Usual disclaimers apply.
Promenade 21: Surprise Visit
Suit. Glider mechanism. Cape. Gloves. Shoes. Hat.
Pockets filled with Random Useful Stuff™ for any contingency.
Monocle.
...If this were a movie, I just finished the Dramatic Montage.
Preparations complete, Kaito stood in the middle of the Kid lair and took a deep breath. He would probably regret going this way when he wanted to go back to Domino City, but right now he wanted an instant exit from the Mouri Detective Agency more. The Mouri's apartment above the agency was small when it came to maneuverability, and Conan was damn fast with his tranquilizer watch. Better not to risk there being no easy escapes. So long as he kept the rip small, he'd be able to stand in front of it and hide it from view, then depart under cover of the low-power flashbomb currently hidden just inside his sleeve.
Reach out, and feel, and gather... More difficult this time, Shadows faint and less responsive than in Domino... Kaito focused on trying to find Conan—out-of-sight—right-now—and with some effort, pulled.
And staggered.
Again.
Apparently, it's impossible to gain any sort of asset without receiving a corresponding set of liabilities.
In this particular instance, opening a rip from home felt not unlike practicing a full gamut of Tai Chi katas, or perhaps running a full marathon with ankle weights.
Stifling a slightly irritated yawn, Kaito turned his attention to what was presumably a Shadowrip, the opening barely visible beyond Shadowy edge-tendrils forming a vague, fuzzy line in the air in front of him. Not really thinking much about what he was doing, he reached out and experimentally brushed the edges of the rip -wider-, until he could see through to the other side, then paused.
Okay, so... once created, a portal's size is variable and doesn't take much effort to change. I can work with that.
Kaito peered through and found himself staring at what looked remarkably like... the inside of a shower curtain?
From beyond the waterproofed curtain he could hear faint sounds of movement, and then a recognizable (if slightly muffled by what was presumably a closed door) female voice called, "Don't forget to brush your teeth, Conan-kun."
"I won't, Ran-neechan." A drawer opened and closed, and a few moments later the distinctive sound of bristles-on-teeth echoed in the tiny room.
Motivating circumstances for the visit aside, some opportunities were too good to pass up. Kaito carefully expanded the portal to permit his passage and silently stepped through, then narrowed it into a hair-thin line approximately his own height.
Then, not bothering to stifle a full-blown grin, he reached out and dramatically swept the curtain aside.
"Ack!" The diminutive Detective of the East spun around with a squawk, toothbrush hitting the floor and toothpaste foam flying as he stopped his momentum with one hand against the sink, the other bringing Kaito into his watch's sights. When he realized what he was looking at, however, he froze, mouth dropping open. It was a fabulous picture, one Kaito planned to treasure in his collection of amusing memories for a long time to come.
"Close your mouth, detective, it's unattractive."
"What. The. Hell?"
Kaito let the grin fade. There were more important things to do right now than bait Conan, no matter how easy of a target he was. "My apologies for the lack of notice, but there is a matter I need to discuss with you."
Still keeping his watch trained on Kaito, Conan half-turned and spat into the sink again, wiping droplets of toothpaste from his face. Dignity nominally regained, he fixed a glare on Kaito fit to melt steel and growled, "Start talking."
Sharp and biting as the other boy's tone sounded, Kaito could hear a faint undertone of worry edging the words. Not too surprising, really, given the uncharacteristic nature of this visit... Best to get straight to the point, then; he didn't think testing Conan's patience was a very good idea at the moment.
"You recently met a boy named Kenta."
Conan's eyes narrowed. "Yes. His father died a few days ago. During your last heist." The detective's voice had gone flat, and as Kaito hid an internal wince behind Poker Face he could see the calculations already stirring in the other boy's mind.
"...Yes. He idolized his father. Will even more so, now that the man is gone."
The detective gave no outward sign, but Kaito could tell he was trying to figure out where this was going. "And? Kenta said his father died stopping Nightmare from stealing the heist."
"He believes so, yes." Kaito lowered his head slightly, absently aware that the angle would render the monocle opaque. "It will seem he did a remarkably effective job when it becomes clear that Nightmare has ceased his activities."
Conan frowned. "Why? Because—" he stopped suddenly, and Kaito could almost hear the progression of his thoughts as the boy's expression slowly darkened. Nightmare wouldn't be stopped by something so simple as the death of a policeman, not after all the other people he'd killed. It would have to be something more... like having been stopped permanently.
And there had only been one body at the scene.
Conan quietly bit out a curse entirely inappropriate for his apparent age. "He might never put it together, especially if the police don't, but if he goes on towards becoming an officer and then does..."
Not all minds were as flexible as theirs, to face the world inverting on you and still be able to carry on, functioning and relatively intact.
"Quite. And I don't believe in depending on coincidence or best-case scenarios." While law enforcement couldn't keep up with him, Kudou, or Hakuba—or even Hattori—the police were hardly idiots. Given enough time...the odds that there would never be speculation in Connery's file linking him to his alternate identity, or that Kenta would never figure out the truth, were thin even by the standards of those who survived by beating the odds.
A faint snort. "Not in your line of work."
"No. Nor in yours, I would think."
Conan shrugged. "True. So, what... you want me to make sure he could handle learning about his dad when he gets older?"
"Straight to the point... but yes. He still thinks in the terms his father taught him, the black and white of chess pieces and heroes and villains. He needs to learn that the world works in shades of gray, first, and the reality of what the work of a police officer is like. And there are few people I would trust to teach it."
"Your trust in me is heartwarming, Kid." Despite his sarcasm, Conan seemed to have relaxed slightly.
Kaito allowed a hint of a smirk to spread. "The house of traps aside, you have more experience looking after grade-schoolers than I do." He shifted his weight. "Just... keep an eye on him. He can use a few friends who understand the aftermath of murder. And if he continues wanting to follow in the footsteps of the hero he remembers... there are worse ways for him to get his start."
"...You have a point," Conan sighed. Kaito wasn't sure if the sigh was over the subject matter, or that the detective was being forced to admit the point to him. When it came right down to it, it was probably a combination of both. "The other kids will be good for him, at least."
"And he will need to have someone to look after him."
"Who understands him better than his caretakers, I presume." A half-hearted groan. "I didn't ask for this..."
Kaito shrugged, cape fluttering faintly. "Neither did he. Neither did"—I—"...well. At least this way he may have a chance of being prepared for what he may have to face."
Conan gave him a long, thoughtful, assessing look, enough that Kaito knew his pause hadn't gone unnoticed, but finally nodded. "All right, I'll do it... for Kenta-kun."
Not for you, hung unspoken in the air. Detectives didn't do favors for thieves, after all.
"Ekoda's not exactly next door," Conan continued, "but Ran and Aoko-san did hit it off..." He grimaced. "Almost too well. They're going clothes shopping this weekend for Kenta-kun and I'm positive I'm going to get dragged along."
Kaito inclined his head slightly, allowing himself to relax as much as he dared. "Thank you."
"If I weren't sure you couldn't do it yourself..." Conan grumbled under his breath.
Kaito stilled for a moment, all too aware that with Conan, a reflexively blank expression was as good as admitting that a comment had struck home. "I'm afraid not, detective. It's beyond my power to return a life stolen by the oldest thief of all."
Nor the other life lost, shattered in blood and tears and broken dreams.
Conan looked away. "Of course. One can only return what one has, not what's been lost."
Love and magic and wit and laughter—
"...Quite. Likewise, with what you can give."
Such as a surrogate big brother and support network capable of holding Kenta up and keeping him intact when the world dropped out from under him for a second time.
Conan sighed again. "Which is why you came to me."
"Excellent deduction as always, detective." Objective accomplished, there was no reason to stay any longer in the point-blank range of the boy's anesthetic darts. "Enjoy your evening."
"Hey—!"
Conan's surprised exclamation cut off as Kaito dropped the flashbomb and vanished backwards, releasing the Shadows to seal the rip before Conan could recover and investigate.
Sorry, Kudou-kun... this is one magic trick where you're not going to find the evidence to show how it's sophisticated sleight-of-hand.
Kaito's thoughts were summarily interrupted by a jaw-popping yawn, as he abruptly came down from the adrenaline rush that always accompanied facing off with Conan.
...Sleep first. Then the Motou's.
Leaving the Kid suit and additional equipment behind in the hidden room, Kaito prepared for bed and fell asleep again almost as soon as his head hit the pillow.
After leaving Mushi's world behind, Riku didn't travel back to the Motou's home immediately, but made a detour to Twilight Town instead. He'd previously chosen to avoid worlds where Sora might be, rather than visit one of the moogles that followed the keyblade's chosen in his journeys and risk crossing paths with the younger boy again, but now... Riku'd be a fool if he continued to travel without any kind of accelerated-healing potions after the universe made him so clearly and repeatedly aware that it would be a good idea to have some on hand.
Sora wasn't likely to return to Twilight Town again, at least not at the moment, and Riku was already familiar with the town. Not to mention that the moogle in charge there knew him from past dealings over the previous year, though Riku hadn't restocked in... too long.
The moogle didn't comment on Riku's extended absence, merely accepted the bag of crystals and shards and examined the contents with a professional—albeit squinty—eye.
"What do you want to synthesize, kupo?" the craftsmoogle inquired, the little growling squeak typical of its race punctuating the end of the question.
Riku had long since given up trying to figure out how moogles managed to create potent healing potions, among other useful things, from various kinds and qualities of crystallized matter. He was simply grateful that they could.
"As many elixirs as you can manage from all that."
There was a few moments silence as the white-furred creature critically assessed his available materials, then nodded. "You're low on some things, but we can manage a few. This won't take long."
True to the moogle's word, Riku shortly received a handful of fair-sized vials filled with translucent green liquid, along with the bag of leftover crystals.
"Thank you."
"Mind you don't break any, kupo. Come back again."
Riku nodded absently, already storing the precious vials in several inner pockets of his black cloak as he walked towards the nearest alley. Moogles would theoretically do business with anyone, but he didn't want to push his luck by using a corridor where they could see. Moogles DID know about other worlds and traveled between them; they would understand the implications of a person capable of traversing the Dark without a ship. Even if said implications were technically untrue...
...Appearances were everything.
Riku sighed as he entered the corridor, wondering how he was going to explain to Kaito that trying to catch up with Sora again was not currently a good idea. As helpful as talking with Mushi had been, Riku still had his doubts about the old man's advice in practical terms. Of course, given how distracted Kaito was at the moment, maybe he could put it off for a while, at least until they were ready to move on again.
It all depended on how things were going back at the Motou's, really. Enough time had passed that Kaito had probably woken up by now; knowing the magician, he'd probably be itching to learn more from Méraud.
Hopefully, the older boy had enough common sense to wait until after breakfast before trying anything.
Riku paused and re-ran that thought through his head, taking into account Kaito's behavior over the last few weeks.
...Maybe if he was really lucky, Kaito hadn't woken up yet.
The portal dropped Riku back in the Motou's guest bedroom. Morning sun leaked through the closed blinds covering the window, allowing Riku to see that Kaito's bed was unmade and empty, with no sign of the magician.
Shedding the black cloak again, Riku hung it in the closet and headed downstairs to see where everyone was. The clock on the nightstand proclaimed the time to be just past eight in the morning, which meant Yugi had certainly gone to school already, but the other three should still be around. He followed the sound of water running to the kitchen, where he found Solomon washing dishes in the sink and Hakuba finishing breakfast at the table, back to the doorway.
"Good morning. Where's Kaito-kun?"
Hakuba glanced over his shoulder at the question, and Riku only had time to register an unexpected frigidity in the blond's eyes as they took in his presence before the detective turned away and stood from the table.
"Gone." If Hakuba's expression had been cold, his tone was downright glacial. "Thank you for breakfast, Solomon-san."
Movements precise and carefully composed, Hakuba placed his dishes next to the sink and brushed past Riku without looking at him again. A few moments later, Riku heard the study door click shut, the soft sound as disquieting as if the door had been slammed.
Riku looked to Solomon in utter bewilderment. He'd thought he'd reached a kind of understanding with Hakuba yesterday, but now...
What had happened?
Solomon had turned to watch Hakuba leave, and now he sighed and dried his hands on a towel.
"Saguru-kun woke up this morning from a nightmare caused by the block against his childhood memories having dissipated. And despite it being just before seven in the morning, Riku-san, neither you nor Kaito-kun were anywhere in the house."
Next time: Kaito discovers what's been happening while he was gone...
Author's note: Kaito's mention of 'Dramatic Montage' is homage to the TVTropes wiki. Vathara used them in fic before I, but said fic reminded me that Kaito is prime material to be a troper. Beware that if you investigate what being a troper means, TV Tropes Will Eat Your Brain. Honest.
6/08