Detective Conan Fanfiction

Kiss of Death

Chapter 22, Part 23

"Blame"

A/N: I'm fairly surprised that everyone seems so hunched on Genta and his family dying, and not the fact that it was hinted that Williamine and Chianti never had a family. Yes, they did murder the Kojima family, but I kind of wanted to show how they destroyed something (family) which they could never have. Or maybe I was too subtle in showing it? Should I show more? I don't want the villains to just be ruthless killing machines, ever wondered how the BO members ended up as being part of a syndicate? Surely, they must have been a good or ordinary person, only gone wayward soon after.

And just to clarify, it seems that people started to jump on the gun about the BO trying to target the Detective Boys, but that is not the case. There is a reason why the BO targeted Genta, but I will not reveal why until the time is right.

As a side note, I find the canon Detective Boys seriously lucky that they have escaped death and chases from serial killers multiple times. If this was real, chances are, there'll probably be murdered somewhere in the series.

Conan stood over the charred house -his oceanic eyes were a mixture of overwhelming emotions once more, just like yesterday. It was a pain to walk into the Kojima household, to see a friend's burnt house and had to investigate it.

Nonetheless, it was entirely different from investigating a murder case of someone he did know or knew briefly.

"So, from what we know, the perpetrator stole all the money from the melted safe and a wallet. There seems to be a struggle, perhaps the family caught the robber in the act and hence, causing a ruckus and eventually murdering the family of 3," the police officer recited from the reports. However, the words only reached Conan so faintly. He saw the burnt sack concealing Genta's head. It was similar to the way the sack Cedric was in.

"It's them... it's them..," he muttered. His eyes were lethal now. Rei and Wataru Takagi noticed him trembling. The two men rushed to the bespectacled boy's aid.

"Rei, Officer Takagi... They did it, the Black Organisation did this. There's no question about it, the way Genta died was similar. But why a sack over their heads? That seems peculiar," he deduced as his voice quivered, "Genta was shot by a sniper from a distance, yet his parents were stabbed to the head at a close range. I think... Genta was sniped first, then either an accomplice or the sniper sneaked inside the house and then placed the sack around Genta. His parents might have discovered the body, and the perpetrator had to eliminate them. He then made it look like a burglar-murder and set it off on fire. The only thing that bothers me is why did they have to take the trouble to place a sack over their heads?"

Clear diamonds streamed his cheeks, he wiped them away quickly. He took out his spectacles, as it fogged up and left his vision unclear -just like the clarity of his mental state. "Why...Genta... Cedric... Why did they covered your heads in a sack? Damn it! Why the fuck would they do that?!" he said in frustration, "Rei... I'll fucking rip them apart. Damn it, damn it! It should've been me! The one who was supposed to be dead is me... not- not them..."

"Now, now Conan. Calm down..." Takagi hesitantly said, in an attempt to coax the boy. Yet, Takagi knew that no words will be able to bandage over the loss of Conan's friends.

And more deaths will emerge soon.

Rei, formerly an undercover spy that took the codename "Bourbon", could only grit his teeth. He too, felt equally guilty. For all the measurements they took, all the protection they gave to those directly connected to the case, they did not consider the Black Organisation to hunt Genta. The overweight boy was nowhere near being directly related to any Black Organisation cases. Sure, it did make sense for the deaths of Phoebe, Amora and Cedric -but, Genta's? Now, that's off the track. Something's amiss -but what exactly is it?

Wataru Takagi was too busy consoling the fallen boy, that it took him a while to realise that his mobile phone was ringing. "Sorry, Conan-kun. I need to pick this up," he excused himself.

"What-?" Takagi exclaimed.

"Oh-alright. I'm deeply sorry to hear that," he said, his face turning morbid. This did not gone unnoticed.

"That was the hospital, wasn't it?" Conan asked, his voice dangerously low.

At this, Takagi's tension spiked. He didn't want to deliver another blow to the already-disheartened little detective. "Well, it's nothing, Co-"

"Don't bullshit with me!" he interrupted, "if anything, please just tell me!"

Takagi was taken aback at Conan's insolent outburst. Yet, he knew that keeping it from the boy longer would do more damage in the near future. Regretfully, he answered, "Inspector Megure... He died- no, he passed away honourably while fighting for justice, just about an hour ago..." The older man tried to rephrase his sentence, sugar-coating it as much as possible, despite its futileness.

Death, be it an honourable or not, still means the same - death.

At this, Conan balled his fists, so much so that his knuckles turned to the colour of snow. Megure passed away from a car mishap, most likely caused by the Black Organisation themselves. Heiji was caught up in the incident as well, albeit he escaped death, he was nonetheless hurt and was currently resting in the hospital. Conan began to cry again, like a wounded animal. He was kneeling in defeat now, emotionally exhausted. Still, the ache in his chest would not disappear, thus prompting his body to continue weeping as a reaction from the pain.

"I couldn't... I couldn't protect them. All I did was plan, yet, it failed..." he gritted his teeth, "I've always seen many deaths and solved them effortlessly, uncaring of how the deceased's loved ones mourned. Is this how they feel? I was such a monster, I guess... I needed to be in their shoes. No, this is worse. I failed, to protect them. I could have predicted this, but I didn't. Damn it! Cedric! Genta! Inspector Megure! I'm at fault... I call myself a detective, yet, I was fooled."

"Detectives... We can solve the truth of how they died, but we can't undo it. Even if we know the truth, they are never going to come back..." he whispered as he collapsed.

It was difficult for the rest to watch him. The shell of a confident, brilliant boy being shattered. The remnants was just a child with no hope, crying out for salvation from his guilt-ridden conscience. Shinichi Kudo wanted to be a detective to solve cases and fight justice, what he did not realise is that it wasn't all fun and they were definitely not games. The statue of justice had weighing scales for a purpose. That is, in this context, there was a need for a price to pay. Shinichi Kudo assumed this only applied to criminals who required to serve their punishment for the heinous acts they did. This applied, however, to everyone else. For those who fight for justice, they will not just offer their lives, but also bear the consequence of the loss of his loved ones. The latter must not have crossed his mind, for this is the first time he had not been successful in rescuing his friends.

Truly, it was difficult to watch for those who were present, because they knew they weren't able to help him, no one could.

A/N: Sorry if this was short. Normally I would not update a 1000-word chapter, but I wanted to focus on Conan's despair. Next one might be Ai's reaction.

Anyways, I'll be either working or preparing for university applications, so updates might be slower. Thanks peeps for supporting this fic, COAI forever. :)