Disclaimer: I do not own Detective Conan/Case Closed.
Pairing: KaitoxShinichi
Lure
Chapter 22 - Touching Bases
"I think we can risk it."
Shinichi looked up at Kaito's declaration. "Risk what?"
The magician plopped himself down at the kitchen table. It was Saturday morning, but, to his surprise, he hadn't had to wake Shinichi up even though it was only seven. It struck him as a sign.
"A date, of course," he said. "It's been a while. and Phase Three is rolling along nicely. There's no reason we have to stay at home all the time. How about it?"
"Did you have somewhere in mind?"
"Yeah. I'd like to introduce you to my mother."
Blue eyes widened. "I…huh?"
Kaito grinned. "Don't worry, she already knows about you."
Shinichi took a deep breath then nodded, blushing faintly. "I…I think I'd like that."
"Great. She's helping out at the Ekoda Food Festival today. I told her we'd visit her there."
"But isn't that where the Nakamoris and Hakuba live too?"
Kaito smirked. "That's why we're going in disguise."
"Ah." He should have guessed as much, shouldn't he?
Fifteen minutes later, Shinichi found himself being presented with a card wallet. He gaped. There were a dozen different driver's licenses there for a dozen different people, all complete with photograph.
"You made all these?"
"Nope."
"You mean you stole them?!"
"What? No, that would be inconvenient. These are all properly issued. It was a pain taking the test so many times, but hey, good work takes patience."
"That's…" Insane, Shinichi thought. But at the same time, he couldn't exactly say it didn't have its own weird logic to it.
"I figured we could go as twins," the magician said cheerfully. "But first we have to choose our transportation. So what do you think? Any vehicle strike your fancy? I'm quite partial to the idea of going on motorcycle, but I can arrange for a car instead of you'd prefer."
"I…the motorcycle is fine…"
And so, forty minutes later, two young men with ginger hair left the Kudo Manor through the back door. The smaller one wore spectacles while his taller twin had a tan. How Kaito had managed to give himself a tan was anyone's guess, but Shinichi had given up on asking.
-0-
The Ekoda Food Festival was being held in Ekoda Park. It was not a very large affair, having been organized by the locals as a fundraiser for Ekoda's elementary and high schools. However, the lure of good food always drew in the masses, and the park was a bustling hive of hungry people.
A collection of stalls and tables had been set up in the plaza at the foot of the clock tower. A barbeque sizzled at the far edge. The air was filled with a tantalizing mixture of aromas that made Shinichi's stomach growl embarrassingly, reminding him that he had only had coffee that morning. Every stall had a line in front of it, and children darted through the crowds, laughing.
The first thing Kaito did upon their arrival was to drag Shinichi to the barbeque. A burger (two in Kaito's case) and a lemonade later, the thief made a beeline for the baked potatoes. Already full, Shinichi watched in mildly horrified amazement as Kaito went on to consume a hotdog, a bag of popcorn, a milkshake, a veggie wrap, and three large, soft cookies.
"You're going to make yourself sick," he warned, grimacing. His stomach hurt just watching. Clearly, his thief had a bottomless pit for a stomach.
Kaito waved away his concern. "This is nothing."
"We're here to meet someone, remember?"
"She's at the brownie stand. I guess we might as well go say hello before we get the ice cream."
The brownie stall was just as busy as all the others. From a distance, Shinichi could see the dark-haired woman deftly slicing large slabs of brownie into serving sized portions and dishing them out onto small, paper plates. Those plates, in turn, vanished off the table almost as quickly as they were set out. A little girl stood at the end of the table, manning the cash register.
Feeling abruptly nervous, Shinichi was grateful for the length of the line. Even so, it moved far too quickly.
What would Kaito's mother think of him? Sure, the thief said she already knew, but what did she know? Did she know that he was a detective? If so, surely she wouldn't approve. She would naturally be worried about her son getting arrested. And wasn't she a thief herself? Or at least she had been. Kaito had told him so even before they had gotten involved. So it wouldn't be illogical for her to be concerned about her own past coming to light too.
How could he convince her that he wouldn't turn them in? But surely Kaito would have been sure to explain that to his mother himself. If she was okay with her son running around all over the country at odd hours, taunting the police and stealing jewels, then surely she had a great deal of trust in Kaito's judgment.
But even if she was reconciled to the fact that her son was dating a detective, she might prefer that Kaito be with someone who could give her grandchildren.
With all the thoughts running through his head, Shinichi almost didn't notice when he and Kaito reached the table. It was only as the woman there smiled and asked them how many brownies they wanted that he suddenly remembered that he and Kaito were both in disguise. How were they supposed to be introduced now?
"We'll have one each," Kaito said like he really was just a customer. "By the way, it's nice to see you again, Kuroba-san. How's that bird you bought doing?"
The woman paused for a fraction of a second before she cut into a fresh brownie. "Very well, thank you. So is this the brother you told me about?" Her gaze shifted to Shinichi, sharp and intent.
The detective shifted uncomfortably under the scrutiny.
"Yep," Kaito said. "It wasn't easy dragging him away from his books, but I told he wouldn't want to miss out on all the great food today. Hey Shin, this is Kuroba Chikage-san. I met her when I want to the pet store last week."
"It's nice to meet you," Shinichi said a bit shyly, thrown off by the round about introductions. "I…hope you're having a good day."
"It's been busy, but that's a good thing," the woman replied with a smile. "By the way, your brother told me you like coffee. Is that right?"
"Uh, yeah."
"Well, I know you're new here, so I doubt you know, but there's a café with excellent coffee not far from here. If you'd like, I can show you where it is after the festival."
"O—oh," Shinichi stammered, casting a look sideways at Kaito. When the magician nodded, he continued. "That would be very nice. Thank you."
The rest of the festival passed by in a tense blur of sweet smells and sweeter ice creams for Shinichi as Kaito tried every stall available and forced Shinichi to at least eat the famous Ekoda Creamery ice cream.
He wasn't even sure how they ended up at the café picked out by Kuroba Chikage. He just seemed to be at the park one moment and seated at the café the next.
And there she was too, seated across the table with a placid smile on her face and eyes just as sharp as those of a police officer.
"So, I hear your parents have been out of town for a while. How are they?" she asked.
Shinichi stared, completely thrown off. "Huh?"
"I talked to your mother a month ago, and she said something about coming to visit, but she never got back to me about when. I don't suppose you've heard anything?"
"Uh, I…haven't. No. But I can ask…?" Was she being serious?
"That would be wonderful. It has been far too long."
"Excuse me, but how do you know…?"
"My husband worked with your mother before," Chikage replied, her smile turning a little sad. "He was her teacher. I suppose we all sort of fell out of touch after he passed away."
Shinichi nodded mutely, mind whirling. He'd had no idea his parents knew the former Kaitou KID in his civilian identity, let alone that the man had taught his mother. Though that would explain where she had learned how to create such thorough disguises. It was a lot to take in.
"I suspect we would have stayed out of touch if your mother hadn't seen a certain photograph," Chikage continued, and Shinichi blushed bright red. The woman either didn't notice or chose not to comment. "She called me about it shortly after it was published."
Shinichi fought the urge to squirm in his seat. He had thus far managed to avoid talking to his parents about the upheavals in his personal life. He wasn't sure how to feel about the fact that they had been discussing it with Kaito's mother of all people behind his back.
"Anyway, it's nice to be talking to her again. Do give me a ring as soon as they come to town. You must all come to dinner.
And with that, the matter seemed to be closed. There was no mention of thieves or any of the other number of things Shinichi had been fretting over. For the rest of their coffee break, they talked about baking.
Despite that, the sun was already low in the sky when they all rose to go their separate ways.
"Now you make sure he gets home safely," Chikage told her son.
The magician rolled his eyes and declared that that went without saying.
"Your mom is…" Shinichi started then stopped as Kaito led the way back to where he'd parked his motorcycle. "I didn't know she knew my parents."
"Neither did I until recently," Kaito admitted. "But they'll have to meet each other eventually, so I say we should count ourselves lucky they're already on friendly terms."
Shinichi nodded, head still reeling.
"So shall I take you home then?" Kaito asked. There was a slightly suggestive purr in the undertone of his words that the detective didn't notice.
Shinichi hesitated then cleared his throat. "Actually, there's one more place I want to go before we go home."
Kaito was only mildly surprised to find himself standing with Shinichi in the middle of Professor Agasa's living room, being introduced to the owner of the house and a little girl with ginger hair and the sternest expression he had ever seen on either adult or child.
-TBC-