Chapter 3: A Mother's Worries
Kuroba Kaito creeped out his mother as he walked down the stairs of their house early that morning. Though it was already established that Kaito would always be a prankster ("Magician, 'Kaa-san, magician!") who loved to embarrass people as much as he can, Kuroba Chikage knew that Kaito only did so to cheer people up (though a certain Hakuba Saguru might beg to differ).
Chikage eyed her son as he sat down to eat his breakfast after giving her his customary kiss on the cheek, still grinning maniacally. Kaito usually only smiled like that if he had something big planned, and that something also usually tends to be completely embarrassing to his target.
She could still remember one of the times when he grinned like that. At the end of the day, the sweets shop owner that had tried to cheat the money out of his customers by making them pay overpriced chocolates had left Ekoda immediately. Not before giving up his whole store and its contents to her son. For free.
Shaking her head, Chikage continued to eye her son warily. She loved her son, she really did, but sometimes he was worse than his father when he wanted something done. Said son, feeling her gaze on him, looked up and innocently tilted his head at her, smile becoming a bit more confused instead of manic.
Taking a moment to regret not having her camera with her, Chikage narrowed her eyes at Kaito. Her son may look cute, but she wasn't fooled. It was that smile!
"Kaito, what are you planning?"
Face turning more confused, Kaito lowered his chopsticks, pouting at his mother as he did so. "What do you mean what am I planning?"
Knowing that she wouldn't be able to pry out any more details from him, Chikage decided to wait for the inevitable to happen. "Whatever it is you're planning, make sure to keep me out of it. And the Nakamoris as well. You know KID had planned a heist last night, and the father-daughter duo got home very late."
Face sobering for a second, Kaito replied, "I know."
But only for a second.
"Don't worry~! My plan has nothing to do with them at all! In fact ~ my target isn't even in Ekoda!" Kaito declared, standing up from his seat and putting his dirty dishes in the sink.
"Oh? And pray tell, who would this target be?"
"Why, it's none other than a very cute mini detective that's waiting for me for our date!"
If Chikage hadn't been the Phantom Lady, she would have spit out her drink and choked on it already. As it was, father and son weren't the only one with a good Poker Face, and she calmly continued drinking her tea.
"Mini detective? He wouldn't happen to be the boy called the 'KID Killer', would he?"
Kaito's manic grin made a reappearance, and Chikage didn't need to ask. Of course Kaito would be very attached to the boy. Edogawa Conan was a challenge to KID, and continuously proved it in every heist that he was present. He was intelligent, on par with KID and pushed him to improvise and change his plans at least 10 times before he could safely escape.
At first, Chikage had been worried about this odd attachment that Kaito had with the mini detective. After all, KID was still a criminal and internationally wanted; a detective with a deep sense of justice that Conan showed would not be forgiving to a thief like Kaito. And she didn't think she could take it if she lost her son for the same reason that she lost her husband.
So as a mother that only wanted to protect her son, she had investigated Edogawa Conan. And she found out the secret behind the boy with the large glasses that concealed his eyes from the world completely.
She had found some paperwork detailing his birth, as well as a DNA sample. Normally, it would look fine to an ordinary observer, but Chikage did her research, and she did it well. The documents had only been entered 6 years ago, and not 13 years as it should have been. In other words, Edogawa Conan existed only 6 years ago.
However, other than that, she could find no more anomalies about Edogawa Conan. With panic clawing at her at the remembrance of her husband's death, Chikage had confronted her son about it:
"He's not what you think he is! He has secrets, Kaito, and I refuse to let you be endangered by someone that shouldn't have even existed!"
Kaito's eyes softened, "'Kaa-san, I know."
Chikage stiffened, "What?"
Sighing, Kaito ruffled his hair, messing it up even more. "I don't know how, but Kudo Shinichi shrunk. He's been hiding ever since."
Chikage connected the dots easily. But she wasn't convinced yet. Before she could speak, however, Kaito raised his head, staring straight into her eyes, "And for some reason, he's also chasing down the same crows that I am."
Breath caught in her throat, Chikage sat down slowly into a chair. Kaito continued, "And he's been doing it alone."
That was the moment that Chikage knew that Kudo Shinichi needed help, and that help was going to be in the form of KID. She had been friends with Yukiko after all, and as a mother, she knew the relief that comes from knowing that your child wouldn't be alone in his fight.
Because Kaito was alone in his fight too. And she hoped that by working together, their chances of remaining safe would increase, and they would be able to bring down the organization. And they did, and she would never regret letting Kaito get attached to Shinichi for it.
Though if Kaito knew just how attached he was to Shinichi was still up for debate. She really couldn't blame him though; Shinichi somehow looked even cuter as he grew up again for the second time.
A/N: Sorry if you find any errors or misspelled words, I didn't have the time to double check as I just wanted to have this posted already. I can't wait for the weekend-date to happen! Though of course Shinichi still doesn't know it's a date. -_-
Anyway, anyone noticed how I changed frequently from Conan to Shinichi? Though they are the same, Conan is still another identity altogether, so I have to still use Conan most of the time.
