Precious Shin-chan

Chapter 3:

Haibara was definitely not keeping the pictures and videos to herself.

Shinichi wasn't aware of this, of course. She was pretty sure the detective would have left the country by now if he knew just who she was sending those pictures to. This was a conspiracy after all, but they do have permission from his mom.

Yukiko-san had been the one to create that group chat after all, and had taken the liberty of sending daily reports of Shinichi when they visited. Sometimes, she'd share some cute baby pictures that she found while scanning through some photo albums.

This had only incited the need for the obsessive mom to have more pictures now, and Haibara had been given the task herself.

Haibara retrieved the SD card from her laptop, putting it back into her phone. She'd allow the detective to take it and erase the pics. It would drop his guard into thinking that there were no more copies.

She had just uploaded the most recent photo, the one where Shinichi was helping the Detective Boys with their homework, having finished with his. Immediately after that, a response from Yukiko-san appeared on her screen.

---Aww! Shin-chan looks so cute!

---He really does adore those children doesn't he?

---My Shin-chan looks so sweet!!

Haibara was surprised though, when Hattori Heiji typed back. When he first learned about the 'conspiracy' as he called it, he was outraged and wanted to tell his best friend immediately. After some logical reasoning, and some well-placed threats by Mouri Ran, he relented with the condition that he was added, so that he was aware of what was going on around his admittedly trouble-magnet of a friend.

---Should have seen him when he was trying to convince people he was just a kid. Could've given you cavities from the sweetness.

---Right?! He was never that sweet when he was really just a child! That's what I loved the most about his second childhood though~~!

Haibara snorted softly as she read the next texts on Shinichi's cuteness. She was pretty sure the only thing keeping Hattori from tattling on his friend was because the Detective of the East rarely told him about his daily life either, despite being self-proclaimed best friends. Honestly, she was unsure how Hattori had managed to keep his mouth shut; the number of times he had slipped up and called Conan as Kudo was worrying.

---Though I still don't know how you could take so many pictures of him without him noticing, little lady.

---Right Ai-chan! He keeps sensing me when I so much as take out my phone! It's unfair!!

Haibara rolled her eyes at the blatant jealousy. She knew the answer and wasn't going to tell them. It would only make them more jealous. So far, only Ran-san and herself had been able to upload more than 5 pictures of the paranoid detective.

She had asked the detective herself, having witnessed the teen whip around and frown at a teenager who was obviously star-struck at the famous detective, while Haibara had her phone trained on him for at least 10 seconds before he had noticed.

Apparently, the detective was so used to Haibara doing it before that he no longer paid much attention to it. 'Besides,' he had explained, 'Ran usually keeps those photos to herself, so I let her do it most of the time.' She can only guess for his mother, but after having met her, she could safely conclude that she had probably done something embarrassing that had traumatized the detective that even the motion of flipping her phone open made the teen hold on to his clothes tightly.

Hmm. Haibara had to get the story out from Yukiko-san sometime.

"Haibara!"

At the call, the girl immediately shut her laptop's lid close, going up the stairs of her basement laboratory. She knew the detective wouldn't go down unless necessary, so she was safe for a while.

"What is it, Kudo-kun?"

He frowned at her, probably observing her slightly harried state that no one but the most observant could see, but decided not to ask.

"Can I stay for tonight?" He looked away, one hand rubbing the back of his head. Haibara felt her hand twitch towards her phone automatically. "Akai-san is visiting his family for the weekend, and my parents aren't home."

As his cheeks pinked slightly, Haibara silently flipped out her phone and started taking pictures, making sure to turn the flash off. It wasn't too dark out yet, so the lighting would still be good.

"I'm. . . just not used to sleeping in a big house alone anymore, you know? When we were planning, Akai-san was living there, and sometimes, Takagi-keiji or someone would stay the night as well. So yeah. . ."

Haibara stealthily closed her phone and placed it back into the pocket of her lab gown when she saw Shinichi's head turn.

"You didn't have to ask." She replied, "You stayed over here pretty often when you were Conan didn't you? We're used to it."

Shinichi brightened, flashing a smile at her direction. "Yeah, but I just wanted to make sure you knew. I know you still have nightmares." His eyes softened in worry. "I didn't want you to get up in the middle of the night and freak out at the sight of a teenager when you were used to Conan."

Haibara rolled her eyes, keeping the warmth in her chest secret. "You're just worried I won't shoot you in your sleep or something. Go get your things Kudou-kun."

Shinichi just laughed, turning around to prepare some clothes. "Got it, Haibara."