Non-Challenge: Conversations of the Kid Variety

[serphenia]

Title: Conversations of the Kid Variety
Author: Serphenia
Word Count: 3317
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: I don’t own Detective Conan or Magic Kaito
Spoilers: Some references to Sunset Mansion and the criminal in that case.
Notes: Not as great as my first one, I think, but, then again, I wrote most of this one when I was half asleep. Some of my views on how Conan would act in the Magic Kaito settings. Think it’s been done already but I’ve never seen it, so…It comes in four parts so it's not really enormously big.

The plunnies wouldn't leave me alone. Even now they're trying to get me to write another...

Conan Meets Hakuba

Hakuba Saguru stared at the suspicious character in front of him suspiciously,

“Why did you say you were here again?”

The small child continued to scribble away with his crayon, the perfect picture of innocence, seemingly unperturbed by the close securitization. The fact that he was drawing a detailed and precise map of the school grounds, the scene of a recent murder (with notations where the body was found, along with possible places that the murderer could have gone to after the murder), did not go unnoticed by the (seemingly) older detective.

“’Cause Ran-neechan an’ her dad got to go on a trip, only I wasn’t ‘lowed to come,” he wrinkled his nose, causing the enormous glasses he wore to slip down his nose a bit, “They said it was an ‘adult place’. An’ Professor Agasa had to go to a convention or something so he couldn’t watch me. An’ Ayumi an’ Genta an’ Mitsuhiko are all away visiting relatives or at camp or something ‘cause we get this week off so I couldn’t even stay with them. And mom and dad are really busy, so they’re practically in-com-mu-ti-ca-to,” the child stretched out the word carefully, sounding, for all the world, like a little kid struggling with a long word. He gave a childish giggle, “It means that we can’t talk to them. Ran-neechan’s mom said so. So they contacted my nearest living relative, which was Kaito-niichan. But since his mom was away visiting other relatives I had to come here. Kaito-niichan convinced them to let me stay at school, ‘cause they said that it wasn’t safe to ‘leave me to my own devices’ all day.”

Hakuba frowned,

“But you’re that kid that was with the ‘Sleeping Kogorou’, right? Well, you were with Kaitou Kid disguised as Mouri Kogorou. Why would you be staying with…someone like him?”

“What do you mean?” large eyes blinked up at him through thick-rimmed glasses, “Kaito-niisan’s not bad! He can juggle stuff and make things appear out of thin air!” His voice was full of awe, a kid idolizing an older sibling, but Hakuba had reason to believe that it was all an act. He had personally seen this child in action. He had seen this child think up an elaborate plan and corner a murderer - a detective to less, who had been careful about concealing her tracks - something that no kid should have been able to do. And the kid had seen through Kaitou Kid’s disguise as Mouri Kogorou, though, to be fair, the kid had been the detective of the group that had known him best. And then there was the matter of that…watch that the child had been aiming at Kaitou Kid and the fierce determination that had been in his eyes, intent on catching the thief, no doubt.

Hakuba stared at the boy again, watching him sigh and put down his crayon, a satisfied look in his eye. Had he solved the murder, perhaps? Or proved a theory of his?

No, this was no ordinary boy and Hakuba wanted to know why the kid was playing dumb. His speech and manner were completely different from before and there was no way that he could not know or suspect that Kuroba was Kaitou Kid, being so smart and living under the same roof as Kuroba. Was he in league with Kaitou Kid? The thought was quickly dismissed; a detective or a young boy suddenly joining a thief? Either was unlikely, together was close to impossible.

So why was the boy there? A thought struck him suddenly, causing his eyes to widen in disbelief. Was that boy there to catch Kaitou Kid? And suddenly this threw everything in a new perspective. The boy was acting so innocently because he wanted Kuroba’s guard to be let down. Acting alone or acting with Mouri Kogorou, it was no wonder that someone had followed his line of reasoning to Kuroba. He would bet a hundred dollars that Kuroba had never seen the kid before in his life.

But that wasn’t right! It just simply wasn’t right! He had found Kuroba first and he would be the first and only one to put Kuroba in jail. Not some unknown detective with a fancy reputation or an innocent-looking brat of a spy!

“Look, kid,” Hakuba said with forced calm and a little more than a little venom, “I don’t know what you’re trying to pull and I don’t really care but nobody but me is going to catch Kaitou Kid, got that?”

“Gee, Hakuba, I’m touched. I never figured you were a fan…Why don’t you quite chasing after him, then. There are other ways to make him notice you…I think I’ve got a spare poster and you can come over after school to make your own ‘I heart Kaitou Kid’ tee-shirt.”

Hakuba froze and turned around stiffly, face slightly red. There stood Kuroba Kaito, his usual smug grin firmly in place.

“I am not,” Hakuba stated in a voice of forced icy-calm, “Nor will I ever be a Kaitou Kid fan. As for your offer,” He paused, on the verge of telling Kuroba to stuff it. In actuality, this would be a perfectly good opportunity to visit the Kuroba residence and have a good look around, “Fine, I accept. But don’t be expecting to be making any tee-shirts of that…nature.”

“Aw, you’re no fun,” Kaito said, still grinning, “Now Conan, are you finished playing detective?”

Conan muttered something about ‘not playing detective’ but allowed himself to be led away. Hakuba frowned after them, reconsidering his earlier theories. Now that the kid was gone, taking with him the intense air that seemed to hover around him, it all seemed ridiculous and he was slightly embarrassed at his earlier outburst. And the Kaito had seemed pretty friendly for a cousin forced to baby-sit a previously unknown distant cousin.

He returned to the scene of the murder, resolving to finish this mystery before starting on the mystery that was Conan Edogawa and Kuroba Kaito, before blinking and looking around. The police were gone along with the crowd and the entire crime scene was empty except for a janitor mopping up the blood.

“Hey!” he spluttered, “You can’t touch that! It’s evidence!”

The janitor looked up at him,

“The cops said it was okay…” he muttered, annoyed, “And this crime has already been solved. Didn’t you see the police taking away the murderer?”

“WHAT?” Hakuba was beyond shocked. He had only turned his back for a few minutes upon finding that Edogawa kid poking around upon his arrival. “How could…It’s only been…”

“I dunno,” the janitor said sullenly, “there were cops poking around and then this little kid who shouldn’t have even been near something like this; even talked to me, both the cops and the kid. Kid was pretty upset, I don’t think the police were even looking at him and he was saying some pretty big words. Than that other kid came and talked to the young kid…I think his name was…Kuroba Kaito? God knows I’ve cleaned up enough messes from that troublemaker. Anyways, then the little kid disappeared somewhere, Kuroba took his place and said the same things as the little kid but this time the police listened and the murderer was caught in just seconds. Sounds too clean, doesn’t it; too quick and simple? I reckon it’s some sort of cover-up. I knew that girl and she was likable enough…”

But Hakuba had tuned out the other man’s words by this point. That kid had solved this case in the mere seconds it took for Hakuba to arrive? Had somehow convinced Kuroba to talk to the police in his place? Than the crayon drawing…that had merely been a double-checking of his work? He had already singled out the murderer and passed along the message to Kuroba?

The kid was most definitely worth keeping an eye on.

“You sure that was a good idea?” Conan asked, glancing up at his ‘distant relative’.

“What?”

“Inviting that detective over to your house.”

“He won’t find anything,” Kaito said confidently, “And it’s fun to bait him, anyways.”

Conan sighed,

“That attitude’s going to put you in jail, someday.”

“And I’m sure you’d just love to be the one to put me there.”

“Maybe,” Conan gave Kaito a shark-like grin, “But Kaitou Kid’s just a thief, no matter how famous he is. I go after murderers.”

“But that was creepy just now. Dead body. Ugh. How can you stand that all of the time?!”

Conan made a non-committal sound.

“Hey…” Kaito said slowly, “Did you just say…that I wasn’t worth your time?”

“Never said a thing about you. I just called Kaitou Kid a petty thief. Who’s afraid of dead bodies.”

“Why you…”

Conan Meets Aoko

“…So.” Aoko Nakamura said, breaking the silent measuring-up between her and the small boy in front of her, “You’re a relative of Kaito’s?”

“Yup!” The kid swung his feet, which were dangling over the edge of a chair, “They said I’m his very, very distant cousin but everyone says I look exactly like him…Well, when he was my age and without the glasses.”

“Your hair’s a little less messy, too,” Aoko added absent-mindedly, “And he would never be caught dead wearing something like that.” She gestured towards his neat little kiddy-suit.

“Yeah, well…” the child looked slightly sheepish, “I never had much of a choice. Better than most of the things mom wanted. Dad had to fight her for this. Said it looked distinguished.” A true story, sadly enough, though this particular event had happened years ago.

Aoko laughed,

“Yes, well…You’re a relative of Kaito’s, right? So are you a Kaitou Kid fan?”

“Not at all,” Conan looked at her with surprise, “I’ve only grown up around detectives and detective novels.”

“Oh…”

“Why? Is Kaito-niichan a fan?”

“A Kaitou Kid maniac,” Aoko said firmly.

“Is that true, Kaito-niichan?” Conan asked, wide eyed, to Kaito, who had just joined them, carrying their lunch.

“Uh…Yeah…” Kaito said.

“Waah! And I used to think you were so cool, too!” Conan wailed, “Supporting a bad-guy thief like that!’

Kaito sweatdropped, ‘Oi, oi…’

“So you’re not a fan then, Conan?” Aoko asked, “Then what do you think of him?”

“He deserves to be locked up in some obscure dungeon with the key thrown away,” Conan answered promptly.

“I agree,” Aoko said instantly and Conan gave Kaito an odd look over her shoulder, “My dad would like nothing better than to catch Kaitou Kid himself.”

“Why, did Kid steal something from him?” Conan asked innocently, chewing on his straw while sipping his apple juice that Kaito had gotten him.

“No, he’s the head of the Kaitou Kid Taskforce.”

Conan nearly choked on his juice,

“Oh…” He gave Kaito another Look, “Really? That Nakamori-keibu that’s always trying to catch Kid?”

“You know him?” Aoko asked, “He’s not on the news that much anymore…He’s just a nameless cop that can’t get anything done to the media, Kaitou Kid’s the real eye-catcher.”

“Yeah, I’m staying with Mouri Kogorou,” Conan explained, “And I ran into him a couple times when Kid was in the area.” Kaito was looking a bit guilty, Conan noticed, glancing over Aoko’s shoulder again. Then again, he had introduced Aoko as a childhood friend; he must have met her father many times. He thought back to his own relationship with Ran’s parents and the small amount of guilt that he had felt at learning that Ran’s father hadn’t been getting any jobs, mostly because of him. But then he had known that Mouri Kogorou was a pretty bad detective who spent most of his time eating, sleeping, drinking, gambling, and sitting in front of the TV, watching idols or horseracing. Nakamori-keibu really did try hard to catch Kid.

“Oh, the famous ‘Sleeping Kogorou’?”

“Yeah, him and Ran-neechan.”

“Well, then, maybe you get the ‘Sleeping Kogorou’ to help my dad?” Aoko asked, hopefully, “I’m sure between the two of them, they can put Kid in jail!”

“They don’t really get along,” Conan said, “And they have tried working together. It just didn’t work out.”

“Oh,” Aoko said disappointedly, “Well, I’m sure someone’s bound to catch him someday. I just wish it didn’t have to be my dad. I don’t think it’s that good for him.”

“Are you kidding?” Kaito asked, “What about all that exercise he’s getting chasing Kid around everywhere. Why, I’m sure lots of people his age would be jealous…”

“What about those people shooting at Kid?” Aoko asked sharply. “What if my dad gets caught in the crossfire?”

“That won’t happen.” Kaito said, fiercely, “I won’t ever let that happen and I’m sure that Kid won’t either. He hasn’t let a single person die on one of his heists yet, and I don’t think he’s about to.”

“Thanks, Kaito,” Aoko said, and Kaito was alarmed to hear her voice tremble ever-so-slightly.

“Are you okay?” He asked, concerned.

“I’m fine,” Aoko said, “Hey, we need to get back to class now. I’ll just go ahead and…” Her voice trailed off and she hurried away towards the classroom. There was a silence where she had left.

“…The daughter of the head of the Kaitou Kid Taskforce?” Conan asked, an eyebrow raised in a distinctly un-childish expression.

“Well, it’s not that I knew when I met her…”

“That your father was Kaitou Kid or that her father was the head of the Kaitou Kid Taskforce?”

Kaito shrugged,

“Both. But mostly the first.”

There was another pause.

“’Locked up in some obscure dungeon with the key thrown away’?” Kaito asked, a slightly incredulous tone in his voice.

“Oh, come on. You could break out of that one easy. Keys are old-fashioned.”

“…Right.”

Conan Meets Akako

Koisumi Akako stared at Kaito’s distant cousin with some interest. She licked her lips.

Conan glanced at the scary girl who had been staring at him almost nonstop since he had arrived in the classroom. Wishing that ‘Kaito-niisan’ was a bit closer so that he could hide behind him, he bent his head over a new, more innocently-themed, drawing, trying to ignore the stares directed at him.

He vaguely remembered Kaito saying something about a witch-girl, which he had ignored as some of Kaito’s usual wild stories, despite the fact that it had been recounted with pure seriousness Now he decided that nothing was impossible and he really didn’t want to test the improbable. The not-quite-child resolved to stick closer to Kaito when she was nearby and otherwise avoid her. At all costs. It never hurt to be cautious and he did not like some of the looks she was giving him.

Other Scene - In the Classroom

“Kaito,” Conan hissed suddenly, “How am I going to get to tonight’s heist?” Thankfully, it was in the break between two classes when Conan had this revelation, or he might have been kicked out of the classroom.

Kaito looked at him blankly,

“You’re going to the heist?”

“Well, obviously! I’m going to need to be one of the first people to know if you get caught…” (‘Gee, it’s nice that you have so much confidence in me,’ Kaito muttered under his breath.) “And there’s no way you’re keeping me out of this one. I want to go.”

“’Just a petty thief’, huh? Admit it, you’re interested.”

“Sometimes it’s nice to relax and do something mind-numbingly boring every once in a while, as I think Haibara said. Now, how am I going to get there? You’re in charge of taking care of me, you find out.”

“Well, obviously I can’t take you!”

“Well, obviously I can’t take myself!”

“Fine, ask Aoko to take you! I’m sure she’d love someone else to help her hold her ‘I hate Kid’ sign.”

“You’re kidding; she actually has one of those?” Conan asked, sweatdropping, before forcing his attention back to the matter at hand, “And I don’t want to go with her. She won’t be where all the action is, just with the rest of the crowd. I want to go with the police.”

“You saw earlier that they wouldn’t listen to you!”

“Well, Hakuba might. And if all else fails, I can just use my voice-changing bow-tie and a radio.”

“Then hitch a ride with Hakuba!”

“How?”

“You tell me!”

Conan groaned,

“I don’t want to do that!”

“No choice, if you want to go to the heist. Better reserve your transportation now or he’ll be too busy to talk to later. Gets really excited on heist-nights.”

“Fine, fine,” Conan muttered. Then he opened his mouth wide and…”BUT I WANT TO GO WITH YOU TO THE KID HIEST TONIGHT, KAITO-NIISAN!”

“Ouch!” Kaito covered his ears, Conan’s wailings at full kiddy-blast somehow managing to penetrate the four brightly-colored earmuffs that he had pulled out of ‘nowhere’ plus his hands clamped firmly over them.

The whole class turned to stare.

“Well, that’s one way to do it, I guess,” Kaito muttered, “but at least warn me next time!” Conan smirked at him as he ducked his head to summon huge tears.

“But I wanna go and catch the bad-guy! I bet I’d be really, really helpful! I learned lots of stuff from the ‘Sleeping Kogorou’ and Shinichi-niichan!”

“I told you already!” Kaito said, playing along, “I can’t take you! I’m going to have to find a good spot to sit that probably won’t be safe for little kids. And you don’t like to just sit and watch, you’d want to go help the police. And if Kaitou Kid got anywhere near you, you’d probably go chasing after him and do something stupid like fall off a rooftop! Your mother would kill me if I let something like that happen!”

Conan glared at him but softened it to a tear-streaked pout almost instantly,

“I would not!”

Aoko watched the show with some interest. Who knew such a mild-mannered boy could scream so loudly?

“Why don’t you come with me tonight, Conan?” She offered.

“Thank you, Aoko-neesan, but I wanna help the police catch him, not just watch.”

“I’m afraid that his time with Mouri Kogorou spoiled him,” Kaito explained, “He’s used to being allowed to be part of these things. And maybe he is useful, I don’t know, but I know I can’t take him. He’ll have to stay home and watch the thing on television. It’s safer that way.”

“Well then, how about me?” Akako purred, somehow appearing behind him.

Conan ‘eep’ed and hid behind Kaito. Kaito laughed, Conan glared at him, and Hakuba, who had also been watching interestedly, spoke up,

“I might be able to take him.” Kaito hid a sigh of relief and Conan suppressed a pleased smirk. His fears of being seen as only a spoilt brat had, apparently, been in vain. Then again, Hakuba had seen him solving a case.

“Wow, really?” Conan asked, wide-eyed, “I can go with you?”

“Sure,” Hakuba said, weighing his benefits. He could keep an eye on the boy, see if he was really trying to catch Kid or seemed to know who he was and observe his behavior. Not bad.

The two detectives and one thief smirked internally at their good fortune and silently set about making plans for that night.

Second completed fic ^^ A bit of weirdness that wanted to be written but could never find it’s way into any of the longer stories, which I’m probably not going to write…

Hakuba jumps to a reaction a little fast, I admit. The only thing I can say is…Kaito’s rubbing off on him? So I’m sorry if the characters act a bit OOC or my names and honorifics are a bit off. I’m not quite so sure how each character refers to the others and stuff. Feel free to correct me.

I’m not sure about the Akako part…It sort of turned out…weird. Not that it wasn’t supposed to be weird but…