* Making It Literal // Chapter One
Title: Making It Literal
Author: Tsugumi Winters (tsugumiwinters)
Fandom: Meitantei Conan (Detective Conan / Case Closed) & Magic Kaito
Word Count: 2000
Rating: T [PG-13] (swearing)
Disclaimer: I own Meitantei Conan! I do! Really! ... Okay, I'm lying, I don't own Meitantei Conan, nor do I own Magic Kaito. Both of them belong to the wondrous Gosho Aoyama (*worships him for making the series*).
Spoilers: There are references, yes, but nothing really spoily...
Warnings: Aside from swearing, nothing... at the moment that is.
Characters/Pairings: RanxShinichi, KaitoxAoko, future KaitoxShinichi
Summary: KID becomes... a kid (which is the reason for the title)... [Watch as he joins the merry band of the vertically challenged! xD]
Notes: Eh... Look at 1-5.
(1)
Memory Egg case - Meitantei Conan, movie 3: Last Wizard of the Century. [Spoiler!] Conan asked Agasa to make the glasses bullet-proof because 'Scorpion' always aims for the right eye. [End Spoiler]
(2)
Edogawa Fumiyo - from Meitantei Conan, volume 5: chapters 10-11 + volume 6: chapter 1 / file 49-51, episode 43. [Spoiler!] Kudou Yukiko dresses up as Edogawa Conan's non-existent mother. [End Spoiler]
(3)
John - Sherlock Holmes' assistant, John Watson.
Arthur, Doyle & Sir - Tribute to "Not a Sir" by Snickerer, "Little Kid" by Manzanita and "Sir, Arthur, Conan, Doyle" by thisgirlreads, three rather humorous fics.
(4)
Legendary Pool Cue - Magic Kaito, volume 2: chapter 7 (The Hustler).
(5)
Kaito's expectation of being pulled back and reprimanded - Meitantei Conan, volume 55: chapter 9 / file 573, episode 473.
<< Previous Chapter | Next Chapter >>
'Making It Literal' Status Report
// Chapter One \\
Kaitou KID blinked blearily then shot up as he realized that he was nowhere he recognized. He jumped off the couch he had slept on and took a step, only to backtrack and look at everything in wonder, “Why is everything so tall?” The tall door opened to admit a tall tante- WHAT THE HELL!?
His mouth opened and closed in imitation of a fish (he’d blanch and fervently deny it later) as he gaped at the boy in front of him. The boy was almost his height! “Meep?” He finally managed with his voice as he continued to gawk.
The boy in front of him who he recognized as Edogawa Conan- a.k.a. Kudou Shinichi, the great detective of the east- was smirking in amusement at his expression and his momentary incapability of speech. KID shook his head to snap out of it and he pinched himself. “Yow!” He yelled and jumped a foot into the air as his arm complained about the pain it had just suffered through. That hurt! I guess I’m not dreaming then... A crooked smile appeared on the bespectacled boy’s face as he snickered. “This has got to be a dream!” KID groaned (despite the obvious evidence that it wasn’t true) and leaned into the couch he was standing against. “You can’t be tall!”
To his surprise, Conan turned serious at those words. “Oh, I’m telling you, it’s not a dream. But yes, I can’t be tall, it’s actually the complete opposite,” he said and held out the mirror in his hand.
KID gasped and stared into the mirror. It showed a reflection of a boy who would’ve looked almost like Conan if you decided to disregard the messy hair, lighten the eye-color, and add glasses. KID’s hands shot up to his head in panic as he realized, My hat! My monocle! Shit, I’m unmasked!
“Kuroba Kaito,” Conan said and KID’s head shot up in panic- he’d been unmasked and recognized! “Birthday is June 21 with Blood Type B. He is seventeen, a student of Ekoda High, Class 2-B, the class clown and magician and a family friend of the Nakamori family.” At every word he said, Kaitou KID- Kuroba Kaito- turned paler and paler. There was no getting out of this one. “Parents are Kuroba Toichi and Kuroba Miki. Kuroba Toichi died eight years ago due to an accident while he was working.” Kaito sighed and ran a hand through his hair, mussing it up more than usual, as the shrunken Shinichi concluded, “Kaitou KID disappeared eight years ago.”
“Alright, tantei-kun, you got me,” he said resignedly.
There was silence until Conan spoke.
“You know my secret, keep it and I’ll keep yours.” Kaito looked up at him in surprise, but Conan merely cocked an eyebrow in reply. “What? As if anyone’s gonna believe me if I tell them that you, a little boy, is KID!”
“When you put it like that...” Kaito trailed off and looked a little sheepish, then, remembering something, he jerked and asked, “Do you think I can call ‘kaa-san? She must be worried!”
“No, they might be watching your house,” Conan said immediately, emphasizing greatly on they, but as he said this, the resigned expression returned to the newly-shrunken teen’s face and he felt guilt seize himself.
After a while though, an idea seemed to shine through Kaito’s eyes and he nodded, “Jii-chan then. He used to work with oyaji, but he stopped contacting my family when oyaji died.” There was a mixture of pride and sadness that expressed itself in the boy’s eyes whenever he said ‘oyaji’. It made the other boy stare and wonder if he did the same when he talked about his own father, he pushed the thought away as he remembered that said father went globe-trotting and left him alone in Japan as soon as he was legally allowed to.
“... Alright,” Conan consented as he cleared his mind of all things parent-related and the newly-turned child took a step forward, only to step back once again with a pensive look on his face.
“Do you think it’s better if I visit him and give him a note to hand to ‘kaa-san?”
Conan bit his lip as he thought. He turned the idea over in his mind, but found nothing wrong with that, and he said as such, “I don’t see anything wrong with that, but if we’re going anywhere we need to get you a name just in case anyone asks... We could easily pass off as brothers, so all you’ll have to think of is the first name. I have a pair of spare glasses here somewhere that you can use...” And he trailed off as he crossed the room and started rummaging through the desks in the room.
“Um... Glasses?” The skepticism and befuddlement in the voice could’ve been described as ‘tangible’ if it weren’t for the fact that that would be quite the impossibility. It made the other boy pause in his search to look at him with such a ‘duh’ look that it almost made Kaito feel stupid. Almost.
“Yes,” his tone was dry and humorless as he said, “glasses.” A hand forced itself into the open drawer to pull out an exact replica of the glasses perched on Conan’s nose. A leg kicked the drawer closed as hands unfolded the glasses. “It’s my version of your monocle, and I think you might be able to appreciate it,” the tone was still dry, Kaito noticed. “Also, hakase managed to make it bullet-proof.” At that the shrunken teen from Ekoda perked up.
“From the ‘Memory Egg’ case (1)?” Kaito grinned as he took the glasses from Conan and slid them over his eyes while the other boy nodded.
“Edogawa Conan’s mother is named Fumiyo (2). She wears glasses. And since ‘tou-san actually needs glasses, Edogawa Conan’s father will need glasses too should ‘tou-san ever pose as him,” Conan said in a matter-of-fact voice. “So it’s only logical that the kids will have glasses too. Anyway, we still need a name for you.”
Kaito blinked in surprise at the abrupt change in subject, “Eh... Akio?”
“I think an English one would be better,” commented Conan dryly, “After all, ‘our parents’ are big fans of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, are they not?”
“John, then,” Kaito said as he leaned back into the couch again, “there is no way you’re going to name me Arthur, Doyle or even Sir (3).”
“From Watson’s name then?” Conan asked with clear amusement (whether from the chosen name or the disapproved names, Kaito didn’t know) and Kaito nodded. The older boy smirked and teasingly said, “Then welcome to the family of the vertically challenged, Edogawa John.”
Kaito- John- snickered as he wondered at Conan’s sudden change of tone from dry and annoyed to happy and teasing. Though a random thought caused him to ask, “How did I get here?”
“I found you in an alley- shrunk- I realized that I couldn’t let anyone find out, so I dragged you to a nearby building and called Agasa-hakase. He came with his car and some extra clothes,” Conan ended with a shrug (he didn’t bother to tell him how difficult it was to sneak past the police who had found the torn hang-glider and thus labeled the alley as a ‘crime scene’), then he asked his own question as well, “Did you see who attacked you?”
John nodded pensively before elaborating, “He had long blond hair and black eyes.” Conan’s eyes narrowed as John obliviously continued, his eyes glazed over as he remembered, “Those eyes were scary, they practically scream MURDERER!” John shivered as he said this. “And his clothes were black,” this piece of information almost seemed like an afterthought, but Conan ignored that as his expression darkened and he growled out a name.
“Gin.”
“You know him?”
“Yes, he did this,” Conan gestured at himself, “to me.”
Both became silent after that, until John shook his head and muttered, “Well, this sucks.”
- - - - -
“Ha! Conan-kun is so good!” Yoshida Ayumi exclaimed in utter awe as the said boy managed to pot another ball. Not that he ever missed.
“Eh! I’m better!” Kojima Genta exclaimed, ever proudly, thumping his chest.
“Nii-chan,” the word had a teasing undertone to it as, smirking mischievously, John whispered to Conan, “I’m gonna disappear for a while.”
Conan nodded, seemingly amused at the by-play, “Be quick, John.”
Once the boy had disappeared in a cloud of smoke (not pink, but a light shade of lavender), Tsuburaya Mitsuhiko said accusingly, “You never told us you had a brother, Conan-kun.”
That’s because he only started to exist this morning, heh.
- - - - -
Meanwhile, John had poofed to another room, seemingly scaring the wits out of the lone inhabitant. “Botchama?” He asked into the smoke hopefully, only to be disappointed when the smoke cleared to reveal a young boy with glasses.
“Hello, Jii-chan!” John chirped as he wondered if he would be recognized.
“Er, have we met?” Konosuke Jii asked in confusion, the boy looked familiar but he couldn’t recognize him for some reason.
Apparently not. John nodded cheerfully and plopped himself into a seat, “We have, though I’m hurt that you’d forgotten me, especially after I’d returned you your legendary pool cue (4). Plus, you’ve been helping me on a number of heists.”
“Wha-?” The old man seemed shocked, as he finally looked behind the glasses and saw a younger version of Kuroba Kaito, “Botchama?”
John nodded, but said sadly, “I’m known by Edogawa John now though.”
“How is this possible?” The question was asked with no small amount of confusion and incredulity.
John hesitated for a while before saying seriously, “I was poisoned last night. It shrunk me, so now I’m staying with Edogawa Conan, a look-alike.”
“Shrunk you? Look-alike?” No doubt, Jii was finding this hard to believe, and it showed. John ignored that, however.
“Yes,” John nodded then passed him a piece of paper, “Please give this to ‘kaa-san, she must be worried.”
Jii nodded dumbly, he knew better than to ask for more details than what Kuroba Kaito had already given out and pocketed the paper while John’s expression shifted and he asked merrily, “Ne, do you want to meet nii-chan?”
- - - - -
“Jii?” Miki asked in wonder as she opened the door and ushered the man in, “You haven’t visited in years!”
“I’m sorry about that,” the man said apologetically as he handed the woman a piece of paper, “I’ve been busy and was grief-stricken that Toichi-sama had died.”
“I see,” Miki said as she opened the note. She made small talk however, just in case there were listening devices planted into her home, “How’ve you been?”
Kaa-san,
Don’t worry about me, I’m fine. Though to the ears of the world, I’m missing, and to the ears of the crows, I’m dead. Kaa-san, I know you’re a great actress if you were able to keep oyaji’s secret, please act the part of the worried mother for me until I can return.
I’ve been poisoned, but instead of killing me like it should have, it shrunk me. A friend took me in before I could be found and now I’m passing off as a look-alike’s twin brother. (Jii-chan knows by the way.) Again, don’t worry, Lady Luck loves me!
Please burn this as soon as you finish reading. No one should know.
Kaito
“I wish you luck with your work, Jii,” Miki said as she placed the piece of paper in a nearby ashtray and burned it with a lighter.
“Thank you, Miki,” Jii said as he stood up. “I shall be going, I’m opening early tomorrow.”
“Of course,” Miki said and stood up as well as the last of the paper burned out. “I’m glad you decided to visit.”
- - - - -
“Good grief, those kids are crazy!” John exclaimed as he bonelessly collapsed into a couch. He had just gone through a thorough questioning from Ayumi, Mitsuhiko and Genta. At first, they were disappointed that he didn’t know a single thing about Kamen Yaiba, but suddenly they perked up and bombarded him with facts and episodes of the show.
“Don’t I know it,” Conan sighed and plopped onto a couch as well while Haibara Ai shook her head and headed for her room. “Ran is coming tonight, you should get your bags packed.”
The miniature KID nodded, though it was five minutes later when John finally got the energy to go pack.
As he finished, the doorbell rang and Conan shot out of the couch and ran to the door. John grinned wryly at his eagerness, knowing that not all of it was an act. “Ran-neechan!” He heard his nii-chan chirp. He was sitting when the two entered the room. “Ran-neechan, this is my otoutou, John!”
“Nice to meet you!” He chirped to the lady he’d impersonated once or twice. He made a flower appear in a cloud of smoke and handed it out for her. “You can have this! ‘Cause, nee-chan, you’re really pretty!”
Both Conan and Ran looked surprised. For some reason, this scene seemed familiar to John. And, for some other reason, he half-expected to be pulled back and reprimanded. (5) “Thanks,” Ran said as she accepted the flower while Conan frowned. John wondered if he was jealous.
“Let’s go! You two can share Conan’s room.”
- - - - -
“Are we supposed to share our life story with each other now?” John asked as he laid on his own futon. Mouri Kogoro had not been happy about having another mouth to feed, but then remembered how Conan was his lucky charm... Well, that and having a karate-champion of a daughter.
Kogoro’s ‘lucky charm’ seemed hesitant, “We’re supposed to be enemies, but we also have the same enemy.”
“The enemy of my enemy is my friend,” John quoted with a grin as he saw it implied. “I think we should. Right now, secrets could be deadly.”
Conan nodded and the shrunken Kaito said, “I’ll start then... At that time, Kaitou KID had already showed up once and was going to show up again. My friend, Aoko, insulted my magician abilities and challenged me to catch Kaitou KID...”
Half an hour later, the stories had been exchanged and both were lying on their respective futons, thinking. “So, do you think Snake is part of the Black Org?” John asked as he took out a pack of cards and practiced his sleight of hand.
“It’s possible that Snake is another alias for one of them,” Conan said as he nodded. “So, what are you going to do now? You can’t exactly go thieving anymore now that you’re a kid- a real kid.”
John was silent for a while before admitting, “I don’t know... Maybe I should get used to being a kid first, then continue from there.”
His gaze far away, Conan nodded, “That’s as good a start as any.”
\\ TBC... //
// Preview to Chapter Two \\
“Oi, you can’t just go out giving flowers to everyone you meet!” Conan protested dryly and John looked at him with a mischievous grin.
“Are you two o- wait... two?” Takagi Wataru wondered confusedly as he looked between the two who traded looks and grinned.
“As soon as we get settled, you’re going to get your hair cut,” he heard the woman say in her strict, no-nonsense voice. Saguru opened his mouth to protest, but was cut off, “You’ll go to that investigation of yours after your hair cut.”
<< Previous Chapter | Next Chapter >>
'Making It Literal' Status Report
Originally Posted: 03 May 2009
Author: Tsugumi Winters (tsugumiwinters)
Fandom: Meitantei Conan (Detective Conan / Case Closed) & Magic Kaito
Word Count: 2000
Rating: T [PG-13] (swearing)
Disclaimer: I own Meitantei Conan! I do! Really! ... Okay, I'm lying, I don't own Meitantei Conan, nor do I own Magic Kaito. Both of them belong to the wondrous Gosho Aoyama (*worships him for making the series*).
Spoilers: There are references, yes, but nothing really spoily...
Warnings: Aside from swearing, nothing... at the moment that is.
Characters/Pairings: RanxShinichi, KaitoxAoko, future KaitoxShinichi
Summary: KID becomes... a kid (which is the reason for the title)... [Watch as he joins the merry band of the vertically challenged! xD]
Notes: Eh... Look at 1-5.
(1)
Memory Egg case - Meitantei Conan, movie 3: Last Wizard of the Century. [Spoiler!] Conan asked Agasa to make the glasses bullet-proof because 'Scorpion' always aims for the right eye. [End Spoiler]
(2)
Edogawa Fumiyo - from Meitantei Conan, volume 5: chapters 10-11 + volume 6: chapter 1 / file 49-51, episode 43. [Spoiler!] Kudou Yukiko dresses up as Edogawa Conan's non-existent mother. [End Spoiler]
(3)
John - Sherlock Holmes' assistant, John Watson.
Arthur, Doyle & Sir - Tribute to "Not a Sir" by Snickerer, "Little Kid" by Manzanita and "Sir, Arthur, Conan, Doyle" by thisgirlreads, three rather humorous fics.
(4)
Legendary Pool Cue - Magic Kaito, volume 2: chapter 7 (The Hustler).
(5)
Kaito's expectation of being pulled back and reprimanded - Meitantei Conan, volume 55: chapter 9 / file 573, episode 473.
<< Previous Chapter | Next Chapter >>
'Making It Literal' Status Report
// Chapter One \\
Kaitou KID blinked blearily then shot up as he realized that he was nowhere he recognized. He jumped off the couch he had slept on and took a step, only to backtrack and look at everything in wonder, “Why is everything so tall?” The tall door opened to admit a tall tante- WHAT THE HELL!?
His mouth opened and closed in imitation of a fish (he’d blanch and fervently deny it later) as he gaped at the boy in front of him. The boy was almost his height! “Meep?” He finally managed with his voice as he continued to gawk.
The boy in front of him who he recognized as Edogawa Conan- a.k.a. Kudou Shinichi, the great detective of the east- was smirking in amusement at his expression and his momentary incapability of speech. KID shook his head to snap out of it and he pinched himself. “Yow!” He yelled and jumped a foot into the air as his arm complained about the pain it had just suffered through. That hurt! I guess I’m not dreaming then... A crooked smile appeared on the bespectacled boy’s face as he snickered. “This has got to be a dream!” KID groaned (despite the obvious evidence that it wasn’t true) and leaned into the couch he was standing against. “You can’t be tall!”
To his surprise, Conan turned serious at those words. “Oh, I’m telling you, it’s not a dream. But yes, I can’t be tall, it’s actually the complete opposite,” he said and held out the mirror in his hand.
KID gasped and stared into the mirror. It showed a reflection of a boy who would’ve looked almost like Conan if you decided to disregard the messy hair, lighten the eye-color, and add glasses. KID’s hands shot up to his head in panic as he realized, My hat! My monocle! Shit, I’m unmasked!
“Kuroba Kaito,” Conan said and KID’s head shot up in panic- he’d been unmasked and recognized! “Birthday is June 21 with Blood Type B. He is seventeen, a student of Ekoda High, Class 2-B, the class clown and magician and a family friend of the Nakamori family.” At every word he said, Kaitou KID- Kuroba Kaito- turned paler and paler. There was no getting out of this one. “Parents are Kuroba Toichi and Kuroba Miki. Kuroba Toichi died eight years ago due to an accident while he was working.” Kaito sighed and ran a hand through his hair, mussing it up more than usual, as the shrunken Shinichi concluded, “Kaitou KID disappeared eight years ago.”
“Alright, tantei-kun, you got me,” he said resignedly.
There was silence until Conan spoke.
“You know my secret, keep it and I’ll keep yours.” Kaito looked up at him in surprise, but Conan merely cocked an eyebrow in reply. “What? As if anyone’s gonna believe me if I tell them that you, a little boy, is KID!”
“When you put it like that...” Kaito trailed off and looked a little sheepish, then, remembering something, he jerked and asked, “Do you think I can call ‘kaa-san? She must be worried!”
“No, they might be watching your house,” Conan said immediately, emphasizing greatly on they, but as he said this, the resigned expression returned to the newly-shrunken teen’s face and he felt guilt seize himself.
After a while though, an idea seemed to shine through Kaito’s eyes and he nodded, “Jii-chan then. He used to work with oyaji, but he stopped contacting my family when oyaji died.” There was a mixture of pride and sadness that expressed itself in the boy’s eyes whenever he said ‘oyaji’. It made the other boy stare and wonder if he did the same when he talked about his own father, he pushed the thought away as he remembered that said father went globe-trotting and left him alone in Japan as soon as he was legally allowed to.
“... Alright,” Conan consented as he cleared his mind of all things parent-related and the newly-turned child took a step forward, only to step back once again with a pensive look on his face.
“Do you think it’s better if I visit him and give him a note to hand to ‘kaa-san?”
Conan bit his lip as he thought. He turned the idea over in his mind, but found nothing wrong with that, and he said as such, “I don’t see anything wrong with that, but if we’re going anywhere we need to get you a name just in case anyone asks... We could easily pass off as brothers, so all you’ll have to think of is the first name. I have a pair of spare glasses here somewhere that you can use...” And he trailed off as he crossed the room and started rummaging through the desks in the room.
“Um... Glasses?” The skepticism and befuddlement in the voice could’ve been described as ‘tangible’ if it weren’t for the fact that that would be quite the impossibility. It made the other boy pause in his search to look at him with such a ‘duh’ look that it almost made Kaito feel stupid. Almost.
“Yes,” his tone was dry and humorless as he said, “glasses.” A hand forced itself into the open drawer to pull out an exact replica of the glasses perched on Conan’s nose. A leg kicked the drawer closed as hands unfolded the glasses. “It’s my version of your monocle, and I think you might be able to appreciate it,” the tone was still dry, Kaito noticed. “Also, hakase managed to make it bullet-proof.” At that the shrunken teen from Ekoda perked up.
“From the ‘Memory Egg’ case (1)?” Kaito grinned as he took the glasses from Conan and slid them over his eyes while the other boy nodded.
“Edogawa Conan’s mother is named Fumiyo (2). She wears glasses. And since ‘tou-san actually needs glasses, Edogawa Conan’s father will need glasses too should ‘tou-san ever pose as him,” Conan said in a matter-of-fact voice. “So it’s only logical that the kids will have glasses too. Anyway, we still need a name for you.”
Kaito blinked in surprise at the abrupt change in subject, “Eh... Akio?”
“I think an English one would be better,” commented Conan dryly, “After all, ‘our parents’ are big fans of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, are they not?”
“John, then,” Kaito said as he leaned back into the couch again, “there is no way you’re going to name me Arthur, Doyle or even Sir (3).”
“From Watson’s name then?” Conan asked with clear amusement (whether from the chosen name or the disapproved names, Kaito didn’t know) and Kaito nodded. The older boy smirked and teasingly said, “Then welcome to the family of the vertically challenged, Edogawa John.”
Kaito- John- snickered as he wondered at Conan’s sudden change of tone from dry and annoyed to happy and teasing. Though a random thought caused him to ask, “How did I get here?”
“I found you in an alley- shrunk- I realized that I couldn’t let anyone find out, so I dragged you to a nearby building and called Agasa-hakase. He came with his car and some extra clothes,” Conan ended with a shrug (he didn’t bother to tell him how difficult it was to sneak past the police who had found the torn hang-glider and thus labeled the alley as a ‘crime scene’), then he asked his own question as well, “Did you see who attacked you?”
John nodded pensively before elaborating, “He had long blond hair and black eyes.” Conan’s eyes narrowed as John obliviously continued, his eyes glazed over as he remembered, “Those eyes were scary, they practically scream MURDERER!” John shivered as he said this. “And his clothes were black,” this piece of information almost seemed like an afterthought, but Conan ignored that as his expression darkened and he growled out a name.
“Gin.”
“You know him?”
“Yes, he did this,” Conan gestured at himself, “to me.”
Both became silent after that, until John shook his head and muttered, “Well, this sucks.”
- - - - -
“Ha! Conan-kun is so good!” Yoshida Ayumi exclaimed in utter awe as the said boy managed to pot another ball. Not that he ever missed.
“Eh! I’m better!” Kojima Genta exclaimed, ever proudly, thumping his chest.
“Nii-chan,” the word had a teasing undertone to it as, smirking mischievously, John whispered to Conan, “I’m gonna disappear for a while.”
Conan nodded, seemingly amused at the by-play, “Be quick, John.”
Once the boy had disappeared in a cloud of smoke (not pink, but a light shade of lavender), Tsuburaya Mitsuhiko said accusingly, “You never told us you had a brother, Conan-kun.”
That’s because he only started to exist this morning, heh.
- - - - -
Meanwhile, John had poofed to another room, seemingly scaring the wits out of the lone inhabitant. “Botchama?” He asked into the smoke hopefully, only to be disappointed when the smoke cleared to reveal a young boy with glasses.
“Hello, Jii-chan!” John chirped as he wondered if he would be recognized.
“Er, have we met?” Konosuke Jii asked in confusion, the boy looked familiar but he couldn’t recognize him for some reason.
Apparently not. John nodded cheerfully and plopped himself into a seat, “We have, though I’m hurt that you’d forgotten me, especially after I’d returned you your legendary pool cue (4). Plus, you’ve been helping me on a number of heists.”
“Wha-?” The old man seemed shocked, as he finally looked behind the glasses and saw a younger version of Kuroba Kaito, “Botchama?”
John nodded, but said sadly, “I’m known by Edogawa John now though.”
“How is this possible?” The question was asked with no small amount of confusion and incredulity.
John hesitated for a while before saying seriously, “I was poisoned last night. It shrunk me, so now I’m staying with Edogawa Conan, a look-alike.”
“Shrunk you? Look-alike?” No doubt, Jii was finding this hard to believe, and it showed. John ignored that, however.
“Yes,” John nodded then passed him a piece of paper, “Please give this to ‘kaa-san, she must be worried.”
Jii nodded dumbly, he knew better than to ask for more details than what Kuroba Kaito had already given out and pocketed the paper while John’s expression shifted and he asked merrily, “Ne, do you want to meet nii-chan?”
- - - - -
“Jii?” Miki asked in wonder as she opened the door and ushered the man in, “You haven’t visited in years!”
“I’m sorry about that,” the man said apologetically as he handed the woman a piece of paper, “I’ve been busy and was grief-stricken that Toichi-sama had died.”
“I see,” Miki said as she opened the note. She made small talk however, just in case there were listening devices planted into her home, “How’ve you been?”
Kaa-san,
Don’t worry about me, I’m fine. Though to the ears of the world, I’m missing, and to the ears of the crows, I’m dead. Kaa-san, I know you’re a great actress if you were able to keep oyaji’s secret, please act the part of the worried mother for me until I can return.
I’ve been poisoned, but instead of killing me like it should have, it shrunk me. A friend took me in before I could be found and now I’m passing off as a look-alike’s twin brother. (Jii-chan knows by the way.) Again, don’t worry, Lady Luck loves me!
Please burn this as soon as you finish reading. No one should know.
Kaito
“I wish you luck with your work, Jii,” Miki said as she placed the piece of paper in a nearby ashtray and burned it with a lighter.
“Thank you, Miki,” Jii said as he stood up. “I shall be going, I’m opening early tomorrow.”
“Of course,” Miki said and stood up as well as the last of the paper burned out. “I’m glad you decided to visit.”
- - - - -
“Good grief, those kids are crazy!” John exclaimed as he bonelessly collapsed into a couch. He had just gone through a thorough questioning from Ayumi, Mitsuhiko and Genta. At first, they were disappointed that he didn’t know a single thing about Kamen Yaiba, but suddenly they perked up and bombarded him with facts and episodes of the show.
“Don’t I know it,” Conan sighed and plopped onto a couch as well while Haibara Ai shook her head and headed for her room. “Ran is coming tonight, you should get your bags packed.”
The miniature KID nodded, though it was five minutes later when John finally got the energy to go pack.
As he finished, the doorbell rang and Conan shot out of the couch and ran to the door. John grinned wryly at his eagerness, knowing that not all of it was an act. “Ran-neechan!” He heard his nii-chan chirp. He was sitting when the two entered the room. “Ran-neechan, this is my otoutou, John!”
“Nice to meet you!” He chirped to the lady he’d impersonated once or twice. He made a flower appear in a cloud of smoke and handed it out for her. “You can have this! ‘Cause, nee-chan, you’re really pretty!”
Both Conan and Ran looked surprised. For some reason, this scene seemed familiar to John. And, for some other reason, he half-expected to be pulled back and reprimanded. (5) “Thanks,” Ran said as she accepted the flower while Conan frowned. John wondered if he was jealous.
“Let’s go! You two can share Conan’s room.”
- - - - -
“Are we supposed to share our life story with each other now?” John asked as he laid on his own futon. Mouri Kogoro had not been happy about having another mouth to feed, but then remembered how Conan was his lucky charm... Well, that and having a karate-champion of a daughter.
Kogoro’s ‘lucky charm’ seemed hesitant, “We’re supposed to be enemies, but we also have the same enemy.”
“The enemy of my enemy is my friend,” John quoted with a grin as he saw it implied. “I think we should. Right now, secrets could be deadly.”
Conan nodded and the shrunken Kaito said, “I’ll start then... At that time, Kaitou KID had already showed up once and was going to show up again. My friend, Aoko, insulted my magician abilities and challenged me to catch Kaitou KID...”
Half an hour later, the stories had been exchanged and both were lying on their respective futons, thinking. “So, do you think Snake is part of the Black Org?” John asked as he took out a pack of cards and practiced his sleight of hand.
“It’s possible that Snake is another alias for one of them,” Conan said as he nodded. “So, what are you going to do now? You can’t exactly go thieving anymore now that you’re a kid- a real kid.”
John was silent for a while before admitting, “I don’t know... Maybe I should get used to being a kid first, then continue from there.”
His gaze far away, Conan nodded, “That’s as good a start as any.”
\\ TBC... //
// Preview to Chapter Two \\
“Oi, you can’t just go out giving flowers to everyone you meet!” Conan protested dryly and John looked at him with a mischievous grin.
“Are you two o- wait... two?” Takagi Wataru wondered confusedly as he looked between the two who traded looks and grinned.
“As soon as we get settled, you’re going to get your hair cut,” he heard the woman say in her strict, no-nonsense voice. Saguru opened his mouth to protest, but was cut off, “You’ll go to that investigation of yours after your hair cut.”
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'Making It Literal' Status Report
Originally Posted: 03 May 2009