Chapter 9: Game Plan
So motherhood is fun. Sorry for the boring chapter and the incredibly long wait. Hopefully I can get the next chapter written more quickly, now that I have some kind of rhythm going with caring for my offspring. It's chaotic rhythm, but it's there.
"And that's all we know right now," said Shinichi as he finished explaining the situation. They'd all retired to the living room, Ran and Kazuha on the couch, and the two detectives on the chairs.
"And ya think that list I gave ya could be a lead…?"
"Right now, it's the only one we've got."
"How's that a lead?" asked Kazuha, who was just barely holding on to the facts the boys so easily threw around. "None of 'em claimed to be someone else, right?"
"The time they were all missing is exactly the same," explained Shinichi. "And none of them can remember what happened during the two weeks in question. I was going to go to each one's house and ask my own line of questioning—I was making a list of addresses when you guys came." He cleared his throat. "Which, if you'll excuse me, I'd like to get back to doing." Before anyone could reply, he hopped off the chair and marched out of the room. Ran looked hesitantly at the Osakans.
"Er… How long will you be staying here?" she asked. She already knew they wouldn't leave today. Heiji hummed.
"Maybe till Sunday? We've still got school after all, even if I can get away with skippin' a few days." Ran twisted her hands in her lap.
"There's only one guest bedroom left," she said quietly. Heiji let out a bark-like laugh.
"Guess I'll just hafta stay in Kudo's room," he said, grinning. He got up. "Speakin' of which, I'm gonna go pick his brain some more." And he left the room, leaving the girls by themselves. Kazuha huffed.
"That moron—he's takin' this too lightly."
"Well, it isn't exactly his problem," Ran pointed out. "At least he's willing to help out. Anyway I should probably show you where the guest room is." She got up from the couch.
"Are you okay?" asked Kazuha in a small voice. Ran's face fell a bit.
"… I… I'd rather not talk about it."
"But—"
"Please?" She didn't look Kazuha in the eye, but her pleading tone made Kazuha nod. "Let's just get you to the spare room."
Ran left first, Kazuha following behind after a moment of hesitation.
xXx
When Shinichi came down for breakfast the next morning, he was greeted by an overly energetic Osakan.
"G'mornin' sleepyhead!" exclaimed Heiji. He ruffled Shinichi's hair as he walked past him to the table. Shinichi groggily batted his hand away with a small growl. "Oops," he laughed. "Forgot ya need yer caffeine." Shinichi just gave him a halfhearted glare before eyeing the table and finding his place already set with breakfast and coffee.
"Hm? Didn't know Kudo-kun wasn't a mornin' person," commented Kazuha as Heiji returned to his own breakfast. Shinichi ignored the two in favor of taking a sip of his coffee. Kazuha looked around. "Shouldn't Ran-chan be eatin' with us? Shinichi set down his cup without looking up.
"She eats breakfast in the kitchen," he mumbled as he started on his waffle. Heiji frowned at him.
"Why the kitchen? You sure she's eatin'?"
"She does look abnormally thin," whispered Kazuha.
"Look- I'd really rather not talk about this, at the very least not so early," said Shinichi irritably. Heiji raised an eyebrow, but dropped it without much of a fight.
"So what's today's plan?" asked Heiji after Shinichi had emptied half of his cup. Shinichi stabbed at a slice of bacon before answering.
"I've got nine people to look into here in Tokyo," he said slowly. "In the interest of time, I've decided to employ the help of the Detective Boys—two houses per child with the exception of Haibara. I'll take the remaining three."
"You sure that's wise? Leavin' it to children?"
"It's fine. It's not dangerous, and I've compiled a list of questions to give them to ask. It'll appease them, too, since they'll be helping in an investigation." He sipped on his coffee. "I'm not sending them too far out of the way, either, so their parents won't worry too much."
"You sure about that? Tokyo's pretty big, after all."
"Which is why they're only going to the people located here in Beika, or in Haido. I'll handle the two in Shibuya and the one in Ekoda."
"Y'need some help? That's pretty outta the way, an' a little kid wanderin' around by himself's bound to raise a few eyebrows." Shinichi shrugged.
"You can come if you want- I planned to go with Ran to get her out of the house for a bit," he said as he scraped his plate clean and turned to put all of his focus on finishing the coffee. Kazuha watched this back-and-forth-ing with a frown on her face before finally speaking up.
"Why're y'all actin' like everythin's normal?" The two detectives blinked at her.
"An' how're we s'pposed ta act?" asked Heiji irritably. Shinichi raised a hand to silence them, and looked gravely into Kazuha's eyes.
"When you make a mistake in aikido, do you spend time worrying about it?"
"Of course not! You could lose the match that way!" She blinked a few times as the meaning sank in. "... Oh..."
"The same can be said of investigations," he said calmly. "Strong emotions just get in the way, especially if it involves friends and family. I did all of my panicking the day Ran came back, and even Ran finished her meltdown a few days later. At least until she found out who I was." He finished his coffee and wiggled off his chair, collecting his dishes to bring to the kitchen. "You're welcome to panic or be upset, but don't make Ran uncomfortable. She's got enough stress already."
"Ain't that what I've been tellin' ya?" asked Heiji sourly.
"Ya never explained it that way, idiot!"
Shinichi left the two to bicker while he moved into the kitchen. Ran was there, scrubbing away at her own breakfast dishes. She glanced at him as he approached and silently pointed to the empty side of the sink. He complied by putting his plate and silverware in, but kept his cup and headed for the coffee pot. He was going to need a lot more than one cup today.
xXx
Once the bickering settled and breakfast was over, Shinichi pulled out his detective badge to call the children over to Agasa's house. They didn't really need to know where he was staying, or see Ran and run the risk of them asking questions that would upset her. He gave Heiji a warning glare that meant to stay put before going next door to wait for them. When they arrived, he gave them their instructions.
"Shinichi-niichan wanted everything done by the end of the day," he said, peering into their excited faces. "There were just too many to tackle by himself."
"How come he's not giving us this info himself?" asked Mitsuhiko. "If it's this important, why ask you to ask us?" A fond smile tugged at the corners of Shinichi's mouth. These kids were really too smart. He didn't want to have to think about the future possibility of them seeing through his web of lies.
"He's got an early start," he explained, "since he's got to go to Ekoda and Shibuya."
"EEEHH?!" cried Mitsuhiko and Ayumi together. "How come we don't get to go to those places?! That's not fair!" Shinichi felt a muscle under his eye twitch.
And right after I basically praised them, too... he thought irritably. Haibara answered for him, not looking up from the fashion magazine she was reading.
"Don't be selfish," she said coolly. "He didn't have to ask you at all, now, did he?"
"Well, no, but-"
"Besides, he'd get in trouble with your parents if he let you go to those places unchaperoned. This isn't a vacation, after all." She flipped the page. "It's real detective work." At the very least, the idea of doing investigations for Kudo Shinichi pacified them enough to not continue grumbling.
"Just remember to bring your reports back here," said the professor. "And when you're done, I'll treat you to dinner." That had their attention, and they all cheered before rushing out the door, scattering into the street.
Actually, it was Shinichi who'd be treating them, saving Agasa's wallet from a big gaping hole, since he was certain they'd all want the most expensive things from the menu of wherever it was they ended up going. He'd already secretly given the man his credit card, asking him to pretend to treat them.
Having the children write down their findings and bring them back to the professor's house served two purposes: first, it meant that they would have to go straight to the restaurant afterwards, which prevented them from being disappointed that they didn't give "Shinichi" himself their reports; second, he could easily find them in one place without the chaotic hassle children so often came with. He let out a relieved sigh. If it was just him, this might have taken a week or two. The faster this was done, the better.
He made his way back to his house to find a grinning Heiji waiting for him. He rubbed his hands together.
"So, when're we goin'?" he asked eagerly as Shinichi passed him to get to the study. He followed him in, waiting for Shinichi's answer. As they passed through the study to the living room, Shinichi spotted a very tired-looking Ran sitting on the couch. He stared at her for a moment before turning to look at Heiji.
"Actually, would you mind going to one of the last two locations? I'll take Ran to the other one." Heiji stared down at him, pointedly not looking at Ran, and shrugged.
"Yeah, alright." He didn't seem too put out that he wasn't going with Shinichi, so that was good at least. He left the teen by the door and stopped by the couch in front of Ran.
"Ran?" he called softly. She opened her eyes and stared down at him. "I need to go to Shibuya and Ekoda today—Hattori's agreed to go to one location to save time. Where do you want to go?" Ran made a face.
"Do you really need me to go?" she asked.
"I need an adult with me." He didn't, but it would be easier for him. She sighed.
"In that case, I'd rather not go to Shibuya, since Sonoko frequents that area." Shinichi blinked.
That's right, he thought. I'd forgotten she likes to shop there.
"I thought she was yer best friend," said Heiji from his spot in the doorway. "Why avoid her?" Ran and Shinichi both shot him flat glares, causing him to shiver.
"Obviously, it's for the same reason I didn't tell anyone," said Shinichi. Ran blushed and looked away.
"Sonoko is..." she started quietly, "... a very talkative person. She only keeps secrets if it benefits her, but she'll still constantly drop hints about it."
There's that, too... Shinichi thought. Since Ran was closest to the heiress, she could easily predict what would happen if she were to find out. Heiji's brows rose, but he just shrugged. He didn't really know the girl, after all, having only briefly met her when she was around Shinichi.
"Then I guess I'm goin' ta Shibuya," he said dismissively. "Got an extra list of questions, Kudo, or am I just wingin' it?"
"I have a list, don't worry. You can't really 'wing it' if you don't know what I want to ask, right?" said Shinichi, scowling halfheartedly at the grin Heiji gave him. Cheeky bastard... He turned back to Ran.
"How long do you need to get ready?" he asked her, expecting her to request some extra time to psyche herself up.
"Just a few minutes," she said, surprising him. "I just need to find a hat..."
"The one you used last time is still in my room," he called after her as she left the room. She waved a hand to indicate she'd heard him.
"... A hat?" asked Heiji. "What's she need a hat for?" Shinichi sighed.
"It's mostly so people don't recognize her as me," he said quietly as he stared at the television set, even though it was turned off. "But also, because Kudo Shinichi is supposed to be dead, and if she's recognized there's no guarantee those involved will keep quiet. Either way, though, she'd have to pretend to be me, which I think is too hard on her."
He'd already told Heiji about what happened with Subaru when the fellow detective had pressed him for information last night, so he already knew what Shinichi was talking about. Plus, he wouldn't have to dance around Ran's or Shinichi's identities when the grad student was around.
Subaru's identity was still a secret, though. Shinichi had promised not to keep anymore secrets, but that one technically wasn't his, even if he was the one who set it up. Heiji would have his hide if he ever found out, though, even with a good explanation. He just hoped he'd be the proper age when that eventuality came to fruition.
"Dunno what's so hard about it—you do it twenty-four/seven, practically," said Heiji offhandedly. Shinichi sighed again.
"Well... It's not like she can't do it—she knows me well enough to be able to pull it off, but..." He paused, trying to put his thoughts into words. Surprisingly, Heiji waited for him, which he was silently thankful for.
"... But there's a big difference in pretending to be someone else versus emulating a persona. That's all Edogawa Conan is, after all. I made him up, got to choose his mannerisms, and because of that some of me gets to leak through. Ran... Ran doesn't have that leisure." Granted, his mom could probably do it, but as an actress, that was her job.
Heiji was unusually quiet as Ran came back, with Kazuha following behind her. They must have met upstairs. Kazuha bounded towards Heiji, bouncing on her heels while Ran proceeded more slowly, putting on Shinichi's cap as she closed the last few steps to the group. Shinichi looked up at everyone, suddenly painfully aware he was the only teenager in the group that barely passed anyone's knees. The feeling was fleeting and insignificant in the face of the current issue, though. He set his jaw and turned towards the door.
"Let's go."