Chapter 19

The Blue Parrot was a lovely little bar, full of soft colors and hard woods, but Shinichi wasn't really in the mood to appreciate décor. Hakuba had dragged him here, even though Shinichi didn't confirm or deny his claim and now they were waiting. For what? Well…

Koizumi had been the last to arrive, settling beside Nakamori and Kaito at the table across from him. It was more of an intervention than anything else. Then Hakuba offered him a choice: either he could tell them the truth by himself or Hakuba would tell them his deductions and they could infer from that all they want. Either Shinichi could control the narrative or Hakuba would let them make their own decisions.

So Shinichi confessed. And now they were here.

"Amnesia?" Nakamori quirked her eyebrow up in disbelief. "Like, honest-to-God, can't remember anything, amnesia?"

"That's what I said, yes."

Koizumi cupped her chin. "That would explain why my visions of the future constantly claim you are not who you say you are. And to gain amnesia at such a young age… much of your psyche would have been based after whatever experiences you experienced afterwards. Though I doubt it's too much of a loss; no one really remembers what has happened when they were six anyway."

"But that doesn't explain why you want to find your birth parents," Kaito said, face contorted and refusing to look Shinichi in the eye. "You already have a family. Family who has risked their lives to keep you safe. Why would you want to replace them?"

"I don't want to replace them! I just… I've always wanted to know." Shinichi hunched, biting his lip. "You don't understand… Wouldn't a child who was adopted normally want to know their birth parents too? And I… When I woke up in the back of that car, with no memories and no one to help me, my first thought was, 'Did they get rid of me? Did my parents lose me or did they abandon me?' and I've never been able to answer that question." He sighed. "Did they miss me? Did they get over me? Or were they the reason those men had me to begin with? Those are the questions I've had for over 10 years. And… if it turns out that they sold me… I want them punished by the fullest extent of the law."

The declaration left the others speechless. Hakuba huffed out a laugh and smiled. "I have to admit… I was expecting a worse reason, but Lupin, you went beyond my expectations again. I'm truly honored that you trust me enough to talk about your past freely."

Shinichi grimaced. "It… took a while to get to this point," he admitted. "And I still don't trust you entirely… comes with the family trade, I guess. I had actually planned a way to escape from you if I had thought you'd be a hinderance to my investigation."

Hakuba smirked. "Watch what you say, Lupin, you're starting to sound like a detective."

"You're… not mad?"

"You admitted it, right? And I can sympathize with having to work a case alone without knowing who you can trust. But you never expected that you'd gain friends that were willing to help you and now, I think it only right that we offer that that help."

"You're absolutely right, Hakuba-kun!" Nakamori announced, sounding just as enthusiastic as her father. "This is just another mission for the KID Capture Team!"

KID… Capture Team? It sounded like a shojo manga.

Nakamori pointed at Hakuba. "Hakuba-kun! You're in charge of looking through the flash drive. I'll look into the police side of things and figure out why Jigen couldn't find Lupin-kun's parents through our missing person's system. Akako-chan, you use your magic to look for answers. And Kaito! Your job is to look after Lupin-kun in case someone else tries to kidnap him!"

"Haaaaaaaa? Why do I have to get babysitting duty!?"

"Oh~? Are you saying you don't want to be alone with Lupin-kun?"

"S-Shut up, Ahoko!"

"Don't call me that, Bakaito!"

As the two fought, Shinichi couldn't help smiling. Maybe… this would all work out well.