Chapter 5: Not a Morning Person
Kurosaki Ken walked down the streets towards the Mouri Detective Agency. People stared as he passed them, and not just because he was obviously foreigner with his blonde hair and blue eyes. Dressed in a white polo shirt topped with a light blue jacket, paired with faded denim jeans and sneakers, most people couldn't help but admire his form (coughASSetscough). Grinning inwardly, Kaito maintained his Ken façade as he stopped in front of his destined building.
In actuality, he made little effort on the Ken character. He had two days with his favorite mini detective after all! He didn't want to spend that time hiding behind masks. And though he had an inkling that Conan already knew about his civilian persona, he still couldn't go as Kuroba Kaito. After all, Mouri Ran hadn't spent most of her life surrounded by detectives (both good and bad ones) without picking up a few tricks. How many times had he saved Conan's identity by faking to be Kudo Shinichi?
Even then, going as Kuroba Kaito would create more problems. He looked too much like Kudo Shinichi, and though Conan had mentioned once that Mouri-chan already moved on, he didn't like the idea of seeing the love that she still had for her childhood friend. It soured his stomach, and it felt like only a week of relentless pranking on Hakuba would cure it.
Shaking off the nerves, Kaito—no, Kurosaki Ken bounded up the stairs, knocking on the door cheerfully.
"Coming", came the muffled reply. He only had to wait for a few seconds before the door opened, revealing Mouri-chan. She stared at him for a few seconds before smiling at him warmly, "Kurosaki Ken?"
Nodding, Ken offered his hand (No magic tricks, no magic tricks) before introducing himself. "Right! You must be the lovely Ran that Conan is staying with, yeah?" He had a faint accent, but spoke fairly well in Japanese. Though surprised at first at the abrupt use of her first name, Ran had travelled enough (and bugged enough by a detective geek) that she was familiar with the Westerner's custom.
Clasping his hand in a handshake, Ran greeted, "Mouri Ran, erm, Ran Mouri, but Mouri is my last name."
Opening the door wider, Ran invited Ken in. "That's right! I heard that you would be taking care of Conan-kun for the two days that we are gone. I'm actually really glad about that, you know? I was thinking about hiring a babysitter for him." She rolled her eyes, gesturing Ken to sit. "And of course, Conan-kun wouldn't have liked that, so really, I'm grateful you're here."
Laughing loudly, Ken asked, "A babysitter? Conan would have ran her off instantly!" Chuckling, he paused to nod in thanks at the offered tea before continuing, "But why would you think Conan would need one? He's old enough, and smart enough to know better." (Of course he is, he was the mastermind behind the fall of one of the oldest and largest organizations after all.)
Sighing, Ran sat down on the opposite couch. "That's exactly the problem. He's way too smart. He gets into trouble easily because of that. I was actually thinking of asking Inspector Megure to take care of him for two days as Plan B."
Ken grinned widely at the thought (Megure-keibu? The District 1 does see him as a mascot though.), "He did that often back in America as well. He's such a trouble magnet."
Ran giggled at that. "Isn't he?"
Their conversation was interrupted by the arrival of Mouri Kogoro. "Ran! Is that brat's cousin still not here?" Upon rounding the corner, Kogoro was startled to find another man in the room.
"Good morning! I'm Ken-ah, Kurosaki Ken. Nice to meet you!"
Kogoro waved off the greeting. "The brat's still trying to wake up. So, where are you and the brat staying for the weekend?"
Ken replied, "Actually, we'll be touring around. It's been a long time since Conan and I have bonded (Poker face, Poker face) and I know if we stay indoors he'll just be reading his books or something."
"That's true." Kogoro's gaze sharpened for a few seconds as he stared at Ken, "Well, just take care of the brat. And keep an eye on him. He pulls off a disappearing act every few seconds."
Ken chuckled (So he does care for him huh?), "Of course! I'll be keeping both eyes on him for the whole trip."
"Ran-nee-chan? Kogori-ji-san?"
Ken had to be abruptly frozen as Kaito squealed (inwardly). The mini detective was rubbing his eyes, eyeglasses bumped upwards. Though Conan was still pre-teen and not the adolescent he had been as Shinichi, Kaito could already see that puberty hit him well. Kaito understood well why Mouri-chan continued to have suspicions of who Conan really is. But instead of the absolute gorgeousness that Shinichi had exuded, Conan had fully mastered the cuteness-overload that he had going for him when he first started.
Struggling to contain his urge to whip out his phone and take pictures, Kaito—Ken, go back to Ken—smiled and greeted his cousin. "Hey Conan! Long time no see huh?"
Blinking rapidly, Conan adjusted his glasses (Awww, was that a yawn?) and replied, "Huh?"
"Still not a morning person huh? It's me, your favorite cousin!"
Ran chuckled, having finished adjusting her father's tie and now urging Conan towards his breakfast. Kogoro just grumbled, but disappeared downstairs to put their luggage in his rented car. "He's never that much awake when he knows he has nothing to do the next day. It's a pain getting him out of bed during the weekends."
Ken followed Conan to the table, leaning his cheek on one hand as he watched Conan sleepily eat his food. "Don't worry, it's nothing that I'm not used to." (He had one episode of this when we were still drafting plans to bring down the Organization. That certainly wasn't enough for me!)
"Well then, now that you're here, we have to get going as well." Ran said, patting Conan's head and standing by the doorway as she made to leave.
Ken followed her to the door, and said, "Have fun! I'll make sure to return Conan in one piece!" Ran giggled, and waved off, running to her dad who gave Ken another look, and raised a hand in farewell.
Ken waved them off, and after closing the door, went back to his favorite detective.
Said detective was still playing with his food, and was slowly nodding off. Chuckling, Ken—or Kaito, he was allowed to be Kaito for now isn't he?—gently reached out and combed Conan's hair, paying attention to the cowlick and marveling at its refusal to be orderly.
"Hmmm. KID?"
"Nuh-uh, Tantei-kun. It's Ken, remember?"
"Hmmm."
A chuckle.
"When you're not Ken, what do you want me to call you?"
Still combing his hand through the boy's silky hair, Kaito gave no hint to his frazzled nerves. "Well, KID is still my name, so I suppose that could work too."
Conan remained still under his ministrations for a few more beats. Then, without warning, he tilted his head back, eyeglasses sliding down the bridge of his nose, giving Kaito an unobstructed view of Conan's marvelous blue eyes.
"What about Kaitou?"
Hands freezing near the side of Conan's head, it took Kaito a few seconds before he was able to resume his self-appointed task.
"If you think it fits."
Conan stared at him before his lips curled in a smirk. "Ka-i-tou."
As blood rushed to his cheeks, Kaito made a note in the back of his mind that he'll die during the weekend with his favorite critic.
Cause of death: Blood loss due to numerous nosebleeds
Murderer: Kudo Shinichi aka Edogawa Conan
A/N: As an apology for the delay, a slightly longer chapter.
Also, the italics inside the parentheses are Kaito's thoughts, like a subconscious thing when Ken is the main character. Or something.
[EDIT: Sorry about that guys, didn't notice that I didn't click the right doc. Thanks for noticing that!]
