How It Goes
Chapter the sixth: As Time Passes
Twenty-eight year old Shinichi Kudou typed vigorously on his laptop computer, desperately trying to finish his report before deadline.
"Shinichi?" a voice asked hesitantly.
"No talk. Must finish," he grunted.
Ten years prior, Shinichi Kudou and Heiji Hattori had fled from Japan, seeking a place where they could be safe. They'd moved to New York, in America. Shinichi had sought out to be a detective again, but found himself a lowly police officer using all his free time trying to write out all the cases he'd solved. He was by no means rich, but he got by.
Heiji was also doing well. He too was a police officer, an their age-old fight to be the best waged on, even so far away from home. Both had changed their names, for extra protection.
"Shinichi…"
"One second!" Shinichi snapped, typing furiously.
"Shinichi!"
"Shut up!" Shinichi hissed, spinning around and glaring furiously. "You're already using my first name! You know not to use that name at all!"
"I know," Heiji said. "But how else do I get your attention?"
"If someone heard you…"
"They won't," Heiji insisted.
"Kudo, Hartwell," a new voice snapped.
"Sir?" It was their boss, Detective Smith.
"New case has opened. We got a body," Smith said gravely. Shinichi nodded.
"Right, we're on it," he said, stacking up his papers. Heiji was already gone.
"Ran, do you ever miss Shinichi?" the question made her jump. Kazuha was watching her thoughtfully.
"Of course I do," she answered, turning back to her report.
"Have you heard from him?" Kazuha asked.
"No," Ran shook her head, continuing to read.
"Do you know where they went?" Ran sighed angrily.
"No, Kazuha!"
Kazuha was silent for a moment.
"I miss Heiji." And she began to cry. Ran instantly felt bad. She got up, forgetting about her documents for the moment, and crossed the room to sit next to her friend.
"I know, Kazuha…I know," she whispered, hugging the other girl to her. "I miss them too. Maybe they'll come back someday."
"They won't though," Kazuha cried. "They've been gone for ten years! Why would they come back? "
"Maybe we should try to find them," Ran suggested. "Do you think we could?" Kazuha shook her head.
"No," she said sadly. "If they don't want to be found, they won't be found."
"That's probably true," Ran agreed reluctantly.
"What about your father? Could he find them?" Kazuha asked.
"My dad? No way." Ran had finally come to terms that her father was not the best detective there was. Kogoro had retired after realizing that he could go nowhere with his career. Strangely, his slump had started after Conan had gone home.
Ran still missed Conan. He would be eighteen years old, now. He never called.
Ran had grown to be a lawyer, like her mother. Kazuha was working as a waitress in a nearby café. Both girls had good pay, and they had more than enough money to pay for the apartment they shared.
"Ran?"
"Yeah?"
"Have you ever thought about leaving?" Kazuha watched Ran's reaction intently.
"Leaving what?" Ran asked, confused.
"Leaving Japan. It'd be fun," Kazuha said. "Meeting new people, seeing new places…it'd be a blast! We should take a vacation!
"Maybe some other time. I have to work on this project. I'm almost finished. Maybe next month."
"Okay," Kazuha sighed. "I guess."
"Good. It'll get your mind off things. Now, I need to work."
"Head trauma, severe," Riley said as he examined the body at the crime scene. "I'd say he died of a hit to the head with a blunt object. Bloody, painful, but quick."
"Any clues?"
"Well, he was wearing a watch – Rolex, very expensive – and he's still got a wedding ring. Plus, he's got a cell phone, three hundred dollars in his left pocket and five hundred in his left shoe. I'd say it was a robbery gone bad, but no one would pass up this stuff if they had a chance at it."
"Who is he?" Shinichi asked.
"Jeremy Thompson, thirty-eight years old, TV repairman," Riley said. "Guy made a killing repairing and reselling broken televisions. Made a lot of enemies though, so it isn't surprising he'd be killed."
"Thanks," Heiji said.
"This'll be interesting," Shinichi said.
"Definitely," Heiji agreed. "Shall we get started then?"
"Of course."
'This is bad, this is bad, this is bad,' the thought repeated over and over in his head as he ran, tripping and stumbling over his clothes. He fell, landing in a puddle of dirty water. He groaned and got to his feet again, running once more, trying to ignore the cold that was seeping through his body.
'What'll I do? What'll I do? This is bad!'
The boy ran into an alley, behind some trashcans, and out of sight.
'Damn it! I'm totally screwed.'
"It was you! You killed Mr. Thompson!"
The dramatic exclamation echoed through the silent room. Shinichi smirked at the stunned expression on Kenneth Cinder's face.
"You thought you could get away with it, but you made one mistake," Heiji continued.
"Jeremy Thompson was apparently killed when hit over the head with a blunt object, but upon further examination we found that his gums and skin inside his mouth were shredded," Shinichi informed.
"Thompson, though he was a thirty-eight year old man, had horrible dental records. He recently had an operation on his mouth and decided that he needed braces. You would of course already, wouldn't you Mr. Cinders?" Heiji asked.
"Seeing as you were the one that performed the operation," Shinichi said, smirking as the man before him paled considerably.
"I don't know what you're talking about," Mr. Cinders said feebly. "I'm no dentist, I'm just Thompson's lowly partner."
"That's what you led him to believe," Heiji retorted. "But when Thompson told you about his recent appointment, you thought you'd get revenge for all the fame that you wanted and he had."
"So you knocked out his dentist and took his clothes. When you were successfully disguised, you went right in and overdosed Mr. Thompson on painkillers, sending him into a coma like dream state," Shinichi said. "You performed the operation with the dentistry skills you picked up in medical school."
"Then you waited for the opportune moment, which came the very next day. The overdose you supplied didn't kill Thompson as you'd hoped, so you snuck into his house the next day and picked up the baseball bat Thomson kept under his bed, and used it against him," Heiji said.
"You thought he was dead, so you got up to leave, then noticed that he was still moving, so you smothered him with a pillow or something like it. His gums tore and you got blood on your hands. As you were leaving, you had to touch the doorknob to get out. His blood, but your fingerprints," Shinichi finished.
"Oh…" Mr. Cinder's face crumpled. "You're right. I killed him. But it was his own damn fault! All those repairs, all those inventions and new electronics, those were mine! I made them, I did everything, and he got all the glory. But he paid the price, and I have no regrets."
Mr. Cinders was taken away soon after. Heiji looked over at Shinichi and they shared a smirk and a high five.
"One truth prevails…"
Later on, as the two were lounging in their small apartment, there was a knock on the door. Shinichi raised an eyebrow at Heiji, who looked a little concerned. Their location was withheld by the police department, being so high in rank they were hidden so their many enemies wouldn't find them.
Shinichi peered through the small eyehole of the door and gave Heiji a shrug. No one was there.
But then there was more insistent knocking.
Heiji and Shinichi shared another look, then Shinichi swung open the door.
Inumaru12 - From what I understand, Vodka is the blonde one. Someone correct me if I'm wrong
Ooshii Kurai - Yeah...it does seem a little rushed, doesn't it? Well, I'm trying...
Silver Sky Magician - Yes, poor everyone. And it gets better. I mean worse. Well...what do I mean? Wait and find out!
kudo - Maybe. Lol
Masked Detective - You liked that cliffhanger? How about this one?
Stormyrose - Kid won'tbe watching over them...
Jolanda-san - really? Huh. I haven't read that one yet. I'm actually working on reading A Midsummer Night's Dream, which is why I have't updated in a while. Sorry 'bout that!
Amanda - Well, they can take care of themselves...and yes, the Black Orginization does want to kill Heiji too.
the amazing spell checker - Do not, and I mean DO NOT EVER correct my spelling. Contrary to YOUR belief, I don't want to know. We work hard to put up stories that people want to read, and it's people like you that use all their time to bring down everyone else by telling them their mistakes. I do my best, reading and re-reading my chapters so I don't make mistakes, and if I miss something, I'm only human and I don't think it's necessary to leave a review that tells me all my mistakes. Do not review again
Juliechan - Maybe...then again, maybe not
Silv3r MagiciaN - Well... you should say "On with the next chap.!" Lol
Tant - Vermouth... yeah... about her, well... You'll find out.