Detective Conan and Magic Kaito characters, settings, and ideas do not belong to me but to Aoyama Gōshō.
TMPD Antics
By Taliya
LVI: Kudou and Hakuba
"Have you been getting any sleep lately, Kudou-kun?"
Shinichi glanced up from his zombie-like plodding down the hallway to find Saguru staring worriedly at him. The case he was currently working on was taking much longer than he would have liked—chasing serial killers tended to leave him exhausted, since the death toll in cases such as these left him feeling much more guilty than single-murder cases. It was a sad reality of his occupation.
"Guy I'm chasing's gone serial," the homicide detective answered tiredly as he gratefully leaned against the wall while shaking his head in a futile effort to wake himself up. Saguru realized Shinichi really was that tired if he was speaking in informally complete sentences. "Case's already got a six-person body count."
Saguru winced. "How long's this guy been running?" Now that he had a chance to look more carefully, the Division Two officer noticed the Division One officer's rumpled clothing and bruised eyes.
"Week and a half," he yawned, ruffling his already unkempt hair. "Been trying to stake out the bastard's hidey-holes. Almost as slippery as KID."
The blond blinked. "What do you mean by that?"
Shinichi sighed. "Nearly caught the fucker last night. He only managed to get away because he used to be a gymnast in high school—but I had him!" The frustration was readily apparent in his voice even as the homicide detective slumped against the wall, nearly asleep on his feet.
"Well," Saguru sighed, "at least there's one good thing about this guy not being KID."
The Beika native blinked blearily. "And what's that?"
Saguru smirked the tiniest of smirks. He could not resist this one little jab at his friend. "At least he's not going to try to give you a buss."
Shinichi blinked once. Twice. Thrice. He released a strangled groaned and hid his face in his hands. "Not you too…" he moaned, his muffled voice full of exhausted mortification.
Taking pity on his fellow detective, Saguru tapped Shinichi on the shoulder. "Let's go get you some coffee—good coffee, and not that sludge they serve in the break rooms. You look like you really need it. My treat."
"But Megure-keibu—"
Shinichi's protest was cut off by Saguru grabbing his elbow and gently but pointedly nudging him towards the building's entrance. "I'll send him a message and let him know you are out on a break. I don't think he'll begrudge you taking fifteen minutes for a well-needed and well-deserved coffee break." Saguru released his friend once they had escaped the confines of headquarters.
The brunet paced easily alongside his friend, rejuvenated by the promise of the caffeinated beverage. "Thanks, Hakuba."
Saguru shrugged. "Don't mention it."
Author's Note: Yay for warm-friendship-fuzziness and stuff! And Saguru's got a playful side! Who knew? I hope you enjoyed it.
Completed: 20.01.2016