Several weeks had passed since Snake and the rest of that branch of the organization had been captured. By now, Conan had fully recovered from his injuries, Kaito had nearly fully recovered from his, and all that could be done with the collected evidence and arrested criminals had been done. Which meant that it was time to get back to work.
Or, at least, that's what Conan assumed his parents had in mind when they kept asking him to bring Kaito over after school someday to meet them. It made sense – the four of them did need to discuss who to invite to the official planning meetings. So he scheduled a time with his parents, but didn't bother telling Kaito about it. Partly because it was redundant to ask Kaito to come to Beika after school, but mostly because Conan liked taking any opportunity he could to try to catch his friend off guard.
So, after accepting his usual gift of secret coffee that day, Conan peered up at him innocently and asked, "Hey, Kaito-niichan, don't you have work today?"
"Oh yeah, that's today, isn't it?" Kaito replied without missing a beat, smiling at him with a perfectly natural expression meant to give away nothing, save for the hint of fond annoyance in the lift of his eyebrow. Conan smirked.
"You have a job, Kaito-oniisan?" Ayumi asked.
"What kind of job is it?" Mitsuhiko asked.
"Maybe the Detective Boys can help you with it!" Genta boasted.
"It's not that type of job," Haibara informed the children, without giving Kaito a chance to speak for himself. "It's very boring. He's an accountant."
"What's that?" Ayumi wondered.
"Someone who sits in a cubicle in an office and does math all day," Haibara replied dryly.
"Is that true, Kaito-san?" Mitsuhiko inquired urgently, sounding almost betrayed.
"I thought Kaito-oniichan would've had a fun job!" Genta whined, sounding utterly betrayed.
"I would've thought so too," Kaito stated evenly, with his best Poker Face. "Like being a magician or a super cool secret agent, right? But alas, sometimes people can really disappoint you." The final words were accompanied by a pointed glance at Haibara, who now looked far too pleased with herself, like the brat she was. Conan shot her a look.
"Well, it is what it is," the magician secret agent sighed dramatically. "But I am going to make Conan-kun come with me. If I have to go be bored all day, then he should have to suffer too."
"Aww, no fair!" Conan whined, knowing full well that he did in fact have to go do the same job as Kaito. But accounting? Really, Haibara? He was morally obligated to act upset about that.
So Kaito took his hand, and they waved goodbye to the others and set off toward the Kudou Manor together.
"Accounting!" Kaito spat out the instant they were out of earshot.
"Yeah, I know. Haibara's sense of humor can be a bit…"
"Bad?" Kaito guessed bitterly.
Conan chuckled and decided not to reply directly. "At least there's a reason for it this time. The kids hate math, so this way they won't be tempted to follow us."
"But still! Can you imagine? Me! In accounting!"
"Do you not like math?"
"I love math! Physics is one of my favorite subjects! I need to know a lot of it to set up some of my cooler tricks. And there are so many other wonderful things you can do with math, like manipulating stock markets, or hacking important databases! Even computer programming is basically just math surrounded with, like, fancy squiggly lines and stuff. But accounting? What do I look like, a calculator?"
Conan laughed. "I know, I know. She purposefully picked the most boring job on the planet, and it doesn't fit you at all. But why are you so worked up about it?"
"Because it's accounting!" he shot back nonsensically. Then he sighed and lowered his head, and the agitation dropped away to be replaced with the slightest sense of anxiety. Conan immediately tensed — he'd never seen Kaito nervous before. And given the types of things that he knew didn't make Kaito nervous, this must be something truly terrifying.
"Kaito? What's wrong?"
"We're about to go meet your parents, aren't we?" he replied in a deceptively neutral tone.
"…yeah? What about it?"
"Well…" He awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck and avoided Conan's eyes. "I was wondering what you've told them? About me?"
That… was not what he'd expected to hear. Did Kaito think Conan had been badmouthing him to his parents? It kind of hurt that he would assume such a thing; Conan forced those thoughts away before he could dwell on them any further. He took a moment to consider how to answer. "I've barely told them anything at all about you," he said carefully. "I did talk to my dad about KID like you suggested that one time. He already knew your identity before that, though. Then we worked on taking down that criminal syndicate together, so they know about all that."
"Nothing else?"
"…what else is there?" Conan replied, trying not to sound defensive.
"Yeah, that's about what I figured," Kaito sighed heavily. "Ok, well… this should be interesting then."
Conan frowned down at the pavement as they walked. Why did Kaito sound so disappointed with that answer? Shouldn't that have been good news to him? Did he want Conan to tell his parents about every weird prank and crazy joke? Maybe Kaito intended to prank them and hoped they were prepared for it?
"You don't have anything to be nervous about," Conan tried to reassure him with a supportive smile. "My parents are harmless. Or, well, mostly harmless… But I'm sure you'll get along with them!"
"Thanks," Kaito smiled back at him, but it lacked the usual warmth. No, Conan decided, this nervousness definitely did not suit him. Conan only wished he could do something about it.
"Come on, tell me what's wrong," he prompted.
"Why don't you try deducing it for yourself, Meitantei?"
Conan scoffed, then grinned and said in a teasing tone, "It would take a lot more than a detective to understand what goes through your mind. That sounds more like a job for an entire team of highly trained psychologists, and probably a mental health specialist or two."
Kaito laughed and squeezed his hand, which Conan took as a good sign. He still wasn't back to his usual self, but he clearly wasn't going to give a direct answer either. That infuriating Poker Face was back, purposely hiding something from Conan. It stung. He couldn't explain why, but he sort of felt they should be past that by now. It made him want to grab Kaito by the shoulders and shake his secrets loose.
The worst part was that his detective skills were proving absolutely useless here. To an outsider, this situation would've looked exactly like the stereotypical nervous boyfriend wanting the approval of his partner's parents. Except for the one minor detail where Kaito had clearly and directly stated that the flirting was a joke and didn't mean anything. But that simple explanation was just so obvious that Conan was struggling to think outside the box to find the real answer. It was so frustrating that, at this point, accounting might've actually been preferable.
His mind spun in fruitless circles for the remainder of the silent walk, until he was startled out of his thoughts by their arrival at his home.
He wasn't at all surprised that Kaito effortlessly opened the gate without being told the passcode. He was rather surprised that Kaito released his hand as soon as they entered the yard. But it was easier not to think about it, so they walked up and entered the house, to be greeted in the entryway by both elder Kudous.
"Kaito-kun! Ohh, you've grown so much since I last saw you!" Yukiko squealed, running up to shower him in an embarrassing amount of affection.
"And you look exactly as young and beautiful as the last time I saw you, Kudou-san!" he replied in his most charming voice, not even the slightest bit embarrassed. When she released him from the tight hug she'd trapped him in, he magically produced a rose for her, which she accepted with faux modesty and happily tucked into her hair.
"Ohhh, you're such a flatterer!" she giggled, smiling in a way that communicated in no uncertain terms that he must continue flattering her. Conan couldn't help a not-so-subtle eye roll at that.
Yuusaku then stepped forward and shook Kaito's hand firmly. "Kaito-kun, it's a pleasure to officially meet you. And I believe congratulations are in order for your work against the organization."
"Thank you, Kudou-san," Kaito answered warmly.
"Would you all like to talk in the sitting room?" Yukiko chirped, immediately launching into full hostess mode. "Or would you prefer to chat over lunch? There's fresh curry in the kitchen!"
"Kitchen then," Conan replied without a second thought. "Kaito's always hungry after school."
"Ah, he knows me so well!" Kaito admitted with a broad smile, subconsciously reaching out to ruffle Conan's hair. Conan had become so accustomed to such gestures that he barely thought about it himself, except to notice (and be slightly worried about) the knowing side look his mother gave him for it. Whatever it was, he was fairly sure he didn't want to know about it, so he pushed it firmly out of his mind as they gathered in the kitchen and he climbed into the chair that Kaito pulled out for him.
During the meal, his parents stubbornly ignored all of Conan's attempts to discuss important work topics, and instead just engaged Kaito in small talk about his life, hobbies, and so on. All of which was information Conan already knew, but after the third time that he was reprimanded for answering all the questions on Kaito's behalf, he sighed in frustration and decided to zone out until they were done.
It took forever, but eventually, after Yukiko cleared the dishes, Yuusaku finally got around to giving an overview of everything they currently knew about the organization.
"Ok, so basically…" Kaito summarized when Yuusaku had finished, "The goal is to arrest everyone in this massive worldwide secret organization, which is tough because we only know the code names for, like, four of them, and we don't know anything at all about the highest-ranking members, and the only two in custody have said absolutely nothing, and so far all of our 'allies' are working separately? Is that about right?"
"That's right," Yuusaku agreed mildly, pleased that Kaito understood his rather long-winded explanation. "Though we do know one thing about the boss: he is supposedly an incredibly cautious man, such that even his immediate subordinates know almost nothing about him."
"Hmm, I can certainly see why you wanted my help with this," Kaito replied lightly with a cocky grin. "Not a very easy task, is it?"
"No, but it is possible," Conan began, folding his hands on the table in front of him. "I do have one idea for how we might find the boss."
"A bad idea," Yuusaku interjected with a disapproving glare that elicited an eye-roll from Conan.
"I'd like to hear your idea!" Kaito encouraged him.
"So, a while ago, there was an agent codenamed Irish* who was investigating me, and he discovered my identity through my fingerprints. Oh, don't worry, he's dead now," he added reassuringly at the horrified expression on his friend's face. "I mean, not that it's a good thing for someone to be dead… but, well… anyway, when he found out my identity, he wanted to take me to the boss as proof of the effects of the Apotoxin." *[see movie 13]
Kaito blinked dumbly at him a few times, unable or just unwilling to hide the shock and distress on his face. "Ok, yeah, wow, that is a really bad idea."
"It's a great idea!" he huffed indignantly. "Whose side are you on here?"
"I'm always on your side!" Kaito hurried to assure him, placing a hand on the side of Conan's face and moving his thumb in a soothing petting motion through his hair. "Which means I prefer plans that don't involve you dying!"
"Tch, such a drama queen. I'm not going to die. It's really not as dangerous as it sounds, as long as we're properly prepared for it and have a few key people working with us. We'll also need…" he trailed off, suddenly noticing his surroundings. "Uh, what's with the weird face, Mom?"
"Ohh, I can't help it! You two are just so cuuute~!" she chimed, hands clasped by her face.
Kaito snatched his hand away and stared intensely down at the table, while Yuusaku tried to hide a smirk in his mug. Conan sighed in exasperation.
"Riiight. Thanks, Mom," he drawled sarcastically. By now, he was more or less used to her fawning over how 'cute' he apparently was in this stupid small body. She seemed to take an inordinate amount of pleasure in speaking to him like a child, carrying him around, dressing him up, and making him do stupid kiddie things like riding carousels and having his picture taken with minimum-wage employees in mascot suits. It was lame and annoying, but at least he was used to fending off such remarks from her. Apparently Kaito was not, judging by his sudden stiffness and deep blush. Seeing his discomfort irritated Conan more than it probably should have, so he was just a little too harsh when he spoke again. "Can we focus on work now?"
"You mentioned wanting to bring more people in?" Yuusaku prompted calmly. Being married to Yukiko for a couple of decades had done wonders for his ability to defuse such situations.
"Yes," Conan answered. "We've already got Haibara, the Professor, and the FBI and CIA contingents in Japan working with us, which is good. And obviously Kaito is the best possible person to have on our team, but there are a few others that we need to talk to because honestly, they're going to get in the way if we don't. For example, Sera and her mom keep trying to trick me and/or possibly mug me for an antidote. That's a problem. And we'll also need to coordinate with Bourbon to make sure he doesn't try to blow anyone up again."
"All true. I assume you have some way of getting in contact with Sera-kun?"
"Yeah, I'll call her today," Conan agreed. "Can you handle Bourbon? He seems to have some kind of personal vendetta against Akai-san, which, quite frankly, doesn't interest me at all. We should be focused on the organization, not fighting amongst ourselves. You may need to talk directly to his superiors in the PSB to get him to cooperate."
"Consider it done," Yuusaku answered with an easy confidence bordering on arrogance. "Anyone else?"
"I'd like to include Takagi-keiji and Satou-keiji as well. They're already suspicious of me anyway, and they're both trustworthy beyond a doubt. Plus, it'll be good to have some representatives from Division One working with us."
"Agreed. I'll talk to Megure and the superintendent to get permission to use some of their time," Yuusaku nodded. "Now, the next logical step would be to gather everyone together so that we can begin pooling information and resources. From there, we can decide how best to investigate the organization without raising their suspicions."
"My mother would like to attend that meeting," Kaito spoke up.
"Oh, that sounds lovely! She's welcome anytime!" Yukiko answered immediately, her eyes shining in delight. "I'd love to see her again – it's been too long, truly! Ah, we have so much to talk about~!"
Conan had no particular objections to Chikage's presence, except that he found her completely and utterly terrifying. But one glance at his friend's relieved smile and genuine happiness, and he decided he really didn't mind that much at all. "So, when will the meeting be?" he asked his dad.
"Hmm," he hummed, considering. "Kaito-kun, are you and your mother available Friday evening?"
"Yes sir!"
"Oh goodie, we're going to have a party!" Yukiko squealed, clapping her hands then immediately pulling out her phone to begin researching decorations and catering options.
"Mom!" Conan whined. "This is a serious meeting, not an excuse for one of your celebrity cocktail parties!"
"Oh, but Shin-chan~!" his mother countered with that subtle glint in her eye to remind him that there was in fact a very sharp mind under that outer layer of sparkles and giggles. "It simply wouldn't do to have all those cops and detectives just show up at the same place in their work uniforms, now would it? Therefore, a party! Hmm, I think… it'll be a black-tie event! Kaito-kun, do you have a nice suit?"
Kaito's eyes took on a dangerous shine, and he broke into a wide, trouble-maker grin that promptly fell into a pout when Conan interrupted him with an exasperated, "Not the white one, you stupid thief."
"No matter," Yukiko steamrolled on, without waiting for a proper response. "You can borrow one of Shin-chan's! I'm sure you're approximately the same size, right? Well, not at the moment, I suppose," she amended with a small laugh at Conan's expense. "Come, come, let's go look at the options!" And with that, she rose from the table and took the arm of a way-too-enthusiastic Kaito to lead him away, presumably toward Shinichi's bedroom to go through his closet together.
Conan watched them leave, feeling vaguely irritated, probably from his mother's weirdness or from the fact that she was about to raid his closet without permission. Whatever. There was no stopping her anyway. He sighed and sank down in his seat.
"What are you looking at?" he asked his dad, part annoyed and part genuinely confused. What was that expression anyway?
"Hmm. Just reflecting on the irony," Yuusaku answered lightly with a shrug, still looking entirely too entertained for comfort.
"What irony?" he asked suspiciously.
"Well, my first thought was to comment on how similar our taste in women is, but, well…." he trailed off into a hearty laugh at some secret inside joke that Conan apparently wasn't in on.
Conan narrowed his eyes at him. This had better not be the same dumb joke that Haibara had latched onto with a vengeance recently. Yes, Conan was aware that Kaito apparently had some pathological need to flirt with everything that moved, and that he was a terrible friend who enjoyed tormenting Conan in particular for some reason.
Truth be told, Conan didn't really mind the teasing; it was actually sort of fun to have a running joke with his friend. But it was certainly annoying that other people kept getting the wrong idea from it. He could sort of understand Haibara: he'd seen how obsessed she could get over her TV dramas, and he was pretty sure he'd seen a few romance mangas peeking out of her bag on occasion. But he would've hoped his father could recognize casual, baseless, platonic joking when he saw it.
Or maybe he did and just wanted to get in on the teasing for the sole purpose of embarrassing Conan as much as possible. And yeah, ok, that made a lot of sense. Honestly, he should've expected as much from his parents. So Conan rolled his eyes, slid off his chair, and retreated to the library with the perfectly valid excuse that he had some phone calls to make.
—
First, he called Sera. She answered after only two rings, in a somewhat hushed voice nearly drowned out by the background noise of whatever crowded location Ran and Sonoko had taken her to after school.
"Heya, Conan-kun!" she greeted him. "Is this a friendly call or an 'oh-no-please-save-me-I'm-being-attacked-by-terrorists' call?"
Conan scoffed lightheartedly. "I think people are overestimating how often I get attacked by terrorists."
Sera relaxed at his casual tone and chuckled before replying, "I think you're overestimating how often normal people get attacked by terrorists."
"Oi, I don't need to take this from someone who drives her motorcycle like she's got nine lives."
"Heh, sort of a different category, but sure, point taken," she conceded with a laugh. "Well, not that I'm not happy to hear from you, but if you're not actively dying, I can only really talk for a few minutes. Unless you're finally ready to confess your true identity?" she added the last part in a playful tone, clearly not expecting an answer. But when Conan couldn't think of a discreet response and the silence dragged on for several painfully long seconds, she spluttered out a shocked, "Wait, really?!"
"There are some conditions," he responded firmly in lieu of a direct answer, somewhat grumpy that she'd provoked him again like that. This was meant to be a positive thing, combining forces and becoming teammates; why did she have to make it feel like an 'I told you so' moment?
"Finally! Took you long enough, you little brat!" Sera hissed over the line in barely concealed excitement. "What are the conditions?"
"Both you and your mom have to be willing to work with the team we're assembling, and to share everything you know in return."
"You got it! When do we start?"
"We're meeting at the Kudou Manor, Friday at 4pm. It's disguised as a classy party, so wear your nicest dress." He paused to consider that, then corrected himself, "Or, in your case, maybe a suit."
She laughed. "'Ok, I'll definitely convince my mom, and we'll be there for sure, don't you worry! Thanks, Kudou-kun!"
After ending the call, Conan scrolled through his contacts to Hakuba's number. When he saw that the contact name had been 'mysteriously' changed by 'someone,' he let out a small sigh that reluctantly morphed into a fond smile. He decided not to fix the name. (After all, it would just magically change back again later, so it would be a futile effort, right?)
Shinichi: My mother is hosting a formal party at my house this Friday at 4pm. You're invited.
Hakubastard 💀😫: I would be delighted. Please extend my gratitude to your mother for the invitation.
And that was all he needed to do to inform Hakuba of their plans. It felt nice to have another friend he could rely on like this, who understood the seriousness of the work and would pick up on the real purpose of the 'party' without Conan having to explain it.
In fact, he had another friend like that, he reminded himself as he searched for the next contact. Whatever else he may be, let it not be forgotten that Hattori Heiji was a genius.
"Oi, Kudou!" Hattori answered the call enthusiastically, the background noise clearly indicating that it was on speakerphone again. Conan sighed as quietly as he could. A genius, yes. Good with secrets, no.
It took a moment to find his bowtie and adjust the dials to the correct settings to imitate his own voice. "Hattori, take me off speakerphone, would you?"
"Ah, right, sorry! I keep forgetting yer in hiding an' all!"
Conan groaned quietly and massaged his temple. He really hoped Hattori was not out in public right now. "Hattori, can you make it up to Tokyo this weekend?" he asked politely.
"Ah-ha, ya gotta case ya need my help with again?!"
"No, just a meeting."
"Ohhh, a meeting, gotcha gotcha," Hattori answered. And yes, Conan reminded himself, Hattori was a genius, so of course he knew what the meeting was about. "What time?"
"Friday evening, 9pm," Conan said. A genius who was not good with secrets. He'd have to be told a sanitized version of events separately from the others.
"Cool cool, I'll be there! An' then we can get lunch on Saturday before I head back!"
Conan almost replied that he had plans— then caught himself and remembered that Kaito hadn't actually told him what they'd be doing together on Saturday. Actually, come to think of it, had Kaito even mentioned that they'd be spending Saturday together at all? But no, of course they would; they'd hung out almost every day since they'd become friends.
Fortunately, Conan had also recently discovered that Kaito would always, without fail, agree to anything that Conan suggested doing together, so all he had to do was invite him to lunch as well and it should be fine. Probably.
"Yeah, sure," he answered Hattori. "See you Friday."
"See ya!"
Work done for the day, Conan tucked his phone away and decided to go look for Kaito. There was a good chance his mother was currently telling Kaito every embarrassing story she could remember about Conan, and he couldn't just sit back and let that happen.