And now, we finally return to the main series cases, as well as Shinichi's perspective.
This little 3 chapter set (this and the last 2) was probably one of the parts I looked forward to writing most in regards to this AU.
Oh btw :
I added a cover! Hope you like it~
If you want to see better (and more) pictures I recommend you find this fic on ao3, as I will be adding pictures there, but cannot do so on FFN. (It's the same name written by me under sylph_feather).
xXx
To say Shinichi was frustrated was an understatement. Kogoro kept insisting to the poor man that the mysteriously delivered toys and flowers were associated with the painting— obviously they were a gift, but why would the sender choose a specific date if it was in regards to desiring a painting? Why old toys with no barcodes, slightly damaged and scuffed? Why the ominous letter?
Clearly, the date and toys were of some sort of emotional significance that tied in with the letter, and their significance was so obviously not related to that painting.
Shinichi sighed and shifted positions on the couch, feeling Ran's eyes on him. Thankfully, everyone else dismissed her suspicions as "weird cat things" but Ran seemed fairly determined to prove her theories on Shinichi's origin… which she had gotten almost hilariously wrong, if the crosses and holy water were anything to go by.
Still, a determined Ran was dangerous, and one that believed he was a demon would be even worse considering she would have no reservations about finding the best way to "banish" him. From the long, hard gazes she was giving him, he figured that she'd had him figured out and was now attempting to safely remove the "demon." If it wasn't him being violently removed, Shinichi would've laughed more than he had already, but there seemed to be an element of danger to the situation. He didn't exactly peg Ran as the type to just straight up murder a cat or the likes, but he could definitely see her going to extreme measures if she thought a demon was threatening her family.
As it was, he made even more of an effort to lay low, clamping down on his unfortunate habit of talking to himself during a case that had now morphed into a creepy chattering, and making sure to observe all be could from an inconspicuous spot without obviously prowling the crime scene.
It… didn't really work.
Yes, he was a bit less obvious, but Ran was clearly dead set on her theory if the odd looks were anything to go by. Besides, he was in too deep now— Shinichi wasn't exactly the type to sit and let cases be solved incorrectly, and that accounted for more and more "possessions."
So, with that obligation and the knowledge that Kogoro was going to screw this case up grudgingly in mind, Shinichi stalked the surgeon out. It was alarmingly easy to get around, considering nobody paid attention to a cat— except for Ran as of late, who was still attempting to track him with her sharp eyes.
Thankfully, enough creative ducking into the shadows had put her off, though she still checked her back in a paranoid manner.
Shinichi felt a bit bad about that fear, but shoved it aside in order to focus on sneaking alongside the posse.
His next challenge was to catch the train while avoiding being stomped on, all while keeping stealthy track of Mouri.
Since he had become a tiny cat, trains were his worst enemy and best friend. They provided easy-to-sneak-on free rides, as he couldn't exactly hail a cab and didn't even have the stamina to walk all that far anymore. Unfortunately, they were also bustling with people with shoes very good at stomping. Shinichi swore his tail was still a bit sore from the first time he was not fast enough to dodge, and his ensuing yowl nearly got him thrown off the train; now, he was more wary, though it was still difficult to dodge crowds. On top of that, it was far more difficult to track the people who you were supposed to be following when they were just another pair of shoes and legs in the chaos.
Taking all this into account, it was understandable that every boarding left him a bit frazzled. Thankfully, once Shinichi had holed himself up beneath a stuffy seat that comfortably looked out on Mouri, he was able to regain his bearings and have a moderately pleasant ride. Or, as pleasant as one's ride could be when one could smell the slightly moist gum resting on the underside of the chair right below their face while attempting to secure oneself from being pushed around by various stray items that rolled his way.
Being this size officially sucked, Shinichi decided with a sigh as a water bottle two thirds of his size painfully rolled into him.
xXx
Thankfully, the hospital Dr. Ogawa worked at was a relatively short train ride over, allowing Shinichi release from the torture. Of course according to Shinichi's luck, this meant that he had to go right back to listening as Mouri made false claims and clamp down on the desire to bang his head against a wall while not being able to say anything.
Slipping into the hospital while Kogoro rambled cockily about his "surefire deductive reasoning" was honestly worryingly easy. Of course, ordinary cats weren't exactly supposed to know about security camera blind spots and taking advantage of peoples crowd traffic… but still. It was the principle of the matter that a cat snuck into a place cordoned off for sick people who probably shouldn't see cats that mattered. The principle.
It was just his luck that Shinichi actually was noticed by Ran, who followed him with stealth equal to his own into the records room.
He gently pawed open the door, stretching upwards on his hind legs. Shinichi was thankful that his awkward and trip-filled phase of getting used to the new layout of his body was largely over, evident by the fact that unlike the first time he tried to pull open a door, it did not take several falls to get it right. He only needed to paw it open a crack, and very deliberately ignored the implications that provided for his current diminutive size.
He did not see Ran edging around the corner behind him, staring at him as he pawed page after page of the records to find the all important day of February 19th, three years ago where Dr. Ogawa had likely saved someone's life. In his concentration, Shinichi was also unaware of Ran's faint gasp as she watched the cat do actions all too human.
He narrowed it down to eight people, but even if he could find a specific person… what did the letter mean? It was oddly ominous for a "thank you" letter.
With another sigh, Shinichi delicately plucked up the letter in his mouth- he didn't exactly like carrying things that way, but it was the only way he could, now.
The cat leapt off the desk gracefully, stalking over to the box of old toys, tail flicking in deep thought. He sat down and began chattering to himself about the case, running through the details out loud.
Then the door opened with a huge bang as Ran burst in, brandishing a salt shaker with her fists ablaze while she gave a guttural war cry. Shinichi jumped several feet into the air, and landed with a crash into the toy box.
"You are a bakeneko! I knew you were too weird! What other cat would read?"
Shinichi couldn't exactly answer that, and remained stock still in the pile of toys.
"Now! I'm here to stop you from finishing that curse! BEGONE," Ran finished dramatically before emptying the salt right on him.
Shinichi just blinked up at her and gave a little sneeze, and Ran elicited a faint eep at her plan not working all that well. Salt was the only thing that had seemed to work before, and there were no legends about getting rid of a Bakeneko- only chopping off their tail before they had a chance to bewitch anyone.
Unfortunately, that seemed to be Ran's plan, and Shinichi had to leap out of the way to avoid a karate chop aimed at his tail, accidentally landing and sliding on an old coloring book.
He blinked down at the open page- there was a name written sloppily, as though a child had wrote it. Ogino Tomoya.
Half of Shinichi was currently in complete freeze up mode as Ran stalked closer, murderous glint in her eyes, and the other half attempted to file through why that name wasn't "Yuuta" and where exactly he had heard it before. .
The clinical report flashed in his mind- Dead. Appendicitis. February 19. Came in too late, nothing could be done.
The pieces came together- toys of a dead boy being sent, filled with hate, and a plan to take Yuuta's life on the same day as soon as he reached the same age in a plan of sick revenge. This was the thing the letter promised to take.
Shinichi came back to himself just in time to whiz between Ran's legs to avoid another karate chop. When he burst explosively into the lobby, he heard the man speaking to his wife in rushed and panicked tones- "where is Yuuta, then?!"
Thankfully, Mouri had the rare presence of mind to question where the kindergarten was, and once directions had been given, Shinichi was off like a shot once more. He could hear Ran stomping behind him, and he prayed that he had enough stamina to reach the boy before something awful happened and maintain the pace he was at- just enough to outrun Ran.
Thankfully, he reached Yuuta in the nick of time, skidding to a stop above him and the other man- the other man that was holding a knife. Ran, Mouri, and Dr. Ogawa all stopped too, and Ran was distracted enough by the kid in danger that she didn't even try to snag Shinichi once more. Considering the knife pointed at the five year old, Shinichi couldn't find himself to be that grateful.
Dr. Ogawa then made the mistake of yelling for his son, causing the criminal to grab the boy and deliver his motive- "you'll understand how it feels. You took my son away from me, and now I'll take yours, and leave you with nothing but old toys and life insurance money, too."
The doctor's attempts to explain that it was too late by the time he arrived in the hospital fell on deaf ears, and the knife was mere centimeters away from drawing across the boy's throat- and then the boy thanked the man who was minutes away from killing him. At the thank you for the toys, the man seemed momentarily overcome with nostalgia and guilt, and Shinichi took this as his opportunity.
The cat launched himself down, spreading his claws out, and landed right on the man's chest, knocking the breath out of the would-be killer and causing the knife to ting to the ground.
Shinichi flopped to the ground, panting from the run and bruised from using himself as a weapon, and watched tiredly as the boy was snatched away from the man and showered with affection by his father. Mouri quickly wrapped up the case after. Ran walked over to him, an odd look on her face, and Shinichi didn't have the energy to run away as she picked him up firmly.
After a few panicked attempts to squirm away, the tiredness of the run overtook him and Shinichi passed out despite the fear.
xXx
Shinichi came to and found that surprisingly Ran did not attempt to maim him or exorcise him in his sleep- instead, she was reading a book next to him, in her room.
With the door closed.
When she noticed he had raised his head her face turned thoughtful, and she placed a hand on Shinichi's back. He felt moderately threatened, and squirmed a bit underneath the confinement.
"You're not an evil spirit, are you?" she sighed with relief, stroking his back.
As thankful as he was that Ran dropped the investigation into his supernatural-ness, Shinichi couldn't help but be surprised. Even if he was obviously not a spirit, with her level of observation on him and the actions that were very much uncatlike that he performed today… what made her change her mind?
His question was quickly answered when Ran continued, "you're a good spirit."
Shinichi couldn't decide if he wanted to laugh or cry. Ran kept talking, saying, "you just want to help the dead, don't you? You want to get justice, and keep people from hurting anyone else. That's why you go to lots of crime scenes, right? And why you possess people like my dad- to help him get the right answer. I realized it when you helped that boy, that maybe you weren't evil, and maybe I was looking at this all wrong. You're a good* bakeneko, aren't you?"
Shinichi decided he should leave it ambiguous enough to make her maybe treat him like an ordinary cat in the future, or at least not have definitive proof over anything, so he tipped his head in a slight nod.
Yeah, he really wanted to scream at the stupidity- he never thought that he, Kudo Shinichi, great rational and logical detective, would ever be encouraging Ran's superstitions. Then again, he never really thought he was going to be a cat either, so he figured any terms he had set for his definition of normalcy were out the window at this point.
xXx
*bakeneko are not all inherently bad/evil, it's just that they typically are.
as you can guess this will probably change a good deal. When conceptualizing this part I actually had a lot of trouble coming up with why Ran would accuse a cat of being Shinichi, considering in this episode (and probably in general tbh) her accusations all have to do with the way Shinichi acts/speaks/etc, which is not really relevant when he's a cat. Anyone accusing him of being a person- let alone a specific person- looks about ten times more crazy, and normal methods of "proof" (intelligence when talking, fingerprints, looking similar, etc) are all gone. So… I figured I'd take this in a new direction and make Shinichi become a cryptid.