Disclaimer: I do not own Detective Conan/Case Closed.
Pairing: KaitoxShinichi
Lure
Chapter 30 -Hurricane Sonoko
Halloween day dawned cool and gray. The overcast sky did not bode well for the weather, but the clouds cleared by midday, leaving behind a moderate temperature and a refreshing if slightly chilly breeze.
Shinichi spent a surprisingly pleasant morning helping Ai bake pumpkin cookies for the Halloween party that she and the Shounen Tantei would be attending later in the evening. There was something rather amusing about seeing Haibara Ai of all people carefully molding small balls of dough into rough pumpkin shapes, but Shinichi knew better than to let her see him smiling about it. The sight was one he would treasure though, he mused, because it was yet another reminder of just how far the two of them had come. That they could be here now, worrying only about whether their cookies would actually look like pumpkins or not, was almost a miracle.
"I guess it's a big party?" Shinichi asked when Ai began mixing up a second batch of dough the moment they put the first batch of cookies into the oven.
"Fifty students and their chaperons," the little scientist replied. "Can you start mixing the icing? The recipe's on the next page." She nodded towards the binder on the counter where the pumpkin recipe they had been using sat in a clear, plastic sleeve.
Shinichi rinsed his hands off then went to turn the page. There was a simple recipe for frosting in the next sleeve. He skimmed down the ingredients list then moved to fetch them from their respective locations around the kitchen.
"You can probably come if you want to," Ai added as she lay another neatly shaped piece of dough on the next tray. "They can always use more help. I'm sure the kids would find it exciting, having a famous detective at the party."
"Maybe another time," Shinichi replied. "Unfortunately, I have already agreed to go to the Suzuki family's masquerade ball."
Ai smirked. "If you're feeling suicidal, there are people you can talk to."
Shinichi scowled. "That's not funny, and Ran's making me go. Something about mending fences."
"I see. Well, good luck then."
Not sure if she was teasing him or not, Shinichi made a noncommittal noise in the back of his throat and picked up the box of food coloring. "What color did you want the frosting to be?"
With more than a hundred cookies cooling all over the kitchen counters and tables, Shinichi took his costume into the bathroom to change. When he emerged, he found Ai wearing a black dress and a witch's hat and standing over the bookies as a disappointed Professor Agasa retreated into the other room.
She looked Shinichi up and down then blinked. "A book?"
"It came with the costume."
Her lips twitched. "Of course it did."
They spent the rest of the time they had left packing their pumpkin cookies into boxes. Then the doorbell rang.
Ai glanced outside to see Ran waiting on Agasa's front step. "Your chaperon's here."
Shinichi rolled his eyes but went to open the door for the brunette.
"Oh good, you're already dressed," she said. "Let's go then."
Soon, Shinichi was climbing into the backseat of Mouri Kogoro's rental car, feeling like there was a lead weight inside his stomach. He was about to face one of the greatest challenges of his entire life: Suzuki Sonoko.
He would almost rather face the Black Organization all over again.
-0-
Pulling up inside the brand new hotel's enormous parking lot, the two Mouris and Shinichi found themselves only three among quite a stream of colorful and bizarre guests. The crowd of guests swept them out of the parking garage and through a pair of double doors into an elegant lobby festooned with orange and black streamers and decorated with everything from jack-o-lanterns to false spider webs and a fake skeleton leaning against the receptionist's counter. From there, they were directed down a similarly decorated hall and into a sparkling ballroom that looked like a marriage between Halloween and fairytales. There was already a band playing on a raised stage at one end of the ballroom and several long banquet tables laden down with Halloween-themed dishes and drinks.
Ran spotted Aoko across the room and waved. The other girl waved back and began making her way towards them with Hakuba right behind her. The blonde was dressed, to no one's surprise, in his favorite Sherlock Holmes outfit, though Aoko had apparently convinced him to add a simple eye mask. Before the two could reach them though, Sonoko arrived.
She descended on their little group like a hurricane dressed in a sparkling purple dress with little bat wings attached to her back and an elaborately beaded and feathered mask.
"You!" she exclaimed, leveling an accusing finger at Shinichi. He flinched and fought an almost overpowering desire to duck behind Ran. "I demand an apology right now!"
Shinichi gaped at her, completely flummoxed. "Uh, what?"
"Apologize now or I'll never forgive you!"
"I—I'm sorry…?" he stammered, trying to ignore the people around them who were beginning to stare. "What exactly am I apologizing for?"
Sonoko scowled as she planted her hands on her hips. "For seducing my KID-sama, of course. You were supposed to get him to notice me! But then you go and let him kiss you."
Shinichi really, really wished that Sonoko would lower her voice. Failing that, maybe the ground would open up and swallow him whole.
"It's not like I asked him to," he tried to protest, but Sonoko steamrolled right over him. People were beginning to whisper.
And giggle. Can't forget the giggling.
"Well, luckily for you, I'm a generous and forgiving person," Sonoko continued. Shinichi nearly said something sarcastic, but he caught himself in time. "So I decided that I would forgive you if you apologized."
She stopped and gave him a significant look. He was surprised her foot wasn't tapping.
Shinichi took a moment to marshal his thoughts before speaking. "I'm sorry that what happened between me and KID upset you."
Sonoko blinked. "Really?"
"Yes," he said with all honesty. He had no regrets about his relationship with Kaito, but he was certainly sorry that Sonoko had taken such offense to it.
Apparently mollified, Sonoko relaxed. "Good." Then she performed one of her abrupt one eighties and leaned forward. "So is KID a good kisser? What happened that night you disappeared with him anyway? Come on, spill. I want all the details."
Shinichi wondered if it was too late to retract his apology. He was already beginning to think that he had been better off when Sonoko was mad at him.
-0-
When Shinichi finally escaped Sonoko's clutches (a terrible twenty minutes of hemming and hawing and hastily scrounged up diversions), he procured himself a small plateful of fried shrimp, mashed sweet potatoes, and pasta and a large mug of coffee (one good thing about a party organized by Sonoko was that the coffee was actually very good coffee, something that could not be said for most other big parties). Then he found himself a small alcove with a plushy bench behind a larger-than-life scarecrow decoration to hide in. He finished his food and reached out from behind the scarecrow to drop his empty plate in a trash bin. Then he settled himself more comfortably on the cushy bench, leaned back against the alcove wall, took a sip of his coffee, and opened his book. He congratulated himself again on his foresight in bringing said book and smiled.
He spent a blissful hour or so reading as, beyond the scarecrow, colorful costumes whirled across the dance floor and the band played song after song.
He would have gone right on reading if a new voice hadn't broken into his thoughts.
"You're Kudo Shinichi, right?"
Looking up from his book, Shinichi found a stranger wearing an owl mask hovering by his seat. The stranger was wrapped from head to toe in a heavy, feathery cape thing, so all Shinichi could tell about him was that he was very tall, though his voice suggested that he was young, most likely in his twenties. The fact that he couldn't really see the man made Shinichi wary, but he nodded politely.
"I am. And you are?"
"Arata Mashiro. I'm a big fan of your father's books." He offered his hand to Shinichi. "I've been following your work as well. It's a real pleasure to finally get to meet you."
Shinichi blinked in surprise as he shook the preferred hand. "Aren't you the author Okubi Shigure? The one who's writing the new ghost detective series that was released last year?"
The man let out a startled laugh. "Yeah. I'm surprised you knew that. I didn't think you'd be interested in supernatural mysteries, to be honest."
Shinichi shrugged. "A good mystery is a good mystery whatever the genre."
"I'll take that as a compliment. Would you mind if I sit?"
"Go ahead." Shinichi picked up his coffee cup so that the author could sit on the other end of the bench.
Arata took the offered seat and let out a sigh of relief. "Thanks. I like this costume and all—always loved owls, but this cape is stifling. And it weighs twelve and a half pounds." He stretched his feet out, and Shinichi noticed that his boots had fake bird talons attached to them. The man certainly had been thorough with his costume. Kaito would approve.
As though even thoughts of Kaito drew Sonoko's attention, he heard her voice on the other side of the scarecrow. Over the music and general chatter, he couldn't tell what she was saying, but it still made him tense and shift to make sure that he was fully hidden from casual view.
He couldn't see Arata's expression behind his owl mask, but he could imagine the raised eyebrows. "Still having trouble with Suzuki-san?"
Shinichi winced. "I guess you heard her earlier."
"I'm not sure there's anyone here who didn't," he said candidly.
Shinichi groaned and let his head fall back against the wall. "I knew I shouldn't have come tonight."
"It's not that bad," the author hastened to assure him. "I mean, after that photo…" He trailed off, apparently realizing that mentioning that everyone in Japan (maybe the world) had already seen that photo of KID kissing him probably wouldn't make Shinichi feel better. "I'm glad you came," he said instead. "If you hadn't, I wouldn't have gotten to meet you."
"Guess that's one good thing at least," Shinichi muttered under his breath before straightening. "I should've worn a mask like everyone else. Maybe then people wouldn't have recognized me."
Arata laughed. "I'm not sure that would've worked, but you can keep it in mind for next time."
Shinichi was of the opinion that there would not be a next time until everyone forgot about that photo. Which, of course, probably meant there would never be a next time period. But he kept that thought to himself.
"Um, while we're on the subject…" Arata said hesitantly. "You don't have to answer if you don't want to, but, um, I did wonder… I mean, you and Kaitou KID, are you really…?"
Shinichi blushed. "Not you too. Honestly, it's not like I asked KID to kiss me."
Arata held up his hands placating. "Sorry, sorry. It's just—an author's curiosity. I won't mention it again. Promise."
Shinichi just sighed, taking another long sip of his coffee. The cup was beginning to run low. "It's all right. Heaven knows I can't fault anyone for being curious."
"There just hasn't been much of interest on the news lately," Arata said. "It'll pass. Um, so does that mean you're not seeing anyone?"
"Not really," Shinichi said vaguely. After all, he wasn't seeing anyone officially. But he really didn't want to keep talking about his love life. "So the next book in your series should be coming out next month, right?"
-0-
Taking one last bow to the uproarious cheers of his audience, Kaito made his exit in a fantastic plume of blue flames that had the crowds going wild all over again.
Back in his dressing room, he allowed himself a satisfied smirk. Everything had gone off exactly how he'd planned, and the show had been one of his best yet, if he did say so himself.
He glanced at the clock. He'd never make it across the city the normal way, but, if he flew, he could make it to the Suzuki Halloween party before it ended. He grinned. He could go surprise Shinichi.
Decision made, he packed up everything he needed to pack, double-checked the arrangements for his larger props, met with and thanked his temporary assistants, chatted a bit more with the organizers who had hired him (their starry-eyed awe and comments told him that he would certainly be getting more jobs from them), and finally got out and up a tall building which may or may not have been open to the public. Then he was soaring over the city on one of his black reconnaissance gliders.
He touched down on the Suzuki hotel roof sooner than he'd expected since the wind had been good for his entire trip. Deactivating his glider, he made a few adjustments to his costume then made his way inside. What a happy coincidence it was that he had already memorized the blueprints for this hotel.
-To be Continued-