Holmes and Watson 2 - or 'In a world of Frequent Murders, I have to be the quick-witted one for my own ass' sake' (Detective Conan, SI)

As I had predicted, I was indeed 'hauled' for a 'main plot case'. Or a wannabe case in this specific circumstance.

It's been a few days since Masumi had been haunting my ass by making the road with me out of school. We would split roughly two corners and a street-crossing from my flat, with the girl 'happy' that we chatted about criminology.

The thing is that I didn't talk much, if not at all. I was tempted to say that Masumi was the kind of girl that was so deep into detective work that tended to overthink things and… this very case was proof of it.

I didn't exactly catch on what case this one was, but I was swift to understand it wasn't as simple as the girls were making it to be. Oh right, it wasn't just Masumi this time around.

I am not sure why or how, but the girl had decided to bring along Ran and Sonoko for our usual 'stroll back home'. Why? Well, she wanted to chat with them about a case that Kudo Shinichi's father, Yusaku, had 'failed' to resolve.

A cold case from a masterful detective would make anyone gasp in shock, but I knew from the words used by Yusaku that he had actually resolved the crime:

"The Murderer shall not hit ever again."

Now, this sentence may sound dismissive, but the truth was simpler than it needed to be, especially when, in a classic turn of events fitting for this deadly world, we ended up stumbling in a crime scene that bore a similar detail to this ten years-old case - the Kanji of 'Death' written on the ground with blood.

This new 'victim' was Isao Takaichi, an alcoholic that had been known by the two friends that found him as someone that had been told to stop drinking. He was sitting on the ground of an alley, back resting against a vending machine that sold alcoholic cans- which had a can out as the man had been ready to take it after paying the machine.

At first glance, with the impression given by the coincidental appearance of the 'Death' kanji right on the ground in front of the deceased man, the three girls were instantly calling it the 'work of a serial killer'.

But I focused on three key details that pretty much sold the case for what it was: 1) Kudo Yusaku's statement for the 'first victim'; 2) the peculiar shape of the kanji; 3) the bloodied smoke found beside the kanji by the 'second victim' compared to the admission by the friends that Takaichi didn't smoke.

After I told the two men to call the police and tell them that their friend had died of potential cirrhosis of the liver, my deduction driven through by the bloated belly, the known addiction to alcoholic beverages and the jaundice the man had as his eyes' sclera was yellow, I ended up being 'dragged' by the girls to Shinichi's house.

Ran messaged Shinichi to 'help us' with this case. Her reasoning was sound on the basis that Shinichi would help because it was her asking and because it was a case that, as a child, he had been relatively upset about. After all, in everyone's mind, Yusaki had 'failed' to find a resolution to it.

In truth, I knew he did and I decided against stomping their dreams just yet. I mean, they looked absolutely engrossed in this and the fact that Sonoko was caught thirsting after the current 'sole guest' of the house, a guy known as Subaru Okiya, was absolutely in theme with her femcel characteristics.

I had nothing against a woman speaking her mind, but dear lord she sounded so fucking thirsty and horny while thinking of a guy in the nude. All the while ignoring she wasn't just with her close buddy that was Ran.

Masumi just didn't care, seemingly perplexed by something about Subaru but… also deeply involved with the crime case. She was trying to make it her 'breakthrough case'. Which was quite cute considering how bad she wanted to be recognized as 'THE Detective Girl'.

So giddy and hopeful but… flawed by a deep sense of making it an impressive case beyond what it truly was.

Edogawa Conan was there to 'help' around the study, having been 'tasked' by Shinichi to retrieve what documentation Yusaku had stored in the large library of his- I swear, that sounded like a museum I would love to browse… if not for the fact this world was not too kind on people that weren't vigilant about potential kidnapping/murdering.

I was looking at my phone, killing some time while the girls and the boy were talking about the case, and I was expecting them to be spent quite soon when-

I felt a shadow being cast by someone standing on my right side as I sat at one of the table's ends. We were in the manor's kitchen as the girls were brainstorming this, so I was kind of expecting someone else to be standing there…

I was a bit unprepared to see a rather annoyed Masumi standing over me and giving me an irked frown.

"Hm? Is there something wrong?"

"You have not been helping around!" Sonoko snapped with some irritation and Ran-

"You could at least add some thought to this, Bukharin-san," The girl pointed out.

I expected Masumi to push on that very front too but… she surprised me with her own words.

"How long have you solved this case?"

The rest of the group looked surprised by this question and I gave her a smile. A small one.

"Twenty minutes for a strong-enough assumption, ten minutes for a full-on explanation and resolution."

She scoffed. "Then tell us. I bet it is not as sound as-"

"There is no serial killer, and the kanji is coincidental through two amusing situations that you all have ignored," I said, interrupting her as I stood up to stand at her same level- no, actually, I was taller.

I turned to the others. "The first case is actually the one that allows us to fully debunk the 'serial murderer' theory. Preschool Principal Takefumi Koriyama died by accident while carrying a big round fishbowl to be relocated, tripping and causing the broken shards to stab into his chest and heart. Now, what makes this a rather simple case is that the kanji is a result of a tribute made by the child that found the deceased principal."

"A tribute?" Ran inquired. "You mean like-"

"The child is Ryosuke Nishimura. His father is a pastor and was aware of what a dead man looked like. One thing that is common in Japanese culture is the preparation of tribute for those that died- the child acted in good faith but he made a small mistake that his picture may help us to identify-"

"The candy," Masumi muttered, her eyes slowly widening and the attention was back to her. "He used candy for some of the tribute. That's why the flowers were scattered- someone had moved them to remove the candy but… why?"

"For the child's sake, obviously, and the one that was responsible for this alteration was-"

"Kudo Yusaku," Conan hummed, interjecting my explanation.

"S-Shinichi's father? But why?" Sonoko asked in shock and Conan huffed.

"It's because the tribute would have been ruled out as a prank. After all, the crowd would have barely recognized this as a tribute since they didn't know the child was the son of a pastor."

"And the reason why Yusaku-san said the 'murderer would not do it again' was because the crowd was too hysteric about the chance of this being a serial killer," Masumi added with a quiet tone, eyes aimed at the table as she finally realized she got too worked up about this. "So, he lied about there being a murderer, but was correct that the case would not repeat… until now."

"Luck-wise, that's for certain," I remarked truthfully. "By excluding the first case's connection, the second case is a bit easier to deconstruct. One thing that I believe was not mentioned in regard to the second victim was that he was not a smoker, and that he had paid the vending machine with coins."

"But… there were no coins or any money on the man when he was found," Ran pointed out and I smiled.

"That's because the one that gave him a tribute stole those from him."

Sonoko jumped. "Y-You mean that-"

"His body was looted of any goods. The coins were stolen by thieves," Masumi interrupted as she realized something. "Y-You told me about this a few days ago, when we started to walk back home together. That there were thieves around that bit of town."

I nodded. "That's correct. So, I would suggest using any contacts you have with the police to tell them that the thugs behind this mess-up will try to taint the crime scene and that someone has to be there to prevent that."

"Yeah- wait," Masumi looked surprised as I started to walk towards the exit. "You are… just leaving."

"He sure is not-" Sonoko said and I nodded at the same time. "I am."

The 'expressive girl' slapped her palms on the table. "Why are you leaving?!"

"I have homework to do like everyone in this place. I want to keep up my good grades," I pointed out. "Plus, the case is not only close, but definitely on its way to be dismissed once the culprits are caught in due time. So… see you at school."

I wasn't stopped after that and I just left, that's the end of the story-

"Jooooo-"

Walk faster. She is catching up. Nigerundayo Style, Power Walk!

Despite my hopes of outrunning an athlete like Masumi, I knew it was a dead chance altogether.

"Ooohn! Wait a minute!"

She had her left hand on my right shoulder, literally yanking me to stop. I sighed.

"What?"

"...I am sorry."

I looked at her over my shoulder. "You what?"

"I am sorry for being a pain to you. I know that I have been dragging you around but-"

"You wanted me to solve a crime so badly that you wanted me to hang around a group of people that tends to stumble on those on an almost daily frequency," I interjected flatly, causing Masumi to flinch. "I noticed that."

"Sorry-"

"Just don't do it again or you will not be my friend anymore."

"I… wait. What did you say?"

I frowned. "I already told you once so-"

"I-I mean, you think of me as a friend? But you never- I mean, you are always so quiet while I talk and… why?!"

"...Why did you leave to catch up with me and not stay with the girls?"

"They can survive it, you need company," Masumi replied without skipping a beat. "So?"

"...Just because I don't reply that much is not about me hating you or something. If that was the case, you would have gotten some colorful words for tagging along without permission," I pointed out as honestly as possible. "Plus, I don't mind hearing you exploding with delight while telling some of your ideas. I just prefer to listen as I think any proper conversation with any of the points you draw out would take us hours to properly compromise over."

"So, you don't… answer back because you don't want to make our discussions too long?"

"And too stressful. I prefer you to sound giddy, happy and quite bombastic. And I know, like you have behaved with me while I utterly ignored your brainstorming, that you would be upset if I started to step on your toes too much too frequently."

…

"That's a… nice thing to say."

"And you need to drop the overthinking thing you got going," I added flatly, giving her a sharp look that made her tense up. "You really need to be a bit more relaxed as a crime scene can be simpler than it looks. Oh, and people do lie at times despite it being a life-death situation. Keep that in mind."

She slowly nodded and…

"So, we are friends then?"

I huffed. "Yes. How many times do you want me to tell you that?"

"...This is enough," Masumi hummed, smiling as we kept on walking.

…

"Also, I may need a friend's help with Japanese literature," She quietly confessed. "Can you be that?"

…

"Only if you refrain from dragging me into a potential crime scene unless strictly necessary."

"Okay!"

I am quite sure that rule is not going to last that long but… I found her smile to be worthy enough to ignore some of that red flagging my ass was getting pelted about…

—-d-d-d-d—-

AN

Sonoko:... he is kind of hot when he speaks like that.

Ran: Reminds me of… Well, Shinichi would definitely like him.

Conan: John-nii seems tight with Masumi-nee.

Sonoko: Ohhh, that would be so cute!