Disclaimer: "Detective Conan" belongs to Gosho Aoyama, and "Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon" belongs to Naoko Takeuchi.
This is an alternative story to my other fanfic "Encounter in Venice" and one of the possibilities of what could have happened if Ai had taken the antidote before Shinichi brought down the Organization.
Thanks a lot to my friends and betas Rae (Astarael00) and SN1987a and the Aicoholics on LiveJournal, without whom I would never have started this fic.
FS
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Ghost at Twilight
(edited version)
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Done…
"Done!" Seiya declares in satisfaction after putting away the cleaned mop and the water bucket. His anger at the date his agent has set for Two Lights' (and his own?) comeback has faded, but you can still see traces of melancholy in his faraway eyes, which don't meet your gaze.
"Why don't you have breakfast with us first and iron my dress later?" you suggest when he carries the ironing board he has taken from the corridor closet into the bedroom. "I'm already so late that a few minutes more or less don't count."
He briefly considers the idea and then beams, transforming back into the carefree stranger of yesterday evening. "All right," he agrees, "maybe I shouldn't tackle your frilly dress on an empty stomach!" After closing the door to the bedroom, he pulls Yaten-san up from the bench. "I feel bad for your detective, though. Let's hope he is so exhausted that he is still fast asleep when you return."
Stranger-san belongs to the enviable people whose dark moods are like summer rain clouds, which disperse as fast as they've appeared and leave behind a flawless blue sky. His brothers, on the other hand, are apparently the nervous type. No sooner did they hear Seiya's passing reference to Kudo than both of them start and exchange brief, horrified glances.
"So you are the woman Seiya met in Ueno-koen!" Taiki-san, who has just stepped out of the kitchen with four bamboo place mats, comments. Although he is only older than Seiya by a few months, he looks years older due to his careworn expression. "I suspected it because he usually doesn't tell us about the strangers he has met." Casting his two brothers in the corridor a meaningful glance, he dryly adds, "But from the things he said about you, I got the impression that you were in love with Kudo Shinichi-san."
"Oh, she is," Seiya declares, shocking you with his raw honesty. "But it didn't prevent me from asking her out on a date—" he gives you a wink, "—which went far better than expected."
"Kudo and I are only friends," you quickly proclaim after punishing stranger-san with a menacing glance. "We've been friends for years, though, which is why he doesn't mind crashing at my place." It's best to simplify the situation a bit so that Two Lights won't believe you're only killing time with their brother until Kudo comes to his senses.
"She is lying!" Seiya tells Taiki-san with a straight face. "You can check it by hacking into her phone since she has used his birthday as her lockscreen password."
"You've touched my phone when I wasn't looking?" you snap, too indignant at the mental image to grasp his intention.
"Ah, so my guess is right?" Your unmanageable boyfriend flashes you a self-satisfied smirk, which reminds you oddly of Kudo's whenever Kudo has deciphered a clue.
"Kudo Shinichi!" Yaten-san, who wasn't in the least amused by your blunder, echoes as he continues to eye you with dread. Is he so terrified of Kudo because he was the seventh crow? Or is he only apprehensive of the detective who has investigated Kakyuu's death and suspected his youngest brother? Taiki-san, too, still looks deeply worried although he stays remarkably composed. Seiya is the only man who appears totally unfazed by your connection to Kudo…
Which is odd, if Seiya was the person who pulled the plug—and it would be even more peculiar if he was the seventh crow. All evidence seems to suggest that he was neither the culprit nor the man on the bike. But since his carefree attitude might be just an innate character trait or a special talent and not proof of his innocence, you decide not to count him out during the investigation…
For the whole situation has turned since you learned that Kakyuu was the redheaded girl. Although you were neither interested in Kudo's case nor in the identity of the blue-clad biker before learning who Kakyuu was, finding out the truth about Seiya has assumed crucial importance. After one serious relationship which has failed so spectacularly, you've learned that in a long-time, requited love, the real enemies aren't beautiful rivals and nasty family members but one's own shortcomings, bad habits, and ignorance. Gin and you had fought each other instead of supporting each other after the first flush of infatuation wore off—Seiya and you, however, are going to team up to live happily ever after.
g.
"What a shame! Your lyrics for our next album would be great if she and you had never met." Yaten-san gazes into the distance with melodramatic despondency, tucks his arm into Seiya's, and lets his youngest brother escort him into the living room like a wounded comrade or a sickly wife. Feeling your jealous gaze on him, he turns his angelic face towards you to flash you a challenging smirk. The Talented Mr. Shortie will be a force to deal with!
"Now that Seiya is in a happy relationship, he is going to write horrible poetry," agrees Taiki-san, who has just made a new pot of coffee.
"Bawdy poetry?" you inquire, whereupon your boyfriend finally meets your gaze and smiles.
"That would be good!" he quips.
"Just obscure ramblings or sappy lines—tooth-rottingly sweet stuff no one over fourteen is interested in," Taiki-san elaborates as Seiya helps Yaten-san sink down on the sofa next to you. Over the years, they've learned to cope with Seiya's ups and downs, Seiya's perfect flower-loving brother explains. Whenever Seiya is suffering from unrequited love, his lyrics are hard to beat. Whenever Seiya believes his feelings to be requited, however, Taiki-san—who is usually too immersed in his monographs to care about song lyrics—has to take over their lyrics so that they won't embarrass themselves in public with the mawkish poems Seiya shamelessly presents to them.
"Love is only good as long as it's unrequited! When it's requited, it makes people pull life sentences to pander to each other's every whim," Yaten-san coolly observes as he beholds the vast sky, where the morning sun has begun to colour the dusky violet clouds gold and red. When he runs his fingers through his long silver hair and tilts his head to study you with narrowed eyes, whose pale colour under ambient lighting has shifted to a bright emerald green in the morning light, he almost resembles young Gin in his best times. Giving in to his compulsion to rhyme, he darkly adds, "Unhappy lovers can distract themselves with work until the feelings are gone while people who are happily in love seldom get anything done!"
The words which might as well have come from your mouth only a few hours ago sound foreign and nonsensical from another person's lips. Contemplating Seiya's pretty foster brother with a healthy dose of detached pity, you wonder how a person who has been endowed with so many talents, such good looks, two supportive foster brothers, and such wealth and fame and popularity has become so caustic and bitter at such a young age. Was it the life on the streets after they ran away from home? Was it Kakyuu's death, or a secret unrequited love, or—if he was the seventh crow—his role in the downfall of the Organization?
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"You've mixed up the fan letters you brought me last time." Ignoring his oldest brother's gloomy musings, Seiya hands his diplomatic middle brother the love letter you've left on the table. "Look, 'Misa' professes her love for you through Shakespeare sonnets!"
"Misa... That Misa?" Yaten-san, who has leapt from the sofa at unanticipated speed, peers over Taiki-san's shoulder at the antique-pink card, which Taiki-san is holding between his index finger and thumb as though it were a potentially poisonous flower. "How many letters has she already sent you since you gave her that private performance?"
"Hundreds… over two thousand," Taiki-san calmly replies. His voice, usually sonorous and dramatic, drops until it becomes eerily quiet. Although he has gently let down the girl and rejected her advances more than once, she keeps writing him once or even twice a day.
Compassion, anxiety, and guilt flit in turns across his face while he is studying the card—and it dawns on you that he must have replied to her letters at first without expecting her crush on him to escalate, which surprises you. All the three brothers seem to share a certain naiveté when it comes to women just like the penchant for pranks and the musical talent, which makes you wonder whether their overprotective parents had allowed them to play with any girl apart from their own foster sister.
"So she is really Misa-chan, the little girl who was so sick she couldn't watch our concerts?" With unconcealed sibling pride, Seiya informs you that Odango had asked Taiki to visit "Misa-chan" in hospital because the dying girl's last wish was to see her favourite idol live, whereupon Taiki skipped a rehearsal to sing the girl on the deathbed the song they had dedicated to Kakyuu. Since Taiki didn't want to set a precedent, however, no one but Odango, Seiya, and Yaten would have learned about it if Odango hadn't blurted it out to all her friends on the following day...
"But it seems Misa-chan's sickness wasn't as serious as she claimed since she obviously didn't die afterwards," Yaten-san viciously remarks. "Instead, she recovered and turned 'Pestering Taiki-sama' into her new life goal! And here I thought girls only take advantage of Seiya because he always has too much sympathy for strangers." Pleased with himself for the jibe, he flips his well-groomed silver ponytail and shoots you a malicious grin showing off his pearly white fangs, which only makes him look like an aggressive, jealous little kitten.
"No, she was really sick," Taiki-san uneasily protests. "She didn't feign it at all!"
"Ah, just accept her already so that she finally stops spamming!" Shortie rolls his beautiful opal-green eyes. "The silly girls! I trash all their letters in front of them and they'll tell me I'm adorable, just imagine!"
"Ishihara-kun is a really nice and extremely smart girl," the reluctant recipient of Misa's love letter asserts. "I can't understand how she has become so obsessed with me that she behaves like a fanatic groupie."
No sooner has he heard her name than Seiya, who has just placed the few fan letters and presents he wants to keep into a wooden chest near the fireplace, whirls around to gaze at his middle brother. His blue eyes have taken on the expression of a sheep-herding Border Collie or rather a white tiger who has discovered a prey in the dark. "Ishihara Misako?" he asks.
"You mean 'Misa-chan' is Ishihara-kun, who worked at Mizuno-san's hospital?" Yaten-san, too, is staring at Taiki-san in surprise. "Why didn't you say anything back then?"
It was an embarrassing situation, Taiki-san asserts. He didn't tell them anything since he wanted them to keep their neutral behaviour towards the girl.
"Both of my brothers—" Yaten-san dramatically throws his palms into the air as if he were surrendering to the injustices of life, "—are too kind! As you can see, neither of them can keep these terrorists of fans at arm's length or fight them."
You were going to respond that he couldn't be as successful as he thought either if the women kept sending him yellow roses and love letters and found his insults endearing, but something you just spotted in Seiya's eyes intrigues you so much that you completely lose interest to bicker with Shortie about his fans. Your new boyfriend seems to have made a discovery which amuses and troubles him at once, and since his discovery must be linked to Ishihara Misako, who once worked at Mizuno-san's hospital, you deduce that it must have something to do with Kudo's old case. Perhaps Seiya feels elated at the thought that he has finally solved a mystery which Kudo couldn't solve and discovered a detail which could prove that Three Lights are innocent even though he is distressed to learn that he has unintentionally shielded Kakyuu's murderer.
g.
"I'm sure Seiya will be a terrible boyfriend. Don't ever complain that I haven't warned you! He is the type that will cheat or bail after the first two weeks: curious, reckless, always craving excitement and novelty…"
After placing the large plate of gyoza Taiki-san has handed him on the coffee table with the attitude of someone who has done his share of housework for the whole month, Yaten Kou flops into an armchair, crosses his legs, gazes nonchalantly through you out of the window, and flashes his glittering, practised top model's smile at no one in particular. Seiya didn't exaggerate when he warned you that neither of his brothers can be called "warm" at first glance. Whoever named the glamorous, unapproachable oldest brother "Night Sky" must have been a seer.
"So he has a past history of cheating?" you calmly ask, relieved that Yaten-san has automatically assumed that Seiya and you are in a serious relationship instead of considering you a passing fling.
"No, he hasn't," the Talented Mr. Shortie admits, "but that's because he has never had a girlfriend to cheat on!"
"Stop the nonsense, Yaten! We should be glad that Seiya has finally found a girlfriend after wooing the same married woman for years, which is definitely an improvement," chides Taiki Kou, who is now fully armed with chopsticks and spoons. It's impossible for you to tell whether it was only a blunder of a socially awkward person (who is definitely not accustomed to finding female strangers clad in nothing but a bathrobe in his brother's apartment) or a deliberate, vicious taunt.
"Pity they look so grotesque together." Yaten-san casts you critical glances while Taiki-san, who has just placed the chopsticks and spoons on the table, silently returns to the kitchen. "In our society, the woman is expected to be the pretty one in a relationship." The Talented Mr. Shortie bestows another compassionate look on you before he smirks. "And I hate to point out the obvious—but he is much, much prettier than you!"
Obviously, Shortie has just thrown down the gauntlets. But before you can pick them up, stranger-san has already done it for you.
"Yaten's nastiness is a congenital disorder!" Seiya, who is balancing two bowls of ramen, throws his oldest brother a weary look. "Please do have sympathy for the poor sick guy and don't take anything he says seriously!" Ignoring the death glares from the armchair, he places the ramen on the table and plants a kiss on the top of your head.
"'Nice' is definitely not in Yaten's vocabulary," Taiki Kou, who is carrying the remaining two bowls of ramen, agrees. "But—" Stick fixes his bright violet gaze meaningfully on Seiya's face before delivering the blow, "—at least he is not a congenital liar!"
g.
After bickering with each other about whether Seiya is always lying or not (stranger-san is convinced that he seldom, almost never, lies—certainly not more than the average person—while his two brothers assert that he always does, as he has a special way of evading the truth), the three of them finally put their differences aside to have breakfast with you. To your great amusement, you notice that they differ from each other even in their treatment of food. Taiki Kou eats slowly and deliberately, in absolute silence, chewing every bite as long as possible. Yaten Kou eyes each piece of gyoza cautiously before biting into it with pursed lips, evoking the image of a child that has just decided to try out a dish it has always hated. Seiya magically turns the simple act of eating into a cinematic masterpiece, looking ravishing as he is enjoying his meal. Floating on the high clouds of all-consuming infatuation, you briefly consider filming him to keep a miniature version of him in your phone.
"All jokes aside!" After getting bored watching Seiya and Taiki-san clear the table and serve coffee and tea, Yaten Kou sighs and checks his side-swept bangs in a pocket mirror. The sides of his smooth, straight hair are cut like a chin-length bob while his long ponytail at the nape of his neck is held by a satin band similar to Seiya's, and you secretly wonder whether Shortie would resemble Gin more if he wore his hair down. "I'm only warning you because I'm the opinion that you should enter a relationship with your eyes open!" He reluctantly turns his attention away from his own reflection to gaze directly into your eyes. "Since my little brother seems to have shown you all of his good traits last night, I'm going to inform you about his bad ones now."
"I don't have any," your stranger-san confidently claims, "unless you count the drums whenever I'm frustrated…"
"And the bad poetry…" you smirk, squeezing his hand under the table.
"And the travels, and the fights, and the pranks, and the attraction to dangerous sports," Taiki-san, who has just brought the tea from the kitchen, adds.
"Fights?" you raise a brow at Seiya without letting go of him. He is so amiable and so relaxed that it's impossible for you to picture him in a fight.
"I've never started a fight," he says ambiguously, much to your surprise, as you've expected him to deny his brother's allegation.
"And never lost one," Taiki Kou dryly says, "if one doesn't count your little skirmishes with Haruka-san."
"I didn't lose," Seiya frowns. "It was a draw!"
Irritated by the interruption, Yaten-san sighs again, takes a deep breath, and languidly runs his delicate, perfectly manicured fingers through his silky hair. "Whenever Seiya has too much free time, something in him snaps, and he sings and dances all night or goes on a pub crawl—preferably in disguise!"
"That was seven or eight years ago!" Seiya protests. "I haven't gone on any pub crawl for years!"
"Whenever he is on tour or immersed in a role, he is a workaholic of the worst type—sings songs in his sleep and lives in his head for weeks without letting anyone in."
"Do I really sing in my sleep?" Seiya looks pleasantly surprised, almost intrigued.
Taiki-san chuckles and rises from the chair again.
"Sometimes!" He gives Seiya an affectionate pat on his arm and disappears into the kitchen.
"Yes, you do, creep!" Shortie elegantly raises his cup to his lips and daintily takes a sip of his tea.
"I think I can live with that," you muse.
"We also often have serious trouble with Seiya's unhinged groupies," adds Taiki Kou from the kitchen. "He doesn't know how to discourage them because he is a natural flirt, and—"
"That's a downright lie!" Seiya protests. Turning to you, he emphatically adds, "Until I met you, I've never, ever, even considered giving a woman I just met my phone number."
"Can't you shut up and let him finish his sentence?" Yaten Kou shoots his youngest brother a withering look.
"Clean up your own backyard!" Seiya kicks at Yaten-san's leg under the table, places a quick kiss on your temple, and joins Taiki-san in the kitchen to do the washing up.
In a pitiful attempt to provoke your jealousy, Yaten-san proceeds to inform you about Odango's best friends, who may have had or still have a certain weakness for his youngest brother. Amused, you listen to him in smug contentment, secure in the knowledge that none of them pose the slightest danger. You can even commiserate with Yaten-san, as giddy people in love have always irritated you to no end. There is something inherently frustrating about the sight of passion if you aren't in the throes of it. It must be the envy of a sensible human being who knows that great pleasure usually comes at the cost of rational thinking.
"I don't believe Seiya can be faithful—with the love scenes in all the movies he will be in, especially not when he gets carried away by his roles, which happens all the time because he isn't mentally stable. Once he returns to the stage, swarms of girls will throw themselves at his feet again, and you'll be surrounded by rivals and haters whenever you go out. They're going dissect you until there is nothing left, and you don't look like the type that enjoys living in a goldfish bowl."
Shortie pauses to see whether his words have had any visible effects on you and—noticing that you don't seem in the least perturbed—adds triumphantly, "Also, he has been obsessing over a married woman for years. He is still going out with her whenever possible."
"He has been talking about her all night," you murmur as you pull your features into the most vulnerable expression you can muster. "But he told me they've already ended it—and he has promised to take me to Paris or Venice after our wedding."
"He told you he was going to marry you?" Yaten-san blanches. Although he is making an effort to remain skeptical, the horror in his eyes prove that your natural acting skills, sharpened during your phase as Haibara Ai, have not become rusty in the past three years.
Seiya, who has stuck his head out of the kitchen, readily blushes, looking the paragon of innocence as if you two had really planned to marry. "We're going to do all the cute cliché couple things," he takes it up a notch. "Moonlight and music and stargazing!"
"God, that's horrible," Taiki-san murmurs.
"I'm feeling sick," Yaten-san agrees. "You two alone in Paris or Venice…" He huffs condescendingly. "Without Taiki around to take care of your finances, you'll be broke by the end of the month."
"That's what agents, secretaries, and housekeepers are for. They're paid for dealing with the bureaucracy so that I can enjoy my life!"
"They'll empty your apartment and your bank account and get you into jail for tax evasion the first time they get a chance! You're so trusting that they must be a saint not to steal from you."
"I'm going to deal with the practical aspects of living, then," you suggest. "We're going to Paris for our honeymoon, then move to Venice, where we renovate an ancient palazzo together and buy a boat. Afterwards, when we're broke, we can still return to you and take over your club so that you can focus on your career."
"You've heard what she said," stranger-san gravely says. "I've always had a weak spot for girls who know exactly what they want."
"Can't believe I fell for this!" Yaten-san runs his fingers through his bangs in annoyance while Taiki-san, who is leaning against the kitchen door, grins at you for the very first time.
"I must admit I like the idea of going to Venice," Seiya contemplates. "It's certainly not the most sensible thing to do, but it sounds great! We'll do it immediately if you want to."
"I'm afraid that's true," Yaten-san sighs. "This," he waves his hand in a gesture which encompasses the whole fantasy of an impromptu elopement to Venice, "is so much like you."
Although they aren't blood-related, it's obvious that they're a real family—the thing you craved as much as a shipwrecked person craves water when you were in the orphanage. Akemi-nee-san and you only had a few hours for each other once a month, but those few hours had been enough to give you the sense of security which you could only have when you felt fully accepted despite all the sharp edges of your character. You had Akemi-nee-san, the Professor, and the Detective Boys, but the Organization was the closest thing to family most codename members who had been adopted by Anokata ever had, you realize, dwelling over the peculiar thought that—assassination missions aside—to Anokata, who was Gin's surrogate father, Gin might just have been a normal child.
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