Chapter Text
"Rei-kun, nii-san needs to go back to Nagano, so Rei-kun stays with Kudo-san, okay." Taka'aki lowered his body in front of Rei while rubbing his head.
"All right, take care kid!" Kansuke fist bumps with Rei.
"Eung! Bye nii-san, Yui-san and Kansuke-san also stay safe on the road." Rei hugged Taka'aki, then waved his hand as they left.
Rei did smile as he ushered them away, but as soon as they disappeared from his sight, he immediately pouted, his lips pursed playfully while his cheeks puffed out.
"Rei-kun, why are you frowning?" Yuusaku stroked his blonde hair.
Rei looked surprised, then alert again, a smile plastered on his face again. "No!"
Yuusaku kept quiet, it seemed that Rei had grown to be more mature and more independent than other children his age by his circumstances. From the data owned by Hachizo Onizuka, his teacher at the police academy, there were no parents' names in Rei's personal data, only the names of Takahashi Ryoko and Ogawa Chika as his guardians. When Yuusaku finds out their identities, their names appear as caretakers of the Hope Orphanage. It seems that Rei has no parents and lives in an orphanage until he is 16 years old, then he goes to school while working, but Takahashi Ryoko and Ogawa Chika remain as his guardians.
After returning to the examination and confirming Rei's health, he moved to the Kudo Mansion that afternoon. But before that, he is taken shopping by Yukiko and Akai, while Yuusaku and Shinichi tidy up their house. Yukiko let Rei choose his own clothes, because unlike Shinichi, Rei knew what clothes would suit him.
After they finished choosing clothes, they went to the mini market first. Suddenly there were four people holding weapons barged in.
"Everyone lie down and don't fight if you don't want to lose your life!" The leader of the group shouted and fired one of his bullets at the roof of the mini market.
Everyone immediately fell down, but Rei still managed to move in front of Yukiko, as if protecting her from one of the people near them. Rei's brain worked fast, even though he lost his memory, his instinct to protect people was still the same as usual.
As one of the men approached the counter to rob the machine, Rei threw one of the water bottles from next to the holder with a bang, and it hit the person in the head, causing him to lose his balance and fall backwards.
When Sato, Takagi, and Chiba who happened to be there managed to catch the other three, the latter looked around in anger, then spotted Rei in his wrath. He quickly picked up Rei, and restrained his movement. No matter how hard Rei struggles to escape, his strength is only the strength of a child, much weaker than an adult’ strength. The thug walked back while carrying and pointing his gun at Rei, then collided with Akai at the entrance.
"Don't try to come any closer! Or I'll blow a hole in this kid's head." The robber pressed his gun against Rei's head, causing the boy to wince in fear, his eyes also slightly watery.
"Well… that's bad." Akai puts on a horse.
"It's bad! Right! So get the fuck out of my wa-Ugh-!" Akai slammed the gun at Sato’s direction, then he knocked out the robber with a few punches.
Rei’s body slid down and was immediately caught by Akai. He hugged Rei tightly then hid Rei's face in the crook of his neck. He felt Rei's body tremble in his arms, so he quickly moved away from where they were standing earlier. Yukiko also finished paying for the shopping quickly, though she felt a little sorry for the frightened-looking girl at the cashier. She bought a bottle of water and gave it to her.
They left the convenience store with Akai holding Rei in his arms, trying to calm him down. He tried to distract him several times, but to no avail. Luckily Yukiko brought a retractable box so Yukiko didn't have to carry all the heavy things, and Akai could focus on calming Rei down. Actually Akai really cannot handle children at all, but PSB gives him special training so that their best agents receive the best only.
When they arrived at the Kudo Mansion, Rei was still not calm. Akai put him on the living room sofa, quite surprised when he immediately curled up. Yukiko hastily sat down next to him, then pulled him into his lap. His hand patted Rei's back gently, his other hand wrapped around Rei's waist so he wouldn't fall. Her maternal aura emanated immediately.
"Rei-kun, it's safe now. Those people have been taken to the police station." Yukiko whispered softly to him, smiling as Rei slowly raised his head.
"Not there anymore?" Rei started to calm down as Yukiko nodded.
"Well, now oneesan wants to cook first, Rei-kun wants to come or do you want to play with Shinichi nii-san?" Yukiko did insist on being called oneesan by Rei, but still, Rei called her Yukiko-san.
"Yukiko-san wants to cook? Can I help?" Rei asked.
"Rei-kun can cook? Can you help me?" Yukiko chuckled then led Rei to the kitchen.
Their menu for tonight is curry. After washing and chopping the ingredients, Rei prepared the seasoning, and Yukiko cooked the curry using the ingredients Rei prepared. Cooking this time was fun for Yukiko because she finally had some help, unlike her son and husband who just burned the food, and Akai who always made half-cooked curry for the sake of visiting the next door neighbor.
After that, they served the food at the dining table that had been prepared by Shinichi. They ate the food voraciously, it really was Amuro Tooru's signature curry. Rei smiled all night because of the praise he received, they also gave some to Professor Agasa. Haibara even let Agasa get his second plate this time.
After eating and bathing, Shinichi took Rei to the library at his house. Yuusaku creates puzzles and cases and challenges Rei and Shinichi to a competition to solve them. Even though Shinichi is now mentally older, Rei's intelligence cannot be beat so easily. Rei won by 2 puzzles.
Around 11 pm, they went to bed because Shinichi was back in school tomorrow, and Rei was now a child. He yawned as soon as he heard the word sleep, making Yukiko laugh and tell him to sleep. Shinichi and Rei brushed their teeth together, splashed each other with water which resulted in both of them getting soaked and Yukiko scolding them, especially Shinichi for not being able to be a 'good brother' figure.
After that, Yukiko took Rei into his new room, and accompanied him until he fell asleep completely. After that, she returned to the library where her husband and Akai were waiting. When he entered, Akai was cleaning his rifle gun while looking at something on his laptop, while his husband was typing his latest novel on his laptop. He sat next to Akai, and saw that what Akai was watching were videos from 4 different cameras, which were in front of two different apartment doors. It doesn't look like a CCTV camera because the angle is set. The first and third cameras are set back to the door and higher than the second camera, so they shoot a wide range. The second and fourth cameras are set at an angle that can clearly record the face and physical appearance of people who are approaching, or just passing through the door.
"Akai-kun? Whose apartment is that?" Yukiko raised her eyebrows. The corridor of the first apartment looks very luxurious, so the security is most likely guaranteed to be the best, while the corridor of the second apartment looks quite good for people with not too high income. But seeing Akai watching him, there must be something in the two apartments.
"The first apartment belongs to Bourbon, while the second apartment belongs to Amuro Tooru. PSB has security cameras installed in every place where he lives. Since Furuya-kun is currently living with us, PSB gave me access. So that if the situation gets worse, I can take him to leave as soon as possible. PSB has procedures in place for his protection, and upon seeing that, I believe that even with the combined FBI & CIA agents, they can't track him down." Akai answered, his eyes still glued to his laptop and rifle gun.
"Oooo, but if PSB has prepared such good protection procedures, why would they even hand it over to us who they don't even know well?" Yukiko asked a question.
"Maybe because they want him to have a normal life. What I heard from his boss, from childhood to graduating with the best achievements in the academy, he was bullied for his appearance that was not Japanese-like. Then when he entered PSB, he had to cut off contact with the three of his other friends. And not to mention, after they graduated from the academy, his friends died one by one, leaving him with no one he could rely on, since his guardian from his orphanage died 2 years ago because of a car crash accident." Yuusaku replied, his hands still busy typing his latest novel.
“Poor him…” Yukiko nodded her head.
When Yukiko & Yuusaku had fallen asleep, Akai decided to sleep too. PSB had already installed sensors in the Kudo Mansion and Furuya's two residences, so it wasn't a problem to let him sleep for a while. After all, to take care of a child will require a lot of energy & patience. However, just as he was about to enter the bathroom, he saw Furuya standing in the dark. His hand was on the knob of his new bedroom door, but it wouldn't open. Just 5 seconds after Akai watched him, Furuya turned around, aware of being watched. His face showed fear, before that expression faded upon seeing Akai.
"Furuya-kun, are you alright?" Akai asked the shrinking agent. Furuya nodded, but froze in place, not moving at all. Akai was also confused, he was not used to communicating with someone, moreover he was used to dealing with Furuya who communicated through fists and kicks.
"You can't sleep? Want to drink first?" Akai offers.
Furuya moved uncomfortably. "No need to bother Akai-san."
"Okay?" Akai immediately entered the bathroom. It was awkward to face him.
After getting ready for bed and getting out of the bathroom, his sharp ears picked up some sounds from the kitchen. Furuya was no longer where he was. Akai went straight to the kitchen, his alert mode fully on. But instead of fighting, what was in the kitchen made him chuckle softly. Furuya was trying to lift the gallon onto the dispenser. Akai saw the old empty gallon had been placed on the floor. Akai approached Furuya, trying not to startle him.
"Furuya-kun, do you need help?" Akai asked from behind him, ready to help Furuya.
"Akai-san! Don't startle me. But no, I can do it myself." Furuya insisted on doing it himself. Akai just nodded. After Furuya managed to put the gallon, they returned to their respective rooms.