The rest of the way to Professor Agasa's house, Kaito was oddly quietly, keeping his eyes trained elsewhere and only giving him a halfhearted sort of smile at Shinichi's childish antics. Shinichi could only wonder why.
In a flash of inspiration, Shinichi realized that his silence had started right after he had mentioned attending Kid's heist. He narrowed his eyes. Could it be he's somehow related to Kid's civilian identity? he mused as they finally drew to a stop. Kaito was peered down at him somewhat questioningly. "Is this it, Conan-kun?" he asked.
Glancing up at the familiar house and cringing at the fact that parts of it appeared to be sagging while others were charred and blackened, Shinichi forced a grin. "Yeah!" he shouted, breaking into a run as he gently disentangled his hand from Kaito's. "I'm going ahead!"
Reaching the door, Shinichi threw it open and called, "Professor!" in a low whisper, scanning the burnt room frantically.
The professor materialized around a corner, eyebrows rising as he caught sight of Shinichi's shrunken form. "Shinichi-kun, is that really you?"
"Yes! It's me!" snapped Shinichi, nerves strung tight as he heard Kaito's footsteps approaching slowly. "Kaito is right behind me, so we need to discuss everything -"
"Wait, Shinichi-kun, before you go on, I should probably tell you that Ran-kun has been calling around for you ever since last night," the professor interrupted.
Shinichi winced. Dammit, I didn't even think about Ran! Opening his mouth, he started, "That can wait till later -"
Suddenly, as if summoned by the mention of its owner, a female voice walked in through the open front door. "Professor Agasa, who's this guy?"
Eyes widening, Shinichi whirled just in time to see both Kaito and Mouri Ran entering the room.
Well, there are more people interested in this than I thought. I suppose I'll continue to at least #20.