Tantei-kun

One

Mouri Ran stared at the chaos in front of her. The great Kudou Shinichi was being forced to do chores here and there by a stranger that was flapping a couple of pictures which she presumed was of Shinichi. Then, the apartment itself was a mess, but Shinichi was doing a great job at cleaning it.

"Um, Shinichi?" She hesitantly called out, her eyes still wide.

The two teens froze, and then robotically turned their heads to Ran. She now noticed that the stranger was familiar, though she couldn't put a name on his face.

"R-Ran..." Shinichi's voice died out, his cleaning utensils falling down on the floor.

"I knocked, but the door wasn't locked. I thought something was wrong. Shinichi, you didn't tell me that you had a roommate," she explained, her head spinning with thoughts.

The stranger seemed to get out of his trance and grinned at Ran. He held out his hand that wasn't holding the pictures and introduced himself as Kuroba Kaito. She shook his hands, her mind trying to remember where she saw him.

Shinichi was silent but another knock sliced right through the tense air around them. The stranger, Kuroba Kaito, opened the door, his feet tip-toeing around the random things on the floor. Moments later, he appeared with a lady behind him.

"Clean more, Kuroba-kun," the lady said, her tone laced with disgust.

Ran found out that the lady was Haibara Ai, or Miyano Shiho as Shinichi explained to her a year ago.

"I think Shinichi is already doing a good job at that," Kaito replied, showing her the pictures.

Her composure fell apart for a second before she gathered it flawlessly again. "Oh?" She arched one eyebrow at the flustered detective. "Bribing Kudou-kun, now that's a scene you don't see everyday. And good morning, Mouri-san."

Shinichi collapsed on the couch, his face beet red. Ran was still confused, and Shiho noticed that.

"It seems you have met Kuroba-kun. He's Kudou-kun's roommate," Shiho said to Ran, her tone amused. "Kuroba-kun moved here about a week ago. Judging by the look of this place and Kudou-kun's expression, Kuroba-kun jut made a mess of their apartment at his first week and now tantei-kun is being forced to clean it. Pitiful."

Shinichi sent a silent thank you at Shiho's direction before forcing himself to meet Ran's eyes. "Ran, this is Kaito, my roommate for the year."

Said guy was laughing at the side, the pictures still in his possesion. Ran's curiousity was spiking up and that was terribly dangerous.

"I wanted to tell you about it earlier but Kaito practiced a new trick on the phones and I haven't gotten a new one yet." Shinichi glared at Kaito. "Sorry you have to find about it this way. Shiho alreay visited three days ago, and that's how she found out about my unfortunate situation."

Ran weakly nodded, shock still painted on her features. Shiho was letting a small smile grace her lips, quite enjoying the scene. Meanwhile, Kaito moved his hysterical laughters to the floor, funny tears starting to appear on his eyes.

"How about we have coffee, Mouri-san?" Shiho offered, shooting a use-this-chance look at Shinichi. "I could make one here or we can go to a cafe near here."

Shinichi perked up. "Yeah, Ran. There's a good cafe here, Shiho's favourite."

Ran once again nodded, letting Shiho lead her out of the apartment. Her hands were contacting Sonoko before she knew it.

AN: Kuroba Kaito can easily pass as Shinichi's twin, don't you think? I wanted to do something about college and friendship and surprises.