Chapter 3

You and me
Too good to be
Too true to be
Too dumb to see

-Up all night, Best Coast

"I'm so glad to finally have the chance to properly get to know you, Shiho!" Ran says excitedly as she rips over two sugar sachets and pours them into her coffee.

"Do you want some?" She offers, handing me the sugar bags. I shake my head and say, "no thank you, I like my coffee black."

"So that's where Ai-chan got her coffee habit…oh, I'm so sorry," she apologises, as if she treaded on some soft spot that is sensitive to talk about for this supposed cousin of Haibara Ai's.

"It's alright, I'm fine with it. What did you want to talk about?" She wants to make small talk but I am not a small talk person, especially at 10 o'clock in the morning.

"Hakase said that you were working with Shinichi on a case and that's how he referred Hakase to look after Ai-chan. How did you two meet?" Ah…So she wants to know what my relation is with Kudo-kun, most likely egged on by that nagging Sonoko.

Should I say something ambiguous and make her jealous?

I turn that thought away and played around with stirring my coffee. My hair is a lot shorter now and the colour is in a light tea shade so that I don't exactly like an adult version of Haibara Ai. Though going by her mood, she doesn't seem to be suspicious of anything.

"We met at a lecture actually. I was the new girl, and recognising Kudo from the newspapers, I sat next to him inquiring about his deduction methods and a crime scene happened nearby. He needed someone with medical knowledge, and I happened to be the only one close by." I say, hoping she won't inquire further about any technical details.

"You must be really smart then! What are you majoring in Uni? Medicine? Science?" Her inquisitive probing is harmless, I know, but it's irritating, so I distract her with the one topic she won't stop talking about. "How's Kudo-kun, is he still acting like a child throwing a tantrum?"

Her face instantly light up and becomes even more animated than before. "That detective geek is still sulking like a baby, but he's better now, the doctors say that he'll probably be able to check out within the next few days though he would still have to go back for therapy sessions."

Kudo-kun talking to a therapist? That should be interesting.

"Tell me more."

I stand outside the room 3B 03 door and take a breath. Just go in, give him the book and leave. It's as simple as that. Why the hell am I nervous? I know why; what if he doesn't want to see me? After my stupid, sarcastic comments the day before what if he's still angry? Knowing him, he'd most definitely hold a grudge against me and then I would probably insult him even more and it'd end with both of us behaving like immature idiots. Why can't I just bite my tongue and be nice? Why can't I be more like Ran? He obviously needs constructive criticism for his behaviours but he most likely thinks I enjoy his suffering and I really don't.

How can he understand that when I yelled at him I was trying to say that you're better and braver than this?

How can he know that I basically camped outside the hall in front his room during his comatose state in case he woke up?

He won't know because I won't tell him.

He wouldn't ask because he's an idiot.

And I'm an even bigger idiot for expecting him to understand.

I turn from the door and then I hear a voice cry, "OWWWWW…..MOTHERFUCKING…"

I rush inside the room to find the stubborn detective sprawled across the floor with snacks and drinks lying all over the ground, knocked over from the coffee table. "Baka," I say, and then went to help him up to sit back on the bed.

"I can do this myself." He says stubbornly, slowly feeling his way across to the bed.

"Is everything alright in here?" A nurse asked, popping her head in from the door.

"It's fine! I just fell down, nothing happened," said Kudo, waving his hand to dismiss the nurse.

"How can you be so stupid to try and walk on your own without a cane?" I chastise, picking up the snacks on the floor, as the nurse left.

"I was just trying to get the cane from across the room and forgot about the table."

"…Are you hurt anywhere?" I ask, trying to bite off my sarcastic remarks for as long as I can.

"Ooooh, so the cold hearted scientist actually does care about me." He says mockingly, as I grab an ice pack from the mini fridge before throwing it to him. "You can go become a cripple for all I care."

"Ouch, I'm already disabled, remember?" He says, rubbing his arm where the ice pack hit him. Though he says it jokingly, I know that he is beyond despaired about his loss of sight. How can he not, when it's one of the most important assets that a detective needs? How can he ever go around snooping like a nosey goose in crime scenes again?

"Let me have a look," I say, lifting up his sleeve to inspect the bruise. "Too bad it's nothing but a big, fat ugly bruise that some ice pack will take care of. You'll live." I start to pull away from him before he holds onto my arms again.

"Say, Haibara, do you think…..do you think I'll ever be able to see again?" He asks quietly, like a lost little boy who needed guidance.

"Like the doctors say, it's only temporary," I try to sound hopeful, I try to sound positive to make him worry less, but a part of me is scared too. What if he doesn't recover? Though the chances of that are slim, but what if he closes himself off from the world?

"If I were you, I would start listening to the doctor's words and try my best to get better. A great detective does not rely solely on his sight and use his others as secondary devices. A great detective picks himself up from the battle he has lost and hones his skills further in order to solve the case. Think about it, Kudo-kun." This is the best I can do for now, I hand him The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes in braille and then turn towards the door to leave.

"…Thankyou…Haibara."

"It's Miyano now, Haibara is dead."

But I smile as I close the door.

"Shinichi, do you want curry or pasta for dinner?" Ran asks as we walk through the food section aisles in the supermarket. It has been three days since I was released from the hospital, and I had just got back from the airport after saying goodbye to mum and dad as they left for America again.

I wanted to whine like I never did when I was seven years old and ask them to stay. Your son is a cripple! Shouldn't you be fussing over me like normal parents?

On one hand, you have the dad who believes that kids should fend for themselves and on the other hand, you have the mum who acts even more like a teenager than you are. Combine them together, and you get a set of parents who believe that their kid, no matter what circumstance they're in, should be able to get on well on their own. In a way, they're right, I've grown used to living by myself and being independent without the sounds of nagging parents setting ground rules and curfews, but it still would've been nice if they played the part of overprotective parents. Now, since they're gone, Hakase has asked me to move in with him instead, and Ran today has decided to cook a meal for all of us, much to Kogoro's displeasure. Ha.

"Pasta sounds good," I say, "Should we go get the tomatoes first?"

I follow her through the sound of her shoes and trolley that she's wheeling around with her as she finds the fresh grocer section and picks the tomatoes. It's becoming easier and easier for me to distinguish the different sounds and rhythm of everyone's footsteps; with some ranging from loud and smooth to soft and clunky. Ran's footsteps are loud and clunky now since she's wearing heels and though I have still not fully gotten used to the walking, it is getting easier.

The walking is always the hardest.

Every time I take a step, I feel as if I'm taking a stab into the unknown, like I'm going to trip, or fall with every step I take. Sometimes I feel paralysed that if I take a step I will fall into the unknown abyss. Even with the guidance of the cane, I feel like I'm stuck in a never ending labyrinth with no way out; surrounding, pulling, drowning and swallowing me whole.

A great detective picks himself up from the battle he has lost and hones his skills further in order to solve the case.

Haibara's words come back to me and I remind myself to cut the pity party. No point in feeling sorry for myself when I can spend the time facing my fears right?

"We're back!" I shout, as I help with the limited number of grocery bags that I could carry into the kitchen.

"We're having pasta for dinner today!" Ran announces, as she unloads the groceries.

"Oooh, I haven't had that for a while," Hakase replies, I can already picture him drooling over the high fat content of those foods since apparently Haibara has recently put him on a strictly tofu diet. Harsh life, Hakase.

"Is Haibara home?" I ask, noting the absence of one's particularly sarcastic voice.

"Ai-kun has been interning at the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department as a forensic assistant," Professor explains, with a hint of proud and excitement that a father might have for his daughter.

"What?! How the hell did she get that job?" She never said anything about that. Now that I think about it, the FBI most likely gave her a new identity background with tertiary education that gave her qualifications on whatever she wanted to do. But working in the police department? That's a bit un-Haibara-ish.

Riiiiinnnnngggg.

Riiiiinnnnngggg.

Riiiiinnnnngggg.

I fumble for the phone in my pocket and then picked it up using the newest voice control prototype software that Hakase developed. It's quite convenient actually; I simply use the voice command and it'll be able to perform all sorts of functions such as call, Google, listening to music and GPS navigations.

"Moshi moshi," I say, while slowly walking to my room. It's the room closest to the living room and I mentally count the steps that I need to take as I walk. 10…11…12, turn right, 1…2…3…

"Can you think of any reasons why a murderer would kill the victim, slice her up and then mix her body parts with someone else's?" Haibara's voice is straight down to business and urgent; interesting…a murderer, slicing the victims up and the mixing them up….almost…. like playing a game of puzzle; Haibara wouldn't call me unless it was important;

I say to her, "wait for me, I'm coming right now."

I don't wait to hear her reply and hang up; I can feel my blood rising and the jumpiness of my footsteps as I get ready to step out of my room.

A murderer playing jigsaw puzzle? Like Holmes would say, brilliant, but why? As I walk, I realise that I have to sneak out instead of going through the front door, knowing that if I told Ran or Hakase, they would prevent me from going and that simply cannot do.

I will use all the senses I have to the best of my ability and catch the culprit!

"That will be ¥3526, please," the taxi driver says as he pulls up to the curb.

"Is that how they do it these days?" I say, grabbing the wallet from my jacket, "treating the blind like they're idiots just to cheat a few extra yen?"

"What are you talking about? You asked to go to the police department and here you are! The fare is ¥3526, a little higher than usual because it's peak hour." He says defensively and I smile. You picked the wrong guy, pal.

"Funny, the starting fare for Tokyo cabs is ¥710 and each additional kilometre is ¥294. From Beika Town to the police department, it's roughly around three kilometres. Add a little extra fare for traffic and it should not exceed ¥2000, yet you charge me nearly double the price. You take me for a fool?" I pull out two ¥1000 notes and hold it out for the driver. "If you try that again, I'll have you reported to the police department for fraud and deceit."

Well, thanks to the nifty apps on my phone, and the dodgy taxi driver, I have successfully arrived at the Metropolitan Police Department all pieces intact. To get to the forensic department however, would prove another challenge; there's no way I could get past the receptionist and explain to them rationally that a blind guy is going to help you solve a murder case. Nope.

"Kudo-kun, what are you doing here?" Megure-keibu asks from behind me. His voice sounds muffled and unclear, like he's eating something, most likely doughnuts since it's around break time for him anyway.

"Megure-keibu, can you please take me to the forensic department to have a look at one of the bodies that been cut up? Hai—Uh, Miyano-san asked me about it and I think I might be able to figure it out." Please, please, please, you gotta let me in, Megure.

"Uhhh…I don't know, Shinichi," Megure-keibu nervously starts, "I don't think in your current situation you'll be of any help to us." His voice sounds apologetic but there is also a hint of condescension; like finally, the almighty teenage detective is rendered useless.

Worthless.

"Megure-keibu, just because I'm blind doesn't mean my deduction skills have been blinded. I've still got my other senses to rely on. Please, just let me in and have a look. I promise, if I don't provide an ounce of helpful information that'll help you catch the killer, I'll never meddle in your cases again." It was a risky claim but if I don't say it, he won't let me in. I hear him grumble about how I should keep my head to myself and stop being so goddamn nosey as he reluctantly leads me up the escalator.

"Miyano, describe the victim's body to me and where she was found." The body stench is awful but not horrible enough to make you puke from a five-feet distance (at least, that's how far away Megure-keibu told me where I'll be standing); probably only a few days old.

"The victim's name is Harue Anabuki. 22 years old, English major at Tokyo University. Was found 2 nights before in the kitchen of her apartment. She was chopped into 16 different sections with her left thigh missing; the thigh left for us with the body seems to be from somebody larger than the victim with much more cellulite and bigger bone structure. Most likely older than the victim as well."

My mind is bombarded with crime scene images that I'm piecing together trying to imagine what the body would look like; a lot harder than I thought initially, since I need all the details to construct a believable crime scene, so I get Haibara to describe everything to me from the way the body was cut to the blood spatter patterns of the crime scene. Talk about a sensory overload.

Since this is the first time it has happened, nobody knows where to look for any clues or when the murderer would strike again since it is obviously the pattern of a serial murderer. But the image in my head is becoming clearer now; there's only one reason the murderer would swap the body parts.

I've got you now.

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