A/N: Here's my contribution for Saimatsu Week 2022 Day Three. It takes place in the same year as "Kiki Learns the Truth!", though it can also be read as separate from my main series if you wish. Please read, review, and enjoy!

The Ultimate Detective and The Ultimate Hope Gaiden: Saimatsu Week 2022!

Day Three: Whodunnit?!

*Ding Dong*

The door opened, revealing a surprised man on the other side. "Akamatsu-chan?"

The young pianist nodded, frowning apologetically. "Sorry for coming by unannounced, Mr. Saihara. But I was worried about Shuichi. He never came to school today, so I thought maybe something might have been wrong."

Minato frowned, sighing in admission. "You're not wrong. There was an…incident…"

"An incident?!" Kaede shrieked, interrupting the experienced detective. "What happened? Is Shuichi okay?"

Minato smiled appreciatively. "Calm down, Akamatsu-chan, my nephew is just fine…" His smile drooped into a grimace. "Well…physically, anyway. Emotionally however, he's another story. I'm afraid he's holed himself up in his room."

"He has?" Poor Shuichi…what could have happened to him…? "M-Maybe I can try to make him feel better. Can I please try to talk to him, Mr. Saihara?"

"Hmm…"

Minato hummed, cradling his chin in his palm. Kaede clasped her hands together, staring pleadingly at Shuichi's uncle. To her relief, his hand finally fell to his side and he nodded.

"Well, my wife Sara and I haven't had much luck since I picked him up…but maybe he'll respond better to you. Go right ahead, Akamatsu-chan."

Kaede bowed gratefully. "Arigatou gozaimasu, Mr. Saihara."

Minato smiled as he watched Kaede, with eyes narrowed in determination, walk past him and through the halls of his home. "Ganbatte, Akamatsu-chan."

*Knock Knock*

"Uncle…" Kaede frowned at Shuichi's exasperated, depressed groan from the other side of the door. "I just want to be alone right now."

"Shuichi…it's Kaede…" She murmured, resting her hand against the door.

"K-Kaede…?"

The pianist imagined Shuichi's hand pressing on the other side of the door, as though their hands could touch through the metallic surface. "Shuichi…your uncle told me something happened…can you please open the door? Maybe if you told me what's wrong, I could help you. Please, Shuichi…"

A tense silence pervaded the atmosphere as Kaede bit her lip anxiously. A soft click nearly caused her to sigh in relief, realizing that Shuichi had unlocked the door. She removed her hand just before the door opened, revealing a haggard Shuichi. His gray eyes were barely visible, mostly hidden by the bill of his signature hat.

"Shuichi…"

Kaede frowned. Normally, she would have swiped the hat off his head and told him how much cuter he looked without it. But seeing just how miserable he looked with the dark circles under his eyes made her realize that her usual teasing antics wouldn't lead to the blushing, stammering boy she loved. Not wanting to make things worse, she silently took his hand and lead him to the bed. Once she closed the door behind them and sat them down on the bed, she wrapped her arms around him in a tender embrace.

"Tell me what happened, Shuichi…please…"

Shuichi sighed, gingerly wrapping his arms around her as well. "Okay…it happened like this. I was walking back from school when I stumbled across this crowd in a nearby park. When I walked over to see what was going on, I…"

"Police?" Shuichi's brow furrowed in curiosity. "What are police doing around here?"

One of the officers turned their head towards him. "Boy, what are you doing here? Don't you know better than to hang around crime scenes?"

"Crime scene? A crime happened here?!"

"Yeah, a rather grizzly murder."

Shuichi turned to see a man approach from behind. Though his short hair and crinkled salaryman suit made him seem almost completely indistinguishable from the standard office worker, his towering height and the way his muscles seemed to fill his clothes almost perfectly made Shuichi feel overwhelmed in his presence. As Shuichi gulped nervously, the man turned his head, a grimace tugging at his lips.

"What an unlucky man, getting killed out in the open like this." He turned to eye the nervous Shuichi. "You're not really lucky either, stumbling upon a crime scene like this. Trust me, kid, you're better off goin' home and forgettin' you ever saw this carnage."

Shuichi nodded, turning around to quietly leave. He took a single step before he stopped, a sliver of guilt tugging at his conscience.

I…don't know why, but…leaving now seems…wrong. Should I…stay and help? But…I'm not a police detective! I'm just an assistant to a small-time private investigator! I'm not qualified to take on a murder case! I should…leave and let the police handle it…

Shuichi gritted his teeth and clenched his fists. The seed of doubt began to bloom as he turned around and stared at the group of police huddled around what Shuichi presumed to be the corpse

….I must be out of my mind… "Ah, excuse me…?"

The police officer who first spoke to Shuichi turned around, his brow furrowed in confusion. "You still here, kid? Go home, we're in the middle of an investigation."

"…Can I help?"

"Huh?" The officer blinked, cocking his head in confusion before he threw his head back and burst into laughter. "That's cute, kid. Wait a few years, then maybe you can play detective-"

"Detective?" A second officer interjected, turning around and approaching Shuichi with a curious glean in his eyes. "What's your name, boy?"

"Ah…" Shuichi tugged nervously at his collar. "Saihara…Shuichi…"

The second officer nodded. "I thought so…" They turned to their colleague and explained, "I referred a number of runaway cases to his uncle's office. The man's a private detective, and he spoke highly of his nephew once or twice." Shuichi's cheeks reddened from the secondhand praise. "If he wants to help, I don't see any particular problem."

The first officer nodded and stepped aside, granting the boy passage. The second officer took Shuichi's hand and led him through the remaining crowd of law enforcement.

"Just stay close and don't disturb the crime scene, okay?"

Shuichi nodded, gulping nervously as they approached the corpse. What have I just gotten myself into?!

Kaede couldn't help but give a wry smile. Her eyes twinkled with pride at her boyfriend.

"Looks like you already had a reputation as a detective, Shuichi!"

The blue-haired boy sighed, muttering "I…didn't deserve it. Especially after what happened once I started investigating."

Kaede grimaced, though her curiosity got the better of her. "Huh? What do you mean?"

"Well…I had just knelt down in front of the body when…"

"…First time seeing a corpse, boy?"

The nauseous newbie nodded. "Yeah…I'm still in training, and I help my uncle with runaways and inheritance disputes…murders are kinda outside of my comfort zone."

The officer frowned worriedly. "If this is too much for you, I can call your uncle and ask him to pick you up."

Though the idea was very tempting to Shuichi, he shook his head. "Ah, no thank you. I just…I feel like if I don't try and help…I won't really be able to sleep at night."

The officer nodded before tossing him a pair of latex gloves. "Here, you might need these. Last thing we need are your fingerprints contaminating the body before we do the autopsy."

Shuichi turned his head and smiled gratefully. A second later, his lips drooped into a serious frown, and he slipped the gloves on.

"Looks like there's just a single stab wound…" Shuichi observed, noting the bloodied hole in the middle of the shirt. "The size of the incision implies that a small blade was used…probably something like a swiss army knife of a dagger…" His brow furrowed before he turned his head towards the officer. "Was there a weapon found at the crime scene?"

The officer crossed his arms over his chest, biting his lip. "Strangely, no. We've searched the area, but we didn't find anything that looked like it could have used to stab someone."

Shuichi hummed in contemplation, fiddling with the bill of his cap. "It's possible…the culprit may still have the weapon on them." A light bulb suddenly turned on in his head. "How did you guys get notified of the murder, anyway?"

"A man discovered it and called our department. He seemed pretty spooked; we had to calm him down so he could calmly report it over the phone."

"Okay…was he still here when you arrived?"

The officer nodded. "We asked him to stay where he was so we could more easily find the body."

"And what did he look like?"

"Let's see…he wore…this crinkled business suit, he had a fairly average build, short hair…"

As the officer continued to list the witness's characteristics, Shuichi's eyes began to widen. Holding in his gasp, the gears in his head began to turn.

"And…hey boy, you okay?"

Startled, Shuichi shook his head. "That witness…I bumped into him earlier, I'm sure of it." Shuichi turned to the officer. "If it's not too much trouble…can you bring him here? I…I have a couple of questions I want to ask him."

"Let go of me!" The man scowled as the first officer pulled him over to Shuichi. "I already answered all your questions. Can't I go home in peace?"

"Calm down, sir." The second officer gently commanded. "Our volunteer assistant just needs to ask a couple of questions. Once he's satisfied, you'll be free to go."

Once the first officer released his wrist, the man rubbed it to soothe his skin. Looking up from his hand, he raised an eyebrow at the nervous Shuichi.

"You?! You're the volunteer assistant on this case?!"

"Ah, y-yes…I'm sorry to bother you…but can I please just ask you a few questions?"

The man huffed, averting his gaze. "Whatever. You'd better not be wasting my time, boy."

"G-Got it…" Shuichi resisted the urge to squirm, instead forcing out his first question. "So…you were the first one to discover the body, right? Did you get a good look before you called the police?"

Irritated, the man shook his head. "No, of course not. After I saw the blood, I panicked and called the police to report a stabbing…"

Shuichi frowned. "But…if you didn't get a good look at the body…how could you tell it was a stab wound?"

"I-it's obvious, isn't it?!" The man stammered. "I mean…what else but a blade could cause him to bleed so much?!"

Shuichi shook his head. "Ah, no, it's not that simple. If you just saw the blood, you wouldn't be able to tell what kind of wound the cause of death was. Even if you knew it was a blade, you couldn't tell if it was a stab or a slash."

The two officers stared at Shuichi with an impressed gleam in their eyes while the man gnashed his teeth. "S-So what? I-I just got lucky, that's all! I didn't even want to find the body! I just found it here while on my way to work…probably stabbed by some random knife…"

"A knife?" Shuichi cocked his head. "How did you know it was a knife?"

"W-Well…that must have been the weapon, right? It'd need to be small enough to hide on your person. I'm sure the police must have realized the same by now-"

Shuichi shook his head. "The police haven't even found the murder weapon yet. So how could you speak about details that they don't have…" Shuichi slowly lifted his palm to his lips in shocked realization. "…Unless you have it on your person."

Narrowing his eyes, the second officer instructed "Sir, please empty your pockets."

"T-that's a v-violation of my p-privacy!" The now terrified man objected. "I r-refuse to cooperate…HEY!"

The man thrashed as the first officer forcefully restrained him. As one arm bound his arms to his sides in a vice, their free hand fished through the man's pockets until it pulled out a small knife, the blade stained red with blood.

"Damn…" The stunned officer breathed. "I never thought the boy detective would solve this case, let alone so quickly."

I…I solved it? I…I caught the culprit?!

An amazed Shuichi stared as the second officer pulled out a pair of handcuffs and snapped them around the culprit's wrists. "You're under arrest for suspicion of murder." Before leading the suspect away with the other officer, they spared Shuichi an impressed smile. "Good work, boy…no…Detective Saihara."

"Well, this'll make quite the story back at the station." The other boasted. "The boy detective, solving the crime faster than the police."

Their compliments barely echoed in Shuichi's ears, however. As he was being led away, the culprit turned his head to glare at the boy detective. He gasped, feeling his red-hot stare of hatred rob him of all thought and speech like a black hole.

"Shuichi, are you okay?"

"Huh?" Finally coming to his senses, Shuichi let out a sigh of relief at Minato's concerned face. "U-Uncle Minato…"

"Are you alright, my boy? The police called, saying you became unresponsive after helping them with a murder case. I came as quickly as I could. You weren't hurt, were you?"

"Ah…no, I'm…unharmed, Uncle."

Minato frowned skeptically but nodded. "Alright, then. Let's go home, I'm sure your Aunt Sara is worried about you."

Taking his nephew's hand, Minato gently led Shuichi away from the crime scene. As they passed by some straggling police officers, Shuichi couldn't help but overhear a conversation that chilled him to the core.

"Quite a messy case, huh?"

"Yeah, if the rumors are true, then that culprit we nabbed may be more victim than criminal. They say that the victim caused the suspect's family to commit suicide."

"Kami, no wonder he went as far as he did…I don't know what I'd do if I were in his shoes."

"Yeah, I know what you mean…honestly, I wonder if we did the right thing by arresting a guy who only took revenge on someone who put him through that…"

That…that really happened to him…?! I…put someone away…who the victim victimized?! Is that what searching for the truth does to people…?!

"Shuichi…" Kaede's eyes widened, the girl horrified from the ending of Shuichi's story.

"Now you know…" Shuichi sighed, remorse heavy in his voice. "Kaede…do you think I'm a bad person for what I did?"

Repulsed by the suggestion, Kaede shook her head. "No, of course not! It's not like you said the victim was right for what they did. You just searched for the truth, that's all!"

"And the truth got someone arrested!" Tears trickled down his cheeks. "What right did I have to play judge and jury like that? I could have just walked away, let the police handle it. But I just had to get involved and solve the ca-mmph!"

Shuichi's eyes widened as Kaede silenced him. She silenced him by kissing him no less. His retort died on his tongue as he felt her lips press against his own. Sensing that her objective had been completed, she parted, leaving Shuichi stunned.

"You're at your best when you solve cases, Shuichi. I only wish you didn't doubt yourself so much…you did the right thing, Shuichi, no ifs, and, or buts. Leave the rest to the police, and if you can't take pride in your accomplishment, then at least try to put your regrets to rest."

"Kaede…" Shuichi grimaced but nodded. "Okay, I'll try. I don't know if I can, but I'll try."

Kaede smiled lovingly. "Thank you, and as your girlfriend, I'll help you to ease your misplaced remorse."

"Mmph!"

Shuichi seemed to lose all sense of awareness as Kaede mashed their lips together again. His lips easily pardoned, allowing her tongue to slither in and gently caress his own. For the time being, he felt his troubles fade away. The murder case, the hatred the culprit showed him, the horrifying revelation about the victim and culprit's relationship, none of it mattered in the face of Kaede's love.