The info Shinichi had been provided was concise and lacking anything extraneous.
'Tomorrow at noon. Travel to Johnson café. The man will have brown hair, black eyes, etc.' The message continued to describe the man and where he would be/who he would be with. His name was unnecessary. What really captured the assassin's attention, though, was the last sentence.
'A participant from our list will take blame during the investigation.' He read over it multiple times, wondering. Would he be expected to do this in broad daylight and take part in the investigation afterward? He could only hope that his acting skills were sufficient as he had been known to almost blank out during jobs.
While alone, Shinichi decided to return to his teenage state if only to answer the office phone. This time, however, a thought came to him. If he could change freely, with enough practice, would he be able to control it? After all, it was a constant effort during the change itself.
Bored, he spent that day trying to change various aspects of himself, only succeeding partly in the voice box. He was now sure that he could control it, if partially.
The phone rang loudly, and he jumped. The sun was starting to set outside, so he decided that he would answer this and then change back, just in case.
The receiver was lifted, "Hello?" the assassin spoke, changing his voice ever so slightly.
"Hello, Kudo Shinichi." a modified female voice crackled through.
He tried not to make his shock evident, "What do you want?" he asked, gritting his teeth.
"Nothing but a heads up," she began, "I spoke to Gin. I just love a good show." her voice filtered through the obvious smirk she held. Then, the line clicked off.
The boy cursed, angry at his own carelessness. She had identified his residence, among other things.
He had no time to think about it before the door handle clicked. Practically throwing himself over the couch, he made a beeline straight to his room. Thankfully, he had not been too loud, as he was able to change back and greet Ran as she returned.
Not far behind her was Kogoro, looking strangely contemplative. He explained that the address on the note had led nowhere, and any clues he found only led him on a wild goose chase.
"However," The man exclaimed loudly, "I will continue tomorrow where I left off! Johnson café!"
Shinichi only sat in disbelief as Ran convinced the rambling detective to take them along for lunch. He couldn't decide whether he should be happy or not. On one hand, this gave him a ride and excuse to be there, but on the other hand, those two would be involved too.
Before he could put a word in edgewise, the matter was decided. Darn.
Shinichi woke to nothing and stared out the small window to his side. That previous night he had organized anything he might need and looked up the restaurant's layout. Despite this, he had a never-ending feeling of anxiety. This was the first time he was doing this anywhere where he'd need to be relatively stealthy. On top of that, Ran and Kogoro were coming.
Eventually, he resigned himself to the fact that he wouldn't sleep again that night. The clock shone at 4 am.
The boy picked himself up off the bed and started on his exercises quietly. He took this moment to consider his actions. There was almost a sense of comfort when killing for a 'lawful' organization. Hopefully, if he messed up, he would be bailed out somehow. That's what all criminals fear, right? Retribution? He wondered if he even deserved to be acquitted.
After his shower, it was around 6 am. Ran had just gotten up and was preparing breakfast. Despite having been awake for hours, he didn't feel like receiving the lecture by telling her. She had most assuredly heard his shower, so he felt no fear in acting as if he had only just now awoken.
"Good morning, Conan," she said, cheerful, laying his food out in front of him.
Kogoro was heard through the door, snoring loudly. Ran informed the small boy that she woke him after everything was done. Otherwise, she said, he would be angry at the interruption.
The day was like any other, and it perturbed Shinichi slightly that he was planning to kill someone. His rationality told him directly that it was terrible, but he was aware that he had no choice. He hated the way that he reacted to such disturbing things, dismissing them as if they were nothing.
Fortunately, or unfortunately, the time finally came around. As inconspicuously as possible, he concealed his weapons and gathered his things. Aware that he would most likely need to change to cement his alibi, he prepared larger clothes.
Jodie had found someone the same height and build as his older self, so as long as he carried it outright, the matter should go by smoothly.
Johnson café was decidedly average, a small mom and pop hole-in-the-wall. From the outside, you would be hard-pressed to find it normally.
Walking inside, the building only contained three people, sitting lonely at tables. It just so happened that only one person there fit the target's description. What was not described to the assassin was the fairly large build the man had.
Shinichi had planned to stab the target as a gunshot would be blatantly obvious, but he wondered if he would be able to pull it off. Panning a bit to the left, the boy noticed the person he had been provided. The man looked nothing like him, but the assassin supposed that it didn't matter.
The group took a seat away from the others and ordered. Throughout the entire beginning, the small boy was riddled with anxiety and nervousness. The time before was always the worst.
Finally, the target went to the bathroom. Soon after followed the gopher and Shinichi.
Once the door clicked closed, the target walked into a stall, leaving the boy with the thin man. Only nodding at him, the man began to act as if he were using the urinal.
The assassin walked into the only other stall and changed as quickly as possible. He was wearing gloves as a precaution. A quick plan came together, and he decided to stab the larger man as he left the stall. Caught off guard, he would be easier to handle, Shinichi reasoned.
Hearing the toilet flush beside him, he gracefully whipped around the door frame and waited—a click.
Having taken note of his height, the teen stabbed him straight through his most vital point. Surprisingly, the man never fought back. The assassin was later informed that he was a bodybuilder and actually relatively weak.
Once done, Shinichi changed quickly and walked back out past the thin man. He did not follow the boy, as he was the one to discover the body. The assassin acted as if he had not gone into a stall and therefore, never saw the dead man.
While it was the shortest job he had done, he felt quite accomplished having completed it so quickly. Now he had to survive the investigation.