Detective Conan - Magic Kaito oneshots

Small secret keepers

Why exactly did he decide that going on vacation to a mountain lodge with the detective boys and the professor in the midst of December was a good idea again? Conan did not know the answer to that question. Genuinely. Or maybe he did and couldn't fully comprehend that that was his reasoning nowadays.

Aside from the fact that experience had shown that all of their trips went south quicker than KID could snatch expensive jewelry, and that their inevitable adventures usually put the real children amongst the group in severe danger, his tonsils had been aching a lot the past few days. Basically his immune system had been screaming at him that it was weakened and should under no circumstances be challenged.

So of course he went on vacation with a bunch of children. Long car ride. Middle of winter. Snowy, cold mountain destination. He didn't need to be a detective to know why he had a sore throat and was suppressing violent shivers by the time they reached the lodge. If Ran or Haibara knew of the situation they'd have his head. Rightfully so. Alas, so far he'd been hiding it well.

He just couldn't let the chaos troupe head out without him. The professor needed someone to counteract his scatterbrained chaotic energy and the children, well... they were pretty much self-explanatory, because: children.

And while he didn't doubt that Haibara could handle them if she had to, and normally wouldn't even mind it, he knew she'd been taking medication to combat her anxiety again very recently. It certainly wasn't the time to leave her alone with the responsibility for an absentminded inventor and three chaotic elementary schoolers with more vigor than brains most days.

Even though him coming along meant they'd in all likelihood stumble upon a case in at least the very next hour, he'd rather be there to guide them all through it than stay away, letting Haibara deal with the group and a potential case. Because he'd very much been noticing over the years that his 'curse', as some of his friends and acquaintances jokingly called it, was capable of rubbing off on those that spent a lot of time around him frequently. Poor Ran.

So yes, he was knowingly risking getting sick to go on vacation with the detective boys. What the world had come to. His pre-shrinking past self would've declared him insane without a blink of an eye. A perfect example of how things could change in just one year, he thought wryly.

The next second he jerked back and out of his thoughts, because Ayumi had thrown her arms into the air in excitement at the sight of the lodge and the relief of finally being able to escape the packed yellow beetle, nearly hitting him in the face. If there weren't random pulses of spreading pain, promising an aggressive headache, blooming behind his eyes, he might've been able to share at least a fraction of her enthusiasm.

"The school should get water damage every winter, if that means we get two more weeks off!", Genta exclaimed jovially, racing Mitsuhiko and Ayumi to the door of the lodge, after they'd tumbled out of the car barely a minute earlier.

"I'm pretty sure that business owner, who caused water damage to the whole block in a poor attempt at insurance fraud, won't be around to grant you the same joy next year.", Conan muttered into his scarf with a mixture of fondness and exasperation.

That case had been so obvious he'd only had to help by pointing out a few pieces of overlooked evidence, which hadn't even really been necessary. The idiot at fault had confessed immediately upon being confronted. He'd rarely felt so redundant at a crime scene. Sure, some part of law enforcement was always thankful when he helped things along, but that one they would've figured out themselves given another hour or so.

Oh well, he'd rather offer his help one too many times than one too few. And he'd gotten a four day vacation with the detective boys and the professor out of the ordeal, indirectly. That justified helping personally to send someone to prison, at least in his younger self's books. A little smirk tugged at his lips at the thought, as he clambered out of the professor's yellow beetle.