Unwanted Company

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Since Kaito had little to no knowledge about much western food and wasn't in the mood either to search for his mother's recipes, he settled with Sukiyaki.
Hakuba sat down at the table and observed him closely while Conan moved to help KID prepare the dinner, even if he didn't do much to help KID keeping his pride in front of the British detective. He saw from the beginning Kaito's quiet act of moving his 'injured' foot less elegant, he noted with pleasure none of his moves weren't fully calculated. It wasn't obvious but not hidden either, a perfect imitation of a serious injury able to slow the magician down.

Silence filled the kitchen, Conan felt those piercing golden eyes drilling into his and KID's back but at the same time, he knew the British male favored his friend with his glares.
Skilled as ever, KID chopped the beef while he left the cabbage to Conan. The shrunken detective couldn't help but grin as he noticed the slightly uncomfortable body language of his detective colleague. Who in his place wouldn't be uncomfortable, he had accepted an invitation out of instinct to dine with a famous criminal (who now made a dangerously skilled show with his huge knife) and his manners refused him to find an excuse to leave.
"Hakuba-kun, may you set the table?" Kaito asked nonchalantly and Hakuba felt his tensed shoulders dropping in relief, finally he was able to do something else than rudely relaxing while his companions worked.
Kaito had shown mercy to him. A good day to be alive.
"Immediately."

Together these three sat down again and calmly waited for the Sukiyaki to finish boiling.
"Did you solve the homicide about the waiter yet?" Hakuba asked, trying to fill the silence and Conan frowned deeply. Which homicide case? He used to solve homicide cases?! The poor boy suddenly began to imagine all kinds of gross scenarios, pictures he hadn't known until now flooded his brain and his cheeks lost all colour. Both Kaito and Hakuba noticed that and with a gasp Kaito grabbed the child and bolted out of the kitchen towards the bathroom.
"Pay attention on the food Hakuba-kun!!" he yelled over his shoulder before he shut the door. The moment he reached the toilet with Conan, the chibi hastily pushed the lid open and threw up into it. Kaito watched with a pityful expression and used his hand to pet Conan's back. Said one shruddered and threw up a second time.
"Shh... What happened...? Memories...?"
A silent nod was the answer and KID sighed softly. How could he cheer Conan up again? What had he seen?

Hakuba stayed back, eyes wide in shock.
"...what on earth...?" he murmured and wanted to go after them but knew he had to pay attention to the pot. Thanks to that, he at least confirmed his suspicions about Kuroba's ankle.
"Yeah. Twisted. Tell that Nakamori-keibu," he grumbled and pulled out his notebook, scribbling down his observations while keeping a keen eye onto the Sukiyaki.
While the riddle around Kuroba's mysterious injury just began, he knew he had found another mystery to solve. Conan's reaction had been more than suspicious. A child or not, he always was the one who kept a cool head around dismembered corpses and other gruesome scenes. Edogawa Conan had acted more mature than some of the officers he had called right after discovering a new murder.
That promised further investigation.

After a while only Kuroba returned, using a cane to replace his leg's weight. The highschooler tried to hide a painful expression with a smile.
"That was a stupid idea..." he whined and fell down back onto his seat, his leg resting on Conan's chair.
"Stupid idea?" Hakuba drilled further and Kaito rolled his eyes, motioning in an overdramatic gesture onto his ankle.
"Got worse."
The teen released an irritated sigh and finally relaxed into his cushioned chair while Hakuba flashed a concerned glance towards the door.
"Where is Conan-kun? If I said anything which might have offended him-"
"No. He's tired and went upstairs... Said he wants to be alone for a while."
Kaito bit down on his lower lip and followed Hakuba's gaze to the door.
"He's still a child, you know? He might always seem cool and everything on his cases but at some point everything spills. That was such a moment."
The halbrit gave an agreeing nod and both finally began to eat.

"Would you like to stay? It's late," Kaito offered after the dishes had wandered into the dishwasher. Hakuba raised an eyebrow, his analytic eye examining Kuroba's body language. Stiff shoulders, tensed, hands formed into fists... but even without these obvious signals Hakuba wouldn't have spent a single thought on sleeping inside Satan's cave.
"I appreciate the offer but I already called myself a cab. Thanks for the dinner," Hakuba smiled and subsconciously relaxed. Finally out of this horror. All of a sudden Kuroba frowned and Hakuba felt himself tensing again.

Kaito thought the whole time about how to cheer his Meitantei up again and finally found a horrible yet perfect solution. Horrible for him.
This Kaitou took dares very serious.
Without any hesitation the thief proceeded to jump at Hakuba who, mildly said looked like about to be murdered, and squeezed him in a tight hug.
"The bloody hell are you doing?! Let go of me!!" Hakuba yelped and tried to pry the unnormal strong thief off. All judo talents of Hakuba didn't help a thing when you couldn't get a hold of your opponent.
The flash of a camera parted these two and Kaito smirked, even tho it was obvious he tried his best for it to look different than his KID-smirk.
"And with that I got Conan-kun cheered up again. Thanks for your assistance, Hakuba-kun~ I'll give you references for your next job!"
The detective looked like ready to chase the magician down this very second but as a kiss made its way onto his nosetip, he froze in utter embarassment.
And just like that, the door shut in front of Hakuba's nose right after a camera flash announced a second picture. It needed all of Hakuba's memorized manners to not kick the door open and demand those pictures.
All he was able to do, was approaching his impatient cab driver and getting inside.

"Meitantei...?" KID hesitantly asked, entering his dark room. Conan had closed the curtains and if KID wasn't entirely used to moving in the dark, he knew he would have stumbled since long.
He slipped under his covers and felt the small body instinctively shifting closer to him.
"...did Hakuba-kun behave...?" croaked his voice and Kaito sighed.
"...Yes, he did. He didn't accuse me even once of being KID. I, on the other hand..." he trailed off, trying to trigger Conan's curiosity.
"What did you do?" came the stern and slightly frightened reply. Kaito had to suppress a snicker and rested his hand on Conan's head.
"Oh well, let's just say I accomplished half of my dare. With a bonus."
The following silence left KID with a feeling of pure satisfaction. He literally smelled his small grin.
"Is that so?" darkness answered him, hinting an entertained tone.
"Yes. Want to see the pictures?"
"No. First when you got Hattori, we can calm him like that. He doesn't like Hakuba too much and seeing him- wait. Pictures?! "
Now it was KID's turn to keep a contented silence. Conan stifled a small laugh and rested his head below KID's chin, finally easing into him.
"You're an idiot."
"And you love it."
"Urusai." (Shut up)
"You didn't deny it~"
A satisfying win for the great phantom thief Kaitou KID.

Conan saw darkness around him. Darkness and only darkness. Did he float or fall? Did he dream? Right, he remembered this. This was the nightmare torturing him since he had amnesia.
"What are you waiting for?" a voice called out from nowhere, echoing in the darkness all around the chibi detective.
"What are you talking about?" he answered and gritted his teeth in frustration. He hated this. Being unable to move, unable to struggle.
A second Conan appeared, further away and with a devilish grin on his lips.
"Come on. Catch me. There is only one truth, and that is me."
Conan knew what he meant. Once Conan was able to catch him, he would remember himself. Everything. But... he couldn't move. He never moved. All those weeks he kept hanging in midair, unable to reach out to his memories.
But as a man he remembered as Takagi Wataru materialized, a sweet and encouraging smile on his lips as he caught Conan's fall, the boy knew he had a chance.

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