Chapter Text
It’d be a few weeks before Conan called Kazuha and Heiji back from Osaka with a set time and place. Said weeks were riddled with awkward tiptoeing around the subject for Ran and Conan, slight tension between Kazuha and Heiji. Sure, they still got along just fine: they even had a small LINE chat made after the occasion, in which they joked around plenty but, for caution, used Shinichi’s current fake name.
Yet, there was still that tension in the air. Things left unsaid, feelings leftover of being left out. And with the truth still wrapped in tight sheets, even with acceptance of the need from those who were not in the know, it made room for a slight amount of resentment and curiosity. As time had gone on, Conan’s guilt grew and grew, and with it his silence.
And so, on Conan’s request, Ran went to retrieve their mutual friends at the station when the day came, while he prepared in his old home. He had waited until Subaru had ‘left on a short trip’ for this, and was currently scouting the library for listening devices, then the rest of the house. Ran would let him know when they were ten minutes away, enough time to prepare tea. With this in mind, he kept sweeping his home, something he never thought he’d have to do prior to… this whole incident, really. Thankfully, Akai was really about as paranoid as he was, so the house was thankfully clean. A part of him felt guilty, casting doubt on Akai like that, thinking the man would set his own listening devices when he knew Conan would use the house for the day while he was out.
And yet, one could never be too careful. As such, he boxed away his guilt and shoved it aside. There’d be time to deal with that, for now he had to deal with the far bigger boxes of emotions. Compartmentalizing was a skill common in his career choice, more so with his situation, but there always came a time when it became too much...
“This really is happening…” He muttered to himself as his hands shook. An empty, nervous laugh left his throat. “But why am I so nervous this time?”
Maybe it was because he was also hiding things from the western detective now. Secrets that were not his own (Amuro), data he had almost nothing on (Rum). He did not want Hattori to be as paranoid as he was… jumping to conclusions when he had nothing on him but vague, changing descriptions of this dangerous character.
But it was fitting, now, to perhaps also reveal such a thing. They deserved it. All three of them did, as much disclosure as he could muster without causing noise on other lines. No Akai, Ran would feel compelled to want to tell Sera. He’d have to word himself carefully on Amuro, no need to set hostilities or hints, not to mention he wasn’t even sure if the man was safe to speak to loosely. Caution, of course, had become his very way of existing, and it was exhausting.
His phone vibrated, the one for ‘himself’, and he froze. “...” A quick check confirmed Ran had texted him: they were on their way. Shaking his head from his musings, Conan idly noted he had stood and introspected in his old room, pushed the torrent of negative thoughts away as they began to spill from this fact, and rushed downstairs.
The tea was ready and all, but now Conan was faced with a dilemma. The tray was too heavy to carry, but he wanted to do this by himself. It had been a while since he hosted in his real home, much less as the owner (hell, he almost never did, since Ran could walk in and out whenever she pleased...), but he also did not fancy breaking his mother’s fine china.
“Of all the things to be worried about…” He thought, amused that such a simple task could mean so much to someone. The amusement, of course, was self-deprecating to a point. He knew exactly why something normally considered a chore(albeit an important one) was important to him: as important as it had been to set slippers for his expected guests, or clean up the library a little, and even prepare the tea. His eyes slid to the ornate teapot, heaviest on the tray, then to the set that came with it, before going back to his hands.
“What the hell were you thinking, Kudou…” He muttered to himself, voice shuddering with his breath. “Of course children can’t host, you can’t even carry a tray--” His breath left him as the doorbell rang. A courtesy, really, since Ran had the keys and could come inside. He jumped, almost knocking over the tea set in the process, before stumbling off the small stepladder he had been using and to the door. He scampered up another he had set up, propped near the intercom system, to press the button himself. “Yes?” he asked, trying to not sound as breathless and nervous as he felt.
“We’re here, Conan-kun.” Ran’s voice spoke up from the other end. He took a breath, trying to not let that last part get to him. No name slips until indoors. Right. “Come in.” He said, finger slowly slipping off the button as he allowed himself a moment of breath.
“Calm down.”
Even his fake name was making him nervous. This didn’t bode well.
Opening the door for his guests, his gaze was immediately drawn up to their expressions, up and up… he hated being this short. “Yo!” Hattori greeted with a raised hand in a sort of salute, possibly trying to avoid saying anything further until he was indoors. Kazuha-chan gave an awkward wave, and he could notice it was a little strained. Ran simply smiled, then motioned for him to move back. Right. “Uh, come in…” Stepping aside and back, he got off the genkan to let them change their footwear. Eyeing the small storage area for the shoes, an idea came to mind about the-
“Tea?” Hattori asked as he sniffed the air and grinned. “Didn’t think ya could, Kudou.” Shinichi’s nose scrunched at that, pretenses dropped the moment the door was closed. He was allowed to be himself now. “Not all of us mess up boiling water, Hattori.” He gruffed in response. The other teen laughed at that, and Ran started to head for the kitchen. “I’ll go get it-” She offered, and he knew he could have let her go then, save himself from potentially breaking stuff, but his emotions kicked logic aside as he suddenly blurted “Wait!” Ran froze, eyes wide in shock, and Kazuha-chan seemed confused, about to follow her there.
“... Wait.” He repeated, dusting off the near desperation of the earlier iteration. Ran’s shoulders relaxed a little at that, and it made him a little nervous to realize that she had picked up something was wrong. “Just lead them to the library. I’ll… get the tea.”
Hattori seemed to be biting back a quip, instead shaking his head and keeping whatever it was to himself. Ran, still a little confused, nodded and motioned for them to follow. As they headed there, Shinichi let his shoulders relax as his muscles uncoiled. “Calm down.”
Walking to the kitchen, he set his plan in motion, remembering the serving cart his mother got once from a foreign actress friend. Momentarily, he felt a bitter thankfulness that it had not been from Sharon. Since it was taller, he could more easily move the items individually from the counter to the top of the cart, and then it was just a matter of wheeling it to the library.
A part of him wondered why he didn’t think of it before. Another part of him just wanted to not think about it until this was all over with.
There were many windows in the Kudou household, some on the hall, or in the rooms… and some faced Agasa’s home. Of course, the curtains were drawn to remove visibility inside, but for further precautions, Shinichi had called in a favor. He had asked Ayumi to take Haibara out today, claiming she seemed a little down in spirits (well, she had, a little, but for mundane reasons thankfully), and handing her some money for both to spend. While Shinichi had planned to eventually tell Haibara that a couple of more people were aware, he wanted to do it only after the fact, lest she try to force him to take it all back, or not say a word.
Really, he knew she’d be mad. Positively furious. But, if he wanted to keep all his promises and ensure those who knew his identity at least knew what it Meant, he had to keep his fellow shrunken teen out of it until it was over.
Besides, it helped to have someone on your side if you made Haibara Ai angry. Or at least, present so you wouldn’t get murdered.
Shaking those thoughts from his head, he pushed the library door open, then wheeled in the serving cart, closing the door behind him. It was a soundproof room - discussion would be safe in here, which is why he had picked this place to… reveal things.
The chat that had been happening in his absence ended abruptly, and Hattori was quick to point out the fancy cart. “Didn’t know ya had one of those!” He commented, grinning widely as he crossed his arms and leaned back on the sofa. Kazuha-chan herself had her brows raised in surprise for a few moments. Then, she laughed, clasping her hands together.
“Kinda reminds ya of the optical illusions case, right?” She asked, then slowed to a stop as she looked at Hattori, then back at the tea set, and finally to her lap in embarrassment. Shinichi didn’t really know what that was about for a few moments, until he remembered their gossiping a few weeks before. Oh, right. She had tried to confess then and failed. Ran seemed to understand faster than he (well, she was there and knew at the time), and was trying not to giggle at Kazuha-chan’s expense, hand politely on her mouth.
“It kind of does, doesn’t it?” She said, then smiled. “Although I don’t want to associate that case with eating.” The victims in the house had both been poisoned.
“Well, the cups are empty.” Shinichi said, trying and failing to sound helpful. Of course, now that the tray was here, he realized he’d be unable to reach and set, so he sighed, glancing at Ran. Might as well ask for help in the right places. She wordlessly stood and helped set the tea set onto the table, then hesitated serving. Turning to glance at him wordlessly, he looked at the kettle, then back to Ran, before shaking his head.
“It’s… It’s too heavy for me to handle safely, anyway.” He said with a choked out laugh, seating himself and clamping his hands together, pretending the look everyone gave him wasn’t there. He couldn’t stand being looked at with pity. He stared at his hands as Ran served the tea in silence, then took a deep breath.
Why did he even bother? He felt his childhood friend sit next to him, heard the shuffling of clothing as Hattori and Kazuha-chan reached for their cup. An air of awkwardness hung around them, only broken as Kazuha-chan managed to speak up again, trying to break the uncomfortable silence in the room. “It’s a very nice tea set.” She complimented, taking a sip. “And the tea is good. I had my doubts, Shinichi-kun…” He snorted a little at that, a wry smile forming on his face as he finally looked up. Tension alleviated a little.
“Don’t tell my mother when she’s here, there’ll be no living with her for a month.” He said, reaching for his own cup after Ran started to snicker a little herself. Hattori didn’t even bother hiding his boisterous laugh, slapping his knee.
“Yer mom is a piece o’ work, Kudou.” He said, grinning widely. “Bet yer dad is worse.” Ran burst out laughing at that.
“Yeah, they’re both a little out there…” he said, rolling his eyes. “But what do you expect from an author and an actress?” They sipped their tea in a more amiable ambience, catching up with each other about things that just couldn’t be said as well over a communication app (especially when all tried to avoid giving hints to the elephant in the room). More details on so and so, how the training was going for the three martial artists, loose description of cases… once they had finished the tea, a few hours later, the group was far more relaxed and, as a comfortable silence fell upon them, Shinichi leaned back.
It was time. He couldn’t be sure when Haibara would be back anyway, so if she saw them on their way out she’d have questions.
“I might as well start from the beginning…” He said, clasping his hands together and rubbing them. Attention shifted to him, but he was not surprised nor bothered. He’d treat this as he treated any deduction show. Explain, answer questions, keep explaining.
No need for this to get intricately personal.
“My involvement in this case began in Tropical Land, after I followed one of the men clothed in black I had seen before. One of two we saw during the roller coaster case, the shorter one.” He nodded to Ran, since she had seen them as well. He noticed her hands were balled into fists. “I saw him skulking about, and smelled trouble.” He chuckled softly. “If only I had known…”
He paused, formulating how to say the next part without being too personal, and took the plunge.
“A man was being blackmailed with evidence of himself and his company being involved in gun contraband. Money was exchanged for said evidence, and while I tried to stay hidden and take pictures, the partner of the man in black snuck up behind me and hit me with a pipe on the back of the head.” He tried not to flinch and rub the spot, as if it was still sore to this day. Sometimes, he could feel it faintly, what happened that night… “They argued among themselves on how to get rid of me, decided to test a prototype drug on me that supposedly left no trace, and left me to die. I’d have been shot, if the case hadn’t happened that day.” Ran seemed white as a sheet, hands gripping her pants tight, while Kazuha-chan fiddled with her hands, staring. Hattori seemed a little attentive, he had never told the other detective what happened in much detail…
But really, the day you almost died was kind of a personal ordeal.
“That was my first encounter with Them. All I learned then was that they worked in an organization, and said organization was developing a toxin and dealt with blackmail. When I came to after I was forced to take the drug and fainted, I was... this.” He motioned to himself, shaking his head.
“Professor Agasa was the first person I ran into who wasn’t a police officer. It was him who told me I couldn’t tell anyone what happened, or who I was. It was him who pushed the idea that I live with Ran and her father. Really, he had the best intentions… neither of us knew what exactly I had gotten into yet.” He sighed, shoulders slumping. “I wish I had told you that night... before your father interrupted.” The last he directed to Ran, rubbing his temples and leaning back. “Since then, it’s been a frustrating chase of tiny leads on anything I can find about Them.”
“What I’ve learned so far from them is the following: they operate on a need to know basis. As such, lower ranked members know less than higher rank members, and even those don’t know very much. Their higher ranked members have codenames, and tend to wear black when working.” He paused. “The two that poisoned me were Gin and Vodka. Tequila, Pisco and Calvados have all passed away, Tequila on a Mantendo conference, Pisco was killed,” He paused, flinching a little in guilt. It had technically been his and Haibara’s fault he died. “and Calvados was the sniper at Haido Port with Vermouth, and he shot himself before the FBI could question him.” He paused, and Ran seemed to realize something. “Vermouth, of course. A master of disguise.” Her eyes widened, and it made him wonder what she was thinking about. He gulped. “Chianti and Korn are both snipers, they seem to work together a lot. Kir is actually on our side, a CIA infiltrate who has gotten far enough to earn a codename. Bourbon… is another spy, but I can’t really trust him yet. It feels… off.” He paused, clasping his hands together. “I don’t know much about Scotch, just that he died, and it’s why Bourbon hates the FBI so much. The FBI agent involved in that and I haven’t… talked more about it, so I don’t know more.” Or much at all. He should talk to Akai, Shinichi knew, but he felt plenty of hesitation to approach full disclosure with him. Ran seemed to recall something then. Ugh, he had no idea what she was thinking, and it was making him antsy.
“R-Recently, Kir warned us about Rum. All I know about them is that they are the right hand of the Boss, and that there’s many descriptions.” He gave Hattori an apologetic look, and he understood right away.
And then seemed very offended. He bowed his head.
“Sorry, Hattori, I hesitated to tell you because, well… I have absolutely no idea what to look for.” He seemed to be at a loss. “The only hint is ‘fake eye’... but that’s it. Supposedly, some people said he was an old man, or an effeminate man, or a strong man… it’s what Haibara told me.”
And then, he froze.
They all did.
“... Well.” He said, then let out a nervous laugh. “That’d be another member, an ex-member rather. She used to be Sherry, and was in charge of the development of the drug that shrank us both instead of killed us.” He sighed, rubbing the nape of his neck. “Then they killed her sister and wouldn’t tell her why, so she refused to continue work, and they responded to that by sending her to an execution chamber. She took one of her own pills in hopes of dying faster than they planned, but shrank instead, and was able to escape. She’s also the one who confirmed me dead on the logs…” He trailed off then, then shook his head.
“S-so that other kid is…” Kazuha-chan said and trailed off, raising a brow at Hattori. “Is that why you call her small big sister?” She asked, seemingly unsure of what to make of the nickname. Hattori laughed, shrugging and sticking his tongue out. He seemed a bit tense still at the fact he had not been told about Rum.
He’d have to apologize properly about it later.
“Ahem.” Shinichi coughed into his hand, bringing attention back to him. “Whatever these people are doing, they are recruiting scientists and programmers for it. A log from one of their victims they blackmailed into creating something revealed he was threatened to finish his work with his life on the line, but all he said about said program was that he wished he had never done it.” He left that hanging in the air. “They planned to assassinate Yasuteru Domon. They blackmail companies for information or force others to divulge information before getting rid of them like they tried on the train with the suitcase bomb.” He knew Ran recognized that one, her hands clasped over her mouth. “Combined with the drug Haibara had been forced to make and the… other one she mentioned but never elaborated on, these people have plans. This is… something far bigger than I ever expected when this mess started. This is the… case that has kept me ‘away’ for so long.”
“So… I guess if any of you have any questions, we can continue from that.” Shinichi finalized, shoulders sagging as he clasped his hands together. While he expected either girl to have a lot of them, he didn’t really expect Kazuha-chan to raise her hand while looking a little eager to be ‘picked’. He almost laughed, but it was right after that Ran scooped him up from the side and gave him a bone-crushing hug. He let out a gurgled squawk, frozen in place even as his limbs hung awkwardly and his body was pressed against her own while held bridal-style. Looking to Hattori for help, he found none (he even seemed amused and perhaps a little vindictive), and instead gave Kazuha-chan a helpless look while trying to motion to her. Ran didn’t seem keen on letting go anytime soon, so he instead tried to shift to a more comfortable position without moving much. He could tell Ran was struggling with the urge to cry, so he let her do what she needed to calm down.
One of his hands rested atop of her own somewhat, for a little support.
“So, how many people DO know about, well, this and yourself?” Kazuha-chan asked, eyes wide in curiosity, and he was sure she was probably bitter about her and Ran being left out too. Might as well…
“The only person I told willingly was the professor…” Shinichi admitted as he laughed nervously. “Hattori blackmailed the information out of me…” The guy grinned at that, seemingly proud of himself. That asshat. “Agasa told my parents.” That, of course, came out extremely bitter, causing both Ran and Kazuha-chan to look at him curiously. Even Hattori raised a brow at that, but Shinichi shook his head. He wasn’t explaining that one. “Haibara is in the same boat as me, so she knows.” And then, he sighed. “There’s Hondou Eisuke… I ended up blurting it out to him when he said… things.” He flushed, refusing to elaborate. “It was stupid of me, but he’s sort of involved in this case too.”
“Two other people seem to be certain, but we haven’t… spoken about it yet. One of them is an FBI agent, the other is um, well… Sera-san.” Ran blinked, looking at him curiously even as her eyes seemed a bit misty. “I guess she recognized me on TV when we went to London… I said I was Holmes’ Apprentice, and recently remembered she heard me say that before when we were little at the beach.” He said as he trailed off, then shook his head.
“Oh…” Ran said as she seemed to remember herself. “... Sera-chan and… her family.” She said, pensive. “It’s kind of becoming a little more clear now.”
“I’ll remind you about it later.” Shinichi said, a little nervousness to his voice. She responded with a shaky voice of her own. “You better detail that about Eisuke-kun, too…” She said, eyes narrowing a little. She slowly set him on her lap then. Better grounds to speak, he supposed.
“I don’t know how much Sera-san knows about the case itself, but all of the FBI agents I have met are ‘involved’. Including Jodie-sensei. They don’t know about me… for the most part.” He added, crossing his arms and resisting the urge to lean back. He wasn’t sure he wanted to face the awkwardness of pressing himself against the teen behind him, considering… “The only one who seems to have an idea as to my identity is… living here in disguise.” He finally admitted. He couldn’t say Akai’s real identity, but he might as well let them know about this.
“S-subaru-san is an undercover FBI agent?” Ran squeaked, eyes widening as she remembered something. Oh, right… he had been told about how Ran had kicked the guy when they first met. He snickered at that. “Yeah… I asked him to come here after his previous place burned down in a case to, ah, look after the Professor and Haibara.”
Shinichi chuckled, giving a wry smile. “I can’t really tell his real identity yet, and he and Haibara do have history it seems. I suppose eventually he’ll have to resolve that with her…” And if they were actually relatives… have a long, long talk.
“But… if he knows about you, why did you ask me to not say anything about you to him?” Ran asked quietly. Shinichi blinked, then rubbed the back of his head somewhat awkwardly while leaning forward. He didn’t really want to elbow her on accident.
“He didn’t really know then. I think he overheard me at one point, because I have no idea how he knows, but I know it wasn’t until recently.” Because, well, otherwise Akai would have been more pressuring with his knowledge before, right? Ran nodded at that, letting out a soft ‘ah’ noise. Hattori snorted. “Ya didn’t tell me about that either, Kudou.” He said, indignant, as he leaned forward, elbows resting on his legs as his hands served to rest his head. “How much have ya been hiding?”
Shinichi rubbed his temples with a soft sigh, then prepared to explain, only to hear the noise of a slap. He quickly looked up to see Kazuha-chan had slapped the guy on the shoulder. “Yer so tactless, Heiji.” She scolded. “At least he’s tellin’ ya now.”
“Oi, Kazuha.” Hattori gruffed in rebuttal. Here came another argument. Taking a breath, he started to speak, when a hand started to run through his hair. Shinichi tensed, then relaxed, realizing it was Ran.
“Not right now, Hattori-kun-” Ran started. “Ahou!” Kazuha-chan barked, crossing her arms. “Kazuha-chan.” Both teens from Osaka paused what was about to become the regular banter, looking at the Tokyoites blankly.
“Er. Yeah.” Kazuha-chan said as she crossed her arms and slid away from Hattori, who seemed to take offense at this gesture. Still, he huffed, puffed, and pouted while turning away instead of trying to instigate another argument.
Well, at least they were both mature enough to know when to stop. Sometimes.
“Listen.” Shinichi finally said as he clasped his hands together and leaned forward, using said hand for support on his chin as his elbows rested on his legs. “No one else can know about me, not unless they have to know. We can’t use my real identity liberally, and we have to be careful, okay?” He said, expression serious until Ran reached down and ruffled his hair.
“Shinichi…” She started, looking down at him. “I want to know, what your reasoning was for hiding this from dad and me.” She said, eyebrows drawn up a little. “I know you probably didn’t want us involved in such a big problem but… wouldn’t it make it harder for us to know you were in trouble? What if we told someone you were alive casually and they were an Organization member?”
That was… a very good point. In fact, one that could have bitten him in the ass if Vermouth wasn’t so weirdly willing to spare him. He looked up at her, expression blank, and then seemed to realize something.
“You’re… right.” His brain kicked into high gear. Why did he overlook something so important?! “I should have at least told you I was in trouble. You and your dad and maybe Sonoko. I mean, said not to say I was involved, but it’s not enough if I don’t warn people who know me to not tell strangers I’m still alive…”
He had never really… considered it before, and suddenly it left him feeling very stupid.
“I guess, with all that everyone told me that no one must know anything, that very thought didn’t cross my mind, because my only thought was… that I didn’t want any of you involved.” His shoulders dropped, and he looked down a little.
“I don’t think I have a good reason…” Shinichi trailed off, then closed his eyes and took a deep breath. “All that repeated through my mind was the feedback loop of what Haibara told me the night I… thought I should tell you. In the hospital. That no one can know, it puts everyone in danger. I wanted so much to keep all of you safe from harm… that I kept thinking of knowing and not knowing as two different things, instead of even… considering that middle ground. I didn’t want you to worry about me, sure, but… I also didn’t think it’d be for the best if people who knew me knew not to talk about me like I was still around.”
“Sorry. I… I should have realized sooner.” He said as he hung his head, only to find the hand on his head had left, and had been replaced by both on his shoulders.
“You told me once…” Ran started. “That detectives aren’t Gods that know everything.” Ran smiled, even if he was no longer looking up at her. She gave his shoulders a squeeze, and Kazuha-chan nodded from her location.
“That’s right, Shinichi-kun.” She said, crossing her arms. “At least ya admitted it, unlike this ahou here-” “Hey!” “who would have probably made up some excuse.”
“What was that, Kazuha?!”
“You heard me, you black octopus!”
Shinichi opened his eyes and looked in their direction to witness the wrestling match that was suddenly taking place on the other sofa. “O-oi…” Ran stared as well, then shook her head repeatedly and gently pushed him off her lap and onto the floor. He slid down easily, looking up at her once he was standing. “But you see, Shinichi?” She asked over the rabble that was Kazuha-chan and Hattori fighting for lordship of the couch. “It’s fine now that you told us. We just… have to tell everyone else about you being in trouble.” She said, smiling gently. He stared at her with wide eyes, unable to believe he was just… getting off so easily for such a massive oversight. “Might as well fix it now, but… you owe me and Kazuha-chan some ice cream after this, okay?”
“Ice cream, you say…” Shinichi gruffed with an amused tone as he smiled back somewhat. “I’ll take you up on that-... when they stop fighting.” He sighed, looking back at the two rabble rousers, only to find Kazuha-chan and Hattori in a grappling hold.
“Just admit it, Heiji!”
“I can’t just admit to something if I’m not in the situation! Ahou!”
Ran moved forward to try to separate them, but Shinichi chose to wisely stay in the sidelines. He doubted he had the strength to pull them apart.
The dispute had ended naturally after Kazuha-chan and Hattori agreed at a stalemate; that one could not tell what they would do if one was not in such a difficult situation themselves. Kazuha-chan argued, she thought Hattori wouldn’t have admitted it, but also admitted that either way was possible (albeit begrudgingly). This seemed to satisfy both parties, even if Hattori was a little miffed that Kazuha-chan seemed to think ‘so little of him’.
Another argument was avoided once Shinichi finally piped up the idea of getting some ice cream or something to lift the mood, his treat. It seemed not even Ran could stop them from arguing, but at least she had succeeded in pulling them apart that time.
Once the tea set was washed, they were on their way, thankfully not running into Haibara on their way out and to the busier streets of Beika.
“Betcha the food here doesn’t beat the food in Osaka.” Hattori claimed proudly, and Ran laughed softly at that. Kazuha-chan nodded her head a little. “Osaka is the food capital, after all.” She added, and both westerners shared a fistbump. Conan grinned at that, now back into his role, and stuffed his hands in his pockets as he walked next to much taller teens. The atmosphere had already relaxed. “We’ll just have to see.” His voice had a more childlike quality to it, something that, while still in the Kudou household, all three had admitted sometimes got a little weird and disorienting after hearing him talk seriously. Conan supposed it was a fair judgement.
“Well, the food we tried when we went was very good, right, Conan-kun?” Ran added, looking down at her charge, then back at Hattori and Kazuha-chan, who seemed pleased by her words. He shrugged and nodded. “That’s true, it was very tasty.”
He felt relaxed, a little more at ease and he hoped, very dearly, that they felt that way too. Sometime soon, he would have to deal with informing Haibara, and what would come from that, but he supposed… one thing at a time. At the very least, so far, things seemed to be going well.
He was glad.