went their separate ways. They would enact it that next evening when the deal was set to happen.
That night, the two boys were discussing their day.
"Do you think we'll ever defeat that Organization? It's almost the same as being assigned to defeat mine." the child questioned.
"Don't worry, Kudo. It may be a monumental task, but you've got me, and I will never let ya be hurt," the detective replied, sincerely.
While those words were reassuring, Shinichi was also acutely aware of the fact that his training was minimal at best. He was suddenly swept into this secretive program that went against everything he had taught himself over the years. In fact, he could say that he was almost scared of his attitude towards killing. If he were faced with that version of himself, he would be terrified.
Hattori watched the gears turn in his partner's head, going nowhere useful. He understood that something as sudden and shocking as this might be difficult to digest, but it hurt him to see his best friend like this. If he was honest, the side of Shinichi he had witnessed that night was indeed scary, but he would never leave him. After all, what else did it mean to love someone? Wait. What? As a friend…right?
His mini-freak out was interrupted when the child spoke.
"If something happens, will you run?" a small voice broke the silence, sounding broken.
"I've already told ya, Kudo, no, Shinichi. You are important to me, and as such, I will risk my life to see you fine. Don't ask why, I'm still sorting that out." the detective had begun to rant because, honestly, he was becoming tired of the constant pitiful act coming from the assassin. It was difficult to put forth a reassuring effort when he was already conflicted.
"Okay, okay, I get it, but Shinichi?" the boy stopped him, chuckling.
"Yes, Shinichi, call me Heiji! I feel we've known each other long enough!" he yelled, exasperated and tired, "I'm sorry, I'm just messed up right now. Let's get rest and kill them SOBs tomorrow!" he dramatically tossed the sheets over his head and went silent.
The child laughed at the display and reflected back on himself. He had been rather whiny recently. Hatt-no, Heiji was right. Finally calming his laughter, he joined his friend in sleep.
The next day, Kogoro had convinced the owner to lend them skiing supplies under the guise that they were doing a stake-out. When Heiji called him out on morality, he only justified it further, saying that it could help them cover more ground.
Shinichi, however, wasn't complaining. Unbeknown to the others, he had texted Kaito during their previous case and invited him along. While normally he would be unable to, he had discovered that a ceremony would be happening the next day to uncover a rare aquamarine stone. It was a dazzling deep blue with a single strand of stone running through the center. The distance was slightly far, but he had convinced Nakamori with a tempting heist note. As the detective had been forced to bring Aoko, the thief invited himself on the trip for a ride.
While the rest of the group focused on the heist note they had just found, Kaito threw himself around the shoulders of the small boy.
"Hey! Thanks for the invite!" he yelled cheerily, lifting the poor assassin off the ground. Both gatherings looked at the display and then at each other, the two older detectives glaring between themselves. The similar girls got over their initial shock and starting chatting while Heiji stared at the reunited pair.
"Kaito! You showed up earlier than I thought," Shinichi replied, forgetting about the rest.
The groups integrated without too much trouble, and the boys redirected any questions about their acquaintance, saying that they met online. This was valid enough, but it bothered Ran that he looked so similar to Shinichi.
A day full of skiing and supposed reconnaissance is tiring even with a child's energy, so the groups split up and went back to their own rooms. Surprisingly enough, Heiji had noticed two people matching the rough generalization given by Jodie. Perhaps their outing had been useful.
As Kaito had sort of forced himself onto the trip, he was devoid of a room. Shinichi offered to share his, though Heiji seemed a bit angered by this. Despite the suddenness of his addition, he was fully stocked with what he needed for his heist that next night. Though, he seemed rather torn-up over the fact that someone he referred to as 'Jii-chan' couldn't come along.
Once in their room, the two originally there brought Kaito up to speed. He was set on the fact that he wouldn't hurt anyone, but he insisted that he would be happy to help in any way possible. The debriefing slowly turned conversational, and they talked only as friends until 1900. It was an hour before the deal.
"Kaito, you will watch from aside our lookout; you may even solidify our cover," Shinichi dictated.
The thief agreed, and the trio walked to their designated spots. Kaito took the time Heiji needed to start the distraction to introduce himself to Dahlia.
Wires had been distributed the previous day, and each person had one, except Kaito. These were only used to gather potential data.
Shinichi approached the deal innocently and greeted them sweetly. Intent on taking advantage of his stature, he pulled out all the stops.
"Whatcha doin'?" he trilled, "I've seen a lot of detective shows, and it looks like you are doing bad things." his voice was full of childish accusation, courtesy of watching the Detective Boys.
A group of scowling and murderous faces met his words, and he wasn't the slightest bit intimidated. The woman, Paloma, seemed to be slightly more humane than the others. She tried her best to send him away.
"Look, this is adult business, okay? We aren't doing anything bad, promise." she held up her pinkie as she spoke.
The boy continued with his act and sealed the pinkie promise as Heiji's distraction finally took effect.
Crowds of people gathered towards the noise, which turned out to be the tan detective acting like a loud loon. 'It's hard to pass up a good show,' Shinichi figured.
Greyhound cursed, whispered something to the dealers, and they began to inch towards the outside entrance inconspicuously. The assassin only waited.
Finally, Kaito and Dahlia met him as their next job began. The door swung closed, and they began to follow before some interruptions made themselves known.
"What are you all doing? Who is this woman?" a familiar voice stopped them. The two older detectives and their daughters had decided to walk about after their dinner and happened upon them, "And what in the world is Heiji doing?" they questioned confusedly.
"Um, this is Dahlia. She works here and was giving us a complimentary tour." Shinichi started, but his excuse was quickly losing steam. Thankfully, the other teen was well-versed in these situations.
"That's right! Sorry, I kinda stole him to go with me. We were playing Truth or Dare before this, and that was Hattori's dare." Kaito ended with a sly grin.
Seemingly used to his antics, his group only sighed.
Ran tried to save the situation, "Well, how about we join your group?" she asked.
Dahlia came in clutch, "Yes, we were just about to continue our tour." she said with her best customer service voice.
The two boys gave her a slightly confused look, and she signaled for them to leave.
Catching onto her idea, Shinichi spoke, "Oh, um, we need to go and stop Heiji, but we'll catch up later." Kaito smiled as he caught on as well.
"Yeah, he's been doing that long enough. Let's see if we can get through that crowd from the other side." he inconspicuously relayed information to the others. They would leave out the predetermined door, and Dahlia would distract the interruptions.
The teens ran out the door and stopped just short of leaving the passage-way. This was the only entrance with a rain cover that would hide them.
"Chamomile! Are you in position?" the radios buzzed to life.
The short buzzing sound ceased, and her voice flowed through, "Yes. What took so long?" she asked, angrily, "The targets are finishing deal. I'm taking shot, look left." she spoke clipped and abruptly.
An affirmative was sent through the line, and Shinichi readied his handgun. Kaito, feeling just a bit defenseless, had taken his card gun with him. A shot rang out through the mountains, muffled by the noisy crowd and snow mounds.
Sounds of crunching snow brought the boys into high alert. However, unlike the plan, all four dealers ran by them. The shock distracted them enough so that the shot was never properly taken.
The radio crackled suddenly with a curse sounding through, "I missed." the sniper stated simply. At this point, their mission was all but ruined. The four had already gotten into their cars before Shinichi could react.
"Why didn't you take shot!" Chamomile sounded frustrated with his delayed reaction. He was aware that the two agents had expected their leader to be trained and unaffected by such situations, but he couldn't provide that yet. As reality set in, he swore. There was no doubt that those people would snitch about him and the others. They surely knew about his Organization itself, so his involvement would only make him and his family targets. Hopefully, they had not seen much.