Disclaimer: I don't own DCMK

Sky Colored Eyes

12: The Fall

Being thrown into a bush was not a very comfortable experience. For one, it was prickly. Twigs and leaves jabbed at exposed skin, and Shinichi squeezed his eyes shut on reflex just in case one of them decided to poke him in the eye. That was one of the things he missed about Conan's fake glasses. They provided a certain amount of shielding from wind, debris, and plants taking revenge for being fallen into.

By the time he had struggled out of the bush with Kaito's help, Hakuba had already called the police. They could all see that there was no need for an ambulance. Already, other people were beginning to gather to gape in shock and horror at the man sprawled on the cement. With so many pairs of eyes congregated at the front of the building, Shinichi ran hurriedly around to the back. Finding that there was no back door, he turned to head back to the scene and nearly ran smack into Kaito. Only the magician's hands on his shoulders prevented the collision.

"Whoa there." Kaito laughed as he let go and ruffled Shinichi's hair (the detective wondered with mild exasperation if Kaito was planning to make the gesture a habit. And it was still creepy how Kaito could move so silently. He must have been running right behind him, but Shinichi hadn't heard or felt a thing). "I see there's no other door. These windows can't be exited through without ripping out the screens either. The poor guy fell from somewhere above the fourth floor, by the way."

Shinichi frowned. "How do you know that?"

"Because I grabbed you when I saw his reflection in the fourth floor windows opposite. Although I didn't know it was a person until afterward. He was going pretty fast."

"I don't suppose you saw anyone else?"

"Nope. Sorry."

The sound of sirens reached their ears. Hurrying back to the front of the building, they arrived just in time to listen to Hakuba explain what had happened to Megure-keibu and his officers.

"Did any of you hear him scream?" the inspector asked, looking from one teen to the next.

Shinichi shook his head. "No. But the traffic at the time was pretty loud."

"I see." Megure turned his gaze to the apartment building from which the man had fallen. Despite the sound of the sirens and the growing crowd, no one had emerged from within to see what the commotion was about. Neither had anyone tried to run. "All right men, we're heading in. This could have been an accident, but there could also be a killer in there. Don't let your guard down."

Instructed to stay outside until the police were sure that everything was safe, Shinichi and his companions watched as yet more officers set about photographing the scene and taking notes. The deceased was wearing a suit but no tie, and his sock-clad feet were quite devoid of shoes. The fall had not been kind to his face, though what they could make out of his features seemed to be rather contorted. Though whether it had been twisted by fear, pain, or simply the fall it was impossible to say.

"What's all this about?" an irritated female voice drew everyone's attention to where a cringing Takagi-keiji was trying to lead a young woman towards Megure-keibu and appease her with apologies and apologetic hand waves at the same time. It wasn't working.

Wrapped in a startlingly purple dress and balanced on stiletto heels, she nevertheless managed to storm up to the inspector like he and his men were all trespassers in her kingdom. A phone dangled loosely in her right hand. Coming to a stop squarely in front of the inspector, she looked down the length of her nose at him. "This is a fine way for law enforcement to behave, tramping around and making a ruckus when decent people are trying to work. I was in the middle of a very important conference call. I'm going to have a lot of apologies to make because of this interruption. You better have a good reason for this!"

Megure-keibu blinked, taken aback by the sudden and vehement onslaught. "I, uh, well, ma'am, we did not mean to cause you any inconvenience. However, there has been a death here." Regaining his confidence as he remembered exactly why they were here, he continued in sterner tones. "Are you a resident here?"

"Well of course I am," the woman sniffed, not at all appeased by the explanation. "Did you think I would break into some stranger's apartment to make an important call? Ridiculous! To think we're entrusting the safety of our city to such nitwits."

Choosing to ignore the insult, Megure-keibu forged on. "Where were you at four forty three earlier today?"

The woman rolled her eyes. "In my apartment on the third floor, talking to some very important clients." She emphasized her last two words, coating them in ice and venom. "You can check if you'd like. Anything else or can I get back to doing something that matters?"

"One more question. Do you recognize this man?"

She followed the inspector's gesturing hand. Her face twisted in disgust at the sight of the dead man's contorted face. "No, I don't. Honestly, it's disgraceful. If you're going to go offing yourself, you should at least have the courtesy to do it in private. Is that all?"

Megure-keibu blinked, momentarily robbed of words by the woman's blasé callousness. Taking his silence as a confirmation, she pivoted on her heels and started walking away at a brisk pace.

Finding his voice, the inspector called after her. "Wait! We need your name and contact information in case we have any further questions."

"Your men know my apartment number." She tossed the words back over her shoulder with a careless flick of the fingers. "Ask the landlady. I have things to do."

"Man she's harsh," Kaito remarked, voicing all their thoughts.

The landlady turned out to be the only other person in the building. She was an elderly woman well into her late eighties. While she did have keys to all the apartments due to her position, she also had a bad back and needed the aid of a walker to get around. Her apartment was on the first floor because it was too inconvenient for her to live any higher.

"It's pretty unlikely that she had anything to do with this," Megure-keibu had concluded, and no one was remotely inclined to disagree.

She was, however, able to furnish them with both the name of the irascible woman and the deceased. The latter was Ogata Yuji. He had lived in the same sixth floor apartment for almost five years now. He'd worked at a small accounting firm. As far as the old lady knew, he had no children and no relatives. He was, she'd said, a very lonely man, but quiet and always on time with the bills.

"He always seemed to be sad," she murmured, shaking her head slowly. "I have never seen such an unhappy man. Such a shame…"

"Can we have a look at his apartment?" Hakuba asked before the inspector could.

"I don't know if he cooked much in his apartment. He usually ate out."

"Er, that's interesting, but I was actually asking if you could show us to his apartment?"

"What? Oh, oh, you mean you want to see it. Sorry, my ears aren't what they used to be. I can lend you the key, but I'm afraid the elevator is out of order right now, and the stairs just don't agree with these old bones anymore."

"That's all right," Megure assured her. "We can see ourselves up. Thank you for your cooperation."

An examination of the late Ogata's apartment later it was decided that the case would be closed as an accident. There had been no signs of struggle or even any signs of a presence in the place other than that of the owner. There had, however, been some laundry in the process of being hung out on the balcony, an upended basket, and a potted plant that had rolled some distance, leaving a trail of dirt and leaves in its wake. Everything was duly documented before the whole group made their way back downstairs.

By now the crowd had been dispersed. The three teens were just preparing to leave the police to finish tying up the loose ends when one of the men helping to remove the body let out a yell. "Inspector! Look!"

Moving as one, everyone within earshot crowded around the man who'd called out.

"What is it?" Megure demanded.

The officer pushed the dead man's sleeve up and pointed. "Isn't this the same mark we found on the Takamura girl?"

And indeed, there on the back of the man's wrist, was the same symbol they had first seen on Takamura Sakuno.

X

Things would have been so much simpler if it had been a tattoo. Tattoos and other such similar things were like clothes in a way. They had their trends and spates of popularity among different circles of people. They were the kind of thing that one person might see on another and decide for one reason or another to emulate. If it had been a tattoo, either Takamura or Ogata might have seen it on someone else and decided to get one too, or they might have both visited the same tattooist and chosen the same design. Yes, things would have been much easier if it had been a tattoo.

But it wasn't.

And while all sorts of odd people had no objections to getting colorful pictures pricked into their skin with little needles, very few people thought the same about burning pictures into their skin with hot irons.

The police were disturbed, but as there was no evidence of foul play or even any room for connection in either case they had put it down as a simple oddity. Shinichi, however, couldn't get the stupid thing out of his head. It was just…not right. Accidents happened. That was true. But two accidents where the victims both had the same rather painful looking brand? There had to be more to it even if it wasn't related to the cases themselves.

Lost in troubled thoughts, Shinichi didn't notice until too late that there were four visitors waiting on his doorstep.

"Ha—Haibara," he stammered, shocked despite himself as he froze a foot away from his apartment door. Blue eyes darted from her to the three other young faces gathered behind her. His stomach clenched and for a moment he felt like he couldn't breathe. But then he gave himself a mental kick and forced his thoughts back into order. Taking a deep breath, he let it out slowly and pulled on a smile that hopefully didn't look as strained as it felt.

"We're here for a school project," Mitsuhiko piped up, stepping forward. "My name is Mitsuhiko, and these are my friends Ayumi and Genta. We're supposed to interview someone about their job. We wanted to interview a real detective so we were going to go see Mouri-san, but then Haibara told us that we might be able to interview you." The boy's face was bright with the glow of a million questions. "That would be awesome if you could, I mean, you're like famous all over the country even though you're still in high school! So can we interview you? Please?"

"Please?" the other two echoed in eager unison.

"I'm a little busy right now," Shinichi started to say, but the rest of the words died on their way to his lips as he stared into those hopeful and excited faces. Faces he hadn't seen since he'd gotten back to his rightful age. "I guess you can come in, but only for a little bit," he said finally. "Would any of you like something to drink?"

The Shounan Tantei poured into the apartment in a stream of happy chatter. They immediately went about exploring the sitting room, leaving Shinichi alone with Ai in the entrance hall.

The detective let out a tired breath and turned his gaze to the little scientist. "Why did you bring them here?"

"So they could do their homework," Ai replied blandly, her expression giving nothing away.

Shinichi opened his mouth then closed it. He knew from experience that arguing was futile. Instead, he headed to the kitchen to make tea. He added a pack of crackers he'd picked up from the grocery store on a whim the other day and carried the tray back to the living room. There he found the Shounan Tantei seated on the couch with open notebooks on their laps. It was a familiar sight, and it sent a pang through Shinichi's chest.

"So how can I help you?" he asked, setting the tray down on the living room table.

"We brainstormed a couple different questions," Ayumi replied, riffling quickly through her notebook. "Oh, yeah, right here. We can start with this one."

"Yeah, that's the one," Mitsuhiko agreed before clearing his throat and turning back to Shinichi. "Can you describe to us what a day in the life of a detective is like?"

"I can try," Shinichi agreed. "But you guys need to know that I am still a student. I work with the police when they ask for me, but I'm not really an official detective yet."

He could see Ai rolling her eyes where the other kids couldn't see her, but he ignored it. He was telling the truth, or at least the truth that mattered.

"That's okay," Genta said, scribbling in his own notebook as he munched on a handful of crackers. "So how often do the police call you?"

"Probably around three or four times a week," Shinichi replied. Most other times it was he who had to contact the police. He took his own seat and poured another cup of tea. "Other than that, my days are probably not much different from yours. I go to school and do my homework."

"But when the police do call," Mitsuhiko interjected, eyes bright. "What happens then?"

"Well, usually I head down to the station or to the crime scene depending on the situation. There the police explain what they've found so far and any theories they might have."

"But what if they call you while you're in class?" Ayumi asked curiously. "What happens then? Does the teacher mind?"

"Actually, the police usually know when to contact me without getting in the way of my classes. If it's something really urgent though, there are times when it just can't wait."

"So then it's off to catch the bad guys, right?" Genta cheered, bouncing up and down on the couch.

"Well, it's generally a little more complicated than that," Shinichi hedged. "The more urgent a case is, the more patience it takes to deal with it. Calm thoughts deal better with quick problems. As far as interrupting classes go, if it's absolutely necessary, the police can ask the school to excuse me. Then I can make up the work later."

"Aw man, so you mean you still have to do the school stuff anyway?" Genta looked disappointed.

"Can you tell us about one of your cases?" Mitsuhiko asked.

Shinichi drew in a deep breath then exhaled slowly before nodding, pulling that strained smile back onto his face. "Does this have anything to do with your project?"

"Of course it does! We need to know what it's like to really be a private detective, and what better way than to see how he deals with a case and how you balance that with your day to day work as a student? It'll be awesome!"

The kids were all but vibrating by now. Looking at them, Shinichi knew he had been trapped. He would have to think about this carefully. Ironically, most of the cases he'd worked on had been from the time he'd spent as Conan. He couldn't draw on those though. The three might recognize them. Then there was everything related to the organization, but that was still confidential information.

Eventually, he settled for telling them about the jewelry store robbers. The three were as enthusiastic as ever. Even so, he was relieved when the interview was over and the three were taking their leave.

"Oh, um, there was just one more thing I wanted to ask you, Nii-san," Ayumi said, blushing and looking down at her feet.

Shinichi knelt so that they could be at eye level. "Yes? What is it?"

"You know Conan-kun right?" She looked up, catching his surprised gaze. "I mean, I remember someone said you were related."

"I…yes, we are."

"So then do you know if he's okay? Like if he's fitting in back home and everything."

Shinichi swallowed, throat uncomfortably dry. What was he supposed to say? Well, he could at least put their worries at ease.

"He's fine," he said in the most reassuring tone he could manage. "I'm sure of it. His parents were glad to finally be able to live together again," he invented, hoping that the lie wasn't obvious on his face.

"Oh." The girl looked away for a moment before turning back with a smile. "That's good. But, um, well, do you know if we might be able to reach him?"

Shinichi bit his lip. This was getting worse. And why was Haibara just standing there watching them with that apathetic expression of utter boredom? She was the one who'd gotten him into this awkward situation. The least she could do was offer him some help or even a hint.

"They're currently traveling," he managed after a hasty consultation with himself and his knowledge of communications technologies. "They aren't going to be easy to reach for a while. But really, you have nothing to worry about. When things settle down, I'll tell him to write."

He regretted the promise almost the second it left his lips, but by then it was too late to drag the words back. Instead he watched Ayumi smile, thank him, and run off to report the news to her two fellow Shounan Tantei members.

Left at his seat, Shinichi buried his head in his hands.

What had possessed him to make a promise like that?

"Smooth move there," Ai remarked now that the kids were out of earshot. "They won't forget, you know. They'll be expecting at least a postcard eventually."

Shinichi groaned, sinking deeper into his seat. "Why did you have to bring them here, Haibara? What do you want from me?"

"I don't want anything."

"Then why did you bring them?"

"Are you trying to say that you never want to see them again?"

"What? No, of course not."

"In that case, I don't see what your problem is."

"But…I just…" Shinichi trailed off. What he wanted to say was that he didn't want to have to keep making up lies about Conan to tell to the kids, but he had the feeling that if he brought it up she would simply give him that droll look she was so good at and tell him that was his own choice to make. And she would be right too, wouldn't she?

"Was it really that bad?"

Shinichi blinked, surprised despite himself by the almost gentle tone in the little girl's voice. She was watching him intently, expression unreadable. He swallowed and looked away. His automatic response was that yes, it had been an awful shock, but when he stepped back and really thought about the past hour or so, he knew that wasn't right. "No, I guess it wasn't."

The little scientist smiled. "Indeed. Anyhow, we're going to have to get going if we want to make it back to Beika before dinnertime. I put a bento in your kitchen. Eat all of it."

"Yes Haibara." He paused then added much more quietly, "Thank you."

Shinichi found himself mulling over his conversation with Ai and the preceding 'interview' with the Shounan Tantei throughout the rest of the evening. It really hadn't been as difficult an ordeal to see the kids again as he'd feared it would be. Looking back, he wasn't even sure what he'd been so afraid of anymore. They were still the same curious and excitable children he'd spent the last few years running around with. That wasn't going to change just because he had.

He took the bento out of the microwave and found a pair of chopsticks.

He did miss the time he used o spend playing with the Shounan Tantei. It was true that they could be foolish and careless, and they really needed to work on how to learn from their mistakes. But at the same time they approached everything with the zeal of the truly interested. They tried and they had fun, and he rather fancied that they were learning—not fast, but still learning. He had enjoyed being a part of that.

And he always would be, wouldn't he?

It was a part of him now, and that would never change.

But now they would be expecting a letter or postcard from Conan… He could call them and send correspondences like he had done as Shinichi when he'd still been shrunk, but if he did that then the ruse would have to last for the rest of their lives. It wouldn't be right. There were no two ways about it. Of course, diminishing correspondences that ended in a loss of contact would be natural, but…did he really want to drag things out like that? Perhaps a quick break would be kinder. Just one message and an end. The three being who they were, they'd probably start thinking he'd been abducted or something. Maybe he was making this more complicated in his head than it had to be…

That night found him tossing and turning in a vain attempt to sleep. His head was buzzing with a jumble of thoughts about the Chishimas, the man who'd fallen, Takamura Sakuno, the Shounan Tantei—everything all the way down to the fact that he needed to buy a spare light bulb to replace the one that had died in the kitchen.

Letting out a defeated huff, he sat up and swung his legs off the bed. Abandoning any pretense at sleep, he went to the kitchen to start a pot of coffee brewing before turning on his computer and searching for information on the accounting firm Ogata Yuji had worked for. Outside, the night sky grew steadily paler until the stars faded from sight.

TBC