1013 Words Excluding (A/N)~ I no own MK/DC~

Written August 8 2021
Posted August 15 2021

I didn't expect that you guys would want more of this...

When Shinichi arrived at the location, he'd been expecting a multitude of things. He'd been expecting some sort of prank, maybe even a tricky case for him to work on. Kaito often gave him random locations, and if it wasn't a case, it more often than not led to a nice challenge. The sleuth liked the challenges, it was nice to be challenged without the threat of death looming over his shoulder.

What Shinichi did not expect, was to discover his friend's corpse. The sleuth wouldn't be able to identify just how long he'd just numbly stood in the doorway, shock preventing him from moving until he eventually snapped out of it "Kaito..." Shinichi's voice cracked as he took in the scene. It was disgusting, horrible, terrifying. He'd seen some pretty horrible sights during his time as a detective, but never one so horrible that involved someone that he was close to.

With his senses with him once more, it was hard not to gag at the smell. He quickly grabbed a discarded sheet and draped it over Kaito's lower half to preserve what little was left of his friend's dignity. His hands were shaking and he couldn't get them to stop. Why? Why had this happened to Kaito of all people?

Shinichi forced himself to look at Kaito's face, there were wet stains covering the face mask. The magician had been crying. The sleuth was suddenly grateful that Kaito's eyes were hidden beneath the mask, he didn't want to see his friend's eyes devoid of life. Kaito's arms and wrists were also excessively bound in tape, irritated at the seams. Kaito had been trapped, unable to stop the criminal from doing whatever they wanted to him. The sleuth's stomach churned. Shinichi didn't think he'd be able to check for... He hoped that the only thing that'd entered his friend was that stupid enema tip and what he presumed to be something like liquid chocolate.

Now he needed to... Shinichi paused. He needed to call the police, they'd be able to collect the evidence required to catch whoever had killed Kaito. He'll help them of course, he just- Couldn't get the information that he needed without a more thorough inspection. The sleuth called Megure, gave the location, then just stared off into space. Not registering the concern in the inspector's voice.

After an unknown amount of time, he blinked at the feeling of someone jostling him "Keibu" Shinichi stated as he met the inspector's worried gaze.

"Kudo-kun" Megure had never seen the sleuth like this before, but after spotting the condition of Kaito's body, he understood. Shinichi had just stated that Kaito was dead and the location, he hadn't said anything else before hanging up "Ran-kun is outside" He'd asked the girl to come after realizing that Shinichi didn't sound okay. Ran was Shinichi's best friend besides the magician.

"Ran?" Why was Ran here?

Megure sighed, gently nudging the sleuth towards the door "I called her over for you, why don't you go before she decides to come in here?"

Shinichi stiffened, a bit more clarity in his gaze "She can't!" Ran was friends with Kaito too. He stumbled a bit as he hurried out the door. He wasn't fleeing, not at all. He just needed to stop Ran from seeing Kaito like that. The magician's lower half and the horribly bloody and dirty mess flashed through Shinichi's mind. Shinichi promptly threw up, swaying a bit from the exertion of emptying the contents of his stomach. Why? Why had Kaito's death been so horrible? At least he could only imagine that it was.

"Shinichi!"

The sleuth blinked, how'd he get outside? Ran was in front of him, eyes red and teary "Ran..."

"Shinichi..." Ran sounded a bit relieved as she spoke, glad that her friend was responding to her "We should go to your house" She sniffed.

"But the case-"

"They'll call you if they need any help" Ran urged. She didn't know what her friend had seen, but it had to have been really bad. Takagi had led a dazed looking Shinichi out of the building stating that the sleuth had been sick so he shouldn't eat anything heavy for a while. Ran bit her lip "Kaito would want you to take care of yourself, you can trust Megure-keibu and Takagi-Keiji. They won't let this guy get away" It felt cruel to play that card so soon, but Shinichi was scaring her.

Shinichi's phone suddenly buzzed, the sleuth quickly checked it. Maybe they already had a lead? Instead of a lead, it was a text from an anonymous number.

Kuroba-kun was an interesting substitute, using him instead of you was a good choice

Mistaken identity, but it turned out well

The sleuth almost dropped his phone as he read the words "Substitute..." That meant that he had been the initial target! Kaito had been killed because of him!

"Substitute?" Ran's brows furrowed as she leaned over to read the text "Oh no..." That wasn't good, it wasn't good at all! Shinichi might be in danger. She wouldn't lose two friends. Ran eyed Shinichi, judging whether or not it would be okay to leave him alone for a bit before running over and telling Sato about the texts. She then hurried back to Shinichi who'd yet to move "Come on, we're going"

Leading Shinichi away from the scene was surprisingly easy and before she knew it, they were both inside the Kudo library. It was Shinichi's favourite place. She settled the two of them down onto the couch, hugging the sleuth who'd been silently crying the whole time. A small part of her was glad that Shinichi and Kaito hadn't yet confessed to each other, the other remorseful that they'd missed out on the chance. Shinichi would be hurting even more if he'd allowed himself to grow closer to Kaito.

She ended up staying the night, making sure that Shinichi stayed well nourished and hydrated. Receiving the call that the perpetrator had gotten caught had been a relief. Ran eagerly shared the information with the sleuth after breakfast, leaving out the exact reason why the criminal had taken action in the first place.

Me: So seeing someone that he knew and really cared about like that... Well it didn't agree with Shinichi His odd behaviour concerned Megure, so the inspector called Ran for support.

Comment? ^-^

°^° I got sunburned and I was in the sun for less than an hour, this is why I don't like going outside

•3• bought some nice chicken flavoured dog treats for my rats (I break them to be smaller)...

Dog treats are good if the ingredients are safe, rat ones are expensive and have less food per $. Dogs are bigger so the bags contain more 0.0

It will last about a year