As it stood now, Shinichi was staring at the ceiling in varying levels of disappointment. He was angry at himself. Earlier that night, he had shown weakness in front of his two confidants. That was one thing he couldn't afford to do as he didn't want to be viewed as someone who couldn't handle his job. They spoke as if they didn't feel pity or disappointment, but he found it hard to believe them. As such, it only gave him another reason to be angry.
Hattori shifted on the floor. He had long since fallen off the bed. In fact, that was what woke the assassin up. The boy could only be glad that he had such faithful friends. Lamenting for a moment, he paused to gag at his cheesiness. When had it become so prevalent?
Outside, the sun rose at a snail's pace. The child was waiting to leave for the ski park. He was elated, ecstatic, excited, all the possible descriptive words. Due to his training, he had been unable to attend a case. It almost surprised him that he hadn't encountered one in so long. Perhaps his quota for death was filled with the new job.
"Ugh…Kudo, are ya doin' better?" Hattori's gravelly voice rose from the floor.
"I don't want to talk about it." he snapped back rather harshly. He quickly caught himself, "I, uh, just don't feel too happy with myself about how I reacted."
The detective sat up with an incredulous look. He crawled back to his bed and stared at the ceiling too.
"You, sir, are an idiot," He began with an air of exasperation, "Ya were thrown inta a world completely removed from your own. Ya were expected to kill early on an' your lackluster reaction bothers ya, right?"
Shinichi nodded, wondering where the speech was going.
He continued, "First of all, ya honestly dealt with death more in your previous job than now. Your reaction is a bit delayed, but it's exactly what I would expect from someone in your position. It's somethin' to adjust to, and you're doing a good job. I promise."
Once again, Hattori was hitting all the rights points. He always knew how to make the child feel better.
"Thanks…Hattori," he started again, "I know you remember what I said to the boss when I killed that Greenie guy, yea?"
"I hate to admit anything before I have the chance to think through it, but It was morbidly fun. Does that make me a bad person?" the detective recited with his most dramatic tone.
Shinichi was honestly surprised that he had remembered it, especially in his situation.
"Uh…yea," he whispered, "Well, I hope it doesn't make you think of me any worse than you already do, but I meant every word of it. It's a shock, realizing that I'm not as phased as I should be. Part of me wonders where I would be today if I hadn't been raised with strong morals." He raised one hand and stared intently.
Hattori seemed to consider his words for a moment. Before he had a chance to speak, though, he was interrupted by a banging at the door.
Ran's voice spoke through the door, "Good Morning, we're leaving in about an hour, and breakfast is ready!" She was a sweetheart, poor thing, having to wait for someone who couldn't make her happy. Shinichi could only hope that she let him go before something significant happened.
The assassin spoke quickly, "Yea, we're coming. Good morning!" He began getting ready and noticed the other teen staring at him, "what's up?" he asked.
"Ya sure you're fine?" the detective worriedly spoke.
Shinichi chuckled and smiled sadly, "I won't know that for a while."
The group was currently halfway to their destination when the car decided to break down. Cursing his luck, Kogoro ranted around the car while the teens looked for something nearby. Soon they came upon a traditional house near the middle of the forest. It looked in good condition considering its location, so the trio knocked.
An older couple answered with a defiant looking and younger couple behind them. It almost looked as if they were in the middle of a domestic dispute.
"Oh, hello. What brings you all here?" the older woman spoke sweetly.
"Sorry for suddenly showing, but our car broke down by the road. Could you perhaps lend us a landline? There's no service." Ran asked equally as kind.
"Of course, but how about you nice people stay here for the night? We have a couple of guest rooms available." the old man added. He seemed to be a giving person. His eyes were wrinkled in happiness, and he had an unguarded stance.
The younger couple seemed absolutely against the possibility and fought tooth and nail.
Eventually, the older woman calmed the two and warmed them to the idea. At this point, the three teens and Kogoro, who joined a bit later, were feeling slightly awkward.
Shinichi almost laughed at the situation. He supposed that he should be a bit happy that he had encountered some sense of normalcy as it was. It was almost inevitable that at some point, one of the people here would try to kill one of the others; it was cliché but was going to happen. Of course, his presence around murderers, and being one himself, gave him insight into how to tell them apart. In fact, he already had an idea…
Hattori punched him lightly in the arm.
"let's go lock the car up," he said, pulling the child out by the arm.
Once they were away from the house, the detective allowed himself to look perplexed, "Why do I feel so bad about that one person?" he asked quietly, almost to himself.
"I also suspect them. They have murderous tendencies." Shinichi replied.
They walked in silence to and from the car.