Disclaimer: I don't know how long it's supposed to have been since Shinichi has turned into Conan… If we go by actual years it's been like 20, and since I can't actually do that, please overlook this detail. Thanks.
Ch. 2 Nice to meet you too
Hey…what's wrong with you? Kaito thought frantically, noting from the expression on Conan's face that this kid was not joking.
Hearing little Conan's declaration, the other people in the room, sans Hakuba, rounded on Kaito.
"You?" Ikumi said, surprised. "You're that famous detective boy? And here I thought the rumors that you had died were true."
Mogi scoffed in amusement as he looked between Conan and the supposed Shinichi Kudo. "Hey seems to me like he's actually the only one this kiddo knows at the moment." Mogi then glanced over at Kogoro. "Considering he doesn't remember us" He gestured to himself, Ikumi, and Hakuba, " this kiddo's lost his recent memories from that bump to his head earlier didn't he? And don't tell me these two" he pointed his thumb over at the Shinichi look-alike and Conan "aren't related. They look exactly alike."
Kogoro frowned, looking at Kaito, who still hadn't said anything to respond to the other detectives. The teen was still looking at Conan, silent. "Well Conan is supposed to be a distant relative of the Kudo brat, but" he scowled deeper as he noticed Kaito still wasn't paying him any heed, "hey! Say something already!" Kogoro shouted, startling Kaito into finally giving him his attention "You're not the detective boy are you? You look like him, but you seem different."
"Ah, as expected from the great Detective Mouri." Hakuba responded, seeing as his companion had chosen to stay speechless for some odd reason. "He is not a detective. He is my classmate, Kaito Kuroda."
"Kuroda?" Kogoro looked surprised for a moment, but deciding he didn't care too much, let it go. "Well, anyway, as I thought, not that detective boy."
Shinichi breathed a little easier, relieved to have figured out two important things: 1. That he, Shinichi Kudo, had existed, and that 2., this doppelganger had not replaced him. Now he just had to figure out, who the hell was Conan Edogawa? Was Conan him, Shinichi, turned young living under this alias, or was he possessing someone else entirely? From what Shinichi knew, he knew of no distant relatives Conan's age.
Kaito finally spoke, tearing his eyes away from the little boy and addressing Mogi. "Sir, what you said about this boy having lost some of his memory, is this true?"
Mogi shrugged, "Well the boy seemed to be functioning fine after the bump to his head, and seemed to recognize his guardian fine so we hadn't checked, but" he glanced around the room, "considering this boy's excellent memory and attention to detail, his lack of memory of all of us save for Detective Mouri and, although it seemed to have been a case of mistaken identity, his distant relative, I think we can assume this boy's lost a few months."
"I see." Kaito replied, looking nervously over at the little detective. A few months? Probably more like a year! "Thank you." He gulped, feeling bad as he saw how confused and downright scared Conan looked, despite how hard the boy was trying not to let the fear show. It almost looked as if… he didn't trust himself yet.
Perhaps Conan had sensed a bit of his inner turmoil and suspected that Kaito knew more about the mini detective than he let on, because the boy himself walked over to the teen to tap on his leg. "Do you know me nii-chan?"
Kaito blinked, heart hammering as he answered carefully, knowing Hakuba was watching them interact like a hawk. "I don't know Conan Edogawa."
"How do you know my name then?" Shinichi was pretty sure he hadn't introduced himself to this strange Kaito Kuroda character yet, who supposedly didn't know him.
In response, Kaito frowned. This was going as badly as he feared. Considering the pipsqueak had asked Kaito if he was Shinichi himself, and was now showing ignorance of ever being featured in the papers as Conan, this pointed to his memory loss being to a point before the Black Star heist.
"You're in the papers sometimes." Crap crap crap. Kaito thought, as the full extent of how bad things could be started to dawn on him. Did mini Kudo at least remember becoming Conan? If not, things looked bad, as Conan would suddenly become a way shadier character just by virtue of having already recognized Kogoro.
"Do you know…Shinichi Kudo?" Kaito peered down at Conan, as the boy spouted another unsettling question that pointed to him being unsure of his own identity. Kaito sighed deeply, cursing his conscience. With the boy's confusion and his questions, it was becoming increasingly likely that Conan did not know how he had become Conan.
Even though the detective was his arch nemesis, Kaito knew he couldn't leave the boy like this. Ironically, even though Kaito was the only one who hadn't 'met' Conan before, he was the only one who could help the little detective keep his real identity hidden in this mess.
However, helping Conan out here was a gamble, and would require a precarious balance between Kaito's own secret versus Conan's. Kaito wasn't really sure he would be able to manage not tipping it one way or another. Either way, every word uttered to him would be important. He didn't want to see Tantei-kun losing it after all.
Kaito crouched down to make sure he would be eye level with the real Shinichi. Speaking in a low enough voice so as not to be overheard, he replied gently "I don't know the teenage Shinichi Kudo." Kaito saw Conan's eyes widen a little at the carefully worded response. Did he get the hint? The teen wasn't really sure if he wanted him to or not. He was tightening the noose around his own neck for this after all.
However, seeing no encouraging response, Kaito then put a warm hand on Conan's shoulder, making the boy jolt in surprise. "Hey kiddo, I know you're confused and scared and all with your memory loss, but it'll be okay." He gave the boy a warm smile. "You're okay."
Kaito gave the small shoulder a light squeeze before uttering the next line, which was teetering on damning once Conan got his memories back. "You are who you think you are, and you are also who everyone else says you are." He paused, "You're a detective right? Believe in what you know." Deciding he had risked his neck enough to last a decade, Kaito stood up to face the rest of the crowd.
"Sorry for my late introduction." Kaito announced, "As Hakuba and Detective Mouri already pointed out, I am not Shinichi Kudo, nor am I a detective. I was just as surprised by the little kid's declaration as you all were." He shrugged, looking deflated. "I'm just here tagging along with Hakuba, since we are partners for a school project due this upcoming Tuesday and this is the only time we can work together."
"Ah school." Ikumi responded, smiling, "It's nice to be young isn't it?"
"Bah, no need to do that schoolwork." Mogi added on, scoffing. "There are more important things out there to be done after all, like solving the mystery of this mansion."
"Don't say that. School is important." Ikumi reprimanded, giving Mogi a disapproving look. "However, you are right that this mansion mystery needs some solving."
"What?" Kogoro said, incredulous "I thought the only mystery this mansion held was whether or not it still held some jewel?"
"Surely you must be joking, Detective Mouri." Hakuba laughed, shaking his head. "Although neither you nor Jirokichi Suzuki seemed to have noticed, this mansion holds a much larger mystery than the alleged existence of a jewel."
Hearing those unexpected declarations from the three detectives, Kaito stopped himself from trying to be excused from the room again. "What other mystery?"
Ignoring the amused look Hakuba was giving him, Kaito pressed on, "I thought you were all here to look for some jewel?"
"Bah, as if!" Mogi replied, laughing as well "Nothing that insignificant would be reason to get me to come. This mansion" he paused, looking around the room in a sinister manner, almost as if expecting the walls to be listening "has other rumors. Rumors that some people disappear after they enter here."
"Wait…." Kaito scowled, hoping against hope again that this was a bad joke. "you mean like some psycho murderer shows up and kills people that enter here?"
"No." Hakuba responded, "From what I have uncovered, it doesn't happen to everyone, but for some odd reason some people disappear after entering here and are never found." He continued, after making sure he had his classmate's full attention. "All traces of them having entered here disappear, and the 'victims' are seemingly random."
"There has to be an explanation for it." Ikumi added on. "And Suzuki-san has presented us detectives with a chance to explore this mysterious mansion for a jewel search. In the meantime, we will put an end to this people disappearing mystery once and for all."
Kaito found himself about to sneak a look over at Conan before he stopped himself. Usually, he could trust the little kid to slip out an expression or something to help Kaito confirm the validity of such a ridiculous claim, but Conan didn't remember why he was here anymore.
Instead, trying to remember what he had seen in his father's notes about the mansion, Kaito racked his memory. It wasn't that hard, considering there wasn't much in the notes. All it pretty much said was that there used to be a jewel housed here, but not anymore. There was nothing in the notes to peak Kaito's interest, so the boy had dismissed the place, assuming the mansion was not worth looking into. However, hearing this new supposed mystery surrounding this mansion was making Kaito second-guess his initial dismissal. If there were such a weird rumor surrounding this place, there was no way his father wouldn't have mentioned it.
Come to think of it, with this new information, it was altogether unnatural how little details there were regarding this place in his father's usually detailed notes.
It was almost as if his father had wanted the reader to think that this place was not worth checking out. Kaito shuddered. He was smelling a mystery all right, and a potentially dangerous one at that. Ugh. Kaito groaned inwardly at this new realization. However, if his late father had been involved, now that he was here Kaito had to figure out what was going on.
He believed in the detectives here, including the slightly battered but still functioning Kudo, to be able to figure out pretty much any mystery thrown at them. However, Kaito didn't trust any of them to not keep him in the dark after figuring out the mystery, deeming it too dangerous to know like his late father seemed to have decided.
Even though the house was full of detectives he had to compete against, Kaito decided he would figure out this people disappearing mystery before any of them. There was just one big problem. He glanced over at Conan again, and jolted as he saw the little boy staring intently at him, eyes full of suspicion.
Although Shinichi had been just as surprised by his lookalike at the revelation of the people disappearing act this mansion they were in was rumored to pull, Shinichi first had to make sure what was up with this teenager he was supposed to not know.
This guy, although he had not said it outright, sounded like he was hinting that he knew something about Shinichi's strange situation. Frustrated, he tugged at the hem of Kaito's shirt as soon as he locked eyes with the teen. "Hey Kaito-niichan. Can I talk to you alone?"
"Why?" Kaito responded, startled and a little scared. Although he had a bit of an idea, it would be too weird to the others if this unrelated kid decided he needed to speak in private with a teenager he had just met. This would be too suspicious and dangerous for both of their secret covers.
Shinichi paused, looking around conspiratorially before answering in a childish manner. "Well, you're not a detective right? Then we should stick together while the others work to solve the mystery!" he smirked, "But I want to try and figure it out before them, so please help me! "
"Ah" So that's your plan "I see." Kaito responded, scared but a little relieved that the boy seemed to at least have gotten the hint that Conan had a secret identity to keep. "Well, you heard the squirt." Kaito said, looking up at the rest of the people in the room. "Please excuse us. We'll join you all for dinner."
Kogoro scoffed, waving them off "Scat! Good riddance." He scowled after the pair as they left the room, "As if they would be able figure it out before us."
"I don't know about that, Detective Mouri." Ikumi said, chuckling. "Although Kuroda-kun was not the famed Shinichi Kudo, memory loss or not, Conan-kun has proven to be pretty sharp."
"Kuroda-kun can be a bit of a jokester, but he is no idiot either." Hakuba added on, to Kogoro's chagrin. "Who knows? Those two may really beat us in solving this mansion mystery."
000
Finally getting the suspicious 'Kaito' alone in a room with him, Shinichi turned to look at the other boy in the eyes. He had to at least make sure once and for all that Shinichi was still himself for the sake of his sanity. And if this strange character knew, he would get it out of him. "You know me don't you?"
The addressed teen looked back, giving the conversation a pregnant pause. "No. I don't know you, Conan-kun."
Shinichi sighed, frustrated and at the end of his wits, "Then do you know me, S-mmph!" He struggled as Kaito suddenly covered his mouth with his hand before Shinichi could even utter the first syllable of his real name.
"No." Kaito said quickly, and then added on quietly after he let go of the other boy's mouth. "But everyone else here knows Conan-kun." Goddammit Meitantei! Catch the hint already!
Shinichi finally fell silent of his own accord, a small explanation starting to form in his head at this strange response, and it did not look pretty. Well, at least it's starting to become something. He thought sarcastically, eyeing the guy who was refusing to elaborate on what he obviously knew.
First of all, if he could trust the veiled hints this Kaito had been giving him, Shinichi was still himself. Additionally, considering the reactions of the other people in the living room, Shinichi the teenage detective had existed.
However, this new knowledge that he was still himself added a few more things to the long list of things that were bothering him. One of them was why Kogoro didn't know Conan was Shinichi, despite Conan was living under his care, and despite the Mouris being a close family friend.
Which meant for some odd reason, Shinichi was not able to reveal his identity. Considering what Ikumi had said earlier about having thought teen Shinichi had died, Shinichi had clearly been in hiding during the time that he had forgotten.
Shinichi narrowed his eyes, going deeper in thought, before glancing over at his look-alike who had opted to silently sit in the room without looking at him. Considering what this 'Kaito' had been hinting at him while revealing as little as possible about the boy himself, he was probably one of the few people that knew Conan's identity.
However, although this mysterious teen knew young Shinichi as he is now, the teen had supposedly never met 'Conan' or Shinichi as he was before he had turned young.
Although Kaito was proving to be no enemy of his so far, this teen clearly had secrets of his own that he was not willing to lay out to Shinichi. He doesn't trust me. Shinichi thought, Is that because I am unstable now with my memory loss or because he never did?
However, considering how it seemed as if Shinichi himself had decided to stay hidden sometime during the gap in his memory, Shinichi decided to trust his own past decision keep staying hidden. Since Shinichi didn't know what Conan's back-story was, he knew he was at risk of unwittingly blowing his own cover. For this reason, it seemed that for now Shinichi had little to no choice but to stick close to this supposed stranger to keep up Conan's cover. It was a good thing he had come up with that dumb excuse earlier of 'wanting to solve the house mystery before the other detectives', so that he would have an excuse to be sticking around Kaito.
Sighing in defeat, Shinichi finally looked over at Kaito to strike up conversation again. At the very least, he could start clearing up the minor details. "Hey Kaito-niichan, can you at least tell me why Jirokichi Suzuki would want a large jewel so much? Considering the other detectives seem to doubt this mansion even holds the jewel anymore, I don't see why that old man would care so much." Shinichi added on, "I might have known the reason before coming here, but it seems I've forgotten."
Kaito blinked, and then smiled. Well this was unexpected but somewhat comforting. It seemed Kudo was as tough as nails, being capable of making jokes about his situation even though his predicament was obviously insane and still uncomfortably very muddled. "Suzuki is obsessed with a phantom thief called Kaitou KID, and that thief always goes after large jewels. Apparently the old man hopes to find in this house his next bait to lure out the thief."
"…oh" Shinichi replied, feeling deflated by the stupid reason. An obsessed rich man with nothing better to do with his time and money than go after some petty thief? He hadn't heard much of this Kaitou KID; not that he cared much. Theft wasn't really his thing after all. Shinichi did remember going after a particularly clever one at the clock tower once and that had been fun, but he had never caught the guy's nickname. Maybe he would one day get around to asking Inspector Megure.
Shinichi suddenly felt a pang of worry about the thought of the Inspector. Does Megure know about me? The level of danger Shinichi could gauge of his own current situation could be measured by whether or not he had bothered to notify the police about his shrunken state. Considering Shinichi was obviously in hiding, if he hadn't told Megure, a police officer he trusted wholeheartedly, things would have to be extremely bad. However, considering Kogoro didn't know…
Shinichi was suddenly punched by a nasty feeling - loneliness.
As if sensing his moment of vulnerability, the teen that was with him spoke again. "Hey, don't make that face. I'm sure you'll recover your memories soon enough. In the meantime, let's have fun solving that mystery the other detectives were talking about. By the way" Kaito paused, "that's what you were in the papers about. Kaitou KID I mean." He continued after he made sure the uncharacteristically sad look Tantei-kun had been sporting changed to one of curiousity. "You're known as the KID killer, because you've been the closest to catching the elusive thief."
"Oh… I see." Shinichi swallowed. Despite 'Conan' still being a foreign person to him, knowing that the shrunken him had been doing something familiar like chasing after criminals made him feel better. "Thank you, Kaito-niichan." He smiled, suddenly feeling as if a little bit of an unknown weight had been lifted from his now tiny shoulders. It was amazing how a little bit of information, and however secretive and shady he may be, a confidant, could do to the psyche.
"Come on, let's go to dinner now." Kaito responded, glad that Conan had smiled. "I'm sure they're waiting for us."
As the two walked down the hallway to join the others in the dining room at the appointed time, Kaito decided to ask Conan about the disappearing persons case surrounding this mansion, just in case the boy had heard about it before he had shrunken. Shinichi Kudo had been a renowned homicide detective at such a young age after all; you never knew how much information the guy retained.
Surprisingly, Conan only gave him an uninterested look, "I've heard about the case before from d- I mean" he coughed to cover up his mistake. "from Shinichi-niichan's dad. Apparently he's looked into it, but didn't find anything." Conan shrugged, "If he couldn't find anything, then there probably really is nothing to the disappearing persons rumor."
"Huh." Kaito responded, "Shinichi Kudo's father? Is he also a detective?"
"No." Conan replied, quirking his eyebrows in mild irritation. "He's a mystery writer, but he also helps out the police sometime with complicated crimes." He paused, before looking over at his companion, "Come to think of it, I heard he's given a phantom thief a hard time too. Maybe it's that Kaitou KID I'm supposed to be famous for chasing after."
"Oh." Yup. Kaito thought. Shady. This mansion mystery is shady. He then nervously stole a glance over at Conan, who had now looked away from him. Especially if this genius's father is also in on covering up this mystery. I hope this secret isn't some sort of Pandora's box.
He then scoffed at the thought; ignoring the puzzled look Conan gave him. No… the jewel that used to be here… it couldn't have been?
Kaito stopped in his tracks, his blood suddenly turning cold at the thought. Wait…a dangerous secret that needed to be covered up? "Conan-kun, do you know the name of the jewel that may or may not be hidden here?"
"No, but" Conan paused in his steps, looking at the other boy quizzically "Shinichi-niichan's dad mentioned it was supposed to be a jewel that cries and stops time or something. Crazy right?" he started laughing before he stopped himself, seeing the shocked look on Kaito's face. "Crazy…. right?" he repeated, before he noticed the shock on his companion's face was turning to one of horror. "Hey… what's wrong with you?"
TBC