justonetruth | (no subject)

"Even you'd get lost in this place," Ran said by way of an answer as they reached the lobby. "I bet some of you already have."

"Only seventeen people in a place this size -- it's not that surprising we haven't seen anyone," Conan said thoughtfully.

"There's more." Ran knew that much for sure, at least. "But I don't know who all of them are."

"If you know they're here, how are you sure that they're not the one's replacing the food?" Conan asked as they reached the lobby again. "Or that there aren't people here whose job that is?"

"...I guess we don't," Ran replied grudgingly. "But Hattori-san's been here pretty long, and she's never seen anyone do it. Neither has anyone else."

Granted, it'd be pretty easy to lie if anyone had, but Ran couldn't see the point. The only person who might lie about that was the Kid. Who may or may not be Kuroba.

Speaking of which...

"Hey, Shinichi," Ran said as he peered around the hallway, trying to remember which door was the dining room. "Do you know anyone named Kuroba?"

Conan said nothing, but he was already thinking 'stake-out.' Although Hattori would probably have that covered ...

"Kuroba?" Conan frowned. "Not off the top of my head."

"What about Toichi Kuroba?" Ran tried, opening the nearest door. Nope, kitchen. Maybe it was the next one.

"He's the guy who used to give Mum lessons in disguises," Conan said, refraining from commenting on the fact that Ran clearly had no idea where he was. "Got a son about our age."

He taught Yukiko how to disguise? Jeez, that explains a lot.

"...Kaito Kuroba, right?"

Hey, give him a few minutes. It can't be that hard to find a dining room the size of-- aha! There it is. Ran holds the door open for both of them, eyeing the tables. He still hasn't quite gotten used to the sheer amount of food that's usually in here.

"That's the one," Conan said, frowning. "I'd almost forgotten."

He's impressed both at the scale of the room and the sheer quantity of food on offer. "... you're sure there aren't a couple of hundred people here?" he asked, trying to mentally calculate just how many people they were catering for.

"If there are, they're hiding," Ran said, deadpan, and made a beeline for the plates. A joke about whether Conan would need a stool was dropped in favour of continuing their conversation. "Or maybe they haven't shown up yet." It wasn't like many people had gone home yet, after all, and people kept coming in.

"So if he's Kuroba Toichi-san's son, he probably knows some disguising stuff himself, right?" Well, so far it all fit with what Kid-Shinichi had said...

"Much like these alternates you keep mentioning?" Conan said, going tip-toe to see what was on the table. "... haven't shown up yet." That wasn't ominous at all.

"It's a possibility. But remember, Toichi-san died when Kuroba wasn't much older than I look now."

...Definitely fit. What was the best way to say this?

"...What do you think of Kuroba Kaito being The Kid?"

"..." Where had that come from? "I haven't heard anything about the guy in years. I don't know if I'd even recognise him now."

"Well, I kind of got the Kid version of you to tell me his story..." Ran started, and then launched into the explanation of The Kid's origins on that world. The suspicious men in black looking for a jewel that granted immortality, Toichi being assassinated, and that world's Shinichi finding out about it and deciding to take up his father's mantle (weird as that still was to think about).

He did his best to gloss over the parts with that Shinichi being half-brothers with Kaito, and Conan being another half-brother -- partly because he was still uncomfortable with that part, and partly because he barely expected Shinichi to believe him as it was. As he talked, he kept filling up his plate until he had a decent-sized meal, and waiting for Conan to finish doing the same.

Ran should know better than to expect anything so unimportant as food to get a showing when mysteries came up. Conan's frowning hard as he listens, though his thoughts are not necessarily running along the same lines as Ran's.

"Interesting," he says at last. "So that's what you mean by alternates."

Rolling his eyes, Ran reached over Conan's head and snagged some food for his friend's plate. "I was thinking that since you didn't become The Kid, it might be Kuroba," he pointed out. "Since he is his son. But it's not like we have any proof, and the other Kuroba I met was pretty closed-lipped."

"It's obvious," Conan agreed. "Obvious enough that it might be assumed to be too obvious -- but we need more facts." He smirked at that. "Good. Wouldn't want this to be boring."

"If we even remember it when we go back," Ran muttered, heading over to a nearby table and flopping down in the chair.

Conan followed him, frowning. "What do you mean by that?"

"One of the yous said he knows three people who've gone home and come back, and all of them said they didn't remember this place when they were at home." Ran stared broodingly into his gyudon as if it could explain how the mansion worked. "We don't know if it happens to everyone, though."

Conan frowned. This was -- decidedly sinister. "So not only has Hattori been trapped here for months without anyone realising this fact, but potentially once people do get home, they've got no memory of being here?"

Apparently, Conan has magical Hattori-summoning powers, because that's her now, walking through the doors of the dining hall. Food, however, comes before chatting, and she just waves before grabbing a plate.

It is such a relief to see Heiji looking like she should that Conan is prepared to neglect his food a moment to wave back. "Heiji-neechan!"

"Pretty much," Ran said. He broke his chopsticks apart and started to dig into his food. "And they might have gotten to go home because they knew about other worlds already. Except we're not sure about that part either."

He sounded exasperated, and rightfully so. They weren't really sure about anything to do with the mansion.