This is something I found gathering dust on my hard drive. If you've got any interest in seeing it continued, then express it. If you have suggestions or wishes for what happens next, then send them. I haven't really decided yet on what happens next, so I'm still open for suggestions.
.-.-.-.
Contrary to popular belief, high-school detective Kudō Shinichi isn't an only child. However, it isn't as though he had been hiding it, at least not initially. Everyone had just naturally assumed it, and for various reasons, Shinichi had neglected and has continued neglecting to correct them on this assumption. That said, he had intended on telling Mōri Ran on a number of occasions, but had ended up putting it off again and again. At this point, it would be really awkward to confess to having a younger brother, roughly seven years after the fact.
Still, considering how he is planning on maybe confessing to Ran, either at Tropical Land or at some later occasion, Shinichi knows that the issue of his yet to be introduced younger brother will have to be breached eventually. It would after all be better for him to break the news to her than risk having her meet his younger clone without a proper introduction. Then again, calling him a clone is a bit‒ "Say, Ran‒"
"Let's ride that one next," Ran interrupts, pointing to the rollercoaster. Then she grabs him by the arm, physically tugging him towards it.
Shinichi allows himself to be tugged along; the issue can wait for a while yet.
But then there is a murder case, distracting him, and then the men dressed in black, distracting him further. Caught up in the moment, Shinichi parts with Ran and hides, becoming the unwitting witness to a shady business deal turned murder. He becomes so absorbed in the task that he fails to notice the other shady man sneaking up on him before it is already too late.
The blow to his head is heavy. What follows is an incoherent mixture of flashes, of heat and of absolute agony; something about a drug, a poison forced down his throat, and then‒It all ends.
"Ran," he thinks, and then: "Conan."
.-.-.-.
From the very start, the Kudō couple had known that their two sons were perfectly extraordinary, although the younger perhaps even more so than the firstborn. Age difference aside, the brothers had fairly similar interests: mysteries and detective stories. However, whilst Shinichi had moved on to become the Heisei Holmes, the Saviour of the Police Force, Conan had gone down a similar yet strangely divergent path: solving various mysteries far away from any limelight, occasionally with some quite unusual assistance along the way.
"What are you doing?"
Conan doesn't look up from his gameboy; he doesn't even move as the frowning semi-transparent figure leans over him to take a closer look.
"Hey, kid‒"
Conan shoots the spectre a definite look and then goes back to his game; he would rather have done something else, but he would also rather not draw any unnecessary attention to himself. Besides, playing games does provide him with the type of distraction that does not in any way involve engaging the numerous spectres shuffling about in the reception hall. Granted, Conan is still waiting for his luggage to turn up, but it is still past time; Shinichi was supposed to have turned up half an hour ago. Not that Conan is surprised or anything; he knows his brother far too well for that.
With a sigh, he puts his gameboy away, pulling out his worn pocket edition of A Study in Scarlet instead.
Most parents would have shied away from the thought of putting a six-year-old boy on a flight from Los Angeles to Narita International Airport, Japan. Some would have viewed it an admittedly irresponsible move. However, fact remains that Conan has a good head on his shoulders. Besides, aircraft personnel had been specifically tasked with making sure that he wouldn't get lost along the way. Even now, one of those watchers is keeping an eye on him, trying to act subtle in a way that makes their presence glaringly apparent to him.
Absentmindedly, Conan wonders whether or not they would step out and help him with his bags when the time comes. After all, whether in possession of a good head or not, with a child's body, he can only do so much.
Both of his parents like to joke about Conan being the most mature one in the family.
Shinichi meanwhile is good at what he does, yes, but he is too flashy. And unlike his parents, Conan waits with bated breath for the day when Shinichi's cockiness will eventually come back to haunt him ‒ or in a worst case scenario, come back to haunt Conan, because that's how things usually turn out.
So, when Conan has finally managed to ditch the ghost and slides into the passenger seat of Professor Agasa's yellow beetle, he cannot help but wonder. Then, as the old man slides back into the driver's seat after putting away the luggage, Conan finally asks the inevitable question: "Is it another case?"
He doesn't ask Did he forget? or Was there something more important?. Despite the time they have spent apart, Conan knows his older brother; focused but easily distracted. All things considered, perhaps it runs in the family.
The professor shrugs mildly. "He wasn't home, so I guess he‒"
Conan doesn't bother with the rest, pulling out his gameboy once more.
The ride is mostly quiet after that, despite the professor's occasional attempt at starting up a conversation. The professor keeps talking about some games, other inventions of his and whatnot, clearly indicating that Conan ought to take some part in testing them.
Conan honestly wouldn't mind that, because it would surely be more enjoyable than starting grade school and socialising with people his own age. The latter is obviously some ploy of his mother to pull Conan out of his self-imposed reclusion. Going by what Shinichi and others had told him about grade school, it definitely won't be fun. But no, mother and father had insisted that Conan should go live with Shinichi and attend school in Beika as opposed to getting homeschooled, the method of schooling Conan would have privately preferred. Of course, going against Kudō Yukiko on something like this would have been a frustrating and ultimately fruitless endeavour, which is why Conan had eventually accepted his fate, at least for now.
"Conan."
A sudden chill runs down his spine and Conan sucks in a startled breath.
The professor sends him a slightly concerned look whilst slowing the car outside the Kudō residence. The old man peers up at the building with more obvious concern. "Looks like Shinichi isn't back yet."
Conan knows then, steeling himself as he undoes the seatbelt and gets out of the car, taking one of the bags from Professor Agasa before following him towards his house instead.
In the morning, Conan expects to see his brother's semi-transparent figure at his bedside, looking at him with a fond yet decidedly pained expression. Similarly, he expects to ask the other if the police had found his body yet or if Conan ought to help by pointing them in the right direction.
Instead, there is Professor Agasa, wearing a decidedly sombre expression that makes him look so much older than usual. "It's about Shinichi."
It is always about Shinichi, but Conan isn't particularly fond of the limelight, so it's all right. Still‒
Conan sits himself up, reaches for the glasses that he doesn't really need and puts them on. "So?"
.-.-.-.