DCMK || FuruShin || DCMK || Count Down to Zero || DCMK || FuruShin || DCMK

Title: Count Down to Zero – The Complications of Secret Identities

Fandom: Detective Conan / Magic Kaito

Disclaimer: All rights reserved to Gosho Aoyama for he created the awesomeness that is Kaitou KID. Ah, and Detective Conan, too. This fanfiction on the other hand is entirely mine. No money is made with this, though reviews are more than welcomed.

Tags: m/m, soulmate AU, pining, fluff, secret identities, f/f, m/f

Main Pairing: Furuya/Shinichi

Side Pairings: Sera/Ran, Makoto/Sonoko

DC/MK Characters: Kudou Shinichi | Edogawa Conan, Furuya Rei | Amuro Tooru | Bourbon, Sera Masumi, Mouri Ran, Suzuki Sonoko, Kyogoku Makoto

Summary: A countdown on your wrist told you how long it'd be until you meet your soulmate and when they first speak their name to you, a mark would appear on your wrist. But that is not very helpful when both parties are living under fake identities when they first meet.

Count Down to Zero

The Complications of Secret Identities

The countdown on a person's wrist was regarded as a helpful guide. It counted the hours and seconds until one would meet their soulmate. However, being in the same place – the same room or worse yet the same open space – already counted as a meeting. Once the counter hit zero, a person knew that they were in close proximity to their soulmate. The definite proof for having found them was when that zero would transform into a unique soul-mark, which happened when one's soulmate first spoke their own name. It has long since been romanticized that the soul resonated with hearing the name, recognizing a part of itself in the other, and thus the bond was formed.

Once upon a time, Kudou Shinichi ate these cheesy fantasies up. Until he spoke his name to Mouri Ran and heard her name and nothing happened and the countdown on his wrist stubbornly claimed it would be over a decade longer before he'd meet his soulmate.

The countdown that had mocked him for a decade became a deadline after he turned into Edogawa Conan. He was quite literally racing against the clock. He could not be Conan by the time it hit zero. The longer he stayed Conan, the more afraid he got. What if he met his soulmate and what if the name Edogawa Conan would be enough to seal the bond? Would that be the final verdict then? That he would never return to his old body, his old life, that he was Conan now...? Or would only Conan receive a mark when hearing his soulmate's name, while his soulmate would be stuck with a zero, waiting, confused, until too much time passed and they would lose track of anyone who had been present when the clock hit zero? What if he would then just never find his soulmate?

/break\

When he decided to go undercover, Rei briefly worried about his soulmate. Would he meet them while undercover? Would that blow his cover? But they'd be made for him, so whoever they were, they would fit together, wouldn't they...? Someone unbothered by his triple life? Someone to help him get the vengeance he sought so desperately? He wondered what kind of person his soulmate would be. And then the day came and went and Rei still stood without a soulmate.

It had been in the middle of a case and an assignment – the day he made first contact with the Mouris. It had been a busy diner full of strangers and Rei had been so busy with the case and with making a good impression on Mouri, he didn't even notice the exact moment the clock must have hit zero. Only when he got home in the evening did he realized it.

The next day, he went back to the diner, asked if anyone had said something the day before about hitting their counter. He left the number of his current alias with them and returned home. Surely his soulmate must have noticed by now and they were going to retrace their steps too. It was a matter of time and then, well, he would see what came after. He'd have to reveal his real name then, but it shouldn't be a problem, right? Since they were his soulmate. He had hardened to become the officer he was now, to be able to infiltrate the organization, but at his core there was a small, soft part that was reserved for his soulmate. A gooey center, the part of himself he was protecting. The future he was working toward. And now he had supposedly met his soulmate, but not properly yet. His gaze wandered to the black zero on his wrist and he had to smile at the irony of that...

/break\

Shinichi tried to ignore the zero on his wrist. He had been hiding his timer with his watch's broad band. Now he hid the zero. Honestly, he couldn't believe that it had hit zero and he was still Conan. Even if he knew who it was, or when exactly it had happened – he could narrow it down to the day but it had been a busy day and as always, he ran into a lot of people – what good would it do with his secret? He couldn't introduce himself to anyone as Kudou Shinichi. But that was okay, he didn't believe in the concept of soulmates anymore, not since Ran hadn't been his soulmate.

The first time he had seen soulmates find each other had been with Sonoko and Makoto and admittedly, they did make it work and they made it look worth it. And then Sera Masumi had entered their lives and the day the agency had been held hostage by a man with a bomb, Ran had been so bright-eyed and red-cheeked when Conan had met her at the end of the day, because that day had been Sera's first day in their class, her saying her full name in front of Ran for the first time and her skin had tickled and the zero on her wrist changed into blue waves.

After ten years, the mystery of Ran's soulmate was finally solved. One hectic day at the beach – a huge beach with countless strangers from various countries – her timer had hit zero. She'd been sullen for weeks when they returned home, until her mother told her firmly that her soulmate was meant to be with her and would come and find her. And Sera had, through Fate or coincident.

It had been months now and even though Shinichi had always thought Fate must have been wrong when him and Ran hadn't been soulmates... seeing her with Sera, he had to admit that perhaps, Fate had been right after all. They were on a double-date – Ran and Sera, with Sonoko and Makoto, bowling – and just seeing the two sets of soulmates together made his heart ache a little.

"It fits Mouri-chan," noted Makoto with a smile. "To have a soulmate who is such a competent fighter. And to have a soulmate who is a detective."

"That's what I said too!" exclaimed Sonoko pleased and kissed his cheek. "Ran's always surrounded herself with detectives, even if she isn't one herself, she clearly has a nose for them. It makes perfect sense. And at least this one doesn't disappear for months without a call."

"Sonoko..." Ran looked at her sternly. "It's not Shinichi's fault."

Sera, with an arm around Ran's shoulders, nodded in agreement. "Yeah, I'm sure if he could, Kudou-kun would be here right now! Don't you think so too, Conan-kun?"

"Ah... Yeah, definitely," Conan forced a smile at that.

It wasn't even just the soulmate bond that he was envious about. He wanted to be his original size, in his real body, to banter and talk to them like he was one of them, instead of being the cute little brother that they had to take along. He was slowly coming to terms with Ran's happiness with her soulmate, accepting that everyone was moving on with their lives without Kudou Shinichi. His eyes wandered down to his watch, picturing the zero beneath it and wondering. Would his soulmate be able to move on without him too?

/break\

While he was accepting Sera in their lives and as Ran's soulmate, Shinichi's heart finally started moving on too. Toward someone even more unobtainable than a girl who wasn't his soulmate. Amuro Tooru. Bourbon. He'd seen the man try to kill KID-posing-as-Shiho, he knew the man was dangerous. But Shinichi never had self-preservation skills to begin with, so danger didn't stop him. He didn't know at what point he had started developing a crush, but he knew the exact moment he had realized it. When Sonoko wanted to start a band and some big, strong bullies made fun of her for not being able to play the guitar – and Amuro took the guitar from her. He looked so hot while playing, so cool and composed and then he actually could play it, really well. All Shinichi could do was stare at him, mouth a little o and cheeks flushed red as the only thought in his head was wow.

The problem got worse when he felt himself falling for the handsome blonde. The night Amuro had deduced Shinichi and Akai's plan and confronted the latter in the Kudou Mansion, even suspecting Conan to be behind it and oh. A brilliant detective who could figure things out that nobody else had figured out so far. It was quite overwhelming and Shinichi wanted more of that mind.

After that night, they came to a strange understanding. Though Amuro didn't know Conan was Shinichi, he knew that Conan was more than meets the eye and he treated him that way too. With respect, like an equal, encouraging his ideas and consulting him. And Shinichi learned to lean onto the blonde. If everyone moved on without him and he had missed out on his soulmate, then was there any chance for him to maybe move on with Amuro one day, if he ever got his body back...?

/break\

Rei found a strange ally in Edogawa Conan. The child who was so much more than a child and so much smarter than most adults Rei had ever met. The most brilliant detective Rei had ever met and a delightfully snarky mind. He didn't know what to make of the child, really, but some days, it was hard to remember that he indeed was a child. And then he had gone and framed Mouri for a bombing, because he saw no other way, and it strained their relationship. Edogawa Conan was not someone you'd want as an enemy, Rei realized. He didn't want Conan as his enemy. But when they worked together after, it seemed to fix things and it felt exhilarating. It also left him bleeding and bruised after saving Conan's life. The two stood with each other, all alone in the aftermath, sharing smiles. Conan had figured it all out, he now had definite proof that Rei wasn't who he pretended to be. He knew who Rei truly worked for and he had been a terrifyingly strong ally.

"Furuya Rei," offered Rei as the two stood together like that and Conan jerked suddenly, startled and wide-eyed. "My real name. I trust you know that you can't use it freely. But..."

But it felt right to tell him. Though the rest of the sentence trailed off as he watched Conan's eyes widen further and him grasping his wrist tightly. Rei frowned confused as he had a suspicion, but it was completely impossible. He'd heard Conan's name so often before. Large, cerulean eyes stared down at a small wrist and then up at Rei, like Conan himself couldn't believe it. He also realized he was being so obvious about this that Rei noticed what was going on. Flustered did Conan look up at him, searching is face, as though he was deciding what to do.

"...Kudou Shinichi," whispered Conan. "That's... That's my real name."

Rei could feel it, the prickling on his skin and as he lifted his wrist up, the zero on it changed into a chain curling around his wrist and looping around a black feather where the zero used to be. His soulmate was Kudou Shinichi. His soulmate, for some reason, was currently in the body of a child.

"I think it's time we talk. Really talk, Shinichi-kun," Rei offered a crooked grin.

"I think you're right," agreed Conan with a matching grin.

~*~ The End ~*~

Author's note: Aaah, wanted to write FuruShin for a while but finally found a good angle! Could NOT resist the countdown to zero soulmate trope for Zero-kun! ;D ALSO this one goes to Hiro because thank you for helping me figure out a soulmate mark for them (and here's the link to Hiro's pretty pitches ;^;)