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mintchocolateleaves · 6 years

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What about a ShinRan CoF AU where Shinichi doesn’t escape and things go according to Vermouth’s plan?

A/N: Wow, this is long! I’m naming it, ‘Tighten the Noose’ and yeah. It’s painful. Since the whole Vermouth’s plan is revealed, if you haven’t read the ch38 of CoF, and you’re the type who doesn’t want that spoiler, I’d say, catch up first. This is actually the Bad End AU for CoF.

Summary: Vermouth’s plan for Shinichi is carried out with a high success. (If you think this has a happy ending, you haven’t been paying attention.) Bad End AU.

Shinichiknows what comes next.

(Next?He’s going to die but does he know what comes after that? Of course not.)

Therewill be a rope, tied together in the form of a noose. It will hang over a floorthat will open up, and there will be no one he loves there to say goodbye.

He willsing happy birthday under his breath and be unable to finish the songbecause the rope will steal away the breath.

His eyeswill be dull. His body will go cold. And his already bruised body will sufferone final bruise, as either his neck snaps or his body asphyxiates.

This iswhat will happen next. It’s the way these things work. An organisation framinghim, cutting away the threat before it can cut into them.

They putthe noose around Shinichi’s neck, but he doesn’t fall. The floor opens up, butonly for someone else.

KudoShinichi dies, but he is not dead.

He issupposed to be dead.

Butthat’s not what happens.

“It’s adilemma you see,” The man who was once Shinichi says, stirring his coffee witha small wooden stirrer. “I don’t know whether a dead man is free, or forever aprisoner.”

He feelsmore like a prisoner these days. Case files are skewed in front of him. Namesthat one alcohol has helped him get.

But in away, isn’t he also free? Free from the bonds holding him back, free from theguilt of people he’s been forced to leave behind?

No,that’s a lie.

Theguilt never leaves. It’s why he’s a prisoner. Emotion is his shackle.

“The funnypart of the dilemma though,” The man who is no longer Shinichi says, “is thatthe only person who could answer that question for me, is one I can’t see.”

Her. Theone who thinks he is dead. Who knows that he is dead.

Thefinal one who believed in him.

A ruffleof wings, and the bird he’s talking to flies away. He watches the pigeon go.The bird is free, at least. Not much of a prisoner, if you have wings and anopen cage.

The cageis open. But it is also familiar.

Now thathe’s left it - he wants to go back.

Fingerstapping against the counter, he watches, staring out at the world, thinkingabout nothing and everything. Thinking about too much and too little.

Hisphone rings. It’s not a number he recognises.

Shinichipresses ignore.

Hisphone remains lit up, his phone background on display. He stares at it,dismisses the notification of his missed call and stares past the number of thetime, past the date, focusing only on his background.

It’s asimple one. Something from a child’s nursery - pink rolling clouds, which leadsout into a lilac sky. Behind it, drawn in white ink, are undetailed planets andstars, all of variating sizes.

Shinichiwatches it. It doesn’t change, it never does, but it’s calming. Even as simpleas the background is, it offers at least a small release from reality into theclouds. Somewhere that he’s not.

“Shinichi- will you please stop ignoring my calls.”

He looksup. Ran. Mouri Ran. He’d been hers once - and maybe, maybe she’d been his oncetoo. He doesn’t know. Sometimes, he thinks she was. Other days he knows shewasn’t, and most of the time, he’s left in a perpetual state of confusion, notknowing which option is the truth.

There isare too many truths, after all.

“I’mnot ignoring you,” Shinichi says, looking up. He can’t meet her eyes, butthat’s alright. It’s the norm - Kudo Shinichi has trouble meeting most people’seyes these days. It hurts to see the emotions inside.

(Willthey echo back his own? Or will they be so different to his own that he can’teven fathom how to read them?)

“Bullshit,”Ran says. He jumps with the harshness of the words. She’s angry at him? He’snot even done anything wrong. “I literally just watched you pressignore.”

“DidI?“ Shinichi says. He pauses, looks down at his phone and clicks histongue. "I don’t have your number saved, so it just looks random."

"Giveme your phone,” Ran says, and because it’s easier to just give in than toargue, he does. He mutters his code, waits until she unlocks it and then turnsback to the table. She lets out a small sigh, not exasperated - it seems sadder,than anything. She says, “you don’t have any numbers saved here.”

“No,”Shinichi agrees.

(Paranoiahad wrapped around him when he’d been gifted a more permanent phone. Any numberhe put inside would be linked to him, linked to danger and that is a risk thatcannot be taken, no way, not when the danger is-)

“There,”Ran says, passing the phone back. She says, “I put my number in. AndHattori’s - he’s been asking me to see you again since we found out that-”

That heisn’t dead. That he didn’t hang.

Thatthe noose was placed, but only strategically, because the threat is always moreterrifying than the action.

“Isee,” Shinichi says. He presses his finger against the table, appliesforce until his fingertip is white, pale. Then, he bends the bone the otherway, digging his nail into the small notches. “Two numbers in myphone.”

“Nowyou have no excuse to dodge my calls,” Ran says. She offers a smile, buthe avoids it, focuses on the concrete instead.

“No,”Shinichi agrees again, “not if I have the numbers in my phone.”

Heconsiders deleting them. Not even present in the phone for a minute but decidesagainst it. Even if he deletes the numbers, they’re still going to be in thephone’s memory somewhere anyway.

It’sprobably just better to get a new phone.

Butdoing that and deleting numbers will just make Ran mad, and Shinichi doesn’twant her to cry. He presses on and watches his background again. Ran pulls up achair, settles next to him.

She restsher hand on the arm of Shinichi’s chair, a silent invitation, should he want totake it, and follows his gaze to the phone’s background.

“Yourwallpaper,” Ran says, “I like it."

"It’scalming,” Shinichi says.

He doesn’ttake her hand. But he wants to.

“Whatdo you mean I continue the case,” Shinichi says, squinting across atVermouth. Legally, he’s been dead for hours now, but it feels almost like alifetime. He brushes his hand against his neck, flinches away when he realisesit’s not snapped. “It’s literally killed me.”

Thewoman purses her lips. For the first time since he’s known her - which, coincidentally,is only their fourth conversation - she crosses her arms and gives him a lookthat can only be described as absent.

“Youhave the perfect opportunity now to start digging.”

“Digging?”Shinichi breathes. The words are strangled in his throat. “Digging intothe case? It killed me. I’m dead.”

“KudoShinichi is dead.” Vermouth says. “Socially, you’re dead. Legally,you’ve been left hanging, and any life you had before is going to be buriedwith someone who’s not you. But the silver bullet is still alive.”

Thesilver bullet?

That’swhat she wants him to be? Fuck that. No - this isn’t fair.

“You’reasking too much from me,” Shinichi says. He swallows down spit even if hismouth is dry and it tastes like blood. “This is too much, I can’t- I can’t-”

“Ifyou don’t do it, Shinichi-kun,” Vermouth says, leaning forward andcapturing his cheeks in a pincer-like grip, “then we’ll have to wait forsomeone else. Some other silver bullet who’s in a position where theirrelationships will be ruined, their lives torn to shreds.”

Shinichifeels woozy. He sways on his feet, “Let them do it. I’m done.”

Herfrown is enough to freeze his blood. The expression holds for a few days, then,she frees his face, pushes him back and turns her back on him.

“You’rein shock. I’ve set up a safehouse - we will stay there for a few days while youadjust to this, and then you will decide. But not until you’ve settled intothis.”

Shinichidoes not want to settle.

He stopsdreaming.

Silverbullets are inanimate objects, and so they aren’t capable of dreaming. Andmaybe he’s human, but he doesn’t quite feel like one. Not anymore.

No,human beings are social beings. They belong as a member of a group, a part of acrowd. Meanwhile, a silver bullet interacts with no one but the one he shootsdown.

“It’swhy you’re in the best position,” Vermouth had told him, during their weektogether. “When you’re dead, when you have no identity, there’s no bonds holdingyou to other people. It will be difficult, but Kudo Shinichi had people theorganisation could leverage against you. The silver bullet doesn’t.”

She won’tlet him have her number. And he doesn’t let her have his. She leaves him aletter filled with numbers - co-ordinates - and the keys to the safehouse andtells him that they probably won’t meet again.

And ifthey do, they’ll be on the other side.

Thehospital walls aren’t white.

Shinichidoesn’t know why he’s expecting them to be white, but they are and it’sstrange. Odd. Maybe because white is such a sterile colour, because it’s meantto be a healing colour, but the corridors are a soft green.

Maybethe people here don’t need the blank white, but a colour on the canvas.Something to offer them a little hope.

(That’sa word Shinichi’s been thinking of lately. Hope. Ran had written it on a smallcard and placed it on his mantlepiece, aside the card she’d written out for thebirthday’s she’d missed. Eighteen. Nineteen. Twentieth. Twenty-first and now,his twenty-second.)

Hepresses a small button, waits for access into the ward.

Buzzedin, he heads forward, scans the board for a name. He bites his lip, followstowards the second bay, towards bed five. It’s quiet, even with nurses anddoctors bustling around. Physios handing over, social workers coming in and out.

Thecurtains are drawn, and so the moment he walks into the bay, he makes eyecontact with the man he is visiting.

Darkhair, tanned skin and days old stubble.

“Kudo,”Hattori Heiji offers a small smile, lifts up his hand into a wave. The drip moveswith him, and Shinichi focuses on the man’s cannula. “Ya reallycame.”

“Isaid I would,” Shinichi says. He tears his gaze from the drip, looks atthe bandage on Hattori’s other arm. His left leg is bandaged as well. He says,“You look… well?”

Abovehis left eye, Hattori’s head is bandaged. There’s a dressing that leads fromhis left cheek, down his jawline, halfway down his neck.

“I’mgettin’ there,” the Osakan seems to wave it away before Shinichi can bringany question to it. Not that Shinichi needs to ask - Ran had filled him in,when she’d demanded he visit.

Sleepdeprivation and a motorbike.

Thecircumstances could have been a lot worse.

“Enoughabou’ me,” Hattori continues. He squirms in his seat, winces at the suddenmovement. Even two weeks after his first surgery, the pain is still present.“Wha’ about you. How’re ya?”

Shinichibites his lip and tries to think. He’d been honest with Hattori in the past,but they’d been kids once. Now, they’re both adults, and Hattori is dealing withhis own shit. He doesn’t need Shinichi’s.

But -Hattori was the one person who got close enough to the truth.

“I'm…”He tries to find the words. They vibrate in his lungs, scrape as they worktheir way up, so he wishes them away, finds easier ones.

“Isaved your number, and Ran’s into my phone. And I’ve got this wallpaper on myphone that’s nice and-” He pauses. “-and I took up the violinagain.”

HattoriHeiji is not a stupid man.

He was achild detective who found missing cats, and then he grew into a teen detectivewho solved murders. Now a police officer - soon to be official detective - he’salways been smart.

So, hedoes what Shinichi wants him to do.

He readsbetween the lines, sees more than a few hopeful statements and sobers up. Hishalf-smile falls away, and for a moment, Shinichi looks up and meets his eye.The emotions are almost too much, but the way Hattori is holding his gaze -unflinching, unwavering - makes him unable to look away.

“I’msorry,” Hattori says, “that I wasn’t of any help to you. I’m sorrytha’ I couldn’t find a way to get you outta tha’ prison, that I didn’t catch onsooner tha’ you were framed. That I couldn’t prove to anyone else that youwere.”

“Hattori-”

“It’s- I know I could’ve done more. I should’ve done more. But I didn’t.”Hattori presses his lips together. “And I’m sorry.”

“You-”Shinichi shakes his head. “Quit apologising. It’s unnecessary. Don’t- Idon’t want an apology.”

Hattoriblinks, eyes wide.

“Astranger-” Shinichi whispers, “you were a stranger and yet youbelieved that I didn’t do it. In those last days before I turned eighteen, Ihad no one. No one but you.”

Hattorilifts his unbandaged arms up and rubs at his face. His cheeks are wet.

Shinichidoes not have the decency to look away.

“Youwere a stranger, and then you were my friend.” Shinichi says. “Pleasedon’t apologise for being my friend.”

Hattorirubs away more tears, and after a few minutes of silence, he lets out a smalllaugh and says, “I’m so glad you’re not dead.”

A silverbullet is not designed to travel far distances.

They’reslow, and generally less accurate than lead bullets, but they’re effective infolklore. Against werewolves and things that don’t - or rather, should not -exist in the physical world, they’re one of the only things that kill.

The onlything that puts a stop to things.

In a way,a silver bullet is a metaphor.

Penicillinis a silver bullet against infection. Fingerprint recognition is a silverbullet against criminals going free. Information is a silver bullet againstignorance.

KudoShinichi is the silver bullet, against the black organisation.

Silverbullets might not physically be effective, but it is the sentiment behind the bulletthat matters, not the bullet itself. The illusion of being stronger thansomething else, is what matters. Maybe they are a myth - but the myth is onethat gives hope. That promises one day the bad will make way for somethinggood.

Maybethat’s why Vermouth gave him the nickname. Maybe he is her hope, of a daywithout the organisation that she joined as a teenager and remains a hostage indecades later.

(Except…some people are allergic to penicillin. Fingerprints can be rubbed away orplaced. Information can sometimes breed more ignorance.

KudoShinichi might not manage.)

“You're…”Ran’s voice is breathless. Shinichi doesn’t like it when he takes her breathaway, not anymore, not when he knows how cruel it is not to let someonebreathe. “You’re not dead?”

He wantsto say that he’s quite clearly alive since he’s standing in front of her, sincehe’s not an apparition, but he doesn’t think Ran would appreciate that.Instead, he dips his head, mutters that he’s alive and that he thought sheshould know.

“I…I thought you were gone,” Ran says, voice wavering. “I had to helpbury you, I had to get over you, and you weren’t ever… gone?”

Shinichican’t look her in the eye.

“Iknow,” Shinichi mutters, “I’m sorry. I - If I’d have known, I wouldhave let you know but we both thought-”

“Wait,”Ran says, “what do you mean you didn’t know?”

Hesquirms under the pressure of her gaze.

“Youdidn’t plan a way out?” Ran realises, “like all of us, you thoughtyou were- and then. Then how could you tell us, because everyone thoughtand…”

It’s asif she can’t find all the pieces in the puzzle, is stuck trying to rearrangethem by the look of the picture on the box. Almost seeing but not quite.Instead, she shakes her head, races forward and traps him in an embrace.

Shinichitries not to flinch.

He doesn’tlift his hands up, but he doesn’t push her away either. It’s a start.

Ran’sbreath tickles his cheek. Her arms are warm. She’s very much alive.

“Itdoesn’t matter what I went through when I thought you were gone,” Ransays. “All that matters is you. That you’re alive, that you’re here."

Hedoesn’t feel very alive though. He just feels absent.

"Ispy, with my little eye, someone who ought to be dead.”

Thethief looks him up and down, his gaze cold beneath the monocle, as they bothstand in a small alleyway, a few streets from the man’s heist. Kaitou KID wearswhite, Shinichi is drenched in black, and somehow it seems like their innocenceis incorrectly worn.

“Yes,”Shinichi says. “I take it you know who I am then.”

KIDgives a sharp nod. He crosses his arms, glares at him. A snap of his fingers, aplume of smoke and then, he’s mirroring Shinichi - same look, same hairstyle,same black clothes.

Shinichiisn’t sure if it’s because they’ve got a similar face, or whether the thief canmould masks quickly enough, but it doesn’t matter.

“Iknow what the media knows, at least.” KID shakes his head. “Amurderer sent to prison with a life sentence. The pushed the day of yourhanging pretty early, normally, most people have to wait years.”

Shinichiflinches at the thought of a noose.

“Butobviously that was a lie,” KID continues, frowning, “since nowthere’s a serial killer on the loose.”

A pause.Shinichi feels a shudder rising up his back, burrowing deep into his spine.

“Ididn’t kill anyone,” Shinichi says. “If I were a killer, then I’d becontinuing now that everyone thought I wasn’t capable of continuing, right? ButI’ve not.”

KIDdoesn’t answer. He just watches, raises an eyebrow and asks, “What do youwant from me, Kudo Shinichi?”

It’s thefirst time he’s been called by his name since he died. It feels almostunfamiliar.

“I- I noticed on the news that there are people shooting at you during cases. Iwas locked away and sent to die because of an organisation. I was wonderingwhether we’re up against the same people.”

“Acrime syndicate framed you? How very fortunate.” KID shakes hishead. He says, “If you were looking in a criminal organisation, they’d dowhat they do to me, they’d shoot you down without a care.”

Shinichisteps forward, ignores the guarded look. He says, “So you are being hunteddown. If we work together-”

“No.”

Thevoice is firm, almost harsh. Kaitou KID has always worked alone, - ifdisregarding the accomplice that people mention - has always done better whenperforming to a script he’s designed for himself.

“Wha-”

“Listen,”KID says, “I don’t trust you. Why would I work with someone who’s killedsix people? And if you’re telling the truth, why would I paint my back with aneven bigger target by working with someone they want dead?”

“You’realready a target-”

“Youdeal with your case,” KID says, “and I’ll deal with mine.”

(Shinichiloses sleep over it.

KaitouKID doesn’t.)

“Ithink ya should visit him ya know,” Hattori says.

Shinichi’sstolen him from his ward, wheeled him down to the cafeteria. Some proper food,Hattori had wanted, rather than what the hospital had offered.

“Visitwho,” Shinichi says, although he already had a faint impression.“I’ve visited everyone I want to visit.”

He’svisited Hattori, and he’s visited Ran.

And hisparents visited him for a week, and that had been enough of them.

“Hakuba,”Hattori continues. “You two were friends, right? It seems almost cruel nott’ let him kno’ you’re okay.”

Shinichimakes a noise of protest.

“Okay,”Hattori amends, “not tha’ you’re okay, but tha’ you’re alive.”

“Iguess that's… not the worst idea.” Shinichi sighs. “But only becausehe worked that same case - not because I’m going around to spend time with allthe friends I need to catch up on.”

Hattorigives him a look that Shinichi’s too tired to decipher.

“I’llgive ya his number.”

It’sdark, everything is-

Dark.

Shinichi’sundone his bindings, and now, he searches the cell trying to find anything -any loose metal that will help him against the lock. Even if he’s not good atbreaking open locks, he needs to at least try.

Thereare footsteps.

And thenlight. Two men standing outside the cage.

“KudoShinichi,” says the one with silver hair, the he remembers from arollercoaster, from a beheading from a spurned girlfriend. “How funny thatwe managed to catch up with you, since you were buried three years ago.”

“Veryfunny indeed,” says the one beside him. “What’re we going to do withhim Aniki?"

"Whateverwe want,” the first says, “seeing as no one’s going to comelooking.”

“Fine,”Shinichi sighs, looking across at Vermouth. “I’ll look into them. I’llfinally put a stop to all this, but after that… I don’t think I want to solve acase ever again.”

“That’show hobbies work when you become an adult,” Vermouth says. “Eitheryou find a way to turn them into jobs, or they start to fade away. But don’tget rid of it as an option though, not until you know for sure.”

“No,”Shinichi says, “I’m sure.”

Shinichiwakes up with a jolt in his heart and sweat soaking his hair against hispillow. He’s alone, alone in an apartment he’ll tell no one the location of - asafe house that had been set up when he’d first died.

Only oneother person had known the building, and she's… not around.

Hishands shake. His pulse is crazy, tachycardic, as if it’s a faulty engine,trying to propel him forward when he’s not ready to exert that much pressure.He bites his tongue, pushes himself up and turns on a light.

Everythingis as it should be.

Hisphone, plugged in and charging, lights up as he presses the home button. Anewer wallpaper, one with the sea shimmering beneath the night sky. He watchesthe stars, imagines the waves and realises that it’d be pretty nice if he couldjust… float in the water without any worries for a little while.

Sweatsticks his t-shirt to his back though, and he decides that the ocean will haveto wait. That a bath will have to do instead.

And then,maybe a phone call.

(Hattoridoesn’t sleep well either, apparently.)

Hedoesn’t find Hakuba Saguru in a police station, or even a private detective’s office.Nor does he find him inside the courts or visiting people in prisons.

He findshim in a pharmaceutical office leaving behind a meeting.

“Kudo,”Hakuba says, and that’s all he says for a moment. Shinichi watches hisexpression, tries to figure out what it means, and opens his mouth.

“Ithought, since we worked that case, we should talk about it?” Shinichi says.And Hakuba dips his head into a nod.

“There’sa coffee shop downstairs, let’s go there.”

Theirnames are Gin and Vodka.

Shinichidoesn’t have a legal name for them. He wonders if they’re like him - officialidentities dead, now walking around with a codename rather than an identity.

Hewonders whether it bothers them.

“Don’tgo ignoring us now,” Gin says. He’s the cruel one, the leader. A sadist, akiller worse than Shinichi was labelled to be. It should have been him whohung. “We want to know everything about what you know.”

Despitewhat he wishes, the pain does not get easier. He doesn’t get used to it. Thetrauma simply becomes so routine that it feels almost chronic.

Vermouthpats his cheek.

“It’sover now,” she whispers, turning his chin away from all the blood. Sheholds him up, or maybe he helps hold her up - or maybe they’re holding eachother. Which is weird, because Shinichi should not trust her, and he doesn't…

ButVermouth is someone he can rely on. For now.

“It’sover now, Shinichi-kun.” She is cautious with him now, almost maternal.“This has been a nightmare, my silver bullet, but now it’s time to wakeup.”

Shinichigets coffee.

Hakubagets tea.

Theconversation is staggered as they wait for their drinks. Every time one of themsays something, the words dissolve into the silence, a void of what should havebeen said sooner, of what should have been mentioned years ago.

Eventually,Shinichi tries for something a little less pressuring.

“Youwork in pharmaceuticals now?”

Hakubaoffers a sharp nod. He sips at tea, turns to look outside of the window andsays, “I thought it would be best for me. I’m not suited for detectivework, I think.”

“Neitheram I,” Shinichi responds. “Is office work… I don’t know, is itless…”

“It’seasier,” Hakuba says. “Less… emotionally draining. If one deal fallsthrough, or a project isn’t going badly, at least I know someone isn’t going todie because of it.”

Understandable.Shinichi knows what it’s like to live to a deadline. It’s much easier when thedeadline is paper based.

“Butyou were a detective for a while,” Shinichi says, “Hattori toldme.”

Hakubastiffens. He says, “I was. But - the two cases that meant something to meended… terribly… so I decided I was done.”

Shinichinods his head, “I see.”

“Comeand live with me,” Ran mumbles into his shoulder once, when he finallyfinds the courage to let her come closer, to let her hug him withoutremembering flashes of metal, gunfire - without tasting smoke and fire and…

“Ilike where I live,” Shinichi says. “It’s safe.”

“We’llmove somewhere safe,” Ran says. “Remember when we were teenagers, weused to walk through the park and talk about how we’d get a nice apartment,hidden from the press who wanted to take pictures of the amazing teenagedetective? We can still find that apartment. You just need to stoprunning.”

Shinichiisn’t sure.

An apartmentmeans writing down a name onto paper. Onto a contract. It means trusting thatpeople won’t search and leave a paper trail, that people won’t take advantageof systems designed to protect them and seek them out.

Whatwill he do if someone reaches his door?

What ifsomeone attacks them?

“Thatwas when we were teenagers, Ran.” Shinichi says. “We were kids. It’snot like that anymore.”

Randoesn’t force him to meet her eyes - she never does. Instead, she leans forwardand presses her palm against his, waits for him to interlock their fingers.Always giving him the chance to pull back.

“Thekids we were before all this happened, the people you thought we were - that’sstill us. Don’t forget that, okay?”

Hervoice is soft, melancholic.

“That’snot us,” Shinichi says, “not anymore.”

“Itis.” She presses her nose against his collarbone. “There’s more to usnow too, but at the end of the day it’s still us.”

Peopleare affected by both silver bullets and regular bullets.

In theend, Shinichi uses a lead bullet.

Theydon’t tie him down quickly enough; the binds are loose, and Shinichi uses it tohis advantage. He’s not strong, of course not - not after being here so long -but when they have their backs turned, he has the element of surprise.

Shinichijumps. And he tries to disarm them.

The gunscatters across the floor. Gin’s gun. Shinichi’s not fool enough to think thatVodka isn’t carrying anything either, or that Gin doesn’t have another,so he pounces, moves before either man can react.

Theyreact quickly.

Shinichimanages to turn, safety off, aiming just in time to see Vodka aiming back athim. It’s not a matter of thinking but acting and Shinichi presses the triggerbefore he can even think.

Vodkadrops like a stone.

“I’msorry,” Hakuba says, “I’m not trying to be… difficult it’s just.Seeing you here, alive. It’s - a friend who died is alive. It… It’s almost likea magic trick.”

Shinichialmost finds the phrasing strange - then he remembers how the other case hadbeen KIDs. A magician. And he remembers the news story.

“Theother case that went wrong,” Shinichi says, “ was Kaitou KID’s wasn’tit?”

Hakubapales. He takes a moment to think, then nods his head. He says, “It madethe news, so you probably remember. They didn’t reveal the identity, out of…understanding of the secrecy I guess, but… he was another friend.”

Twopeople dead. Two cases unsolved.

“Mycondolences.” Shinichi says.

“Seeingyou here,” Hakuba says, “almost makes me start to believe that he didthe same magic trick. That in a few years, I’ll find out he’s actually fine.Maybe he’s somewhere in Europe like he always wanted to go, or somewhere… Idon’t know. Makes me wonder if he’s alive too.”

Shinichiis not sure why he says it. Maybe because he knows that KID was a mastermind, agenius. Because he’d seemed so certain of himself that night in thealleyway.

“Maybehe is,” Shinichi says.

Hakubablinks, lets out a small laugh, says, “He’s not. The body was real. Opencasket.”

Gin doesnot react to Vodka’s death.

The mandrops, and he watches Shinichi rather than turn to his friend. He says,"Go on then, shoot.”

Shinichipresses the trigger.

Hisheart races in his chest. He feels bile rising up his throat, feels his bonesscreaming in protest to every movement. It hurts.

Fuck does it hurt.

Hepresses the trigger again and again, but only receives clicks.

Gin smirks.He says, “Do you know what’s fun about playing with rats? If you fill agun with one bullet and tell them they only need to dodge one bullet, they feellike there’s some way out.”

Shinichibites his cheek. He tastes blood, metallic in his mouth. He chokes on it.

“Theyalways forget that there’s a second gun.”

Andthen, he’s holding another gun up, one that Shinichi doesn’t even recall himpulling out. He raises it up, and he shoots.

Fireflares up his arm.

“OkayRan.”

Shinichigrabs a gloved hand, pulls her nearer to him and watches her expression. Herlip quirks up, first in confusion and then, happiness that he’s the oneinitiating their contact.

Thebobble of her hat bounces as she tilts her head.

“Okaywhat?”

“Thatapartment,” Shinichi says. “As long as it’s safe. Hidden away. Then Iguess it’s okay.”

Ranbeams.

Hattorigets out of the hospital months after his admission.

He walkswith crutches, and then, he walks with a cane. He sends Shinichi a wry grin andtells him that years of kendo means that with a cane, he’ll never be taken offguard by the criminals he chases after.

Evenstill, Shinichi watches the way the man’s eyes dim as he leaves the hospital.As his friend picks him up, helps him into the car to head back to work.

(“Iliked th’ break from th’ responsibility,” Hattori admits later. “ButI’d feel too guilty to leave it behind.”

Shinichigets the impression that Hattori is always guilty. He feels a little guiltyabout that.)

“Whatdo you mean she’s dead?”

He’s notstepped foot inside a precinct for almost five years, but now, newly returned,he races inside without any regard for those working. He races towards theholding cells.

“Shedied in the night,” someone says, but Shinichi doesn’t register it. Heraces forwards, forces them to open the door, to look inside. She is not there.“Either a suicide or a murder. We’re looking into it.”

“No,”Shinichi says, even though the room is empty. She should be in here.“She should be in here, she wouldn’t kill herself. Someone killedher-”

Shecan’t be dead.

“I-No.” He shudders, “I didn’t even know her real name.”

“Nothing’sever going to change Ran,” Shinichi whispers, when she finds him lying onthe floor. He does not say anything else, not until she lifts his head up,shuffles beneath it and lies him back down on her lap. “It doesn’t goaway.”

Shethreads her fingers through his hair. Slow, circular, comforting.

“Nothingcan change,” Ran says, “If you refuse to acknowledge what’s hurt. DoI need to say it again?”

Shinichicloses his eyes and whispers, “One more time. Please.”

“Quitrunning Shinichi,” Ran says.

Thefirst thing Kudo Shinichi does when he realises he is dead but not - alive butnot - is put both hands up to his ears and shut out all the noise.

Then, hescrunches his eyes so there is no light.

He biteshis lip.

Andthen, as he tastes blood, the liquid dribbling down his chin, Kudo Shinichidoes the one thing he wouldn’t be able to do, if he had been hung.

Hescreams.

#This is 5.6k long please don't expect me to write this much usually for my requests xD #DCMK #Detective Conan #Kudo Shinichi #Mouri Ran #Kuroba Kaito #Hattori Heiji #Hakuba Saguru #Vermouth (DCMK)#Gin (DCMK)#Vodka (DCMK)#Fic: Cost of Freedom #CoF bad end au #This is Shinichi's bad end au - there are more sides to the story but I don't know whether people want to read the other bad end aus so #:shrug:#mywriting

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mintchocolateleaves · 8 years

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Dude. ShinRan. With Body Swap AU. Pretty please?

This is over 3k, and there’s still so much I could write. Hope you like it dude!

It first begins on a Tuesday.

Ran is sat eating lunch with Sonoko, savouring her home-made bento, picking up vegetables with her chopsticks when it happens. She is wondering slightly, what Shinichi is doing with his male friends, missing how he normally eats lunch with her when everything just… changes.

One moment she is sat in the classroom, her back to the sun. The next, she is standing on the school’s roof, surrounded by male classmates, leaning against the walls.

“Kudo-kun?” A classmate says as she looks around the roof, her eyes wide. As a karate champion, Ran’s knows her body extremely well - this is not it. She feels taller - maybe a few inches - and her balance is off. Instead of feeling hair against her neck, she feels the wind brushing against skin instead.

She shudders.

“Eh?” She looks down at her uniform, realises she’s no longer wearing her skirt but rather trousers. After a seconds hesitation, she closes her mouth, suppressing the cry of alarm she’s pretty sure she is at risk of creating.

She turns back to her classmates, pretty certain that somehow she’s in her best friend’s body. Now she needs to figure out how exactly Shinichi acts around his other friends so that she doesn’t… make him look like an idiot.

Her - no wait, Shinichi’s - phone buzzes against her blazer pocket and Ran reaches into her (Shinichi’s) pocket for his phone. The I.D says Ran, and while Ran feels like throttling whoever’s broken into her phone, correctly guessing her pass-code, she also has to keep her cool because she’s in Shinichi’s body and he doesn’t get angry in the same way she does.

“Hello?” Ran says into the phone. She stills a bit at the sound of Shinichi’s voice echoing her words, shock rippling through her body.

“Ran-” Her real voice comes from the other side of the phone, but from the lack of an honorific, she’s pretty sure it has to be Shinichi. Unless more than just one person has been… what does she even call this - swapped?

“Yes..?”

“It’s me,” her voice echoes, (which isn’t actually very useful, when someone else is in her body.), “I mean… It’s Shinichi. You’re… I’m still up on the roof, right?”

Shinichi doesn’t seem to have any idea what’s going on either, so Ran decides against the sarcastic response on the tip of her tongue and responds with a neutral, “yes, you are.”

Muffled curses echoes from the speakers, Ran’s voice but Shinichi’s frustration. Great, Ran thinks, now people are going to think she swears.

“I’m on my way up,” Shinichi says, “stay right there.”

Ran closes her eyes for a second, pinches her hand as she realises this is reality and not the most vivid dream she’s ever had in her life.

“Sure,” Ran says, ending the call without saying goodbye, because it’s a very Shinichi thing to do, and she needs to act like Shinichi, even if just for a few seconds. Taking a step back, Ran turns back to Shinichi’s friends and places his phone back into her blazer.

This is messed up.

“Ah, was that Ran, Kudo-kun?” - “Obviously, it’s not like he’s got anyone else phoning him, isn’t that right, Kudo?”

“Oi, oi…” Ran says, because that’s a habit Shinichi’s formed over the years. Quite an annoying one at that, she thinks. They give her - well, him, but Ran’s not going to overthink that… particular detail - grins, expectant expressions and raised eyebrows.

“Yes,” Ran sighs, “that was Ran.”

It feels odd to talk about herself in third person - but Ran is pretty sure that if she tries to explain how she has swapped bodies, and has just gotten off of the phone with the real Shinichi, it’s only going to cause more confusion.

And Ran can’t deal with anymore confusion, no, thank you.

“Ooh,” one of her male classmates - Hanasabe? - grabs her attention, “what does your girlfriend want?”

Ran is about to say that she’s not Shinichi’s girlfriend when the door slams open and she watches as her own body comes racing out onto the roof. It is eerie, Ran thinks, as she watches her body run towards her, even when she knows it’s Shinichi.

“Ran-” She says, because she knows Shinichi will only tell her off if she lets other people know what’s happened.

“Ran-” Shinichi says at the same time, which causes Ran to frown slightly at him - herself? What is going on? He recoils, stammers, “I mean Shinichi… haha, of course.”

Brilliant, Ran thinks, now everyone’s going to think she’s weird as well.

“Let’s talk away from that lot,” Ran says, pointing back at the other boys.

Shinichi raises an eyebrow at her as she leads them away, although Ran’s not quite so sure where they can go to talk this all over.

“Okay,” Sonoko says after school as they are walking home, “so Ran, you’re in Shinichi-kun’s body and Shinichi-kun is in Ran’s body?”

Ran knows that this sounds odd but it’s true. She’s and Shinichi have both had to pretend to be each other during classes, which was… actually pretty difficult. She’s not used to responding to questions aimed at Shinichi, especially when the teacher calls on them. Shinichi’s not very good at it either.

“Yes.” Shinichi sighs. Usually on a Tuesday’s, Ran stays back and attends karate practise, but with everything that’s going on… It’s not like Shinichi actually knows any martial arts, so he’s coming home with them now. “That’s what’s happened.”

“Hmm…” Sonoko stops, looking between the two. Despite having known her for years, Ran doesn’t actually know what’s going through Sonoko’s head. “No, I don’t believe it.”

“I told you we shouldn’t have told her,” Shinichi says, raising an eyebrow at Ran. His expression looks out of place on her face.

“Don’t be stupid,” Ran scowls, “Sonoko’s my best friend, she deserves to know.”

Sonoko grimaces, gaze bouncing between them both. She says, “I don’t know how you��re doing it, but it’s super creepy how much you can act like each other.”

“We’re telling the truth Sonoko,” Ran protests, as they start walking again. She’s tempted to just give up, but she knows she needs to keep going. “We wouldn’t make stuff up like this.”

Crossing her arms, Sonoko taps her foot against pavement. After a few seconds, she gives a sharp nod. She says, “alright.”

“Alright?” Shinichi splutters. He’s probably thinking Sonoko’s an idiot for believing such an outrageous story, but Ran feels relief spread through her veins.

“Alright,” Sonoko repeats, and she races up to Ran, “we’re going to prove it first though.”

“How exactly are we going to-”

“Ran,” Sonoko leans in to Ran’s ear, voice lowering to a whisper, “how’s that letter turning out?”

Ran feels her face flush as she takes a step away. She’d been talking about it a few days ago - thought about writing Shinichi a love letter and just leaving it in his locker if he enjoys receiving them so much - but she hadn’t actually been serious about it.

“S-Sonoko!” She cries, the sound odd in Shinichi’s deeper voice, “that was a joke and you know it!”

Shinichi cocks his head to the left, lips pursed as he watches them.

“Ran!” Sonoko grins, “it really is you!”

They turn back five minutes later.

Ran blinks, and she is back in her own body. Shinichi turns back to her and gives her a half-hearted shrug.

“I’m me again,” Ran says, pulling at her blazer. Sonoko turns back to her, almost disappointed.

“That was over pretty quickly…” She sighs.

Beside her, Shinichi is tight-lipped, brows furrowed with confusion. Ran tries not to overthink it - what are the chances of it happening again? - before shaking her head.

“Yeah,” Ran says, “at least it’s over with though.”

The first few days after swapping, Ran and Shinichi are both on guard, waiting to see if it will happen again. After the fifth day, Ran decides that if it was going to happen again, it would have already. Shinichi however, remains on guard.

It happens during the weekend when she’s visiting Sonoko’s house.

She’s sat talking about Sonoko’s favourite theif, Kaitou Kid, when all of a sudden she is crouching over a dead body - a man who’s probably been dead for days. In her head, she registers that she’s seen a murder before, she’s known Shinichi long enough that it’s unavoidable, but it’s feels almost like it’s the first time.

She feels horrified - but for some reason her heart rate doesn’t increase. Her breathing remains steady. Where normally tears would burn at her eyes, now they don’t. She is horrified, her eyes widen slightly, but she’s not in her own body, so it does not react like it normally would.

“You say you’ve figured it out, Shinichi-kun?” The voice belongs to Inspector Megure, and Ran turns to look up at him. She feels Shinichi’s phone in his jacket pocket buzzing, and pulls it out. It’s Sonoko, but probably only because she’s changed her passcode since last week.

“Do you mind if I just?” She points to her phone, despite the fact that she’s at a crime scene and Shinichi’s apparently just found out who the killer is.

Inspector Megure frowns, but ultimately, he gives her the go ahead.

“Ran,” Shinichi says when she answers, “I’m so sorry you had to see that.”

“It’s alright,” Ran replies, “you… you need me to tell them who did it, don’t you?”

“Yes.” Shinichi says. He gives her his deduction and Ran struggles to retain it all, but somehow she does. Ran doesn’t know how he’s figured it out, but somehow the evidence fits together, and she watches as the criminal breaks down and admits it.

Later, when she leaves the crime scene, promising Inspector Megure that she’ll return and complete her side of the case report, she makes her way to Sonoko’s house.

“Ran-” Shinichi says as she steps inside.

“He…” Ran takes a step forwards, and she’s pretty certain that the confusion is registered on her face, “do they always admit to it without a lawyer present?”

After that, Ran and Shinichi make a decision to stay together more often than not.

It increases the rumours of them being in a relationship, or married as Sonoko likes to claim, but Ran has to admit that it does make the body swapping easier. Situations where both of them present are easier to decipher than situations they have to suss out themselves.

Ran hates that it means she comes across more murders, but that’s hardly Shinichi’s fault. He’s never hurt someone, he just calls out those who do.

The first time Shinichi solves a murder in her body, Inspector Megure is shocked. So is she, but Shinichi doesn’t actually apologise for it, and Ran, being truthful, doesn’t actually care so much because she’s already on the crime scene.

“Ran-kun…” Inspector Megure says, “how did you figure it out?”

Shinichi opens his mouth to explain, but Ran speaks instead. With the voice and arrogance of Kudo Shinichi, she says, “I’ve been teaching her a few things about being a detective. She’s trying it out.”

After the fourth solved murder between them, the newspapers start to call them a detective duo. Shinichi seems to find it amusing, often remarking that he’s doing all the work so she should shape up, but Ran doesn’t do anything other than roll her eyes at him.

She can’t exactly kick him - it’s not fun if she has to feel the bruises as well.

“If I have to deal with all this detective stuff,” Ran crosses her arms when the body swapping becomes a daily occurrence, ranging from ten minutes to several hours, “then you need to start learning karate.”

Shinichi, in his own body, raises an eyebrow and says, “why would I do that?”

Ran points her finger at him, irritated. “I have competitions coming up soon, and if I have to pretend to be a detective, then when you’re in my body, you sure as hell need to be able to pretend to be a karate champion.”

The logic behind it is slightly flawed - she’s technically asking him to become a champion, because it’s impossible to become one. But after a few minutes of arguing, Shinichi relents.

Ran makes her way to the Kudo mansion every morning before school to teach him what she knows, until she thinks that he’s good enough to join the karate club.

Teitan Academy seems to go crazy at the prospect of Kudo Shinichi joining a club - especially after months of his refusing to join any. They start to talk about he’s utterly whipped and unable to say no to Ran.

It’s kind of true, in a way.

The first time they meet Hattori Heiji, it is when they are hanging out at the Mouri detective agency. He comes inside, when they are switched, and demands to have a deduction competition with them both.

“One of you must be making the other look good,” Heiji claims, which, technically is true, “by giving each other the answers. And I’m going to find out who.”

When they start the case, they are in their own body. She watches as Shinichi gives the first half of a deduction, standing by Inspector Megure, after disproving Heiji’s own theory. Then, she feels a sudden bout of light-headedness which she has learnt to associate with their switch, and finds herself in Shinichi’s body.

Shinichi doesn’t miss a beat. In Ran’s body, he pretends to take over the case, giving the rest of his deduction. It’s impressive how much he’s adjusted to the strange phenomenon that’s befallen them.

Later, when he leaves, Heiji crosses his arms and says that they’re pretty cool, although it’s strange that a couple would solve murders together rather than go out on normal dates. He claims that there’s something strange with them both though, and claims to figure out exactly what it is.

Heiji finds out when they are at the Holmes convention.

Shinichi finds out about the contest from an ad in the newspaper, and he solves the questions with ease, getting himself a spot among other participants. It’s nice to see him so excited over it, Ran thinks, watching as he talks about Sherlock Holmes with other guests on-route to the mansion, but it’s really not her thing.

She decides she’s just going to sit this one out and let Shinichi enjoy it.

“You guys!” Heiji waves to them when they arrive, “I thought you might show up!”

Ran isn’t sure whether to be admired or freaked out by his dedication to figuring out what exactly it is about them, that makes them odd.

“Yeah,” Shinichi’s too overjoyed at being able to immerse himself with other Holmes fans to be overly suspicious, “you enjoy Arthur Conan Doyle’s book too Hattori?”

“Eh, I’m more of an Ellery Queen myself,” Heiji says. At the glares he receives, he adds a shaky, “although I do admit Doyle’s books are a literary masterpiece.”

“I’ll admit a secret to you Hattori-kun,” Ran says when Shinichi’s off fangirling over Sherlock Holmes and the quiz he’s been handed, “I don’t actually like Sherlock Holmes that much either, I’m just here for Shinichi.”

Heiji gives her a grin. “I’d figured as much, the other’s didn’t seem to take a shine to you, like they did to him.”

Ran lets out a small laugh. She’s not aware that she’s just given Heiji the piece of information that will lead to his discovery of their current predicament.

They swap shortly before the murders begin. It’s late, so they consider going to bed immediately, but Heiji draws them into the kitchen, where they sit awaiting the results of Shinichi’s thousand question Sherlock test.

When the murders begin, Ran can see the moment Heiji starts to suspect. Shinichi searches the crime scene, and Ran starts asking questions to the other guest like Shinichi has taught her too. When they’re back indoors, she explains people’s alibi’s to Shinichi and lets him figure everything out.

“Oi,” Heiji calls them over after a while, and asks them for the alibi’s of each person. “What do you guys think?”

By the second murder, Shinichi seems to have an inkling on how the murderer killed both people. The next attempted murder leads him to a conclusion, and he readies himself for the deduction.

To everyone else, Mouri Ran is brilliant at solving murders.

She does it with ease. And she tricks the murderer into admitting their acts with the Holmes question, talking about the questions they’d had to fill in.

“The question of the dancing men,” Shinichi says, “how funny that you’d forget one of the more difficult questions.”

Once they have finished their deduction, the murderer remaining under a watchful eye as they wait for the police to arrest him, Heiji confronts them.

“You two…” He crosses his arms, “…do you keep swapping bodies or something?”

Ran does not know how to respond, so she lets Shinichi. He says, “that’s stupid Hattori, it’s not even possible.”

They both still.

“There!” Heiji claims, pointing between the two. “Nee-chan calls me Hattori-Kun, so you must be Kudo!”

“Circumstantial evidence,” Shinichi huffs, crossing his arms and doing a good job of acting like Ran when she’s irritated, “people don’t just swap bodies.”

“That’s right,” Ran says, avoiding saying Heiji’s name at all, “that’s impossible.”

“Okay,” Heiji grits his teeth slightly, unwavering in his beliefs, “I can prove it. Nee-chan, what’s your favourite Holmes novel, you told me earlier remember?”

Shinichi blinks, and Ran can see him as he struggles to guess. Eventually, his shoulders tense and he asks, “Scandal in bohemia..?”

Heiji makes the sound of a buzzer, crossing his arms into an ‘x’. He shakes his head, “the real Nee-chan wouldn’t need to guess. Plus, Nee-chan, you told me that you didn’t even like Sherlock Holmes.”

Shinichi turns to Ran and almost looks betrayed. “You don’t?”

Ran feels the strongest urge to kick him.

Send a pairing and an AU and I’ll write it! (It probably won’t be as long as this one though)

Master post of all my writing can be found here.

#DCMK #mywriting #Kudo Shinichi #Mouri Ran #Suzuki Sonoko #Hattori Heiji #Detective conan #case closed #ShinRan #Well #kind of ShinRan #not really romantic #but there are hints #please enjoy!!#Body swap AU

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