File Seventy-Two: The Kid Who Came From Beika
The first thing Shinichi saw when his eyes fluttered open were hospital sheets. That, and the feeling of his cheek resting against the mattress gave him a good idea of what had happened. He must have dozed off, he mused while turning his head, not having any intention to move any further. His eyes softened at the sight of his own fingers, or more specifically, what they were holding into.
His hand looked far too small in his, he noted with a shuddering breath as he straightened in his seat, body aching after having fallen asleep in such an awkward position, yet never letting go.
When his gaze rose, he tried not to shiver at the sight that met his eyes. As pale as the blankets that surrounded him, lied his little brother, unsettlingly still. He smiled tiredly, not as naturally as it would have been any other time. "Not awake yet, huh?" he mumbled to nobody in particular, while he gently caressed his forehead, moving his hair out of his eyes.
Conan made no reply. Shinichi was barely surprised.
The kid had been through a whole ordeal. Had gone into hypovolemic shock and had been so very close to dying that Shinichi had been more than willing to break the doctor's nose if they didn't let him give his little brother his blood, even if he had a nasty bullet wound in need of treatment himself ─ thank god Ran had arrived just in time to save both Conan and the doctor.
"It must have been scary." He focused on the boy's faint, almost imperceptible, breathing in an attempt not to think that his parents were currently back home ─ in his wake ceremony, of all things. "I know, because it was scary for me, too."
Tightening his grip on the little hand, the teenager raised and pressed it against his eyes, which closed tightly. No matter how much time passed, he was certain he would never forget ─ the blood, the coldness, the light fading from his brother's eyes as his life slowly slipped away from his fingers...
All the while Conan slept, blissfully unaware of the suffering around him.
A knock on the door woke Shinichi out of his stupor, causing him to twirl around, alarmed, and saw a nurse smiling at him, politely. "What's this, Kudo-san?" She shook her head in disapproval. "You shouldn't be out of bed. Your wound hasn't healed yet."
Shinichi just looked back at her, for a moment more than necessary, as she crept closer to the brothers' position. Before long, his confused expression became a dangerous glare. "Who are you?" he spat, standing upright in front of her while shielding his brother.
The nurse tilted her head and motioned at the tag with her name on his chest.
"Nobody but a few nurses and the director of this hospital are supposed to know we're here." He knew, because his father had made sure it stayed that way. "You're none of those."
It was almost scary how her expression had morphed upon those words ─ the kindness on her gaze had vanished, and her mouth, that had been hanging open in surprise, had closed, lips curving into such a sinister that Shinichi felt a chill making its way down his spine.
"Not bad." Her voice changed as well. "I expected it from you, Kudo Shinichi-kun."
It was like she was a completely different person from such a few seconds ago.
"Who are you?" Shinichi repeated, standing still in his place.
The woman chuckled at that. "How rude of you, Shinichi-kun." His eyes widened, horrified at the familiar male voice that met his ears. "I thought you would remember me from all those times you used to pick Conan-kun up."
"You're… Conan's teacher." Realization dawned on him. Then, as if something had just stuck him, he recovered and his glare returned, fiercer than ever. "I thought you were dead."
"My partner." Her original voice was back. "He had the nerve to use my fake face by the time he was captured. I went there, said into his eyes that I would set him free." A cold smirk adorned her features. "But he never made it back."
Shinichi's bewildered eyes wouldn't tear away from her, and he didn't try to. "What…?" he tried around his drying mouth. "... What do you want?"
The menacing smirk didn't bode well for Shinichi.
"Hey, are you still there?" Hirai Arthur blinked, confused at the voice that brought him back. "What are you looking at, anyway?"
Instantly, Hirai jumped back, holding his phone against his chest and away from the thief, who raised a questioning eyebrow at him.
"Aoko is waiting outside." Kaito slung his bag over his shoulder. "And if we upset her, I'm going to be on the receiving end of her complaints."
"I bet you're used to it." Arthur rolled his eyes and went to fetch his bag. Mumbling something under his breath, Kaito walked out of the house with a very annoyed expression painted all over his face.
Hirai gave the picture he had found himself staring all this time one last look, before sighing and putting his phone back in his pocket.
In hindsight, this wasn't such a good idea.
That realization had easily fallen on the child the moment he stepped out of the train, skateboard tucked under his arm, and became painfully aware of the fact that he had not a clue of where to start looking. As things were now, he was standing in the middle of the station, vacantly looking at the many people that passed by him in a hurry.
He sighed loudly, shoulders dropping. Didn't really think this through. Indeed, he hadn't ─ he had acted on an irrational impulse and now he guessed he should deal with the consequences. Should have called Hattori or something, he rationalized. He knows his way around Ekoda, doesn't he?
Maybe I should just head back and forget this...
"Little boy, are you okay?" But before he could even take a step, a voice behind him prompted him to spin around. "Are you lost?"
It was hard not to let show the panic he was going through. "Ah, no." Still, he got out an innocent smile for the worried member of the station staff staring at him. "I'm just waiting for a friend."
The worker nodded and was about to leave... "Eh?" when one of his coworkers suddenly appeared, jogging his way. "Hey, that's the KID Killer!"
"Oh, now that I look at him, you're right!"
Conan took a step back with a flinch. He grimaced when he noticed that people were staring now, but composed himself.
"I've never believed I'd see the KID Killer in person." One of them grinned. "You've done an excellent job, boy, let me tell you."
"Y-Yeah..."
"I take it you're here for KID's heist tonight, right?"
The child blinked at the two workers grinning at each other. "Last time KID couldn't get it, right? That legendary black diamond, Midnight Crow..." the other said. "If this child teams up with Hakuba Saguru, that thief might as well get himself caught for once and for all."
Conan's head perked at that.
"Don't say that! I don't really want him to get caught."
"... Say." Timidly, the kid gathered their attention, motioning at the phone in his hand. "My friend called a while ago and said he's a bit busy." He offered them an awkward smile. "He asked me to come meet him, but I don't really know where he lives." He pretended to tap something else on his phone. "The battery of his phone seems to have died, too..."
"Who is your friend, kid?"
"Oh, it's Hakuba Saguru-niisan." The lie slid from his mouth so easily that it would've made his mother proud. "I was going to help him out with the heist."
Both men hummed in thought. "I don't know where he lives, but..." He smiled, raising his index finger. "He must be with Inspector Nakamori now, thinking over tonight's heist."
"The police station is just next to here," the other offered. "Do you think he-?"
"Ah, I see, thank you!"
"H-Hey!"
Before anything else could be said or done, the child vanished between the crowd of people.
It was roughly ten minutes later that Conan stood in front of the police station, staring intently at the door, yet not moving a finger. Now, what should I say? His hands slid inside his pockets.
I can't just say I'm looking for Hirai Arthur. If he turns out to be him, that would instantly make Hakuba suspicious of him… I could also claim I'm looking for Kuroba Kaito, but with what excuse? He groaned, turning back around. I really shouldn't have come here…
... Maybe I should really head back before anyone sees me…
"Huh?" Suddenly, the sunlight was blocked. "Aren't you Edogawa Conan-kun?"
Of course he didn't get to leave unnoticed. Glancing up, he wasn't really that shocked to see Hakuba Saguru towering over him, staring at the young boy standing right in front of him. "Ah, Hakuba-niichan." He blinked, innocently, without moving. "It has been a while, hasn't it?"
"... No, not really," he answered, truthfully. "What are you doing here?"
"Why, KID's heist, of course!" Conan turned around and stared up at the teen with a wide grin. "I thought I'd be able to help."
Hakuba raised an eyebrow, not quite buying it, as he inspected his surroundings. "I don't see Mouri-san around." He didn't miss the way the kid flinched. "You didn't run away from home, did you?"
"Of course not!"
Neither detective said anything for a while, just stood there, equally piercing gazes on the other, unwilling to look away. It wasn't until Hakuba bent down closer to Conan that the kid moved. Slightly intimidated, he unconsciously took a step back, but successfully held his inquisitive stare.
"What is that you're trying to investigate?" Hakuba let out a smirk. "I might even help if you want me to." Conan frowned at that. "No need to be suspicious. You helped me connect a few dots of a mystery I was trying to solve."
The child was confused at first until it suddenly hit him. "... The Nishitamashi Twin Towers' Case." He breathed out, eyes widening in horror. "What… What did you find out?"
"Nothing related to the case, per se. I wasn't really trying to look into that. That wasn't my case."
He didn't understand what he was implying with that, but let it go ─ he doubted asking Hakuba would actually shed some light into it. "If that's so..." So, with a sigh, he placed his hands inside his pockets. "... what were you really looking into?"
Hakuba smiled politely. "Would you want to take a brief walk?"
"Coming right up." The bartender grinned as he placed two glasses, one in front of each teen. "Ginger ale, perfect to celebrate a crushing victory."
"You should toast with us, Hirai-kun." Aoko smiled back at him, brightly. "It was a complete defeat last night."
"Well..." He gave the other teen a side look, which he avoided with an annoyed groan. "I would, but I'm working here, you know. You and Kuroba do it for me, okay?"
Kuroba seemed far from pleased, giving him a dry chuckle in return. Who toasts with ginger ale, anyway?
Hirai smirked at that and stepped away, leaving the two friends alone to talk about the last heist. Once he saw that the girl was distracted enough, he pulled out his phone. I don't have any missed calls. Good. Despite that, he frowned slightly. Maybe I should call him?
"That aside, Jii-chan, did you hear?" While putting his phone back into his pocket, he caught Kaito whispering to the owner of the bar. "Apparently, there's an old man giving advice to the police."
Jii seemed troubled, not having heard anything about such a thing. "That must be Harry Nezu-san." Hirai took it as a clue to step forward and join the conversation. Kaito gave him a bewildered look, to which he shrugged. "People have been talking about him all morning."
"He's a famous magic trick buster," commented Aoko, not getting her eyes off her phone as she scrolled. "It says the police drove KID off this time thanks to Nezu-san's advice."
"Made his name debunking fraudulent spirit mediums. He's quite the famous one," he then chuckled. "Well, with him around it won't be long until a certain fraudulent petty thief's cheap tricks are debunked, too." He grinned at the girl's direction. "Right, Aoko-san?"
"Yeah! Tomorrow will definitely be the day my father captures Kaito KID, once and for all!"
"I can't wait for that."
Kaito glared at his housemate. Hey.
"Ah, now that I remember there's something I have to do." Ignoring the daggers thrown his way, Hirai turned to Jii. "Sorry, but could I leave early today?"
"Don't worry, just make sure to work twice as hard tomorrow."
"Of course, thank you."
"What's this, Jii-chan?" Kaito rolled his eyes, resting his cheek against his open palm. "Why haven't you fired that guy yet? He keeps slacking off all the time."
"Forgive me for that," Arthur scoffed. "I just don't want to be around while you're dating, is that bad really?"
He promptly ignored the pair, flinching at that, picking up his bag from the floor and walking around the counter. It's not just slacking off. Sliding his hand inside his pocket, he clutched the phone. I have the feeling that there's something I need to fix right now.
"I told you, Hirai-kun! I'd rather turn into a fish than dating Bakaito!"
Kaito shivered. "You had to word it like that, didn't you?"
"Oh, Hirai-kun, before you go..." She seemed to momentarily forget about the last topic the moment the teen walked by him. "Do you want to take my notes and photocopy them?"
Ah, right, I missed school for a few days. Guess Kuroba told her I was sick or something...
"Don't worry about it," he reassured her with a smile. "Kuroba let me borrow them, gracefully."
Aoko grimaced. "Are you sure you don't want mine?"
"Tempting, but it's okay. I can actually read hieroglyphics, you know."
"Liar." Kuroba glowered at him, but it was as if the other was already used to that kind of treatment, because he didn't even blink. "I will tell your school you're working part-time here," he huffed under his breath.
"Idiot, you know our school doesn't care about that stuff." He rolled his eyes. "I'm leaving now. Good luck, Nakamori-san, you'll need it."
"... Hey."
"Eh?" Conan blinked, curiously, up at the older detective. "What do you mean with 'suspicious'?"
Hakuba barely looked back at him, just stared back ahead as they continued to aimlessly walk around Ekoda's streets. "You don't have to act around me," he stated, calmly. "I know you're here because you suspect him as well."
"That's not-"
The buzzing against his leg forbade him from finishing his sentence. His eyes shifted to his pants' pocket and gingerly ─ and making sure that Hakuba didn't look at the screen ─ pulled it out to see. He could've sighed in relief when he saw his brother's name on it. At least it isn't Ran-neechan. If ─ when ─ she found out he had ran off and taken a train to Ekoda on his own, he would be in a lot of trouble. He grimaced.
Without hesitating, he ignored the call and looked back at Hakuba.
"You're aware that Hattori Heiji-kun was investigating him, aren't you?" he didn't even inquire about the phone call. "That person who goes by the name of Hirai Arthur."
Conan remained strangely silent at that.
"Nobody seems to know much about him," Hakuba continued, furrowing his eyebrows as he spoke. "A transfer student. Japanese, but born in London, hence his name. Seemed to have lived on an island before moving to the mainland. His parents were friends with Kuroba-kun's, so he was allowed to live with him for the time being."
"And… that's suspicious because...?"
Hakuba gave him a sharp, serious look.
"Seriously, that Aoko..." Hakuba gave the magician a side look from his spot. Despite the laughter and joy filling the room, the teen seemed far from enjoying himself ─ it was clear by the way he crossed his arms in front of his chest while resting his back against the wall. "She invited everyone to that surprise party of hers."
"Well, maybe she went a bit overboard." Hirai Arthur tilted his head, humming. "But why do you care that much? It's not your birthday, it's Momoi-san's."
Kaito eyed the pink birthday cake in the corner of the room and grimaced. "Thank god for that..."
Hirai shrugged mildly, then opened his mouth to say something else. "Hey, look!" He didn't get to, however, since Keiko's startled shout brought everyone's attention to her. "What's that?"
Confused, Hakuba shifted his gaze to the direction where she was looking. He was mildly surprised when he saw the letters displayed in the screen:
"Breaking News!
Mysterious Bombing at the Nishitamashi Twin Towers' Buildings?!"
"Wow, that's rather scary," casually commented Kaito to the boy beside him, before pausing. "Hey, are you alright? You look pale."
"I…" Hirai muttered in turn, looking sick and incredibly shaken. Hakuba doubted anyone had ever seen the boy acting like that before. "I'm going... to the toilet."
The teen rushed out of the room right after that, prompting Kaito to blink dumbly at the empty spot beside him, before the shocked voice of the reporter gathered his attention back. This time, he was the one to pale considerably at the sight that met his eyes. There was a girl who strongly resembled Aoko standing, unfazed at the flames dancing on her back, holding a young boy in her arms and against her chest. She looked as if she was about to jump.
"Wait," Aoko gasped. "Isn't that the KID Killer?!"
Hakuba was shocked to realize that, indeed, those were none other than Mouri Ran and Edogawa Conan.
Like so, everyone spent most of the birthday party with their eyes stuck on the TV screen, unable to look away from everything that was happening so far. Especially when a car basically soared across the sky and landed on the other building, in a crazy display of bravery that boogled everyone's mind… Especially since there was no adult riding the vehicle, just a group of elementary school students.
Hakuba swore he heard a loud, surprised exclamation coming from the window behind him the moment the car appeared on the TV screen, so he slowly turned around. Squinting his eyes, he made out a silhouette in the middle of the darkness, and momentarily thought of telling Aoko she should call the police. But he didn't.
That was because he recognized him. To his surprise, the mysterious person was none other than Hirai Arthur, who helda phone next to his ear, wide eyes fixed on the TV inside.
By the time his story was finished, Conan had already forgotten how to breathe. His entire expression screamed shock to Hakuba, but he said nothing about that. Instead, he observed as the child closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and looked back at him, a bit hesitant still.
"So, that's why you tried to look into him?" Conan raised an eyebrow, despite the way he sweated profusely. "You know he could have received a call from his parents or something, and happened to be looking at the TV screen, right? It was a shocking sight, after all."
"It could've been it." Hakuba shrugged. "I guess I have always felt he was suspicious, though. You know about that, don't you?" The child blinked at him. "You wouldn't have come here if it wasn't the case."
Words abandoned the young boy, leaving him with his mouth hung open, struggling to get something out. At the sight, Hakuba smirked before stopping walking. "That's all I can give you." He turned to look at something else. "Apart from that, he's quite the ordinary student. An extremely intelligent one, I'd say. I have never seen him struggle with school, although he works part time at a bar."
Conan stared blankly at his companion, then followed his gaze. The words 'Blue Parrot' met his eyes from across the street, and then he understood why his fellow detective had mentioned that.
"Well, that's all I can help you with." Hakuba turned around, as if to leave. "I have a thief to catch, so I'll be busy for the time being."
"... Wait."
The strawberry-blonde detective paused, giving the serious child a curious look.
"Why did you stop looking into it?"
"I was certain I told you. I've gotten all the answers I was looking for."
Conan's eyes narrowed. "What answers?"
"I'm afraid I can't tell you. It's your turn to figure it out yourself."
Having said that, Hakuba began to move again.
"I wish you good luck, Little Detective of the East."
The bespectacled child didn't move from his spot, content to just glare at the older boy who, far from fazed, simply went around the corner and disappeared from plain sight.
Is he making it a habit to call me that?
With a huff, he looked back at the bar, just to notice the doors opening. Arguing heatedly, two teenagers walked out and, for a slight moment, Conan genuinely believed he had just witnessed his brother and Ran walking out.
Of course they're not. He sighed, taking them a bit more and realizing they were just another ordinary pair of high schoolers. As if it would be so easy...
He continued to watch them and noticed, as the boy laughed for some reason, that he was familiar. And no, he was not mistaking him with Shinichi again...
It was as if he had met that person before, a long, long time ago. Closing his eyes, he forced himself to remember where, but the memory was kind of fuzzy.
I guess I was too young. He groaned, shaking his head.
Faintly, however, he could recall holding his mother's hand. She was weeping softly and wearing black...
That boy was there, hugging a young girl as he sobbed. If he struggled, he could see his brother standing there, awkwardly, as if he didn't know what he was supposed to do, or say.
He faintly remembered his father as well, looking ahead with a weird, darkened expression little Conan had never seen him with in his entire, short life.
... If that was Kuroba Toichi's funeral... His eyes widened upon the realization. Then... could that guy be?!
Frowning once more, the boy crossed the street. Then, not getting his eyes off the pair, he placed his hands inside his pockets and, silently, slowed his pace.
It would be no good if anyone found out he was basically stalking them.
At some point, the two teenagers bid goodbye to each other and separated. The girl calmly entered the house they were standing in front of while the boy did the same, in the building that was just adjacent to hers. Little did the teen that the child was currently eyeing his house, peeking from behind a tree that barely counted as a hiding spot.
So this is it… The name 'Kuroba' in the door was clearly visible from his spot. There's no doubt about it… This is the place...
One little hand rested on top of the rough surface of the tree bark, the other gripped the skateboard he was still carrying. The place I have wondered about for more than a year... His fingers curled against the tree, tightly. It's here, right in front of me.
He had no idea of how much he stood there, eyes glued to the unfamiliar house, urging his feet to move, only for them not to obey him. But they did, eventually, after taking a shaky breath in. He stood in front of the door, his skateboard completely forgotten on the floor, right next to him.
Getting onto his tiptoes and gingerly ringing the bell proved to be harder than he had expected it to be, especially when his heart wouldn't stop pounding with anticipation. Is he really there? The intrusive thoughts didn't take long to appear. What am I going to say?
... How will he react upon seeing me?
Nobody was answering, Conan realized, anxiety settling in right away. There's no way nobody is home. He rang it again. I saw Kuroba Kaito getting in a few minutes ago... And again.
With a frown, he went to ring for a fourth time.
But the door opened.
Silenced by shock, the little boy found himself unable to do anything but to stare, wide-eyed, at the person who had appeared in front of him, looking around with a very annoyed expression in his eyes, still not seeing him.
Hirai Arthur.
Could he really be...?
When the teenager noticed his presence, his reaction was instant. Color drained from his face as he stared back at him with bewildered eyes that almost threatened to bulge out of his eye-sockets.
Conan recovered himself right away. His hands latched against each other behind his back, and he put on the brightest smile he could manage.
"Hi! My name is Edogawa Conan!"
Hirai Arthur seemed to be moments away from a panic attack.
"Ah-le-le?" Yet, it didn't bother him. Instead, he blinked slowly. "Have we met before?"
"A-Ah, no..." He smiled, even if it was obviously strained. "I don't think-"
"AH!" Conan shouted, purposely loud, causing the other to flinch violently. "You're Hirai-san from Tsukikage Island, aren't you?"
"... Y-Yeah." He unconsciously took a step back from the little kid. "Now that I remember, you're Conan-kun, right?"
"Yup! It has been a while, hasn't it?"
Both of them knew it hadn't. None said anything about it.
"What's all that noise about?" There was a voice coming from behind Arthur and, soon, the boy who now Conan identified as Kuroba got closer. "Look, if you don't-"
Kuroba's eyes met with his before he froze, horror taking over his every feature, more-or-less like it had happened to Hirai not even a second ago. This time around, however, it greatly confused the child. The little detective opened his mouth to ask if there was something wrong.
Only for the door to close right in his face with a loud sound.
Conan's eyebrow twitched, his innocent facade long gone.
Now, what was his problem?
"... Why did you do that?"
Kuroba didn't answer immediately, just leaned against the door he had just abruptly closed, wheezing heavily. The ghost of the panicked expression from before was still present on his face caused the detective to give the thief a weirded out look.
"What… What were you thinking?" he let out once he got his breath back. "That kid was about to invite himself inside!"
That's likely. Shinichi would bet on that. "But why are you… like that?"
"I'm definitely not letting Tantei-kun in, you hear me, Kudo?!"
Kuroba expected him to yell at him to keep his volume low, but what happened next was beyond what he had anticipated. Instead of an angry tirade, the boy blinked confusedly. "Tantei-kun…?" he mumbled, slowly.
Gradually, the puzzlement disappeared and his eyes widened, realization finally falling into him. "Hey, hey..." He breathed out. "What did you call him?!"
"... Tantei-kun?" It came out as a question, without meaning it.
"This 'Tantei-kun' you always talk about… is Conan?!"
"...Yeah?" Kuroba drawled, genuinely weirded out by the way Shinichi was staring at him, so intently. "He's the kid that lives with your girlfriend..." he said, even if he wasn't certain that the other boy was actually listening. "Why… Why does it sound like you're close to him?"
The question snapped Shinichi out of it. "W-Well..." he replied, after a brief pause. "I kind of met him before. In a case."
Eyes narrowing, the thief gave him a long, unconvinced look. "Did you know?" he finally said, with a shrug of his shoulders. "You need to work a lot in your poker face."
"I don't have a poker face. You know that."
"It's plain obvious, though. You know him much more than that."
He avoided his gaze with a frown, hustling the magician out of the door and looking through the peephole. When he saw that the kid wasn't around anymore, Shinichi sighed, relieved. "You can't keep a secret, right?" he asked, but didn't turn around.
"I'm sheltering a presumed-dead criminal in my house and I turn into an internationally-wanted phantom thief at night." Even though he wasn't looking, the detective was pretty sure that the magician was raising an eyebrow. "You would think I can be trusted to keep a secret or two, Meitantei."
Lowering his gaze to the floor, Shinichi took a deep breath, hand still resting on the wooden surface of the door.
"Who is Tantei-kun to you?"
The detective closed his eyes. "Conan is my brother." Glancing back at the thief, he could clearly see the shock slowly taking over. "My younger brother, Kudo Conan."
For a less second, it was quiet. Kaito's bewildered eyes didn't leave the detective, as if trying to discern if he was playing a bad joke on him. The sincerity in his eyes, however, told him all he wanted to know.
Naturally he gasped, loudly.
"EH?!"
"Keep it down, idiot!" Shinichi hissed. "You have neighbors, in case you haven't noticed yet."
"But you can't be serious!" he stressed out, though in a slightly lower volume. "Tantei-kun is... that little kid?" He received a nod as a response. "That… That can't be…"
Shinichi stayed silent.
"Was... Was that why your mother didn't tell mine until days after the funeral?"
She had said, after all, that they didn't want the word to spread until she was ready to face the cameras, therefore 'only close family were informed' – in reality, it had only been Yusaku and Yukiko herself there, pretending to be mourning an empty coffin.
Kaito didn't react at first, just looked back at Shinichi with wide eyes before walking past him, and wordlessly letting himself fall in a chair.
He passed a hand through his hair. "You could've told me sooner," he said with a heavy sigh. "You would have saved me for some trauma you know..."
"Trauma?"
"Yeah, you know. Thinking that such a cute little kid could die just like that-" He came into an abrupt stop, eyes widening further, if possible. "You're saying that cute little kid was Tantei-kun?!"
Shinichi felt like they were entering a loop.
"... Yeah?"
"Geez, no wonder I didn't know they were the same..."
"Well, he did change a bit over the years."
"What I'm surprised about is you not knowing he was Tantei-kun."
Shinichi huffed irritably, crossing his arms. "It could've been anyone," he defended while looking away. "And in case you have forgotten, I have a strict rule not to glance at the news the day after your heists."
It caused him terrible headaches, he didn't have to clarify it ─ that was a fact that Kaito had gotten used to, but he still rolled his eyes.
"Besides, you didn't say anything after the airplane thing."
"I thought it went without saying that there's absolutely no other child in this world that could do the stuff he does. You're a detective, and his brother, but you didn't make that connection?"
"Well..."
"I'm pretty sure Tantei-kun is the only one of his kind."
"... I was in denial, okay?"
Kuroba looked as if he wanted to sigh again.
"KAITO! HIRAI-KUN!"
Both flinched at the female voice bombing through the house and the entire neighborhood before they exchanged equally horrified looks at the realization of how angry it sounded just now.
"Seriously..." Kaito sighed despite knowing that he wouldn't like what was coming for them, whatever it was. "Doesn't she know how to use a phone?"
"KAI-!"
"What?!" Throwing the door open, Kaito looked at the girl standing behind an open window, annoyance written all over his face ─ though Shinichi suspected it was only his poker face, and that the boy was beyond scared at this moment.
"I want you and Hirai-kun here. Now."
With a huff, Kaito stepped out. "You could've come here yourself, you know," he mumbled under his breath, leaving Shinichi to follow and to close the door behind him, almost hesitantly. It's normal for her to be angry at Kuroba… but what did I do wrong?
… At least she doesn't know karate, right?
Though he had heard her hits with a mop were rather hard ─ he grimaced for what was to come.
"What do you want?" huffed Kaito, as they both entered her house.
Aoko stood right in front of them, arms crossed in front of her chest, with a rather fierce glare ─ Shinichi couldn't help but shiver a little at the resemblance of another equally scary look he had grown used to seeing.
"I wanted to ask you two idiots what you were thinking to close the door in an innocent child's face!"
They both stared, hard, at her, for a second more than necessary.
"Aoko-san!"
At the young, familiar voice, both boys froze, eyes falling on a certain bespectacled child appearing in the room, a phone ─ which Kaito recognized as Aoko's smartphone ─ in hand, and walked up to her.
"Here!" With a radiant smile, he handed her phone back to her. "Thank you so much! I was worried I couldn't tell Kogoro-ojisan that I got here safely!"
Shinichi was almost certain that he didn't call anyone. With her phone, at the very least.
Aoko returned the smile as she gathered her phone back. "This is Conan-kun, he helps Dad with Kaito KID sometimes." Her expression changed dramatically when she posed her eyes on them both. "He wanted to meet him to discuss something about tonight's heist."
"And?" Kaito raised an eyebrow. "I'm pretty sure Inspector Nakamori doesn't live in my house."
"He just got confused," she huffed. "But that doesn't give you the right to leave a young child alone, out in the cold!"
"We're in April, it isn't that cold..."
"I would have expected this from Kaito." Ignoring that, she settled her glare on the other guy who flinched. "But you, Hirai-kun?!"
He took a step back. "... I couldn't let a stranger in-"
"But he's a child!"
"Yeah, but haven't you heard? Some parents are really messed up. They send their children to strangers' houses to steal their valuables for them."
Suddenly it wasn't just Aoko glaring at his soul, but also Conan. Just one glance towards his way prompted him to look away at the rather intense, deadly look he was sending to him. For all he had been fearing Aoko's mop prior to coming there, now he was considering if that would be less painful than a soccer ball in the face…
He deeply regretted getting Conan into soccer when they were younger.
"What's there to say that brat won't steal your stuff once we give our back to him?" Kaito crossed his arms behind his head.
"What are you talking about?" Aoko raised an eyebrow, before smiling at the child standing right next to her. "Before you two idiots came here, Conan-kun and I talked for a bit. He's just a polite and cute little boy, there's no way he could do something like that. Right, Conan-kun?"
"Yup!" His previous angry facade gone, he nodded at the girl ─ though internally cringing at the 'cute' part. "Aoko-san is very nice, too!"
"Aoko-neechan is okay, too."
"Aoko-neechan, then!"
Kaito made a monumental effort so not to puke in the spot.
He knew for a fact that it was the same for the detective standing beside by the way the corner of his lip twitched in an unnatural manner. But it wasn't like he had any chance to comment on it, even if he wanted, because a phone started ringing.
"Ah." Shinichi pulled his phone out. "Sorry, I need to answer this."
Adding nothing else, he opened the door and disappeared from their sight.
"What's wrong with him?" Aoko raised an eyebrow. "Always making weird phone calls..."
Kaito chuckled. "Probably his long-distance girlfriend."
"Girlfriend?" Wide-eyed, Aoko gave the door a surprised look. "Ah, I see. Must have been hard for him to move out here, so suddenly..."
The teen hesitated a bit. "Yeah..."
All the while Conan stared with round, innocent eyes that prompted Kaito to worry about what the child was thinking about.
"Hey, Ran," once out of earshot, Shinichi greeted the girl on the phone.
"Is Conan-kun there?"
Shinichi blinked at the sudden question. "Eh?"
"I asked if Conan-kun is there," she repeated, with an unwavering voice. "He was supposed to be at the Professor's house, but when I called, the Professor was surprised that I was asking for him. He said he had headed back home an hour ago."
"And what makes you think he's there, exactly?"
"He just called and said he was with you. Besides, if he wasn't there, you would sound a bit more worried."
The teenager hesitated, glancing at Aoko's window with a groan. Of course he said that, that brat, he thought, frowning a little. Though, from the looks of it, I'd say he isn't certain of who I am...
I hope.
A little head popped from behind the glass, causing Shinichi to jump backwards, startled. "Ah! There he is!" the child shouted, far too loudly for the high school detective to think it wasn't on purpose. "Hakuba-niichan!"
Shinichi froze for a second. Hakuba?! he cried in his mind, spinning around to see that, indeed, the detective in question was behind him, with a polite ─ and incredibly fake ─ smile plastered all over his face.
"So he is there." Ran must have heard Conan's voice through the phone, Shinichi supposed. "Was it so hard to say?"
"W-Well..." It was hard to articulate a word, with Hakuba staring at him like a hawk. Doesn't this guy know what a private conversation is?! "I'll talk to you later. I'm a bit busy, so..."
Ran sighed, as if she wasn't surprised about that any longer. "I'll call you back." She replied softly, then continued with a firmer voice. "There are… things I want to talk about with you, Shinichi."
He couldn't help the feeling of dread that built up inside him at those words, but kept it to himself. Once ending the call and placing his phone securely in his pocket, he turned to Hakuba, who was still there. "What?" he finally asked, raising an eyebrow.
Conan was staring through the window as well.
Hakuba shrugged, before knocking on Aoko's door, indifferent to Shinichi's annoyance ─ which only helped in fueling the irritation even more.
"What are you doing here?" asked Arthur, as the door opened and Aoko let him inside.
"I called him!" answered Conan, with a blinding grin. "Since Inspector Nakamori isn't here, I was hoping Hakuba-niichan would let me help with KID's heist tonight."
Kaito mentally groaned at that. Everything was getting more complicated at the second.
"But, little boy..." Hirai bent down slightly to the kid, who stared impassively back at him. "You can't just-"
"Why not?" interrupted Hakuba. "If we have the infamous KID Killer on our side, that petty thief will have nowhere left to run."
Conan grinned. Hirai glared. Hakuba eyed them both for a moment, before a smirk took hold of his features.
"If you don't believe it, you could actually come along, Hirai-kun."
"... Excuse me?"
"Right, why don't you go?" Aoko beamed at him. "Maybe you could spot something useful to catch KID, like you always do!"
The child blinked. "Always?"
"Yeah." With a nod, the girl crouched down right in front of the child who just stared back at her, curiosity glimmering in his eyes. "Hirai-kun has a good eye. Whenever there's a case, he will always spot random stuff that doesn't seem important at first, but then turns out to be crucial."
He continued to stare. "Do you run into cases often?"
"All the time," Kaito huffed, rolling his eyes. "That guy attracts death. Seriously." Hirai's face paled at the frown that Conan's face had acquired. "Sometimes I fear that I will become a murder victim if I keep hanging out with-"
"Kuroba!" hissed Hirai, elbowing him.
The magician didn't understand what he had said wrong.
"Even if I notice stuff, I'm terrible at deductions." Hirai scratched the back of his head, butting in before his housemate could even think of saying something else. "I'm not a detective, you know..."
"But you could make a fantastic one," commented Conan, hands latching behind his back, innocently. "You solved a murder case at Tsukikage Island when we met. That was amazing!"
Don't act like you didn't solve it as well!
"Wait a second..." Aoko blinked. "You knew each other?"
"Kind of," replied the older boy, with a nervous smile. "We met once before I moved here."
"... Then, how come you thought he could be a thief?"
Hirai stared back at her, blankly. She frowned.
"... Maybe we should get going?" he tried, heading back to the door. "Lead the way, Hakuba-"
"HIRAI-KUN!"
"What?!" All four children's heads snapped towards the professor's direction. "Conan is with Shinichi?!"
"EH?!" Ayumi, Genta and Mitsuhiko chorused, shock written all over their faces, while Haibara simply watched him, bewildered eyes glued on his form.
"Yeah, that's what he said," continued Ran over the phone. "And it seems it's true since I heard his voice when I talked with Shinichi just now."
The girl sounded concerned, despite what she was saying. "Don't worry, Ran-kun." Agasa tried to reassure her as much as he could. "If he's with Shinichi, it will be okay. He knows what he's doing."
For some reason, the girl hesitated for a second, before letting out a long sigh. "... I hope so."
It wasn't until Agasa ended the call that Haibara looked away from him, her gaze focusing back on the magazine she had been reading, just as the children chatter came back into life, somewhat reassured that Conan was most likely fine.
Even Genta had seemingly forgotten he was angry when Ran had called, asking if the kid was still there.
You couldn't even get back home without stirring more trouble. Despite shaking her head from side to side, her lips were curved in slight amusement. Just went your way out to meet your missing brother.
Seriously, he's more trouble than he's worth, that stupid, reckless, stubborn detective...
"Ah-choo!"
At the vicious sneeze echoing in the room, all gazes immediately fell on the little kid, who rubbed his nose with an irritated look in his eyes.
"I warned you it would be cold," stated Hakuba, not even glancing at him. "Why you didn't accept Kuroba-kun's old winter clothes is beyond me."
Conan looked away, almost disgusted by the idea. As if I would accept clothes from someone like him…
Probably, he was still salty over the door incident… Just a tiny little bit.
The feeling of fabric against his neck brought him out of his thoughts and prompted him to look at the person who was kneeling in front of him. "Honestly," sighed Hirai, as he wrapped the scarf he had been wearing before around Conan's neck. "It won't be any good if you caught a cold, Conan-kun."
Conan blinked, owlishly. "You're quite the mother-hen, Arthur-niichan," he observed, prompting the other to stop his movements, completely. "Say..." A wide smile ─ that secretly gave Shinichi the chills ─ painted his small face. "... Do you have a younger brother or something?"
Shinichi's lungs started working on that question.
"Oh, silly me!" continued the kid, his smile still bright. "You used to work at a clinic with Narumi-sensei and probably treated many children. That's why you act so brotherly all the time!"
"... Ah, yeah." He forced a laugh. "T-That's about right."
Only once the teen stood up and looked elsewhere, Conan let his facade drop, his sharp gaze fixing on his back. Shinichi literally felt his glare, but shrugged it off as a product of his own imagination ─ he didn't dare to confirm it, though.
That kid... I'd say that he knows but… He frowned, deeply, sticking his trembling, almost frozen hands inside his pocket. … he isn't saying anything.
He would… say something if he knew it was me.
… Right?
Hakuba only stared intently at the two brothers, not offering a word. Before long, the younger Kudo sighed, little hands tightening the scarf around his neck. "Why is it so cold, anyway?" he complained out loud, his fingers grasping against the fabric, in an attempt to retain as much warmth as possible.
"Weren't you listening, kid?" Nakamori turned to look at him, hugging himself because of the cold. "Kaito KID is weak to the cold."
"I know that," he stressed out, almost impatiently. "But knowing KID, he would just stick some heating pads all over his body, or something. You used that kind of strategy last night, didn't you?"
While Nakamori looked back at him, clueless of what to answer to that, Shinichi let out a dry chuckle, eyes fixed on the inspector's pin. I told you it wouldn't work. He could only imagine Kuroba's expression right now as he watched everything from the hidden camera.
"KID? What are you saying?"
Confused, Conan looked at the old man that was still giving them the back, and focusing all his attention on the jewel on display. Nezu Harry, Conan's brain provided. Hakuba had told him he had been aiding the police and had suggested that keeping the Midnight Crow in a room at low temperature would protect it from theft.
"I couldn't care less about that brat in white."
"Eh?" Nakamori was clueless. "But didn't we make it this cold in order to catch KID?"
"My prey isn't the one in white… But the one in black."
Even Hirai looked puzzled at this point, Hakuba noted with slight amusement. "This morning, my father, the commissioner, received another advance notice," he informed the rest. Then, closing his eyes, he cited. "Tonight at midnight, please forgive my rudeness when I take my black jewel ─ Kaito Corbeau."
The one in black. The child just stared back in shock. Kaito Corbeau... He shivered violently, and this time he knew it was not because of the cold. This… This has to be some sort of sick joke, right?
Shinichi frowned as well, closing his eyes to keep himself calm. Corbeau means 'crow' in French. He could have laughed, except that the joke was not funny to him. Not to Conan either. Really, what are the odds?
Equally solemn gazes fixed in on the jewel that was to be stolen tonight and, in their minds, both brothers chorused:
A black crow.
As Hakuba told them all what he knew about it, Conan slowly made his way to the jewel. Apparently, Kaito Corbeau was a phantom thief that had gone active in Las Vegas not so long ago, scattering countless crow feathers in the crime's scene before stealing his target.
The most surprising thing was, by far, that he looked exactly like Kaito KID, only that he donned a raven black suit instead.
A black Kaito KID, mused Conan in his mind, observing the Midnight Crow with a thoughtful look. As if the white one wasn't troublesome enough…
Half an hour later, however, he found out that he wouldn't be dealing with two of them, after all. A mail had come to the police department, with his same signature, that said: 'Tonight, I'll just be watching'.
"It seems he's curious about Kaito Corbeau," supposed Hakuba.
"Corbeau, Corvette, whatever," sighed Nakamori, letting himself plop down on a nearby pedestal. "Thanks to him, we've lost the chance to catch KID-" A scream of pain followed. "IT'S HOT!"
Blankly, the kid stared at the pedestal in question before reaching to touch it with his tiny fingers. Frowning, he got onto his tiptoes and stretched himself.
He didn't get to. He was too short for that.
Conan wasn't amused.
It didn't help that another hand rested on the surface, easily. "Wait a second..." Hirai blinked at the Inspector. "This isn't hot. At all."
"What did you say?!"
"Don't touch it," Nezu scolded, causing the two to flinch back with a scared expression.
Then, he went to explain that the pedestal was something he had brought to Japan from abroad. Two pairs of eyes curiously watched Nakamori's men placing a crystal container with the jewel inside, on top of the pedestal. As soon as they did, spikes popped out of nowhere and spun, transforming it into something akin to an electrical saw.
Conan shrieked, taken aback by it. Before he had the chance to leap back, a hand on his hoodie plucked him from the ground and away from danger.
The child gazed at the older boy, and something Shinichi couldn't decipher shone behind his eyes.
You always have my back, huh? Even now…
"Thank you." Finally, after what it had seemed an eternity, the kid smiled.
Shinichi gave him a jerky nod of his own, leaving him back into the ground. He looked away, feeling uncomfortable at the pair of expressive, innocent eyes that were still fixed on him.
As if the child was waiting for something more.
It never came.
… How did he do it?
His mind couldn't get around it, not even after they were done for the day. The heist, in itself, had been rather quick ─ one moment several black feathers were dancing all around them, and the other a coin had been left in the jewel's place.
"Next time I'll be back to take the real thing," those words, in French, were engraved on it.
Nezu had, after all, switched the Midnight Crow with a fake one.
"Are you satisfied now, Conan-kun?" Conan blinked, startled out of his own mind, before turning to look at the teen smiling down at him. "Even if it wasn't a KID's heist, in the end."
The kid nodded, childishly. "It was so fun!" he beamed back. "Kaito Corbeau-san is infinitely better than KID, if I'm being honest."
Arthur laughed forcefully. I'm sure that guy wouldn't like that if he heard it.
Staring for a moment more than necessary, the young boy skipped ahead. Once he was out of his brother's sight, Shinichi let out a heavy sigh. I'm exhausted, he complained in his mind. Quite the busy day today…
His gaze fell on the little kid walking ahead of him, bouncing with each step. He could have shaken his head and told him to… just stop, but for obvious reasons he could only keep his thoughts to himself, and maybe laugh a little.
For all he had been longing for the day he could walk with him like this, a pleasant quietness settling around them as they enjoyed their company, he couldn't help but think that the silence was rather uncomfortable. Conan's smile was incredibly forced, and Shinichi, this time around, was desperately wishing that the kid would just go home.
"Say, Conan-kun," forcing himself out of his intrusive thoughts, Shinichi spoke up. Conan's gaze flickered to him, and the teen couldn't help but observe the way his eyes seemed to glimmer differently under the dim light of a street lamp. "Are you heading back home?"
It was quick, almost imperceptible, but Shinichi saw Conan's shoulders slumping, and that odd glimmer dimming into nothing but a faded glow.
"Yeah." Soon, the mask he was using before was back in place, hiding whatever feeling had been displayed for Shinichi to see just now. Conan grinned, but it didn't reach his eyes. "I have school tomorrow, so I guess I should head back home."
"I will go with you. Come, we can go catch a train at the station." The child looked genuinely confused at that, which amused the older boy. "I'm not letting a kid take a train so late into the night."
"Okay!" He nodded, enthusiastically. "Ran-neechan will be very surprised to see you again, Arthur-niichan!"
Shinichi came to a stop at that, Conan didn't seem affected by that. "... Now that I think about it..." He forced a smile down at the kid. "... Would you like to stay with us for the night? You can leave for school early tomorrow."
"Really, can I? Thank you so much!"
While the child started to run ahead, laughing as he did so, the high school detective seriously considered his chances of surviving the night.
A/N:
CherryGirl 21-6: That's a very cool idea, thanks for suggesting it! I want to wrap up a few things before then, so it might take a while, though… But I really liked it ;)