Disclaimer: I don't own Detective Conan or any of its characters. Though I wish I did!
Just a little plot that's been bothering me for a while concerning my favorite officer in the entire series. What if? *insert evil laughter here*
Probably since it's been a while since I actually wrote fanfiction it's not as good as when I was on a roll a few months(?) ago. Yes, apparently it's something that rusts with time XD. Anyways back to the story...
The impressive skills of the police gossip networks didn't help much with the rumors flying about a mysterious detective in Tokyo wearing a baseball cap.
Primarily, of a certain missing high school detective of the East and the high detective of the West.
"It has to be Kudo Shinichi!" This was accompanied with a slam of a fist on a desk surface one summer morning.
Of the many protests that followed, the loudest was, "Why is he in hiding then?"
"I heard that he's on the run from a family who he once solved a case for!"
"Really? Where did you hear that?"
Other than the rumors, the police department had a huge case on their hands.
It had started as a newest addition to Nakamori's things to do list besides catching the Kaitou KID, but then was handed down to Division One.
But then another case interrupted them. Serial murders. And not just any serial murders, murders of police officers….
In the course of a few weeks, a total number of fifteen were pronounced dead, unleashing chaos upon the already chaotic police force.
Most were killed with guns from the obvious bullet marks or hit with a blunt object, but there were exceptions…. The exceptions being that the bodies had no fatal wounds and a full body autopsy had revealed nothing.
Of course it was the first thing that the inspector had thought of was to let Satou handle it, but she was already busy with Takagi over the complicated robbery case. And then Shiratori was away on a business trip in Hokkaido for a few months….
So the final decision was this:
"W-What? Me, alone?"
"Well, I'm sure you've learned quite a lot following Satou-kun and Mouri-san around. Of course you won't be alone… Just letting you lead a case of your own for once."
Takagi had no choice but to accept the invitation. It had felt better when Satou had congratulated him on his little achievement, but for him to lead a case was….. Challenging.
"Don't be so upset, there's a first time for everything," Satou reassured.
Takagi sighed. "But I don't think I have the experience of serial murders..."
"You know you can always come to me for help. It's what being a senior by two years is good for."
Takagi would have liked to consult Satou on such matters, but there was no way that he was going to get a perfectly innocent police officer involved, especially police serial murders. Of course not.
So even if his partner was eager to lend a helping hand there was just no way Takagi could bring it upon himself to allow his Satou-san to get mixed up in this particular case.
And because although Satou was very brave, but sometimes that made her reckless.
She was very smart, but sometimes she dove in investigating without another thought.
She was a dedicated member of the police, but sometimes she was too stubborn for her own good.
That, and to Takagi and several others of the police department, Satou Miwako was a very important person.
So that's why Takagi was sighing for the umpteenth time as his new pile of paperwork and case files hit the table surface with a loud thump.
It would have been so much easier if Chiba's neighborhood survey had given them some leads.
Thankfully the criminal was keeping a low profile after the first hectic week of slaying police officers, so no more bodies have been found. All the more reason to close the case quickly while there were still a few casualties….
By the third day however, Takagi's optimism had reached his limit. Professional criminals must have had training because in most cases they left no traces, such as this one for example.
He supposed though, that Satou was probably worse off than he was. It wasn't an easy thing to do catching bad guys in pencil skirts and high heels.
And his brain wasn't functioning very well either.
As gentlemanly as Takagi was, there were those times when he was suffering from Satou-san withdrawal symptoms.
Usually it wasn't that serious since they were partners and all giving Takagi plenty of chances to enjoy Satou presence even with the ever so confident and serious officer look of hers.
Takagi immediately perked up from his pile of papers as the all too familiar blush crept on his cheeks due to the registered presence of his superior a mere three inches away.
Within a second police instincts sent nearly every head within a reasonable distance turned towards the two's direction.
Police officers were very stubborn in their own right, you know.
Nearly every other week, there was a little something on Satou's desk, whether it be chocolate or accessories. These however were usually taken by Yumi who visited Miwako's desk as almost as much as she herself did.
Regardless of whether everyone knew Takagi was officially going out with Satou, the rivals never really ceased. Like right now for example, the fellow officers were burning a hole in the back of his head with their invisible daggers.
If looks could kill, Takagi was sure he would have been dead a thousand times over.
"What are you thinking about with that of a serious expression on your face?"
"What about you Satou-san, you don't seem too happy either…."
"You first," she said as she took a sip of a fresh coffee that Yumi had conveniently placed on her desk a short while ago.
"Um, that last survey didn't bring us any leads. No witnesses, for one thing."
"Same here. I still don't get their motive for stealing, since it looks like they're only targeting certain gems. I don't think we've ever had a mass murder with mass robbery before."
The two exchanged various theories all the while making some progress on their paperwork. "But even then, we still have missing evidence. I mean remember that last time? No fingerprints or anything like that at all and security cameras were disconnected for some reason…."
Takagi gave a thoughtful look up while watching the lady detective.
Evidence…. That's a little too close to impossible currently….
Takagi was half relived when both he and Satou were sent out to investigate a homicide somewhere on the third block.
Every few pages or so, Takagi would somehow drift off thinking about the high school detective who was currently in hiding. And their respective cases which was the current reason for this month's never ending stream of paperwork.
Okay focus Wataru!
Takagi wrote down the main points: the possible escape routes and the unique structure of this particular building.
"I would have to check the window later…. And there's the back door…. Other than that, Satou-san, I think-"
Takagi stopped halfway and smiled as he heard her voice coming from the other room, obviously talking with the victim's wife. Satou politely listened to the sobbing woman in front of her, uninterrupted even with the loud clack as Takagi entered the room.
"Do you know anyone that could have done this?"
"W-Well, Fujita might have done it because of the debts….."
"Takagi, did you get that?"
"B-But, keiji-san….." Totori began uncertainly, eyeing the retreating back of the young officer.
"Yes?"
"Isn't this kind of work bad for a baby?"
Satou sweatdropped, her face burning in embarrassment while a loud clanging and a thump came from the direction of the staircase. Who knew where some people got their ideas from!
"I-I'm sorry!" came Takagi's reply.
Turning back to the woman, Satou cleared her throat trying to hide that blush that had been an obvious reaction. With all the dignity our officer could muster at the moment, Satou replied, "Thank you for your concern, b-but it's not like that at all…"
"Really? I thought since that advertisement been up for so long that-"Obviously that advertisement referring to the wedding poster. Satou panicked at the woman's words, waving her hands in fervent denial. Miwako could just imagine the horrid lectures that would soon follow, if this person was one of her mother's many "friends." But thankfully, she doesn't visit that side of town at all….
The familiar stammering voice broke through the two's conversation.
"S-Satou-san?"
Satou turned to her partner with a half desperate look as she whispered, "A little later…"
Takagi wondered what Satou was trying to say, especially when it was accompanied with such a curious look from the witness.
"He's must be possessive than I thought…." mused Totori-san quietly now observing the confused police officer who was thankfully out of hearing range. Takagi noticed the rare blush coming from his superior and had to wonder just exactly what they were talking about…..
Because of that, for the better half of the hour, Satou could not keep her mind on work. Well she couldn't after that particular discussion…..
She noticed her eyes trailing over to Takagi again who was currently checking the windows for any traces of footprints.
"With his jacket off, of all things…."
The summer heat beat down on the already sweating keiji outside, highlighting his messy dark hair; his clothes clinging a little bit too close for comfort. Three seconds later Miwako registered what she had just said aloud, and answered herself with a mental facepalm.
I knew Yumi put something in that coffee this morning….
After several hours of inquiring and investigating later, when his superior had finally determined that it was Fujita who had killed the late Totori-san, he found himself running full force after the escaping said man.
"Well that went nicely," said Satou who was currently dusting off invisible dirt off her hands after slamming Fujita into the ground seconds before.
If only most of our cases were this easy…. Then maybe I wouldn't be worrying my head off of dreaming nightmares every day….
Later that evening, after sending Fujita to the interrogation room for paperwork details, Satou came to Takagi in slightly better spirits than the past few days. "S-Satou-san? Did something happen?"
The officer smiled with a professional gleam in her eye. "Apparently during the KID heist the other day, one of Nakamori-keibu's division caught a person who is suspected to be part of the current robbery case."
"Really, the Hamada Seijiro?"
"No, but I suppose that a rookie is better than nothing…"
Takagi seemed to think for a moment before pulling out a sheet of paper. "Oh um, which reminds me… Chiba was telling me to give this to you since it was also found at the scene."
"Hmm?" Satou's briefly scanned the paper. Then she blinked several times before narrowing slightly. And that usually meant…..
"This is…. A code."
Takagi took another glance at the paper with Satou was looking over, both their paperwork that they were supposed to be doing forgotten. The sheet of paper looked like a bunch of scribbles save for a partially underlined 'Pandora' at the top of the page.
"Pandora… As in Pandora's Box? It's likely a code name or something."
"That seems to be the case….. I wonder why they call themselves that though…." Takagi said.
"I think….." Satou closed her eyes as if recalling something. "Mm, never mind."
For the better half of the hour, the two scribbled over a copy combining, splitting, grouping, rearranging and whatnot, the characters to no avail. It was a few minutes after the last sigh that had escaped Satou when Takagi got up and brought back a nice cup of well deserved coffee.
"Takagi-kun, any ideas?"
"Um… Well…. We could try flipping them around?"
After the initial look of 'Ohhh' followed by an 'I knew that' a light bulb seemed to have lit up on the young keiji. Takagi flipped the piece of paper so that 'Pandora' was upside down. Now it looked somewhat like a nonsense but readable word.
Satou minded this for a moment. Now that she had her entire attention to the top of the page, it did seem like the underlined part was significant. At a first glance it looked like it had underlines the first syllable 'Pan' but then a closer glance of an officer would prove that only the 'a' was fully underlined.
"Then… if we only change the 'a', then it would become a pen."
Takagi sighed. It actually had led them somewhere. Well, one wouldn't have expected much from a seven letter word, would they?
Satou crossed her arms staring at a clean copy of the code. Takagi looked on with slight curiosity as Satou cut the sheet into strips on each a row of characters. She then grabbed an ordinary pen and wrapped the first strip around, careful not to overlap.
Takagi watched with wonder as the words that were facing outwards began to make some sense. "Seventh month, twelfth day," it read. Satou tried the next one. "Crimson Tear."
By the time that Satou had finished her eyes were full of satisfaction and determination that came from solving something. That particular expression had been missed since the beginning of this rather frustrating case and it never ceased to make his as any other officer's heart skip a few beats.
Megure-keibu congratulated Satou with a proud gleam of a father figure and senior officer combined before calling together Satou's team to discuss plans. Takagi was relieved that at least one of their cases were successful, and although one half of his mind have wished for some leads on his case, the other half was content just by the way his superior had perked up at the discovery.
Satou came back from the meeting with a chattering Yumi on her heels inviting everybody for karaoke.
"Eh? You're not going? I thought you would go for sure since you and Miwako hadn't been together outside of work for a few weeks!"
Takagi chose to ignore the death glares he was getting. Yes, the numbers had decreased but no, there were some that never gave up. "Sorry, Yumi-san…. I'm expecting some important mail today..."
"Is it the one that your mother said she sent?" Satou asked. Takagi replied with a gentle yes. Yumi looked even more disappointed at the refusal than Satou was but that was probably because since most of the others would get them kicked out by the fifth song.
"Oh well then, see you tomorrow then!" Yumi waved a goodbye and began chatting with Miwako about some gossips here and there among other completely unrelated subjects. As the small group left Takagi packed some of the necessary files and left after exchanging farewells.
The box lay on his doorstep when Takagi later arrived. A small note, handwritten judging from the slightly slanted characters, was attached to it. With a smile Takagi brought the box in, and was just about to begin cutting it open when he heard his ringtone sound from the bedroom where he had left it three seconds ago.
Hmm? I doubt that it's Satou-san….. Wait, don't tell me it's Megure-keibu?
A few moments later when Takagi's phone wasn't slipping out of his hands like some bar of soap due to his haste, the police officer was slightly puzzled at the voice coming from the other end.
"Since it's getting late and all, I'll just get to the point."
"Who- I mean how-... What do you want?" He vaguely hoped he didn't sound as annoyed as he was feeling.
"Just a being a little informed about what our famous police force in Tokyo is doing. That isn't such a bad idea is it? Not for a little evidence for the serial murder you police are working their tails off for."
"Evidence… for murders?"
He knew just how important evidence for their latest case was. "You heard me right, now don't make it say it again. Do we have a deal?"
The stranger on the other end added, "Oh and of course it's only on if you keep it a secret…."
Damn. But the offer was a reasonable one, one information for another. But there was still something awfully strange about this whole thing.
"I'm sure even keiji-san is aware that many lives are staked on this particular case. Fifteen dead within these past weeks isn't a very good number after all."
Fifteen dead…..
Yes, he remembered all too clearly the first time the when a group of officer had been completely annihilated. He wanted to protect people; he wanted to close this case as soon as possible but…..
Why did he call me of all people? What does he want?
I'm not even sure I can trust him…. With that being said, how knew what an outsider would do with police information? Likely Satou would say at this point that this was how some serial murders were started. Takagi took a deep breath.
"Sorry I decline," he said with all the confidence he could manage and immediately hung up the phone. Anymore and Takagi thought he would have given into temptation and actually agreed!
Takagi curled up in bed hoping to fall asleep then and there. Police officers needed all the sleep they could get, and for this keiji it was no exception. Well with a small wish that he could have sweet dreams in the process. In his dreams, he wouldn't look like a complete idiot when he proposed and that Miwako, as that was what he had called her in that particular dream, would say yes with that oh-so-perfect smile of hers.
Reality was harsher. Currently he was holding onto the ring for good luck and wondering when the other officers would stop trying to throw him in the interrogation room for what Chiba liked to call "for no reason."
When Takagi had woken up, there was a text message.
"Keiji-san, I'll make sure that you regret your decision. Until you say 'yes' that is."
The silence that followed created an illusion that it was just another summer morning.
A/N: Whew... That took a long while. Hope you enjoyed and reviews are appreciated! :D
This particular idea came to me when I read a forum regarding some of the DC character's pasts. I mean we've seen other minor character's pasts(Chiba and Shiratori and Satou) but we've never seen Takagi's did we? So what if his past had something to do with the BO? Oh the suspense XD