Fic: Communications: 18/?
Jul. 18th, 2007 08:34 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
soc_puppetFandom: Detective Conan/Magic Kaito
Summary: Heiji figures something out.
Installment Eighteen: Confrontation
"So how was your trip to Beika?" Saguru asked.
"Pointless," Heiji told him, still irritated. "Not only was Kudo not there, turns out he's been gone fer months!"
Saguru hummed sympathetically. "That's too bad; I would've liked to hear about his style."
"Yeah, well, that's not happenin' fer a while," Heiji said sullenly. "S'posedly he's workin' on some big case overseas. They don' even know when he'll be back."
"They who?"
Heiji made a sweeping hand gesture. "Anyone! The local police, his friends, his girlfriend – "
"You met his friends?" Saguru interrupted.
"Yeah." Heiji blinked. "Didn' I tell you? I checked at the Mouri Detective Agency while I was in Beika 'cuz I heard he hung around there sometimes. Kudo wasn' there, but his girlfriend or childhood friend or whatever was, an' so were a couple of his other friends and this weird kid with glasses who's s'posedly related to him. That reminds me," he added. "Ya know anyone named Nakamori Aoko or Kuroba Kaito?"
Saguru stared incredulously at his friend. "Are you kidding? Kuroba's the guy from school I told you about."
"Wait, really? You mean he's the guy you think is –" Heiji yelped in pain as Saguru stepped hard on his foot. "I was gonna say anoyin'," Heiji groused, "but that too. That's the guy, though?"
Saguru sighed. "Yes, that's him. I don't have any proof – quite a lot to contradict it, in fact – but I do think he's one of them."
"That so." A smile began to form on Heiji's face. "Well, maybe that trip to Beika wasn' so pointless after all."
Saguru's eyes narrowed. "You've figured something out, then?"
"Think so," Heiji replied. "Still gotta make sure, though. That Kid heist still on Wednesday?"
"Ten-thirty at the Takahashi Memorial Museum," Saguru confirmed.
"Right. I should be able to find out fer sure then."
-----
The heist was almost over when Heiji noticed the child leave. He took a final glance at the heist, where the Kid was still making a mockery of the police force, then slipped away from the front lines.
He tracked the boy to a narrow alley between two near-by buildings. There, he watched as the boy tensed in an un-childlike manner with every unnecessarily loud step he took. Heiji stopped a number of feet away from him: close enough to speak, but far enough away not to be an immediate threat.
Heiji spoke first. "Kudo Shin'ichi." The boy turned to face him, confusion written clearly on his features. Heiji repeated the name and he smiled nervously.
"Are you talking to me, mister?" he asked, pointing to himself. "Because my name's Conan, not Shin'ichi."
"Sure it's not," Heiji agreed. "Jus' like you haven't been helpin' the Kid remotely with his heists."
"And how could I do that, mister?" the child asked innocently.
Heiji shrugged. "Some sort of wireless communication device prob'ly. All I know is, you say jump an' the Kid jumps."
"That doesn't prove anything," the boy pointed out. "Anyway, how would that make me that Shin'ichi guy?"
"It doesn't," Heiji admitted. "I didn't figure that out 'til I visited Beika and found out that Kudo’d been missin’ a while. I checked how long, an’ the dates match up almost exac’ly with the time you started showin' up at Kid heists."
"But if Shin'ichi's supposed to be some sort of detective, why would he start helping out some thief?" The child argued. Heiji grinned to himself; this Conan kid wasn’t exactly acting like a grade-schooler anymore.
"Two possible reasons. One, the Kid knows your identity and is blackmailin' you somehow – which doesn't seem likely. Since you're a great detective and all, you'd prob'ly figure out a way to get him to reveal his own identity and get whatever he's blackmailin' you with back at the same time."
The boy stared piercingly up at him. "Or?"
"Or," Heiji continued, "you didn't just start helpin' the Kid. You've been helpin' him all along and playin' detective on the side so no one'd suspect you. Frankly, even if I don't know why you'd want to help a thief, that reason'd make more sense. 'Specially since the Kid seems to be more than one person. I think if I told Inspector Nakamori 'bout that, he'd agree that it was all too much of a coincidence for Kudo to be just an innocent bystander."
Kudo – and Heiji was sure of it now – dropped his childish demeanor and stared seriously at him. Heiji was surprised at how much of a difference it made. "What do you want?" Kudo accused. "If you were going to turn me in, the police would be here by now."
Heiji stared at him for a moment, trying to figure out what was going on behind that childlike face. "Why are you doin' it?" he asked finally. "Why're you helpin' the Kaitou Kid, of all people?"
Kudo’s glasses glinted in the moonlight. "Yer a detective," he drawled, badly imitating Heiji’s Osaka accent. "You figure it out."
Heiji opened his mouth to protest, but the Kudo took the opportunity to detonate a pink-tinted smoke bomb. Coughing, Heiji could barely make out a small form being whisked away by a wire. When the smoke cleared, Kudo was gone.
Saguru jogged into the alleyway and up to Heiji. "I saw the smoke and came running," he explained. "Is everything alright?"
Heiji stared up the side of the building that Kudo had escaped over. "You'll never b'lieve it," he said, "but I found Kudo Shin'ichi."
—Fin—
A thousand thanks to![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
summercloud for beta-ing the second part; I completely re-wrote the first part since I got it back though, and can only hope it's not full of mistakes ^^a
Would comment on more, but am short on time, so an extra thanks todagronrat for reassuring me that people knew this fic existed and reminding me how much I loved it ♥ Much failure to me for not updating in a year and a half aweklrjsld. Can I blame CFUD for this? 'Cuz I'm tempted.
X-posting to come tomorrow; the rest of the fic can be found in my memories, the tags, or on my Pit of Voles account. (Links'll go up then, too.)
Summary: Heiji figures something out.
Installment Eighteen: Confrontation
"So how was your trip to Beika?" Saguru asked.
"Pointless," Heiji told him, still irritated. "Not only was Kudo not there, turns out he's been gone fer months!"
Saguru hummed sympathetically. "That's too bad; I would've liked to hear about his style."
"Yeah, well, that's not happenin' fer a while," Heiji said sullenly. "S'posedly he's workin' on some big case overseas. They don' even know when he'll be back."
"They who?"
Heiji made a sweeping hand gesture. "Anyone! The local police, his friends, his girlfriend – "
"You met his friends?" Saguru interrupted.
"Yeah." Heiji blinked. "Didn' I tell you? I checked at the Mouri Detective Agency while I was in Beika 'cuz I heard he hung around there sometimes. Kudo wasn' there, but his girlfriend or childhood friend or whatever was, an' so were a couple of his other friends and this weird kid with glasses who's s'posedly related to him. That reminds me," he added. "Ya know anyone named Nakamori Aoko or Kuroba Kaito?"
Saguru stared incredulously at his friend. "Are you kidding? Kuroba's the guy from school I told you about."
"Wait, really? You mean he's the guy you think is –" Heiji yelped in pain as Saguru stepped hard on his foot. "I was gonna say anoyin'," Heiji groused, "but that too. That's the guy, though?"
Saguru sighed. "Yes, that's him. I don't have any proof – quite a lot to contradict it, in fact – but I do think he's one of them."
"That so." A smile began to form on Heiji's face. "Well, maybe that trip to Beika wasn' so pointless after all."
Saguru's eyes narrowed. "You've figured something out, then?"
"Think so," Heiji replied. "Still gotta make sure, though. That Kid heist still on Wednesday?"
"Ten-thirty at the Takahashi Memorial Museum," Saguru confirmed.
"Right. I should be able to find out fer sure then."
-----
The heist was almost over when Heiji noticed the child leave. He took a final glance at the heist, where the Kid was still making a mockery of the police force, then slipped away from the front lines.
He tracked the boy to a narrow alley between two near-by buildings. There, he watched as the boy tensed in an un-childlike manner with every unnecessarily loud step he took. Heiji stopped a number of feet away from him: close enough to speak, but far enough away not to be an immediate threat.
Heiji spoke first. "Kudo Shin'ichi." The boy turned to face him, confusion written clearly on his features. Heiji repeated the name and he smiled nervously.
"Are you talking to me, mister?" he asked, pointing to himself. "Because my name's Conan, not Shin'ichi."
"Sure it's not," Heiji agreed. "Jus' like you haven't been helpin' the Kid remotely with his heists."
"And how could I do that, mister?" the child asked innocently.
Heiji shrugged. "Some sort of wireless communication device prob'ly. All I know is, you say jump an' the Kid jumps."
"That doesn't prove anything," the boy pointed out. "Anyway, how would that make me that Shin'ichi guy?"
"It doesn't," Heiji admitted. "I didn't figure that out 'til I visited Beika and found out that Kudo’d been missin’ a while. I checked how long, an’ the dates match up almost exac’ly with the time you started showin' up at Kid heists."
"But if Shin'ichi's supposed to be some sort of detective, why would he start helping out some thief?" The child argued. Heiji grinned to himself; this Conan kid wasn’t exactly acting like a grade-schooler anymore.
"Two possible reasons. One, the Kid knows your identity and is blackmailin' you somehow – which doesn't seem likely. Since you're a great detective and all, you'd prob'ly figure out a way to get him to reveal his own identity and get whatever he's blackmailin' you with back at the same time."
The boy stared piercingly up at him. "Or?"
"Or," Heiji continued, "you didn't just start helpin' the Kid. You've been helpin' him all along and playin' detective on the side so no one'd suspect you. Frankly, even if I don't know why you'd want to help a thief, that reason'd make more sense. 'Specially since the Kid seems to be more than one person. I think if I told Inspector Nakamori 'bout that, he'd agree that it was all too much of a coincidence for Kudo to be just an innocent bystander."
Kudo – and Heiji was sure of it now – dropped his childish demeanor and stared seriously at him. Heiji was surprised at how much of a difference it made. "What do you want?" Kudo accused. "If you were going to turn me in, the police would be here by now."
Heiji stared at him for a moment, trying to figure out what was going on behind that childlike face. "Why are you doin' it?" he asked finally. "Why're you helpin' the Kaitou Kid, of all people?"
Kudo’s glasses glinted in the moonlight. "Yer a detective," he drawled, badly imitating Heiji’s Osaka accent. "You figure it out."
Heiji opened his mouth to protest, but the Kudo took the opportunity to detonate a pink-tinted smoke bomb. Coughing, Heiji could barely make out a small form being whisked away by a wire. When the smoke cleared, Kudo was gone.
Saguru jogged into the alleyway and up to Heiji. "I saw the smoke and came running," he explained. "Is everything alright?"
Heiji stared up the side of the building that Kudo had escaped over. "You'll never b'lieve it," he said, "but I found Kudo Shin'ichi."
—Fin—
A thousand thanks to
summercloud for beta-ing the second part; I completely re-wrote the first part since I got it back though, and can only hope it's not full of mistakes ^^aWould comment on more, but am short on time, so an extra thanks to
dagronrat for reassuring me that people knew this fic existed and reminding me how much I loved it ♥ Much failure to me for not updating in a year and a half aweklrjsld. X-posting to come tomorrow; the rest of the fic can be found in my memories, the tags, or on my Pit of Voles account. (Links'll go up then, too.)
