Mitsuharu

Title: Mitsuharu
Rating: T
Fandom: Detective Conan
Summary: There were only three kids of the Akai Family, right? There was no way that Masumi had a third older brother. So why the hell were these people calling him Akai Mitsuharu? More importantly, how the hell was he even alive!? [OC Insert as Akai Sibling]

Haru was laying on the living room couch, a manga book covering his face as he dozed. His phone was on silent so he didn't notice the numerous texts Conan had sent him. After getting no replies, Conan ditched helping his classmates clean up and rushed to his house. Subaru had finally woken up and saw his brother had fallen asleep in the living room. He set the book on the table and placed a blanket over Haru. He then headed to the bathroom to brush his teeth.

Outside, Ran had just received a text from Shinichi's phone. "Since arbitrarily digging through the house would be difficult and Haru isn't responding to my texts, I told Conan-kun the location of that photograph and asked him to bring it to the Detective Agency," Ran read out loud. "Geez, you could have just told mewhere it was,"

"I wonder if he's hiding some pornographic books near that picture!" Sonoko joked. "Or maybe Haru's got some porn,"

"I'm pretty sure if Haru-nii had porn, it'd be hentai manga," Masumi said as they stopped in front of the gates. "Since we've come all the way here, let's just go in. Besides, I want to meet that Subaru guy who lives here. I want to know what his intentions with my brother are. He better not take advantage of him now that he broke up with that Jonah bastard. When I get my hands on that Jonah bastard…"

"But you know," Sonoko brought up as they passed by a peacefully slumbering Haru. "There's something that's always been bothering me about Subaru-san. He always has his neck hidden. I was thinking that he might have an embarrassing tattoo or something on his neck and is hiding it! Once we have the chance, let's surprise him and strip him!"

Ran gave her an annoyed look. "Are you sure you don't just want to see Subaru-san naked?"

Masumi noticed noise coming from the bathroom. "Are you here Conan-kun?" She threw the door open. Her eyes widened at the sight of Subaru brushing his teeth. 'Why…why does he feel so familiar? I have never met him before but…I feel like I've seen him somewhere…'

"Sorry to bother you Subaru-san," Ran apologized. "Do you know where Conan-kun is?"

Subaru pointed in the direction of the library. Ran thanked him and dragged Sonoko and Masumi away. Once they left, Subaru proceeded to comb his hair. After he had finished readying for the day, he went to the living room to see how Haru was doing. Haru was fidgeting around in his sleep, face scrunched into one of fear. His peaceful dream had turned into a hellish nightmare.

"Haru?" Subaru gently shook him awake.

Haru let out a scream as he sat up. At the sound of his scream, the others rushed into the living room. "Haru, what's wrong!?"

"N-Nothing!" Haru gave them a weak smile. "I'm fine,"

"Your breathing is rapid and you're covered in sweat," Masumi noted. "Haru-nii, what happened?"

"It's just a silly nightmare," Haru assured her. "Don't worry about it. Why are you guys here?"

"We wanted to see the photograph of the case Ran's father-in-law gave up on ten years ago," Sonoko answered.

"I-I think it's in Yusaku-san's study," Haru stuttered. "I'm just gonna head up to my room now," When he stood up, his legs were jelly.

Subaru and Masumi both caught him. "I'll help you to your room," Masumi offered.

"No, no," Haru refused. "Just head to the library. My legs are just asleep,"

Masumi reluctantly followed the others to the library, leaving Haru with Subaru. After a few moments, Haru was able to regain his composure enough to walk to his room. Subaru stayed by his side to ensure he didn't fall down. "Do you want to talk about it?"

Haru leaned his head against Subaru's chest and let quiet tears fall. "I…I keep having nightmares about Jonah's allegiance being exposed. I see him getting tortured in the same fashion as the way he is forced to torture his victims. I see him refusing to give up, resulting in eternal torture until the crows grow bored of him and kill him," 'I'm afraid that I'm the reason he'll die,'

"He's stubborn," Subaru spoke. "I doubt someone like him will be killed easily,"

"Everyone has their limits," Haru told him. "Jonah and I may be outliers, but we're not immortal. We were given a second chance at life, but I doubt we'd get a third. You saw how I was comatose for three weeks. Outliers can still get injured. We can still die,"

XXX

Ran, Sonoko, and Masumi were having tea in the kitchen while Conan continued to search for the case file from ten years ago. "Hey, do you think your husband's hiding porn mags in this house?" Sonoko brought up.

"No way!" Ran denied.

"He allows you to clean his house every month yet he's telling you to not look at that photograph specifically?" Sonoko pointed out.

"Haru's the one that asked for help too," Ran reminded.

Masumi sifted through the cupboards. "I think what's being hidden is the existence of a woman,"

"A woman!?" Ran exclaimed.

"See," Masumi held up the elastic band. "This is a hairband that women tend to leave on top of shelves all the time,"

"Those might by Shinichi's mom's," Ran claimed. "She collects them,"

"But the dishes haven't been washed yet," She picked up a tall glass. "There's lipstick near the rim that's been wiped with a thumb. There's also a long hair in the sink's drain, though it looks like a hair from a wig,"

"D-Don't tell me Shinichi-kun brought a woman here and is committing adultery!?"

"It's not adultery if they're not legally married yet," Haru, who had finally composed himself, joined them in the kitchen and acted as if nothing had happened. "Besides, how do you know it's not a woman that I brought home or maybe Chewy brought home? Shin-kun's been gone for quite some time now, remember? He's on a big case,"

"But don't you have a boy—" Sonoko quickly paused mid-sentence. "Sorry,"

"By the way," Haru said. "Yukiko-san was here yesterday afternoon. The hair ties, the lipstick, and the hair strand are from her,"

"Oh…"

XXX

The teens compared the photograph from ten years ago to the photo of the case from that morning. "They're exactly the same! The death character is written in blood!" Masumi said.

"Then don't tell me…" Ran began. "Does this mean the serial killer from ten years ago showed up again!?"

"It wasn't a murder ten years ago," Haru claimed. "The principal had left the goldfish bowl at home and on his way back to the school, he slipped on a stone step and fell forward. The glass impaled his heart, killing him. The kid who had first found the body was the one who created the death character on accident. He placed six candies to represent the six coins to pay the fee to cross the River Styx. The boy picked some flowers and surrounded the candies. The dog he had been caring for ate the candy, moved the corpse's hand, and scattered the flowers,"

"Haru, how do you know this?" Masumi inquired.

"Oh, I came upon the crime scene while out for a walk all those years ago," He told them. "You were holed up inside your room, practicing Jeet Kune Do. Hey, why don't you head to the crime scene of the recent case? You might be able to find clues as to what created the death character in that scenario,"

Before Masumi left with Ran and Sonoko, Masumi approached her brother. "What was that nightmare about? You were really shaken up by it,"

"Shuichi's death," Haru lied. "I'm so weak. He was in Japan. If only I were faster, if only I had stayed by his side, then he wouldn't have died. I could've saved him,"

"You're not responsible for Shuu-nii's death," Masumi said. "I'll find his killers and bring them to justice!"