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Relative Truth
by Becky Tailweaver
File 22: Passages
The person which Kaito had indicated took a step back in surprise, dismayed; the people nearby turned uncertain eyes toward this new suspect as murmurs of disbelief and suspicion ran rampant through the gathered workers. The three former suspects looked relieved indeed to have the weight of scrutiny moved off of them.
The one under fire now was an older middle-aged man, with graying hair and broad shoulders, wearing a red plaid flannel shirt. He looked more like a logger than a construction worker, with strong rangy limbs and a face that would have been ruggedly pleasant if not for the shock written across it. "Me...?" he croaked, in a voice that was rough and deep. "But...there's no way..."
"There is." Kaito's rigid stance didn't falter, though his arm came down to return his hand to his pocket--Kudo's customary posture in such times. His expression was unwavering, but the faintest glimmers of uncertainty in his eyes were invisible to all but the most shrewd of observers--perhaps Conan, if he'd cared to look.
"Kudo-kun, this man has an alibi," Inspector Megure all but blurted, before catching himself. "But...if what you said is true, then..."
"If the fall was rigged, then all alibis for five-thirty are meaningless," Kaito replied, using Shinichi's smooth, direct tones.
"How could I ever do that?" the new suspect demanded, his composure returning as the surprise passed and indignation took hold. "I've worked on the upper stories since this project began--half the people here can vouch for that! Even if this wasn't an accident, there's no way to rig anything up there without someone noticing!"
"It's very possible, if you have the right equipment--and the right timing," Kaito informed him flatly. "Your name, sir?"
The older man's eyes narrowed a bit. "Kazuhito Yamo," he replied, biting out his words.
Meanwhile, somewhere in the vicinity of Kaito's legs, Conan was trying his hardest not to give in to the urge to hop up and down and cheer. With his best effort, the only thing that got through was a faint, twitchy sort of smile, as his mind did the gleeful bouncing for him. He got it! He got it! Yes! Go Kaito! All right! Now let's lay it out and nail this guy!
"Er, Kudo-kun..." Inspector Megure still looked vaguely puzzled, offering a slightly embarassed smile to who he thought was the renowned Detective of the East. "Yamo-san does have a point there. If you see something else to this I'm afraid you're going to have to explain it to me."
"Very well, Inspector," Kaito replied. As he turned aside to begin his oratory performance, his gaze caught Conan's for an instant--and the glimmer of elation in the boy's eyes was enough to boost his confidence back to one hundred percent. The half-hidden smile on his cousin's face told him everything he needed to know--that he'd gotten it right, and they were going to do this.
Near the other side of the waiting crowd of witnesses, Noboru Otomo's body had been kindly covered with a light canvas tarp until the investigation was wrapped up and the coroners could take the body away. Kaito led Megure and the others to the corpse, firmly swallowing back any hesitations--and trying not to chuckle as Conan practically skipped at his heels like an excited puppy.
"Inspector, do you remember our discussion before I went up into the building to investigate?" Kaito inquired, stopping near where the severed end of Otomo's rope lay. "I said that I believed Otomo-san to be dead before he fell. If you examine the body, you'll find that the back of his head was injured, and had been bleeding, before he fell here and was...further damaged."
Below his line of sight, Conan cocked an amused eyebrow. That's an interesting way to put it, Kaito. Drat, should've remembered to teach you a few of the proper terms...hope Inspector Megure doesn't notice...
"You might also note that the wound's location," Kaito continued, "which is odd, since Otomo-san has obviously fallen face-down."
Megure was already lifting back the tarp to peer at the deceased's cranium. "Hmm...you're right, Kudo-kun! With all the blood, we never would have caught this until the body was examined!"
"The direction this older blood has dripped also specifies the position he was hung in for some time. And since a head wound like this would normally bleed profusely, the fact that there's so little blood indicates that his heart had stopped beating." Kaito avoided looking at the body--it was even more gross from this angle--and instead focussed his attention on the trailing end of the rope. "However, this only tells us that Otomo-san was in fact dead before the time of his actual fall. The real trick here is in the safety harness he's wearing."
You're on a roll now, Conan cheered silently. Go with it! You've got Megure eating out of your hand, and you haven't forgotten a thing...!
His only regret about this might have been that he himself didn't get to be the one up there being The Detective. But then, he'd been a "stagehand" to Kogoro Mouri long enough that he didn't mind playing second fiddle any more--and the gleeful feeling of...was it pride?...at watching Kaito made it a lot more enjoyable than doing Occhan's work for him. After all, he knew that Kaito could do this--he didn't need any help, not like Mouri. Even if he wasn't impersonating Shinichi Kudo, Kaito was just as intelligent and capable as he was; he could do this, just as Shinichi was able to do what Kaito did.
Now Inspector Megure was kneeling beside Kaito at the severed end of the rope, scrutinizing it as the youth continued his explanation. "This nylon web safety rope would require much more than one human's weight to simply snap, as it appears to have done here," the youth stated, growing more and more sure in his performance with every passing minute. "And if it had simply broken, the ends that we see would be much more frayed. It's the same if someone just cut it--the nylon fibers would become loose and continue to unravel."
"I see," the Inspector commented. "But it also doesn't appear to have been burned off; we use ropes like this in police operations, and when we have to cut them we always melt the ends to prevent this fraying."
"You're exactly right, Inspector," Kaito replied, glancing up at Yamo--who was watching them very intently. "Nylon is a form of plastic, and will melt if it's heated. The question remains, then--how was this rope severed?"
Megure scratched the back of his neck as the two stood up, looking stumped. "You've got me, Kudo-kun."
Kaito couldn't help but look at Yamo as he spoke--rather enjoying the way the man's eyes widened as the secrets were being laid out, though the youth hid his own faint smile behind Kudo's all-business attitude. "Let's run through the scenario, shall we, Inspector? I'll take you through this murder step by step, and tell you exactly how the culprit pulled off this trick."
Even the most irate of the witnesses had gone silent to watch the unfolding drama; uniformed policemen peeked up from their duties to observe, and the three former suspects--including the large and impatient Yamada-san--looked on with interest. Serious and intent, Megure held Kaito's gaze for a moment, nodding in acquiescence.
Here goes nothing... Kaito took a deep breath, steadied himself once more, and began. "To understand this trick, we must go back to a time shortly before five PM--that is the quitting time at this site, isn't it?"
Mutely, several nearby workers nodded, glancing at each other.
"Just before quitting time," Kaito went on, "when everyone was already wrapping up their duties for the day and heading down to the ground level, the culprit called Otomo-san away from the other workers. He then led Otomo-san to a place on the far side of the building where no one was working any longer, and there killed him--and as we can see by the wound, Otomo-san was struck on the back of the head with a heavy object."
Megure nodded again, glancing down at the corpse's cranium once again.
"At this point, the culprit had to be very careful," Kaito said, with yet another covert look at Yamo--who was tight-lipped and silent. "There were still people working on the upper floors, but all the scaffolding, hanging tarps, and wall sections would block their view. Our culprit waited until most everyone was gone before moving the body to a location that he had already chosen--a section of the building toward the center, with no flooring all the way to the ground, so that Otomo-san would indeed 'fall to his death.'"
Close at Kaito's side, Conan tried not to stare obviously at Yamo-san, who was beginning to look almost pale.
"The murderer had to be someone fairly strong, too. The rope that was already hung there could not be weakened beforehand in case anyone actually used it. So he had to hook the clasp to Otomo-san's harness while carrying him--and then he couldn't let go, or the body would swing out over the open space below and he would not be able to complete his ruse."
"But...Kudo-kun, how did he cause the rope to break?" Megure all but demanded, on the edge of his seat to find out how it was done. "If he couldn't cut or weaken the rope beforehand, how could he rig it to break if he had to keep a hold on the body?"
Kaito allowed a smile to slip through--though he contained it to one of his cousin's "I-know-something-you-don't-know" polite smirks. "Ah, that's the center of the whole trick, Inspector," he said. "Once the harness was fastened to the rope, he could let the rope take the weight of the body while he merely held on to it to keep it from swinging away. Then, with his free hand, the culprit reached into his pocket...and drew out a small container, probably a little glass jar. Getting it open was a bit awkward, having to also keep a grip on the rope, so I'm probably right in assuming that the contents splashed a bit..."
Neither Kaito nor Conan missed the tightening of Yamo's jaw. Megure, however, looked puzzled. "'Splashed,' you said?"
"That's correct, Inspector," Kaito continued, turning his gaze back to the portly man. "Our culprit used some kind of strong acid on the rope, which dissolved the fibers gradually until it gave way--giving him plenty of time to make it to the ground and establish an alibi for the time of the body's fall. If you test the rope ends and the gloves I found up there, you should find the evidence of this acid, and what type it was."
Everyone set up a murmur at this startling news, dawning comprehension spreading through policemen, witnesses--and Inspector Megure himself. "Acid!" he exclaimed, setting his fist in his palm. "Of course!"
"The hole in this trick is...well, the holes," Kaito continued with a wry smile. "This acid would not only eat through the rope, but through anything else it touched. If you look at the back of Otomo-san's clothing, you'll find small holes where the acid dripped as it was being poured onto the rope itself. Also, on these bloodstained gloves, the same holes can be seen, especially here on the left hand which held the rope as the acid was being poured."
"I see," Megure acknowledged, turning the work-gloves over to examine the holes in them. "Then I suppose the holes in the right hand came from the sloshing as the jar was opened. Oh--Kudo-kun, you didn't find the jar where the acid was kept?"
Kaito shook his head. "I'm afraid not, Inspector. But that does tie in to the end of the trick, here--how the evidence was scattered and destroyed."
"Please continue, then," Megure said.
"The jar itself could easily be thrown from the top floor--and wherever it landed, it would most likely shatter to pieces and be nearly impossible to find. The gloves I found on the floor below, apparently tossed off. This bloody rag--" Kaito held up the handkerchief-wrapped towel. "--was found in the rag bins, thrown there with the rest of the dirty rags to avert suspicion."
"Then...this bloody towel..." Megure peered at it, eyes widening.
"This was used to wipe up the blood from the place Otomo-san was actually killed," Kaito replied. "After the body was hung up and the acid applied to the rope, the murderer could go back and cover his tracks. For example, throwing away his gloves and the jar."
The Inspector looked puzzled again. "Er, but...if the murderer threw away his gloves...why did you want to look over the people who were wearing gloves?"
"Don't you see the holes in the gloves, Inspector?" Kaito inquired, barely keeping a grin off his face--for being marginally more observant than Nakamori, Inspector Megure still needed a lot of hints to get the picture. "While the culprit was pouring the acid on the rope, it was soaking through his gloves just like any liquid. So before he let go of the rope, he took Otomo-san's gloves to replace his own, which would soon be riddled with holes."
As realization struck, Megure glanced at Otomo's body once again--and observed that the man was indeed missing his work-gloves. "But how can we tell who has Otomo-san's gloves? Unless...he might've written his name on them."
"Maybe," Kaito said. "But it wouldn't it be much easier just to identify the murderer, rather than check every glove in this crowd?"
The Inspector jerked back around, his gaze whipping from Kaito to Yamo. "Then...you're absolutely sure--?"
"Positive, Inspector," Kaito replied, his eyes once more on the tall construction worker--who was staring at him with fixed eyes and iron-tight jaw. "It's simple. For one thing, the acid he sloshed on the gloves left the same holes in his clothes that it did in Otomo-san's."
Exclamations rose from the crowd--and with a short gasp, Yamo glanced down at his shirtfront and coat sleeves, where there were indeed small, inexplicable holes in every place that a drop of acid might have fallen.
"Um, as I remember," Ishikawa whispered aside to one of his fellow former suspects, "Yamo-kun was one of the last people to go down before...you know..."
Yamo's eyes abruptly jerked back up to Kaito's. "That doesn't prove anything!" he blurted. "I do solder and light welding! I might've gotten these holes from sparks or burns!"
"If you did, then the material would show evidence of having been burned," Kaito retorted evenly. "I'm sure that we'll find the same acid on your clothes as we will on the victim's. And that's not the only proof I have."
Everyone was staring at Yamo, from the astonished workers to the three former suspects, all of them shocked. "You...you can't have anything else," Yamo protested weakly. "You can't even prove I killed him. There's no weapon, right?"
"The weapon could be anything," Kaito stated. "A bar, a board, a tool. But when you killed him and carried him, you got blood on your gloves--and I'm willing to bet there's traces of blood on your clothing, too."
"But those bloodstained gloves...you can't prove they're mine."
"No...maybe they're not yours," Kaito responded with a faint shrug. "Maybe you only borrowed them from someone to pull this off."
Conan glanced up at his cousin with a bit of a frown. Hey, ease up on the sarcasm, pal! That's not like me--well, at least not on a case...
"However," Kaito went on, "I can prove that you were wearing these gloves when you killed Otomo-san and rigged the rope with acid."
Yamo went silent, his throat bobbing in a hard swallow. Megure watched the man intently, gaze now and then flicking to Kaito.
"Yamo-san," Kaito said softly into the stillness that waited with bated breath, "would you mind taking off Otomo-san's gloves--and showing us the acid burns on your hands?"
Multiple gasps sounded all around them. Yamo's face was tight as Megure stepped closer to him to speak sternly. "I'm afraid I'm going to ask the same, Yamo-san. Please take off the gloves."
Numbly, the tall worker pulled the heavy leather work-gloves off, dropping them carelessly to the damp ground. Beneath them, the rugged, long-fingered hands were marked with puffy, angry red burns, heavily on the left hand.
"Inspector," Kaito went on quietly into the shocked silence, "you'll find that the pattern of the burns on Yamo-san's hands matches the holes in the gloves. As I said, the acid soaked through them like any liquid would, and has been eating away at his skin just like the gloves, the rope, and the clothing." He paused, a bit of the Shinichi mask wavering as he met the stunned man's gaze. "Um...Yamo-san, you should probably wash your hands as soon as possible--after the police test your skin for the acid, that is."
Megure looked at Yamo's hands, then at the gloves, carefully scrutinizing them. "Seems like you're right, Kudo-kun. All the splash-marks do appear to line up."
As Megure handed the work-gloves off to a policeman, Yamo never even looked at him. Instead, his empty, stupefied gaze remained fixed on Kaito, locking the youth's blue eyes with his hollow dark ones. "It's his fault," the accused whispered dully, his acid-burned hands still held out numbly as if beseeching. "Otomo--it's his fault. He caused it."
Megure paused, his stern gaze returning to Yamo. "What do you mean?"
Yamo's teeth gritted--and though expression began to return to his face, his eyes never once strayed from Kaito's. "It's all that bastard's fault!" he burst out, his acid-scarred left hand darting out to point at the cold, bloody corpse. "He brought it on himself--he killed my son!"
"He killed...?" Kaito jerked invisibly; only Conan was close enough to sense his cousin's flinch--close enough to feel Kaito almost begin to draw back. Though the youth didn't outwardly move, the mask had begun to waver.
Whoa! Conan's gaze jerked up to Kaito's face, suddenly concerned. Don't back down now--not now! This is the hardest part--don't lose it, Kaito...!
"That's right!" Yamo replied, his voice a harsh echoing rasp over the graveled work yard that held the attention of every person there. "Exactly one year ago--it was my son's first job, his first real job. There was an accident on the girders way up high, and my son's harness snapped. But he hung on! He held on, pleading for help, and that bastard Otomo just let him fall! He was right there, and he did nothing! He let my son die! So I bashed his head in and gave him what he deserved!"
Kaito swallowed hard. Caught up in the thrill and intrigue of solving the mystery and catching the culprit, he'd forgotten that even a murderer might have reasons for what he did. Hesitation crept into his Shinichi mask--but the touch of a small hand on his knee stopped the doubt from reaching his face. He glanced down for a fraction of a second, meeting blue eyes filled with understanding behind glass lenses.
Yamo's eyes were full of tears and frustration, anger and bitterness, as Megure stepped up to him with handcuffs ready. "Yamo-san, I'm going to have to place you under arrest," the Inspector stated.
"Go ahead," Yamo snapped. "I have no regrets. Except one--that Otomo was dead before he fell. He didn't get to see how my son really felt, falling to his death--"
"Maybe there was nothing he could do," piped up a small, childish voice from just below them, making both men look down and causing Kaito to start--visibly this time--as he realized that Conan had left his side and walked right up to the accused murderer.
"Conan-kun!" Megure began, almost scoldingly, but the little boy continued in a slightly sad tone.
"Maybe Otomo-san wanted to save your son, Ojisan, but he couldn't." Conan's bright blue eyes pierced into Yamo's with more resolve than even Kaito had managed. "You said it was an accident. Maybe he couldn't help, and Otomo-san was sad too."
Megure and his officers, and the witnesses--even Kaito watched Conan with startled surprise as he spoke. Yamo stared mutely down at the deep-eyed child, anger melting from his features to be replaced by shock--and then, growing regret.
"I think...Ojisan..." Conan hesitated for a moment, his features still childishly sweet but inexplicably wise. "I think your son wouldn't like to see you doing this. I think...if your son was here today, he would've saved Otomo-san."
Tears of regret caused the last of the rage to vanish from the stricken man's eyes. Nodding silently to the mysterious child at his feet, Kazuhito Yamo quietly allowed the police officers to lead him to the squadcar waiting just outside the gates of the work yard.
The construction site mystery had finally ended.
There was a massive release of tension in the gathered workers and onlookers; policemen began to wrap things up, the body was bagged to be taken away, all the witnesses began to gather themselves and leave--and in the midst of the chaotic flow of human beings, two silent blue-eyed figures stood side-by-side, one large and one small, motionless together in the sea of people.
Those two pairs of blue eyes at last met, still silent. And without a word to anyone, Conan and Kaito slipped along with the crowd through the gate and disappeared into the streets.
Neither of them had even needed to speak, to agree that they shouldn't hang around the construction site and wait for Inspector Megure to finish wrapping things up. Outside of a case, someone might notice that the teenage youth wasn't quite Kudo, and too many questions could be asked that Kaito might have no idea how to answer. Megure was growing used to Shinichi's quick disappearances after solving a mystery anyway.
And at this point, Conan observed as he watched his cousin from the corner of his eye, acting was probably the last thing on Kaito's mind.
The rain still sprinkled down from the gray skies above, as if reflecting the young man's thoughts. His hood pulled up against the drizzle, Kaito walked with his hands in his jacket pockets and his gaze turned inward, as if his feet were running on automatic to lead him home. Frowning so, he no longer looked as much like the Shinichi Kudo he had so flawlessly imitated only minutes before. His face was once again set with Kaito Kuroba's expressions and moods, and thus the differences were suddenly easy to pick out.
Walking at his side, Conan only watched quietly from beneath rain-tousled bangs, his hair damp and bedraggled and his glasses spattered with raindrops. The rain-chill had long since soaked through his coat from being so long out in the weather, making him hunch slightly from the cold. From the pace they were going, such that he was having to hurry a bit, it was almost as if Kaito had forgotten that he was there.
He was so accustomed to Kaito's usual brightness and animation that the introspective silence was beginning to unnerve him. It wasn't like Kaito to be so withdrawn and meditative, and Conan had begun to worry that something was really wrong. It also disturbed him a bit to realize how much he had come to depend on his cousin as a source of stability, even after such a short time knowing him.
It surprised him still how readily he had latched on to his cousin, and in his heart of hearts there was infinite relief and gladness to have found a friend/brother who had proven himself ready, willing, and able to stand with him through anything. He even found himself wishing he would have the strength to do the same.
Well, now was a good time to start.
"Kaito?" he spoke up, finally turning to face his cousin fully as they strode along. "Hey, Kaito!"
"Hn?" The teen blinked, as if surprised for a second to have a small traveling companion beside him, then shook himself into focus. "Oh, sorry. What did you say?"
"I haven't said anything yet," Conan replied, his mouth quirking a little. "What's the matter with you?"
Kaito shrugged in reply, almost a hunching of his shoulders. "Nothing much. Just thinking about...that case."
"Ah." Conan nodded understandingly, his gaze turning back to the sidewalk passing by underfoot. "Yeah, that was one of the sad ones. Most of them usually are, in one way or another...and some of them are a lot worse. Everybody has reasons for what they do, and it's not always--"
"That's not it." They were side-by-side mirror images, large and small, both with hands in pockets and eyes on the sidewalk. However, Kaito's face was shadowed with the faintest worry. "I realized...when Yamo-san was telling us all why he did it...I thought..."
"What?" Conan asked softly, patiently.
"Is that me?" Kaito half-blurted quickly. "A man like that, who lost someone important...and then planned for so long, so precisely, for revenge and retribution...is that what I am? Isn't that the same thing...just the same as what I'm doing now?"
Conan looked up to meet his cousin's eyes, inwardly startled to see the genuine concern and--dare he think it--fear lurking in the blue depths. The turnabout unsettled him a bit; this time, Kaito was the one looking to him for reassurance and strength.
"I don't know," he replied honestly, at length. "It could be. It might be exactly the same thing, and it's only your methods that are different. You're going so far as to break the law to get to your father's killers."
"I see..." Kaito's gaze turned back down to the concrete.
"But you're not...doing it all that badly," Conan went on, half-hesitantly. "You're not plotting to murder people...and you're not out to hurt anyone in your way. I know enough now to know there's not many other ways of stopping the people we're up against. And you're not willing to stoop to killing people for revenge."
"That's just it," Kaito replied, near a whisper. "I just don't know. If it comes to that...I've already lost Dad. If they were gonna hurt Mom or Aoko or..."
Conan took a deep breath. "I know," he said, the tone of his soft little-boy voice telling Kaito all he needed to hear. What it might come to, given the situation they were in, and the lives of their friends and family in the balance... "I know."
Silence reigned between them for a minute or so, as they continued walking slowly along the sidewalk. Around them, evening grew old as the sun slipped further into the horizon.
"And...I'm obviously not the best person to ask," Conan continued, drawing a brief, surprised glance from his cousin. "I've never lost anyone like you. No one's murdered my family. I've never been through what you have. I can understand what you're thinking, and why...but I've never..."
Kaito swallowed hard. "Even if you didn't know him...you did lose your uncle, Shinichi."
Conan looked up with a faint, sad smile. "So I did. Sorry. I just--"
"It's okay." Kaito glanced away again. "Actually, it means a lot to me that you...that you accept me--who I am, who our family is... When we first met, I was almost certain you were going to turn me away, if not turn me in...I was really taking a chance, hoping that you'd..." He shrugged, not sure how to say it. "Being who you are, if you can accept who I am, that must mean I'm not too far gone, huh?"
Kaito's wan smile brightened a little when Conan smiled in reply. "'Too far gone' my foot," the small boy responded, his tone lightening. "If you really had been some sort of serial murderer, I never would have let you off so easy all those times."
Kaito's face slipped into an expression of pure surprise, and he actually stopped dead still on the sidewalk, staring at Conan as if he'd never seen him before. "You--you call that easy?"
"Well, yeah." Hiding his smile behind an air of adopted nonchalance, the boy shrugged lightly. "You're just a thief--I don't waste much of my efforts on small fry."
"Just a--just a--small fry--?" Kaito spluttered, his eyes gone round and huge and his voice lost to indignation.
Unable to resist any longer, Conan let his grin go free, beaming up at his cousin with such laughter that Kaito's stuttering halted. "Gotcha!"
After his jaw was finished dropping, Kaito shut his mouth and mock-glowered. "You're gonna pay for that, squirt."
Conan's only reply was a decidedly un-innocent snicker.
"Hmph." Kaito started walking again--a bit more slowly this time, so Conan wouldn't have to hurry beside him--his mood definitely lightened by his cousin's laughter and teasing. "You're soaked. Ran'll kill me if you catch a cold on my watch--come on, we're almost to my house."
"What are you, my babysitter?" Conan snorted, running a hand through his wet bangs.
This time, it was Kaito's turn to chuckle, as they turned the last corner that would lead them to their destination.
"Here we are!" Kaito announced, swinging the front gate open and stepping back to let his small cousin inside. "Welcome to the humble Kuroba abode!"
Wide-eyed and curious, Conan stared around at the yard and the dwelling, taking everything in with not a little surprise. The neighborhood was not the same as where Shinichi had lived back in Beika, but Kaito's house was fairly large compared to its fellows, set in a wide green yard with a trim sidewalk leading up to the door. Cheery yellow light poured forth from the house's many windows, and apart from the brickwork patio leading off the upstairs, it wasn't that much different from Shinichi's own home.
"It's...it's nice," Conan finally said, as Kaito shut the gate behind him.
Kaito grinned. "What--you were expecting I live in a secret underground hideout, like the Bat-Cave? Sheesh..."
His cheeks faintly pink, Conan grumbled and followed the taller youth up the walk.
Kaito led him in the front door, lazily calling out into the house in general as he kicked off his shoes. "Mom, I'm home! Sorry I'm late, got caught up in some stuff, but we...!"
"Kaito!" Fumiyo Kuroba almost seemed to appear in the hallway before them. "What on earth were you up to this time? It's getting dark, for heaven's sake, and I thought you--oh!"
Conan, still standing by the door with his shoes on, fidgeted a bit but bowed politely when Fumiyo noticed him there. "I--uh--good evening, Obasan..."
"Oh my goodness...!" Fumiyo clutched one hand to her chest, taking in his damp, bedraggled state. "Shin-chan! You're soaking wet! Oh, here, go ahead and leave your shoes--and take off that coat, you'll catch your death!" Taking the dampened jacket from the small boy, she glared rather sharply at her son. "Kaito! What are you doing, dragging your cousin around in the rain like this?"
Kaito gaped at her for a second. "But I--he--it wasn't--"
But Fumiyo was already turning back to Conan. "Here, come sit down and warm up--I'll get you a towel, and I've just put some hot water on so some tea will do you good..." Hanging up the wet coat, the woman bustled off to fetch the towel, leaving two rather stunned boys behind her.
At length, Kaito huffed. "Yeah...'Hello Mom, nice to see you--sure, I'd love some hot tea, I'm a little chilled myself.'" He leveled his cousin with a look. "It's not my fault we were out in the rain."
Conan eyed him right back. "Can I help it that she thinks I need to be coddled?"
"Grow up, squirt."
"Don't I wish."
Both boys padded down the hall, the smaller tentatively following the taller as Kaito led the way into the house, past the living room and kitchen to meet up with Fumiyo as she returned with a soft, thick bath towel.
"Here you are, Shin-chan," she said, offering the towel with a smile.
"Uh, thanks," Conan replied, his exasperation about the "coddling" disappearing in the face of the woman's kindness.
"Mom," Kaito interjected, "Shinichi and I are gonna put up in the rec room for now. We've got some stuff to do."
His slight emphasis on "stuff" caused a few shadows to flit across his mother's features, but they were gone in an instant as surely as if she'd put up her own Poker Face. "That's fine!" she replied easily. "I'll bring the tea and snacks in there, then. You boys go right ahead. Make yourself at home, Shin-chan--anything specific you'd like to eat?"
The not-quite-gradeschooler shrugged, clutching the woolly towel. "Um...anything without raisins..."
Fumiyo smiled graciously and nodded, then hurried off to the kitchen once more.
"Jeeze, what's got her in such a mood?" Kaito wondered aloud, looking slightly miffed. "Huh. Anyways, let's go. I'll show you the rec room--and my dad's, um, other room..."
Conan managed a grin over the top of the fluffy towel. "You mean your Bat-Cave?"
"Oh, shut up." But the words were tempered with a chuckle, and Conan's grin didn't falter as they continued toward the back of the house.
The rec room was one of the largest rooms in Kaito's home, with the possible exception of the living room. It was open and well-lit, with smooth wood-panel flooring and a large, curtain-screened sliding glass door that presumably led out to the back yard. A stereo system with big speakers, complete with racks of tapes and CDs, was set against the wall by the door they had just entered; along the windowless wall perpendicular to it was a nice-sized television set and entertainment center with its own speakers, adjacent to a bookshelf full of videos and DVDs. Various cushions and beanbag chairs were scattered about the floor.
"Wow..." Conan said, unmindful of the rather awed, jealous expression on his face. "I want a room like this in my house..."
"You've got your own in-home library, so don't complain," Kaito chuckled. With a wry look, he plucked the towel out of his small cousin's arms and dropped it over the boy's tousled head. "Dry off, would you? Before my mom comes back and chews me out again."
"Hey!" Conan's small form nearly disappeared under the fluffy yellow towel, and his muffled grumbles only made Kaito snicker more. So he tugged the expanse of fabric off himself, glasses askew, and glared at his taller cousin. "Knock it off already."
Still chuckling, Kaito strode across the rec room, kicking various cushions out of his way as he went. "Fine, but either way, I'm not letting you in my dad's room until you're not dripping rainwater."
"As if I like walking around soaking wet." Conan resisted an urge to stick his tongue out at his cousin, instead directing his efforts toward drying his hair. Removing his glasses to set them on the stereo speaker next to him, he once again disappeared under the thick towel as he proceeded to rub down. Toweling off his hair and other wet places helped him rid himself of the lingering chill of the rain, though with his clothing still marginally damp it would take him a little longer to get completely dry. And it wasn't as if he had a change of clothes handy.
"There," he announced, once again emerging from under the towel. "That better?"
"Good enough, I guess," replied Kaito with a faint shrug, looking his still-slightly-damp cousin over. The little boy's hair was actually surprisingly curly when it was wet, reminding him of his Aunt Yukiko.
"What should I do with this?" Conan asked, holding up the towel in one hand.
"Doesn't matter," Kaito replied, moving to stand near a picture frame on the wall across from the TV. "Come on over here."
Dropping the towel in a fuzzy pile near the door, Conan went to Kaito's side, peering up at the cheerful painting of a white-clad magician on the wall. For a moment he stared at it, taking in the man's unruly dark hair and startlingly familiar face...and the smile, which he could have sworn he knew--and then comprehension struck. "That's...that's..."
Kaito nodded, licking his lips, his face gone strangely somber and wistful. "Yeah, this is him. Shinichi, meet my dad--your uncle, Toichi Kuroba." He smiled faintly, glancing from the picture to the boy beside him and back again, his voice growing so soft it was little more than a whisper. "Dad, meet your nephew, Shinichi..."
Conan--Shinichi stared up at the unmoving picture, suddenly feeling as though the painted face was smiling warmly at him in friendly greeting...as if for a moment the man picured there really was looking down at him, welcoming him. His glance flicked to his cousin for an instant, catching the emotions there--emotions open on Kaito's face if only for a split second--and felt an echo in his own heart, across his own features. "Hello, Ojisan," he said, equally soft. "Nice to meet you..."
Kaito looked down at him for a moment more, something deep and appreciative flicking through his eyes, quickly hidden again behind his usual smile as he shook himself. "'Kay, this is the secret part. Can't tell anyone about this--only Mom and Jii and your parents know about this room. And now you do."
"Room?" Shinichi blinked, puzzled.
Kaito winked at him and grinned. "Just watch."
One hand was placed flat against the left side of the painting, and a small amount of pressure was applied. Shinichi could hear a faint click somewhere within the wall, as the large painting itself suddenly rotated on its center axis, revealing a narrow passage behind it.
"Whoa--!" Eyes wide, Shinichi stared at the secret doorway, his inquisitive mind already anxious to venture into the mysterious room beyond.
Kaito's grin only broadened as he held the spring-loaded painting/door steady. "Wanna see?"
Shinichi glanced up at him, blue eyes glimmering almost eagerly, clear and bright without the lenses of Conan's glasses. "Is it...really okay?"
"Sure," Kaito replied with a shrug. "If things were different, I'm sure Dad wouldn't mind at all. In fact, he'd probably be happy."
There was no way his small cousin could hope to hide the sheer curiosity burning in his gaze; as much as he might try to deny it, half of Shinichi's soul pulled him toward the secrets waiting behind the hidden door.
"Here," Kaito offered, bracing the painting against his shoulder and reaching down. "I'll help you through--and I'm asking this time. 'Kay?"
Shinichi glanced up at him, small hands resting on the lower rim of the gap and guaging the height of the bottom of the door. It was tall enough that if he wished to pass through by himself, he'd have to clamber up and over--which would be an embarrassingly clumsy process in the closeness of the narrow door. "Thanks," he replied gratefully. "Go ahead."
With a nod, Kaito lifted his small cousin easily through the opening, setting him smoothly down inside before stepping through himself--letting the painting/door snick shut behind him. For a moment, they stood silent in the still dimness until Kaito reached out for the long-familiar switch, flooding the room with light.
"Ah...!" This time Shinichi gaped wordlessly, awed by what lay within the hidden room. Beside him, Kaito stood proudly at the threshold of his father's secret chamber. Ahead of them lay all the implements, tools, and equipment of Kaitou Kid--every piece dedicated to the tricks of the Trade, every item a small piece of Kid's existence. A part of Kaito's life, each time he donned his father's mantle and ventured out into the night.
This was the place it had all began--and now, was beginning again.
"Welcome, cousin," Kaito said softly with a strange, ironic smile, "to the Phantom Thief's lair."
To be continued...
AN: Whew! The mystery's done. *falls over* Thanks for your patience, everyone! I hope the Kaito/Conan Mystery-Solving Duo lived up to everybody's expectations. More to come soon, complete with tea and snacks! ^_^ Thanks again, later all!