Disclaimer: I do not own Detective Conan/Case Closed.

Pairing: KaitoxShinichi

Lure

Chapter 45 - The Last Word Goes to Mom

"Hey Shin-chan, did you ever get around to opening that package your mom gave you?" Kaito asked. The two of them had braved the Black Friday crowds to get dinner at a nice restaurant down near the docks. On their way back, they had come across a candy store with candied apples in the window and decided that candied apples were just what they needed to finish off an excellent dinner.

"I haven't," Shinichi replied. "To be honest, I sort of forgot all about it." And frankly he wouldn't have minded if he'd gone on to not remember it for a good long time to come, but he supposed that that was just his usual paranoia about his parents kicking in again. After they had been so pleasantly NOT insane during this visit, he thought that maybe he should cut them a break and stop assuming the worst. Who knew, maybe even his parents could grow up eventually, right?

With that slim but tantalizing hope in mind, Shinichi dug the parcel his mother had given him out of the drawers when he and Kaito got back to their hotel room. He weighed it for a moment in his hands, noting that it was pretty heavy for its size.

"Well?" Kaito prompted from where he had dropped to sit on the end of one of the two hotel beds now neatly made up again by the hotel's cleaning service to look as though they had never been touched. "Are you going to open it or stare at it? No matter what's inside, it's not like it will bite."

"Maybe not literally," Shinichi said dryly. "But figuratively, you never know."

"You'll have to find out sooner or later. It might as well be now."

"I know, I know." Bracing himself, Shinichi found the edge of the parcel and began carefully prying up the paper flaps. Kaito wondered if he was unwrapping the parcel that way because it was how he opened parcels or because it would take longer and hence put off the moment of truth. He wisely decided not to ask.

Reaching into the package, Shinichi extracted a hardcover book first. A glance at the cover showed that it was one of his father's—one he hadn't seen before. It had to be his latest piece. He smiled, relieved.

"It's Dad's next book," he reported. "If I remember correctly, it doesn't go on sale until December."

"Ooh, a pre-release copy." Kaito grinned. "Mom'll be jealous."

Shinichi blinked at him in confusion. "Your mom?"

"She's a huge fan. I think we have most of his books at home, though she likes the Night Baron ones best."

"You know, I kind of wondered if that character might have been inspired by your dad," Shinichi mused.

Kaito shrugged. "Considering our parents apparently knew quite a lot more about each other than either of us ever realized, I guess I'd have to wonder too. But I suspect your dad isn't the sort who'd tell us one way or the other."

Shinichi grimaced. "You're right about that. Well, if she'd like, your mom can borrow this for the plane ride back. I can always read it later."

"She'll probably take you up on that." So what else is in that parcel? It looks like there's more. Is it another book?"

"Let's see." Now more relaxed, Shinichi set the book on the table and reached into the parcel again. This time, he extracted a slim, black binder full of papers and a holiday card with a picture of a pair of puppies frolicking in the snow on it.

The binder had no label. Curious, Shinichi set the card aside for the time being in favor of looking inside the mysterious binder. Pages turned.

Still seated on the end of the bed, Kaito watched in fascinated curiosity as his detective's expression morphed slowly from relaxed to shocked to incredulous horror to pure outrage. Eventually, he couldn't stand the suspense any longer.

"What is it?" he asked.

Shinichi handed him the binder without a word and picked up the holiday card.

Kaito opened the binder.

A large title was printed on the first page. It read "Operation Oyster". Not particularly enlightened, he turned the page.

The next page began with "Phase one: retrieval". What followed was a detailed, step by step plan for abducting Shinichi from the San Francisco airport upon his and Kaito's arrival. There were at least three different approaches laid out along with numerous backup plans based on the many potential mishaps and reactions of the parties involved. The abduction culminated in the leaving of what would have been clues to indicate that Shinichi had been kidnapped by some extremely unsavory characters.

Phases two through seven of Operation Oyster apparently revolved around the laying of an entire trail of such clues that would, had the plan been carried out, no doubt have had Kaito running all over the city in order to find and rescue his detective before Shinichi met some dreadful fate.

Kaito slowly shut and lowered the binder.

"Well," he said in a deadpan voice. "That was certainly an interesting read. What does the card say?"

Shinichi's eye twitched. "That they had everything ready but decided in the end not to carry it out. And it wishes us a merry Christmas."

"So…the early Christmas gift is that your parents decided not to kidnap you and endeavor to scare me half to death to see if I could live up to their expectations for your beau."

"Pretty much."

Kaito snorted. "Operation Oyster indeed."

They stared at each other for a long moment, trying to digest this revelation.

"You know," Kaito said finally. "I honestly don't know what to say."

"My parents are totally insane."

"That may have crossed my mind," Kaito conceded then laughed. "If you think about it though, all it means is that they care that you find someone who really cares about you who is also capable of looking out for you. If you look at it that way, the whole thing would sort of make sense."

"There's no excuse for putting someone through an ordeal like that unnecessarily," Shinichi replied, frowning. "It doesn't matter why. Our lives are dangerous enough as it is. We both have to deal with more than our fair share stressful situations on a regular basis, and they should know that. Adding to that burden just for their own entertainment is just cruel. It doesn't matter what they thought it would prove."

Kaito blinked then nodded slowly. "You're right. But hey, I guess they realized that too. After all, they didn't go through with it."

Shinichi turned that thought over in his mind and had to admit that Kaito had a point too. Still, that only made him marginally less disturbed. After all, even if they hadn't gone through with the plan in the end, they had still produced more than fifty pages of planning in detailed, numbered parts and, according to their own words, completed all the necessary preparations. That strongly suggested that their change of heart was more of a whim than anything else. Still, progress was progress he supposed. For now, he decided, he could endeavor just to be grateful.

Tucking the card inside the binder, he put the offending object back into the drawer along with the much more welcome book.

"I need some coffee."

"Actually, me too."

-To Be Continued-