1018 Words excluding (A/N)~ I no own MK/DC~

Written October 29 2022
Posted November 1 2022

NEXT UPDATE is on November 15 2022

The pancake cafe ended up being a hit in Lapin's opinion, Kaito had thoroughly enjoyed eating his fill of dessert pancakes while he himself enjoyed simple chocolate chip pancakes. Despite the simplicity, his own food had tasted great and the cafe's coffee had been decent too. Now they were on their way back home.

"I'm definitely going back there again sometime" Kaito mused as they crossed the street. His stomach kinda hurt but that was because he'd eaten too much. The pain in his stomach was totally worth it. He'd forced himself to stop eating to prevent himself from throwing up.

Lapin nodded in agreement "The food was good, I enjoyed it" It was the truth, especially since nobody died despite Kaito's concerns.

Kaito opened his mouth to say something, but was cut off when a little girl ran into his legs. Thankfully by then they'd already gotten off the road so he just ended up falling on the sidewalk "Ack!" The yell was more startled then pained.

The tiny sleuth looked between Kaito and the girl, deciding to check up on her first "Hey, are you okay?" Azure narrowed, she was wearing oversized clothing... That was worrying.

Instead of responding, the strawberry blond haired girl's blue eyes were staring wide eyed at the sleuth.

Quick to collect himself, Kaito pushed himself up so that he was sitting up. He eyed the girl, she felt off. He didn't like her? Huh, his instincts had never been like that towards a child before "Are you okay miss?" He asked, knowing that he'd need to use bruise cream later. his legs bruised easily.

The girl blinked a few times, looking towards Kaito, blinked once more, then glanced back at Lapin "Um, yes. I'm sorry!"

Lapin pursed his lips "Why are your clothes so big?" Why would a little girl not have access to clothes her own size? He did his best to ignore the darker thoughts that'd popped into his mind.

"Oh" The girl was silent for a few moments "I hate the frilly things mommy gave me" She scowled "So I took big sister's extra clothes after she changed at the gym, now I need to hide or I'll be put back in that ugly dress!"

"And she wore lab coats?" Kaito inquired, not really believing her. The girl was talking too childishly for her age. Like it was forced.

"Yup" She nodded "Big sis goes to the gym because staying stuck in the lab might make her fat!"

"Oh, is your sister Masami-san?" Kaito asked, making up a name "I've seen her arrive at the gym a few times in lab coats" It was a lie, but he felt like giving the girl an 'out' without making Lapin suspicious.

The girl's eyes became more serious as she studied him before eventually replying "Yup!"

Kaito nodded, ruffling her hair "Well you better get going then" He'd discreetly written a note and had hidden it in her hair. He'd been raised as a magician up until his father's death after all. If the girl was normal, she wouldn't understand it. If she wasn't normal, well it was a warning. He'd felt no animosity, but the way she'd looked at Lapin had been concerning. It was like she was surprised to see him, yet Lapin obviously hadn't recognized her.

"Is that okay?" Lapin asked, frowning. The girl might be running from abuse.

"Yes" Kaito smiled "Masami-san told me about how her little sister liked to steal her clothes, it's weird, but normal for their family" Indigos gleamed "Send Masami-san my regards, I hope you two enjoy your upcoming move to France"

The girl nodded "I'm so excited! Bye!" She ran off.

"Huh, that was weird" Lapin mused, staring off after the girl.

Kaito subtly sent out a spy drone. He was pretty sure that it wasn't needed, but he wanted to make sure that he hadn't actually let an abuse victim run off without helping them "Nah, that family has always been weird" He pulled himself up so that he was upright. The note had said that he had the skills to fix things, and that she should stay away. It was vague enough to confuse someone who didn't know.

Lapin nodded, then turned to Kaito "Are you okay?" It looked like the other had fallen quite hard.

"Probably" Kaito grinned "There's no blood staining my pants so I'm just going to end up all bruised"

Azure narrowed "You bruise easy? I'm sure I've seen you bang your arm and end up without a bruise"

"Only my legs bruise badly, but I can't feel it so It's fine" Kaito replied, smirking. Not feeling his bruises was one of the few good things about his condition.

Lapin frowned "That's dangerous, check yourself over carefully when we get back" Normal falls could cause a lot of damage if the person landed badly. It wasn't too common, but Kaito didn't have the pain indicators to tell him if he was alright or not. He was also using his arms to walk instead of his legs, so there was that too.

Rolling his eyes, Kaito nodded "I know, I'm used to this" He'd learned his lesson after developing a hematoma, it had been weird and not something he wanted to happen again. Both Aoko and Ginzo had scolded him profusely for not taking better care of himself. It hadn't been pleasant to say the least.

"Right" Lapin nodded, feeling somewhat sad by that answer for some reason. He'd only known the other while he was unable to use his legs. He checked the time "There should still be enough time to grab a doughnut or two on our way back" Maybe he'll look up old Kid heists sometime, hearing and seeing were both very different things.

"My stomach is saying 'no' but I want to" Kaito laughed. He'd be able to handle two doughnuts at least. Doughnuts weren't that big after all.

Lapin snickered "You really do love sweets don't you?"

Indigos softened "Yeah, Keibu was the one who made me spoiled" He'd gone from eating food from the garbage to going to fancy cafes for sweet food instead of nutritional food. Now a few bits of food no longer filled him up.

Me: Kaito has honed senses~ How will this affect things?

Comment? ^-^

Gah... I barely have time to get in the mindset to write with how tired work makes me >~< That and I've also gotta set aside time for housework, grocery shopping, and dates too