Prompt: Breaking the law
Shinichi barely got any sleep the whole night. After staring outside, he had gone to the guest room bed, then laid awake thinking about Heiji. Was he okay? Was he… dead? Finally after hours of restless thinking, sleep claimed Shinichi, but only for two hours.
Looking at Kazuha, sitting next to him, he determined that the same had happened to her. She had bags under her eyes, and her usual ponytail was messy, implying she didn't have enough energy to fix it this morning. Kazuha was clearly worried about her best friend. Honestly, if it were Ran who was kidnapped, Shinichi would be in the same condition as Kazuha.
But it was Heiji who had been kidnapped, and Shinichi just felt worse.
Kazuha's father, Toyama Ginshiro, was packing up to get ready for work. Before he could head out, Shinichi stood up. "Toyama-keibu, may I accompany you to the police station?"
"Me too!" Kazuha added, quickly getting up as well.
Ginshiro looked between the two of them for a moment before sighing. "Sure, you guys can come along, though I'm not sure what ya can do."
"I'm a detective," Shinichi pointed out. "Surely there's something I can help with."
"You'll have to ask Heizo about that," Ginshiro replied. "Now come on."
Shinichi and Kazuha quickly grabbed the things they would need before following Ginshiro to his car, where he then drove to the police station. They wasted no time on idle talk; besides, only one name was going through their minds: Heiji. The blur of cars rushing past them didn't even process through their minds as they anxiously awaited returning to the investigation. Shinichi drummed his fingers against the car seat, his taps getting more vicious as the time went on. I have to get there soon… What if Hattori…
"We're here," Ginshiro announced, stopping the car, and immediately Shinichi got out. He saw Kazuha doing the same on the other side. Shinichi was ready to run into the building, but Kazuha held him back.
"We have ta wait for otochan," Kazuha hissed in his ear, and Shinichi clenched his fists in response. It was frustrating, but she was right. They might not let him in if he barged in by himself. He had to do whatever he could in order to ensure that they would continue to let him investigate. This wasn't Tokyo, after all. It was different in Osaka.
Forcing himself to relax, Shinichi waited for Ginshiro to come out of the car and lead them towards the building. He entered, and Shinichi and Kazuha followed, Shinichi looking around more warily. He had entered the police building in Osaka before, but it was always with Heiji. Now, without him…
"Kudo-kun!" Otaki's voice called out, and Shinichi turned to greet the familiar officer. "Are ya here to investigate Hei-chan's kidnapping?"
Shinichi swallowed. "Yes, I am."
Otaki looked around nervously. "W-well, you're going ta have ta talk ta the chief, ya know…"
Shinichi breathed out. "Hattori's father, I know."
"He's… not in the best mood," Otaki admitted.
"His son was kidnapped," Shinichi pointed out. "Of course he isn't."
Otaki glanced away. "Well… You'll see. Come with me, please?"
Shinichi paused, glancing at Kazuha, before nodding and following Otaki.
The moment Shinichi and Otaki entered his room, Heizo looked up. Narrowing his eyes at them, he said, "Kudo-kun, you're off the case."
And the floor began swaying underneath Shinichi's feet.
Otaki gulped. "Chief-"
"What do you mean?" Shinichi interrupted.
"Exactly what I said," Heizo responded. "You're off the case."
"What do you mean? " Shinichi snapped, voice rising. "You can't take me off the case, not while Hattori's out there in danger! You can't just do that!"
"Well, I can, and I just did," Heizo responded. "Ya have way too many personal attachments ta this case. You're letting your emotions get the better of ya, and we can't have that if you're going ta investigate."
"And you don't ?" Shinichi hissed. "This is your son we're talking about, you know!"
"At least I know when to place the job over my feelings," Heizo replied calmly. "Otaki, take him out."
Otaki looked at Shinichi, pity in his eyes. "Come on, Kudo-kun, let's go."
Shinichi let Otaki lead him out of the office, burning with rage the whole time. "Why did you let him do that?" He hissed out. "I have to find Hattori!"
"I'm sorry, Kudo-kun," Otaki murmured, but refrained from saying anything else.
Finally, they reached Kazuha, who had now been separated from her father and was standing in the hallway. She looked at Shinichi with hope in her eyes, but he shook his head. "I'm off the case," he forced out.
The look in Kazuha's eyes changed to horror. "No. They can't do that, can they?"
"They just did," Shinichi spat. Glancing to see Otaki heading away, he turned back towards Kazuha. "We're going back to your house. If the police won't let us do this the usual way, then…" He let out a breath. "We're doing this the illegal way."
Shinichi found it concerning how easy it was to hack into the police database. All he had to do was give a call to Shiho, and the chemist came over pretty quickly. She now sat in front of Kazuha's computer, the aforementioned girl on one side of her and Shinichi on the other.
"It's hard to believe you're breaking the law, Kudo-kun," she had stated when she first got to Kazuha's room.
"I'd do anything for Hattori," Shinichi had responded, and Shiho had just nodded slightly before going towards the computer.
If Shinichi had been able to, he'd have hacked into the database himself. However, after a few hours of fruitless struggling (hacking really wasn't his strong suit), he had given up and called Shiho. Within minutes, Shiho had gotten in, and now the three of them were looking through all the criminals Heiji had put away.
"Your boyfriend is good," Shiho admitted, scanning through the list.
"He is," Shinichi quietly agreed. He recognized a few names on the list, criminals they had put away together. "Some of these guys are dangerous," he muttered. "And some of them… have been released."
"This guy's a real danger too," Kazuha said, pointing at a man Shinichi didn't recognize. "He almost stabbed me with a knife before Heiji hit him with a kendo stick."
"And he's been released too," Shinichi responded.
"You think one of these released criminals is the one who kidnapped Hattori-kun?" Shiho questioned.
"It's very possible," Shinichi admitted. "We can't rule out any possibilities, Miyano."
"I wasn't going to disagree," Shiho responded. "Maybe we could go back to the crime scene and see if we could get any more hints?"
"I'm off the case," Shinichi pointed out. "We can't go back."
"I have pictures!" Kazuha exclaimed. "Here!" She took out her phone and gave it to Shinichi. Shiho got up and stood next to him as he began scrolling through.
"That footprint," Shiho pointed out immediately. "I've seen it before. I just can't…" She squeezed her eyes shut.
"So it could be a case you were present for," Shinichi decided.
Kazuha looked at them in confusion. "But, Miyano-san… Ya were never present for any of Heiji's cases."
Shinichi and Shiho glanced at each other. Then Shiho spoke up. "Well, I suppose that if people like Mouri-san and Hattori-kun can know about this, so can you. Especially since you're going to help with the case." She took a deep breath and let it out. "When we first met, I was going by the name Haibara Ai."
Kazuha's eyes widened. "Ai-chan? Then…" Kazuha looked at Shinichi. "Ya- ya look like Conan-kun!"
Shinichi nodded. "Yes. Hattori and I were working together in a shit ton more cases than you thought. And Miyano has been there for a few. Since she recognizes that footprint, then perhaps that helps narrow it down."
Kazuha looked as though she were still trying to digest what she just learned, but she nodded. "It does."
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Upcoming Works
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Date: 7/27/2022
Fandoms: Detective Conan, Magic Kaito
Series: Nico's DCMK Events
Pairings: Shinichi/Heiji
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-Every Breath You Take
Date: 7/29/2022
Fandoms: Detective Conan, Magic Kaito
Series: Friday Funtimes
Pairings: Shinichi/Kaito
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Date: 7/31/2022
Fandoms: Digimon Ghost Game
Series: N/A
Pairings: Hiro & Gammamon
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-Promise
Date: 8/1/2022
Fandoms: Detective Conan, Magic Kaito
Series: Nico's Writer's Month 2022
Pairings: Masumi/Ran
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-Wrapped in Flames Chapters 1-3
Date: 8/15/2022
Fandoms: Detective Conan, Magic Kaito
Series: Nico's DCMK Events
Pairings: Shinichi/Kaito
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Upcoming Events
-HakuKai Week 2022
An event that I am hosting, celebrating the pairing of Hakuba Saguru and Kuroba Kaito. Prompts are now on my friend's tumblr (Radibe5), as well as on my AO3 collection, and reblogged on my own tumblr!