(Detective Conan disclaimed)
Spring Break! Whoohoo! You know what that means, right?
Slaving away for hours at another story…
Here's the final chapter of Ridiculously Simple. Thank you for reading. -bows-
"So I suppose you'll be going back home then, Kudou-kun?" Nakamori Aoko asked sadly, standing next to Kaito and Shinichi in front of the bus stop. Shinichi smiled at her.
"Yeah, but don't worry. You've still got Kuroba and I'm sure I'll be back sometime. I'm only in the next district over," he chuckled. He glanced at Kaito who seemed to be interested in everything but him. "Hey."
Kaito looked to him momentarily before averting his eyes again. "Yeah?"
"…good job."
Kaito was surprised, choosing to stare at him like he'd grown an extra head. "…what?"
"I said, 'good job', Kuroba," Shinichi responded in irritation. "On the case. You got most of it right and that's pretty good for an amateur. Maybe you should look into the field of investigation."
"Ah, thanks but no thanks," Kaito said, recovering from the shock. "I've got my own plans. I'm going to be the world's most fantastic magician. I'll be the world's greatest puzzle maker!"
Shinichi smiled genuinely at the comment. "Yeah? Well, I'm going to be the best detective that ever lived. I'll be the world's greatest puzzle solver, so watch out." They both laughed and Aoko smiled brightly at the sudden benevolence between the two. They were finally getting along.
The bus pulled up a few moments later, the doors sliding open to beckon passengers. Shinichi looked over with interest before turning back to them. "Well, it was great meeting both of you. Nakamori-san. Kuroba." He nodded to both before picking up his bag and skipping onto the steps of the bus.
Aoko and Kaito waved goodbye as the bus pulled away, taking the detective with it.
"I'm gonna miss him…" Aoko pondered quietly. Kaito gave her an incredulous look.
"Well, I sure as hell won't. Arrogant prick…" he muttered darkly. Aoko only smiled, knowing very well that Kaito was lying when he said he wouldn't miss him. Kudou Shinichi had become a new constant in their lives that would be hard to let go of.
She couldn't help but wonder when they would see him again as they walked back home that evening. She was rather fond of him…
TWO YEARS LATER
Kuroba Kaito, sixteen-years-old, flipped off the station airing the latest news on the KID heist. He sighed.
"Eight years ago… that's the same year of Dad's accident," he muttered angrily, remember the day's events. He had publicly challenged Kaitou KID in front of his whole class because of Aoko's prompting. She said he couldn't beat KID no matter how good of a magician he was. I'll show her!
He leaned back, looking at his Dad's portrait on the wall. "Not to be cocky, but…"
"Kaito. Remember, no matter where you are… always keep a good poker face." His dad had told him that. Standing up to go look at the picture closer, he remembered that line.
Dad… he thought back fondly, gently touching the canvas.
CLICK
"…huh?"
Suddenly, the portrait rotated and before he had a chance to catch himself, Kuroba Kaito was whisked down the secret chute into his new life.
"How can you be so calm after that!" Ran sobbed as they walked through the park.
"Oh, I've been around a lot of crime scenes, so I see a lot of bodies in pieces," Shinichi replied happily, trying to cheer her up. It wasn't working. Seeing the guillotined body of the rollercoaster murder victim seemed to be too much for the teenage girl.
"Oh my god!" she wailed harder.
"Hey, just forget about it, okay?" he said softly. "This kind of thing happens a lot!"
"IT DOES NOT!" She only cried harder as he tried to console her, but something caught his attention. A portly man in a black suit that had been at the earlier crime scene was looking around suspiciously before ducking into an alley.
"Hm? Sorry, Ran! Go ahead of me!" he called back to her, having already headed after the skeptical figure.
"Eh?"
"I'll catch up with you!"
"Shi… Shinichi?"
He's leaving…
Why did I have that feeling?
A very bad feeling…
The feeling that I would never see Shinichi again…
Ran couldn't help but worry as she watched her childhood friend dash away on another case.
"Sorry I made you wait, C.E.O.-san," the man said coolly, arriving on the scene. Shinichi watched quietly from the shadow of a building close-by.
"I came by myself, like you said!" the newcomer nearly shouted. He was bald, rich man, judging from the condition of his clothing. The briefcase in his hand was nearly thrown at the man in black. "C'mon, give me that thing!"
"I know you came alone. I saw from the top of that rollercoaster. Don't be so impatient," he said, taking the briefcase. "The money comes first."
The man opened the case quickly. "Here! There's no problem, right!"
Shinichi's eyes nearly popped out of his head. W-whoa… that's got to be at least 100 million yen…
"Alright, the deal's complete! Now gimme the film!"
"Here you go," the man in black said, flipping the small container into his hands as he took the briefcase for himself. "The film of your company's gun smuggling. You shouldn't be so naughty," he teased.
Shinichi noticed the seriousness of the situation, opting to get out his disposable camera to take photos of the situation.
"Shut up!" the C.E.O. complained. "Compared to you guys, we're-"
"For your sake, I wouldn't finish that sentence."
"You filthy hyenas!"
Too engrossed with the plot unfolding before him, Shinichi didn't notice the man's partner sneaking up on him from behind.
"You're detective game…" he heard someone mutter, but before he could even turn to discern the owner of the voice, there was a splitting pain on the back of his head and neck. Lurching forward, he suddenly met the ground. "…is over!"
He could slightly make out the two men arguing after that, fading in and out of consciousness. For a moment, he thought that they were just going to shoot him and be done with it, but he was sorely mistaken. Feeling the calloused hand of his attacker grip the hair and pull his head back, he tried to make out his face with unfocused eyes.
"So this'll be our little guinea pig," he heard one of them say as a small object was placed on his tongue. He tried to muster up the strength to spit it out, but it was no use. Cool water was poured in after, forcing him to swallow whatever he had been given.
The man's next words were crystal clear in the haze that surrounded him.
"So long, detective," the man said in a voice that Kudou Shinichi would not soon forget.
The next thing he knew was searing pain. It felt like his body was on fire. As he gripped onto the grass, grunting from the pain, he wondered if he was about to die.
As he slipped into unconsciousness, he had no idea what fate had in store for him once he awakened…
And that's the end of Ridiculously Simple.
I hope that everyone enjoyed this story even though it has taken so long to complete! I will be continuing on with Reasonably Complex very soon so I hope that everyone will join me again for that!
Thank you to all of my reviewers, watchers, and favers. You kept me moving! Thank you so much!
And that's all for now!
-DiGi