SailorStar9: With Chapter 104 uploaded, I present Chapter 105 of this fic. (Sighs) Guys and girls, is it too hard for you to leave a review, instead of just putting this fic up on your favorited list and story alerts?

Disclaimers: I do not own Sailor Moon or Detective Conan, I only own this plotline and the pairing.

Pairing: Established!Furuya Rei/Mizuno Ami

Chapter 105: Birds of a Feather at Loggerheads


At Danny's one day...

"Don't be ridiculous!" Hashizume Akira slammed a fist on the table. "Why do I have to apologize?"

"Don't play dumb." Kagazume Hiroshi snarled. "You know exactly why."

"I was just doing my job." Hashizume fired back. "Don't act so self-righteous, you arrogant bastard."

"What was that?" Kagazume roared.

"Excuse me, could you keep your voices down?" a waitress requested. "Hashizume-sama, Kagazume-sama?"

"They're at it again." at another table, Kuwana Kimiko sighed. "I wish they'd stop. I'm sick of it."

"It started a year ago." Hosoda Shingo recalled. "It was their fault it nearly turned into a murder."


At the Mouri Detective Agency...

"So, this is the case they were referring to." Mouri noted, after Conan pulled out the article.

"After the president of a major company died, his will disappeared." Conan nodded.

"Weekly magazines were full of stories about the family accusing each other for stealing it." Ran recalled.

"That was those two." Conan then pulled out the reporters of the article. "Two Nichiuri Sports reporters famous for their articles on scandals. They even made comments on TV."

"And exacerbated the situation." Mouri realized where that was going. "They even wrote scandalous articles about the arguing family members. Ultimately, the family members clashed, resulting in an attempted murder."


Later that night...

"We've identified the victim." Takagi reported. "Kagazume Hiroshi-san, thirty-eight years old. He was a reporter for Nichiuri Sports magazine. Mizuno-san estimates the time of death to be around 7pm to 9pm."

"What's the cause of death?" Megure asked.

"We're still waiting for Mizuno-san to determine that." Takagi replied. "But judging by the body's condition, Mizuno-san believes it to be cyanide poisoning. It's likely it was dissolved into the coffee in his travel mug."

"Was it suicide?" Megure wondered.

"That's what we thought at first," Chiba admitted. "But..."

"Footprints?" Megure spotted the half-formed print.

"They're not the victim's and they're fairly fresh." Chiba supplied. "It's possible someone else was here around the time of death."


The next day...

With Hashizume in custody, Chiba brought the reporter in for questioning.

"Hashizume Akira-san." Megure started. "Like the late Kagazume Hiroshi-san, you're a reporter at Nichiuri Sports."

"Why am I being arrested?" Hashizume asked.

"You're not under arrest." Megure corrected. "We just want to speak to you as a material witness for now."

"Kagazume and I get along like cats and dogs." Hashizume snorted. "We always fought. It was a huge nuisance. So, I definitely have a motive to kill him."

"But you didn't." Megure stated.

"Of course not." Hashizume snapped.

"Then, why were your fingerprints found on the travel mug at the scene?" Chiba inquired, presenting the fingerprint analysis report.

"Our travel mugs were identical." Hashizume explained. "I've accidentally touched it before. It must've happened then."

"We'll be confirming that." Megure stated.


At the Mouri Detective Agency...

"You're sure Hashizume-san took the wrong travel mug?" Mouri asked Conan, Takagi having arrived to the detective agency to take their statements.

"Yeah," Conan noted. "But... it may be my imagination, but it seemed like Hashizume-san deliberately took Kagazume-san's travel mug."

"Then, if he deliberately left his own poisoned mug, and Kagazume-san drank from it without knowing..."

"It's murder." Mouri declared.

"But later, Kagazume-san listened to what I said." Conan continued. "He knew it wasn't his."

"We can ask Hashizume about it." Mouri stated.

"Actually..." Takagi started.


In the interrogation room...

"You have an alibi?" Megure echoed.

"It was yesterday night between 7pm to 9 pm, right?" Hashizume reminded. "I was..."


At the Mouri Detective Agency...

"He was staking out a celebrity's affair." Takagi revealed. "He remembered the company's name and appearance of the deliveryman who arrived around that time. We confirmed his story with the delivery company. It would've been impossible for Hashizume-san to make it to the crime scene."

"Mouri-san, a delivery." the deliveryman from Cheetah Delivery Company called out. "I have a package for you. I'm here at the time you specified."


In the interrogation room...

"On the flash-drive plugged into the victim's laptop, we found a plan to murder you on it, Hashizume-san." Chiba revealed.

"The method and alibi trick in it is exactly as we described." Takagi added.

"According to the plan, he meant to 'switch out travel mugs and return poisoned mug to Hashizume. Exchange mug with my own. Reconcile with a toast. Send him to hell.' Later, 'claim Hashizume was stressed about lack of progress at work, suggesting suicide, and write an obituary about the loss of a friend and rival.'"

"You accidentally took or stole the victim's flash-drive and read its contents." Takagi remarked. "You learnt of his plan to kill you and became enraged, and decided to murder him using the same method."

"You pretended to accidentally take the victim's travel mug home and poisoned it." Chiba insisted.

"You invited the victim out so you could return it and exchanged mugs with him." Takagi continued. "You made him think you reconciled and made him drink it."

"That's right." Hashizume admitted, after the IT forensics found an identical murder plan on his laptop. "I tried to kill Kagazume according to the plan. I fabricated an alibi, poisoned the travel mug, invited Kagazume out and went to meet him. But when I went, Kagazume was already dead."

"it's too convenient." Chiba snapped.

"You're right." Hashizume conceded. "But it's true. I ran, washed the mug and threw it away."


Later that evening...

After Conan gathered all the evidence he needed, he called Megure, Takagi, Chiba and Hashizume under Mouri's guise near the crime scene. After tranquilizing Mouri, he started his resolution explanation. "Allow me to explain the truth behind this case. First, Detective Takagi, what did you find in Kagazume-san's car?"

"On the floor of the driver's seat, we found traces of cyanide." Takagi replied.

"That could only mean on thing: Kagazume-san put cyanide in his own mug inside his car." Conan concluded. "While doing that, he spilled a bit of coffee. Sitting in the driver's seat caused the hem of his pants to ride up, exposing his socks. It's possible it splashed onto it, then. Kagazume-san drank from Hashizume-san's tumbler he had initially. As Hashizume-san claimed, they never exchanged mugs here. I know that from the fingerprints; not theirs, but Conan's fingerprints. I actually touched the mug." he admitted. "In other words, Kagazume-san drank the mug he poisoned himself." he reverted back to Mouri's voice.

"But why?" Hashizume stammered.

"This is why." Chiba spoke, revealing the stolen will. "At Mouri-san's instructions, we found this on one of Kagazume-san's flash-drive. It was never revealed publicly in last year's case. It describes the death of a major company's president. The disappearance of the will that exacerbated an inheritance dispute. How Hashizume-san and Kagazume-san worked together then to break into the law office and steal it. This is his written confession. They wrote articles mocking the people they enraged. After the attempted murder, they destroyed the will and never spoke of it again. However, wrecked with guilt, Kagazume-san suggested to Hashizume-san that they reveal the truth."

"Hashizume-san rejected the idea." Conan declared. "What we saw at the restaurant was part of that discussion. Rejecting the idea and fearing the truth would come to light, Hashizume-san plotted to kill Kagazume-san, without realizing Kagazume-san had made his own plans to kill Hashizume-san. Hashizume-san and Kagazume-san: the murderous intent you felt due to your similarities grew over the years of working together eventually became murder plots. You were different in one way. At the very end, Kagazume-san changed his. Kagazume-san realized you deliberately took his mug and realized you'd come up with the same plan."

"We found signs that some of Kagazume-san's data had been erased, so we restored it." Chiba revealed. "After Hashizume-san's death was ruled as a suicide, he wrote that he would also kill himself."

"He changed his plan to make the remorseless Hashizume-san suffer." Conan stated. "There's one more thing."

"According to his physician, Kagazume-san was sick and had not much time left to live." Chiba stated.

"After judging himself guilty, he plotted to frame Hashizume-san for his own murder." Conan declared. "He may have been going for a double suicide since you're so similar."

"He should've minded his own business." Hashizume sneered. "It was a huge scoop. We did whatever to expose the unsightly darkness within people. We brought a lot of things to light. He should've thanked me."

"Don't be absurd." Megure snapped. "You call yourself a reporter? What do you gain for writing this article? Money? Fame? Did your article make a single person happy?"


SailorStar9: Any OOC-ness is regretted. *Sighs* Don't you just hate plot bunnies sometimes? Read and review.