Ficbit: Communications: 9/?
Nov. 23rd, 2004 08:55 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
soc_puppetCommunications
Summary: Shin'ichi and Ran join the conspiracy
On Belay
By socchan
“Hey, Kudo? That you?”
“Kuroba?”
“Listen, I can’t talk long, I’ve got a homework project I need to be working on. I’ve got a proposition for you: What say on Sunday, instead of doing our usual call-and-compare-notes thing, you drop by my place? And bring Mouri-chan, Aoko’s been wanting to see her.”
“I… guess that’s okay… What time?”
“I was thinking around one-thirty-ish.”
“That would work.”
“Okay, I’ll see you then.”
-----
Shin’ichi wasn’t quite sure what to expect after the phone call. He didn’t normally know what to expect with Kuroba, but he usually had a set of parameters he could go by. This, though, was completely unexpected.
No information, no questions, nothing but a call out of the blue inviting Ran and himself over to chat. They’d had similar meetings in the past, true, but this was the first one since the reappearance of the Kid. Shin’ichi had talked things over with Ran, but the four of them had yet to get together to work things out. His detective sense was saying something was up, but his Kaito sense—the vague perceptions he had developed in order to understand Kuroba, at least as well as anyone could—was telling him not to worry.
So Kuroba was up to something, but he shouldn’t be worried about it? Shin’ichi couldn’t help feeling like the target in a knife-thrower’s act: his best option was to stand still and trust that Kuroba knew what he was doing, but it was damned hard.
Nakamori Aoko answered with a smile when he and Ran knocked on Kuroba’s door that Sunday. “Good to see you, Ran-kun, Shin’ichi-kun. Come on it, Kaito’s waiting.” Still smiling, Nakamori-kun stepped inside and gestured for the two of them to follow.
Shin’ichi had been in Kuroba’s house before; he knew what the kitchen looked like, where the bathroom was, knew which stair groaned when stepped on. He’d seen the den before, with its portrait of Kuroba Toichi hanging on the wall. He didn’t see Kuroba there, though.
“Where’s Kaito-kun?” Ran asked, glancing around.
Nakamori-kun, Shin’ichi reflected, wore her heart on her sleeve. You could easily tell what she was feeling just by looking at her face (unlike Kuroba, whose moods flickered far too quickly to be tracked). You could tell, for example, when she was happy, when she was sad, or when she was about to reach for a mop. Kuroba played beautifully to her moods, knowing just how far he could push a joke before it wasn’t funny any more.
As she walked up to the portrait of the late Kuroba Toichi, Nakamori Aoko looked positively conspiratorial. She reached up and applied pressure to a particular place on the frame, and Shin’ichi’s eyes widened as the painting became a doorway.
“That’s incredible,” he heard himself say. He’d leaned against that wall countless times, knew its resistance and the sounds it made when pushed against. Never had he noticed anything to suggest the wall was anything other than completely solid all the way across. “The feats of mechanics and engineering alone involved—“ Shin’ichi broke off, aware that he was being scrutinized by a pair of rather amused females.
Nakamori-kun took pity on him. “Kaito’s just downstairs,” she told them. “Would you like to go see?”
Cautiously, Ran a reassuring presence at his back, Shin’ichi followed Nakamori-kun through the entrance and down a staircase. Kuroba was situated at a table below them. A small portion of it directly in front of him had been cleared off, but almost none of the rest of the table’s surface could be seen. Kuroba looked up and grinned as they approached.
“Hey, Kudo, Mouri-chan. Good to see you. What do you think?”
“This is where your father worked?” Ran asked. She looked around the room, wide-eyed. “He must have been a lot like you.”
A moment of silence followed Ran’s words, huge and echoing and heavy. Kuroba’s smile looked like it hurt.
“I—I didn’t mean to—“ Ran stammered.
“No, it’s alright,” Kuroba interrupted. “It’s why we’re here, after all. And it’s good to remember him this way.”
He grinned suddenly, one that looked a lot less painful. “Anyway, I wanted to show you something.” Kuroba rose to his feet and crossed the room. Shin’ichi, Ran and Nakamori-kun followed, gratefully seizing the change of topic.
Moving aside a series of large, cumbersome objects, Kuroba revealed a closet. Hanging up were a number of white tuxedos, two of which on more prominent display. “It was Aoko’s idea, really; I just expanded on it.” Kuroba said, by way of explanation. “With only one person playing the Kid, it’s almost too easy to figure out his identity. Kudo and I are the same height, and I’ve padded some of the suits to make the wearer look more androgynous. I’m working on a voice-changing device right now, and I can teach you some disguise techniques.” He glanced their way again, and his voice dropped. “I can understand if you don’t want to do it. It’s dangerous and addicting, and I don’t think I need to go into what would happen, were any of us caught, but it’s also safer this way. In addition to the advantages of one of us always having an alibi, the police would have a harder time anticipating the Kid’s actions. If we do it right, no one should be able to tell that the Kid isn’t just one person. It’ll be difficult, but if you’re up to it…” Kuroba trailed off, waiting for an answer.
Shin’ichi and Ran traded glances. Shin’ichi quirked an eyebrow; Ran nodded, invisibly.
Shin’ichi looked back at Kuroba, who was waiting expectantly. “Okay,” Shin’ichi said, “We’re in.”
—End—
Well, I may as well take advantage of Shin'ichi and Kaito looking almost the same while I still can. Think of all the confusion! *cue evil laughter*
Title comes from the rope that mountain climbers use to prevent falling too far as they go along, called a belay. When hooking up, you say ‘on belay’, and the person on the other end says ‘belay on’. Thanks to Mom for the info ^_^ <3
Many thanks to Summercloud for beta reading.
Summary: Shin'ichi and Ran join the conspiracy
On Belay
By socchan
“Hey, Kudo? That you?”
“Kuroba?”
“Listen, I can’t talk long, I’ve got a homework project I need to be working on. I’ve got a proposition for you: What say on Sunday, instead of doing our usual call-and-compare-notes thing, you drop by my place? And bring Mouri-chan, Aoko’s been wanting to see her.”
“I… guess that’s okay… What time?”
“I was thinking around one-thirty-ish.”
“That would work.”
“Okay, I’ll see you then.”
-----
Shin’ichi wasn’t quite sure what to expect after the phone call. He didn’t normally know what to expect with Kuroba, but he usually had a set of parameters he could go by. This, though, was completely unexpected.
No information, no questions, nothing but a call out of the blue inviting Ran and himself over to chat. They’d had similar meetings in the past, true, but this was the first one since the reappearance of the Kid. Shin’ichi had talked things over with Ran, but the four of them had yet to get together to work things out. His detective sense was saying something was up, but his Kaito sense—the vague perceptions he had developed in order to understand Kuroba, at least as well as anyone could—was telling him not to worry.
So Kuroba was up to something, but he shouldn’t be worried about it? Shin’ichi couldn’t help feeling like the target in a knife-thrower’s act: his best option was to stand still and trust that Kuroba knew what he was doing, but it was damned hard.
Nakamori Aoko answered with a smile when he and Ran knocked on Kuroba’s door that Sunday. “Good to see you, Ran-kun, Shin’ichi-kun. Come on it, Kaito’s waiting.” Still smiling, Nakamori-kun stepped inside and gestured for the two of them to follow.
Shin’ichi had been in Kuroba’s house before; he knew what the kitchen looked like, where the bathroom was, knew which stair groaned when stepped on. He’d seen the den before, with its portrait of Kuroba Toichi hanging on the wall. He didn’t see Kuroba there, though.
“Where’s Kaito-kun?” Ran asked, glancing around.
Nakamori-kun, Shin’ichi reflected, wore her heart on her sleeve. You could easily tell what she was feeling just by looking at her face (unlike Kuroba, whose moods flickered far too quickly to be tracked). You could tell, for example, when she was happy, when she was sad, or when she was about to reach for a mop. Kuroba played beautifully to her moods, knowing just how far he could push a joke before it wasn’t funny any more.
As she walked up to the portrait of the late Kuroba Toichi, Nakamori Aoko looked positively conspiratorial. She reached up and applied pressure to a particular place on the frame, and Shin’ichi’s eyes widened as the painting became a doorway.
“That’s incredible,” he heard himself say. He’d leaned against that wall countless times, knew its resistance and the sounds it made when pushed against. Never had he noticed anything to suggest the wall was anything other than completely solid all the way across. “The feats of mechanics and engineering alone involved—“ Shin’ichi broke off, aware that he was being scrutinized by a pair of rather amused females.
Nakamori-kun took pity on him. “Kaito’s just downstairs,” she told them. “Would you like to go see?”
Cautiously, Ran a reassuring presence at his back, Shin’ichi followed Nakamori-kun through the entrance and down a staircase. Kuroba was situated at a table below them. A small portion of it directly in front of him had been cleared off, but almost none of the rest of the table’s surface could be seen. Kuroba looked up and grinned as they approached.
“Hey, Kudo, Mouri-chan. Good to see you. What do you think?”
“This is where your father worked?” Ran asked. She looked around the room, wide-eyed. “He must have been a lot like you.”
A moment of silence followed Ran’s words, huge and echoing and heavy. Kuroba’s smile looked like it hurt.
“I—I didn’t mean to—“ Ran stammered.
“No, it’s alright,” Kuroba interrupted. “It’s why we’re here, after all. And it’s good to remember him this way.”
He grinned suddenly, one that looked a lot less painful. “Anyway, I wanted to show you something.” Kuroba rose to his feet and crossed the room. Shin’ichi, Ran and Nakamori-kun followed, gratefully seizing the change of topic.
Moving aside a series of large, cumbersome objects, Kuroba revealed a closet. Hanging up were a number of white tuxedos, two of which on more prominent display. “It was Aoko’s idea, really; I just expanded on it.” Kuroba said, by way of explanation. “With only one person playing the Kid, it’s almost too easy to figure out his identity. Kudo and I are the same height, and I’ve padded some of the suits to make the wearer look more androgynous. I’m working on a voice-changing device right now, and I can teach you some disguise techniques.” He glanced their way again, and his voice dropped. “I can understand if you don’t want to do it. It’s dangerous and addicting, and I don’t think I need to go into what would happen, were any of us caught, but it’s also safer this way. In addition to the advantages of one of us always having an alibi, the police would have a harder time anticipating the Kid’s actions. If we do it right, no one should be able to tell that the Kid isn’t just one person. It’ll be difficult, but if you’re up to it…” Kuroba trailed off, waiting for an answer.
Shin’ichi and Ran traded glances. Shin’ichi quirked an eyebrow; Ran nodded, invisibly.
Shin’ichi looked back at Kuroba, who was waiting expectantly. “Okay,” Shin’ichi said, “We’re in.”
—End—
Well, I may as well take advantage of Shin'ichi and Kaito looking almost the same while I still can. Think of all the confusion! *cue evil laughter*
Title comes from the rope that mountain climbers use to prevent falling too far as they go along, called a belay. When hooking up, you say ‘on belay’, and the person on the other end says ‘belay on’. Thanks to Mom for the info ^_^ <3
Many thanks to Summercloud for beta reading.
no subject
Date: 2004-11-24 08:34 pm (UTC)