Work Text:
Working as a security consultant while being an internationally wanted criminal would always get a private laugh out of Kaito. He never intentionally left backdoors in what he worked on, but as KID he certainly knew how to break them. Today’s job was actually related to KID, but not him. Some copycat had sent a notice.
It’s just, it was way too laughable to even suit up to mess with them. There was no way they wouldn’t be caught even without his intervention. He had a meeting with a school in the morning anyways. Emi should be starting kindergarten this upcoming school year and he figured he should at least case the place out.
Even if Emi seemed less than pleased with the idea of being around a bunch of other kids for that much time. Kaito too was anxious. School meant teachers. Teachers meant more opportunity for someone to pretendto be a teacher. He had almost lost her before. It was why he didn’t talk to his mother anymore. He couldn’t go through that again.
Unfortunately private tutors, who had years of documented existence and weren’t just a cover for danger, were a cost he might not be able to eat.
Needing all the money he could get was why he even agreed to this assignment, even if it was so closely related to KID. Kaito and Emi were still at the heist location this evening. By sheer chance the company he worked for had serviced this museum and they wanted a last minute check up before the heist. Kaito was just finishing up some paper work, Emi bouncing around his legs talking about…. Slugs, maybe? Strange kid. Probably not from his side of the family.
A typical night.
“...Kaito?!”
His head shot up instantly.
The heist wasn’t supposed to happen for another few hours, but he shouldn't be so surprised to see who was running up to him.
On impulse he pushed Emi behind his legs.
“Inspector.” Kaito greeted as the man panted in front of him. It came out more weary then he intended.
“What are you doing here?” Maybe being spotted by the lead investigator at a heist location when he was once a pretty considered suspect wasn’t a good idea. But maybe, if he was lucky, Nakamori didn’t even think of KID right now.
Kaito rubbed the back of his head, and put a smile on his face. “Man, Inspector, its been how many years since I saw you and that’s all you-”
He didn’t expect the crushing hug. It ended rather quickly but still left him feeling winded
Nakamori kept a hand on Kaito’s shoulder as he stared at him. He looked older than he had any right. It had only been like five years. “I haven’t seen you since you graduated.”
“Mmm...” Technically he saw Nakamori just a few weeks ago at the last heist, but the man would hopefully never find that out.
Emi peaked her head out from behind Kaito’s legs and hissed at Nakamori.
Nakamori looked down at her, and Emi hid behind his legs again. “...Kaito…?”
“This is….my daughter, Emi.”
Nakamori looked awestruck. His gaze fell between Kaito and behind him as the gears clicked in his brain. “...oh.”
“Em, its alright, this guy is chill.” Plus there really was no chance at hiding her now. She moved beside him and grabbed his hand, sticking out her tongue at Nakamori. “If you’ll believe it, I was, um, pregnant. Getting pregnant in my last year of high school was so not the plan.”
Nakamori looked even more flabbergasted. “I…saw you nearly every day back then…I didn’t…notice.” The grip on his shoulder tightened.
Kaito flashed teeth in a way he hoped looked like a smile. “I didn’t really look pregnant until closer to the end.” And nobody knowing was the whole point. Everyone was on borrowed time and would leave him eventually, no point making them feel like they had to stay because he was suddenly fragile.
“Why didn’t you say anything?”
Kaito tensed. Well, he couldn’t say the exact reason around Emi. Just because he’d had a miserable time, had to relearn his own body, it wasn’t her fault and he wanted to avoid that conversation until she was old enough to understand. She did sometimes point out how different he looked when she saw old pictures of him, but it was always curiosity rather then critiqe.
He did especially mourn that he hadn't properly appreciated being naturally flat chested until he wasn’t. It hadn’t reverted like he thought it would. He was still searching for a chest binder that actually worked and it all really made disguises as KID inconvenient. Maybe if he hadn’t had to chestfeed, but just his luck it wouldn’t have made a difference.
Kaito’s poker face must have failed him as much as his words did because Nakamori uttered another “...oh”
Emi either read the room poorly or eerily well. “Dad, you didn’t tell him why we’re here!” Emi let go of his hand, and put her hands on her hips and in a very serious voice replied with. “We do the alarms. Its very important business.”
This gave Kaito an opening, and he’d gladly take it. He smiled again, looking down at her. ”We, huh? Well, if you keep that statement they might make you pay taxes.”
Emi’s nose wrinkled. “Oh no. I don't like that.”
Nakamori snorted. “Well, kiddo, do you think the system can handle Kaitou KID?”
Emi tapped her chin. “Professionally? Absolutely. Personally? No.”
This got a barking laugh out of the man. He moved in a way where he might have been about to ruffle Emi's hair but backed out last second.
“Well, we’ll see.” Nakamori looked back to Kaito. “Let me treat you to dinner. There’s a place nearby that Arika told me to try and now is as good as any.”
“But there’s a heist tonight.”
“Ah, my men can handle it.”
Nakamori started barking orders into the air. At least that had never changed.
Under the offer, Kaito saw something else. Fear. Hope of validation. Nakamori wanted Kaito in his sights for the entire heist. "Yeah, sure I'd be up for it."
Everything would be fine.
“If you’re at work why do you have the kid with you?” Nakamori asked as they walked out of the building.
“Oh, uh, I don’t really trust babysitters so they just let me take her places.” Or he left her at home but she’d been more clingy the last bit. “Most of the job is work from home but I’ve brought her into the office enough for them to know she’s cool and doesn’t get in the way of field work.”
“Dad’s boss said I can have a job there one day too!” Emi chirped, bouncing a bit in her step.
This could have been a cute moment, but Nakamori had to go and ruin it. “Where’s the tyke’s other dad?”
Kaito shrugged. “I don’t know. It was only one time so not like it really matters.”
“Has anyone been helping you out with her? Jii? Your mother?”
“Jii, yeah. My mother? Absolutely not.” Not after what she did.
Emi answered when he really wished she wouldn’t. “His mom tried to kill me and that’s why if I see her I’m supposed to,” Emi shot her arms into the air for emphasis. “Scream very loudly.”
“Huh…” Nakamori didn’t seem to know how to respond to that, but he certainly didn’t look surprised.
“Yeaaah, so no grandma time." Kaito looked around. "Anyways, are we almost there?”
Nakamori snapped out of it. “Yes, just down here I believe. Arika has good taste. To be expected, she’s still a rich brat even if she has somewhat mellowed out.”
The man led them in the opposite direction. It was almost comforting. It seemed the old man was still as scatterbrained as ever.
Kaito couldn’t deny, the food was pretty good. And the staff even listened to his request that the food on Emi’s plate not touch, so that was nice. She had stacked the chunks of meat up high and was now eating with her fingers from the stack, stopping every so often to click something on her wrist watch. She was timing something, but Kaito didn’t know what.
Nakamori seemed to forget the time and distance they’d spent apart and was going on and on about various stories. “...and so i sent the files to Arika-”
Kaito twirled some noodles onto his fork. “Who’s Arika anyways?”
“Oh, hmm,” Nakamori laughed. “I guess you would have missed that. You remember Hakuba? She’s Arika now. Well, Hakuba Arika.”
Hakuba…Arika. Huh. Actually not as surprising to him as you’d think. “....did becoming a chick at least get her out of those stuffy suits?”
“Nah, she’s just added color. Hold on, I think I have…” Nakamori scrolled through his phone. “Ah-ha!” He turned the screen around for Kaito to grab.
Kaito wouldn’t mistake the woman in the photo for anyone but Hakuba. But she looked happier than Kaito ever remembered her being. She was prettier now too, hair curled to her shoulders and no longer awkwardly gelled down. Arika. It suited her.
“I really did miss a lot.”
Emi looked up from her food and saw the photo as well. “I like her earrings!” Emi complimented. Kaito hadn’t even noticed the earrings but looking now it looked like they were probably little clock faces.
“She’s still a little…” Nakamori looked at Emi and self censored. “...annoying sometimes, but overall turned out into an okay kid.”
“Its okay mister old guy, you can call her a-”
Kaito dropped the phone and put a hand over her mouth. “Emi, no. No swearing in public, remember?” He flashed Nakamori an awkward grin. “She has quite the personality.”
“Gets it from you for sure. You were quite the handful as a child.”
“Yeah…”
No, definitely not all from his side. Kaito glanced at the phone, but it had already gone dark.