Disclaimer: I do not own Detective Conan/Case Closed.
Lure
Chapter 12 - Planning Time
"It has to be something that not only seems completely random but that will continue to appear impossible to have been contrived under the close scrutiny of obsessively suspicious bastards."
Shinichi blinked over the top of his mug. "…Do you mean Hakuba-san?"
"Who else?"
The two of them were seated together on the couch in the Kudo Manor living room. Before them, the news was on, though the sound had been muted. It was a beautiful Saturday morning, and that meant Shinichi would have liked to be sleeping, but Kaito had come in through his window at nine—his bedroom window—and that had been the end of any prospects of continued sleep. Shinichi had been grumpy about this until Kaito presented him with a fresh cup of coffee. It was, he'd claimed, the specialty of a great café by his house, so he'd had them put the coffee in a thermos to keep it hot until he reached Beika. It seemed like a lot of trouble to go to—but it was good coffee, so Shinichi decided not to comment. They weren't here to talk about coffee anyway. They were trying to make a plan to allow Kaito—as Kuroba Kaito—to meet Kudo Shinichi in their civilian lives without attracting suspicion.
"It's kind of amazing that he still doesn't have any solid evidence that he can use to prove that you're Kaitou KID," he said thoughtfully, taking another sip of the coffee and savoring the rich, full flavor. "I mean, it's been, what, five years?"
"It offends me that you find that amazing," the thief said acidly. "I happen to be a master. He's not going to get any solid proof if he spends the next fifty years looking, forget five."
"Right. Silly me for forgetting who I was talking to." Shinichi smiled, but the smile dropped with a sigh. "And he probably will be looking, won't he? He's already started cross-examining me every time we cross paths. It's only a matter of time before he starts breathing down my neck."
"I could always just stuff him in a box and mail him to the Bermuda Triangle. It would be fast and easy and solve all our problems. What do you say?"
"Kaito…" Shinichi shook his head, though he couldn't help but smile. The mental image that that sentiment had conjured up was kind of funny.
"Fine, fine, I won't mail Hakuba to the Bermuda Triangle. I wouldn't want Aoko to waste time missing him anyway. So who else do we have to keep a special eye out for while we make these plans?"
"I guess there's Hattori, though I think he'll listen if I explain." After which the Detective of the West would probably laugh his head off and tease Shinichi to no end. Shinichi sighed. Sometimes he wondered about the kinds of friends he had. "And it'll probably be better to explain than to have him poking around trying to find answers on his own. He's pretty reasonable, though I can't say much for his ability to keep secrets."
"Okay, so figure out a story to tell Tantei-han that will both satisfy his nosiness and prevent him digging into things that are none of his business. Oh, and make sure it's a story that won't cause problems if he slips up. Got it. Anyone else? What about your police friends?"
"Most of them work homicide. I doubt they'd bother about me having a new friend unless you get yourself implicated as a murder suspect."
Kaito laughed. "Naturally, though some caution may still be advisable. After all, I'm sure they've seen that photograph by now."
"And whose fault would that be?" Shinichi grumbled, burying his nose in his mug once more. "Which reminds me, is there any way you could get Sonoko off my back?"
Kaito blinked. "The Suzuki girl?"
"I think she still wants to kill me for seducing her KID-sama away from her—er, that's what she said, not me."
"Well~," the thief smirked, leaning in to murmur low in Shinichi's ear. "She got at least half of it right."
A shudder ran up the detective's spine as the thief's warm breaths tickled his ear. He blushed but didn't move away. "It doesn't matter how right or wrong she is. I'd just like her to stop giving me the evil eye."
Kaito laughed, wrapping an arm around Shinichi to pull him closer. "Don't fret over it too much. I think Suzuki-san's just the kind of person that needs something to be obsessing over. She isn't really serious about it. I'd say that that big ol' smacking kiss she gave that karate nut boyfriend of hers goes a long way in proving where her affections really lie. She just wants to act out her own personal romantic drama. Perhaps it helps her keep herself entertained while Makoto-san is off competing."
Shinichi blinked, giving the idea some thought. "I…guess you might be right. But that doesn't get rid of the fact that she's set on wringing my neck. She can't star in her own romantic drama if one of her costars runs off with a minor character."
"You're not a minor character," the thief objected.
The detective smiled, cheeks turning pink. "I appreciate your sentiment, but believe me, I would rather be a minor character as far as Sonoko's personal drama goes."
Kaito blinked then laughed. "I see your point. So that's Tantei-san, Tantei-han, Division One, and Suzuki-san," he said, raising a hand to make a show of counting off. "Oh, and Aoko."
"Nakamori-keibu's daughter."
"Yeah. As I've mentioned before, we've been friends for ages, and so far she backs me all the way when it comes to certain accusations. But she is dating Hakuba, and I'm afraid he's started rubbing off on her in the suspicion department." Kaito heaved a dramatic sigh. "Oh the woes of bad influences."
"…I'm not sure you have the right to call anyone else a bad influence."
"You wound me! Are you calling me a bad influence?"
"I don't know how to answer that," Shinichi replied in all honesty. After all, it was because of Kaito that he was now withholding essential information from the police. And he should feel guilty about that, but he didn't because he also believed wholeheartedly that Kaito was a good person with good intentions who went out of his way to protect others and help bring the real villains to justice (he really did have quite the record of public service despite being a thief).
"Ah well, I suppose it is the fate of genius to be misunderstood."
"…"
"What about Ran-san? You said she wanted to meet me?"
"That's what she said."
"Can she keep a secret?"
"Uh, well…" Shinichi thought back over his three years living with the Mouris as Conan. While Ran wasn't as much of a security leak as Hattori tended to be, she also had some of that absentminded tendency to slip out too much information without meaning to. She was certainly terrible at hiding it when she was plotting to get her parents back together. On the other hand, she didn't spend all that much time around KID Task Force officers or Hakuba—the people around whom slips would have the greatest consequences.
"I think it would be okay if we can arrange it so that you meet her first—like an accident, and without involving me. If she gets to know you as you before finding out that you're KID, I think the chances of her accidentally letting anything slip would decrease."
"Because she'd think of my civilian identity first whenever I come up."
Shinichi nodded. "And as long as you don't do anything to make her think you're a real villain, I think she'll back us up if we need it."
Kaito coughed lightly. "When you say a real villain…?"
"Just don't kill anyone."
"Ah, I can do that, no problem."
"I was also thinking that I could invite Haibara over for dinner sometime when you're here too—if you don't mind, I mean," he added quickly. "She can definitely keep a secret, so we won't have to worry about that."
"Haibara… That's that little girl with the really serious face who lives with your professor friend, right?"
Shinichi nodded. "She, um, she's kind of…like me—or like I was, I mean. But don't tell her I told you that," he added quickly. "She's still really touchy about it."
Indigo eyes narrowed slightly, connecting the dots. "So that time on the train—"
"Yeah. She used to be a scientist with the organization that poisoned me. She kind of helped make it, but she left them. She's decided to start over now that she has the chance."
"Wait, wait, back up. She helped make the poison?" Kaito couldn't keep the incredulity out of his voice.
"But she also made the antidote," Shinichi said a bit defensively. "She's a good person. I trust her."
Kaito didn't speak for a moment. When he finally broke his silence, it was with a sigh. "Well, if you're sure about her then I guess she's probably okay. I must admit though, I would never have guessed you'd be neighbors with someone who used to be part of an organization like that—knowingly anyway."
Not wanting to get into a debate about the issue, Shinichi decided to bring up a different problem he'd been thinking about. "Have you considered what you're going to do about KID when we do officially meet?"
Kaito raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"
"It's just that, well, you went out of your way to make such a huge declaration about your intentions towards me—us—as Kaitou KID," the detective pointed out. "So if you're not supposed to be KID, and I start, you know, seeing someone else… It will be weird if KID doesn't react."
"Ah damn, you have a point."
"So…you haven't thought about this?" Shinichi would admit to being surprised. Kaito was usually so thorough about his plans, and this seemed like quite the gigantic oversight.
The magician thief laughed, looking just a tiny bit sheepish. "What can I say? I was a bit…frustrated at the time. You weren't picking up on any of my hints, and I couldn't stand the idea of someone else with more access coming along and stealing you away before I could."
"That doesn't explain your recent demonstration."
"Hey, I know you didn't like the police's recent spate of funny ideas either. I was helping you out. You should thank me."
"…" In Shinichi's opinion, the whole fiasco was more likely Kaito throwing a fit out of possessive jealousy, but he supposed it could have some helpful repercussions as far as the KID Task Force's scheming went. It was still too early to tell.
"I suppose I'm going to have to stage some kind of confrontation," Kaito mused, indigo eyes narrowed in thought. "Or, hmm, maybe if I…" He fell silent, his lips quirked into a small smirk that sent chills down Shinichi's spine. The future was looking more eventful by the second.
He was actually kind of looking forward to it. Kaito must be rubbing off on him.
The rest of the day passed in blissful contemplations of the future. They took the occasional breaks from planning to eat, play a few games, and watch a magic show that had been airing on TV. They eventually migrated into the library. Outside, the moon had risen and stars blinked to life in the black velvet sky.
"I guess I should be heading back," Kaito said reluctantly. Rising from his seat, he stretched then stepped towards the library window. "I'll see about getting phase one in motion. I'll let you know how it goes."
Shinichi stood up too, but he didn't say goodbye. Instead, he coughed lightly, blushing. "Do you…want to stay the night?"
The magician looked around at him then grinned. He vanished from where he was in a puff of smoke to reappear behind Shinichi. Strong arms encircled the detective's waist as their owner purred into his ear. "I would love to."
-TBC-
