#and then megure thinking to himself 'but he really does just look like he's sleeping this time'

[maebird-melody]

Conan really is getting a little too bold-faced and reckless with his whole Sleeping Kogoro act.

Literally waxing poetic about the case using Kogoro's voice before he even puts the guy to sleep. Like, c'mon, I know it's old hat at this point, but do you really think no one is going to catch on if you keep pulling stunts like this?!

[askbloodyforevermouri]

               “Good question. It would all depend on a few things.” Jessrin said. Conan looked up at the teenager.

“Like what? Also how do you know about stuff like this?” He tilted his head. After all. This was some strange info she had just told the group.

“Oh! I know about this kind of stuff, because I’m a part time cryptozoologist. As for the if it’s real blood. Hard to say. Yes, if it is real and has been used. No if it’s a prop of some kind…still worth a lot even if it is a prop. The main problem is that there are only two was to open it. A one of a kind key or the owner pricking their finger on the needle built into the lock. But that is all just guess work Kudo-chan.

“Kudo-chan?” Asked everyone as Conan (aka Shinichi Kudo) went white as a ghost.

‘What! How does she know?’ Conan thought to himself. Worried that his really identity would be known. Jessrin was deep in thought then opened her eyes. Noticing the strange looks from them.

“Oh, sorry um…” She paused and looked at him.

“Conan Edogawa.” He said simply.

“I’m sorry. You just remind me of a friend of mine. I haven’t seen since I lived here over 10 years ago.”

“It’s ok.” Conan said with a sigh of relief. Though he did think to himself. ‘We have met before?’. Kogoro gave a slight cough.

“Any was…All that really tells us. Is that whoever sent that stuff to me. Is really into weird stuff.” Kogoro said crossing his arms. Ran just stared at her dad for a long moment.

“Ran? What is wrong?” Inspector Megure asked. Ran turned and looked at him. Then at the ground.

“I’m just worried. Is someone after Otosan? Or is this a clue to something? I’m just worried.” She explained. Takagi gentle patted her shoulder.

“I’m sure everything will be fine. We’re her to help and this is your Otosan we are talking about.” He said with a smile. That seemed to help put everyone’s nervous at ease for the time being. After a bit of time everyone got what they needed and headed out. For the most part the rest of the day was ok.

 Some time later. Kogoro made sure the kids were asleep before he stepped out onto the stairs heading for the street. He knew he could smoke inside. He just needed a moment to listen to he sounds of cars outside. It was one of the things that helped him focus.

Everything with the strong box and that headache had him worried. Which was kind of rare for him. He lite a cigarette and gentle puffed it to de-stress. As he turned his head, he noticed two letters. One in the ask box and one in the mail box. He was kind of surprised to see one in the ask box already and the other was a thicker envelope. So, he picked the them up.

 The first was the ask. It was a simple question. Yet it made him smile a bit to himself. “What’s the thing I appreciate most about my daughter?” He didn’t find it odd as Ran was always with him on his cases. “She is a light in a dark place.” He said to himself before writing and replying to the note. As dark as some of his cases got. Ran never failed to ether help out or lift him up when he felt at his worst.

He dropped the reply into the ask box and opened up the second letter. The second letter was much large and he found inside several tickets mark VIP.

 Dear Sleeping Kogoro

 You are invited to the grand opening of ‘The Lazarus Club’. Enclosed are VIP tickets. In truth this invite is more of a chance for us to talk. I hope to leave my past behind me. So to do that. I need to speak to the last person; I feel I wronged. You.

Signed

An old sinner.

                 Kogoro frowned a bit puffing his cigarette a bit more before heading inside.

[mintchocolateleaves]

The Innocence Game (1/??)

Summary: Identified by the police as uniquely gifted, a group of teenagers are given access to cold cases and crime scenes to hone their abilities and solve what the police cannot. After reuniting with her best friend, Kaito, Nakamori Aoko is their newest recruit.

Against the constant rumble of the police station during the busy changeover of the day and night shifts, Aoko hears her father’s voice as clearly as if she was inside his office. She glances at the door, holding the bento she’s made for his dinner, waiting until he’s free for a second to eat dinner with her.

He’s been working a lot of overtime recently, stuck trying to finish paperwork and trying to find petty criminals who’ve committed thefts of convenient stores and jewellery stores. Unable to make it home until the late hours of the night, Aoko has been taking it upon herself to bring him food during his breaks, simply so she can see his face more often.

“I can’t tell you how much I appreciate this. I’m very sorry for the bother…” she hears, the tone tired and drawn out, lacking in sleep - she knows it well, is the voice she hears from her father every time she sees him recently. She hears another voice then, one she can’t make out and then her father again. “We’ll have to wait until forensics gets back to us on that handkerchief.”

The door opens, and her eyes meet the red rimmed eyes of her father’s. Aoko feels her heart twist in her chest slightly, glancing at the bags under his eyes. Unshaven and dishevelled, he looks older - and extremely exhausted.

“Aoko,” he says, as she paces forwards, waiting beside his door so that his guests can leave first. “I’m afraid we might not be able to eat together tonight.”

Aoko bites her tongue to avoid any sharp retorts. Up until seven months ago, she wouldn’t have minded as much, but since Kaito has disappeared, she’s been eating meals alone whenever her father adds extra hours to his shifts.

Her face must show her disappointment, because her father’s expression morphs, regret blooming in his eyes, his lips pinched together.

“While we wait for the evidence Inspector,” one of her father’s colleagues - Aoko is pretty sure he’s called Inspector Megure, finds it odd that her father is working with someone from a different division - appears at the door, “Kudo-kun and I will look over the crime scene again and come up with a list of suspects.”

Her father and Megure share a look and a short nod. Then behind them a third voice picks up - younger, filled with more spirit that either of the tired detectives.

“I’ve already got the fundamentals down. We’re looking for a male, late forties, possibly early fifties, who owns a Toyota Celica 2000.”

Aoko knows she shouldn’t stare, but as he comes into view, she does. He looks like he could be Kaito’s twin, has the same bone structure - except his jaw is a bit more defined, his hair isn’t as messy. His demeanour is different as well, he’s calmer almost seems more reserved that Kaito.

“It would have been nice if you’d told us how you got to that deduction,” Inspector Megure says as Kudo steps forward, leaving the room behind for the division’s offices. “You can tell me in the car. For now, we’ll have to search the database for car owners with that type…”

Kudo nods. His gaze meets Aoko’s stare, forcing her to look away in embarrassment. She shouldn’t be staring - even if he does look like Kaito. In looking down however, she notices a handkerchief falling to the floor, out of Kudo’s pocket.

It’s bright, baby blue, and Aoko finds herself leaning forwards to retrieve it, calling out ‘excuse me’ to capture Kudo’s attention.

“I’m sorry,” she says when he turns back to her. His eyes are blue, like Kaito’s, except his seem dull in comparison, less wild, much more focused. “It’s just, Aoko noticed you dropped this - and she’d hate for you to lose something so precious.”

Behind her, her father and Inspector Megure are saying their goodbyes. It’s difficult to take notice of it though, as Kudo’s eyes narrowed. His response isn’t unkind, but it is, strange. He says, “how did you know it was precious? It’s just a handkerchief.”

Aoko pauses, takes a moment to think and passes the fabric over.

“Well…” Another pause, “most handkerchiefs are either linen or cotton, because they dry quickly when people dry their hands, right? So, Aoko assumed that since the fabric is rayon, it would have been a gift from someone very special.”

“Rayon? I thought this was silk?” Kudo’s frown deepens as he glances down at the fabric, and Aoko has the impression that he isn’t often wrong, doesn’t often find himself in the position of someone who’s confused. “How did you know?”

“Uh…” Aoko rubs at her ear, tries to think and comes up short. “…Well… It’s heavier than silk is, and it’s softer - Viscose rayon fabric usually is? A friend of Aoko’s used to always use viscose for his magic tricks, so Aoko knows the texture of it.”

Inspector Megure comes up behind Kudo, places a hand on his shoulder and tells him that they’re ready to head back to the crime scene. Kudo pulls at the collar of his shirt, nods absentmindedly before glancing down at the fabric again.

“Thanks for telling me about this,” Kudo says, “Nakamori-san it helps a lot.”

Aoko smiles, “Aoko only did what she thinks is right. She wouldn’t want the hard work of the person who gifted the handkerchief to go to waste.”

Again, Kudo stills. Aoko doesn’t know what she’s said, but his lips part slightly, and he lifts the cloth nearer to eyes to inspect it. She watches silently as Inspector Megure mutters something under his breath, about wanting to actually close the case today.

“What do you mean?“

Confusion spirals through her as Aoko tries to understand why he’s so intense over a piece of material, but she answers him anyway. She tells him that they don’t sell baby blue handkerchiefs made from that material anymore, and that the person gifting it must have dyed it that colour for him. 

She’s not sure if it’s still that accurate, after all, she only knows about the fabric not being sold in blue because Kaito had been complaining about it before one of his magic shows, and they’d both gone shopping, searching for fiber reactive dyes and white vinegar to properly dye the correct colours. It’s nothing impressive, but still Kudo’s smile transforms into a grin, as he turns to the inspector.

"It’s a lead. I think we can close in on the killer this way.”

Aoko doesn’t know what he’s talking about, and instead of trying to take notice, she lets it go straight over her head. Turning back to her father’s office - the door is closed already, and she reckons her dad has shut himself in with all of his paperwork - she readjusts her bag on her shoulder, and the bento boxes she’s holding.

“Nakamori-san,” Kudo says as she’s making her way to the door, “thank you for the information. I’ll be sure to tell the owner of this cloth that it was a very intimate gift.”

Aoko flushes on her way back to her father’s office as she realises that she’d just been talking in depth about a handkerchief that doesn’t even belong to him.

The event goes from her head quickly, just another strange incident in a police station, and Aoko doesn’t think of it again. Or rather, she doesn’t for two weeks, until her father calls and asks whether she can come down to the station after school has ended for the day.

As soon as she knocks on his office door and lets herself in, she knows that it’s related to the other day, mainly because Kudo is there, along with Inspector Megure and another man Aoko hasn’t met before. Her father is sat at his desk, looking moderately stressed, and Aoko wants to ask if he is okay, but doesn’t, looking at their guests instead.

“Aoko,” her father starts, “this is Inspector Megure and Kudo Yuusaku.” He waves to each adult in turn.  "They’ve got a proposition for you.“

He doesn’t look very pleased with the proposition - Aoko wonders what it is - and she notices with some uncertainty that he doesn’t introduce Kudo. Knowing her father however, he’s probably going to take a step back and let her choose which outcome she likes without asserting any influence over her.

"Yes,” Kudo Yuusaku is the one who speaks, “we wanted to talk to you about a programme we thought you might excel at.”

Aoko listens to the preposition, but it really doesn’t seem like something she’d enjoy. As Yuusaku explains that there is a programme for teenagers particularly gifted at elements of police work, she thinks that they’ve got the wrong person. 

While she doesn’t know what she wants to be when she’s older, Aoko is certain she doesn’t want to be a detective - it’s not something she thinks she’d enjoy. Solving crimes has always been something her father has done, and while she’s listened to him about the cases he’s working on sometimes, she’s never wanted to solve any.

“Aoko thinks you’ve got the wrong person-” Aoko tries, but Yuusaku shakes his head.

“Shinichi was telling me about the conclusion you came up with when you returned evidence from a crime scene to him,” A crime scene? Aoko handled police evidence? “And, it was something he’d overlooked. I’m not suggesting that you go into detective work, but you’ve clearly got an affinity for forensic work.”

Frankly, Aoko doesn’t think that she has. She only knew about the fabric because of something Kaito had taught her years ago. It doesn’t come naturally, not really, had just been something she’d learn after years of being best friends with a magician.

“Aoko really doesn’t think-” She pauses, breaks off, “police work isn’t exactly Aoko’s type of thing. She doesn’t think that it’s something she’d be good at, or even enjoy…”

Shinichi - she assumes that’s what he’s called - looks up at that from where he’d been skimming through his phone. He says, “I think you’d fit in with our group… Why not come back with us and take a look around before you decide?”

Uncertain, Aoko accepts. It won’t hurt to look around, even if she’s pretty certain that she’s going to refuse.

Inspector Megure - apparently he’s in charge of picking the cases that the group look into, most of them old cold cases - drives them across town to a large multi-unit building. There are two floors - the bottom has just one entrance, in the middle, whereas the top has four doors, almost like apartment complexes.

“Everyone should be in here,” Shinichi says, when the step out of the car. Kudo Yuusaku follows after him, although he’d informed her on the drive over that he only oversees the project, and isn’t an active agent in it’s practise. “I don’t think anyone has anything after school today…”

He leads them inside, and Aoko watches as chaos unfolds.

The first thing she sees is Hakuba Saguru, her classmate, arguing with a darker skinned detective. The two of them are hunched over a counter, an open folder over them, glaring at one another. For some reason, Aoko doesn’t find it surprising - Hakuba has always been rigid in his beliefs and has always been prone to arguments because of it.

“No, I’m telling you, the Killer entered through the window.” “Oh come o’ it. Ya know tha’ it was through th’ door, don’t be an idiot.”

Shinichi glances at them, glances at Aoko and says, “they’re not the best example… Hattori and Hakuba don’t exactly get along. Plus, they haven’t caught on to the fact that there was a hidden annex, so it was neither the window nor the door…”

Aoko nods her head, doesn’t feel very convinced, and follows him further into the room. There’s a side room, and glancing inside, she notices two girls practising martial arts. She watches as one performs a roundhouse kick, only for her foot to get caught by the other, pulling her forward.

“That’s Kazuha-chan and Ran,” Shinichi says, “they don’t exactly solve mysteries here, but they are always great to have whenever a suspect decides to get violent or when they try to run.”

She adds to her mental checklist that she probably shouldn’t mess with either girl, decides there won’t be an opportunity for such a thing to occur, and follows the teen into a final room. It’s a sitting room, with three sofas and a tv in the middle of the furthest wall. Half of it seems more like a rec-room, with a pool table and some board games piles in the corner.

A pack of playing cards lay abandoned beside the cue, and Aoko feels tempted to pick them up and shuffle them, just because it’s something Kaito had done.

“Oi,” Shinichi says, and kicks the side of the middle sofa. Aoko can’t see over it, but she can see a pair of feet hanging off the edge, both of them tapping at the air to a rhythm that goes unheard. “Did you listen to those interviews?”

There’s a groan, and a hand raises, hand holding a cassette player. Aoko thinks it’s strange at first, that there are cassettes, but then she remembers they’re solving cold cases and that most of them are years old. Then, she takes a step forward and glances at the hand holding the cassette player.

Usually, she doesn’t spend time looking at people’s hands - why would she? - but this hand has a scar over the knuckle of the owners pointer finger, and years of watching card tricks has made her remember that scar with such clarity…

“He’s lying about his alibi, you can hear it.”

It’s his voice.

Aoko steps forward, looks over cushions and looks down at the best friend she hasn’t heard from in months.

“Kaito?”

[Next Chapter]