Seeing lurking for a while but would love to ask more about your Aptx4689 aus, specifically tiny!Hakuba but Arthur's appearance is came right after Hakuba's sudden leave of absence to "solve a case". Probably means it'll be extra quiet for Kaito while the rest of the class moves on with their high school life since this is normal for them.
What do you think Kaito's reaction is when he's asked what he thought about Arthur as "the second Kid Killer"? And if Arthur is one day found waiting for him outside of their school? (Cue Aoko asking if Kaito babysitting Arthur because he missed Hakuba. Arthur is deeply amused as Kaito sputters)
hiiiii, sorry for the late response; your ask had me thinking for a bit 😃
I think you're right, for the class, nothing would seem out of the ordinary since Hakuba's already frequently absent from class. But for Kaito, Aoko caught him glancing at Hakuba's desk more, being more quiet. She charged this up to Kaito's having a crush on said detective (which Kaito does, he just didn't know it yet lol).
I don't think someone as careful as Hakuba would show up at Ekoda high, however, since he stay at Kaito's, one day Aoko just badge in while they're discussing the Black Org and saw him > cue reaction similar to Ran in the first chap. Except Kaito spluttered and said it's Hakuba's relative from abroad, which springs a boatload more question from his childhood friend. Luckily, Kaito's good at adlibing shits: "Yes it's Hakuba's cousin visiting"; "No, Hakubastard had to run to solve some case and is currently abroad"; "Am I watching over the kid because I miss him? Psssh, he paid me to do it!"
And I don't think Arthur would be the second KID Killer. If anything, Kaito would proclaim him "KID's biggest fan" because: a) it would make sense to Aoko that Hakuba would pay Kaito - a known KID fanatic - to babysit this "cousin"; b) it would explain his inaction at heists when he shadows the Detective Boys; and c) it pisses Hakuba off so much it's funny.
Another thing is that since Hakuba now knows there is such thing as aptx4869 exists, he pretty quickly deduced the real identity of Conan (Chalice of Selene comics where when Hakuba throw Conan, he said "Sorry Kudo" instead of "Conan"). But since he hadn't yet know how Shinichi is planning to act, what sorts of security and threats is on him, and fearing that associations with him would lead the Black Org members who might be watching Conan straight to KID, Hakuba has reserves about formally forming an alliance. Which is why he enrolled at the primary school: to watch Conan closely before making a decision.
It should also be noted that in this AU, Saguru is completely head-over-heels for Kaito, but had long since resigned himself to be contended with unrequited affection. He believes himself to be no more than a nuisance to Kaito and is only being kept around because Kaito felt indebted to him for saving his life. Whatever the case, Saguru is prepared to sacrifice much for Kaito. On the other hand, Kaito, being his tsundere self, acts all annoyed because he's flustered by Hakuba. In truth, he harbors quite a big crush on his classmate, but disregards the fluttering feeling he felt each time to the adrenaline of the chase.
so yeah, they're messy 🫠 But as they work together and face various danger trying to dismantle the Black Org, I'm sure their truth would slowly be brought to the light 😉 (pun intended)
ahhh anw, sorry for the long post 🥲 if you haven't notice, I like to ramble lol
