~4 Idiots In A Closet~
Chapter 15: Secret hideouts and ramen (not)dates
[Get in here.]
The message came from Kuroba, this time. If that was supposed to be an invitation, then the idiot definitely had a talent for making something sound rude and demanding, but also inviting at the same time.
That had to mean that both Kudo and Kuroba were still present in the mentioned 'legendary secret hideout' at the moment, though. And both needed to be aware of the messages that have been exchanged so far. Saguru could sense a bigger teasing plot behind it all and even imagine Kaito urging Shinichi on to send them, just to see his reaction… which he wouldn't get to see in the literal sense, considering. Then again, after experiencing Kudo's teasing side for himself already, Saguru couldn't be certain who's initial idea this was anymore.
Either way, Hakuba didn't need to be told twice. He was faster out of the house than he could realize that he should have probably eaten dinner first.
"You could have warned me that your mother was still here," Saguru pointed out, trying not to cringe. "She keeps... asking me perplexing questions."
"If they're about how all four of us are in a sexual relationship, just ignore her," Kuroba sighed, looking unimpressed. "Sorry, it slipped my mind. If it will make you feel any better, she caught Shin-chan and me off-guard, too."
Hakuba rubbed his temples, too distraught to even comment on that. Once he opened his eyes again, however, realizing where he's just been dragged to, he immediately had something else to occupy his mind with.
So, this was the place where Kaito stored all of his equipment for his heists… To be honest, he imagined the room to be smaller, considering the layout of the house. Then again, there was a high chance this was on basement level. It's been a bit of a way down from Kuroba's room, after all. He also imagined it to be less empty, perhaps. But again - he wouldn't be surprised if most of the gear was hidden, like it should be.
The things that stood out the most on first sight were a piano in the far left corner of the room, a big, colorful jukebox right next to it, right across from the armchair, and a silvery-white car standing near one of the walls, in-between some shelves.
"... Is that an Alfa Romeo?" One which Conan was currently inspecting as well, no less.
"A 1969 Alfa Romeo Spider Veloce, to be more precise," the small detective informed him. "This thing is nearly ancient."
"Ancient on the outside, maybe~" Kaito pointed out with a grin.
Which probably meant that the thing was tuned. Saguru made a mental note to never get in the mentioned car while Kuroba was the one doing the driving. That smile alone held enough scary promises.
"How did your father get a car in here in the first place?" He couldn't see any doors, let alone a gate for something as big as a car to fit through.
"Magic."
Typical, Kaito. Way to go and make him only more intrigued with the whole thing. It probably showed that Saguru wanted nothing more than inspect the whole room on his own, if the thief's sudden change in demeanor was anything to go by.
"Okay, before you guys get carried away - there are rules."
That seemed to get Conan's attention, as well as his, since they both turned and blinked at the magician. "Rules?"
"First of all, you don't come down here without me," Kuroba explained, sounding a tad more serious. "And second: you don't touch anything on your own. Not that I don't trust your careful detective hands, but because you don't know what you might set off. Half of the things here are dangerous, if you don't know how to handle them."
That… made sense, Saguru supposed. It was Kaitou Kid's - a crazy magician's - gear they were talking about. That included sleeping gas, and possibly a handful of other things that could explode in one's face when mishandled. And at this point, Hakuba was pretty sure there needed to be some hidden doors around here. With hidden doors, there was also the possibility of there being hidden pitfalls neither of them wanted to fall into.
All of a sudden, the room didn't feel that inspection-inviting anymore.
"Point taken," Shinichi agreed, apparently having the same kind of conclusions as Saguru did.
"So, no touchie-touchie," Kaito surmised with a smile and waved his finger at them.
"Is it alright for us to walk around, at least? Considering..." Hakuba trailed off, looking suspiciously at the chess-colored tiles before him. None of them seemed to stand out, as far as he could tell, but that was probably the whole problem.
"Mostly," Kaito moved from where he was standing and went a bit back towards the armchair. "Just try to avoid this spot here."
To demonstrate what he was talking about, Kuroba stepped on a particular tile that gave way to a soft clicking sound, and before either of them knew it, something emerged from the floor in the middle of the room. Saguru saw Conan jumping away from the white-colored wall-like thing in surprise, even if he was already standing a few feet away from it.
The newly-appeared thing was clearly a wardrobe, since it opened before them the next second, revealing the all too familiar Kaitou Kid outfit hanging inside.
"Well, I already dragged you down here, might as well make it official," both Hakuba and Shinichi watched Kaito as he moved towards said wardrobe with a swift grab. And then, with a swirl of the cape and a loud rustle of material, Kid was standing right before them in all of his glory.
Saguru still failed to wrap his mind around the fact how Kuroba managed to change in a different outfit in barely two seconds flat. If he didn't know better, he'd say it really was magic.
"Welcome to this phantom thief's humble hideout, detectives," Kid announced with that typical suave tone of voice of his, one hand buried in his trouser pocket, while the other rested on the hem of his cylinder, tilting it more to the front in order to hide his face. The dim light in the room was already doing a good job at making him look mysterious even without the gesture.
Both of them already knew that Kuroba was Kid, and yet, witnessing the whole scene in person like this… didn't feel any less surreal. Or at least it didn't to Hakuba. The person he's been trying so hard to catch for such a long time was standing right there before him in the same room with no (apparent) escape routes, and the sole realization was making his heart race, like it always did during heists.
Old habits died hard, he supposed.
It took him a moment to compose himself, but once he did, Hakuba couldn't help but smirk, more amused with himself than anything else. "We should clearly call Inspector Nakamori right now."
Kid needed to know he was joking and only let his smirk grow wider. "You might have a problem with the reception."
"You thought through everything, as always, I see," Saguru admitted with a faint chuckle. "Honestly, though, you seem like a totally different person like this. I'm..."
"Having a reality clash?" Shinichi finished for him, sounding somewhat amused as well. "I think I am, too," the small detective approached them both, hands in his pockets. "I was near you a lot of times, but that was before I knew you as Kuroba. Sometimes it's still hard to wrap my mind around that."
"I'll take that as a compliment in regards to my acting skills, then," Kid said with a chuckle, finally dropping the whole act a bit. "And you having been 'near me' is a light way of putting it."
"Also true. I don't suppose you've been taking Hakuba on hang-glider flights with you."
"You've been… flying together?" Saguru raised an eyebrow, because this was news to him. Did it happen while Shinichi was chasing the thief? If that was the case, it was somewhat hard to imagine Kid not getting caught in the process. "During a heist?"
"No," Conan shook his head. "The first time it happened, I got thrown off an airship and Kaito jumped after me. I wouldn't be standing here if it wasn't for him."
"And still, you were complaining so much back at the time," Kuroba added with amusement. "You even demanded that I fly back. So cheeky and ungrateful, Shin-chan."
"I was shaken up with everyone else on the airship still being in danger, so…" The small detective sounded more apologetic about that, at least, then rolled his eyes. "I might have over-reacted a bit."
"First airplanes, now airships…" Saguru mused, a little aghast. "Just how many near-death experiences were you guys in?"
"More than I'd like to count, honestly," Conan let out a slow, unimpressed laugh. "There was also that one time with the roller-coaster. I think Hakuba would be interested in hearing about the whole case before that, Kid."
"Hush," the magician pressed a finger to his lips.
"What?" Hakuba honestly felt a little left out, because there was clearly some kind of inside joke going on here.
"The one Hattori mentioned to you a while back," Shinichi went on. "Where Kid dressed up as—" There was a white-gloved hand suddenly pressing against the small detective's mouth and cutting him off, with Kid kneeling next to him.
"Honestly, Shin-chan… is this how you repay me?"
Ah. Saguru did recall that one, and all of a sudden, everything made a lot more sense. "The one where Kid supposedly dressed up as me, you mean?" The half-british detective crossed his hands before his chest. "That reminds me that you still haven't told me about the details of that."
Kid grumbled something incomprehensible under his nose.
"So, what's the plan? I put him out with my watch, and you carry him to Nakamori's place?" Shinichi asked in half-amusement.
"Hmm… We could try," Saguru played along.
"You guys are evil," Kid laughed, taking a step back from the small detective again. "Don't forget that you're the ones on enemy territory here. Underestimating me much?"
"He does have a point…" Conan seemed to agree. "We probably lost the moment we set foot in here."
"Now that that's been established, you can go ahead and tease Hattori for missing out on the whole spectacle."
That being said, Kid made a swift motion and threw his hat in the detectives' direction, letting it fly above their heads in a circle-like path. If it was meant to distract, it did. Then there was a puff of pink smoke where the thief was standing, and once it disappeared, Kuroba was in front of them again, catching the cylinder that somehow magically managed to fly back to him.
"It's his own fault for living so far away."
"You know, I don't think Hattori would appreciate being down here as much as… we do," Shinichi informed. "He was always more interested in murder cases than chasing after phantom thieves. He never cared that much about Kid, and that one time we did chase you together, he did it mainly to help me out."
"Hattori clearly doesn't know what's good in life," Hakuba added with slight amusement, making Kaito chuckle.
"But then again... who am I kidding, we can totally tease him about it." Conan fished out his phone, apparently eager to get on the job - and probably check if Kaito was right about there being no reception down here, while at it.
With a look at his screen, the small detective's smile fell for some reason, though.
"Crap, I need to get back to Beika, on the double," came the sudden admission. "Sorry, but I need to ditch you guys."
That sounded serious, making both Hakuba and Kuroba going still. "Something up?"
"Ran needs me back. It seems... something happened to her mother. I haven't noticed she sent me a message up till now. It's been almost an hour already."
"Ah, that sounds serious," Kaito blinked. "Would you like me to give you a ride?"
Shinichi looked up at him, a little suspiciously. "Not that I don't trust your driving skills, but I think I'll pass. I can catch a train."
"If you're sure…"
As if deciding to choose the exact moment to make things worse for a certain half-british detective, a loud grumbling sound suddenly echoed throughout the room, catching everyone's attention. The culprit quickly turned out to be Hakuba's stomach... and it immediately made him blush as two pair of eyes settled on him.
"Let me guess. You got my message and ran over here like a maniac without eating anything after school," Kuroba deadpanned like it was obvious.
Saguru tried his best not to grimace and wondered if he really was that easy to read sometimes. The fact that Kuroba smiled at him with apparent amusement didn't help matters in the least.
"Well, then... why don't we see Shin-chan off and grab a bite somewhere?" The thief suggested. "I know of a way out of here without us having to stumble upon my mother again."
True to his word, Kuroba led them out of the secret room through a hidden back entrance - he was sure that both Hakuba and Shinichi tried their best to memorize how he opened it up in the first place, curious detectives that they were - and once they were on the street in front of the house, they made their way towards the train station. Then with a goodbye and a promise to see each other again sometime soon, Conan took the first available train back to Beika.
After parting ways with the small detective, Kaito mentioned knowing a good ramen bar in the neighborhood. Hakuba had nothing against it, so that's where they headed to next.
"So, out with it."
Kaito almost choked on the broth he barely took his first sip of.
Okay, so he had a feeling that dragging Hakuba out anywhere to talk wouldn't be the wisest of ideas right now, but he did that to himself anyway.
"You mean... Why did Shin-chan stop by my place today?" The magician scratched his cheek with a finger, as if that would make him look less nervous. "Well, that's…"
"I actually wanted to hear about the time when you supposedly dressed up as me," Hakuba blinked, a little surprised, before his expression gave way to a slight frown. "But now that you brought that up, we might as well talk about it instead."
Oh, great. Did Kaito just dig his own grave? He wanted to cry. Making a mental note to stop forgetting about the fact that Saguru was sometimes too observant for his own good was definitely in order.
"What is up, Kuroba?" The London detective spoke up when Kaito didn't. "That you invited me over in order to make things less suspicious only made me more suspicious, I hope you're aware."
Now it was Kaito's turn to blink in puzzlement. "What kind of messed up logic is that?"
"Think about it."
Kuroba tried to picture the whole thing from Hakuba's point of view, as instructed, wondering if that would end up making any more sense. If it were Saguru and Shinichi plotting behind his back… Okay, 'plotting behind his back' was kind of a bad way of putting it. Even if they kind of were. But they had a good reason, and… Gah, this whole thing was so stupid.
"Okay, I give up," Kaito finally announced with a sigh. "The truth is… Shin-chan has some girl problems and wanted my advice."
Saguru blinked at him, as if expecting to hear anything else but that. "... Girl problems?"
"I know, right?" The thief chuckled, sounding a little amused. His poker face was on and he hoped his little lie was believable enough. "I was confused at first, too. But apparently there's this girl in class that took an interest in him and he doesn't know what to do about it. Since there's Ran, and… you know, being stuck the way he is is a whole other issue of 'wrong'."
Hakuba stared at him, as if not knowing what to say. Whether that was actually good or bad, the magician had trouble telling.
But then, as if to help Kaito out of his questionable predicament, the phone in his pocket vibrated with a soft sound, making them both blink. The thief didn't hesitate long before taking it out.
Speaking of the devil, it was a message from Shinichi.
[Sorry to interrupt your date, but there's a
sudden change in plans. Apartment break-ins
need to be put on hold. And I need to delete
your number for safety purposes. I'll try to
memorize it, though. Just don't call or text me
until I tell you it's okay to do so again.]
Kaito was about to point out that Saguru and him were not out on a date, but then the rest of the message made him forget about that in two seconds flat.
"Um… I need to get this. I'll be right back."
Careful not to look too unsettled, Kuroba excused himself and tried to ignore the worried look Hakuba gave him as he stood up from the table and ran off to the bathroom.
[Whoa there... ヽ（゜ロ゜；）ノ What's going on?
Did you run into some kind of trouble?
Should I call?]
He checked all the stalls, just in case, glad to be having the ease of mind that there wasn't anyone inside the bathroom that could overhear him, at least.
[Can't talk right now. And you could say that.
But it's nothing I can't handle.]
No calling, then. Which probably meant that Shinichi was already with Ran? But if he was already with Ran, what the hell was happening?
Kaito decided to lean against the wall near the bathroom's entrance and quickly worked on a reply.
[Are you sure?
If you need any kind of help, just give the word.]
[Thanks. I'll keep it in mind. But I think I'm good.
I have a plan, I just need to set everything up.]
[I could always give you a hand with that, too.]
[Subaru's involved in this.
I'd rather he didn't get more suspicious of our
relationship than he already is.]
Okay, so it had something to do with that Subaru guy? The magician took a moment to think before writing another message.
[Ok, understood. Should I ask what-related this is?
So that I can sleep better at night, at least?]
It was worth a try. Shinichi already made it clear that he didn't want to involve him in this, but that obviously didn't make him any less worried.
To Kaito's surprise, the next message came in barely a few seconds after the one he sent. For a moment there, he expected a 'no.' But seeing it... literally made his heart stop.
[Bourbon.]
This was so not good. Kuroba rubbed his face, trying to calm down.
[… Okay. I am getting SO much sleep tonight.
Shin-chan, whatever you're up to, be careful.]
[I always am.]
He supposed that was that, then.
With a sigh, Kaito took another moment to compose himself, then reluctantly headed back out into the bar. And while the whole situation was making him feel more than a little on edge, at least it could work as a distraction from the things he wasn't supposed to talk about with Hakuba. It was a good thing in a bad thing, sort of.
Taking a seat back before his bowl of ramen, Kuroba looked at Saguru, who stared back at him expectantly.
And then: "It seems that Shin-chan's girl problems turned into alcohol problems," the thief announced with a straight face. It would have been such a good joke, if the situation wasn't as serious.
"... I beg your pardon?"
"Something's up with that organization of his," the thief explained with a sigh. "Though I don't know what exactly, and apparently Shin-chan wants us to stay out of it."
Hakuba blinked at him with puzzlement. "Is he certain?"
"I insisted that we could help, but he turned me down, so…"
"I see," Saguru still looked somewhat hesitant, but then decided to go back to his meal, as if that was the logical thing to do. "Try not to worry about it too much, then. If Kudo-kun got by without either of us helping so far, he probably knows what he's doing."
Kaito stilled, not expecting to hear something like that coming from Saguru. For a moment there he had to wonder if the detective noticed him being on edge and if that was perhaps his way of trying to ease his mind a little. Kuroba couldn't argue that Hakuba did have a fair point, though.
And while the magician wondered about it some more, turning to stare at his food...
"... Did you put that naruto into my bowl?" Kaito gave Hakuba an 'I see what you did there' kind of look, because he sure as hell didn't remember ordering any of those.
"Maybe," Saguru just gave him a smug smile, resting his chin on his free hand. "I see that it has no effect on you when it doesn't look like fish."
All of a sudden, Kuroba wanted to grimace and laugh at the same time. He settled for glaring evilly instead. "I'm not sure whether to be mad or amused that my trickster side is clearly starting to rub off on all of you," he smirked back, a little amused. "And while we're already on the topic of mischief... Shin-chan said that he's sorry for having interrupted our date."
Now it was Hakuba's turn to choke on his broth, with the exception that he ended up in an uncontrollable coughing fit and Kaito couldn't help but laugh at the reaction.
"Yup. Never gets old~"
The thief supposed he was doomed to tell Saguru all about that whole hostage case and how he ended up helping Shinichi and Heiji under the London detective's disguise now. Well, he probably owed him as much.
And once they would be done with their dinner and free to go their separate ways… Well, Kaito already established that he wouldn't be getting much sleep tonight, thanks to Shin-chan's worrying development.
He figured he might as well bite the bullet and pay a certain witch the visit he promised, and see into that deal she was talking about.
—t.b.c.
Nayru's Note: A shorter chapter this time, but I really just wanted to get on with the plot. Especially since it's been ages since I updated (writer's block is being a bitch right now. Wrr.)
If you're wondering what's up with Bourbon - this is the point where I'm including the 'scarlet chapters' in my story, since I wanted to stick to canon with that. The timeline is a little tricky, but to hell with it.
As for Kaito's car, I did some research in regards to it, and an Alfa Romeo seemed like the most fitting model. Check out this link on youtube if you're curious:
/watch?v=ONxlm1kedM0
The car will be (totally) crucial for the plot in the upcoming shenanigans. :D
Also, I'll be starting work on my own Visual Novel project shortly, so I'm not sure when the next updates will come, but they'll come eventually. I'll let you guys know once I know more.