Rank Yourself Last

by viridiansky

[Time Travel] Shuichi is certain that if he ever gave Bourbon the opportunity, he would be dead in minutes - if not seconds. Especially now that he's not just the man who killed Bourbon's best friend, but an Organization traitor as well. Which is why he's rather confused when he finds Bourbon calmly sitting in Shuichi's hotel room, reading a book.

1. Chapter 1

A/N:

This got out of hand so I'm dividing it in two parts. I'll try to get the second part done in the next couple weeks, but I hope you enjoy this in the meanwhile \o/

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Rank Yourself Last

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Part 1

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Bourbon whirls back into Shuichi's life in the last way he expects.

To be honest though, he wasn't entirely sure what he had expected. Seeing him through the scope of his sniper rifle moments before he pulled the trigger? Watching him be put behind bars for the crimes he had committed in the Organization?

(Once in a while, he even humoured his vague suspicions that Bourbon was like him and wondered if he might see Bourbon try to put Shuichi behind bars.)

But regardless, Shuichi didn't expect to walk into his hotel room one evening to see Bourbon.

Perhaps it would've been less surprising if Bourbon was pointing a gun at him, expression cold and mocking. But he isn't. Instead, he's sitting in the chair by the window with his legs crossed, calmly reading a book. He looks just as prim as Shuichi remembers him, wearing a trim black suit vest and matching pants.

It's been only a couple weeks since Shuichi's landed in Japan, chasing after Vermouth and trying to fulfill Akemi's last request. He's a little tired at the moment thanks to an annoying bus jacking incident that afternoon - he really doesn't want to deal with Bourbon right now.

He just wishes he had the choice not to.

"...Bourbon," he says calmly. His hand moves to his waist automatically, but there's no pistol there for him to take out.

He could really use one, but unfortunately getting his sniper rifle into Japan had been hard enough. The sniper rifle in question is in its bag, lying on the ground near Bourbon - but even if it was closer to Shuichi, it would've been useless to him in the close quarters of the room.

Shuichi would just have to rely on his Jeet Kune Do. Bourbon would inevitably have a gun, but Shuichi knew many ways to disarm an armed opponent.

He narrows his eyes at Bourbon, body tense. But Bourbon just smiles and snaps his book closed, placing it on the small table in front of him with a thump. Then, languorously, utterly casually, he uncrosses his legs and stands up.

"Akai," Bourbon says, holding his hands up and smiling in an innocent manner. "No need to act like that. I'm just here to talk."

Shuichi doesn't buy it.

(And hearing 'Akai' fall from Bourbon's lips so naturally just feels so wrong, throws him off-kilter, and maybe that's why Bourbon used it instead of the 'Rye' he must be more used to.

He can't trust Bourbon period, but he especially can't trust him when he's clearly trying to manipulate Shuichi's reactions.)

"Somehow I doubt you're here 'just to talk'," Shuichi says grimly, "I know how much you resent me, Bourbon."

Bourbon may have done his best to hide the reason for his animosity towards Shuichi, but he's fairly certain that the trigger for the hatred was Scotch's death. And if that was so, considering that Bourbon was under the firm impression that Shuichi had killed Scotch and there was no way he could know otherwise, Bourbon must still hate him deepl-

"I know that Scotch killed himself."

-or not.

"How?" Shuichi demands, letting some of his surprise leak into his voice.

Bourbon was a talented investigator, yes, perhaps even the best in Japan, but in all their time in the Organization together after Scotch's death, he hadn't shown any signs of figuring it out. Too blinded by the pain of Scotch's death, or perhaps too blinded by his hatred for Shuichi himself. Shuichi can't imagine what could've possibly triggered this one-eighty in attitude.

Especially since the last time they met, it was when Bourbon had told Shuichi that he believed that he was a spy for the FBI and had told Gin that much.

"You just told me," Bourbon responds, and ah, there's that smug look Shuichi remembers so well even after all these years.

"You came to talk on suspicion alone?" asks Shuichi, not letting his guard down. The Bourbon he knew was always quite emotional when it came to certain things, certain people. It didn't make sense for Bourbon to calmly come visit Shuichi out of suspicion alone.

"Oh, I had other evidence too," Bourbon says dismissively, waving a hand. "But you just gave me confirmation."

"...I can't imagine that was the only reason you decided to 'just talk' with an Organization traitor, Bourbon."

Looking perfectly calm, Bourbon flicks a light strand of hair out of his eyes. He smiles. "You're correct, Akai. I'm also here about your lover."

Shuichi pauses, his lips twisting down a little, because if he didn't know better, he would think Bourbon was talking about his ironic nickname for Gin. Write it as enemy, read it as lover, so Shuichi would never forget what that silver-haired bastard had done to Akemi. But he had only ever mentioned the nickname out loud to Jodie a few times - he can't imagine how Bourbon would know about it.

The other possibility was Akemi herself, of course, but not only was she dead, they hadn't been real 'lovers' for years. Shuichi can't imagine why Bourbon would be talking about her, after all this time.

(His mind reminds him that Akemi's body was too badly burnt to be really identified. But Shuichi smothers the thought like he always does, because stupid hopes could be deadly in his line of work. Akemi had no allies - how could she have faked her death?)

So Shuichi asks, "Gin?", half-doubting himself even as the words leave his mouth.

"What do you think?" responds Bourbon mildly, and that was proof enough that it was about Gin.

How the hell had Bourbon learnt about his nickname for Gin? Did he have contacts in even the FBI?

He must've let some of his worry sneak onto his face, because Bourbon laughs and says, "What's with that expression? I'm here to help, FBI."

"Why would you help the FBI?" demands Shuichi, a note of disbelief to his voice.

"I'm here to help you, not the FBI," corrects Bourbon. An unreadable expression flickers over his face. "When I said 'FBI', that was just a nickn-" Bourbon pauses, glancing to the side. "Never mind."

Shuichi frowns a bit at that, but in the end, simply asks, "Why would you help me, then?"

"Call it an apology, for chasing after you for something you didn't do," Bourbon suggests, and if that wasn't a lie Shuichi would shoot himself with his own sniper rifle.

"Regardless of whether I killed Scotch, I was - I am still a traitor to the Organization," Shuichi says calmly, "Try again, Bourbon."

Bourbon just sighs. "In that case - does it matter?"

"I'm sorry?"

"I think you'll trust in the information I give you enough to make a move," Bourbon explains, smiling. "So I don't care to convince you of my sincerity when I doubt you'd believe me no matter what I said. You've never needed perfect belief to make a move, no?"

"What do you know about me?" Shuichi says flatly, and truthfully. Bourbon knew little of Rye, and nothing of him. He didn't know how much Bourbon had investigated into him, but the way Bourbon was talking like he actually knew him made him want to laugh.

"Perhaps nothing," says Bourbon quietly, closing his eyes for a moment and looking surprisingly melancholic for some reason. His eyes blink back open, and he continues, "But like I said, it doesn't matter. I'm here to give you information. That's all. What you do with it, that's on you, Akai Shuichi."

Bourbon picks his book up from the small table and flips through it at a swift pace. When he reaches the end, he rips out a page and throws it to the bed, letting it slowly flutter down.

"There's an address on that paper," Bourbon explains, gesturing towards the page. "Your lover will be there all day tomorrow. Go alone or with a whole squad of FBI agents, it's no skin off my back whatever you do, but I will warn you - if you don't go alone, if you don't make sure you aren't quiet about it, the only person who'll live to regret it is you."

Bourbon claps his book back closed and slips it in a pocket before beginning to walk towards Shuichi - no, the doorway. Without really thinking about it, Shuichi blocks Bourbon's way out with an outstretched arm.

He stops and lets out an exasperated sigh, looking up at Shuichi with an irked expression. Shuichi meets the gaze levelly.

"This is an obvious trap," Shuichi says frankly.

"If you say so," Bourbon responds mildly, a foot tapping impatiently. "But again, it doesn't matter to me whatever you do. If you don't go, you don't go. Could you let me leave now?"

Shuichi lets out a short laugh and leans in closer to Bourbon's face. His voice amused, he asks, "What's stopping me from arresting you here and now, Bourbon?"

"Well," Bourbon starts, suddenly sounding surprisingly venomous. "There's the obvious, of course, like the fact you're an American FBI agent operating illegally in Japan like it's your own country without so much as a by-your-leave from the local law enforcement. You have zero jurisdiction here and no right to make arrests."

Alright, Bourbon is technically telling the truth there, but Shuichi doesn't want to hear it from a high-ranking member of an international criminal organization.

"And there's the second thing, of course," continues Bourbon, venomous tone suddenly pasted over with sickly sweetness. Hearing a click, Shuichi glances down and dammit, Bourbon's unexpected passiveness had made him let his guard down. "I have a gun."

Shuichi raises his hands high in the air and takes a few steps back. He can try to disarm Bourbon, but it isn't as if Bourbon is a pushover. He isn't sure he can do it without getting injured, and the risk isn't worth it if Bourbon doesn't intend to fight.

Bourbon is high-ranking enough to get a codename, yes, but he's still only middle-ranked among codenamed operatives - unless he had gotten a promotion since Shuichi left the Organization, he supposes. But regardless, unlike other operatives, Bourbon had some respect for life.

(Perhaps due to teaming up with a pair of NOCs so much, or perhaps…)

The point was that letting him leave was much less dangerous than letting say, Vermouth leave.

"I'm not falling for your trap," Shuichi tells him.

"Not my problem," Bourbon responds, keeping his pistol aimed at Shuichi's head as he slowly inches backwards to the door. "See you later, Akai."

Bourbon slips behind the door in a split second, the door slamming loudly behind him. The moment it closes, Shuichi runs towards it, intending to try to tail him if nothing else. But no matter how much he jiggles the doorknob, the door doesn't open. Bourbon must've jammed it closed somehow.

Swearing under his breath, Shuichi considers breaking the door open, but Bourbon would be long gone by the time he got through. There would be no point.

Instead, after phoning the front desk to tell him that his door had gotten jammed somehow, he sits at the edge of his bed and picks up the paper Bourbon gave him. He flips it over first just in case, but the back is blank.

He flips it back over to examine the address. There's a room or unit number included, so it's probably an office building. Fishing out his phone, he plugs it into a maps app to see where it is.

When the app finishes loading, he swears.

It isn't an office building.

It's an apartment building smackdab in the middle of a residential area, minutes away from an elementary school.

---

In the end, despite what he said to Bourbon, Shuichi goes alone.

He understands it's somewhat reckless. He did send Jodie a message telling her that he was investigating a lead at the location in question, so if things went wrong somehow, someone would know where he was. Still, he was going out to a location an active Organization member told him to go to.

But stupid as it is, he still has a bit of trust in Bourbon - and he still has quite the bone to pick with Gin.

Of course, Shuichi hasn't lost his senses. He doesn't entirely trust that Bourbon wouldn't still kill him, even now that Bourbon knows the truth about Scotch's death. He doesn't trust that Bourbon had anyone's best interests in mind but his own. But what he does trust is that Bourbon had something of a moral fiber.

If Gin was hanging out in a residential area near an elementary school for an countless innocents could be in danger. Countless children. It was natural that even Bourbon couldn't let that stand.

And if Bourbon wanted him dead, wanted to torture him, there was no need for him to do something in such a roundabout way. Even if Bourbon had hoped that Shuichi would trust him and come alone, he had no guarantees that Shuichi would. Furthermore, Bourbon had snuck into his hotel room. It would've been child's play for Bourbon to have set up something to knock him out and capture him. Frankly, Bourbon had all the cards – what would be the point in tricking Shuichi further?

Bourbon had a nasty streak, sure, but that nasty streak had never stopped Bourbon from being logical (about most things.) If Bourbon had wanted revenge on Shuichi, there should've been many more reliable plans he could've executed with the knowledge of where Shuichi slept.

So Shuichi trusts in Bourbon's information and his warning to come alone. The situation was probably just that delicate. Unfortunately, he just isn't quite sure what Bourbon expects him to do. He is just one man, as skilled as he is.

To start out with, he's planning to scout out the place with his sniper rifle from a nearby apartment building. But his hazy plans dissipate like the mist soon after he gets off his train - because when he exits the station closest to the apartment building, a soft, familiar voice calls out from behind him.

"Dai-kun."

Shuichi freezes in the middle of the sidewalk, because he knows that voice. Knows that voice intimately, even though it's been years since he last heard it.

Turning around, the all-too-nostalgic sight of Miyano Akemi makes him see red for a moment, because Akemi is dead and gone and how dare this person disguise themselves as her.

The disguise is good though, Shuichi has to admit. She looks different from how Shuichi remembers her, but still similar enough to be recognizable if you knew what you were looking for. Her hair is cut into a neat shoulder-length bob dyed the same light brown as her little sister, her bangs tucked under a red beret. Her eyes are shielded behind a pair of thick-rimmed black glasses that hide her features fairly well, but not well enough.

Shuichi realizes he's been staring too long when someone walking around him shoots him a dirty glare. Right, he'd better take this confrontation somewhere a little less out in the open.

He walks up to 'Akemi' in a few swift steps and grabs her by the arm. She lets out a yelp, but doesn't resist as Shuichi drags her into a nearby alleyway.

Shuichi pushes her against a concrete wall, slamming his hand above her. 'Akemi' stares up with a surprised look at Shuichi's cold glare.

"Who are you?" Shuichi demands viciously, eyes narrowed. "Akemi is dead."

'Akemi' lets out a small, disappointed sigh and glances downwards for a moment. Finally, she looks back upwards with a sad look in her eyes that Shuichi is decidedly unmoved by.

"He did say you wouldn't believe it was me, but I still thought you would be able to tell," she says quietly. She lets a small smile quirk up her lips before continuing, "But I guess that's just the way you are, Dai-kun."

She takes a breath and narrows her eyes, looking determined.

"The night before you told me you were an FBI agent, we got into a silly argument," 'Akemi' states, and Shuichi's mouth falls open just a little bit. "I asked you to buy some milk on your way home, but you got distracted and all you bought was a pack of cigarettes. I got annoyed, because it was the fourth time something like this had happened in the past month and I couldn't understand what was so hard about a simple errand. I eventually forgave you because you told me the reason why you kept on forgetting was because you kept on getting distracted by thoughts of me."

'Akemi'… Akemi stares up at him, looking hopeful. Shuichi stares back, expression carefully blank.

Shuichi wracks his mind, trying to think of ways that anyone other than Akemi and himself could know that story with that level of detail. He supposes someone could've bugged her apartment, but part of that argument had been out in the hallway, metres away from the apartment door. Not to mention, he had said enough vaguely incriminating things in that apartment that if it were bugged, he would've been outed as a spy long before that botched operation.

"How?" Shuichi finally breathes, stumbling back from Akemi. In disbelief, he takes in Akemi's soft eyes, her brown jacket, the light smile still on her face.

"I'll explain everything," Akemi promises, and the blindingly bright smile on her face makes Shuichi's mind go a little blank. "But maybe we should head to my apartment first?"

Shuichi lets out a small laugh and glances around at the scruffy alleyway they stood in.

"Yes, of course," Shuichi says agreeably, and so when Akemi flashes another smile at him and begins walking out the alleyway, he follows.

The walk to Akemi's apartment goes by like a blur. Before he knows it, he's sitting on a sofa in her living room across from Akemi herself, close enough he could reach a hand out above the coffee table to touch her if he wanted. The room is brightly lit by the sunlight pouring in from the veranda windows, giving it a rather cheerful atmosphere Shuichi feels is rather fitting.

He really wants to light a cigarette especially after everything he had just been told, but Akemi had always hated it when he smoked inside, and so he holds back the urge.

Akemi's explanation of what had happened to her makes as much sense as anything else Bourbon had done this past day – that is, none.

Bourbon apparently first approached her while she was planning her bank robbery (and he still couldn't really believe that Akemi had done that, but it wasn't as if he had any right to judge) to warn her that Gin had no intention of letting her or her sister escape the Organization. But Akemi refused to believe Bourbon's warning and went forwards with her plan, only to be immediately arrested by the police moments after she entered the bank. Someone – presumably the Organization – had tipped them off.

While she was stuck in jail with her colleagues, waiting for her trial, Bourbon snuck into the police station somehow to approach her again. He let her listen to an audio clip of Gin talking about setting a bomb to kill her while she was imprisoned, which was more than enough to convince her this time of the danger. He told her bluntly that she could go die or come with him. Naturally, she agreed to the latter.

And so, Bourbon successfully faked her death using Gin's bomb as camouflage, then helped set her up with a new identity in this town.

There were a few things that bothered him about the plan Akemi had described, such as where in the world Bourbon had gotten a dead body to replace Akemi and how the hell he had managed to get the bomb to go off and only cause property damage, but well, there was a bigger issue.

The why.

Akemi mentioned that Bourbon said that he was paying back a debt he had to Akemi's mother, but Shuichi doubted he would go to such lengths just out of a sense of obligation.

Fine. Bourbon thought up a convoluted plan to fake Akemi's death. It had obviously worked with most of the Organization, because that bastard Gin wouldn't bother with this kind of manipulation. He would just kill Akemi, then kill Shuichi, and if he knew Bourbon had done something like this, he would kill Bourbon too.

The thing that worried him was that Bourbon had the type of personality to love this kind of manipulation. To give him a moment of happiness by letting him meet Akemi again, then leak his location to Gin or some operative to get him killed right when he had a real reason to live again. It would explain why Bourbon hadn't tried a more reliable method of killing him.

But Bourbon had approached him yesterday by telling him that he knew the truth behind Scotch's death. He shouldn't have much of a personal reason to hold a grudge against Shuichi anymore. Except, Shuichi supposes, for his betrayal of the Organization, but it wasn't as if Bourbon had ever been a doggedly loyal member either. He had always struck Shuichi as being more into it for his own amusement more than anything else.

Unless… could his confrontation with Bourbon yesterday have been a test? Had he saved Akemi in case Shuichi had killed Scotch after all, and he wanted to get proper revenge?

Or perhaps Shuichi was reading too much into it. Maybe Bourbon just wanted Shuichi to owe him something. And saving Akemi was admittedly a debt Shuichi could never repay.

Shuichi lets out a small sigh. He's just about to ask Akemi something else – he doesn't know what, exactly, but the novelty of being able to actually talk with her, see her, still hasn't worn off – when a familiar voice calls out from the hallway leading to the front entrance.

"My my, Akai, you shouldn't think so hard. You only have so many brain cells."

Shuichi's head shoots up to turn towards the hallway entrance. Bourbon stands there, hand lightly touching the wall and a smirk on his face. Surreptitiously, Shuichi slips a hand into his pocket to tap a few buttons on his cellphone.

"Bourbon-san!" Akemi exclaims in surprise, no suspicion or worry in her voice.

"...Bourbon," Shuichi greets, tone decidedly more guarded. He grimaces slightly, feeling conflicted.

He- he doesn't know how he can ever repay Bourbon for saving Akemi. But at the same time, Bourbon must know that. And Shuichi dreads to think of what Bourbon might expect from him in return for letting him and Akemi meet again - and what he might do when Shuichi refuses, because no matter his gratitude he would never help the Organization because of it.

Shuichi needs to take Akemi out of Bourbon's grasp as soon as possible.

Bourbon lets his hand drop from the wall and meanders closer to the two of them. He comes to a stop in front of the coffee table and glances at Shuichi only to let out a sigh.

He asks, voice mocking, "What's with that expression, Akai? Don't I get a 'thank you' for letting you meet your lover?"

Shuichi just narrows his eyes.

Though Bourbon's comment reminds him - yesterday, when he asked if Bourbon had meant Gin when he said 'lover', Shuichi assumed the answer was yes when Bourbon gave a non-answer, but...

"Yesterday, when you said you were there about my 'lover'…" says Shuichi carefully.

Bourbon lets out a disturbingly bright laugh and says, "Yes, I thought you would think of Gin, but well," and here, Bourbon shrugs, "I didn't think you would believe me about Miyano-san unless you saw her standing in front of you in the flesh. And likely not even then, at least not at first."

Shuichi is a little relieved that Bourbon doesn't think that he actually considers Gin his lover, but also a little disturbed because of the implications it had for FBI security. He's certain that Jodie isn't a traitor, but he would have to ask her who she had told about Shuichi's nickname for Gin. Hopefully they would be able to figure out where the leak was coming from.

Bourbon leans in closer to Akemi, hands clasped behind his back, and flashes her an amused smile. In a stage whisper, he asks, "Hey, Miyano-san, has Akai told you about his nickname for Gin?"

"Wait, Bourbon –" Shuichi tries to cut Bourbon off, but to no avail.

"Write it as enemy and read it as lover," Bourbon quotes, chuckling, and Shuichi's eyes widen. "Isn't it lame?"

Shuichi… has only ever used that exact phrasing in the confines of his own head. It has to be a coincidence, though. It isn't as if that phrasing is exactly uncommon in Japanese.

"Maybe a little," Akemi says, letting out a small laugh. She gives Shuichi a fond look, "But I think it's cute."

"Oh, I see," Bourbon says, voice as bright as ever. He straightens himself back up, not a hair out of place. But Shuichi doesn't miss the slight narrowing of Bourbon's eyes and the imperceptible tightness of his lips.

Bourbon doesn't let his displeasure show any further, however. He simply turns his haughty gaze towards Shuichi and says, "I'm still waiting on that thank you, Akai."

"Why did you save her?" Shuichi asks instead.

"Tch, you've always been an ungrateful bastard," Bourbon says, clicking his tongue. "Fine then, you don't have to thank me. Don't misunderstand me, it's not like I did it for you. I saved Miyano-san because I owe something to Elena-san. That's all."

So he was sticking with that story. Shuichi narrows his eyes at Bourbon, but before he can say anything else, Bourbon lets out a loud, exasperated sigh.

"Do I have to walk you through everything, Akai?" Bourbon demands, a scowl on his face. "I know you're not stupid, so use that stupid brain of yours. Did meeting Miyano-san fry your brain cells?"

Hadn't Bourbon just greeted him by telling him to not think too hard because he was stupid? Bourbon really needed to make up his mind.

Oh right, Bourbon did always have this habit of switching from his usual cold and haughty personality to this hotheaded demanding one if he got annoyed enough. Shuichi had forgotten how much of a pain Bourbon could be at times.

(He couldn't help the feeling of nostalgia welling up in him though. He hasn't seen Bourbon act like this since Scotch died and they stopped really working together.)

"Bourbon-san…" Akemi says, sounding disapproving.

"Aha, I'm sorry, Miyano-san," Bourbon says, smiling at her. Smile fading, he looks back towards Shuichi and continues, voice serious, "Akai. Doing this was dangerous."

Shuichi raises an eyebrow. Well, obviously, it was dangerous to fake Akemi's death, to hide her from the Organization, and to get in contact with an FBI agent. If the Organization found out about what he did - about anything he did, really - his reasoning wouldn't matter – he'd be killed. Which meant...

"You're saying that your motives don't matter," Shuichi muses.

"Exactly," Bourbon replies, crossing his arms. He smirks. "Took you long enough."

"Sorry, what are you two talking about?" Akemi asks, glancing between the two of them with a confused look.

"The Organization would kill Bourbon for tricking them no matter his motives," Shuichi explains, "However. That assumes this isn't just an Organization plan that you're carrying out."

"Akai," Bourbon starts, sounding awfully unimpressed, "Has the Organization ever permitted a traitor to live, no matter the reason?"

Alright, he did have a point there. But if this had been a plan to kill another traitor, namely himself… no, that wouldn't make sense either. Obviously Bourbon knew exactly where he was since he had snuck into his hotel room yesterday, so using Akemi to lure out himself would be meaningless.

This… this was almost definitely something Bourbon had done on his own. And if that was the case – it would be alright to trust Bourbon about this specific thing, right?

"Alright," Shuichi says finally, meeting Bourbon's eyes. He slips a hand back into his pocket to tap some buttons on his cellphone again. "I don't believe you're telling the truth about your motives, but your logic is sound. I'll tell you now though, I've recorded this entire conversation, and my cellphone automatically sends its data to a number of my FBI colleagues if I don't input a certain code into it for a certain period of time."

It also sent its data to his laptop once every hour, but Bourbon didn't need to know that part. Paranoia was key for a spy, even a former one.

"I'd expect nothing less," Bourbon says, unfazed. "Anyways, Akai, I saved Miyano-san because of a personal debt, but I didn't let you meet Miyano-san out of the goodness of my heart."

"You want a favour," Shuichi says grimly. Perhaps it had been as simple as that after all.

"Oh, don't look so worried, it's nothing you wouldn't really want to do anyways," Bourbon says, a light smile on his face. "I want you to take responsibility for faking Miyano-san's death."

"What?" Shuichi says in slight surprise, eyes blinking once, twice.

"Miyano-san," Bourbon begins, turning towards Akemi. "I don't regret saving you. I would do it again. However, I must apologize but the fact of the matter is that you are a liability to me. What I want is to wash my hands of this matter. To be able to pretend that all of this had nothing to do with me – that instead, Akai was the mastermind."

"Bourbon-san, everything you've done for me and- for me is amazing," Akemi says sincerely, "I'm not offended that you don't want to cover for me any longer. But Dai-kun, I don't want to trouble you either. I – I can figure out something myself."

"Needing help sometimes doesn't make you helpless, Miyano-san," Bourbon says quietly, voice uncharacteristically kind in a way that makes Shuichi stare. Bourbon laughs and glances to the side. "I know that might seem strange coming from me of all people, but someone told me that once, and I will say I did listen to their advice in the end."

Shuichi manages to spot a flash of something dark, something painful flickering over Bourbon's face before it disappears under a composed mask.

"Though unfortunately, I don't believe they would offer me their help anymore," Bourbon says quietly. His hands are fidgeting, his right hand running over the fingers of his left - but was he actually nervous about being candid with his feelings or was this just part of an act to get Akemi to do what he wanted?

Act or not, Shuichi glances down, feeling heavy. He still regrets what happened with Scotch. It doesn't really leave him.

"I…" Akemi says hesitantly. He hears the sound of fingers nervously tapping on a thigh.

Shuichi looks back up.

"Akemi, the FBI and I will be more than happy to help," Shuichi says firmly. leaning across the table. Giving her a small smile, he places his hand over Akemi's, stopping her tapping. "You don't have to do this alone anymore."

Akemi lets out a small sigh and smiles a little helplessly back at Shuichi.

"Alright," she murmurs quietly. Shuichi leans back to his seat, feeling relieved – but then her gaze hardens. She continues, "But I'm not going into the Witness Protection Program."

"What!?"

"Dai-kun, I just met you again," says Akemi, looking stubborn. "I'm staying in Tokyo. I'm not leaving you or- you again. And Bourbon-san taught me basic disguise, I can protect myself – I only look like this right now because you needed to recognize me."

It wasn't as if Shuichi wanted to separate either, but he would much prefer Akemi be with someone else and alive than with him and dead. But Shuichi can't help but smile fondly at her words, because it was things like that made him fall for Akemi in the first place.

(…Wait, when did Bourbon learn disguising skills?)

"I'll see what I can do," Shuichi responds. Without realizing it, he lets a few moments pass as he gazes at Akemi with a small smile, Akemi looking back just as fondly.

"If you two are done," Bourbon finally cuts in, a note of irritation in his voice.

Glancing back up, Shuichi can see a slight tightness to the otherwise bright smile. He coughs a little self-consciously.

"Ah, sorry, Bourbon-san," Akemi apologizes.

"It's fine," says Bourbon, letting out a small sigh. "I… knew what was going to happen when I let you and Akai meet." He's strangely quiet for a moment before continuing, "Anyways, Akai. Are you willing to take responsibility for faking Miyano-san's death? Of course, the ideal would be that the Organization would never find out at all, but if they do, I'd prefer they have someone to blame. They're perfectly aware that Miyano-san wouldn't have had the resources to do something like this herself."

"And where did you get your resources?" asks Shuichi, raising an eyebrow. It was a valid question – Bourbon had supposedly done this without the Organization's support, so he would've had to have procured everything himself.

Though to be fair, the Organization did pay well and it wasn't as if it was difficult to find corpses when you hung around Organization operatives. It was within the realm of possibility that Bourbon could've managed to find everything he needed and set up Akemi in an apartment all by himself.

"Wouldn't you like to know?" Bourbon responds, a smirk playing at his lips.

"I'm going to have to know if I'm going to be pretending to have planned all this," Shuichi points out reasonably, letting his lips quirk up a little in return.

"You don't know need to know everything," Bourbon shoots back, "I'll tell you what I think you need to know and no more."

"I suppose I should've expected that," Shuichi says drily.

"Yes, you should've," Bourbon says, a touch amused. "We'll talk again another day, because I don't intend to interrupt you two any longer than I need to, but there's just one more thing."

Suddenly, before Shuichi can react, Bourbon leans in to Shuichi's ear, his hand lightly gripping Shuichi's shoulder.

"If you try to arrest or kill me, Miyano-san's current status as alive will be revealed to the entire Organization sooner than you can blink," Bourbon breathes in a voice as cold as ice - the words feel like they're stabbing into Shuichi's mind. Bourbon squeezes Shuichi's shoulder just a little too tightly before he straightens back up and takes a step back, an amiable smile on his face.

Despite himself, Shuichi swallows a little. He… he had let his guard down again. Bourbon seemed to have a tendency to make him do that.

…No, wait, that threat… despite Bourbon's intimidating tone, that threat…

"What was that?" Akemi asks, glancing between Shuichi and Bourbon with a frown.

"Aha, just a stupid inside joke," Bourbon replies, letting out a carefree laugh.

"Very stupid," Shuichi says agreeably, voice carefully calm. He doesn't want Akemi to worry, after all. She has enough to worry about as it is.

Akemi still looks rather doubtful, but she lets it go after a careful examination of Shuichi's face. Shuichi hopes she hadn't seen anything incriminating.

"Anyways, Bourbon," Shuichi says shortly, glancing back up at him. "Is that all?"

"That is all," Bourbon replies, clasping his hands behind his back again. He smiles brightly. "I'll be taking my leave then. Goodbye, Akai – you'll hear from me soon."

Flipping around in almost a twirl, Bourbon takes his leave. His pace is full of confidence that he won't be stopped. Though in his defense, the confidence isn't completely unwarranted.

Shuichi watches calmly enough as Bourbon leaves the immediate area - but the moment he hears the sound of the door shutting, he finds himself jumping up out of his seat. Akemi stares at him in surprise.

"I…" Shuichi starts, not entirely sure what he was doing himself. "There's one more thing I need to tell him."

Because even with Bourbon being an unapologetic Organization operative… there was something he needed to say, and something he needed to ask. Especially after that threat.

Shuichi doesn't wait for Akemi to respond before rushing out the door of the apartment. His socks hit the floor as the door closes behind him.

"Bourbon!" Shuichi calls out.

He manages to stop Bourbon only a few paces away from the apartment door. Bourbon pauses, glancing back towards Shuichi with an eyebrow raised.

Taking a breath, Shuichi tells Bourbon sincerely, the words coming out easily - "Thank you for saving Akemi."

Bourbon looks taken aback - he stares at Shuichi with wide eyes and his mouth slightly open for a beat too long before he composes himself, mouth slamming shut.

"Hmph," Bourbon sneers, his gaze twisted into arrogance, "Well, I suppose even you're willing to put aside your pride when it comes to… comes to the person you love."

Shuichi thinks if anyone was prideful between the two of them, it was Bourbon, but he lets it go. After a small hesitation, he continues, because he feels he has to.

"Bourbon," Shuichi says, a little quietly, "You're someone I wish wasn't my enemy."

"You wish I weren't an enemy, huh," Bourbon repeats, his expression unreadable. Suddenly, he lets out a snicker, his next words coming out in a terribly amused tone, "I could say the same. You're someone I don't want as my enemy, Akai Shuichi."

Bourbon lets out another few snickers. Shuichi has no idea what's so funny about rephrasing what he said, but it was getting irritating when he had been serious about what he said.

"Aha, sorry," Bourbon says, letting out another laugh, "Just an inside joke. Anyways though…" and here, his amusement is wiped from his face, "…any cop is an enemy to a criminal. There's no point in us talking further. Go back to your girlfriend. You… would love her more than anyone else even if she had died, right? So go be together when you have the chance."

Shuichi frowns, examining Bourbon carefully, but Bourbon's expression is completely unreadable again.

"You're trusting me a lot," Shuichi says finally.

"No, I'm just trusting that you won't let anything happen to Miyano-san," Bourbon denies, but no, that wasn't true, now was it?

"Oh? Is that so?" Shuichi says, taking a small step forwards. Bourbon takes a step back in return, looking just a little bit nervous. "But that threat wasn't much of a threat."

"Excuse me?" Bourbon says tightly, that cold mask fitting itself over his face again.

"You and I both know that no matter how much we struggle, the Organization will probably eventually suspect Akemi is alive if they haven't already, especially if Shiho finds her," Shuichi points out, ignoring Bourbon's icy glare. "The main thing I need to do to keep her safe is to give her a new identity and – you didn't threaten to reveal that to the Organization, or to kill her. All you said was that you'd tell the Organization that she's alive, and that's something they're almost inevitably going to learn."

Bourbon doesn't respond.

"Bourbon…" continues Shuichi carefully, "Why are you doing this?"

"What does it matter?!" Bourbon finally snaps. Seeing Bourbon's icy mask break apart to reveal blazing eyes makes Shuichi blink, surprised. "Maybe I'm doing this for my own amusement. Maybe I'm doing this because I'm sick of the Organization, maybe I'm doing this out of love. Who cares? You said I don't know you, and you know what? You're right. But you also don't know me. You've obviously figured out that I don't plan to do anything, so just" - Bourbon's voice breaks, actually breaks and Shuichi stares in disbelief - "Leave me alone."

What the hell?

Shuichi opens his mouth to say something, anything, but Bourbon cuts him off before he can speak.

"Shut up," Bourbon hisses, "I'm in a terrible mood today and I'm sick of seeing you and Miyano-san. I'm leaving. If you want to try to arrest me, feel free. I'd love to see you try."

"Bour-"

"- And one more thing," Bourbon interrupts, stepping in closer to glare at Shuichi with those blazing blue eyes from up close. He jabs a finger at his chest. "Call me Amuro. Amuro Tooru. I'm also sick of hearing you call me Bourbon."

"Amuro-san?" Shuichi repeats, raising an eyebrow.

Shuichi thinks he sees the slightest expression of dismay flicker over Bourbon's face moments after he says the name. But then he blinks and Bourbon's face is just as angry as it had been before.

Bourbon - Amuro? - nods curtly then turns around and walks away.

This time, Shuichi just quietly watches him leave.

---

The FBI is nothing if not generous when it comes to Organization-related work. It was easy, almost too easy, to introduce Akemi as a poor bystander who had seen too much and to get her settled in a ward of Tokyo far from where she had been living as Akemi Miyano and where she had been living after Bourbon had faked her death.

Amuro hasn't gotten in contact with Shuichi in person since that day Shuichi met Akemi again. Instead, Shuichi got a long, encrypted message on his prepaid phone – Shuichi didn't want to know how Amuro had found out his number – and when he decrypted it using the key Scotch had generated for them way back when, it was a careful description of a plan that Shuichi could've executed to save Akemi.

Shuichi suspected it was a little different from the actual plan, because parts of it conflicted with what Akemi had told him. But it wasn't as if Amuro would tell him the truth if he asked. Besides, he expected that Amuro had long since thrown away the phone he had used to send Shuichi the encrypted message anyways. That was what they had always done back in the Organization.

He hasn't told anyone about Amuro and Akemi, not even Jodie. He doesn't want to risk anyone knowing about Akemi – the fact Amuro knew about Shuichi's nickname for Gin still bothers him, even though he did trust Jodie – and talking about Amuro would inevitably lead to talk about Akemi.

Besides, he had more important things to worry about than Amuro – namely, tracking down Vermouth and finding Shiho. Akemi has enough things to worry about, so he hasn't told Akemi that Shiho was on the run from the Organization and that Shuichi was chasing her. If all went well, she wouldn't ever have to know how much danger her sister was in until she was out of it.

As much as he tends to be used as muscle, just because he wasn't as investigation-oriented as his younger siblings or someone like Bourbon didn't mean he was a slouch. He was perfectly capable of investigating potential Vermouth candidates and leads on Shiho.

So when his eyes land on one suspicious Mouri Kogoro, he decides to investigate him further. He sneaks into the Mouri Detective Agency when it's empty and plants some bugs, then sets himself up in a car near the agency with a pair of binoculars. He's ready for a stakeout.

What he isn't ready for is to see Bourbon greeting customers in the café under the agency, a cheerful smile on his face. On the bright side, this means his suspicions about Mouri Kogoro being connected with Shiho likely have merit – why else would Amuro be playing a waiter, of all things? Unfortunately, it means that the Organization is also closing in on Shiho.

Shuichi comforts himself with the fact that at least it wasn't Gin standing there, taking orders with a picture-perfect smile. Now that would've been disturbing. At least a nice smile looked natural on Amuro's face, even though Shuichi was used to it having an edge of arrogance.

He debates over what to do for some days as he monitors the Mouri Detective Agency on and off, but in the end, he lets his curiosity get the better of him.

So one evening, fifteen minutes before closing, he strolls into Café Poirot. Organization operatives typically worked solo on infiltration missions, only calling in backup as they needed it. So it was unlikely that he would have to deal with anyone other than Bourbon, and he could deal with Bourbon.

The bell tinkles as he walks in, but Amuro is busy wiping a table and doesn't look up right away.

"I'm sorry, but we're closing soon," Amuro straightens up from the table and turns around, an apologetic smile half-forming on his. The moment his eyes lands on Akai, the half-formed smile disappears and he chokes, sputtering loudly, "Akai!?"

"Hello, Amuro-san," Shuichi greets, and oh, he definitely didn't imagine that flicker of dismay on Amuro's face this time. Interesting.

Before he can think of what to say next, he notices a brunette woman stepping out of a door marked 'Staff Only'. She's wearing casual wear, so presumably she's about to leave.

"Amuro-san?" she asks curiously, walking up to the two of them. "Is everything alright?"

"Everything's fine, Azusa-san," Amuro says, a blinding smile pasted on his face. "I just didn't expect my uh, friend to come visit. I'm fine dealing with cleaning up, don't worry about leaving early."

Oh, so he was a friend now, was he?

"Your friend?" Azusa exclaims, clapping her hands together. She looks up at Shuichi, eyes bright and cheery. "You don't talk much about your life, Amuro-san, I think this is the first time I've met someone you know aside from the Mouris! Nice to meet you, I'm Enomoto Azusa."

Well, an Organization operative would naturally not have much to talk about in terms of their personal life… he wasn't surprised.

"I'm Moroboshi Dai," Shuichi says easily, ignoring Amuro's roll of his eyes at the fake name. "It's nice to meet you too."

"So, just how do you kno-" Azusa begins excitedly, coming up a bit closer.

"- Azusa-san!" Amuro cuts in, voice a little strained. "Aren't you going to be late for your dinner with your brother?"

Azusa glances at her watch and yelps.

"You're right, you're right," Azusa says quickly, "I have to go. Moroboshi-san, you should definitely come by Poirot again!"

Giving them both a quick wave, Azusa rushes out the door, the bell tinkling. The moment the door shuts behind Azusa, Amuro's bright smile drops from his face.

"So?" he says, sounding and looking unamused as he turns to look at Shuichi. "What are you doing here, 'Moroboshi Dai'?"

"I think that's my line, 'Bourbon'," Shuichi responds, raising an eyebrow. "Why are you playing at being a waiter in some small café?"

"Hmph, I'll have you know I'm not playing at anything," Amuro says primly, crossing his arms. "I'm an excellent waiter."

"I'm sure you are, but that's not really what I was asking," says Shuichi drily.

"Tit for tat, Akai," Amuro says, a smirk spreading across his face, "I'll tell you something if you tell me something I don't know. Like say, why you've been monitoring the Mouris for the past few days."

"You noticed?" Shuichi asks, tone mild. He had done his best to be very discreet the moment he had noticed Amuro in the café below, but he supposes that he hadn't been too careful that first day when he had bugged the agency.

"Of course I noticed," Amuro says, his voice a mix of arrogance and incredulity. Bourbon's pride was doing as well as always, Shuichi notes.

"I was seeing if they seemed to have any relation to Sherry," Shuichi responds simply, because with Amuro's previous close contact with Akemi and his knowledge of Shuichi's movements he doubted that Amuro didn't already know what he was doing. Perhaps 'giving up' this information would help convince Amuro to give up some information of his own.

But contrary to his expectations, Amuro's response isn't an arrogant retort.

"Honestly Akai, you don't need to do that act with me," says Amuro. He gives Akai a tetchy scowl. "You must know that I was the one to help her hide once she escaped, there's no need to pretend to be still looking for her. I want to know what you were really doing."

"… What."

Amuro peers at him curiously at that reply, looking as though he hadn't expected that response. After examining Shuichi's face carefully for a few moments, his eyes widen.

"You… didn't know," Amuro says slowly, sounding like he couldn't quite believe the words coming out of his mouth. He continues, sputtering, "How could you not know!?"

"How was I supposed to know!?" Shuichi snaps back.

"You – Why wouldn't Miyano-san tell you?" Amuro demands, eyes still wide in disbelief.

There's the confirmation Shuichi needed.

"So Akemi did know about this," says Shuichi quietly, before continuing incredulously, "And you – Bourbon, are you hiding away half of the Organization's traitors in your closet? I didn't realize you had gone insane since I left the Organization."

Akemi is one thing – she's thankfully a low-ranking member who isn't even codenamed. The only reason why the Organization even vaguely cares about her is because of her sister. But Sherry? Does Amuro have a death wish?

(The small, quiet suspicion that sprouted during his last confrontation with Amuro buds.)

"Shut up, Rye," Amuro snaps, and for a moment Shuichi isn't in this clean, softly lit café, but in a grimy warehouse getting in a piss match over who was to blame for an operation gone wrong.

Then he blinks, and he's back in the café with Amuro staring at him, actually looking a touch worried. He carefully schools his expression, but the look on Amuro's face doesn't change.

"Sit down, Akai," Amuro says, tone carefully controlled. He gestures at a nearby table. "I'll get you something to drink."

For whatever reason, Shuichi takes Amuro up on his offer and sits down.

---

Shuichi stares with a touch of suspicion at the cup of coffee that was placed in front of him. He doesn't think it would be poisoned, but at the same time, maybe it wouldn't be the best idea to drink something served by an Organization operative…

"Really, Akai, if I wanted to kill you there would've been easier ways," Amuro says in exasperation. He sits on a chair across from him, chin leaning on his hand. He had settled himself down at Shuichi's table after closing the curtains on all the windows and locking the door. Shuichi appreciated the caution.

Amuro does have a point. Deciding that if he's come this far, he might as well go all the way, Shuichi picks up the cup and takes a sip.

"…It's good," Shuichi says in surprise before taking another sip. "And I don't believe I taste any common poisons, though it's a bit hard to tell with coffee."

And it is good, but that isn't the only thing. It's made just the way he likes non-canned coffee – with one cream. He doesn't think he really drank much coffee in front of Amuro as Rye, so this is yet another mysterious piece of information Amuro found out somehow. Most people assume from his canned coffee preferences that he prefers his coffee completely black, after all.

"It's not poisoned!" exclaims Amuro, still sounding exasperated. "Someone makes you coffee out of the goodness of their heart and you worry about poison…"

Shuichi isn't quite sure why Amuro made him coffee, but as with all things regarding Bourbon, he sincerely doubts it was out of the 'goodness of his heart'.

"My apologies, Amuro-kun," Shuichi says drily, and oh, oops, he's reverted to his habit of calling people younger than him in a more impolite way. He winces a little, preparing himself for a barrage of complaints from Amuro at the impolite address, but to his surprise, it never comes.

"Honestly," Amuro simply says in a huff. But the huff seems unrelated to the impolite address – if Amuro was actually annoyed, Shuichi was quite certain that he wouldn't hear the end of it.

Shuichi blinks at Amuro. Maybe he just hadn't noticed the appellation?

They sit quietly for a few minutes, Shuichi sipping at his coffee every so often. Shuichi isn't quite sure what to say. Isn't sure what he should do, even - he feels like he's lost sight of the reason why he's come here in the first place.

It all feels a bit surreal.

But finally, letting out a sigh, Amuro breaks the silence.

"When I figured out what had happened to Scotch, I still hated you for months," Amuro says quietly, eyes focused somewhere far away.

"Oh? Months, you say?" says Shuichi, genuinely surprised. "How long have you known?"

"Oh, more than four years at this point," Amuro answers with a shrug and a knowing smirk, and Shuichi chokes on his coffee.

"Four years?" Shuichi demands. He places his cup of coffee back on the table, coughing a little. "You've – you've known almost the entire time then!"

"I wouldn't say that," Amuro denies, playful smile on his face. "I've just known for over four years."

"That means you've known for almost the entire time," says Shuichi, and feels a stab of mild irritation at Amuro's stupid wordplay. Then he pauses, because if Amuro has known for that long… "You tried to kill me when you already knew?"

"Rude, Akai," Amuro says, wearing an expression of mock offense. "I never tried to kill you."

Shuichi gives Amuro an unimpressed look, because they both knew that while Bourbon may have never straight-up aimed a gun at him, he certainly let his aim 'accidentally slip' a time or two. There was that time with the puppies too, of course.

And that's why he doesn't quite believe that Amuro has known for that long. He can't imagine the vitriol Bourbon aimed at him for all those years was just, what? An act?

Then he has to pause again, because what does it say about him that he was calmly enjoying a cup of coffee with the man that had tried to kill him numerous times, no matter how one-sided the rivalry had always been?

But in the end he just takes another sip of the coffee and lets it go for now, because he was still far more grateful that Akemi wasn't dead to be resentful. If Amuro was going to let bygones be bygones, then so would he.

(And regardless of his personal feelings, he would need to let things go, if Amuro really was what Shuichi suspected he was.)

Meeting Shuichi's unimpressed expression with cool eyes, Amuro continues, "Would would my motivations matter anyways? Murder is murder. If I really had killed you, whether it was out of hypocrisy or out of righteous justice, it wouldn't change the blood that would be on my hands."

Amuro's expression is as carefully controlled as his tone had been, but Shuichi's eyes narrow. That almost sounded like he was judging murderers. Despite being a murderer in an organization of murderers.

"Anyways, my point was, even though I understood logically that you hadn't been the one to kill Scotch, I still hated you on an emotional level for ages," Amuro says, waving a hand dismissively. "So if you feel annoyed that Miyano-san didn't tell you about Sherry even though I'm sure your lack of communication was the reason," – and here, Shuichi winces a little because Amuro had hit the nail on the head – "Then I think that's understandable, if not reasonable."

"Amuro-kun," Shuichi says, partly just to see if maybe Amuro hadn't noticed the more impolite address the last time. But Amuro doesn't react again, so, feeling a bit bewildered, he continues, "Is this a therapy session?"

"It's just a bit of advice," Amuro responds, rolling his eyes.

"Well, I appreciate your advice," Shuichi says drily, before continuing with something of a lie, "But I can't expect Akemi to tell me things when I don't tell her things. I don't feel annoyed."

In truth, despite the hypocrisy, he does feel annoyed. But in his defense, he's mostly just annoyed at himself for getting stung by his own secrets. What was the point of doing things 'for real' with Akemi if he fell into his old habits of hiding everything from her?

Shuichi resolves to be more honest with Akemi from now on.

"I see. My apologies," Amuro says, voice suddenly curt. Shuichi swallows back a groan, because really, what had set Amuro off now? He said that he appreciated the advice didn't he? Sometimes he felt like talking with Bourbon was like navigating a minefield.

"Look, Amuro-kun, I just want to know," Shuichi begins, then stops. 'What are you here for?' was on the tip of his tongue - but that wasn't really what he wanted to know anymore, not now. So instead, he hardens his expression and says bluntly, "You're like Scotch and I, aren't you."

"Well," Amuro drawls, and the arrogant edge to his voice is enough to make Shuichi immediately regret making the comment. "We are all men, so I suppose we have that much in common."

"You know what I meant."

"Do I?" Amuro says mildly, "You ask dangerous questions, Akai Shuichi. Think what you want, but," he holds up a finger to his lips and smiles, "I would prefer if you kept those thoughts to yourself."

Amuro's uncaring, unsurprised attitude to Shuichi's accusation makes him doubt himself for an instant. Amuro could've been leading Shuichi to his conclusion, trying to manipulate him. In fact, he suspects heavily that regardless of his motivations, Amuro wanted him to reach that conclusion – Bourbon was far too skilled of an actor to let so many hints drop otherwise.

But saving Akemi and if Amuro was to be believed, saving Shiho, was a step too far just for manipulations.

"Even if I don't say anything," Shuichi says carefully, "You've been very… flashy, Bourbon."

"Maybe flashy to you," Amuro concedes. His gaze cools, eyes narrowing, and if Shuichi was a lesser man he might've felt a chill run up his spine. "But as far as anyone else can tell, I've been just as exceptional of an operative as usual."

"I see," says Shuichi shortly, "And part of that 'exceptional work' is being a café worker?"

"Oh please, Akai, you're going to have to be a bit better than that to get information from me," Amuro snorts.

"...Mouri Kogoro," he tries.

"Mouri who?" Amuro says, innocent smile on his face.

Shuichi scowls a little.

Amuro chuckles, then laces his hands together in front of him and leans in across the table. "How about we do a trade, Akai? You give me a bit of advice on something, and I'll give you some of that information you want so badly."

"Advice?" Shuichi echoes, not bothering to hold back his skepticism.

"It's nothing that would support the Organization, I promise," Amuro says. He smiles sharply. "I just don't have anyone to really talk to about this. I could use the ear."

"...Alright," Shuichi decides. It's not like he loses anything by just hearing Amuro out.

"Okay, I'll go right into it then," says Amuro with a smile that doesn't quite meet his eyes. He taps a finger against his cheek. "Hey, Akai. This is just a hypothetical, of course - but say, for example, that you knew that someone was going to commit murder. And you might be able to convince them not to. Would you try to convince them and just hope they don't commit it, or wait for them to make their attempt and stop them there?"

Shuichi blinks, stares, then with no hesitation, replies, "Both."

Amuro stares back. "What?"

"Both," Shuichi repeats, nodding. "Why leave things to chance?"

"I-" Amuro starts, moving his hand to his chin. "I- yes, of course. That" - Amuro begins to look a bit sour - "that does make sense."

The expression on Amuro's face is awfully tetchy. Shuichi just hopes that Amuro won't take out his annoyance on Shuichi himself.

"Is that the only advice you wanted?" Shuichi asks.

Amuro clicks his tongue, then looking as though he had swallowed a lemon, mutters, "Yes."

Shuichi can't stop his lips from quirking up.

---

In the end, Shuichi manages to wrangle two major bits of information out of Bourbon - (a) Vermouth was indeed chasing after Shiho with Bourbon as backup, and (b) Akemi knew where Shiho was, as did Amuro himself.

Unfortunately, no matter how he presses, Amuro refuses to reveal just who Vermouth had disguised herself as, and he didn't exactly have the cards to make him cough the info up.

He's not quite sure what to do about the Bourbon issue. He knows where he is, knows what crimes he's committed, but he can't exactly testify about what he's seen Bourbon do without incriminating himself in the process. And regardless, if Amuro really is an ally… leaving him alone might be the best move at the moment.

So he continues to keep quiet about Bourbon and instead confronts Akemi.

---

The confrontation could've probably gone better, but in his defense, it could've gone worse as well.

Shuichi learns a lot. It's a little shocking that someone can actually shrink, but he trusts Akemi enough to take in stride. At this point, he's disappointed but not unsurprised to hear that Shiho also is uninterested in the Witness Protection Problem.

He doesn't meet Shiho and doesn't plan to, because it's dangerous enough meeting Akemi like he is - but he doesn't think he can stand it, knowing Akemi is right here in Tokyo and never meeting her. Apparently even Akemi is only communicating with her sister through encrypted e-mails and calls.

It's Akemi's grievances with his secrets that raises the problem.

It's not like the things Akemi points out are exactly wrong, per se. He is trying to protect her, and Shiho as well, and some of that involved keeping secrets. He can see why she might see that as Shuichi trying to shield her or keep her in the dark.

He does promise to be more truthful with her in the future and it's a genuine promise - when it comes to things related to Akemi or her sister, it would probably be best if she did know things now. She seems happy enough with that, and Shuichi is glad, because he hates to see her sad or unhappy.

Dinner is a little awkward the next couple times they meet at Akemi's apartment though.

---

When Shuichi gets back to his hotel room after an unproductive day of searching for clues on Vermouth, Amuro is sitting on the sofa in front of the television, fiddling with his phone. He slips it into a pocket when Shuichi enters the room.

"Hello, Akai!" he greets cheerfully, aiming a subdued smile at Shuichi.

Shuichi stares a little, because while he's seen Amuro smile plenty, this one doesn't look quite so fake or sneering as normal.

"What are you doing here, Amuro-kun?" he asks, deciding to not bother asking how he found out where he was living or how he got in. It's not like Amuro would give him a straight answer either way.

"Well, I wanted to hear how things were going with Miyano-san," Amuro replies, leaning back against the sofa casually as if it was his room he was relaxing in. "I haven't really seen her since you spirited her away, you know."

"Aren't you in contact with Shiho?" Akai points out, not buying the explanation. "I imagine it would be infinitely easier to go through her."

"Not as easy as you might think, Akai," says Amuro, smile not fading. "I may have helped her, but she's still rather wary around me. Understandable, of course, but it means I prefer not to talk with her unless necessary to avoid stressing her out."

Shuichi brings a hand to his forehead, sighs, and decides to let it go. He was getting a little tired of constantly doubting Amuro's motivations anyways.

"Akemi is doing fine," Shuichi says truthfully.

"Are you being a proper lovey-dovey couple?" Amuro asks brightly, and Shuichi swears that sometimes Amuro is like a sharp-eyed snake, biting down on any weak spot he can see.

"Of course not, Amuro-kun, it's a bit difficult when Akemi is supposed to be dead and I'm hunted by the Organization," Shuichi says drily, then lies, "But we understand that - we're still doing fine."

"That's good to hear," Amuro says, his voice cheery - but Shuichi can't hold back the feeling that something's off. He shakes it off quickly enough though - he doesn't care to investigate what's going on in Amuro's mindscape.

"If that's all, I would appreciate it if you left," Shuichi says bluntly, stepping further into the room to allow Amuro unimpeded access to the exit. "I'm busy tonight."

"Oh? With what?" Amuro asks.

"With finding a new hotel," Shuichi shoots back, mildly irritated.

Amuro laughs cheerfully. "You know I'll find you again in a couple days even if you move, right?"

Shuichi narrows his eyes at Amuro, not in the least because he suspects that what Amuro claims is true. He's not sure how Amuro is tracking him, but so long as Amuro is working in the same area that Shuichi is investigating, he imagines Amuro has his ways.

He sighs and lets himself relax a little - because he might as well - then leans against a wall.

"You're in a very good mood today, Amuro-kun," he says drily.

"Does it seem that way?" Amuro asks with a smile. He holds up his left hand in front of him and stares at it, expression a touch melancholic, and continues, "I just realized that even if some things are gone forever, and it's better that way, not everything has to be."

Amuro closes his hand into a fist and lets it drop back down on the sofa next to him.

Shuichi frowns. What was that?

"Anyways," Amuro says, and slips a hand into his pocket. Shuichi automatically tenses, but the only thing Amuro takes out is a square, plastic item.

A DVD case.

Amuro flashes a grin at him. "Let's watch a movie!"

...What, he thinks.

"...What," he says.

"Don't worry, it's an American movie," Amuro says brightly, waving the DVD case in the air. "A spy flick too - I thought you might like that, right?"

"Amuro-kun, in what universe -"

"-It's only a couple hours, don't be so stingy," Amuro complains, and Shuichi just blinks because this whole situation was incredibly surreal. He feels like lately, he steps into a strange fever dream whenever Amuro enters the picture.

(Maybe this was a fever dream induced by Bourbon poisoning him with something… it would make as much sense as anything else that had happened in the past month or so.)

Amuro gestures at the television and the DVD player below it. "The hotel's given you this nice HD television, but have you even used it? I'm doing you a favour, really."

"Amuro-kun-"

"-Do you know where the remote is, though? I can't seem to find it. I d-"

"- Amuro-kun," Shuichi snaps, and Amuro finally shuts his mouth. He looks up at Shuichi, head cocked to the side as if he didn't know perfectly well what the problem was. Shuichi continues, "I have no intention of happily watching a movie with the person actively working with the very criminal I'm trying to find."

"It's not that I don't see your point of view, Akai," Amuro says, undeterred, "But I can't spoonfeed you FBI all the answers. Besides," - and here, Amuro's face goes serious for the first time this night - "If you learnt where and when you could find Vermouth right at this very moment, it would turn out worse for all of us. Trust me on this."

Shuichi opens his mouth to say something, then shuts it immediately because to his horror, he finds he does trust Amuro on this. If someone who had whisked away two traitors from the Organization was saying that much, then perhaps Shuichi should trust his words, at least a little.

He honestly didn't even know what was going on anymore.

Amuro peers at him curiously. "Akai? Is everything alright?"

"I-" he starts, then pinches his nose.

In for a penny, in for a pound.

He sighs. "Alright then. Let's watch this movie."

Amuro grins brightly and for a moment, Shuichi can't quite bring himself to question what he's doing.

---

"Dai- Shuichi-kun. Shuichi-kun."

Shuichi blinks back into the present to meet Akemi's somewhat exasperated look. He coughs and apologizes, "Sorry. I was thinking about work."

They're sitting at the dinner table in Akemi's apartment, having dinner - it's a meal they made together. It's good, though a bit simple - neither of them have much in the way of culinary skill.

He didn't mean to get distracted, not really, but something about one of the people he tailed today bothered him.

Akemi sighs and leans against her hand on the table. She mumbles, "You never got this distracted all the time before…"

"My bad," Shuichi apologizes again, and Akemi flushes - Shuichi supposes he wasn't meant to hear that mumble.

It was easier before. Before, it had been his job to get closer to Akemi, to well, use her to get deeper into the Organization.

Now every other moment he spends with Akemi he can't help but worry about the Organization. And he can't exactly blame Akemi for being annoyed that she can't get his full - or even a decent amount - of attention on her for a single dinner.

"Shuichi-kun, I do understand how important your work is - for both me and everyone. If on some days you really can't think of me over work, then just cancel. I won't be mad," Akemi says kindly, "And if there's anything I can do to help, just tell me."

He doesn't deserve her, but well, he doesn't want her to get hurt by involving her in work, and…

"Then I would never come for dinner," Shuichi points out reasonably.

At those words, Akemi stares at him, looking a little disbelieving, then brings a hand to her face and groans. Shuichi realizes too late what he said.

"I- It's fine," Akemi mumbles, "I guess that's true…"

"I'm sorry," Shuichi says - the words are genuine.

Akemi sighs again and straightens back up, shaking her head. "It's fine, really. That's just the way you are, Dai-kun. I'll try to understand."

Shuichi frowns, and says quietly, "I do love you."

Just because he was distracted didn't mean he didn't treasure his time with Akemi. She understood that, right?

Akemi smiles, a little sadly for some reason, and says, "I do too," before picking her chopsticks back up to start eating again.

He's not quite sure how to fill the silence.

---

Shuichi has stopped questioning the hows or whys whenever he finds Amuro in his hotel room in the evening.

"Hello, Amuro-kun," he just says, walking past Amuro sitting on a lounge chair in order to head to the bed. He shrugs off his coat and throws it haphazardly on the bed before sitting down on the edge, facing Amuro.

"Hey, Akai," Amuro says, briefly flashing a smile at Akai before scowling. "This hotel was hard to find, you know. It's smaller than your old one, too - no television."

"My apologies for making it difficult for you to tail me," Akai says drily.

"Thank you, I appreciate the apology," responds Amuro primly, and Akai can't help but laugh, just a little.

Amuro looks surprised at the sound, but not displeased. Akai can't help but wonder if he's falling into some trap, but at this point, he also can't bring himself to care too much. Amuro could've killed him ten times over at this point. But he hasn't.

"Since there's nothing we can watch a movie on but there is a small fridge in the room, I brought sandwiches," Amuro says, gesturing towards the fridge in question.

Shuichi blinks at the fridge, then turns his gaze back towards Amuro. "Sandwiches?"

"Yes, sandwiches. Ham sandwiches, in fact - my speciality," Amuro explains, and Shuichi raises an eyebrow.

"Speciality," Shuichi echoes, a little doubtful.

"What's with that tone, Akai Shuichi!?" Amuro demands, crossing his arms. "I've been able to infiltrate countless cafés and restaurants for a reason, you know."

"Alright, Amuro-kun," Shuichi says placatingly. He resigns himself to at least pretending to like the sandwiches when he eats them. He's never been the biggest fan of sandwiches, though.

---

The sandwiches are good. Incredibly good. He's not sure whether to feel pleased or vaguely annoyed.

---

When Shuichi slides into the passenger seat of Jodie's car one day, he lets out a small sigh.

Jodie glances at him in confusion. "Something wrong, Shuu? It's rare for you to seem out of sorts."

"Jodie," he says seriously, placing his hand on his chin. "Is there a word for 'honeytrap'... but with friendship instead of romance?"

"What?" Jodie says, sounding half-amused, half-incredulous.

"Where someone gets close to someone to get information," Shuichi explains, frowning a little, "But rather than using romance or sexual relations as a motivator, they use friendship."

Jodie lets out a bright, amused laugh. "I've never heard about something like that."

"Hmm, so you haven't either…" Shuichi mutters.

"I think someone would have to be pretty starved for friendship for something like that to even work though," Jodie says, still sounding amused.

Well, he wouldn't say he was starved. It was just nice. That was all. He would say Jodie and Camel and others were friends, it wasn't as if he didn't have any. It was just they didn't exactly spend time together outside of work.

(Maybe Amuro felt the same way.

Maybe Amuro missed the days when Scotch, Amuro, and him acted all stupid around each other despite all three of them being in a bloodthirsty organization.

Maybe he did as well.)

"Yes, you're right, of course," Shuichi just says, keeping his expression neutral.

"What made you bring it up?" Jodie asks, glancing at Shuichi curiously.

For the upteenth time, Shuichi briefly considers telling Jodie about everything that was happening with Bourbon, then dismisses the thought. Information was a need to know commodity. And no one really needed to know about Bourbon- about Amuro right now. Not when Amuro was being cooperative, not when a leak in the FBI could lead to Amuro's death so very easily.

"Nothing, just spotted a TV show that used that premise and was curious," he says dismissively, then quickly changes the topic back to work.

---

When Shuichi gets back to his hotel room one evening, Amuro is there, and he had been really hoping he wouldn't be. He had just had a failed dinner with Akemi, then gotten into a bit of an argument with her, and he really wasn't in the mood for any more conversation that night.

But before he can say anything, Amuro takes one look at him and stands up from his chair.

"Ah, it looks like you're not really in the mood to talk tonight," he says, smiling. "I'll come back another day. See you, Akai!"

He gives Shuichi a small wave then heads out the door.

Shuichi stares as Amuro leaves. He blinks a couple times, a little taken aback, but settles on smiling.

He appreciates not having to say anything.

---

Shuichi has to cancel on Akemi one night because of an important stakeout. When he checks his phone hours later, there's only a single text from Akemi in response:

Alright.

He stares at the too-short reply for too long.

---

They find Vermouth, finally.

Araide Tomoaki. A kindly doctor in Beika City and an occasional basketball coach. Polar opposites with Vermouth herself, but that's never stopped her before.

Jodie is the one who plans out most of the operation to move against Vermouth, with some occasional input from Shuichi and James.

But as they plan the operation, there's one little thought repeating itself in the back of his mind.

Araide's family is all dead. They were most likely all killed by Vermouth to better keep her cover intact.

Amuro let them all die.

---

Shuichi moves hotels again, this time to a very lowkey one he doubts Amuro will be able to find before the operation takes place.

It must've worked, because he hasn't seen Amuro since he moved.

But two nights before the operation, he's sitting alone at a table for two in some small, but busy bar when someone slides himself into the seat in front of him.

He's not surprised when he looks up to see a shock of light hair and darker skin.

"Bourbon," he says coldly.

Amuro blinks at him, and he has the gall to look confused. "Hello, Akai."

"You know, Bourbon," he says, glancing to the side. He's more angry at himself for letting his guard down than anything else, but still - "The FBI would've been perfectly capable of saving Araide Tomoaki's family."

"You're mad because I did it for you?" Amuro says incredulously, "I didn't think you were that petty."

...What.

Shuichi buries his face into his hands and lets out a long breath. After some moments, he looks back up and meets Amuro's gaze steadily.

"You saved Araide Tomoaki's family," he states.

Amuro, not breaking eye contact, says flatly, "Yes."

Shuichi examines Amuro's face for a bit longer before closing his eyes and sighing. Should he believe him? Amuro was skilled enough at acting that he suspects that he wouldn't be able to tell if Amuro was lying.

"You thought I let them die. I see," Amuro says calmly, putting his hand on his chin. He glances to the side, looking contemplative but not offended. "Alright. I can't prove 've long since gone into hiding. But I can describe parts of how I did it, and then you can decide whether if I planned that much I would really not go through with actually doing it."

"Only parts?" Shuichi notes.

"I have some secrets I need to keep," Amuro replies, dropping his hand down to his lap.

"I can't risk so much on just trust anymore, Amuro-kun," Shuichi says frankly, lacing his fingers together on the table and leaning in. Amuro's face is carefully unreadable. "I've given you more trust than I should've because of what you did for - you know. But this can't go on forever when you're an active Organization member and haven't given me any indication you want to quit."

Amuro closes his eyes. "You should really know why I don't plan to quit."

"I know what you want me to think about why you don't plan to quit," Shuichi corrects, "I don't know why, not for sure."

Amuro is quiet for a while, different emotions flashing over his face in quick succession. The bustle of the bar around them doesn't fade as Shuichi waits for Amuro's response.

Finally, Amuro sighs and stands up sharply, chair scraping loudly against the floor.

"I'm sorry, Akai," Amuro murmurs, so quietly Shuichi can barely make it out, especially with the noise in the bar.

He leaves the bar quickly, nimbly slipping between chairs and tables shoved closely together.

As Shuichi watches him leave, he's a bit surprised at the heavy disappointment that settles itself down in his heart. But he doesn't let himself do something stupid like chase after Amuro.

Amuro made his decision.

That was that.

---

He gets an encrypted text from an unknown number the next night. When he decrypts it with Scotch's key, it's still not very understandable.

You should be careful. Drinks made from apples can so easily poison themselves - and ravens may have more weapons that you expect.

He can't help but respond. After opening up his laptop to encrypt his message, he sends it to the number.

Could you be a little less cryptic?

His phone soon beeps with a short reply, this one unencrypted.

No.

Shuichi sighs.

---

The night after that, during the operation, he subdues the Organization sniper that shot Jodie and removes all of the sniper's guns from his reach - a sniper rifle, a shotgun, and three pistols. Then he recalls the text from the day before and frowns.

Calvados was a drink made from apples, wasn't it?

Just to be safe, he gives Calvados another once-over and discovers another small pistol he had missed, hidden behind his bulletproof vest.

Shuichi raises an eyebrow. This was a little ridiculous - what did Calvados think he was, a gun dealer?

But he didn't have any more time to waste on Calvados - Jodie and that boy were in danger. He jumps down from the cargo containers to confront Vermouth.

Unfortunately, Vermouth manages to distract the boy and shoot him with his own tranquilizer, escaping in Shuichi's car with the boy as a hostage. As a special bonus, she even shoots up Jodie's car, leaving them with no way to pursue.

Fortunately, they still have Calvados to interrogate.

He suggests to Jodie that she call up James to pick up Calvados, then call the local police to report everything else. It would be easy enough for Jodie to pretend to be an FBI investigator on vacation who just so happened to get caught up in a kidnapping case.

Then he makes to leave, because he doesn't want to have to deal with the local police. Only before he can leave, the sound of police sirens begins to draw near - worryingly quickly.

Shuichi clicks his tongue. He probably wouldn't be able to escape before the police came - not on foot.

"We're dating, Jodie," he says.

"Excuse me?" sputters Jodie from her spot leaning against a cargo container. Her hand is still tightly gripping her gunshot wound.

"It's the easiest excuse. We're an American couple who just so happen to be FBI investigators on vacation who just so happened to get involved with a kidnapping case," Shuichi explains, glancing back at Jodie.

"That feels like quite the stretch, Shuu…"

"If you have something better, I'm all ears," Shuichi says calmly. He sees a couple patrol cars turn in from around a corner a couple hundred metres ahead. "We're running out of time."

"Alright, fine!" Jodie exclaims, letting out a groan. She glares up at Shuichi. "You know, maybe you should look a little more caring about your 'girlfriend' who just got shot…"

"Right," Shuichi says, walking up to Jodie to kneel next to her. Once he's actually up close to Jodie's wound, he can't help but wonder, "Are you sure you're alright?"

"I just got shot, no I'm not," Jodie says bluntly, "But I'll survive."

They watch in silence as the patrol cars draw near, their sirens shrilling. The sirens finally shut off when the cars stop some paces away from them, though the strobe lights on the cars still stay on.

A few men step out of the cars and begin walking towards them. A black-haired man wearing glasses is leading the small procession - Shuichi presumes he's the inspector of the group.

They stop within talking distance of Shuichi and Jodie, then the black-haired man in the front looks down at them. His expression is cooly professional.

"FBI Agent Starling and FBI Agent Akai, I presume?" he asks.

He blinks up at the man with no little surprise. But there was no sense in lying when he didn't have any way to pretend otherwise.

"...Yes," he says.

"Yes," Jodie echoes, sounding surprised - and a touch nervous.

The man nods curtly. "I am Sergeant Kazami Yuuya of the PSB. We were told that there might also be two Organization operatives to capture and a young boy to protect?"

Shuichi's eyes widen at the mention of the Organization. So Japan is aware of the Organization… though judging from the state of their local police, he suspects only a select few are aware.

He's also a bit suspicious, because while a bystander could have heard the commotion and called the local police, there's no way they could've just called up the PSB. No, there's only one person he can think of that might have done this...

"One operative escaped, taking the boy as a hostage," Jodie explains hesitantly. She glances at Shuichi, but Shuichi isn't entirely sure what to do in this situation either. He shrugs, and so she continues, "The second is knocked unconscious above us."

"I see. Furuya-san mentioned that he suspected this might happen..." Kazami muses, trailing off. He glances behind towards the men that had followed him. "Takayama! Namatame! Go and take the operative here into custody."

Two men salute Kazami then make their way into the shadows behind the containers.

Kazami turns his gaze back forwards towards Shuichi and Jodie again.

"Agent Jodie, we'll escort you to a police hospital," he says calmly, "Agent Akai, do you have any injuries that must be treated?"

Shuichi shakes his head. "I'm fine."

"Very well then," Kazami says, "I'll be escorting you to our offices, then. The chief inspector would like to meet you - and your leader. James Black, I was told?"

The PSB were surprisingly well-informed on FBI matters. It was unsettling, to say the least.

"I don't suppose I have the option to refuse?" Shuichi tries, a small smile quirking up his lips. This sounded like it was going to be a bother.

"Shuu!" Jodie hisses.

"You do not, I'm afraid," replies Kazami, not sounding very apologetic.

He lets a small breath escape his mouth then nods. "I understand. I'll call James."

---

He has little idea how things go so well with the PSB, but what he does know is that it's suspicious.

Within a couple weeks, they've signed preliminary agreements for cooperation with the local law enforcement with a surprising amount of independence provided to the FBI. They were forced to allow the Japanese to take Calvados into custody, but either way, with the new agreements the FBI should be able to act on the information the Japanese would extract from the man.

Shuichi knows that James has always been a good negotiator, but even he can only do so much. He's certain that the only reason negotiations went so well and so quickly was that they had an ally on the Japanese side - someone who actively wanted the FBI brought into the fold.

Someone who hasn't made a peep since the PSB mysteriously showed up at an FBI operation.

He goes to Café Poirot in the hopes of catching this someone, but he's told that Amuro had apparently abruptly quit two weeks prior and hasn't shown his face since.

As he walks back to his hotel from the café, it's only when he walks by one, two, four people who side-eye him and jump out of the way that he realizes just how dark the expression on his face must be.

It seems he's worried.

---

When Shuichi walks into Akemi's apartment one evening, there's a child sitting on the sofa next to Akemi.

He blinks. That was the strangely intelligent kid - Edogawa Conan - who had gotten himself involved in the Vermouth operation, wasn't it?

Two pairs of eyes turn to look at him as he walks closer.

"Akemi?" he says, not bothering to hide his confusion.

"Hi, Shuichi-kun," Akemi greets, voice steady and serious. "There's something you need to know."

That boy, Conan, nods at those words, looking just as serious. Strangely, the expression doesn't look out of place on a child's face. Stranger still, Shuichi is starting to get the feeling he knows Conan from somewhere, somewhere a long time ago.

Considering what had happened with Shiho, could this 'child' also be…?

He glances between them, gauging their expressions, then nods slowly. Walking himself over to a nearby lounge chair, he sits himself down.

"Alright," he says, "What is this about?"

"Amuro-san," Conan replies, and Shuichi's eyes immediately zero in on the child. Unfazed by the sharp gaze, Conan continues, "Or as you might know him - Bourbon?"

"I'm listening," says Shuichi.

---

Apparently the night of that Vermouth operation, Shiho was planning to go give herself to Vermouth in exchange for Conan. It was Amuro who had knocked her out and kept her stuck at home until everything was long over.

Amuro had politely waited in the Agasa residence until Conan and Agasa returned to explain what he had done - though not to Conan's satisfaction. Which is why he had let Amuro leave, but slipped a tracker bug on Amuro's shoe using some gum.

"But it didn't actually work," Conan explains, looking irritated. "We got to hear the first part of a conversation with Vermouth on the phone - just about her failing to capture Haibara - but the bug affected the phone call quality and he immediately found and destroyed it."

"That isn't surprising from Am- Bourbon," Shuichi says calmly, "Did he say anything of interest before he destroyed the bug?"

"No," Conan says, shaking his head. Then he smirks, "But he didn't destroy the second tracker I stuck on his coat. This one wasn't a bug, so we couldn't hear any more of his conversation, but..."

Conan taps a button on his glasses and they light up, a red light blinking on a rudimentary map.

"...I do know where he is."

Shuichi eyes Conan with no little skepticism. "It's been over two weeks, boy. I doubt that Bourbon wouldn't have noticed it by now."

"Unless he wants to be found," Conan suggests, "The way the tracker's been moving makes me sure it's on a person, at least."

Shuichi leans in on his seat, focusing his full attention on Conan. "You think Amuro-kun might be in some kind of trouble?"

Conan blinks up at him with no little confusion. "No, I was thinking he might be trying to draw out the FBI or something. That it might be a trap."

"No, I agree with Shuichi-kun," Akemi says, shaking her head. "Bourbon-san wouldn't need to do something like this to draw out the FBI - if the tracker really is still on him, I think he's calling for help."

"Akemi-no-neechan, Akai-san," starts Conan, examining each of them with eyes that were suddenly razor-sharp. It was a touch disconcerting. "Do you know Amuro-san personally?"

"...He did help me escape from the Organization," Akemi explains, and Shuichi frowns, because he doesn't want to suspect Akemi but her eyes are floating to the side and her hands are fidgeting. She's not telling the whole truth, he's fairly certain.

He drops it for later though - no need to bring up anything in front of Conan. Shuichi just says shortly, and uninformatively, "I've met Amuro-kun a few times."

"Is that why you trust him?" Conan asks curiously, tone as innocent as the child he looked to be.

"Mm, I suppose?" Akemi replies with a smile.

"I wouldn't say I trust him," Shuichi corrects curtly. He trusts Amuro to some extent, yes, but there's still too many mysteries behind Amuro for Shuichi to give him even a large amount of his trust.

(A voice in the back of his mind mutters that his actions don't match with his thoughts. He ignores it.)

"I see," Conan says, hand coming up to his chin to complement his contemplative expression. "Well, regardless, I think it would be a waste to not use this information. I wanted to use it right away, but Jodie-sensei disappeared suddenly so I couldn't talk with her and" - he rubs the back of his head with a small laugh - "Haibara was so against it she kinda stole away all my tracking glasses."

"Shiho asked me for help with stopping Conan-kun from going off and doing his own thing," Akemi explains, "That's when I suggested she should tell him to talk with you, and he agreed."

"Oh?" Shuichi says, then appraises Conan's tight grip on his glasses, the determined edge to his face, and holds back a sigh. "I suppose the cost for this information is your participation?"

Conan nods firmly. "In fact, I think it would be better for me to approach Amuro-san."

Shuichi raises an eyebrow. Even if perhaps Conan wasn't in actuality a child, he was loath to put a bystander in danger like that. "What makes you say that?"

A wide grin spreads across Conan's face, and the sharp look shoots a jolt of anticipation through Shuichi.

He smiles despite himself.

---

The plan is to approach Amuro at night, when he's (presumably) at home in an apartment. Shuichi begins by scoping out the location where the tracker stays still for some hours most nights.

He settles himself down on a rooftop a few buildings over and examines every person going into the apartment building in question. When after an irritatingly long period of time, he actually spots Amuro's light-coloured head of hair through the scope of his sniper rifle, he's surprised at how relieved he feels.

(He considered Scotch his friend too. Maybe he wasn't as close to him as Bourbon, but he genuinely liked Scotch, and he genuinely felt rather terrible when he died.

If only he hadn't gotten distracted by the sound of someone coming up the stairs, Scotch would still be alive. It was his fault in the end, he knew.

Maybe he just doesn't want to feel that way again.)

He calls up Conan to tell him that he located Amuro.

---

Shuichi is rather impressed with Conan's acting skills. Though he unfortunately can't judge Conan's body language and facial expressions, his intonation at least is excellent.

He's currently listening in on Conan's conversation with Amuro from a car parked in an alley near the apartment building. Though he disapproved, in the end he couldn't stop Akemi from coming with him, so she's sitting next to him in the passenger seat.

At least she's in disguise - and Shuichi admits that it's a pretty decent disguise. She's done up her makeup well enough that she looks like an entirely different person, especially with her cut and dyed hair.

Conan's voice crackles out of the transmitter. "- and then Azusa-san said that she was hiring the Detective Boys to find you and give you this Café Poirot apron as a leaving gift you forgot! And I did! Heh heh, aren't you impressed, Amuro-san?"

"I certainly am, Conan-kun. But it's really late! Thank you for bringing me this apron, but you should really be heading home now."

"Can I please use your bathroom first? I really need to go!"

Shuichi hears Amuro sigh audibly through the transmitter.

"Yes, but only if you promise me you'll be quiet, Conan-kun." There's a moment of silence, then- "The people next to me aren't the most understanding of people - I heard them yelling at someone else for being too loud the other day."

He hears the sound of a door opening and feet tip-tapping on a wooden floor, but that's not important right now.

Shuichi murmurs, his eyes widening, "His apartment is bugged."

"Bugged?" Akemi echoes.

"In the Organization, 'yell' was our codeword for 'someone's listening'," Shuichi explains, "I can't imagine why he'd go out of his way to say something like that otherwise."

"But how would he know that you were listening?" asks Akemi, frowning.

Shuichi can't help but let out a laugh, because he doesn't know either. Really, the only possibility he can think of is...

"Hope?" he suggests with a half-amused smile.

Akemi stares at him, her frown deepening. Shuichi glances at her with some confusion, his smile disappearing.

"Is something the matter?" he asks.

She's quiet for a beat before shaking her head and smiling. "No, it's nothing."

"...Alright," he says, a touch doubtfully but it's not the time right now. He turns his attention back to the transmitter.

Nothing interesting comes out of the transmitter in the end, though. Conan just pretends to go to the washroom, then he's unceremoniously shoved out of Amuro's apartment.

It makes Shuichi wonder if he was just reading too much into Amuro's statement, that maybe Amuro wasn't actually hoping to talk to him through Conan.

Then Conan jumps back into the back seat of his car and he says, face serious, "Amuro-san gave me a message."

Immediately twisting around, Shuichi demands, "What was it?"

"It was Morse Code - Japanese Morse Code in fact, I'm pretty sure," Conan explains. He takes out his cellphone and begins tapping on it. "He kept on tapping a pattern on my hand as we talked. If I remember the pattern correctly - the message he wanted to give me was -"

Conan cuts himself off to let out a snort. "Amuro-san is the lone wolf type, isn't he?"

He flips his phone around to let Shuichi and Akemi see what was on the screen.

No problems. Don't come.

Shuichi raises an eyebrow. Well, that was rude.

---

The next day, they're at the PSB headquarters dealing with the Zero division again. Just because their higher-ups may have given the okay for joint operations didn't meant things were going as smoothly on the lower levels - most of the local police officers seemed to hold some resentment towards them.

So when Shuichi approaches Kazami Yuuya at his desk soon after a joint meeting, he's not surprised to feel a half-dozen sharp glares stabbing into him from nearby desks.

He lets the piercing looks roll off of him and asks, "Sergeant Kazami, I had a question."

Kazami eyes him with some trepidation. "If it'll be quick."

"It should be," Shuichi says, "Just satisfying my curiosity - does your team not have an inspector? You seem to report directly to the chief inspector."

Out of the corners of his eyes, he spots two, three - five people make a noticable reaction at the question. Looks like he's hit the nail on the head.

"It does, but Furuya-san is… on leave at the moment," Kazami replies haltingly, "I do much of the day-to-day work."

"Hm, I see," Shuichi says mildly, and it's a little hard to imagine Amuro managing to be an inspector while being an Organization operative, but nonetheless - he's done his own investigation into the team and the only person missing seems to be the inspector. It has to be him. So he smiles a little and continues, "Well then, I suppose I should tell you that I happened to get into contact with Amuro Tooru yesterday."

The reaction to that is much less subdued. A woman freezes in the middle of typing something on her laptop - a man actually flips his head to stare at Shuichi. Kazami, to his credit, doesn't react noticeably.

"...is that so?" Kazami says calmly.

"Yes," says Shuichi, and doesn't say anything more. He lets Kazami stew in silence with no small amount of amusement.

As he predicts, Kazami breaks soon enough. "What did he say?"

"Oh? Is he someone you know?" Shuichi asks. He can't help but smile a bit.

Kazami glares up at him coldly, and well, perhaps he deserves that. Finally, Kazami sighs. "Normally, you should've met him already. I suppose there's no harm in telling you."

A fair amount of murmuring starts up at those words. Shuichi wonders if everyone in the medium-sized office room was eavesdropping on the conversation.

Kazami continues, "As you likely suspect, Agent Akai, the man you call Amuro Tooru is in fact our inspector - Furuya Rei. Unfortunately, we haven't been able to get in contact with him for the past two weeks. He told us that the Organization suspected him then fell off the map. We would greatly appreciate any information you have."

He laces his fingers together on his desk and meets Shuichi's eyes steadily.

"A… contact of mine tracked him down to his apartment," Shuichi says, deciding to omit any mention of the apparent age of his contact. "When my contact talked with him at his apartment, Amuro-kun gave him the message, 'No problems. Don't come.'"

"No problems, don't come," Kazami echoes, his brow furrowing - he looks rather troubled. "Thank you for the information, Agent Akai."

"No problem, Sergeant Kazami," Shuichi says calmly. He cocks his head to the side. "In my personal opinion though - I don't think Amuro-kun is fine."

Kazami sighs. "In my personal opinion, Agent Akai - I agree with you."

They exchange sour laughs, and all of a sudden, he feels a sense of kinship with Kazami.

"If you need any help with anything relating to him, just say the word," Shuichi offers.

"I'll keep it in mind," says Kazami, nodding shortly.

Shuichi nods back, just as shortly, before making his way out of the room. For a second time, he ignores the piercing stares of the police officers he walks past - and perhaps it's just wishful thinking, but he feels like the gazes are a little less hateful now.

---

He shoves a cigarette into an ashtray and immediately lights another one.

"Shuu, is everything alright?" Jodie asks, raising an eyebrow. She's sitting next to him in the break room, checking something on her phone.

"Fine," he says shortly.

They've been run ragged in the past couple weeks - Calvados may have been a lower-ranked agent, but he was still codenamed. He had enough information to allow them to actually coordinate some minor strikes against the Organization, mainly against some gun trafficking rings.

Conan had contacted him to tell him that the tracker had been destroyed the day after he got into contact with Amuro - or maybe he should be thinking of him as Furuya now?

Shuichi hadn't even had the time to check if the apartment Amur- Furuya had been living in was empty now, but he had no doubt it was. Furuya wouldn't have gone to the effort to destroy the tracker if he was just going to stay in the same place.

He would just have to hope that Furuya kept himself alive.

(Because hopes worked so well last time, a voice mutters in his head.)

He sighs. "Let's get back to work."

---

Things calm down.

They're back on the defensive - information on the Organization has dried up and Organization operatives themselves are as elusive as ever.

There's no news from Furuya, but no dead body pops up either, and in the end, after all these weeks, Shuichi doesn't really think that Furuya has ever been the type of person to die so easily.

(Shuichi can't really afford to waste any more time thinking that.)

So he concentrates on work and trying to spend more time with Akemi, and things seem to be going decent with the latter if not the former. They can't go outside together, but Shuichi brings her flowers for Valentines', she sets up candles, and they have a nice night together.

The day after Valentines', he meets up with James early in the afternoon to discuss work. It's nothing unusual, nothing out of the ordinary. Only when he approaches James' car, his eyes narrow, because James is looking unusually solemn.

"Hey, James," he greets with a small wave, and then waits, because he's sure James will give him an update soon enough.

True to his expectations, James nods in greeting then says, "Akai-kun, we've received some disheartening news today."

"Oh?"

James says something.

There's a roaring in his ears and the words don't quite register.

He blinks a couple times, staring at James, before saying calmly, "Sorry, I didn't quite catch that."

James looks up at him, his lips turning down in a small gesture of worry. "That's not like you, Akai-kun. I said that-"

James' mouth is moving again. Shuichi stares, a little blankly, and then shoves down the flatout denials threatening to escape his mouth in favour of a line of questioning that was a bit more logical.

"I see," he says coolly, "How certain is this?"

"Quite certain - the PSB managed to run a fingerprint match with a nearby witness' phone," James explains. He shakes his head, looking a little sad. "Apparently he briefly borrowed it shortly before the incident. It's quite the loss to our side."

Shuchi nods shortly. He lets himself talk, lets himself ask about what their next move is, all while a cold feeling sinks itself into his stomach like a shard of ice that won't melt, not this time.

Furuya Rei is dead.

---

A/N:

(◡‿◡✿)

(this is not the end)