Chapter 108 He's Shinichi Kudo, so who am I...?
However, something even more amiss was yet to come.
Early morning, at the Cat's House.
Conan Edogawa rubbed his sleepy eyes and groggily walked out of his room to have breakfast.
As I approached the living room, I heard Nekono Ikuya's laughing voice: "...So you just ran out like that? Aren't you afraid Aoko will be even angrier?"
A clear, slightly cynical voice rang out, tinged with complaint and helplessness.
"Don't even mention it, Yu Mi-ge. I had no choice. The mess my parents left behind is such a pain..."
Have we had guests? But this voice...
Conan Edogawa paused, his hand still rubbing his eyes: "?"
That sound...
He tilted his head in confusion.
Why does it feel so familiar?
Where have I heard this before...?
Driven by intense curiosity, Conan Edogawa peeked out from behind the wall and glanced into the living room.
Nekono Ikuya was sitting on the sofa with her back to him, while sitting opposite Nekono Ikuya, facing his direction, was a boy with a flamboyant hairstyle. His hair was sticking up lively, and his expression showed a bit of distress, but it did not diminish his handsomeness in the slightest.
That face looked very familiar to Conan Edogawa.
Conan Edogawa instantly pulled his head back, his mind still reeling from the recent startup, a vague thought flashing through his mind:
Oh, so it's Shinichi talking to Nekono-nii. No wonder their voices sound so familiar...
He continued rubbing his eyes and subconsciously took two steps toward the restaurant.
The next second.
The little detective froze on the spot, as if struck by lightning!
……etc! ! !
Shinichi's older brother? ??
Conan Edogawa turned around abruptly, his eyes wide as he stared at the black-haired boy on the sofa.
He is Shinichi Kudo, then—who—am I—?!
"I've seen a ghost! The world seems to have some strange bug," Conan Edogawa felt as if his brain had been hit by an unprecedented shock.
Nekono Ikuya seemed to sense the movement behind her, turned around, and saw Conan's dazed, soul-stirring expression.
He raised an eyebrow, a perfectly natural smile on his face, and waved to Conan: "Conan, you're awake? What are you doing standing at the door? Come in."
Conan moved stiffly into the living room. As he got closer, the black-haired boy's features became clearer.
They looked exactly alike, like identical twins, with only their hairstyles and the cunning in their eyes distinguishing this boy from Shinichi Kudo.
Kaito Kuroba was clearly taken aback when he saw Conan.
His eyes widened instantly as he curiously examined the boy before him, whose features were strikingly similar to his own—a miniature version of himself. He couldn't resist moving closer, almost touching Conan's face: "Wow! Yumi-nii, this kid looks just like me!" He stroked his chin, his tone filled with the astonishment of someone who had discovered a new continent.
Before he could finish speaking, while Conan Edogawa was still in shock and hadn't reacted, Kaito Kuroba reached out with lightning speed and pinched Conan's soft cheek precisely!
That wasn't all! In the instant Conan was stunned, the hand went even further, its fingertips quickly tracing his entire face.
Perhaps Conan Edogawa didn't notice, but Ikuya Nekono could see that Kaito Kuroba's fingertips lingered the longest on the corners of his eyes, his chin, and the base of his ears.
After doing all this, he withdrew his hand, pointed at Conan who was still petrified, and looked at Nekono Ikuya in surprise: "Ikuya-nii, this child is...?"
Kaito Kuroba's eyes lit up with great interest.
There's no sign of disguise! It wasn't Yuya's prank after all? But who knows, maybe Yuya's disguise skills have evolved again?
He began to stare intently at Conan's face, as if trying to find even the slightest flaw with his gaze.
!!
Because the opponent's hand speed was too fast, Conan Edogawa, whose head had been swiped around, only realized what was happening after the opponent stopped. He quickly took a few steps back, staring wide-eyed at Kaito Kuroba.
This person! This person has absolutely no sense of boundaries! They just randomly pinched someone's face!
And the method seemed a bit strange? A hint of doubt flashed in Conan's eyes, but he didn't think about it too much for the time being.
Looking at Conan, who was stunned and looked like he had been petted and had his fur standing on end, and Kaito Kuroba, who was equally surprised and whose eyes were shining with a look of inquiry, a hint of mischievous pleasure flashed in Nekono Yuuya's eyes, but on the surface he remained calm and composed.
He spoke casually, as if he hadn't noticed anything, and first said to Kaito Kuroba, "Kaito, this is Conan Edogawa, who I'm currently taking care of." He paused, a smile playing on his lips, his mischievousness becoming increasingly apparent, "He looks a lot like you, doesn't he? I thought so the first time I saw him. He reminds me of what you looked like when you were little, so I adopted him."
Then, Nekono Ikuya turned to Conan: "Conan, this is Kuroba Kaito, a friend I've known for a long time."
Before Conan Edogawa could even connect the dots, Kaito Kuroba immediately seized on the key point of the sentence, dramatically clutching his chest and making a heartbroken expression, his blue eyes full of teasing amusement: "Wow—Ikuya-nii! I consider you my best friend, and you actually secretly want to be my dad?!"
“You’re really bad.” He dragged out his words, pointing at Nekono Ikuya in an affected manner, his accusation utterly insincere.
His father really did fake his death, not actually die.
I really wanted to record what Yuya just said and let my dad hear it, but Kaito Kuroba regretted that he was a few seconds too slow.
Dad, did you hear that? If you don't end this fake death soon, you might lose your fatherly throne.
Nekono Ikuya raised an eyebrow. Is she that bad? When you're out in the world, you decide your own seniority!
“However…” Kaito Kuroba’s eyes darted around, and he suddenly looked at Conan with a grin, who seemed to be thinking about something.
"But if my friend is his guardian, what should Conan call me? Uncle Kaito?"
Kaito Kuroba resolutely refuses to be of a lower generation than Ikuya Nekono!
"Huh?!" Conan Edogawa's beady eyes jumped up like little bouncy beans. "No, Conan won't call you that!"
He had already realized it; he would recognize him immediately upon seeing him. He was very familiar with Maoye-gege, so wasn't that the cousin that his mother had described in such a mysterious way?
Is the Kuroba Kaito in front of him his cousin?!
Conan Edogawa looked at Kaito Kuroba with his crescent-shaped eyes. Kaito Kuroba looked exactly like him. He really could recognize him at a glance.
...Genes are truly amazing.
Nekono Ikuya blinked, elegantly picked up her teacup to cover the smile on her lips, and said in a very understanding tone, "We can each talk about our own things. Besides, Conan calls me 'Nekono-nii-nii'."
Upon hearing this, Kaito Kuroba slowly lowered his gaze, landing on Conan Edogawa, who was only a little over a meter tall and still had a baby face. After carefully examining him for two seconds, he estimated that the boy was only about six or seven years old. Then, his gaze slowly moved upward, settling on Ikuya Nekono, who had a handsome appearance and a refined demeanor.
—Although it's not obvious, his friend is indeed twenty-nine years old.
Kaito Kuroba didn't speak, but his usually expressive eyes conveyed a precise message. He was using his eyes to do something strange.
'This child looks only seven years old, almost two cycles younger than you! Yu Mi-ge, you're pretending to be young!'
Nekono Ikuya received the full meaning in his eyes but didn't take it to heart at all.
He simply put down his teacup, tilted his head slightly, and his emerald cat-like eyes revealed just the right amount of innocence, as if asking in return: 'Hmm? Not tender enough?'
Time seemed to have been particularly kind to him. Despite being twenty-nine years old, his face was still as handsome as that of a young man who had just turned twenty. Standing next to seventeen-year-old Kaito Kuroba, he looked only a year or two older. If he changed his expression and made his eyebrows and eyes look a little more childish, he could even disguise himself as a high school student without looking out of place.
Such an unfairly pretty face! And it's not exactly a baby face, is it?!
Kaito Kuroba was speechless when he saw Ikuya Nekono's self-righteous attitude that "being young means you can do whatever you want," and could only facepalm in the end.
'Fine, you're good-looking, so whatever you say is right.'
Kaito Kuroba readily moved closer to Conan, bent down, pointed to his handsome face, and began to tease Conan: "Don't we look alike? It seems we're quite destined for each other!"
He winked deliberately, then pulled out a piece of candy from somewhere: "Hey, Conan, you should call me Kaito-nii! Come on, call me Kaito-nii, and Kaito-nii will give you candy!"
Conan Edogawa glanced at the candy, then at Kaito Kuroba's eager eyes.
...You're the one who's turned upside down! You should be calling me Shinichi-nii-san! Quick! Fight! Brother! Brother!
Unfortunately, the shrunken appearance was utterly unconvincing. Conan Edogawa painfully forced out a few syllables through gritted teeth: "...Kai, To, brother, brother."
Kaito Kuroba stuffed the candy into Conan's hand, then reached out and ruffled Conan's hair, smiling brightly: "Good boy~ So thoughtful!"
Conan: "..." He couldn't laugh.
Today is another day I want to turn back into Shinichi Kudo.
He walked away dejectedly with the candy in his hand, his back view showing his droopy and crestfallen appearance.
Kaito Kuroba: "?"
He pinched his chin and looked at Conan's dejected-looking back, puzzled: "What's wrong with him? Why does he look so unhappy?"
Does it mean they don't like this flavor of candy? Or did they tease it before?
It seems... I did go a bit overboard when I checked his disguise earlier. Kaito Kuroba's eyes darted around for a moment, then he felt guilty for three seconds.
A chibi version of Kaito from the heart is touching his fingers!
Well, I was too surprised to notice...
Besides, young Kaito, with his chest puffed out, looks just like Conan when he was a child—super cute!
It's only natural to not be able to resist; it's just human nature.
"Maybe he's just woken up and doesn't have much energy?" Nekono Ikumi said casually.
He looked thoughtfully in the direction Conan had gone, perhaps because he was frustrated at not knowing how to turn back?
It's almost done. He commissioned the witch to concoct an aging potion. Although its effects would diminish when used on someone under the watchful eye of fate, it could at least serve as a temporary way to revert back to normal in a critical moment, without leaving any negative consequences. The potion would be ready soon.
Zero recently flew to Italy on a temporary mission. He stole Sherry two days ago, and the scientific antidote is also being developed.
He just doesn't know when Conan will come to ask him. Ever since he received the information from Yusaku and Yukiko Kudo, he's been hesitant to speak.
They should have realized that they were communicating with him and vaguely guessed that the information was actually provided by him.
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