Detective Conan and Magic Kaito characters, settings, and ideas do not belong to me but to Aoyama Gōshō.
Warnings: Violence, language, and character death
Blackout
A Collaborative Story by Stelra Etnae, neonquincy1217, and Taliya
Edogawa Conan
Thursday, September 1: One week before Operation Raven
Nine-year-old Edogawa Conan sat in one of the chairs of a meeting room inside the police department's headquarters, a mug of steaming black coffee in hand as he pored over tentative strategy outlines and building blueprints with intent concentration. Around him were some of the people involved in the planning: Jodie Starling, James Black, and Edmund Hölzer of the German BND. Not present were Furuya Rei, Akai Shuichi, Andre Camel, Takagi Wataru, Satou Miwako, Megure Juuzo, Hondou Hidemi, François Chevalier of the CSIS, and Winston Crewe from MI6. The low buzz of conversation was a soothing background noise to him as he worked, and it thrilled him to know that these people had always, if unknowingly, sided with him.
Conan was more grateful than ever for becoming acquaintances with the Americans. It was what had given him the key he needed to organize the manpower necessary to take down the Organization. He watched Jodie and James as they discussed differences in extraction methods with Edmund, and he smiled fondly at them. Truly, the Americans had been more open-minded regarding his intelligence and abilities than anyone else he had met.
"I think we should break for lunch," Edmund finally announced with a grin as his stomach audibly growled. James laughed in agreement, and the three adults rose from their seats.
"You want to come along, Cool Kid?" Jodie asked.
Conan shook his head. "I have an idea I would like to chase first. That and I had a late breakfast, so I'll be fine, Jodie-sensei," he replied. "But thanks!"
James frowned. "Will you be alright by yourself?"
The elementary student nodded. "I promise I won't make a mess of things," he answered earnestly, earning a chuckle from the man.
"I know you won't, but I needed to ask just in case." When Conan reaffirmed that he would be fine alone, the three adults exited the room with a promise to bring something back for him.
Conan sighed heavily once the door closed. Only one week left, and none of the adults would budge on allowing him to participate in the operation. Each of them, regardless of the fact that they recognized how capable he was, felt no child should partake in a firefight. He gritted his teeth. He was not a child—not in the way they thought. At the moment he was still working on buttering Haibara up, bugging her daily for the latest trial antidote of the apoptoxin. She was slowly wearing down under his daily barrage, and he hoped that she would give in by the time the operation commenced.
He frowned. He would be there, no matter what. This was just as much his fight—his battle, his war—just like it was Jodie's, Furuya's, Hidemi's, Shuichi's. But this was not just his—he was also fighting for Haibara too, fighting to ensure that she could live without having to always keep an eye watching over a shoulder.
"Conan-kun!" Takagi Wataru's surprised voice snapped him out of his musings. "I thought everyone had gone to lunch?"
"I'm okay right now," Conan chirped. "They said they would bring something back for me. There's something I'm working on that I don't want to quit from just yet."
"Ah," Takagi answered, and he deposited a stack of papers—reconnaissance photographs by the look of it—on the table and began to sort through them. The meeting room was quiet, the two working peaceably as the lunch hour passed. "Conan-kun," the homicide detective said hesitantly, and Conan hummed questioningly without looking up. Takagi was quiet for several moments before he asked, "Who are you?"
The question had Conan shifting his attention from working out potential infiltration routes with a blueprint of the buildings to him before he smiled. It was a tired smile, one that revealed his desire to be done with the Organization, his weariness at being considered a child, his hope that the Organization would be brought down once and for all. It was that and so much more: his wish to be with Ran, his desire to keep Haibara safe, his fury at the deaths the Organization caused—so many things rolled up into that one smile that encompassed everything he felt regarding this sting operation. It was a smile from the bottom of his heart, carefully bared to this kind and competent, but bumbling and nervous homicide detective who had done his best to watch out for him over the years.
And as Takagi had given him the most leeway during cases—regarded him as more than a mere child—Conan felt the man deserved an answer.
"I'll tell you after we're done with all this, Takagi-keiji," he answered softly, and the smile he gave to the man was his promise before he returned his attention to the blueprints before him.
He heard Takagi return to his own work before he rose to leave. Right before he opened the door, Takagi remarked, "I look forward to your answer, little Meitantei."
Conan smiled and murmured softly after the door had clicked shut, "I look forward to telling you, Takagi-keiji."
Written by Taliya