Chapter three
Bed-talks
ooOO-OOoo
Shinichi lay on his bed and stared at the page in his history book rather listlessly. He had a hard time concentrating on it, as his mind was occupied with something else, namely Kuroba Kaito aka Kaitou KID. After reaching the bottom of the page for the third time and still not remembering a single thing about the text, he called it quits and shut the book with a thud. Thankfully, vacations were starting next week, so he hopefully hadn't to worry about falling behind his schedule because of the latest events.
He rolled over onto his back and laced his fingers behind his head, pondering over what to say to Nakamori tomorrow and what rather to keep to himself. For sure he couldn't tell him about KID's real identity. If Kuroba would be ok with that, he could have gone straight to Nakamori instead of involving Shinichi, what meant that he still held a tiny spark of hope to come out of all this more or less unscathed.
Okay, so how could he get the Inspector to help out the thief who tap-danced on his nose since forever? The simplest way would be to appeal to his honor as an enforcer of the law, seeing that an attempted murder was much more serious than everything what KID had ever done. But would that be enough? They had nothing but KID's word that this jewel truly existed (though Kuroba himself didn't believe that it was anything but a simple gem) and that this syndicate was after his life. Well – and Shinichi's statement as an eyewitness of course. That another criminal organization had just been busted could work in their favor, but nonetheless Nakamori would surely insist on KID's surrender…
A short rap on his door dragged him out of his thoughts. "Come in," he called out, not even bothering to get up. He had heard this kind of knocking countless times and knew who was waiting outside his room. As expected, his father stood next to him a moment later.
"Move over," he said calmly and shoved his son's legs off the bed, forcing him into a sitting position.
"Hey, hey - careful, would you?" Shinichi complained, but complied nonetheless.
Watching how his father got comfortable beside him, he wondered what was about to come. Usually, when one of his parents approached him like this, he knew that he was in trouble and had to prepare for a serious conversation. Most of the time it was either about his curfew or his detective work. Since he technically hadn't a curfew anymore, it had to be about the latter. A bit anxious, he waited for what his father had to say.
"How did you get to know Kuroba-kun?"
'Leave it to him to come straight to the point.' Shinichi squirmed under his father's scrutinizing gaze and wriggled for an answer.
He hadn't expected that he had to explain himself right away and hadn't prepared a story yet. The question was harmless enough, but Shinichi knew that something must have piqued Yusaku's interest and he hoped that it was just because he had known Kuroba's father. On second thought that would be bad as well if he really had known who KID had been back then. Either way, he had to answer now or it would be even more suspicious. Best to stay as close to the truth as possible.
"I met him on a heist." That much was more than true. "He's a huge KID-fan and somehow we ended up in a discussion about the thief, what led us to this and that." Yep, still no lie. Gosh - this was awful. He didn't want to lie to his parents, but neither did he want to betray Kuroba's trust. After all, this was his secret and not Shinichi's.
Yusaku hummed. "On a heist you say? Then he must be well known by the police to be able to approach you there without being held back, unless you suddenly decided to pay attention to the KID-signs-waving crowd."
Shinichi laughed sheepishly. 'Damn his logical thinking! He knows very well that I always stay on the police side of the barrier tape.' "Yeah, seems like it."
"Shinichi."
Oh, he recognized this specific tone in his father's voice and it didn't bode well for him.
"You should be aware by now that I can tell right off when you are hiding something and I'm already certain that I won't like whatever it is this time."
Shinichi resumed silently. Snipers, thieves and a gem that grants immortality? Heck no - surely he wouldn't. Especially since 'Conan' was still all too fresh in his mind. Shinichi groaned inwardly. He wanted to tell his father everything, wanted to prove that he wouldn't recklessly jump into something again, but he couldn't. At least not yet. Maybe after he'd talked to Kuroba again and who knew - maybe the thief would even give his permission?
Yusaku sighed heavily. If Shinichi wouldn't answer him directly, he had to try something different. "Let me tell you a story."
"Huh?" Shinichi raised a brow in surprise. What now?
"It's about a magician, a thief and a writer who was a part-time detective."
'He's going to tell me about him and the first KID? He got the picture awfully fast. Sometimes he really scares me,' Shinichi winced.
His father pretended not to notice his son's inner turmoil and turned his gaze to Shinichi's desk. The small white card from KID's last heist lay there, remembering him of all the other ones he had seen over the years.
"Said thief was after the biggest and most valuable jewels in the world and he stole them effortlessly, always made a big show out of it. Due to that, he became quite famous and soon a whole task force had been brought into being, solely to arrest him. Aside from his fancy tricks, he liked to announce his heists to the police with little riddles. The writer loved to solve these and helped the police more than once to decode them. After a few heists, the thief began to challenge the writer just for fun and sent him codes directly. One of those fell into the hands of the writer's son, but that is a different story." He gave a short smirk to Shinichi before he continued, his eyes looking at something long gone as he reminisced.
"The writer's wife was befriended with a magician, who was very successful and who taught her the art of disguising. As chance would have it, the thief also scintillated with his countless masks and roles and the writer suspected that thief and magician could be one and the same. All he lacked was evidence, but before he could find the missing proof, the magician died during one of his shows. It was a disaster no one could explain. The shows had always been flawless and the magician double-checked all of his tricks, but nonetheless it seemed to be an accident."
And he had searched high and low for anything that could hint to someone who'd tampered with the equipment, but to no avail. "After the magician's death, the thief vanished without a trace."
After a few moments of silence, Yusaku surfaced out of his memories and turned to his son again. "Now let us play 'what if'. I know that's usually not my thing, but humor me for a while. So, what if the magician really had been the thief and he'd had a son? What if after some years, said son went on where his father had left off? What if the writer's son now was after the new thief? And what-" He stopped to take a deep breath and to lock his intent gaze with Shinichi's. "What if the magician's death hadn't been an accident?"
Shinichi gulped. His father was much too close to the truth for his liking. Hell, basically this was the whole truth behind Kaitou KID, fancy life-extending jewels aside. How was he supposed to react now? It seemed that after all these years, Yusaku hoped to finally find his answers. Could Shinichi really deny him the truth, the confirmation that his deductions had been right all along?
He felt an emerging headache pulsing behind his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. He knew he had to give his father at least something. "Well, strictly hypothetically, what if the new thief and the writer's son had decided for a temporary truce for the sake of a greater good?"
Yusaku's eyes flashed with interest and a flicker of cautiousness. "A greater good? That depends, I guess. Could this greater good endanger the life or health of any of them? Strictly hypothetically of course."
His father just had to ask about the one thing Shinichi couldn't sugarcoat. Well, he would have to try to side-step the actual question. "Let's just say that they both agreed to involve people who carry a gun legally for a living and that they do not intend to run off in any stupid solo-actions." There - totally reasonable, right? Right.
Yusaku raked back his hair in frustration. His assumption had been correct - he didn't like this one bit. Story-time was over. If he wanted to accomplish anything here, he had to change tactics drastically. "Okay - let's do some straight talking here. I, no we will not allow you to get involved in another dangerous case, period."
'What?' Shinichi stared at his father open mouthed. He couldn't be serious, could he? He understood that his parents worried for his safety and that they didn't want him to get hurt (he himself didn't want to get hurt either, thank you very much), but this was different than the BO. He would have back-up from the police straight from the beginning and he wasn't affected personally, so he held no wish to bring the syndicate down all by himself. He would be a mere go-between for KID and the task force and his place would be at the sidelines anyway. His father would surely understand if he explained that properly.
"I'm afraid you got me wrong. All I will do is pass on information between, uh, the concerned parties. And-" He scratched his head a bit awkwardly. "I might already have an appointment tomorrow to get everything started."
"You already have..." Yusaku had a hard time controlling his voice that was about to fail him. "Of course you have. And did you plan to inform us about this in any way?"
Shinichi felt bad. He hadn't thought about his parent's feelings so far. Would he have told them if his father hadn't confronted him?
This time the answer came easily. "I would have told you that I'm going to work with the Ekoda police-department as an informant, yes. I just can't let you in on the details, but it seems you already figured out most of it yourself anyway." With a half-smile, he tried to take off the edge of the conversation.
Yusaku sighed in defeat. He knew how stubborn his son could be. It was a trait he must have inherited from Yukiko, who could be just as headstrong if needed. Now mix that with a strong sense of justice and you fought a lost cause. "You won't back out of this, right?"
Relieved that he was understood and no longer on his father's bad side, Shinichi nodded firmly. "I can't let him hang. He can't speak up for himself and I still feel like I owe him."
"Alright, alright, but please - make sure to stay out of any trouble, will you? Pass on every information you have to, but let the police handle the rest."
"Okay, I'll remember that."
Knowing that this was the best he would get from his son for now, Yusaku stood up, squeezed Shinichi's shoulder and left his room. On the top of the stairs he stopped, gripping the banister. Again, he had been unable to forbid his son to do something he already had set his mind on. It had been the same when they had discussed their move to LA or his stay in Tokyo after the Mystery-Train incident. The problem was that he could comprehend Shinichi's urge to help the thief. He would have done the same in his position. On the other hand he had a sense of foreboding that just didn't sit right with him.
'Oh my - Yukiko won't be pleased with me.'
ooOO-OOoo
Just about to lean back on his bed, the doorbell startled Shinichi for the second time this day. After a sour look to his cane, he decided that if it was Ran, she would come up to his room anyway. Stairs were just not his friends these days. A few moments later, he heard soft footsteps on said stair, crossing the corridor and stopping in front of his door. A warm smile tugged at his lips as he watched Ran entering his room after a light knock. Just the sight of her made him feel easier - she always had this kind of effect on him. After the rather tense conversation with his father, it was exactly what he needed right now.
"Hey, Ran."
She met his smile with a bright one herself. Her yellow dress fluttered around her knees as she made her way over to his bed and sat down next to him, right were Yusaku had sat just minutes ago. The silver necklace he'd given to her for her birthday (and which really had saved his neck) caught some rays of the afternoon sunlight and glinted as she leaned forward to give him a kiss.
"How was lunch with your parents?" he asked carefully. Considering their usual behavior, he guessed that it had ended in a disaster again.
She rolled her eyes. "Awful, like always. Not even for my birthday they manage to act like mature people for longer than five minutes, but just wait – one day they will realize that they still love each other."
He couldn't quite suppress a grin, hearing her words. He felt like he had to be the luckiest guy ever, to have a girlfriend like Ran. She was caring to a fault.
After their encounter with Vodka, she'd visited him in the hospital every day to cheer him up, because he'd been a bit moody being confined to bed yet again. She distracted him by telling news and gossip about their friends at school or her father's latest antics. He loved how she would use her hands to unknowingly make funny gestures while she spoke and he'd laughed when she glared at him after he'd pointed it out to her. They'd finally come back to the light bickering and bantering that had always been a part of their relationship. But now he could shut her up with a kiss whenever he wanted to. Of course she used the same tactic and so their little quarrels mostly ended up in some kind of kissing competition. Well, he wouldn't complain about that.
"Shinichi, what are you grinning about like an idiot? Did you even listen to me?" Ran's voice made him blink and he turned his focus back to her. "What? Sure- I mean... uh..." He rubbed the back of his head sheepishly and gave her an apologetic smile.
She crossed her arms and huffed. "I swear, one day you'll be in really big trouble if you keep spacing out on me."
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, please repeat what you've said? I'm listening - no more daydreaming, I promise." He relaxed when he saw how the corners of her lips turned upward again.
She pulled one leg on the bed and tucked it under herself while she spoke. "Remember how I've told you about that karate camp?"
He racked his brain. Karate camp, karate camp... This must have been when he'd still been Conan. A fuzzy memory of her telling him something like that while he'd been engrossed in one of his books reemerged out of the depths of his mind. Sadly, he couldn't recall any details, so he decided to feign knowledge as best as possible.
"Uh yeah, I think you've told me in the agency while I was… reading?"
"Yes."
'Pfuh... that was a close call.'
"They called me today and I've been given an offer to participate," she beamed.
"That's great! So, you'll get a chance to polish your skills, right? Not that you would need it, but anyway. Congrats!"
He was really proud of her, being the strong girl that she was and he meant that in more ways than just karate. She'd grown into an independent woman, who was perfectly capable of taking care of herself and also her loved ones. Sure, he would miss her for the weekend or the week she would be away, but it would be selfish to dampen her joy.
"So, when does the camp start? Do you want me to have a discrete eye on your dad for a few days?"
"Well, actually..." she bit her lip and lowered her eyes to her lap, wringing her hands.
"Actually, it's a summer camp and I will be away a little longer." A few awkwardly silent seconds ticked away. "It's for a month." She looked up at him with an almost shy expression, waiting for his reaction.
He swallowed. A month. She would be away for a whole month.
Somehow, he'd hoped they would spend a bit more time together now that they'd finally confessed to each other and the constant shadow the Black Organization had caste on their lives was gone. But Ran had not known any of this when she'd signed up for the camp, so it would be unfair to make her feel bad about it. Besides...
He had to hold back not to show his relief, but Ran being away suited his plans just perfectly right now, as mean as that might sound. Helping KID would need all his attention and he was pretty sure that she wouldn't be happy to know that he was about to throw himself into the next case. All the same, it bothered him not being able to see her for four weeks. He didn't like to let her out of his sight, but he knew he was being overprotective. Dealing with madmen who tried to kill you and your family and friends did that to you.
"That's… quite long."
"I know and I'm torn between going or staying myself, but I think- I think I would like to go if that is okay with you."
He caught her distressed look quite baffled. "Ran, you really don't need to ask for my permission. It's true that I'm rather at your side than let you go off alone, but that doesn't mean that you can't do as you please." He bit his inner cheek, feeling uncomfortable. "I think I just need a bit longer until I'll be able to stop looking over my shoulder all the time."
Ran moved closer to him. Her eyes were full of understanding. "I know- I've caught myself a few times casting suspicious looks at people just because they were wearing black."
She shrugged helplessly with a lopsided smile. "And don't worry, I won't be alone there. It's a mixed material arts camp and I know that Kazuha-chan will participate as well." She tapped a finger against her lips musingly. "I think she said Kendo is also offered and I'm pretty sure if that's the case, Hattori-kun will show up too."
Knowing that Heiji still hasn't come clean with Kazuha about his feelings, he sure as hell would show up there, Kendo or no Kendo. There was no way he would let her run off and strolling through a camp full of trained young men without him.
Shinichi grinned, more at ease now, knowing that his friends would take care of Ran. "Alright, so you will be in good company and I'll try to work on my unnecessary worrying."
Ran's mood brightened up and she bounced lightly. "So, Meitantei, what about this math problem you've told me about? I take it you're stuck and need the help of your incredible girlfriend?" she asked teasingly. Shinichi had always been on top of the class and she knew it peeved him that he'd fallen so far behind. She just couldn't let him live it down – it was too easy.
Shinichi groaned and looked up to the ceiling. "Incredible you say?" Ran drew back at the mischievous glint in his eyes. "Incredible ticklish, I'd say."
She squealed as he ambushed her and threw her back on the bed to run his fingers up and down her sensitive sides. It was just too good being just childish and they both relished in the feeling. He would brood about his meeting with Nakamori later. Right now, he just wanted them to be boyfriend and girlfriend – something that had been denied them far too long.
A/N: Well, yes – I kicked Ran out of the story for the time being, 'cause I decided to concentrate on the boys. Can't have her worrying all over the place again. We've had enough of that in 'Scars' I think. The talking turned out longer than I thought and it pushed some plot I'd planned for this chapter into the next one. So next time we will see how Shinichi handles his appointment with Nakamori-keibu. See ya!
