Coai Week 2023 - Little by Little

By Crystal Snowflakes

V. daring rescue || save me

She found that the logistics of making someone disappear off the face of the planet proved to be quite challenging, even when they had all the money and resources at their disposal—especially when it came to someone like him.

The biggest issue at hand was that he couldn't just vanish. Even if he hadn't attended school in years, people would still remember him. After all, he was no ordinary student; he was one of the top students, the star of the football team, and had the reputation of being an incredible detective.

Kudo Shinichi needed a proper send-off.

At the end of the day, out of all the options, they decided on the simplest one: having a small, private funeral outside of Japan—where it would be quiet and secluded away from public scrutiny—with him supposedly buried in America. Those who needed to be told would be notified by his parents after the fact.

All the paperwork—death certificates, medical records, legal documents of any kind—had been meticulously taken care of so that anyone who doubted what actually happened and poked around for answers would have no reason to suspect anything but the narrative given.

He'd be missed, of course, but it would be much easier for everyone to move on if he simply died in an accident.

Then came the more complicated issue: arranging a more permanent solution for his situation. His living situation had been the way it was because it would give him opportunities to encounter the organization—something that was no longer necessary. Realistically, it also wasn't practical or reasonable—or mentally healthy—for him to stay indefinitely.

Once more, the answer was the simplest possible one: they made arrangements to have him stay with the Professor since he was a family friend.

And while it had taken her some time to adjust to having someone else in the house—the dead of the nights were no longer lonely because she often found him awake at odd hours reading or contemplating or just there—things eventually fell into place.

It didn't take long before everything settled down into something of a routine.

In the mornings, he'd prepare a pot of coffee for the household while she made a simple breakfast, and he would clean the dishes as she got ready to leave the house.

They'd get groceries together after school after having to inevitably solve a case, and then they'd make dinner together—he'd do all the prep work and cleaning while she cooked. And then they'd say goodnight to each other before going to bed, only for one of them to wake up in the middle of the night and find the other sitting on the couch, wide awake—without fail.

Whoever woke up first would brew tea before getting comfortable.

Like now.

A movie was playing in the background, the volume so low she could barely hear. Both of them sat quietly with a cup of tea in their hands, enjoying the companionable silence as their minds drifted until one of them decided that it was time for bed—

"Thanks." His voice cut through the silence of the night. When she looked over at him, he was staring straight ahead at the screen, and for a moment, she wondered if she had imagined it.

"What for?" she asked softly, her brows furrowing.

His gaze flickered over to meet hers briefly before he turned his attention back to the television and shrugged, almost uncomfortably. "For the tea. For being here. For helping me stay sane. Take your pick."

A lump formed in her throat. How could he thank her when this all happened because of her? She cleared her throat, hoping he wouldn't notice how hard it was for her to breathe. "I didn't—"

"You did," he interrupted, his eyes sliding towards hers once more, the expression on his face serious, yet somehow soft. There was something in the way he looked at her that made her genuinely believe him, even when he clearly had every right to hate her. "I couldn't have done it without you. Any of it."

Her breath caught in her throat once more. The feeling of guilt was back again, weighing heavily on her, and she wanted nothing more than to let him know that he was wrong—that she couldn't have done any of it without him.

Instead, she reached over to place her hand over his where it rested on his knee, squeezing slightly.

He blinked and stared at their joined hands before looking up at her again with such gratitude it was hard to breathe. How could he still not understand that she owed him everything?

After all, he was the one who gave her a chance at the life she had dreamed about but had never been allowed.

He was the one who saved her.

Completed: September 11, 2023