#wants Rantaro to believe he can depend on hiiiim!!!!

[ahogedetective]

moonsmultimusings​:

@ahogedetective // transferred to beta from here!

While Rantaro wasn't entirely opposed to stealing a peek at records or paying someone off if it would grant him the information he needed, he was opposed to facing arrest for it. Shuichi did agree that it was often necessary to visit the scene of the crime in order to examine details and gather clues. As he'd suspected, their approaches were similar in that way. What he hadn't quite been expecting to hear was the idea of coming along with him for the sake of investigating. That was certainly an interesting hypothetical. There was no way the detective would (or could!) drop everything for the sake of joining him on an adventure. He wasn't going to get his hopes up about that. Besides, even if he did have someone tag along, they'd just drag him down. He'd been betrayed by detectives before, who said they cared and then gave up at the drop of a hat. He wasn't so trusting.

“I wouldn't ask you to do that. I'm sure a detective like you has more than enough on his plate without an international case.” It was a big case, after all. Even if Shuichi decided to undertake one, there were a number more to look into. It was overwhelming for one person, and he would know.

As he had this thought, though, the question was asked of him: was she important to him? She must have been. He blinked. Well, based on those details, he supposed it made sense to come to such a conclusion, but he'd been hoping they wouldn't be picked up on so quickly. In retrospect, maybe, but he was dealing with someone who had to use inductive reasoning as a talent. He chuckled sheepishly. “Ah, I guess I can't expect to keep that much away from you, huh? She's a family member of mine.” He wouldn't give away the degree of separation, as he doubted he would need to. Surely he wouldn't go so far out of the way for someone like a cousin unless they'd been particularly close. The most likely option was that she would be a sister. “I'd rather not go into too much detail about it here, but it's important to me that I find her.”

He had expected that answer, and while Rantaro wasn’t wrong, Shuichi was often very busy with cases; he would still make time for Rantaro, anyway. That was more important to him than the everyday small cases he takes on.... “Come now, you don’t have to worry about that." He chuckles. "I’d make my schedule free so that I can dedicate fully to helping you out, of course. I happily wouldn’t mind, if it means I can be of much help as I can for you.”

Of course, he’d still understand if Rantaro still might not accept his help, and hopes he doesn’t sound pushy: rather, he just wanted to reassure him that he would happily offer to do something even as big as traveling with him to help find the girl. For Shuichi, there was almost no amount of lengths he wouldn’t go, if it meant he could use his detective skills to help, even moreso for a classmate and friend.

“A-Ahaha....” He rubs the back of his head at that. So he was right on the mark, after all. “I see... so she really is a family member of yours.” And as Rantaro predicted, Shuichi didn’t need to guess too hard the exact relation: he was almost 100% positive she has to be in his immediate family, like a little sister. "O-Oh, no problem! I'm sorry if I was overstepping. I understand.... and that's why, I want to help you, Rantaro. Not because I don't think you can't do it alone, but I can imagine how extraordinarily difficult it would be to do so. And....you deserve to be able to ask for help, even if I understand that... it's much easier said then done. If....you want to, of course... I don't wish to be forceful."

-