Sliding Doors

Chapter Three – Any Port in a Storm

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By the time Kaito and the detective reached Beika street – the irony of the name not escaping him by any shot – the wrought iron gates of the Kudo residence had been growing more and more foreboding as time went by. But at least he wasn't still being carried. He'd somehow persuaded the detective to let him down a few short blocks back. He didn't bother trying to run after that, anyway. He still had on his entirely too baggy clothes, which would hinder his every movement, and besides. The guy was one of his better detectives. He'd probably figure it out from his first stupid moment if he did try like this.

This wasn't bringing into account the fact that Kaito had no where left to go that he could think of. So far as he knew, the guys who'd tried to kill him didn't know he was still alive. It'd be worse than everyone finding out he was the Kaitou Kid if even just one of the people he knew figured out who he was. At least with someone Kuroba Kaito had never known, they wouldn't think to look there even if – kami forbid – said person figured everything out anyway. If he had any of his luck left still, he hoped Kudo never did. Hoped.

The gates were unlocked and creaked open. He was ushered in, and they were shut behind him with a unsettling clang before Kudo started going forward once more, on and into the big house. Not quite as big as Hakuba's, but big enough. And then they were in, and both he and Kudo were shaking off the rain that'd still managed to get itself onto them.

Kaito knew he was in trouble when he saw the look Kudo sent him – or rather, his clothes.

Well, he supposed he could understand. Even though he'd tried his best to avoid it, they (especially the bottom half of his jeans trouser legs) were absolutely filthy from the mud and rain. But still.

He sent up what he hoped was an innocent look at the detective, who snorted, sounding somewhat amused as well as disapproving. Kudo shook his head, in what Kaito could only assume was bemusement.

"You, stay right here," Kudo said over his shoulder as he started to walk off. "I'm going to find you something that might fit – think 'Kaa-san still keeps some of my old things around from when I was your age..."

Obviously, the other boy couldn't see Kaito's face at that moment, but if he had turned around, then he would have seen an unmasked look of horror flicker onto the seemingly younger boy's face.

This humiliation. . . it's just too much. Why couldn't I have called Jii – heck, mom would've been able to drop some things by somewhere unnoticeable easily enough, she married dad! I did not, I still don't want to have to end up in some stuck up detective's old grade school outfits. He groaned, head going into his hands. No, please no...

That part of the situation, however, was entirely out of his hands, and not long later Kudo came back down with various items in hand. He was sure his face went slightly green when he thought he saw something blue, small and jacket-shaped in the pile. Little kids just shouldn't dress like that. There should be a law against it, or something.

A raised eyebrow and a disbelieving look later, and he'd reluctantly followed Kudo into a room, whereupon the other had left him to it to find something he liked – that is, in Kaito's opinion, something he could wear – while the detective went to phone up the Tropical Land security to assure them that he'd found their runaway.

Desolate, Kaito resolved himself to searching through the bundle. Most of it got tossed to one side – why the heck did the guy think he'd want to wear a bow-tie?! – while some was put into a 'possible' pile. Much as he may hate it to admit, he did need something else to wear. Jeans. Layered long-sleeved t-shirt and jumper – he could use the layers to hide his Kid things until he had a better place to put them. And. . . house scuffs. That was it. He just hoped the guy wouldn't just get rid of his old clothes. There were still quite a lot of his old tricks stuck inside hidden pockets, and he didn't want to have to go rummaging around in the trash to get them back.

Somehow, someway, he was going to get his old body back to be able to wear them again. If only to make it so that he didn't have to wear some detective's old hand-me-downs any more.

Trying not to drag his feet too badly, he made his way out of the room, not bothering to pick the rest of Kudo's old kiddie-clothes up off of the floor. When Kudo turned around to look in his direction however, he switched immediately to a more child-like expression of pleased surprise. Or something.

"Ne, ne, nii-san – it looks like they fit!"

"Huh? Oh, right... Look, they've asked if I could look after you for the time being, at least until they get all the rest of your paperwork filled out. Anywhere up to sometime tomorrow. You okay with that, kid?"

"Eh? Yeah! This place looks real cool!"

He didn't need to make a show of looking around – he was taking every opportunity that was presenting itself to him to get a feel for his new surroundings, know where the entryways and exits were, and which ones would be possible to use at which heights. It was always best to plan for every contingency, after all. The moment he got his older and taller body back, he was probably going to want to be able to scarper pretty damn quickly.

"Good, because – what?"

Kaito'd been waving his arms – now irritatingly smaller – in order to get some attention.

"I wanna make a phone call."

Kudo blinked. Maybe he'd been a little too blunt?

"Oi, didn't you say your Kaa-san and your Tou-san weren't here?"

It was a good thing he'd done a bit of thinking on that, then. The little boy he was pretending to be jutted his chin out in a show of petulance, not looking straight at Kudo, but rather to one side of him.

"Didn't say I was gonna call them. Was gonna call oba-san. Oba-san's nice."

Kudo considered this for a long minute. Crossed his arms. Sighed.

"Sheesh, kid. If she's supposed to know where you are, then you should've told the nice people back at the park about your oba-san, all right? There's one of the home phones over in there, you do know the number, right?"

Kaito nodded, seeming pleased with himself and proud that a big boy of six could remember something as long and interesting as a telephone number. The joy.

"Good. Then you just go do that while I deal with those clothes you were wearing. They're filthy, kid."

The contrite look on his face at the idea that his magic effects were going to be ruined in the wash was mistaken for a look of childish shame. Kudo rolled his eyes but left him to his own devices, for which Kaito heaved a sigh of relief, grateful that for all his great deduction skills, the other teen wasn't so great with kids his apparent age.

With only a bit of a hop needed, he found that he had the phone within reach in under just a couple of minutes, and he was dialling mom's number in the next.

Pick up pick up pick up – I know you're there, come on... You don't usually stay out this late, come on...

The phone picked up.

"Ah, hello? Who is this?"

"Mom!" His old – older – voice, and damn but it was hard on a kid's vocal chords. He didn't think he'd be able to affect it for much more than five minutes or so. "Mom, it's me. I – I need your help with something, and it's really, really important."

"Kaito? Wait, Kaito, what's happened? What do you need my help with?"

Breathe in, breathe out. Poker Face.

"I need you to spread the rumour that I've got a cousin – I don't care how distantly related we are, just make it believable – who looks like me when I was younger. Acts like me. What's more, I..." he broke off, coughing. "I need you to make it sound like he's always been there. That he and – he and I go way back, and he knows all of my tricks."

He would have said more, but his younger body wasn't used to him using his voice like that, and was protesting. He'd likely be able to copy just about any kid his apparent age without hassle, but adults would be a lot harder.

"Kaito, what's all this about? This isn't about . . . is it? Or have you just picked up some stray all of a sudden without any warning?"

"Mom. This – I don't think this is about Kid." The fact that his voice started cracking before he was ready for it didn't help one bit. But then again... "It's about this. I didn't 'pick up any strays'. I am the stray. And it was Kudo who was doing the picking up," he finished with a resigned complaint in his voice. "Literally."

"Kaito, what do you mean? And – why are you sounding like that? You. . ." she sighed. "Are you all right?"

"I'm fine. As fine as you get when you've just been shrunk, anyway. Look, I don't have all that much time – I've gotta make it sound like a little kid talking to his favourite aunty the minute it seems like Kudo – and yes, it is that Kudo kid – might be listening in. So if you do feel like there's an emergency, and-"

"Kuroba Kaito, you're not calling this an emergency?! Then I'd hate to find out what you did consider one, young man."

Kaito held the phone slightly away from his poor, sensitive ears until she'd finished.

"Mom!" he hissed, trying to keep the volume down. "I do not need this right now! And besides – I'm probably going to have to sneak off at some point or go back home with the good detective here anyway, for clothes. I'll call again as soon as I can, all right?"

"...Make sure that you do," she said, a bit more softly. "Because if you don't, I'll tell Yukiko-san and Kudo-san on you, and I can do that, since you said in your own words that it's got nothing to do with the family secret."

". . . Mom. Seriously. No. Just, no. You really don't need to." Footsteps coming closer again, and Kaito almost panicked. "And I promise to talk again later as soon as I can, oba-chan!"

. . . And with that, he disconnected the phone, hoping that she wasn't too miffed with the abrupt end to the conversation, and purposefully didn't bother trying to put the phone back up where it'd been, instead opting to dump it down on the floor next to him for the time being. He figured that since he was a kid he could be a bit less like he was expected to know the consequences of whatever he did. And as such, he took great pleasure in not having to look repentant at all when Kudo told him off for being careless.

Seemed like there were a few perks to being like this again, he thought. Now all he needed were a few of his old tricks of the trade, some time left in the house on his own – or even just when Kudo wasn't paying any attention to him – and the place would be turned upside down and into a funhouse. The best part of it would be that he wouldn't be suspected – after all, how could a kid do all of that? Some of it, maybe, but all? And if Kuroba Kaito got implicated, then that wouldn't be a bother, since Kuroba Kaito was 'away'.

Finding it hard not to snicker at the images his imagination was throwing up, he was just into wondering how much more chaos he'd be able to come and get away with once he was bigger and able to be Kid again when the front door of the Kudo place started being hammered at loudly, and a familiar voice from earlier that night shouted through.

"Shinichi? Are you home, even? You could at least have answered the phone if you were..."

Kudo looked worried. Kaito wasn't so much, but even so, it was one more person who was coming into contact with him like this that he could test himself against.

"Shinichi!"

Kudo winced.

"Sheesh, Ran. We're over here – you didn't have to shout!"

A pause, and angry footsteps coming from the doorway and main hall.

"I do when you just go off again into dark alleys and you don't answer when I call and – wait, did you say we?"

"For one thing, I did tell you where I was going to be, and there's a reason why I couldn't answer the phone, and yes, Ran, I did say we. Hey, wanna see?"

"You – you found him? Where was he? Was he all right?"

Kaito started twitching. He was there, and he wasn't a pet. He did not like being treated like the new stray puppy Kudo'd picked up someplace. Just because he was shorter – somehow – didn't mean he was any less intelligent or anything.

"He's fine – I just had to get him a change of clothes, that's all." And now, the girl's visible through the doorway, and Kaito's first reaction is surprise at just how similar she looks to Aoko. Not exact, but enough to be a resemblance. She's wearing a coat that's slightly wet in places due to the rain – she must've used an umbrella on the way there not to be soaked. She quickly catches sight of him, though, and he's briefly aware that he probably gets a deer in the headlights look about him before she zeroes in on him.

"Hey... this kid – he's so cute!"

And he's being hugged, and that's her chest, dammit, and while he wouldn't mind if it was Aoko, even if he would get mopped, this isn't Aoko, and he's got to not blush, 'cause Kudo's not looking very impressed, and...

...and then he's released. And he's now trying not to show just how relieved he is.

The girl – Ran, Kudo said her name was – turned over to look at Kudo.

"Who is this kid anyway, then?"

Score a nonplussed look for Kudo, something that was certainly a treat to see on any of his detectives.

"Uh. I..."

"Oh, don't tell me you haven't asked!"

Kudo brought both arms up in his defence.

"There were a lot of things going on!"

Ran huffed. . .and then turned to Kaito with a condescending but sweet look on her face.

"Ne, how old are you, kid?"

"I, uh. Six, neechan!"

"So you're in the first grade, huh?"

"Y-yeah."

"And your name?"

You can do this, you can do this, you've done it plenty of times before, come on, Kuroba...

"O-Okuda, neechan. Okuda Hiroto!"

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AN: Next chapter's going to look into that first case, and solidify Kaito staying with Shinichi. So yes, before anyone asks, I am writing this as a full story-ish thing. But don't expect really, really long chapters, though.

There's an art for Hiroto on my DA.