Chapter Warnings: Unreliable Narrator, Case Chapter (violence, discrimination, etc.), Even more unreliable author

Chapter 4

It was a thursday.

The three boys agreed to meet up earlier than usual so they could go and buy some equipment together. Shige-kun was curious about jump ropes, Tetsuya needed new shoes, and Edogawa-kun agreed to tag along. Unknown to the boy from Beika, the outing was a bit of an excuse to hang out with him all day and an attempt to brighten up his day.

They decided to go ahead and explore a shopping district rather than enter a mall. Aside from being less crowded, Shige-kun had been particularly opinionated when it came to comparison of prices.

"Malls have higher mark-up rates!"

Tetsuya stared. "I wasn't aware Shige-kun knew what mark-up rates are."

"Uh," Shige-kun scratched his head, an embarrassed grin plastered on his face. "That's what my mom always told me. I don't actually know what they are, but I get that it's more expensive."

Edogawa-kun sweatdropped. "Really?"

As the sports-obsessed boys that they are, they spent half a day just going from one sports store to another, hemming and hawing over the accessories and equipment that was on sale, sometimes arguing over which brands were the best and which ones were just popular because of an endorser.

Shige-kun ended up buying a jump rope, a pair of socks, and some old basketball magazines as a bargain bundle. Tetsuya took his time picking his shoes, ending up with a branded pair in black, gray, and white with blue soles and accents. On Edogawa-kun's recommendation, they also bought some wrist and ankle weights with some very specific instructions on when to use it. So as not to feel left out, Edogawa-kun bought a soccer ball.

Shige-kun squinted as Edogawa-kun paid for his purchase. "How many of those do you even own? I swear I see you playing with different ones every other time you bring one with you."

"Ah, see," Edogawa-kun (having picked up some habits the two basket-bakas had) spun the ball on a finger, but a soccer ball was a lot lighter and had less grip than a basketball, so he fumbled with it. "I keep damaging them so technically I only own one or two at a time."

Shige-kun nodded in understanding. "I guess that makes– wait. How can you even damage soccer balls that often?!"

"Well–"

He was cut off by a scream. Edogawa-kun's eyes narrowed.

On instinct, the boys' eyes snapped over to where it came from. Outside the glass windows of the store, they can see a man threateningly pointing a gun at a woman. Her eyes were wide and terrified as the man kept a tight grip around her shoulder. Tetsuya felt his heart speed up, tense and having some trouble processing the situation.

"Maa, calm down," interrupted the store clerk. The three boys turned their attention to the clerk—Muraoka-san, his name tag proclaimed—bewildered at such a casual response. Muraoka-san smiled awkwardly. "It's just acting. They do this often as some sort of promotion for their store."

They can hear the words the gun-holding man ("Renji") spat with exaggerated emotion. Apparently, the woman ("Akane") cheated on him with another guy ("Satoru")—someone who was outside their field of view—and "Renji" was obviously consumed by anger and jealousy, yada yada. A cliche Tetsuya can't stand, and the cheesiness of the dialogue and exaggerations convinced him that it was, indeed, an act.

"Promotion?" inquired Edogawa-kun, the only one who didn't enter a state of alarm nor relaxed at Muraoka-san's words. His gaze remained fixed on the scene outside.

"Yeah," Muraoka-san also had his attention trained outside, watching with furrowed brows. "The cosplay store just a few shops down. They've got good props and costumes and merchandise, but since this street's a bit out of the way, it's a challenge to get new customers. Setsuno-san is just a bit too creative with her ideas and arranges this kind of thing a few times a week. Quite troublesome if you ask me, especially–"

"Says the man who steals my dresses to put it on behind my back– are you even one? Do you really think I'd love someone like you?"

"—that." Muraoka-san sneered, his anger palpable as the scene outside continued. "That woman is such a bit– hateful piece of work. Won't sell any female costumes to guys, if they weren't already driven away by her promotions anyway."

Shige-kun crossed his arms, his previous curiosity now curbed with distaste. "And no one says anything about it? That's– wow."

"Muraoka-san," Edogawa-kun cut in. "Does Setsuno-san's shop provide the props?"

"Huh? Yeah, they do."

Tetsuya stared at the gun that was still being waved around carelessly. "It looks so real." Not that he had seen a real gun before, but Tetsuya can appreciate the detailed work.

"Sekihara Setsuno might be rotten to the core," Not exactly in answer to Tetsuya, but a continuation to his earlier rant. There was reluctant admiration in Muraoka-san's voice. "But you'd be hard-pressed to find anyone with the same eye for detail in these parts. Even got some special effects done."

The scene outside abruptly changed. The woman was yanked away by "Satoru" and she managed to get free of "Renji's" grip. They can finally see the third cast in their little play. There were enraged yells hurled at each other, and then the gun was pointed at the "lovers." "Satoru" held "Akane" close in what was supposed to be a protective hold, but came out awkward and probably suffocating the poor woman.

Wow, riveting.

"Renji", though, was doing great in playing the role of an unhinged man, the sneer on his face sending shivers down Tetsuya's spine.

"Ending's all the same. He'd miss at the last moment and hit a corner of her shop. No one lets her install one of those popping, smoking things anywhere else," but even as he said it, there was something odd in Muraoka-san's face.

"No, it's—" Edogawa-kun's eyes widened before he was dashing out, slamming the store's door open.

"O-oi, boya!"

Tetsuya watched in confusion as Edogawa-kun was suddenly beside "Renji," gripping the man's arm as the boy tugged it down forcefully.

Bang!

The shot was deafening, a loud sound that Tetsuya had only heard when fireworks were set off. That couldn't have just been effects. There was no speaker strong enough to replicate that kind of sound.

"What the shit?!"

Muraoka-san's exclamation shook Tetsuya out of his trance and shock was quickly replaced by worry as he remembered Edogawa-kun was right in the range of the gun. Before he knew it, he was out the door.

("Te- oi, Tetsu–!"

"What are you doing, kid?! Don't go out there!"

Muraoka-san pulled Shige-kun behind the counter.)

Tetsuya's eyes quickly took in the hole in the concrete a mere few inches in front of "Satoru" and "Akane". The two actors stared at it with wide eyes, the dawning horror apparent in their faces completely genuine as they realized how close they had been to being shot.

"You brat!"

His attention snapped towards "Renji" who was struggling as Edogawa-kun kicked the back of his legs, kneed his back, and sent the man sprawling on the ground. "Renji" was quick to recover, easily throwing Edogawa-kun's considerably smaller frame off himself when the boy went to try and pin him down. Edogawa-kun hit the pavement with a grunt. The gun—a real gun—was still gripped tight in the man's hand.

"Renji" intended for his shots to hit. He knew what he's holding, and wanted to– did use it. His anger and murderous intent seemed so real because they were.

This was– Tetsuya wasn't sure what to do. Should he do anything? Can he do anything? If "Renji" can throw Edogawa-kun that easily, Tetsuya stood no chance. Why did he even go out here?

Compared to a grown man towering over him, Edogawa-kun looked frighteningly small. Compared to a grown man with a gun pointed at him as he pushed himself up, Edogawa-kun remained calm. Steely, determined, confident.

(Like this was nothing more than an obstacle he expects to conquer. Like his life wasn't being threatened, taken away from T–)

Then his gaze caught dark blue. Hinting. Always hinting something at Tetsuya. (Piercing. Always picking Tetsuya apart.)

And so he walked up to "Renji." No one saw Tetsuya. Overlooked, unseen, just another part of the background, all so focused on "Renji" and Edogawa-kun and the very real gun. Tetsuya didn't want to touch the gun, wouldn't even know what to do with it, but he had to get it away, point it away from Edogawa-kun.

(Is this anger? Fear? Adrenaline? It made everything hazy and clearer at the same time.)

It was easy to sneak up behind "Renji," not even half as hard as trying to steal the ball from Edogawa-kun.

Once again meeting blue eyes—darker than his, sharper than his, more than his—Tetsuya raised his foot and stomped down as hard as he could on "Renji's" knee. At the same time, Edogawa-kun lunged and snatched the gun out of the man's momentarily slackened grip, careful of the trigger.

"Renji" let out a pained cry as he went down hard.

(Realistically, Tetsuya couldn't have been strong enough to break a bone with a stomp. He really wished he did.)

In a move that is surprising but not entirely unexpected, Edogawa-kun made quick work of disarming the gun and placed it far away from "Renji" who, as it was starting to seem, was incapacitated as he remained cursing on the ground.

"Satoru-san, please help me hold down Renji-san," called Edogawa-kun as he pulled something out of his pocket. A zip tie.

"Satoru" physically shook his head, still in shock, still shaken, but moved to do it after "Akane" whispered something to him. "Satoru" was better built than "Renji", so with a few quick instructions on Edogawa-kun's part, "Renji" had his hands tied behind his back, still cursing everytime his knee was jolted.

The door of the sports store opened.

"I called the police, they should be here soon if they aren't already. That shot was loud," said Muraoka-san, clutching his phone in a white-knuckled grip. He was really pale. A woman came ("Setsuno-san, how did this–") spluttering and generally making a fuss that Tetsuya couldn't quite process at the moment.

Blankly, he watched as Edogawa-kun moved around, picking up the gun and stuffing it into a ziplock bag, then he was speaking with Muraoka-san and Setsuno-san. It was impressive how he easily took control of the situation.

"Tetsuya." Warm hands reached for his. Tetsuya blinked furiously, gaze tracing up from hands, up a pair of arms, neck, and finally looked up to see Shige-kun's face twisted with concern and worry. "Are you okay?"

Was he?

Shige-kun bit his lip, his hold tightening around Tetsuya's hands. "You're shaking."

Oh.

Tetsuya didn't even notice. He stared up at Shige-kun's eyes, somehow feeling more relaxed at just seeing the honest concern. At just being seen.

"Warm," the word slipped out of his mouth, the same monotone as usual. He didn't know who was more surprised when Tetsuya moved for a hug; him or Shige-kun. Either way, Shige-kun easily accepted and returned it. "I'm fine, Shige-kun. We're fine."

And he was. Tetsuya wasn't one to be distraught for long no matter the concern, and Shige-kun was one of the most stubborn people he knew.

Tetsuya pulled away, and when he saw that Shige-kun was not convinced, he asked, "Do you think I broke his knee?"

"What?" Shige-kun blinked, startled.

"Renji-san," clarified Tetsuya, turning his gaze at the tied up man doling out insults at "Akane". "Shige-kun should start paying better attention."

Shige-kun made an offended noise but did peer curiously at the man they were talking about. "Maybe. I kind of hope you did, to be honest. And really, that was so cool! The way you just snuck up on him and—"

Tetsuya let the excited chatter wash over him with a smile. His eyes momentarily caught that of Edogawa-kun's, and in answer to the unspoken question, Tetsuya nodded and flicked a look at Shige-kun.

Edogawa-kun accepted his answer and went to greet the arriving police with an air of sheepishness and familiarity.

As it turns out, the gun was licensed under Muraoka Tamehira, shop owner and clerk of his family-owned sports shop.

"The gun is mine, yes," Muraoka-san explained with a bit of desperation, "I was going to pretend Setsuno-san stole it from me to get her in a bit of trouble but– I swear it wasn't loaded when I swapped it with the prop this morning. I know she never changed the endings, but it really wasn't my intention to harm anyone so I didn't take the risk."

Setsuno-san screeched at him, enraged, "Not harm anyone?! What about me, huh? You were going to frame me–"

"You deserve it, you bigoted woman! You set up those stupid skits of yours just to taunt me because you couldn't handle having a boyfriend who likes to wear dresses and pull it off better than you!"

Which was. Tetsuya couldn't find the words.

"Wow, they're really going at it," remarked one of the police detectives—Takagi-keiji, Edogawa-kun had introduced earlier along with a few others he was apparently friendly with. He's an awkward man, not exactly one you would expect to be working with the police, but it was clear he knew what he was doing.

"Well, his story checks out," added Satou-keiji, having just returned from escorting "Renji" (Onuma Ruui, freelance performer with a grudge against Asahara Yuano a.k.a "Akane") into a police car. Satou-keiji emitted a toughness that would make anyone pause, and in almost contrast to Takagi-keiji, she was a person you would expect to work in law enforcement. But they were together. "All of his papers are in order. Even kept receipts for any gun-related purchases, and had a safe for the equipment. The bullets in the gun are definitely not Muraoka-san's. Though his license will probably be revoked after all of this is done."

According to Edogawa-kun, the two police detectives usually dealt with homicide cases—which this isn't one—but apparently they were 'in the neighborhood' and decided to respond to the call. Tetsuya didn't have to hear the implication that that was probably a lie. Edogawa-kun kept side-eyeing them with something like annoyed exasperation, while the pair of detectives looked at him with worry and concern warring with professionalism.

Their introduction to Tetsuya and Shige-kun had been pretty standard, brief and concise by design. Tetsuya was still as forgettable as always, but, in something of a weird move, Edogawa-kun had made it seem like Tetsuya hadn't been involved as anything other than a witness. And besides his two friends, no one can say otherwise.

In a scene like this—the aftermath of a crime, one where officers were interviewing witnesses and sweeping the place for evidence and proof—Edogawa-kun was in his element. Looking around, analyzing, subtly interrogating, putting pressure in all the right places to get his way.

Edogawa-kun, he observed, had a face, an act reserved for these people– people like Muraoka-san and the actors and the others. Disarming smiles that barely hid the sharpness in his eyes, a tone that curled sweetly of innocent curiosity but was sharp as a knife, words that were both too intelligent and childish at the same time. Most of the officers listened when he talked, when he vouched for Muraoka-san's motives and singled out Onuma-san. He only needed to say something and Takagi-keiji and Satou-keiji were immediately taking note of it.

Who was Edogawa Conan? Tetsuya had asked this to himself more than once.

Dangerous, he'd once labeled the boy. Tetsuya is seeing it in a different context with his own eyes, finally witnessing how it was possible for Edogawa-kun to keep track of Tetsuya so easily.

(How can he not when he easily identified a gun, caught details that only keen and experienced eyes could have found?)

"We found it!"

Which meant they found the evidence to mostly clear Muraoka-san's name– the exact same gun model Muraoka-san possessed but was definitely bought illegally and belonged to Onuma-san. Apparently when Onuma-san noticed the prop gun was real and the similar model as the one he brought, he had a moment of brilliance to use the "prop gun" instead and thought that he could pretend that he didn't know it was a real gun when he fired it.

It would have probably worked, maybe, had Edogawa-kun not noticed that the gun was real and that Onuma-san had no intention of following the script. Something about his stance and shaking hands.

"What insane luck," Shige-kun said as they quietly watched the proceedings on the sidelines. Satou-keiji had quirked an eyebrow at them earlier, as if expecting them to poke around like Edogawa-kun was. However, both boys didn't want to get in the way. "To have the same gun model and end up using them for mostly different things at the same time."

Tetsuya was just glad no one got hurt. Well, except for Onuma "Renji"-san, but some part of him had been satisfied that he dislocated the man's knee.

("Should anything else matter?" "You, for one.")

Not long after their arrival, the police were packing up. Tetsuya wondered if this was the standard thing. They were much more efficient than what he'd expected, especially with a case so convoluted and drama-ridden as this. Then again, Edogawa-kun had been not-so-subtly nudging them towards the answers they were looking for.

"Would you look at that, Conan-kun," Satou-keiji grinned, "This is probably the quickest one since you came back. Thirty minutes, and most of that was spent trying to settle their arguments."

"Please stop tallying it, Satou-keiji," was Edogawa-kun's protest, pouting, "You keep jinxing me."

Takagi-keiji snorted, a disbelieving sound that he covered with a cough when Edogawa-kun glared at him.

"Man, that was something, huh?" Shige-kun remarked as they sat down in one of the booths at Maji Burger for some late lunch. Tetsuya sat by the wall with Shige-kun beside him, leaving Edogawa-kun to sit across from them. "I never thought I'd ever see a real gun in my entire life. Let alone see someone use it. It's a good thing you managed to stop him, Edogawa."

It wasn't surprising to hear the edge of concern in the chestnut haired boy's carefully worded comment. Shige-kun had a surprising kind of sixth sense for sensitive topics and had enough experience in being Tetsuya's friend to not be completely tactless.

Edogawa-kun, who had been rather subdued since they left the scene, twitched. He twirled the straw of his iced coffee between his fingers and shrugged. "I guess."

Tetsuya and Shige-kun shared a look.

"I'm sorry I managed to drag you into it," Edogawa-kun sighed, dropping his cheek on his hand. He said nothing more. No elaboration, no explanation.

This was on him, on Tetsuya. To move this forward and to break the other boy out of his despondency. To, as Shige-kun had put it, fight for their friendship.

Tetsuya sipped at his milkshake before responding, tone even, calm, "Edogawa-kun thinks too much. Considering you once told me you were taken hostage and kidnapped, and you knew the police officers and they knew you enough to let you be at an investigation, how often does this happen?"

Shige-kun's emphatic, "What." was ignored in favor of staring at each other intently.

He was no fool. Tetsuya had already connected the dots long ago, back when Edogawa-kun had arrived with cuts and bruises, claiming to have been kidnapped. Even back then he'd looked so tired, and the past few weeks had just shown it wasn't an isolated incident. Wilfully ignoring it was a choice made out of respect for the strange boy's privacy.

("What? What do you mean kidnapped?! Oi, answer me! Tetsuya, Edogawaaa!")

They had, at some point, come to a silent understanding. That it was not the time, that Tetsuya will not speak of it if Edogawa-kun doesn't poke and prod at Tetsuya's invisibility. That they would treat each other normally, leaving the weirdness that surrounded both of them unmentioned. It was, overall, an odd arrangement, but Tetsuya was used to lying in wait.

("You don't just– just drop this on people out of the blue! It's not a normal thing that happens to everyone!")

The events today were simply the prompt he needed to open this discussion with his friend and, hopefully, reassure him that their relationship can extend beyond basketball and sports.

Edogawa-kun must have understood him because the other boy snorted and smiled wryly. "Well, it's not like it's a secret, it just isn't something I like to talk about. But… I'd say it happens often enough. Some days are worse than others. Though for some reason, it never happened with you guys. At first, I thought it was a coincidence, but the entire time I spent with you and Ogiwara-kun was the most– peaceful, I guess, is the term to use. No dead bodies, no bomb threats, no kidnapping. Until today, that is, and it's the most tame thing I've encountered in months."

Putting away the fact that gun violence and attempted murder was what Edogawa-kun considered tame, Tetsuya merely nodded. "Then I'm glad Edogawa-kun can at least take a break in our presence. It would be incredibly stupid of him if he entertained the thought that he should stop coming just because something broke the routine once. Meanwhile, Shige-kun and I can adapt and learn to deal with it and support Edogawa-kun because that is how friendships are maintained, yes?"

Beside him, Shige-kun nodded along in agreement to his statement, mouth stuffed with a burger (out of stress).

Slightly taken aback by Tetsuya's jabbing remarks, Edogawa-kun blinked, processing his words, before he burst out into laughter. It was an odd laugh, just as everything about him is. Sardonic and mirthful at the same time, quiet and soft, breathy. One that didn't draw attention but drew you in once you noticed.

"You're a really, really weird kid, Kuroko," Edogawa-kun wiped at the corner of his eye, displacing his glasses, and propped his chin on his fist. The expression he settled on was unreadable, his eyes brimming with something intense. "I've put my friends, my family into a lot of danger again and again, but they're so stubborn. They always want to get involved, always want to be there."

It was hard not to fidget, but Tetsuya managed to hold himself still.

"I don't think you realize how expressive your eyes are." Edogawa-kun's voice had become soft, had lost its acidity. His posture remained tense. "You have the same look as they do. But… there's something different."

Tetsuya tilted his head. "Is that bad?"

Edogawa-kun blinked, slow and languid, thoughtful, before he hummed and finally took a sip of his iced coffee. "Who knows?"

"You're both so dramatic." Shige-kun lamented as he crumpled his food's wrapper then took a sip from his soda. "The main thing is you're stuck with us now, Edogawa. Hanging out with you is what we want to do. And actually, this fits right in with the agenda!"

"The…agenda?"

"Yeah!" Shige-kun swiped a french fry from Tetsuya's barely touched tray and pointed it at Edogawa-kun. "We've been wondering for weeks about what's been troubling you. Today was dedicated to cheering you up, and hey, would you look at that, we might be your lucky charm!"

Tetsuya didn't know what his friend was talking about. Not with the lucky charm part.

Edogawa-kun looked as confused as Tetsuya felt. "Uh, thanks?"

Shige-kun's words seemed to have broken the tense atmosphere, if only because it was in a totally different wavelength, and soon, chatter moved on to lighter topics. Like increasing the intensity of their exercises and incorporating more basketball-related drills that would focus on ball control and dribbling, as well as something for footwork. Edogawa-kun had apparently done some research (contradicting his claims of leaving the basketball part to them, ha!).

Their physical performance had been showing a lot of improvement the past few days and he felt it in how much easier it was to play and actually stay in the game without feeling like he'd hack up a lung or lose some limbs after. This was readily apparent in the occasional times Edogawa-kun agreed to join their game rather than just watch from the sidelines.

(The sadistic sprint-slash-fast-break monster that he's turning out to be. Any team he played against were left to dust. They didn't even want to know what he'd be like if he ended up playing basketball as much as he spent time with a soccer ball. Though they'd gladly watch him trounce people in a soccer game.)

Tetsuya still had lower than average stamina for kids his age, but it hadn't even been a month and the amount of time he collapsed after a game had lessened by half. Shige-kun, too, found that he could play for longer and moving had become a lot easier. He's been getting more shots in than he had before.

Following the vein of discussing their basketball "training", of course, Tetsuya's (lacking) shooting skills would eventually be called to attention.

"Still none, huh." Edogawa-kun gave an encouraging smile. "Don't worry, you'll find your own method."

"Yeah!" Shige-kun slung an arm around Tetsuya's shoulders with a grin. "Maybe you'll have to invent your own style. Or– or you just haven't unlocked the prereq-pre– the correct skills in your skill tree yet!"

"Ha?" Edogawa-kun squinted. "What, like in a video game?"

"Exactly like in a video game." Shige-kun sounded so serious, like he'd actually thought about it and not just blurted it out. "See, we only get so many points to unlock skills, right? And there's a lot of skills related to basketball. So we can't be very good at everything, just a couple of things that we can afford."

Edogawa-kun looked thoughtful, head tilted as he examined Tetsuya who was calmly sipping his milkshake. "You're suggesting Kuroko should… specialize?"

"Maybe?" Shige-kun scratched his head and stole another one of Tetsuya's fries. The light blue haired boy rolled his eyes and pushed his tray towards the other. Shige-kun pushed it back. "All basketball players have one thing they're very good at. I'm not saying he should stop working on the basics, just that maybe he's gotta reach a certain level for a certain skill—or set of skills—before he could find his method."

Edogawa-kun hummed. "It's not a bad idea. Kuroko does seem to be better at passing than any other basketball skill."

"Right, right?!" Shige-kun agreed enthusiastically. "He's always been good at reading my and others' moves, but lately it's like he could predict where I would go so he throws his passes before I even knew I was free. Maybe that's something he could focus on. That'd be so awesome!"

"A playmaker, huh?" Edogawa-kun rubbed his chin in thought. And before Shige-kun could cut in, Edogawa-kun continued, "Enganche, the pivot of the team, a position in soccer specialized in setting up the offense. In traditional basketball positions, they fulfill similar roles and probably require the same in technical skills as a point guard. But an Enganche focuses on playmaking, not scoring a goal."

"So they don't score?" Shige-kun leaned forward. "There's such a player in a sport that counts scores to win?"

"They're not required to, but unlike in basketball where there are only five players per team on a court, there are more players on a soccer field. And the pace is different as well. " Edogawa-kun sipped his iced coffee. "So one or two people who technically don't score isn't even a loss as long as they play their role well. If we want to apply the Enganche role in basketball, it'll take a lot not only for the player, but it will also have to involve changes to the entire team."

"Then that's what we'll do!" exclaimed Shige-kun with excitement. "Tetsuya doesn't fit into the traditional basketball positions, but that doesn't mean there isn't room to adapt one for him even if it came from a different sport. I was thinking that he could be a point guard, but other players are having trouble even remembering he was there, so he can't really fulfill the leadership part of that role. I thought it was a shame because Tetsuya's really good at finding ways to pass the ball and making snap decisions."

"Oi, did you forget the part where I said it will involve the entire team? Even if we'll just do drills, there's only three of us and if Kuroko ends up joining a different team in the future, it'll be like starting from scratch."

"I'm sure we'll find a way so that it won't be so dependent on a single team! Adaptability! And you're smart, aren't you, Edogawa? You can teach Tetsuya all that strategizing and stuff while I focus on the physical skills!"

Pleased and flattered at their topic of conversation (they're thinking of the future–!) but slightly chagrined at being talked about like he wasn't there—he's had enough of that with everyone else—Tetsuya cut in, "That sounds uncharacteristically profound of Shige-kun." The fact that neither of them had reacted with surprise calmed his nerves.

(No, they didn't forget that you were there.)

"Eh?" Shige-kun was flustered, suddenly broken out of his excitement. "Eh, uh, I mean, I've just been reading about it a lot, you know. What with having to do our own drills and stuff. And, uh, I also really want to help you, Tetsuya, I just didn't know how to before Edogawa drilled the information that basketball isn't all instinct into my head."

Edogawa-kun snorted, teeth nibbling at the end of his drink's straw. "I'm glad something besides a bouncing basketball stuck in that head of yours, Ogiwara. Then again, that information is about basketball, so I shouldn't be surprised. At least Kuroko can keep up with other, better things."

"Why you soccer-nut!"

And then they dissolved into bickering. Shige-kun with his obnoxious, comically childish insults, and Edogawa-kun with his dry wit and sarcasm. Catching his stare, Edogawa-kun winked.

Tetsuya was sure his chest couldn't take the burden of being filled with adoration for these two boys. For Ogiwara Shigehiro's utter goodness, for Edogawa Conan's brilliance and kindness.

Humming, he quietly sipped at his milkshake and watched his two friends.

Even if their day had happened upon a little mishap that involved guns and attempted murder, and Edogawa-kun had all but admitted it could be a regular occurence, Tetsuya thought it had somehow made them closer. Like it had broken down a wall that Edogawa-kun had erected between them. After all, he'd all but dropped the -kun from their names.

Tetsuya finished his cup of milkshake and disappointedly blew air into the straw.

He'll give Shige-kun the rest of his fries and then he'll buy another milkshake for himself. Maybe another coffee for Edogawa-kun, too. They deserve it.

(They deserve everything Tetsuya can give.)

Chapter End

-I'm part of the LGBTQ+ demographic, so I absolutely do not condone Setsuno-san's views.
-This is my first time writing a case chapter and as you can see, it read like comedic suspense. I call it crack.
-Enganche is an Argentinian football/soccer term. It does exist, so feel free to research it.
-I use "soccer" because that's what they use in canon. Any other time, I use "football".

So we're starting to see more and more of DC events, Kuroko being given information and help on his basketball earlier, and some Ogiwara character development!