-Love of Four-
Disclaimer: The works of Detective Conan and Magic Kaito belongs to Gosho Aoyama-sensei.
Warning: KaiShin relationship.
A/N: Is it strange of me to actually like seeing all three versions of Shinichi together?
08: A Moment of Reprieve
Shinichi rubbed his temple as he surveyed the scene once more. It had not even been 24 hours since his last run-in to a crime and here he was, confronted with another dead body as he walked to school with Shiina, Ran and Conan. He, at least, had the mind to send Shiina on her way to the school with Ran. Conan, who had been walking next to Shinichi at the time, was one of the two (including himself) who found the body. So he had to remain behind until the police came to take their statements.
"I really should send the two of you to school…" Shinichi murmured, looking at the bystanders and picking out potential suspects at the same time. "But I know your education won't suffer because you're not attending classes."
"Of course." Conan beamed, sticking close to Shinichi. "Though I don't mind spending time with the Detective Boys."
The moment Division One arrived, who happened to be Megure once again, they were quick to approach Shinichi. After exchanging the necessary pleasantries, and with some admonition from the elder inspector about how children should go to school instead of lingering at crime scenes, Shinichi was given free reign of the crime scene. Conan tagged along like a puppy behind and Shinichi could not help but feel comforted at the extra presence. He knew sometimes children, or at least child-height, gives things a different perspective and after his encounters as Conan, Shinichi can appreciate a child's witness statement. It is especially more convincing of the words came from Conan of course.
"Well? Anything stand out to you?" He looked down at the child crouching close to the body. Shinichi had made his own examination just minutes before.
"Apart from the fact that the body looked too well put together? I'm suspecting the victim was meeting with a lover."
A scowl formed on both their faces. Crime of passion were always messy and could lead to disastrous results.
Once the police managed to find the identity of the victim, they visited the apartment, finding another body lying at the center of the living room. This one was less messy as the body merely slumped over a low coffee table. There were no traces of blood anywhere, only two tall glass and a bottle of champaign.
"I hate to jump to conclusions," Conan voiced from behind Shinichi, "but this case seemed quite clear cut."
While Shinichi wanted to believe the dead victim on the ground killed this particular one inside the apartment before committing suicide, he knew he still had to look for possible evidence to foul play. As forensics combed through the apartment, Shinichi looked into the apartment's decor. The place was sparsely furnished, as though the person only considers the place to be a temporary residence. Next to the television sat several silver frames, most of the photos featured the victim in the apartment, mostly posed but there were two candid shots. On one of the candid shots had the written inscription of 'Forever'. It was clear that the photos was taken by the lover. There was a single frame that laid on the coffee table, face down, and Shinichi waited until the forensic team cleared the area before approaching. He sighed when he saw the person photographed was not the same as the victim they found on ground floor.
"I hate it when you're right." He turned towards Conan. "You know, I haven't encountered such a case before." Cases ending with both victim and criminal dead was somewhat rare for Shinichi. At least this time, he did not have to witness the death. It had always made him feel incompetent when the criminal committed suicide because of guilt because he, as a detective, pushed too far or did not read the situation well enough to prevent such tragedies.
"Well, it's not as though you pushed them overboard." Conan came up, hugging onto Shinichi's leg where he could reach. "Come on, let's wrap this case up and bring you home. A nice cup of hot tea should calm your nerves."
For some odd reason, Shinichi felt the young boy was more like his caretaker rather than the other way around. He found that he had not minded much at the moment, possibly because his mind is too cluttered, with the case in front of him, the current situation of their split personas, and the continual worry of not being enough for a certain magician.
A tug at his hand snapped Shinichi away from further delving into his inadequateness and his feeble love for his magician. Instead, he laid out the various evidence indicating how the crime was committed then subsequently with the criminal committing suicide and ended up as a splat on the ground. Megure, having heard the story, volunteered one of his subordinate to drive them back home, indicating he would talk to their schools about letting them take the day off. Shinichi tries to argue that his attendance rate was already low but the elder inspector was adamant. Further helped by Conan's childish act of wanting to be with his 'nii-chan' after being exposed to something so saddening.
Sometimes, and quite often, Shinichi had to wonder if the world had pitted against him. Sitting at the back of the police vehicle (thankfully it was a private car and not the patrol vehicle, he had enough of a humiliation from the time he rode the patrol car in Osaka no thanks to a certain Kansai-ben detective), he stared out the window with bland and dull eyes. He wondered, would he also turn out as the criminal if he found Kaito to be more in love with Shiina than himself.
When they arrived back home,Conan was quick to tug Shinichi towards the library, forcefully (for an eight year old) pushing him into the plush seat that he often used. He was then handed a well worn book, corners slightly dulled and rounded due to many re-reads, spine crinkled because of the numerous time Shinichi had opened the book.
"You, stay here." Conan demanded before storming out of the library. Shinichi contemplated on standing up to peruse the vast selection in the library instead of falling back into the old favourite. But something in Conan's tone told him that he better follow the child's demand else he would suffer. Not wanting to chance fate, he opened the book on the first chapter to let his eyes wander over the black text.
The book, no matter how many times he read it and had all the plot memorized, still managed to draw Shinichi in like a moth to the flame. The words captivated Shinichi's attention where he did not notice how Conan entered the library with a tray bearing two cups and a large pot of tea. Shinichi made no response when Conan managed to pull a bean bag from another room and set it next to Shinichi's legs, where the boy began to lean onto his legs as he too read from one of the vast selection of books. It was only when Shiina announced her arrival back home when Shinichi finally tore his eyes away from the words. He glanced up at the clock, startled that it was already four. His abrupt reaction woke Conan from his light slumber at Shinichi's legs.
"Well, you two certainly look cosy." Shiina commented, striding through the threshold. "While I'm left all by my lonesome, slaving away at school, listening to boring lectures and having to haul up the many worksheets from the teachers…"
"Aw, you feeling left out?" Conan replied after a large yawn and dramatic stretching. He then pounced onto Shiina. "I'll be more than happy to give you a hug."
"Ack." Shiina, lacking in the physical strength that Shinichi posses, stumbled and fell onto her backside. Shinichi let out a chuckle. Conan and Shiina looked at each other, dumbfounded a only a second, before breaking out into a large grin. In both their minds, they deemed they have accomplished their mission of de-stressing their original counterpart. They both knew the stress of handling the multitude of crime on a regular basis and knew how their current situation had attributed to the mounting headache Shinichi was experiencing (he had been chucking back painkillers as though they were candies, even worse than his caffeine addiction). To see him show some positive emotion, even at their expense, was a good sign of things becoming better.
However, at the same time, the pair could not help but feel this might be the calm before the storm, where everything would turn sour.
-TBC-
