justonetruth | (no subject)

(no subject)

The candles are burning low in the kitchen and -- wait, candles? Candle to be precise. It's sitting in an old fashioned tin holder on the kitchen table before a sulky looking Ran, who is wearing a lavender coloured kimono complete with travelling coat. Her sandals rest beside the chair and she is poking at her traditional style meal with a disgruntled air.

"First he complains I'm getting fat -- then he says I need to eat more. Mou, Shinichi -- at least insult me consistently!"

Meanwhile there's another candle burning, this time in the library. The tiny light reflects in the steel of the katana it rests next to, and strangely in the eyes of one Kudou Shinichi, gazing intently at the book he's holding -- The What's Happening to My Body Book For Girls if anyone is curious. From his expression this is serious business.

You've got two to choose from -- take your pick, Mansion.

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"That was rude of him." Conan pipes up from the doorway of the kitchen, walking in and studying this new counterpart of her friend.

"Shinichi could choose his words better," Ran agreed, looking up to consider the new arrival. A little girl? Familiar face -- and those glasses? "You're up late, child."

"It's not too late!"

"It is closer midnight than not," Ran pointed out. "It is as well you'd be abed, child."

If there is one girl in the entire mansion who isn't going to look at you funny for your choice of reading material, it's this one.

"Ya gonna sit here in the dark all day, Kudo?"

"Of course not," Shinichi answers without looking up. "Presumably day will bring its own light."

He paused as the accent registered, looking up to confirm that yes, it was Hattori, and yes, not the Hattori he knew. "Ah."

She flicks on the light switch. Take that, meitantei.

"Ah," said Shinichi with appreciation. "The electricity." He extinguished his candle with economic speed, before tilting an eyebrow at Hattori curiously. "You are well used to such things?"

"Yeah, it's pretty popular. Yer new here?"

"I would not say new," Shinichi said thoughtfully, closing the book. "But it has been some time since we last visited. In fact, it was not until we found ourselves within the mansion that I remembered there were such things as electricity and gravity."

You forgot there was gravity. That makes perfect sense.

"It can be an adjustment sometimes."

"Ah. I was adjusting until you greeted me." Shinichi frowns thoughtfully. "I am almost certain we have not been introduced," he says diffidently. "In addition to a familiar face, I am not likely to forget such -- beauty."

Translation: why are you a girl?

"Meitantei Hattori Heiji." Ugh, Kudo stop trying to flirt. "'n you are?"

Weirdly, he's not flirting -- the question is too direct for that. It's when he starts vaguely talking about moonlight that you need to worry.

Shinichi blinks at the question. Insult? Or -- does Hattori know her version of him well enough that they are on so casual a footing? He would not take it amiss if his Hattori asked him such a question -- but of course, he would not need to.

"I have been called Shinichi," he says, opting for a conversational tone. "This sword you see here happened to be given to me by my master on the occasion of me being recognised a member of his household."

And if there's one guy in the entire Mansion who isn't going to look at him funny for his choice of reading material, it's this one.

Though the fact that the samurai is here at all is a bit of a surprise to the other Shinichi, and he pauses in the book stacks once he realizes who's making use of the candle. His younger counterpart's presence is definitely a bit of a puzzle in terms of timelines. Is he returning from the time before Ran claimed he died? Or...

Well, there's only one way to find out.

"Having some trouble?"

Shinichi looked up at the inquiry, his eyes resuming their usual blue shade out of the light. "I should not be so presumptious as to call my concerns a 'trouble,'" he said.

Shinichi silently noted the eerie flicker of eye colour, but didn't comment on it out loud.

"Not where Ran can hear, anyway." He paused, and idly leaned against a nearby table. "You went home?"

At the mention of Ran, Shinichi quickly checked the library -- no, he was safe. "Ah. After some complications. We are now travelling."

"'Complications'? Didn't you go back just before you were due to be ambushed?"

"That is indeed a complication, do you not think?"

"I think that's an understatement."

"I would not like to trouble anyone unduly."

"You aren't. So what happened?"

"... That is a very direct question to ask an acquaintance."

"Last time you were here, general consensus was that you were going to be dead. I think I have a right to ask."

"That's even more personal, surely!"

Shinichi gave his counterpart a flat look, considerably less than impressed. It was starting to look like chronological differences trumped any cultural differences he'd ever had to deal with back home.

"Asking how you managed to avoid being murdered is personal?" Though given the circumstances... "Let me guess: you were Conan after all." And had apparently found a cure to boot.

"You assume too much," Shinichi said sulkily, curling up around his book. "I didn't avoid it."

"You don't look like any of the ghosts here."

"I should be sorry indeed if I did," Shincihi said forcing himself to recover his calm. "Since I am not a ghost it would be unfortunate to look like one."

"Then you avoided being murdered, just not the attack." It was like pulling teeth. "Was it the foxes?"

"It would not be accurate to say that either," Shinichi reluctantly corrected his counterpart. "I was -- unusually fortunate."

"Ah?"

"I had another life to lose."

The detective took a moment to boggle over that. Just how literally he was meant to take it?

"...How?"

"It is a strange thing," Shinichi said, trying to maintain a detached tone. "But it seems that there is truth in the thought that a fox follows different rules than a man."

He obviously wasn't talking about Gin and Vodka...

"...You're talking about yourself, aren't you?"

... there were times when Shinichi wondered why he still bothered. "It is exceedingly hard to talk to you, you know."

"The feeling's mutual."

"Still, I do not wish to abandon propriety. Aside from all other concerns, it is safer. You will understand, I hope."

"Safer for who, exactly?"

"Well, all involved, I should imagine."

"So what can you tell me?"

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