Comment peut-il se cacher si efficacement?
J'ai fouillé toute l'Angleterre, mais il ne s'est point montré. Le plus tôt il se montrera, le plus tôt je pourrai me faire justice. En parlant de justice, j'ai une chose à lui demander. Il sélectionne et choisit ses affaires, ignorant ceux qu'il ne juge pas "digne", et laisse courir des criminels avec qui il s'entend. Où est la justice là dedans? Si une personne décide de servir la loi, elle devrait exécuter la loi à la lettre, et non pas quand l'envie leur prend.
Pour être honnête, je serai très intéressé par sa réponse...
Bon, quand je l'aurai trouvé, il me faudra lui poser la question...
---
"The answer would be...no, my not-so-dear detective."
"Wait, Lupin--!"
---
Another night, another dream, it seemed. Shinichi stared at the ceiling of his room, watching the moonlight play with the shadows of leaves and branches.
It hadn't been very coherent this night, just snatches of dialogue that Shinichi could barely remember, and just a general feeling of...loss. Yes, that was the word. Whatever happened in this dream-memory thing hadn't been very kind, and had left himself-as-Sherlock just standing there, feeling like an idiot with his heart thrown back into his hands.
What had happened...? Why had he dreamed something like that?
Closing his eyes with a sigh, Shinichi rolled onto his side and pulled the covers over his head. Maybe if he curled up enough, the lonely feeling would go away and he would sleep without dreams.
At least until tomorrow night.
---
Shinichi stifled a yawn as he leaned against the brick wall of the apartment building's stairwell. Waiting for Kid to fly his sorry ass over to the escape route Shinichi had deducted he would use - this building - was the only boring part of heists. The thief did enjoy taunting his audience, and so sometimes he was later than Shinichi had predicted and the detective was left to twiddle his thumbs until Kid finally deigned to show himself.
He should have brought a book to read, but the only one he hadn't finished lately was "Lupin's" journal, and Shinichi had mixed feelings on that. On one hand, it was quite masterfully written, and Shinichi was beginning to think less and less that it was imitation. The detail was just too great, the writing too authentic.
On the other hand, it was giving him the strange dreams and the heebie jeebies all in one go, and he wasn't quite sure he liked that.
He wondered if there was some curse on the book to make the reader dream they really were Sherlock Holmes...
--none other than your own soul young one--
...but then there was slight sound of a heel scraping concrete and a cape folding in the wind, and he had more important things to worry about. Kid had finally appeared, turning around giving Shinichi a grin.
"Well well, if it isn't my favorite detective. And how are you this evening, Kudo-san? Are you sure you should be out here without a coat? It's quite chilly, and I can't imagine that uniform of yours being very warm."
Shinichi snorted. "Isn't it better for you if I'm not? After all, I'm not able to chase you if I'm sick in bed."
"Alas, but then I would miss your tender affections. And I would never wish you ill, my dear detective, for then my heists would be without their most interesting participant, and where would I be?"
"Shaving minutes off your time records, I'm sure." Shinichi stated dryly, taking a few steps forward. No way was he letting the thief out of lunging distance. "After all, without anyone to laugh at and make a fool out of, you would not be so distracted, surely."
Okay, so maybe that dry voice was a little bitter as well, but Shinichi was tired of being played for an idiot by the quicksilver thief. Even if he was the only one able to keep up with the thief, he still felt like he was being laughed at every time the thief slipped from his fingers.
Especially when the thief would turn with a grin and call him on that to his face...
Kid blinked. "I'm sorry, detective? Indeed, you are an integral part of my fun, but not to play to fool. The bumbling police inspector, the Holmes cosplayer, maybe them, but never you Kudo-san. I would hardly call my best critic a fool. Are you sure you haven't already caught a cold? You are not looking your best..."
Shinichi stumbled a bit then, going a bit pale. That's right, Kid never did go out of his way to make Shinichi feel like an idiot. He was the only detective Kid treated with respect, in fact, and Kid would never call him a fool.
And yet, why did he have such a clear memory of the thief doing that exact thing...?
Shaking his head, he plunged on. "Be as that may, Kid, I'm not going to let you go tonight. So why don't you be a good thief and turn yourself in? You'll be caught one day by me, so you might as well give in now. They might even take a year or two off your sentence for it."
The thief gave a low bow, smirk returning with Shinichi's banter. "I am sorry to say, Kudo-san, but I've never believed in giving in gracefully. I'm afraid I'll have to pass on your gracious offer. There are many big jewels yet in the world, and I simply don't have the time for prison yet, not until I've seen them all."
Shinichi gritted his teeth, stepping forward once more. "Then it's the hard way you choose. I should have expected nothing less of someone as stubborn as you."
A white-gloved hand waved idly, Kid not bothered in the slightest by Shinichi's growing proximity. "It's a character flaw, I'm afraid."
Really, how dare the thief just stand there as if Shinichi were not a threat? Clearly he took Shinichi for a bigger fool than the thief even called him--but wait Kid didn't call him anything--and Shinichi wasn't going to stand around and be insulted any longer. The thief needed that smug grin wiped off his face for him.
Stalking forward, Shinichi hissed. "Well, it's one too many, I'm afraid. And it is one that will land you shackled in jail where you belong, voleur!"
Kid actually did stop grinning then, giving a small start and staring at Shinichi with a confused expression under the top hat and monocle. "Excuse me, detective? Care to run that last word by me again? Are you sure you're all right, you're looking a little pale..."
Shinichi barely heard him, lost in a memory that was almost the same, and yet everything seemed just a little off. "Arrêtez de dire ça!! Je vais bien, monsieur le cambrioleur, donc n'allez pas vous soucier pour moi. Je ne vais pas vous laisser me ridiculiser plus longtemps! Je suis celui qui finira par vous attraper un jour, et je vais m'assurer que ce jour sera aujourd'hui."
Had Shinichi been paying attention, he would have been treated to the rare sight of Kid looking completely flabbergasted. The thief's blue eyes had gone wide, and he was staring at Shinichi in a mixture of shock, confusion, and not a little worry. "Kudo? Um...Japanese, please? I really don't think you're doing very well..."
"J'ai dit que j'allais bien. Maintenant je vous prie de cesser de repousser l'inévitable, mon cher cambrioleur, et de gentiment me suivre. Ou je me verrai obligé de recourir à des moyens moins civilisés, Lu-"
What...?
Shinichi froze, clapping a hand over his mouth. Abruptly reality returned to Shinichi, and he suddenly wished it hadn't. Kid was staring at him, looking like he'd been hit over the head with a brick, and Shinichi couldn't blame him.
Why had he just gone off like that? He hadn't been seing Kid...or rather, he'd been seeing who he thought Kid was. And had nearly called him that name, the name that still threatened to slip from his lips, as even now Kid seemed to flicker and become someone else instead.
Someone who had died a century ago, one Shinichi shouldn't be seeing and yet still was...
This was too much. He shouldn't be doing this, slipping into languages he had no right knowing as well as he did, calling thieves by other thieves' names - surely they were a jealous bunch, right, so he really shouldn't be talking to Kid right now, not when all he could see was someone else - and he had no right seeing these visions.
Yes, visions, because there was no way Shinichi was running around with century-old memories in his head from dead detectives...
--not quite a century not yet dear incarnation--
And that was it, he was hearing voices. it was time to go home, burn that stupid journal, and curl up under his covers with a box of expensive chocolate and a flashlight.
"I-I'm really sorry about that...K-Kid, but I've got to go now. Like...right now. So um, if you'll excuse me..." Shinichi began backing away from the thief, who had begun to approach Shinichi slowly, as if not to scare him off.
"Wait a minute, Kudo, are you sure you're really okay?"
God, and now he was apparently crazy enough to imagine the concern in the thief's voice. Really time to go.
"I'm fine!1 Really, Lu--" God damn it, get his name right, it's not the same thief, stop going crazy Shinichi!! "...Kid. I...just really need to go home. I'll catch you tomorrow or something, okay? Just...not right now, not now."
Deciding to put his actions to words, Shinichi finally got his legs moving to steer him towards the stairwell, finally managed to turn and run for it once he was out of the thief's grabbing range. He darted into the safety of the building, closing the door and Kid's startled face and shout.
For a moment, he leaned back against the door, just trying to calm his mind.
This...was getting out of control. The bed thing was sounding more and more pleasant by the minute.
--for the record it is not your fault I am sorry I just wanted to talk to him again--
Yes, sleep until the voice went away. That was a very good plan.
Burying his face in his hands, Shinichi took a deep breath, before standing straight once again and heading down the stairs.
Maybe everything would be fine in the morning.
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