Chapter 35: The Cat Returns

Shinichi spent Sunday evening at Agasa's house, morosely reviewing his emotions.

Agasa, himself, had left an hour prior, his mission to plant a camera in the hospital garage surely almost finished. Shinichi wasn't ready for him to return, and he refused to go back to his own house while his feelings were all muddled. Perhaps what he was doing was childish, but it felt… important.

He didn't have to explain his thinking process to his clone. That much was obvious, but why did he feel guilty about it? Was it the ease and smoothness of an operation that came with it? Or perhaps it was the relief that there wasn't any potential for misunderstandings—something that happened even with Heiji, since his thought process (while still on par with Shinichi's) was different.

He didn't get long to think on it before the front door opened, revealing Not-Shinichi's determined expression. Sharp eyes flicked to Agasa's couch, landing harshly on the tiny teenager.

"I found a discrepancy," were the only words it took to launch Shinichi off the couch and follow the clone back home. He could have his mini crisis later.

"What discrepancy?" he asked as he jogged up next to Not-Shinichi.

"I found footage of the same car—with the same plates—in two different cities at the same time."

Shinichi's brows crept up to his hairline.

"They're using duplicates…?" he wondered out loud, then frowned. "They would get caught doing that eventually." Not-Shinichi shook his head.

"I don't' think it was intentional—I went back to check the saved footage, and only found two other instances, with two other car models. They probably rotate out on a schedule, just in case repairs need to be done. It's likely an employee mistake, since it happens so rarely."

"Hmm…"

It didn't exactly help them, but it did flesh out some of the bigger picture. Shinichi frowned as he absently rubbed his chin. Why did they even need multiples of the same cars, anyway? It would certainly be much less of a hassle to just have… however many cars they had. Since Shinichi appeared to be the first person who even knew about them, it didn't make a whole lot of sense unless something else was going on.

"At the very least," he said slowly as he frowned at the screen, "we should assume every car involved has a double." Not-Shinichi nodded agreeably. Even if they were wrong, anticipating the possibility wouldn't do any harm. His phone buzzed and he pulled it out to check the email he received. "Looks like the professor's done, so he'll be back soon."

"Any chance he patched the feed through the network here?" asked Not-Shinichi, flat tone indicating how high a possibility he thought that was. He probably just said it to fill the tense, awkward silence in the air. Shinichi stared at the computer screen for a few more moments before answering.

"Since this was meant to be a temporary bug to avoid suspicion, it's more likely he has remote access," he said, fatigue edging its way into his voice. He smothered a yawn. There had been way too many emotional upheavals for him, and he really wanted to go to sleep. Except sleeping meant he'd have to face the reality of elementary school again when he woke up, and he didn't want to do that, either.

He noticed a similar fatigue weighing his clone's shoulders down.

"I think, after Agasa gets back, we should both sleep early," he said, too tired to put any kind of inflection in his voice. The sentence came out flat and monotone. Anyone who heard him would probably take offense. Not-Shinichi merely nodded, shoulders drooping in some form of exhausted defeat.

The action made Shinichi's chest tighten bitterly.

Deal with it, he told himself. Ran would come back. He just had to ignore the wrong footedness he was experiencing until then. He just needed to be patient.

He tried not to think about the possibility she was gone for good.

xXx

School was a welcome reprieve for Shinichi, as much as he hated to admit feeling suffocated in his own house. He even let the Detective Boys drag him off to an after-school game of soccer. While he couldn't find it in himself to enjoy the activity, he wholeheartedly relished in the distraction.

Haibara stared knowingly at him, but thankfully chose not to bring it up.

As the children eventually went home, Shinichi made it a point to go with Haibara to Agasa's house to inquire about remote access to the feed from his planted camera. A controlled glance was cast on his house as he went in, hoping it looked casual. Haibara narrowed her eyes, but once more deigned not to say anything, for which he was grateful.

Before long, he was out of excuses to leave. Agasa gave him what he'd asked for, he'd taken a short rest on the couch, eaten a pre-dinner snack that tasted like ash in his mouth.

He wasn't stalling. He just wasn't ready to go home.

He stood in front of his door much too soon for his liking. Not allowing himself to keep thinking about it, he pushed through the door, shucked off his shoes, and headed wordlessly to his room. The other him, thankfully, wasn't in the room when he got there.

He stared at the computer's screensaver, eyes traveling to the new papers on the desk. Notes he didn't write were scrawled out in his own handwriting. He closed the bedroom door, hoping to dissuade reentry for the night, and made his way over to his desk.

Many locations were listed under a column marked "lost track." His eyes skimmed across the page absently before focusing on a map printout of Shibuya. He frowned and looked back at the list. Amost all of it was marked in locations around the ward, something he somehow hadn't picked up on when he'd started.

He looked back at the map again, noting most of the cars disappeared somewhere around the Ebisu district. He cocked his head, pondering. Ebisu was a major shopping district with high foot traffic. Were they hiding in plain sight? That probably shouldn't be surprising, all things considered, but right in the middle of a major shopping district in a major city? They had audacity, he'd give them that.

As he pondered that, his fingers restlessly fidgeted with the paper edge, which brought his attention to a final page of notes. He hummed curiously as he moved the sheet on top. He froze. The other him had been tracking Gin and Vodka.

It wasn't like Shinichi hadn't thought about it—he did. Constantly. It was difficult not thinking about it when he was physically seven years old and retaking the first grade.

But the crushing guilt he felt that Ran was gone because he just had to follow the bastards kept him from seeking out any form of progress on his own case.

He wondered if the other him knew that.

He wondered if the other him felt guilty, too.

He wasn't entirely sure if he felt relief at not being the one to look into the crows, or angry that he wasn't the one to progress—

His cheeks were wet. Why were they wet? He blinked and hot, bitter tears escaped from his eyes.

"Shit," he murmured as he shakily set the papers down. He put the other notes back in place, hiding the offending page from view. He took in a deep breath, held it, then slowly exhaled.

Those bastards can wait, he told himself as he scrubbed a hand over his eyes, trying to erase the tears. If he wants to look into It, fine. I need to focus on Ran's case.

Turning the computer back on, he did a quick sweep of the streets around Ebisu and noted all potential blind spots—he would need to enlist Agasa's help again unless he could somehow contact Kid. Surveying vehicle and foot traffic alike would hopefully pinpoint an exact location as far as potential headquarters was concerned.

The buzzing in his pocket broke him out of his musings. He pulled out his phone just to see Heiji's email.

Coming back on Friday, it read. Got a long weekend I can spend helpin' on yer case.

Shinichi huffed out a resigned sigh and texted back a disgruntled, Fine. Trying to talk the Osakan out of helping would only result in… more aggressive help. The triumphant grinning emoji Heiji sent back made Shinichi click his tongue, though he couldn't find it in himself to be too annoyed.

He put his phone away and stared at the computer for a few moments before he turned the monitor off. Progress had been made, and his emotionally taxed mind would be unsuited to more forced work. He was exhausted, but not sleepy: one of the most annoying combinations if someone were to ask him. He got ready for bed anyway, and spent most of the night staring numbly up at the ceiling.

As sleep finally claimed him around 3:30 in the morning, he vaguely recognized the tell-tale prickle down his neck that indicated someone was watching hm. His eyes closed, and dreamless sleep consumed him.

xXx

The rest of the week slipped by in a very similar manner to a week to so long ago, with Shinichi feeling eyes on him any time he was home. The other Shinichi felt it, too. Shinichi would catch him stopped in a doorway or in the halls, looking for the source of the feeling.

Since Shinichi was ignoring it, the other him was only hesitantly suspicious.

Shinichi made sure to casually mention that Heiji would be returning to help them out that Friday, making absolutely certain he felt the eyes on him when he said it. He was reasonably sure that the surveillance was Kid, more than likely studying Ran's new development. And while Shinichi himself had promised the thief he wouldn't pursue him, Heiji did not. He'd even said as much the last time he'd visited. If Kid wanted to show up with the wild cared that is Heiji present, that was up to him. Shinichi was just making sure he knew that.

Kid did not, in fact, wait for the weekend to show himself. It was Thursday evening when he finally made himself known, materializing from the shadows in the library, where both Shinichis had decided to work with physical maps—both needing an extended time resting their eyes from blaring computer screens.

"Well, now, isn't this an interesting scene?" came the mischievous voice behind them, putting the clone on high alert, and the smaller teen in a relatively tentative relaxed state.

"We're working on it," Shinichi said dismissively as he went back to the map he was marking. "Where's that eyesore you call a suit?" Kid grinned at the jab.

"Aww, do you miss it?" he teased.

"Hardly," came the scoff. Not-Shinichi's eyes darted between them like he was watching a tennis match, and Shinichi saw the exact moment the evidence clicked for him. The clone tentatively relaxed, tense shoulders lowering just a fraction.

"Were you the one watching all week?" he asked, tone only slightly accusatory. Kid gasped, flinging a hand to his heart in mock offense as he turned his gaze to Shinichi.

"You didn't talk about my involvement? I'm surprised at you!" he playfully scolded, eyes twinkling from within the shadows of his cap. Shinichi rolled his eyes. The other Shinichi scoffed.

"Of course I know about your involvement," he said. "I just wasn't informed about your stalking tendencies, though I suppose I should have guessed it."

"There is a precedence," Shinichi agreed. Kid grinned, though the action seemed a bit strained.

"How else is a thief supposed to gather intel?" he said lightly.

"You could have just asked," Shinichi pointed out. "Especially since you're already working this case."

"Where's the fun in that?"

The two Shinichis shared an exasperated look.

"There's fun, and then there's important. You wasted a lot of time observing a situation you should have been able to parse after the first day," Shinichi scolded.

"I'm a thief, not a detective," came the reply, as if it was obvious. "There's no real precedence for this situation, and I did find myself more than a little confused." His tone darkened. "I don't take surprises of this magnitude lightly." I can't afford to, was left unsaid, but heard anyway.

Shinichi snatched at the opening left in that statement with ruthless efficiency.

"Well, if I'd had a way to contact you, this could have been avoided in some capacity." He left the veiled request hanging in the air as he went back to his maps, pretending the thief's response didn't matter much.

It mattered.

It mattered so much, and he hated that. They needed all the help they could get at this point, never mind that Kid's help already put the investigation leagues ahead from where they'd started.

Kid hummed thoughtfully as he stepped further into the room with a careless grace one might see in the movements of a dancer. If Shinichi wasn't already working with him, he might have been tempted to pick that tidbit apart. As it was, he filed the information away in the back of his mind for possible future scrutiny.

"I suppose you're right," he said, voice carefully light. Shinichi got the impression of a cat trying to decide if the treat between two dogs was worth it. "Then again, you're the one who disposed of my ears last time, tantei-kun. You can't exactly fault me for that."

Shinichi closed his eyes and bit back a sigh. If he'd known he would need more assistance, he'd have kept one of the bugs he'd swept for after learning about them. In normal circumstances, he would have kept one, but he'd been so indignant at the time.

"It was short-sighted of me," he managed to say without too much bite. He could feel Not-Shinichi's eyes on him, and hated that the man undoubtedly knew what he was feeling, even if he had to take a moment to deduce why. There was a distinct lack of privacy he wasn't at all used to that shouldn't be fair given just how much Shinichi went through that the clone had not.

If Kid was surprised at the admission or had somehow picked up on the inner turmoil, he didn't show it. Instead, he rocked back on his heels, hands stuffed innocuously in his pockets as he seemed to ponder his next course of action. He hummed again before freeing a gloved hand and producing a small object with a flourish. He presented it to Shinichi.

"This will have to do in a pinch, until I can arrange something else," said Kid, not moving his hand even as Shinichi cautiously plucked the device from it. He idly wondered if not flinching in the immediate vicinity of a detective was part of the man's poker face, or if he genuinely wasn't afraid of said detective making a move against him. He looked at the object he'd been given..

It was a fairly simply listening device: easily blocked and easier to keep the batteries full. As Kid said, it would do in a pinch. He gave it a once over before stowing it in his pocket with a curt nod. Kid clapped his hands together.

"Great! With that out of the way, what are you working on? And with maps, no less," he said, directing the tense atmosphere to the task at hand.

Shinichi briefly explained what they'd been doing, derailing only for a moment to go over Agasa's addition to Kid's program (the thief's eyes lit up in interest, cheerfully claiming the add-on to be "handy" before focusing back on the matter at hand). As the blind spots and subsequent plans were presented to him, Kid's expression became thoughtful.

"The main problem," sighed Shinichi, "is I don't know if the professor can handle creating an entire hidden camera network, at least not without wasting more time to figure out the logistics of it, and definitely not without being seen." Kid waved his hand dismissively.

"I can take care of that," he said, mischievous tone gone for the moment as he scanned the map Shinichi was marking. An urgent tension in Shinichi's muscles relaxed before he'd even realized it was there. For all of Kid's faults, he was nothing if not thorough. Shinichi sat back and closed his eyes to rest them.

"I heard Hakuba's back in town," he said lightly, mostly in an attempt to tease the thief that he wasn't getting a break during his heists even without Shinichi there. "He must be keeping you on your toes." Kid clicked his tongue.

"He's a stick in the mud, is what he is," he grumbled. It made Shinichi wonder if he was getting a peak at the thief's true personality. "He's fun to tease, but not nearly as fun to play with as you are."

"I'm flattered," Shinichi deadpanned.

"Hakuba like the police chief Hakuba?" asked the other Shinichi. Kid flinched imperceptibly—the only indication he had been startled.

"It's the police chief's son, actually," said Shinichi. "Hakuba Saguru. He spends most of his time in England." Kid turned to cast a glance at the clone.

"… You haven't met him?" he asked. Not-Shinichi raised an eyebrow and shook his head.

"From his perspective, he's only met you three times," explained Shinichi. Kid's eyes flicked between the two detectives, mind whirring through their past interactions before realizing that Kid himself was present for Shinichi's first meeting with Hakuba.. A carefully placed smirk crossed his face.

"You're not missing out on much, then," he said lightly. Shinichi was close enough to see the nervous tension in the thief's fingers, even as his shoulders were deceptively relaxed. "Well, unless you wanted to meet his pet hawk, Watson."

The clone's nose scrunched up in the same distaste Shinichi had felt on that first meeting. As nice as it had been meeting another detective his age that was also a Holmes otaku, Hakuba's obsession was like Shinichi's on steroids. The fact that he was even more pretentious than Shinichi himself hadn't really helped much.

"He's a great detective," he conceded. "He's just…"

"A stick in the mud," Kid repeated, eyes glinting.

"You say that about anyone out to arrest you, though," he pointed out. Kid flashed him a grin.

"We're getting off topic," he said in lieu of an answer. Shinichi rolled his eyes, but turned back to the map in front of him, pointing out areas of interest to get Kid's opinion.

It was a very productive evening, all things considered.

Too soon, Kid had to leave. He disappeared from one blink to the next, the only evidence he'd even been there was a Kid card promising his return and the listening device tucked securely in Shinichi's pocket.

"What exactly did I miss out on for you two to be so friendly with each other?" asked Not-Shinichi. Shinichi shrugged.

"He's helped the children out of some tough spots," he said as he sat down. "And people very rarely die at his heists, so going to… participate is more or less refreshing." He paused, considering. "That and he's never treated me like a child, even before he knew who I was…" That's not something he ever really stopped to think about. Perhaps that's why he enjoyed the heists so much.

The other Shinichi looked thoughtful at that, no doubt coming to his own conclusions about the thief—ones that probably varied very little to his own:

Kaitou Kid was a cat in a tiger's skin.

The enigma of a man was a mostly harmless entertainer and a powerful ally to have. And if he was inclined to do so, Shinichi might look deeper into the man's "take and return" situation. Perhaps he would in the future, when he's not bogged down by the urgent despair losing Ran left him with.

For now, though, they had a lead to follow.