Chapter 8: Interruptions #2

Kaito heaved a deep breath when the two were on the train. After they finally managed to get out of the agency, Ken had pushed Kaito down, asking Conan mundane things and sharing stories just like an estranged cousin would. In the train however, Conan had been lulled to sleep almost immediately. Kaito briefly remembered that Conan wasn't able to drink any coffee, allowing the boy to sneak in a few more minutes of sleep as he contemplated his performance as Ken earlier.

He hadn't had as much time as he had that morning nearly breaking his character as he had the first time he tried impersonating someone. He was a professional dammit! Leaning his chin on his palm, Kaito continued observing the sleeping boy.

Then again, whenever Tantei-kun is around, I can never seem to hold on to a character for too long before he figures out that it was me behind the mask.

He frowned. Only this time, Tantei-kun was actually helping him keep that mask. So why was he so easily unnerved earlier?

Ugh. Whatever. As long as Tantei-kun doesn't bring it up, I'll be fine I guess.

Kaito suddenly realized that he was staring into Conan's opened eyes, the other boy looking amused at catching him off guard. "Ken-nii-san," and just like that, the mask was back on, "This is our stop. The carnival should just be a few streets away."

Ken allowed his cousin to lead the way to the carnival, paying for their entrance fee. Conan had looked excited at the place, eyes roaming at the different booths offering 'unsolvable puzzles' and other attractions. Ken allowed his cousin to drag him from booth to booth, snorting in amusement at the despair the booth owners showed when a seemingly pre-teen was able to defeat their puzzles easily.

Despite the ease of which he had finished nearly all the puzzles, Conan was having fun, though a bit embarrassed with the way a small crowd had started to follow them around as they visited each booth. Ken didn't mind the attention, laughingly narrating Conan's progress throughout the carnival. Feeling a bit sorry for the booth owners, Ken had managed to convince Conan to take a break and have lunch as they looked for a vacant seat among the occupied tables and chairs.

Claiming a vacant table that could seat at least 4 people, Ken left Conan to order their food and drinks, making sure to sneak in some sweets that he saw along the way. As he walked back to Conan, laden with the bunch of food, he nearly dropped them upon seeing two people seating with him.

He knew he shouldn't have left Conan. The boy didn't know when to shoo away unwanted interruptions, and he made a mental note to teach Conan how that. Right after he whisked away his cousin first, of course.

When he came nearer, depositing the food on the table, he groaned inwardly upon recognizing just who was sharing the table with Conan. Now he knew why Conan hadn't driven off them off.

"Hello there!" Ken greeted cheerfully. He dropped into the seat next to Conan, handing him a hotdog in a bun, before tilting his head quizzically to the interru-guests.

"Ah, Ken-nii-san, these are Takagi Wataru-san and Satou Miwaki-san. They're police officers, and they've helped me and the Detective Boys numerous time before!"

Ken went to offer his hand before remembering halfway and bowing instead. "I'm Kurosaki Ken, Conan's cousin! Thank you for taking care of him!" He chuckled, ruffling Conan's hair. "I know he gets in trouble more easily than most, so it's reassuring that there are people who look out for him."

Kaito didn't show the nervousness he felt as Satou-san's gaze sharpened on him. He didn't think that the lady would immediately think he's KID, but was probably only worried that he was some murderer in disguise. Takagi greeted him back, inquiring, "Conan's cousin? We didn't know he has any relatives in Japan."

Kaito laughed, "Ah, that's because nearly all of us are in America. Auntie would have liked to visit him personally, but she can't just leave her work behind." His laughter drifted off. "I'm not staying long either; I only have the weekend before I have to go back to the States as well."

Inwardly though, Kaito was panicking. While yes, he did respect the police officers, he wasn't ready to suddenly be questioned on his background! He was a relative; what was so hard to understand about that?!

He suddenly felt a small hand grip his knee. One finger started to tap rhythmically on it, while the other hand was nonchalantly holding a drink. Three taps, pause. Two taps and a slash, pause. Three taps, pause. A tap, two slashes, another tap, pause. One tap, pause. Tap, slash, tap, slash, pause. Slash, stop.

Ah, Morse code. The American version too. Kaito couldn't help but think that his tantei was thinking too much of him if he thought that Kaito would be able to understand the code. Well, he did, but that wasn't the point.

S-U-S-P-E-C-T.

Huh? Suspect what?

Seemingly reading his mind, Conan continued to speak through the code while Ken asked the police officers on stories of cases they dealt with Conan.

Takagi. Fingerprints. Conan. And. Shinichi.

Ah. That would explain why Takagi was suspicious of his character. If the man suspected that Edogawa Conan and Kudo Shinichi were the same and had proof (Fingerprints?! Kaito was going to have a talk with his tantei-kun later.), a cousin of a supposedly nonexistent entity was more than suspicious. However, considering that the man trusted Conan enough to allow him to have his full control over a crime scene (Kaito had stalk—observed enough to know how much Takagi relied on his observations, as well as the woman beside him), he was probably willing to hold his thoughts on the matter and simply wait if Conan needed any help.

Kaito felt his respect for the humble man in front of him rise. Though he still wasn't appreciative of the fact that they were ruining his day with Conan.

"I'm just going to go to the toilet Ken-nii." Conan tugged at the sleeve of his jacket, and Kaito was slightly startled to find that Conan had left his hand on his knee the whole time even after he finished tapping out the code, only realizing it when the warmth left.

Poker Face demanded he mull that over for later though, so he smiled at Conan and watched him weave through the crowd.

He faced forward again though when Staou cleared her throat, and Kaito fought the urge to cower back at her glare. He leaned back a bit though, and asked hesitantly, "Is something wrong?"

The glare deepened.

"Kurosaki Ken." The woman placed her elbows on the table and steepled her fingers together. Kaito couldn't help the sweat from dripping down his forehead, feeling as if he was about to be interrogated.

"Conan-kun has been a great help to us. He has great observation skills, and is always ready to go beyond basic civilian duty when he can. He and the Detective Boys had earned their names, and the police force is fond of them, though we can't help but take special notice of Conan-kun more."

Ken kept his smile, even as Kaito's mind raced. Even though the Organization was no longer around and any stragglers were being hunted down easily, Conan had no desire to reveal to the public that he was Kudo Shinichi. It was a bit sad, with how the public had easily forgotten the famed Detective of the East, but with Conan's maturity, only his status as a relative was keeping the public from digging too deep into the story of Edogawa Conan, who was a dead ringer for a supposed cousin.

Kaito was stopped by his plotting when Satou-san slammed her hands on the table, leaning over it to glare at him.

"Especially when, for all intents and purposes, Conan-kun had been abandoned in Japan. 6 years!"

Kaito slumped, and Satou seemed to take it as sign of his defeat, nosy bystanders moving on when nothing more happened. "Well? What do you have to say for yourself?"

Kaito breathed out, relieved at keeping Conan's secret safe, but also pondered the situation. He could see how this deeply affected Satou-san. She was fond of children, and though her relationship with Takagi was going well, they hadn't made plans to marry yet, as Satou was still too dedicated with her job to consider it. However, her maternal instincts had probably awakened at Conan's continued recklessness, so her attachment to him was completely understandable.

If Kaito wasn't aware of Conan's true identity, he would probably be frustrated as well with the seeming appearance of relative of his favorite critic, who hadn't bothered to make contact with the child for a long time.

"Conan had always been independent. Too independent, actually. That, and combined with his genius, made him an easy target for bullying." Kaito weaved the story, taking bits and pieces from what he knew of Kudo Shinichi, and the attitude of Conan as a whole.

He could see a disbelieving eyebrow raise at the last part though, and Kaito knew what they were thinking. Bullied? The kid who could intimidate murderers with a glare, was a demon with anything kickable, and was a master escape artist with his skateboard?

He raised a challenging eyebrow back. "Conan will never fight back if it means hurting people he considered friends."

Satou grimaced at that seemingly remembering something, before she lowered back into her seat. Takagi placed a comforting hand on her back, but he was also downhearted.

"He didn't want to include us in the mess, so he just asked to go back to Japan, where Agasa was staying. He has made a life here, and we didn't want to force ourselves into that."

Despite knowing that it was just a cover story, Kaito couldn't help but feel how close it rang to the truth. Shinichi had disappeared, and Conan had taken his place. Conan can't have the same parents as Shinichi, and though Shinichi's parents never argued, Kaito wondered if the reason they didn't stay in Japan after the takedown was because they didn't fit in Conan's life.

Satou sighed. "We know that." She frowned at him, before smiling sadly. "It's just hard not to care for him, you know. We know he trusts us, but we can't seem to support him as much as he supports us."

Kaito smiled back. "As long as you're there for him, that would be enough. That's all we can really do."

As they steered the topic back on safe topics and Conan came back, there was no sign of the tense atmosphere earlier. Kaito didn't think about it anymore, as he became busy being pleased and annoyed in equal measure as they toured around the carnival with the two lovebirds.

The day ended with them staying at the hotel that Satou recommended, even helping them plan out their day tomorrow. Kaito dutifully noted down the places, if only to make sure to avoid them and prevent another day spent watching Conan keep up his cheerful act (though Kaito was intrigued to watch Conan go through the puzzles with the same ease he did earlier, no pretense of his intelligence despite their –unwanted—company).

He only remembered about their conversation again when Conan cornered him before going to bed (looking adorable in his matching pajamas, but Kaito can't say that out loud without fear of decapitation through soccer ball), and demanding to know what they had talked about when he was in the toilet.

Kaito hummed in thought, before saying, "They just really love you, you know."

Conan blinked twice, before the words sunk in his head and he blushed deeply, running to his bed and hiding his face in the blankets.

Kaito just snickered, tugging off his shirt and going to sleep in his pajama bottoms only. It was a pity he couldn't take a picture of that, but his phone memory was full, and he hadn't switched out a new SD card yet.

His last thoughts before drifting to sleep was, "No one had better be interrupting me with my tantei-kun tomorrow dammit."


A/N: I have no idea why this shifted from being funny to slightly emotional. Chibi-Satou just ran off with chibi-Conan with that plunny I swear.