12Disclaimer: I don't own Detective Conan.
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Chapter 2 A Decision
Thankfully, the next day was a Sunday. Shinichi spent the entire day trying to formulate a plan about his current situation, but none came to mind. Without an antidote, he couldn't go back to his normal life. But without knowing the composition of the drug, Professor Agasa couldn't make an antidote. Shinichi had thought about making up some story to persuade Ran to let him live with her. That way, because Ran's dad was a detective, he might stumble across a case related to these men in black.
But as soon as these thoughts entered Shinichi's mind, he dismissed them immediately. Living with Ran and her dad would put them in danger. If they found out his real identity, they might accidentally spill the beans and put themselves into a dangerous situation. Shinichi yearned to capture these men and return to his original body, but he wouldn't put other people's lives in danger in order to reach his goal.
Without any workable plan, Shinichi sighed as he sat up from the sofa. He picked up the pile of clothes and gadget that he had left on the ground last night, and placed them in a bag, leaving the Professor's house. Using his grappling hook gun, he flipped over his gate and entered his house. Shinichi then spent the next few hours washing his clothes and returning the gadgets to their rightful spots in the secret room, which was behind his father's giant portrait in his room. Because of his current body, Shinichi couldn't dress up as Kaitou Kid again, so, in the mean time, he stored his Kid items away.
While Shinichi was sorting his things, Professor Agasa was creating a new invention at Shinichi's request. Shinichi knew his friends would worry about him if he had suddenly disappeared, especially Kaito, who always fusses over him like a mother hen. Not to say, being the only one to realize that Shinichi's strange behaviors for the past few months could have a connection to the sudden appearance of Kaitou Kid, Kaito was indeed sharp enough realize something was wrong about his best friend's disappearance. Shinichi had no doubt that Kaito would do something stupid while looking for him.
That's why he had requested the Professor to create an invention that would allow him to alter his voice to his normal, Shinichi's voice. That way, he could use that voice to call his friends and make up a story for his sudden disappearance. This was more convincing then simply sending them a text of his explanation.
Back to Shinichi, at the moment, he was inside the secret room, holding up a completed Kaito Kid card in his hand. On the card was a message about canceling the upcoming heist. If, by next heist, Shinichi didn't manage to regain his original body back, he would send this notice to Inspector Nakamori. But that's only if there was no other choice, because, if possible, Shinichi doesn't want to cancel a heist.
The moment he found out the truth about his father's death, he had decided to find and destroy Pandora as quickly as possible. Perhaps it was for revenge, but all Shinichi had in mind was to send these murderers to hell. That's why he pulled heists after heists, not allowing him any time to rest. As a detective, his justice won't allow him to let these murderers roam the earth freely; and as a son, his heart won't allow him to work on this case slowly. Indeed, Shinichi had already seen his father's murder as a case to crack. A case this important should not be delayed.
And thus, Shinichi decided, if he didn't get his body back by the day of the heist, he would, for the first time, cancel his heist.
Friday morning, before going to school, Kaito went to Shinichi's house and rang his doorbell, then dialed his phone number, then home phone number. But like the past few days, no one answered. Gripping his phone tightly, Kaito yelled, "Shinichi! If you're in there, then answer me!"
Around the corner, Shinichi kept his eyes strained on his best friend. His red cell phone was shut down and held in his hand. For the past few days, Kaito had called him for over forty times. At first, Shinichi would just ignore the calls. But as the calls grew more frequent, he was forced to shut down his phone. Every day he would see Kaito desperately ringing his doorbell and waiting by his gate, hoping that Shinichi would open the door with a sleepy face and admit to have overslept or something. Every single day, Kaito would wait until Aoko or Ran dragged him off to school. And every time Shinichi sees that, he would feel as if a piece of his heart was ripped away from him.
"I'm sorry, Kaito," muttering quietly under his breath, the shrunken detective walked away with heavy steps.
When he returned to Professor Agasa's house, he wasn't surprised to be met with an explosion and a face full of smoke. Inhaling a mouth full of ash, Shinichi coughed as he made his way to the old man.
"What did you...do...this time, Professor?" Shinichi spluttered in between coughs, squinting his eyes and trying to see through the heavy clouds of grey.
"Ah...Shinichi, you're back. Look, I've completed it!" Professor Agasa laughed as he emerged from the smoke, his lab coat full of ash, and held up a little red item.
"Completed what?"
"The voice changer!" The man proceeded to explain his invention to Shinichi, "on the outside it looks like an ordinary bow tie, but-" he flipped the bow tie to show the complicated mechanism on the back side, "you can turn these wheels to alter your voices. I've already recorded your original voice in so you can use it right away."
"Wow, thanks a lot, Professor!" Shinichi grinned widely as he took the bow tie, like a child who had just received a present. "Now I can finally talk to my friends and ease their worries!"
It took him a while to figure out how to work the voice changer correctly. Before long, Shinichi was sitting on his bed in his room (at Professor Agasa's house), twiddling with the bow tie in his hand. On his right hand was his red cell phone.
It was now noon, and Shinichi thought now was a good time to call his friends, for their classes should be over by now.
The first person he called was, of course, Kuroba Kaito, his best friend since birth, and not to mention, the person who's the most worried about him.
"Beep...beep... Hello! Shinichi? Is that you!?"
Shinichi grinned ruefully at the excited voice in the other end.
"Yes, it's me Kaito, sorry for not returning your calls earlier, but I am rather busy with a particular case..."
There was a pause, then Kaito whispered.
"Is it related to your night job?"
"No," Shinichi said quickly, before realizing his mistake. "I mean, what are you talking about? I don't have a night job!"
"You're busted, Shinichi." Shinichi heard a sigh from the other end of the phone, a gut-twisting feeling remained in him until he heard the next sentence. "I won't stop you from being Kaitou Kid, but I don't want you to get hurt either. I don't know what your motive for stealing and returning all these jewels is, but make sure you don't force yourself to do something you don't want to do, Shinichi. You're my best friend. I don't want to lose you."
His eyes were beginning to feel sore. Shinichi quickly blinked, wiping a sleeve across his eyes, "don't get all sappy, Kaito, and I still have no idea what you're talking about." Believe it or not. But Shinichi's not going to admit his other identity. "I'm not Kaitou Kid and I'm not doing anything dangerous, so don't worry about me. I'm just stuck in a particularly hard case. If I'm lucky, I can solve it quickly. But if I'm not..."
"If you're not Kaitou Kid, then Kid will show up on Sunday's heist, will he?"
Pausing, Shinichi replied tentatively, "why would he not?"
"Good." Kaito was eerily silent for a while, before he ended the call with a "well, I hope you can solve that case quickly, because everyone at school misses you."
"Same here, Kaito. Same here," Shinichi muttered as he pressed the red 'end call' button.
Knowing Kaito would deliver the news 'Shinichi is still alive' to his other friends, Shinichi didn't bother to call Ran or Aoko; instead, he went straight to Professor Agasa's laboratory.
"Professor, are you having any lead on the antidote?"
Instead of answering, the Professor merely shook his head remorsefully.
"Damn it!" Shinichi cursed as he stalked back to his room.
At this rate, I won't be able to change back in time for the heist!
In a classroom of Teitan high school, four students were sitting together, eating their lunch. All of them were chatting animatedly, except the only boy in the group.
"That detective geek, running off after some murder cases again," Ran bit forcefully into her riceball. "Why do I even bother to worry about him in the first place?"
Kaito glanced at her in the corner of his eyes. He couldn't blame Ran for not worrying about Shinichi as much as she should be, but it's Shinichi's own fault for always disappearing for days only to return after weeks saying how he had solved some major cases again. His friends were already used to his sudden disappearance, but Kaito had a feeling that this time, it's different.
Kaito couldn't quite explain this feeling, but after almost-completely sure that Shinichi, for some reason, had turned from a detective to a jewel-stealing phantom thief, a gut-wrenching feeling had stayed in him ever since Shinichi didn't come to school this Monday. Something just felt off. Even if Shinichi's on a tough case, there were no reason to not answer his calls, nor were there any reasons to not inform him that he would be missing school for a while. Why wouldn't Shinichi tell them? Was he really stuck in a case, like he had said, or was he actually in some sort of danger? Was he caught, as Kaitou Kid, by someone? A criminal? A police?
"I don't think it's this simple."
Three girls stared at Kaito dully.
"It's simple enough, Kaito," Sonoko deadpanned, "that geek ran off after some murderer, got involved in a tough case that he can't crack for days, and is missing a few days of school. It's just that simple."
"Yeah, for the first time, I agree with you," Aoko said, "you know Shinichi more than any of us, Kaito. He always disappears all of a sudden without telling us where he went. Only for us to find his face on the newspaper front page yet again after a few days of his disappearance."
Even Ran agreed, "if you want to be his friend, you'll have to get used to it. Shinichi will never change."
"You...you don't understand..." Kaito gritted his teeth. Why was he the only one who caught onto Shinichi's unusual tiredness and the connection between him and Kaitou Kid? Were his friends really that dense?
"We do, Kaito." Aoko sighed, then suggested. "You know what, let's go to that thief's heist together this Sunday. Maybe you can calm down after you've seen your idol."
However, Kaito was still muttering, "you have no idea..."
The long awaited Sunday had finally arrived. A man in a child's body was sulking in his room, worry shown all over his physical posture. He didn't know what he's waiting for. It was obvious enough that the Professor won't be able to make an antidote on time for him to attend the heist, so why didn't he cancel the heist? Did he honestly believe that some miracle will happen and the minute before the heist starts he will magically return to his original body? He's not Cinderella! Such a thing wasn't possible! So why didn't he cancel his heist yet?
Shinichi honestly don't know. Perhaps he's waiting for some miracle to happen, like an antidote dropping out of the sky, but Shinichi just couldn't work himself up to cancel it. Canceling the heist means delaying his father's murder case, which consequently means letting the murderers roam the earth freely a while more. Shinichi just couldn't allow that. He had to find Pandora and destroy it as quickly as possible.
Watching the minute hand rotate closer and closer to the assigned heist time, Shinichi put on a casual children's clothes with the bow tie placed safely in his pocket. It may comes in handy. In his other pocket was the heist canceling note. Gripping it tightly with his gloved hand, Shinichi made his way to the heist location.
If miracle didn't happen when the minute hand struck twelve...Shinichi will cancel his heist.
Kaito stared as the minute hand on his watch struck six. Just thirty more minutes to wait. If Kaitou Kid hadn't shown up, then Shinichi was obviously Kid, which also means that his disappearance could truly mean that he's in danger. Because even if Shinichi's stuck in a tough case, he would still have time to dress up as Kid for a night, would he?
"Kaito, why are you so anxious?" Seeing Kaito constantly glancing at his watch, Aoko asked with concern.
"Ah...nothing, I'm just wondering if Kaitou Kid would show up."
"Of course he would!" Aoko shouted, earning a few curious glances. "That pathetic thief never misses a heist. He's going to show up as usual and my dad's going to catch him, for sure this time!" She pointed at her dad, Inspector Nakamori, who's currently yelling orders at his men.
"Sorry Aoko. I just had this feeling, that..." Kaito gulped, "that something bad had happened. Ever since Shinichi's disappearance, this feeling never left me."
"Kaito..." Aoko rubbed her forehead, frowning. "You should've gotten over that already. Disappearing to Shinichi is like performing magic to you. Besides, hadn't he already called you on this matter? He had told you personally that he's on a tough case, so why are you still so worried?"
"You don't understand, Aoko. It's different. This time, Shinichi's disappearance is different. I can feel it."
"Do you have some type of telepathic ability, Kaito?" Aoko joked.
"Don't even joke about that!" Kaito said, raising his voice. Guilt washed over him when he saw Aoko's stunned expression. "I...I'm sorry. I didn't mean to yell at you."
"If you are so worried about him, then why don't you go to him! Go stay with him, help him crack that case! Don't yell at me when you can do something to help Shinichi return sooner!"
Surprised at Aoko's outburst, Kaito allowed her to push him backward.
"Go! Go to him! If you're worried about him, then go help him!" With a final push, Kaito went stumbling out of the entrance door. He got up dazedly and began walking the path he took when he arrived. Aoko was right. If he's so worried about Shinichi, why don't he help him? Investigate what's going on, and help Shinichi resolve whatever that's causing his disappearance.
Before he realized, Kaito had arrived at the Kudo mansion. Knocking hesitantly, Kaito called when no one opened the door, "Shinichi! Are you in there?" Still, no one answered. With a disgruntled expression, Kaito flipped out his cellphone and punched in Shinichi's number.
"Beep...beep... A-ahem, hello?"
"Even if you're busy with your case, aren't you going to attend Kid's heist? Don't you love to catch criminals?"
"Well...I'm busy right now, so I can't go. Sorry. Ran and the others are all there already aren't they?"
"Yeah, we're already in the building. It's all packed with fans and police officers. Are you sure you won't be able to come?"
"No, I can't make it. Right now I'm at home cracking the case. I won't be able to arrive in time for Kid's appearance."
Shinichi lied. Kaito went silent. Why did he say he's at home when he's not? Why did he lie to me?
"You sound like you're sure that Kaitou Kid would arrive in time for his heist."
"O-of course," Shinichi sounded a little panicked. Another thing to be suspicious about. "He never missed a heist, does he? So of course he's going to arrive. What does this have to do with me?"
"Just letting you know, Shinichi, I'm still suspecting you of being Kaitou Kid."
"Haha, you're joking. There's no way I can be him." Pause "Ah, I got to go. See you later, k? Bye! ...beep...beep..."
Kaito's bangs hid his expression, but anyone with a sixth sense could feel his dark aura. Kaito didn't know what to think anymore. Everything was so confusing. Shinichi, his disappearance, Kaitou Kid, cases, lies...
His gaze dropped upon the door knob. Kaito began reaching towards it as if he was been possessed by something. His hand landed on the knob as his other hand picked up a paper clip he always kept on him. A few seconds later, the locked opened with a click and the door swung open.
"What the hell am I doing...?" Kaito muttered to himself, "I'm breaking and entering...like a thief." But he didn't stop, it's too late to stop. Glancing around to make sure no one had seen him, Kaito slipped inside and locked the door. He took off his shoes, wiped off the dirt on the ground, and made his way to Shinichi's room. Shinichi spent the longest time at only two places: his room and the library.
Because Shinichi was the only one who lived in this house, he obviously didn't set up some kind of trap on his door so he could tell if someone had entered his room. He's not that paranoid. Pushing open the wooden door on the second floor, Kaito stepped into the detective's room. The room was tidy and spacious, with a simple made-up bed on one side of the room, a desk with unfinished homework placed on it-Kaito checked, it was last Friday's homework, which means Shinichi had disappeared since last Friday, or, if he was Kaitou Kid, then Saturday after Kid's heist had ended-and a school bag hanging on the side, a wardrobe and a human-sized painting of Shinichi's dad, Kudo Yusaku, in a magician suit hanging on the wall of the other side of the room.
Kaito walked closer to the painting. Kudo Yusaku. Kaito didn't know the man very well, since he had died in an accident during one of his performances ten years ago. But he did remember how crestfallen Shinichi had been when he heard the news. Kaito had no doubt that Shinichi loved his dad very much, so knowing his dad had died must have caused him a lot of pain. Since Yusaku's death, Shinichi had grown much closer to Kaito's dad, Kuroba Toichi. Probably because he was also a magician like his dad, Shinichi looked up to the man like his father. Toichi also treated Shinichi like his second son. He taught Shinichi magic tricks and took him on trips to many different countries, including Hawaii, where he taught both Shinichi and Kaito how to drive airplanes and ride hang gliders. Now that Kaito thought of it, didn't Kaitou Kid also use hang gliders?
Subconsciously, Kaito had pressed his hand onto the painting as he was lost in thoughts. All of a sudden, the surface under his palm moved. Shocked, Kaito quickly took his hand off the painting, but he was too late. The surface under his palm gave in, and Kaito watched as the painting pressed into the wall under his very eyes. As the painting turned, revealing a secret room, Kaito himself also fell into the opening. The painting spun for a few rounds before settling into a stop. Now, facing Kaito, was a completely different painting. It was still Kudo Yusaku, Kaito could tell, but he was dressed in a white suit, white cape, and had a white top hat and a monocle covering his face.
Kaito remained on the ground as his brain quickly took in the revelation. When he had fully understood what this secret room and the painting signifies, Kaito stood up calmly and walked further into the room. There was no surprise or anger in his eyes, only silent acceptance. After all, he was already 99.99 percent sure that Shinichi was Kaitou Kid; this only added one percent more into his belief. His best friend was an international wanted criminal, and Kaito had accepted this fact.
Taking out his phone, Kaito punched in some numbers. Before the other person could talk, Kaito said, "hey Shinichi, why do you think Kaitou Kid steals?"
"Huh? How should I know? Are you still suspicious of me? Is that why you asked me?"
"I just want to hear your thoughts about his motives."
"Maybe he's searching for something. A special gem that's significant to him."
"Is that so."
"Yeah. So why are you-"
Kaito ended the call abruptly when his eyes landed on a certain item in the room. A strange gleam glinted in his eyes as a wary grin crawled onto his face.
If a friend was in trouble, it's logical for his best friend to help him.
Shinichi had disappeared; he had lied to his best friend; he, a detective with more sense of justice than any other high scholars, was Kaitou Kid; he was searching for something, a specific gem...
Kudo Shinichi was obvious in trouble, and it was Kuroba Kaito's duty as a best friend to help him.
What's a better way to help a friend than to experience what he had gone through?
Staring at his reflection in the monocle, Kaito made a decision.
AN: How do you guys think about this chapter? Good? Bad? Please leave a review and tell me your thoughts!
