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The Detective Boys sat sprawled on the grass of a park near their school, surrounded by a makeshift picnic out of the lichboxes they brought.
“We should go camping in two weeks!”, Genta announced with chip crumbs flying out of his mouth. “It’s the holidays! No school! No homework!”
“Ooh, yay camping!”
Ayumi clapped her hands together exitedly.
“We can tell spooky stories! And hold marshmallows over the fire!”
“I made a plan!”, Mitsuhiko said proudly, holding up a paper filled with drawings and extensive notes.
“We wake up super early, hike into the forest, and then catch bugs!”
“I love catching bugs!”, Genta exclaimed with a big grin.
Ayumi tilted her head.
“Wait… doesn’t Kobayashi-sensei say we need a grown-up with us to go anywhere far?”
All three kids froze.
“Oh yeah...”, Mitsuhiko muttered. “Something about a responsible adult or you'll be grounded until middle school.’”
“Agasa-hakase always goes with us.”, Ayumi declared exitedly.
“Let’s ask him!”
Genta jumped to his feet.
Conan shook his head.
“No can do. He'll be at that inventor expo in Osaka.”
Haibara sipped her tea.
“Something about a toaster that doubles as a shoe dryer.”
"Not very sanitary."
The three kids groaned dramatically and flopped onto the floor in unison.
“No adult… no trip…”, Genta mumbled dejected.
“Our dreams are dead.”, Mitsuhiko cried out, defeated.
Then, a sound whispered through the sky.
“Hey! What’s that?”, Ayumi sat up, pointing.
A white glider, shaped like a triangle, soared above the trees. It sparkled slightly in the sun... and then began to spin. Erratically.
“It’s loosing control!”, Mitsuhiko shouted.
“Is it gonna crash?!” Genta yelled, already running.
The glider spiraled, looped, then nosedived straight into the open field with a loud THUMP, kicking up grass, dirt, and a cloud of glitter. A glitter bomb must have gone off due to the crash.
The kids sprinted over, gasping and wide-eyed.
Lying in the grass in a heap of cape, glider and glittery dirt was Kaitou Kid, who groaned faintly.
“GET HIM!”, Ayumi bellowed.
Before Conan could even roll his eyes, the kids had pounced.
Before he could even gain his bearings, KID found himself aggressively duct-taped to a tree. Arms, legs, and cape were thoroughly wrapped in silver tape, with one eyebrow twitching out of sheer confusion. His top hat had been flattened against his head with a strip of tape that was clearly unnecessary.
Haibara casually snapped a picture, grinning evilly.
“Okay!”, Ayumi said brightly. “Tell us why you crashed into our very important crisis camping meeting!”
“I…I have no idea. I swear I was just flying back from a recon mission and next thing I know I'm duct taped to a tree.”, Kid blinked.
There was a moment of silence.
"You fell asleep while gliding again, didn't you?", Conan asked, with a very unimpressed raised eyebrow.
"I might've....That would explain the pigeons....who were talking to me."
The thief looked fairly embarrassed, admitting that.
“Whoa…”, Genta whispered.
“He must be even more tired than when I tried to stay up for Santa.", Ayumi said, genuinely impressed.
Haibara squatted next to Kid and poked him with a stick.
Mitsuhiko pointed his pen dramatically at the crumpled heap that was left of the hang glider.
"Are you even licensed to fly that thing?!”
“....what...” Kid replied, blinking slowly, trying to make his brain process what the kid just said, while trying to ignore Haibaras continued poking.
All of a sudden, Ayumi gasped.
“Wait! He’s an adult! That means he can take us camping!”
Conan raised an eyebrow.
“Can that idiot really be counted as a functioning human being—much less an adult?”
“I am extremely mature.”, Kid muttered.
“You drooled on your cape.", Haibara noted.
“You crashed into the floor like 5 minutes ago.", Mitsuhiko added.
“You’re taped to a tree.”, Genta reminded helpfully.
"And you are literally being blackmailed by kids right now.", Conan delivered the final jab, making Kid shrink in on himself.
Ayumi ignored them and turned back to the thief.
“You are gonna take us, right?”
“No, absolutely not.”, Kid said firmly, although being wrapped in duct tape somewhat undermined his authority.
“I am not a babysitter. I am a phantom thief! A criminal! Where the he-ck are your parents?"
5held up her phone, where a freshly taken photo showed Kid slumped with a leaf stuck to his face and a glitter trail leading from where he sat to the remnants of his glider.
“You agree or this goes on the school website under ‘Lost and Found: Dignity’.”, Mitsuhiko threatened.
Kid stared at the phone.
“Okay.”, he whispered.
Cheering broke loose while Kid mumbled something about not believing he just got blackmailed by a bunch of 8 year olds.
Ayumi bounced happily.
“Do you know how to make pancakes?!”
“I can make them…vanish…”, Kid replied with a hearty yawn.
“Oh wow, that's so useless.”, Mitsuhiko deadpanned.
“You’re carrying the tents.", Genta declared.
“And you have to wear a big hat that says ‘Camp Boss.'”, Ayumi added.
“Can I sleep first?”, Kid asked weakly.
"As long as you have time. We're leaving Saturday in 2 weeks. The day after the last school day. 7am. No later.", Conan said with a menacing grin.
"Can you pick us up, Kid-san?", Ayumi asked, puppy dog eyes on full display.
Kid sighed deeply and closed his eyes.
“I hate children…”, he mumbles defeated.
“You’ll be great, Camp Boss Kid.”, Haibara added with a tiny smirk.
---
Somewhere on the roads – Two Weeks Later
A white minivan rattled along a bumpy trail, swerving slightly every few minutes like it was being driven by a zombie.
“Is he even awake?”, Mitsuhiko whispered from the back seat.
Conan glanced at the front. Kaitou KID sat in the driver’s seat, disguised as Kudo Shinichi with the exception of his god awful bedhead, his eyes wide and fixed on the road, sipping from his fifth convenience store energy drink. He hadn’t blinked since they left Tokyo.
“I think he’s running entirely on caffeine and spite. How admireble.”, Haibara muttered, buckled in beside Conan.
“I see trees!”, Ayumi squealed.
“I see a bear-shaped rock!”, Genta shouted.
“That is literally a trash can. And it's not even shaped like a bear. Why am I here?”, Conan groaned.
They pulled into the designated camping area with a screech that made nearby birds flee in terror. Kid got out, wobbled slightly, then muttered
“I'm... in the forest. Is this a dream?”
Ayumi immediately pulled out a very important looking clipboard with tons of colourful sticky notes attached to it.
“Okay, let’s set up the tents first! Kobayashi-sensei said organization is very important!”
---
It took them a while to set up the tents, Kid couldn't even help much because his hands shook like crazy due too having to much caffeine.
Finally, after a long half hour, all of their tents were set up. A big one for the boys and a smaller one for Haibara and Ayumi. Kid had brought his own tent.
"Let's start a fire now! I wanna grill marshmallows!", Genta exclaimed.
"Do you even know how to make a fire, Genta?", Mitsuhiko asked seriously.
The taller boy shook his head sadly.
“Be glad I watched a Tiktok about it then. I know all about survival now. Though I think I zoned out for half of it. It was just too long for my attention span."
Conan raised an eyebrow.
“So... none of you actually know how to make a fire?"
“I do.”, Kid declared, looking utterly tired.
Everyone looked at him.
He pointed dramatically at a lighter and a canister of gasoline, then at Conan and immediately faceplanted into the ground, sound asleep.
It was miracle the kids didn't set Conan on fire but listened as he told them to gather firewood.
When they came back, Conan poured gasoline on the wood and held the lighter near it, all while still ignoring KID who was still lying there face down, breathing in dirt.
When the fire lit up, the kids stared at Conan as if he had just performed witchcraft of the highest level.
---
One Hour Later
The campsite looked like it had been visited by a tornado. Two tents sagged in defeat. One had a pole sticking out like a harpoon and was singed on a spot where a burning marshmallow had been flung to. The third tent had collapsed with Genta inside who handled the situation very maturely and calmly.
“Help! It’s got me! I'm gonna die!”
“This is fine.”, Kid declared, seconds away from a nervous breakdown.
He sat on the ground near the campfire, a marshmallow stuck in his hair, eyes closed in exhaustion while dangerously swaying from left to right.
“It’s not.”, Conan deadpanned, swatting a mosquito.
Ayumi cheerfully clapped her hands, ignoring the chaos.
“Okay! Let’s start activities!”
“Activity one: bug catching!”, Mitsuhiko pulled out a net, box and a magnifying glass.
“Activity two: Getting me out of the tent. I need to pee and I can't hold it much longer.", Genta announced, voice muffled from the fabric.
“Nooooooo! My stuff is in there!”, Mitsuhiko cried, finally rushing over to the collapsed tent to save Genta.
Ayumi skipped over to Kid.
“Mr. Camp Boss! You have to supervise!”
Kid opened one eye.
“I’m supervising… my eyelids from the inside.”
“Nope!”
Ayumi shoved a bright purple sash into his hands that read -Official Responsible Adult™- in glitter blue. “You’re in charge!”, she declared and bolted.
Kid stared at it like it was a cursed talisman.
“Hey...”, Conan whisperd.
“They’ll stop bothering you if you distract them with something shiny.”
“I am something shiny...”, Kid muttered bitterly, holding up the sash that was already loosing some glitter.
---
Later That Evening – Campfire Time
Miraculously, they had a fire going. Mostly thanks to Haibara, who used “chemistry” (and maybe mild explosives) to get it started. The kids were toasting marshmallows, dropping half of them into the flames and squealing like they’d discovered a miracle.
“Tell us a ghost story!”, Ayumi said, snuggling into her sleeping bag.
“Yes!But a spooky one! With history and plot development!”, Mitsuhiko agreed.
Gents screeched in excitement.
Kid, who was now using a log as a pillow, waved an arm weakly. “Once upon a time… there was a ghost… who just wanted a nap…”
“That’s you, isn’t it?” Haibara asked.
“Shhhh… let me talk…”
“Then,”, Kid continued, voice dreamy and far away, “a bunch of small goblins kidnapped him… tied him to a tree… and stole his freedom…”
“Was there a mummy?!”, Ayumi asked exitedly.
“Yes. It was made of duct tape.”
The kids gasped in delight.
“Did the ghost escape?!”, Genta asked, eyes wide.
“No.”, Kid sighed.
“He was forced to make pancakes and wake up at 6 am forever. The end.”
"Laaaaaame!", Genta exclaimed.
“That’s not a scary story.”, Ayumi pouted.
“It is to me.”, Kid muttered.
Conan tossed a blanket over him.
“You know,”, Haibara said with a smirk, “he actually lasted longer than I thought.”
Conan nodded.
“Let’s see if he survives breakfast tomorrow.”
---
Midnight.
All was quiet in the forest.
Kid snored peacefully, hugging a bag of marshmallows like a teddy bear. Ayumi drooled onto her sleeping bag. Mitsuhiko muttered something about compass calibration in his dreams. Genta rolled over and smacked him in the face with a half-eaten sausage.
Conan and Haibara sat under a tree, watching the stars.
“Well,” Conan said, “at least nothing exploded.”
“Yet.” Haibara added.
There was a distant snap from the trees.
A very large raccoon emerged from the shadows… dragging a bright purple sash in its mouth.
Conan blinked.
“...Was that Kid's?”
Haibara smiled faintly.
“Told you. Yet.”
---
Kid was already lying in his sleeping bag, head turning and eyes opening as soon as he heard someone approaching.
“Don’t worry.”, Haibara said. “Edogawa-kun and I will take over now. You can sleep.”
“…Are you serious?”
“Yup. Thanks for helping us today.”, she said sincerely.
“…That’s… actually kind of sweet.”, Kid muttered.
“But you still have to be the kids camp counselor tomorrow!”
“…Of course I do.”
---
Turned out, Kid was a pretty talented artist. Ayumi had wanted to sketch some nature and asked Kid for help since she couldn't quite get it how she wanted.
The thief had helped her reluctantly, pointing out things she could add that would make it look prettier.
It didn't take long until the kids all ran through the forest, sketching things and running back to Kid for help. It was adorable.
He taught them how to break down beetles into shapes to simplify the drawing process.
After some time, Ayumi shyly walked up to Haibara, pulling out a paper behind her back, holding it up for her to see.
"I made this for you.", she smiled, looking up at her friend.
Haibara looked at the drawing of her and Ayumi arm in arm with huge smiles on their faces and couldn't help but show her a genuine smile.
"Thank you, Ayumi, I love it."
"That's great! You've been so down lately so I'm glad to see you smile again.", she admitted, grinning.
Haibaras smile became just a little more fond.
"Yoooo, Conan-kun, look what we drew."
Genta and Mitsuhiko ran over, waving a piece of paper. Conan's eyes drifted over to Kid snickering to himself, smile breaking out into a shit eating grin when he noticed Conan.
Genta showed him the piece of paper and Conan didn't know wether to laugh or to be very concerned, looking at what they drew. It seemed to depict the detective boys in a cartoonist, simplified style, standing at last week's very brutal crime scene. And it looked actually decent. Which was a little concerning.
"Look, look, it's us! While solving that murder last week. See, that's the body, that's me, Genta, Mitsuhiko, Ai-chan and you!", Ayumi beamed.
"Oh and over there are Ran-oneesan and Ojichan. Oh and Megure-keibu and Takagi-keiji."
"O-oh that's impressive. You even drew the blood. Uh, wow. Good job?"
"Jepp! It was so fun!", Mitsuhiko agreed.
Conan just laughed nervously. Maybe he wasn't a good influence. But just maybe.
Suddenly, Kid appeared from behind them, ruffling the kids hair.
"Well, seems like we've got some talented artists, ne?", he laughed, grinning down at them proudly.
The detective boys smiled, proud of their work.
"Okay, next activity!", Conan declared, desperate to get whatever this just was out of his mind.
"Yay, fishingggg!", the detective boys cheered.
"NOOOOOO!", screeched Kid in terror, promptly scaling a tree in record time.
Conan gaped at him practically flying up that tree.
"Kid-niisan? What's the matter? Everything okay?", Ayumi called up to the thief.
A head popped out of the leaves pretty high up.
"Yup, totally fine, just saw the racoon that stole my official responsible adult sash, that's all. It got away though.", he explained, voice wavering and trying to catch his breath.
Weird, Conan thought he was in good physical shape. Must be the lack of sleep.
They didn't not go fishing. Instead, they went on a big search for the glittery piece of clothing.
It was not successful, may it rest in peace.
---
Kid awoke to the sound of wind in the trees, birds chirping... and silence.
No screaming. No crashing. No demands for pancakes.
He blinked, confused. Nothing was on fire, there was no bickering, and he wasn’t preparing breakfast while disassociating. Just… peace.
He slowly sat up in his sleeping bag, rubbing his eyes.
“Good morning!”
Mitsuhiko waved from the firepit, already dressed and boiling water.
“We let you sleep in today.”, Conan added. “You looked kinda...dead yesterday.”
“Like an overcooked marshmallow.”, Genta offered helpfully.
Kid blinked.
“You…let me sleep?”
“We voted.”, Ayumi said as if that explained anything.
“It was a unanimous ‘don’t poke the thief’ decision.”, Haibara elaborated helpfully.
Kis looked around at the calm forest. The quiet. The faint smell of hot chocolate. Did they bring some? He definitely had to investigate.
But for the first time in days… he actually feeled like he was half alive. He didn't have much time for sleeping the last few weeks since he had been mid finals.
“…Okay. Fine. Let’s go hike somewhere cool. I heard there’s a waterfall nearby.”
“You’re suggesting an activity?”, Conan asked, raising an eyebrow.
Kis stood up, stretching his back with an exaggerated groan.
"You have a problem with that?", he grinned back.
He felt his usual unwavering good mood slowly come back to him.
---
The trail was winding and beautiful. The kids chattered endlessly, and Kid, shockingly, found himself enjoying the noise.
Ayumi helped Genta cross a log. Mitsuhiko discussed moss patterns with Conan. God knows why the actual child of the two knew that. And Haibara lowkey made sure no one fell off a ledge.
When they reached the waterfall, they all gasped.
“Whoa!” Ayumi said. “It’s so sparkly!”
“I wanna go swimming!”, Genta demanded immediately.
"This is a literal waterfall, where, do tell, do you think you can safely swim?", Conan deadpanned with an utterly unimpressed look on his face.
Genta turned away to pout.
Kid was glad that Conan had seemingly stopped to enjoy his suffering and now actually helped out with the tiny chaos gremlins.
He pulled out a small deck of cards and started doing magic tricks, entertaining the group like some kind of camp sorcerer.
“Where were you keeping those?”, Mitsuhiko asked suspiciously.
“I never travel without them.”, Kid replied, pulling out a queen of clubs behind Genta’s ear.
“Cool!! Do it again!!” Genta yelled.
For a moment, the forest echoed with laughter, not screaming. Kid grinned, genuinely, as he let a paper dove fly off the deck and land gently in Ayumi’s hands.
---
By now, Kid had fully settled into camp life. Or he had accumulated just enough sleep to function like an actual competent human being.
He'd made a tarp shelter with the kids just to show off and taught Genta how to cheat at Go Fish (then taught him why that was bad). Mitsuhiko was fascinated by Kid’s survival tips—half of which were nonsense, but all sounded cool.
Conan caught him smiling to himself several times.
“You’re enjoying this.”, Conan said quietly as Kid made himself his 6th hot chocolate at sunset.
“Shhh.”, Kid whispered. “If you say it out loud, I’ll evaporate.”
Haibara smirked.
“You’re not fooling anyone. I saw you humming while hanging the laundry.”
“It was dramatic humming.”, Kid insisted.
That night, they played cards around the fire, with Kid dramatically narrating every round like a game show host.
“Will young Mitsuhiko fold under pressure? Will Ayumi rise to victory? Will Genta stop licking the cards?!”
“They smell like marshmallows!”, Genta whined.
“Everything smells like marshmallows.”, Conan deadpanned.
---
Morning came, golden and soft. The firepit was cold. The tents were still standing, somehow. The kids packed their bags and rolled up their sleeping mats.
Kid stood in the middle of the clearing, hands on his hips, looking proud and almost—almost—sentimental.
“I gotta admit.”, he said, “this was fun.”
“You were the best responsible adult ever!”, Ayumi said with a smile.
Conan snorted.
“You didn’t even get eaten by raccoons!”, Genta added.
"And I am very glad I didn't."
It had been a close call.
“You showed me how to tie a tension knot.”, Mitsuhiko said gratefully.
It was a very essential thing for his work as Kid, so why not teach it to this insanely smart little boy. He may be tempted to recruit him as his junior sidekick someday.
“You made it through five days without committing a single major crime. I mean, stealing the marshmellows could be counted as one, but I am going to be lenient.” Haibara noted.
“Progress.”
Conan looked at him.
“Genuinely… thanks. You kept them safe. That counts for something.”
Kid gave a little salute.
“Hey, if anyone asks, I’ll deny everything. I'll tell them I was kidnapped and forced to camp under threat.”
They all laughed.
---
As they loaded the van (with less chaos than expected), Kid found himself hesitating.
“Hey...” he said.
“Next year... if your usual mad scientist’s busy again…”
The kids turned.
“…You know where to find me.”
Genta grinned.
“Are you asking to come camping again?”
“I’m saying... I wouldn’t fight as hard next time. Under the condition of you letting me sleep from time to time.”
“Awwww.”, Ayumi squealed.
“Are you gonna miss us?”, Conan asked teasingly.
Kid grinned in return.
“You wish. I’m going to sleep for a week. But…it was fun as soon as I wasn't sleep deprived and dead on my feet. This was actually a little mini vacation. I think I needed this.”
---
One the way back to Tokyo Genta snored in the backseat, curled around a bag of trail mix. Mitsuhiko muttered something about beetles in his dreams. Ayumi drew a picture of the waterfall in her notebook. Conan quietly read a mystery novel. Haibara closed his eyes and listened to the wind through the cracked window.
Up front, Kid drove, hair a mess, sunglasses on, quietly jamming to music at half volume. The kids had fallen asleep while singing along to the newest popular songs. Guess they were just as tired as Kaito.
This time, he didn’t need an energy drink. He just hummed to himself, the road winding ahead, the forest behind them and a little less mentally exhausted then when he came here.