Old Habits

Another day, another case. Kudo Shinichi watched absently as Megure, Sato, and Takagi spoke in low tones, overseeing forensics as they gathered data on the newest dead body in his life. Nearby, Mouri Kogoro and Ran stood back, observing the familiar routine.

Ever since the recent downfall of the Black Organization (and his subsequent return to his teenage self) Shinichi's life had been a beautifully normal routine of school, friends, and murder cases (what else was to be expected?) Having talked things through with his childhood friend, he and Ran were now happily together; indeed, life couldn't possibly be better—save for the frequent dead bodies. But whatever.

Today's incident—a thirty-something year old woman found stabbed to death inside of a first story locked room, knife clutched in hand. On one wall a panel of windows showed a clear view of the street, as well as a small but accessible ledge. There were the customary four suspects, two men and two women; all looking equally shocked at the sight of their "friend's" corpse.

Shinichi walked around the corpse, careful not to step on any of the bloodstains. Finding nothing new there, he moved over the wall. He frowned, looking out the unlocked and slightly stained windows—

Stained?

That's strange, Shinichi thought to himself. Why would there be a bloodstain on a window? Her back was facing this wall, so there shouldn't have been any splashing in this direction.

Shinichi looked closer. It's been smeared, like someone tried to wipe it off in a hurry…and the window isn't fully closed either.

"I'll go start taking statements then, Megure-keibu," said Takagi. "Is it all right if I use the upstairs rooms?"

Shinichi started. Of course! If they used that then it would definitely work.

Shinichi opened the window and stuck his head outside, staring at the ledge of the room above. His eyes roved about until finally—a strange line, accompanied by some fibers and a small drop of blood.

Gotcha! This will be all the evidence I need, he thought smugly. I know who the culprit it is. Judging from the position and depth of the mark, it could only be that person.

The high school detective cleared his throat. Drawing in a breath, he opened his mouth—and sang out in a ridiculously high voice, "A-re-re! What's this weird mark up he—"

Shinichi clapped both hands over his mouth as the whole room froze. Horrified, he looked up into the shocked faces of the Tokyo Police Force crew and the confused looking suspects.

"U-Um, S-Shinichi-kun?" Megure said uncertainly.

Shinichi was paralyzed until the sound of a muffled snort from the right broke the tense silence in the room. Ran stood next to her father, desperately covering her mouth with one hand, bent over almost double at the waist.

"R-Ran?" gaped Shinichi.

"No!" she protested, still trying her hardest not to giggle. "I'm not laughing. Of course I'm not laughing," even as she broke off into chuckles.

Shinichi stared wide-eyed as snickers began to echo around the room, everyone from the forensics officers to Megure himself (whose sudden coughing fit was beginning to look suspicious). Sato and Kogoro laughed openly and loudly at Shinichi's dismayed face.

"It's not like that!" Shinichi cried out, gesturing wildly. "You guys—come on, stop laughing at me!" he whined, drooping miserably.

At his childlike pout the laughter in the room only increased, Kogoro rolling on the floor in front of four very bemused suspects.

A door opened unnoticed in the midst of the chaos. Takagi walked in, head bent as he readied his police notebook. "Alright, Megure-keibu, we're ready to start interviews—"

Takagi blinked. Quietly he surveyed the room, taking in a yelling Shinichi, a mirthful Ran, and a positively shameless group of police detectives gasping for breath all around the room.

"Ah…have I missed something?"

Yosh! My first Detective Conan fic! I was watching the Desperate Revival Arc where Shinichi accidentally called Ran "Ran-neechan" even though he wasn't Conan, and I thought, "What if he got so used to being a kid at a crime scene some of his Conan mechanisms stuck?" and this was born. I hope you liked it! Please leave a review!

-WD2645