Chapter 4

"Geeze, are you two going to do anything besides talking about Holmes?" Kuroba complained loudly, drawing the attention of the other patrons in the café. Nakamori-chan sunk lower in her seat. "You'd think you'd run out of things to say about it! Besides, Lupin is a much better character. He defeated Holmes after all."

Hakuba scowled over his tea. "Technically, Lupin went up against Herlock Sholmes. LeBlanc never got permission from Doyle to use him, so Lupin never beat Holmes."

"LeBlanc never got permission to use Lupin either," Shinichi added. "Great-grandfather actually tried to sue for royalties; that was the closest time he was almost caught."

Kuroba, next to him, stared with wide eyes. "I've never heard anything about that…" he murmured.

Shinichi shrugged. "There's a lot the public doesn't know about my family. We enjoy our privacy."

Hakuba stared at him from across the table, unreadable expression on his face. "Like not allowing you to go to public school?"

"No, that was just convent for them." Shinichi blinked, puzzled at the concerned looks he was now getting. "What? Gramps was chasing us constantly for… pretty much my entire life." He'd almost slipped and said 11 years. Shinichi had only been here for a few days and he was already way too comfortable! "If he just knew the general area we were in, all he would have to do was look for any knew students in an area and he'd have the perfect place for an ambush."

"That's not an excuse!" Nakamori-chan declared suddenly. "They shouldn't have involved a child with their crimes to begin with! You should have had a stable home and school life, not one where you were whisked around the world with no regard to what you wanted!"

"I… don't understand what you mean, Nakamori-san," Shinichi said, honestly confused. "My family might not be… normal, but they still homeschooled me. I never felt neglected. They never pressured me to do anything I was uncomfortable with. Why are you so upset?"

Hakuba placed a hand on Nakamori-chan's shoulder. "What Aoko-kun means is that, as criminals, Lupin and the others should have never considered keeping you. Because of your "life on the run," you appear to lack certain social and life skills that could possibly affect your life forever."

Biting back a scathing remark, Shinichi breathed deeply, trying to calm down. He had to look cool and collected; he couldn't just emote every time he wanted to. Kuroba spoke up. "I think you two are being a bit hard on him. And Hakuba, you didn't have any social skills before we became acquaintanced, so you're not one to talk."

"I think you're missing the point, Kuroba—"

Kuroba shrugged. "Then we agree to disagree." He turned to Shinichi. "I want to know about the places you've been too. Paris, Moscow, America—you must have interesting stories to tell." Shinichi jerked back as the magician attached himself to his arm. "Please?"

"Uh… well…"

"Oh my God, he's dead!"

Hakuba shot out of his seat towards the kitchen. He pointed at one of the waiters. "You. Call the police and stand by the doors. Don't let anyone leave; they're all witnesses now."

The waiter scrabbled to obey, frightened by the detective's intensity. Shinichi peered around Kuroba's head as Hakuba disappeared behind swinging doors. "Will he be alright by himself?" he asked.

"H-Hakuba-kun is always fine!" Aoko laughed, but it came out sounding shrill. "He… he usually ends up working cases while we're out, it's fine! Aoko is used to it by now… He's very important for his job and they just happen so often, so Aoko really can't complain!" She tried to force herself to sound happy, but it didn't work.

Shinichi glanced at Kuroba, who was watching the front doors, then back to Nakamori-chan. No one should be used to murder… He made up his mind. "Mark Williams once challenged my dad to steal Donald Trump's toilet paper."

Nakamori-chan choked on air and Kuroba's head whirled around so fast his neck cracked. "W-What?" Nakamori-chan asked, eyes wide. "Are you serious?"

He nodded. "Completely. Would you like to hear the story?" Maybe he couldn't keep people from dying, but he could help Nakamori-chan feel a little better. "It's ridiculous… you might not even believe me."

She laughed and Kuroba gave Shinichi a grateful look. "Oh, it can't be that bad! You should hear some of the stories Kaito comes up with!"

"Then I'll do my best to surpass him," Shinichi said with a smirk, happy that she was no longer thinking about the murder.