Maybe I'll continue this story just a while longer ;)
Disclaimer: I don't own the characters of DC. I do own all the horrible, terrible things that happen.
"She's beautiful."
"It is quite an achievement, isn't it? What's so funny?"
"Nothing. You. Well, you don't need to give me that kind of face."
"I hope you realize I'm not doing this for you."
"You're doing it for him, right? Why?"
"He's-"
"Special? Well, whatever. You don't have to tell me. I already know how you feel."
"I highly doubt that."
"You know, we're actually much more similar than you think..."
With a start, Satou sits up in the chair, a cold bead of sweat rolling down her forehead. It takes her a moment before she realizes that she is still at the office, having just woken up from a dream, of the nightmare variety. Reflexively, her hand reaches for her abdomen, as if shielding it, protecting it from incoming harm. Of course, no harm actually comes; there is no one else in the office but she. Takagi had gone home hours ago, calling it a night, and though he had insisted Satou leave as well, she had resisted, citing the amount of paperwork she had to trudge through, not to mention the employees she had to layoff. After a while, Takagi had finally relented, albeit anxiously, leaving Satou to her own devices. Of course, Satou didn't actually end up doing any paper work, drifting off to sleep shortly after. And thus, here she was, nearly morning and still no further along in her duties.
With a sigh, Satou glances from the mountain of paper on her desk to the clock on the wall, finding that it is nearly 8AM. Takagi would be returning to the office soon, along with the other officers. Satou rubs her temples roughly, unsure which ones she would keep. Everyone had worked hard these past few months and anyone that she did choose to let go felt like it would be the wrong choice.
"Damn that bureaucrat," Satou mumbles, standing up and stretching, her arms raised high above her head. She flexes all her muscles, trying to work the stiffness of sleep out of her limbs. She then walks over to the wall and bends over, picking up the pamphlet Amuro had given her. With a glance, Satou reads the large bubble lettering printed across the page, "NeuroNet?" She raises an eyebrow, unsure what to make of it. In fact, Satou wonders to herself just what exactly was happening with the police department. The superintendent general had been making very odd decisions as of late and Satou could not help but feel that that man Amuro had something to do with it. Before Satou can think about the matter anymore however, she suddenly hears a buzzing from her desk. Walking over, she notices that her phone is ringing- a call from Mitsuhiko. Picking up, she says, "Ohayou, Mitsuhiko-kun. Did you need something?"
"Satou-keibu, ohayou," Mitsuhiko begins, his voice clearly excited, "About the murder in that alley, I think I figured something out."
"Really?" Satou asks, pleasantly surprised.
"Un," Mitsuhiko replies, "Do you want me to come down to the station and explain?"
"Actually, I'll come pick you up," Satou says, checking her watch, "in, say, fifteen minutes?"
"Alright, I'll see you then."
"That's him, right?" the lab tech asks, pointing to an image on the computer monitor. Redgrace leans in a bit to get a closer look. The image is of a teenager, white hair with violet eyes. Redgrace nods.
"That's Ignotis," he confirms before asking, "Where was this image taken?"
"An ATM outside the airport," the tech replies, "about thirty minutes after he passed through customs."
"I see," Redgrace says, apparently deep in thought, "You said you figured out where he was heading?"
"Yes," the tech nods, "We used image enhancing software to transcribe the phone call Ignotis was making from the ATM video feed. I'll bring it up right now." With a few clicks of the mouse, a different screen appears, one filled with words. Redgrace quickly scans through the transcript.
"Lavender Cafe," he mumbles once he is done. "Good work," he says to the tech, then turns, as if about to leave. The tech stops him, however.
"Wait, Agent Redgrace, there's one more thing you should see," the tech says, returning to the image of Ignotis.
"What is it?" Redgrace asks as the tech zooms in on the image. That's when Redgrace notices it, the other person standing next to Ignotis. "Is that-" Redgrace begins, not quite sure what to make of it. "Mario?" he finishes, almost incredulously.
"I've traced him back to the airport. This person was on the same plane as Ignotis. Maybe they're working together?" the tech suggests.
"Do you have an ID?" Redgrace asks.
The tech shakes his head. "I'm sorry," he says, "I've looked through all the databases and foreign watchlists, but there were no matches."
"It's okay. Keep searching, and update me if you find anything else," Redgrace says, turning for the door.
"I will," the tech replies, turning in his chair only to find that Redgrace has already disappeared.
"Great concert, Ayumi-chan!" a female fan squeals as she tries to be heard through the noise of the crowd. Even with the concert over, the excitement in the air is still palpable, with hundred of people milling about. Some are busy buying souvenirs. Some are busy chatting with friends. And some, like the girl, are busy waiting in line for an autograph. Placing a CD on the desk, the girl ask for a signature across the cover, to be made out to her boyfriend.
"I'm glad you enjoyed it," Ayumi replies, taking the CD and scribbling down her name. She draws a heart at the end, adding her own personal style. Then with a smile, she hands it back to the fan, who receives it gleefully. "Thank you for your support," Ayumi adds. The fan nods, then makes way for the next in line, a teenage male. Or at least, Ayumi thinks it's male. It was hard to tell since the teen's body was near full obscured by all the souvenirs he was carrying: t-shirts, balloons, gift boxes and so on. Ayumi lets out a small giggle, so ridiculous did the boy appear. "What can I do for you?" she asks, patting the table in front of her, indicating that the boy could set down some of his stuff for the time being. The boy complies, breathing a sigh of relief once his hands are free. That's when Ayumi gets the first clear look at him- brown, wavy hair and emerald green eyes, a bit like a foreigner, but also somewhat Japanese, with a rather childish looking face. Perhaps it was the eyes, which were rather large, kind of like a puppy's.
Noticing Ayumi waiting, the boy smiles apologetically, showing off rows of white teeth. "That was a great concert, Ayumi-chan," he says, scratching his head nervously.
For some reason, Ayumi finds the boy endearing, just like a puppy in fact. She smiles again, then says, "Well, thank you for uh-" She pauses, eyeing the horde of souvenirs on the table. The boy notices her glance and laughs.
"Sorry, I just got so excited I ended up buying everything," he says, his eyes wrinkling a bit.
Ayumi shakes her head. "No worries," she says, "I'm glad to have such amazing fans like you."
"Then, can we go on a date?" the boy asks. The sudden unexpectedness of the request causes Ayumi's eyes to open momentarily with surprise. Though she had gotten plenty of requests for dates before- many from fans in fact- none had been so...direct. Then again, the boy was a bit of an oddball- definitely honest, but a bit strange.
Smiling politely, Ayumi shakes her head, turning down the request. "I'm sorry. I'm just too busy with work right now," she says, giving her standard excuse. She notices the boy frown for a moment before his expression changes, as if suddenly coming up with an idea.
"Well, what if I said that of all the boogers in the world, I'd pick you first?" he asks, an innocent smile stretching from ear to ear. And for the second time in less than a minute, Ayumi finds herself surprised by the strange boy, not quite sure how to feel. Should she have felt complimented that the boy would pick her first? Or should she have felt insulted that he compared her to a booger? In the end, Ayumi just laughs, which the boy takes as a good sign. "So will you go on a date with me then?" he repeats eagerly.
Ayumi takes the question in, letting it settle a bit, not replying immediately. A date, huh? she mumbles silently, her expression suddenly growing serious. For a moment, a pang strikes her heart, causing her breathing to stop, like the ache from an old scar. Then realizing that she was supposed to be the cheery pop idol, Ayumi quickly puts on a mask, hiding her emotions with a smile. "I'm sorry," she finally says with a shake of her head, "Really, I think you're actually pretty cute-" At that, the boy flushes red, turning away slightly to hide his embarrassment. Ayumi just giggles before continuing. "-But I'm really not ready to go on a date with anyone. So it's not you. It's me. I hope you understand," she finishes, looking into the boy's emerald, puppy eyes.
The boy nods slowly, then puts on a grin. "I understand, Ayumi-chan," he says, to which Ayumi breathes a sigh of relief. She had been worried that she might have hurt his feelings, but looking at the boy, he appeared to have handled the rejection well enough. In fact, it was almost as if the matter had completely escaped his mind, as he quickly pulls out a CD and, holding it forward, asks, "Can I have your autograph?"
For a moment, Ayumi is yet again thrown off balance, finding herself unable to keep pace with the boy at all, unable to figure out just what he was thinking. With a sigh, she smiles instead and takes hold of the CD, marker in hand and ready to sign her name. Before she can do so, however, the boy interrupts her.
"Can you make it out to my friend?" he requests.
"Sure," Ayumi nods, finding the request to be the first normal one since their encounter. After all, plenty of people requested signatures for their friends. "What's your friend's name?" Ayumi asks, looking up at the boy.
The boy just smiles and says, "Edogawa Conan."
"Redhouse Diner," Kaito mumbles as he glances up at the neon sign, hanging from the roof of the building, "The place for the job tomorrow." Pulling out his phone, Kaito uses the camera to take several pictures of the area, as a means of figuring out the layout: the entry points, the quickest routes for escape, even the flow of the crowds. In his seven years as a contractor, Kaito had learned that the smallest details could mean the difference between life and death; he left nothing to chance.
Scanning around, Kaito finds that the place is unusually busy, with hordes of teenagers milling about. "I wonder what the occasion is," he mutters as he heads towards the crowds.
As he approaches, he suddenly pauses, ducking behind a corner and hiding from sight. From his location, he spots something curious, a teenage male carrying a horde of cheap looking souvenirs. But that is not what catches Kaito attention, however. Rather, it is the girl that is stalking from behind. As Kaito looks on, he sees the flamboyantly dressed girl, with designer clothes and bright pink hair, not so subtly tailing the boy. The boy appears not to notice though, happily walking along, his head tilting from side to side, as if recounting a song. After a while, the boy eventually turns down an alley, disappearing from sight. The girl quickly follows suite, pulling something out of her pocket as she makes the turn. Then she too disappears.
Watching all this occur, Kaito remains motionless for a moment before a sudden realization hits him, a recognition that tugs at the edge of his mind. "That girl," he mumbles, the image of the pink haired teen still lingering. Though her hair and clothes were different, there was something nostalgic about her, about a time long past- about him. Before Kaito realizes it, he is crossing the plaza, towards the same alley the two teens had disappeared into moments before. "What am I doing?" he mumbles, cursing himself for unnecessarily getting involved. Under normal circumstances, Kaito would have just let the matter be; what others did was really none of his concern after all. He was done caring. And yet...
Entering the alley, Kaito is surprised to find that the place is deserted, with the two teens seemingly having disappeared. He quickly dashes forward, past a dumpster, some discarded shoes and old newspapers, looking for where they might have gone. "Did they exit?" he mumbles to himself, his eyes scanning the ground intently. That's when Kaito sees something from the corner of his eye, an offshoot of the main alley a few steps forward. Moving, Kaito turns left and heads down the new passage, his reflexes putting all his senses on keen alert. Like a hunter, Kaito could smell the odors in the air- the stench of old garbage, the musk of a path less traveled, and...
Rounding the corner, Kaito feels his muscles instantly tense, that scent ringing bells in his head. His eyes narrow, like daggers, directed towards the scene before him. It's the boy.
"Oh, hello," the boy says, looking up, a surprised expression on his face. From his kneeling position on the ground, the boy stands, patting the dirt off his clothes. That's when Kaito notices the girl, lying on the ground where the boy was, unconscious. The boy must realize where Kaito is looking, as he quickly blurts out, "She just suddenly fainted. I was trying to see if I could help."
"Right," Kaito replies, searching the boy's expression; he could tell a lie rather quickly. Moving from the boy's face, Kaito scans the ground, his eyes finding what the girl had pulled out of her pocket earlier: a stun gun. It was tossed to the side, resting against the brick wall to Kaito's left.
"Is that how you were trying to help?" Kaito asks, pointing to the gun.
"That's not mine," the boy denies, "I swear."
"I know," Kaito says with a sly smile. He points to the girl lying on the ground and adds, "I saw her taking it out of her pocket."
For a moment, a confused expression crosses the boy's face- his eyebrows twist, his lips purse- before he finally realizes what it is that Kaito is implying. "You were following her?" the boy asks, taking a step back, evidently now on guard. The boy raises his hands slightly until they are level with his chest, the kind of defensive maneuver that one might learn in an amateur self-defense class.
Seeing the boy change pose, Kaito cannot help but let out a laugh, the irony of the situation too apparent to ignore. Again pointing to the girl, Kaito says, "She was following you. I was merely curious why."
"Ayumi-chan was?" the boy asks, turning his head in surprise.
So it is her, Kaito thinks, his eyes narrowing at the mention of the girl's name. Then turning to the boy, Kaito says, "Has anyone ever told you that you're a terrible actor, kid?"
"What do you mean?" the boy asks, still looking defensive.
"What I mean is that you've known the entire time, about her following you," Kaito replies.
"How would I have-?" the boy begins, but Kaito cuts him off.
"Because you have the exact same smell as me," he replies.
"Smell?" the boy asks, looking confused. His hands lower ever so slightly as his mind turns on the question, a window that Kaito does not ignore. Instantly, Kaito sprints forward, his right hand outreached, aiming for the boy's neck. Before Kaito can make contact however, the boy's posture changes, fast as a flash of lightning. The boy grabs onto Kaito's arm, then in one fluid motion, uses Kaito's own momentum to throw, a move that would have sent normal people flying. But Kaito was no stranger to judo, deftly landing on his feet, though now on the other side of the boy.
Turning to the boy, and a smirk on his face, Kaito says, "See, we have the same smell." Upon hearing Kaito's statement, the boy bursts into laughter, his hand covering the majority of his face from view. "What's so funny?" Kaito asks calmly, waiting for the boy to recover.
"It's just like Okami-sama said," the boy replies when he finally stops laughing.
"Okami-sama?" Kaito asks, this time his turn to be confused.
"Do you want to know what he said?" the boy asks, clearly having no intention of answering Kaito's question. Kaito shrugs, which the boy takes as a signal to continue, "He told me two things."
"And what might those two things be?" Kaito asks.
"One, he told me that I was terrible at acting. Just like you did," the boy says, a grin on his face.
"And the second?" Kaito asks, losing patience and wondering if there was going to be a point to all this.
"And two, he told me that you'd be here," the boy replies, the non-threatening grin still linger. Kaito, on the other hand, is nowhere near smiling, warning bells going off in his head instead.
"Who told you that I would be here?!" Kaito demands, taking an aggressive stance that indicats he might pounce at any moment.
The boy does not look worried, however, his body as relaxed as ever. Then holding one finger to his lips, he says, "Se-cr-et, Mr. Janitor. Or should I say, Kuroba Kaito."
