justonetruth | Mission Improbable.

Mission Improbable.

This particular Shinichi prides himself on stealth. Discreet appearances and exits, undetectable surveillance, shadowing -- there is little about stalking he doesn't know (note: this isn't necessarily a good thing). There's just one thing.

He's not Shinichi any more.

The lack of height is in many ways a plus. Who is going to suspect a seven-year-old of following them? That's if he can avoid truant officers of course. The rest of it, however--

It needs work. And that is precisely what Conan is doing.

It's night. You might be in the library when you hear a strange noise. Have the feeling you're being watched in the kitchen. See something shift just on the edge of your vision as you make your way down the corridors to bed.

Whatever you're doing, you're not alone.

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"Well what would you call it?" Conan is unrepentant.

"I'm taking a break."

"I'd call it 'jumping'. Why - what'd you call it?"

"Well, if that's what you want to do, don't let me stop you."

And after that, he carries on going. Not, might he add, jumping. Quite notably just walking casually down the corridor towards one of the doors, destination kept in mind.

"I'd call it jumping too," Conan said, falling into pace alongside his counterpart. "So what do you by 'it depends what you mean by jumping'? Are there other sorts of jumping? Can you fly?"

Poor, poor other Conan.

"...I mean jumping up or jumping down. Then again, you can also jump sideways and backways, too. And no, I can't fly. Unless you launched me or something."

He's still heading down the corridor.

"Oh." Conan's quiet a moment, thinking about that. "What else can you do? Or is it a secret?"

"Hm, what else? Not exactly a secret..." and this accompanied by a secretive smirk. "But I don't need those sneakers I'm sure you've got anymore, that's for sure."

Bit by bit, he's giving it away. Because it's fun. And oh, look - there's the dining room. The door's open, but they're going past it.

"The sneakers?" Conan glances down at his feet, confused -- then he remembers that the power boosting heels might be of more use to a Kudou Shinichi who needs to apprehend murderers regularly. "So you used to use them -- but something happened and now you don't?" Radioactive spider bite? Exposure to rare toxins?

"Mm-hm. Got it right. Anything else you can remember from earlier?"

It's hardly as though he's going to give everything up that easily. They're still walking, too.

Conan thinks hard. The way his counterpart is talking, he should have all the clues he needs to figure this out. "You move kind of differently," he said slowly. "And you've obviously got really good senses." Better even than Ran's?

And then there was the pallour--

Conan frowned. "In my world, there are some questions you don't ask," he said quietly.

Shinichi-Conan grins right on back. "Bingo~" No teeth are shown of unordinary length.

"Huh, really? Like what? What world?" He's already got some sort of idea, but as a detective he'd really prefer proof.

"Like 'are you human'?" Conan says seriously. "My world that can get people in a lot of trouble."

The grin has turned sharp, but it's no less friendly.

"Ooh, good one. And I can see how it would." He stops in his tracks, facing his counterpart. "But - d'you want an answer?"

Conan also comes to a halt, studying his counterpart with an expression that is more Kudou Shinichi than Edogawa Conan, serious and set as if he is very aware of the implications of what he is asking.

"Yes," he says at last. "I do."

Shinichi sees the expression that's more him than Conan in the other's eyes, and is pleased. He's only contemplating this now - earlier it would've been fun just to head randomly into the kitchen and take out an undisguised blood pack - because his counterpart is not afraid, and while he seems bothered, doesn't look like he'd think much differently. In fact, he seems to be taking this seriuosly... unlike the time when he'd jumped down from the balcony.

"I'm a vampire," he said bluntly, backed up one single pace, and crossed his arms to watch the fallout.

Conan blinked. For a moment he's tempted to ask if the other is joking -- he may be seven but that doesn't mean he's a kid -- but even while part of his brain protests that this isn't logical, the other half is tallying up the proof. It all fits ...

"Really? I mean -- well, vampire is just as logical as radioactive spider bites I suppose and -- does that mean you're ..." Conan swallows. "Are you dead?"

"Yes, really." He's not mentioning radioactive spider bites. That's just all the proof he needs to validate which world he comes from. Must be that Ran's Conan, then, and he feels a pang of pity. "No," he says dryly. "Although my life signs can be so small I could be mistaken for dead if I'm found sleeping." He's started to walk again, same direction. Might as well. "Subspecies of youkai."

"Oh." Conan follows after his counterpart, thinking hard. "Tell me about youkai? Kuroba's not dead either, but we don't know what he is ... and he doesn't like talking about it himself ..."

"Youkai are basically your average fairytale monsters. Sometimes more so, sometimes less. Or so I figure. So far, I've only encountered vampires, though. But it's been implied that there're tons of others, like Kitsune and Oni and Koumori and Oogami and the like."

The next bit mad him stumble. "Ku- Kaito? You mean there's something wrong with your Kaito? I can understand he wouldn't like talking about it, but-"

"Huh." Conan's quiet a moment, trying to think of anything in his collection of Japanese mythology that might explain his friend. "What about ghosts?"

He nods solemnly. "There's something wrong with Kuroba. Don't think he'd like it if I said what it was, but you've probably got a good idea already."

"Ghosts... can't say I've ever encountered any. Maybe before all of this started to happen to me I wouldn't have given it another thought, but now... possible. Unlikely, but possible."

The talk of youkai and ghosts and things not human... "He's a..." he hesitates, not knowing if Conan 'knows' or not. "Phantom?" There's also a wince at the idea that the sort of thing could happen to any Kaito.

Conan nods slowly. Ghost wouldn't fit anyway, but its the closest. So that means they have to keep looking ...

"Can't say," Conan says apologetically. "Ironic isn't it?"

He sighs. "I understand. And - definitely ironic. I'm sorry I couldn't be of any help there."

"You don't know. You might have put us onto a new lead," Conan assured his counterpart. "I'm going to check the library again." He paused. "Does that mean you have to drink blood?" he asked dubiously.

"It'd be good if I had. Kaito's probably desperate for anything that might help, knowing him."

A shrug as he opens the suddenly available door, which leads into the kitchen. Heads over to the fridge before answering, and by then his voice is slightly muffled by the open door and the hum of the machine. "Yes... but not human unless I absolutely have to... got it!" He closes the fridge door, holding up his prize - stupid Mansion'd hidden it right at the back when he'd needed it at the front for once. "See? Cow flavour. Yum." Now that sarcasm is near tangible.

Conan didn't reply. Desperate was one word ...

Conan made a face at his counterpart's comment. That sarcasm is obvious enough that he doesn't miss it, helping himself to a glass of juice instead. "What about ordinary foods? Can you eat them at all?"

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