Daisuke: Hello! I know I haven't updated anything in forever, but I have a reason. That reason being, I'm so full of stories I can't really settle on just one. This is the first of many first chapters of stories that have popped in and out of my head over the course of the last two years. The reason for this is I need feedback from my faithful readers and those of the DC community (most of these are KaiShin, by the way) in order to figure out which stories to focus on first. I'll be trying my best to update every week, or every other week at worst, until all of my stories have been showcased.
That said, when the story that has been reviewed most is finished, I will publish the full thing (bits at a time, I'm not that nice) and take down the chapter corresponding to it. If the first one is this chapter, I'll leave behind the note and a short note of which story the chapter corresponded to.
This chapter is a story that was originally inspired by "Raven, Tantei-kun?" and it's attached artwork. This version was not the first, but it has been scrapped until I can figure out which version is better. The title is "Inky Feathers and Bleached Wings".
Read, Review, and Enjoy!
Conan sniffed at the air, searching for the long-memorized scent of the thief he had taken to chasing around in the night. He knew that if he tried to find the man after the heist, no matter how fast he worked, he wouldn't be able to track him, but that didn't mean that the scent during the heist was different at any time. It was annoying sometimes, having the power to track the man in such a way but having it cut off because of those blasted disguises and smoke bombs - they always covered the man's scent too well, the smoke clinging only to his white suit and the disguises covering the faint traces left over too completely - but the smoke itself was still always a good indication of the man's direction in the moonlit nights.
Conan knew that it was a bit unfair, but he did do his best not to use his sense of smell during the heists unless absolutely necessary. He would hate to have to explain things afterwords without any evidence to a real train of thought, so the shrunken teen tended to stick to his deductive skills, powers or no. He knew all of this, but this night just felt different somehow, like he wouldn't ever get anywhere unless he followed his nose tonight. Physical age notwithstanding, he was going to turn eighteen soon, and his powers were supposed to have completely matured by then.
So here he was, dashing through the cold early May night, getting a stitch in his side and freezing his lungs with every heated, labored breath he took, chasing after the moonlit thief like a bat out of hell. ...Okay, so maybe a bat wasn't quite the right word, but you get the picture. At any rate, he'd finally managed to make it to the roof where the white-clad thief was standing, bursting into sight behind the man as he held up his latest pilferage to the light of the full moon.
The shrunken teen would have shouted out to the thief if one, it were necessary, or two, he had the breath to do so, but said thief got to it first. "Well, well, Tantei-kun, it seems you're a little faster than usual. Maybe I should have left a few more traps along the way? Or would it not have mattered?" Kid had yet to lower his arm or turn towards him, but since the boy's footsteps were so quick and light Conan had no doubt in his mind that the kaitou knew he was the one coming the minute he started running up the stairs.
"Not tonight, it wouldn't have. I'm afraid you're a little lower on luck tonight than other nights, though I can't tell you why. You'll find out soon enough though." There were a few faint clicks and a quiet humming behind the magician, just enough warning to get the man to lower his arm and replace the gem - yet another failure, still not what he was looking for - with his card gun. Still not turning, Kid listened to the click-puff of the soccer belt activating and spitting out one of its soccer-ball-balloons and the subsequent slam of the small detective's foot against it. As soon as the whooshing sound reached Kid's ears, he dodged completely to one side and turned, quickly aiming his gun at the boy's feet.
Conan flinched slightly, but didn't move as the card embedded itself into the ground before him and his soccer ball flew for a while longer in the air before deflating and drifting toward the ground. The two stood, staring at each other for a long time before Kid's smirk grew a little wider and he took a slow half-step back. "Well, it was nice chatting with you, Tantei-kun. Whatever it is that makes you think luck is not on my side will just have to clear its own way out, won't it? Ja ne!" Conan only stared in slight boredom as the thief leapt backwards off the building before flipping and activating his hang-glider.
"If only you knew...just two more days and I'll have the power to find you. Just two more days..."
Conan yawned as he made his way down the stairs, walking in an exhausted manner into the kitchen where Ran was making breakfast. "Ohayo, Ran-neechan."
"Ohayo, Conan-kun. You look tired, how late were you up last night?" Ran brought over the now completed rolled omelet and shoved some onto his plate while he picked up the chopsticks.
"Not too late, Ran-neechan. Just a little bit of restless sleeping last night." He slowly picked up a piece of the sliced-up omelet and placed it in his mouth, chewing while Ran made herself a plate across the table from him.
"You're not having nightmares again, are you? You seem a little pale."
"No, just a little tired. It'll go away when I'm a bit more awake." Conan then dug further into his breakfast to stave off Ran's questions. Satisfied with the fact that he was eating, anyway, Ran backed off and simply got up to put the dishes away. Since it was Golden Week, there wasn't any school anyway, so if Conan was a bit tired now it wouldn't affect anything besides his energy level for the day. Which reminded her, Shinichi's birthday was tomorrow, and she had to get her gift to Agasa to hand off to him soon. Not to mention Conan's birthday being the same day.
Conan was oblivious to the planning going on inside his childhood friend's mind however, so he was a bit startled when, that afternoon, he'd been asked a question that seemed almost entirely out of the blue. "Conan-kun, what would you like for your birthday? It's tomorrow, isn't it?"
Stunned for a moment, the boy stared at his current caretaker over his latest mystery novel. "Ano...daijoubu, Ran-neechan! You don't have to get me anything! There's not really anything I want anyway!" It hurt, still, to lie to her, but however much he wanted for his birthday she couldn't give any of it. He resented every moment trapped in this kami-forsaken body for it, too. With that said, Conan went back to his book for a while before gathering a bit of his stuff together and heading to the door. The Shounen Tantei Dan had a play date at Agasa's that day and he'd asked if he could sleep over that night.
Ran waved the boy off with a bit of worry behind her smile. Somehow, it almost felt like that day at Tropical Land, but...it also felt like it had been a long time coming, where the day Shinichi disappeared it had been so sudden. Letting the feeling get shoved into the back of her head, Ran began to prepare for dinner, starting with getting her drunk (again) father off of his desk long enough for him to realize he was about to miss his latest Yoko Okino showing. Oh well, at least it meant he stayed awake.
As it was Golden Week, the streets were packed, cars and pedestrians covering nearly every inch of pavement in the city - and the cars were in a dead stop, especially in the direction of the airport - children were dragging parents and siblings around by the hands. Only the extremely loud and startling noise of Conan's skateboard allowed the shrunken detective to get a clear path in his direction of travel, and even then he couldn't do more than lightly tap the turbo button to start the engine noise to clear the way without bowling anyone over. This was how it went for the near hour and a half that it took him to get to the professor's house, at least until he finally made it to Beika street, where the residents were few and far between, and thus left Conan with a clean stretch of sidewalk for the block left before his destination.
Kicking up his skateboard, he walked the rest of the way to the door and rang the bell. A few moments later, a girl about his age with short brown hair opened the door. "Ah, Kudou-kun. You're right on time."
Conan stepped in the door, ignoring the girl slightly as she closed it behind him, to take off his shoes and put on a pair of slippers. "Nice to see you too, Haibara." There was only a dry tone to his voice as he greeted her, though the words implied that there had once been sarcasm.
The two walked further into the house, Conan leaving his skateboard by the door as they made their way to a room from which much noise was emanating. Upon entry, they found three children in various positions of relaxation in front of a TV with whatever the newest of Agasa's games was. When the race was over (it was another of his little go-cart games that encouraged much competition between them and was sure to be the newest way for them to hammer Shinichi's natural ineptitude with video games into his head), Mitsuhiko cheered and Genta pouted a bit, Ayumi giggling at their slightly exaggerated reactions to winning or losing the game.
"Looks like you guys've been busy." Conan's comment earned him three startled looks and some exclamations of his name as the true children of the group motioned for him to join them in their fun. Figuring that he could at least keep them from losing horribly and start arguing over one thing or another, Conan complied, and the next several hours were spent with many races and many of Conan's crashes as he flipped the cart or ran into a box or a wall of some sort.
When the others had left, Haibara had retreated into her lab again and left the other not-child to have a few minutes of privacy with the old inventor. "It's tonight."
Agasa, still staring after the children through the window, started slightly and turned to Shinichi. "What? Oh...it is, isn't it. At least, assuming that your little...problem...doesn't affect the process."
Shinichi stared after the children as well, speaking to the professor without looking at him. "I really hope it doesn't...but I still can't help being nervous. Whatever happens, if she isn't my anchor, I'll have to leave her again. And I'll have to do it as Conan."
Agasa stared in sympathy at his neighbor's son, one he had so often considered a nephew. "Shinichi...you have to promise that whatever does happen, whoever your anchor is, you don't give up. Can you do that?"
Shinichi's eyes softened a bit, but he still didn't look away from the edge of the gate where the Shounen Tantei Dan had disappeared. "Sure, Agasa, I'll promise you that."
"No Shinichi." This finally got the boy to look at his 'uncle', "You have to promise yourself, not me."
Shinichi's eyes saddened and softened further before he looked at the ground before his feet and spoke in one of his most serious tones. "I promise."
Agasa nodded. "Good. Now get yourself ready. You're in for a long night, and I don't think this is the best place to have it. Go lock your doors and windows, but don't forget to leave your own open."
"Yeah, yeah. I've heard it all before, remember? Grown up with the procedures drilled into me like etiquette." Shinichi grumbled slightly, revealing just how annoying it had been to learn what he had, even if he knew he would be thankful for it later. "Good night, professor."
"Good night, Shinichi. And happy birthday!" Agasa called after the boy as he grabbed his bag and his skateboard and made his way over to his own, empty, dusty house. It was really going to be a long night.
