thelotusflowerfiles:

No longer vanished? His disappearance had caused a stir closets to him but other than that the police kept the media’s rumor at bay for the most part. It was a little unnerving to have a stranger, even if he was a fellow detective, to know about that. Shinichi eyed him carefully before gesturing for the other to sit across from him. “Formally? Have we met before?”

Now that it was out in the open he could have sworn he had seen him before as himself. 

Hakuba gratefully took the seat offered, easing himself down and leaning the cane against the bench next to him. It took a few moments more to answer, getting settled and checking on Twig, who had happily settled on the floor at his feet. “Yes, we have, but it was only for a brief moment, Kudou-san, I don’t expect that you’d remember it…" 

Finally comfortable, he looked over at Shinichi and tilted his head, studying the other young man carefully. Evaluating. Feeling him out by taking note of those careful glances, the minutes of tension in regard to key words. Interesting, interesting… puzzle pieces, all of them.

"It was some years ago, now, when I first returned to Japan at seventeen years-old. My father, the Superintendent General, gave me a brief tour through the station, and along the way saw you. I’d been following your career off and on already, mostly through Japanese newsnets, but also from word of my father – he likes to pay attention to the young ones with promise – and had been quite eager to meet you…”

Hakuba sighed, feeling a little sheepish to be making the admission. “When I saw you there, you were discussing a case with Megure-keibu, I believe. I hurried up to you and introduced myself, shook your hand, perhaps did an awkward bow, and then scurried off again to catch up with my father and his secretary… so it was just a brief, and fittingly forgetful meeting… so do not fret if you can’t recall it, it was seconds at best, and you were receiving so much media attention at the time, yourself…" 

He laughed then, mostly at himself and shrugged. "I tried to catch you at your home many times after that, but you’d just disappeared. Busy with cases, as to be expected from someone of your calibre, but it did make me wonder…” For that, Hakuba lowered his voice, frowning. “But, it does seem that you’re here, now, so… I would love to hear your adventures.”

thelotusflowerfiles:

Shinichi grinned like a child and instantly buried his hands into her fur around the ears and rubbed. “AH, your such good girl.Very good girl." 

Looking back up to Hakuba he continued in Japanese. “She’s beautiful Hakuba. Now,” He stood, smile some what gone already and dusted off his hands and jeans. “what do you need me for?”

The corgi couldn’t help herself, overjoyed with the attention and pets. She hopped up, dancing in place, tail wagging furiously until the man stopped paying attention to her. Even then, she just went back to looking between the two, sniffing, until she huffed and settled on the floor. Right, good dogs stayed down in buildings. And she was a good girl. 

"Yes, thank you,” Hakuba said first to the compliment, then paused at the question, taken aback by the abrupt directness of it. He’d known that Shinichi was one for getting straight to the point, but the interaction with Twig had somehow made him forget, just temporarily, that they weren’t already friends. 

…which was really kind of an odd feeling, as the half-brit really didn’t have friends generally, anyway. 

“Ah… need you, well, I…” He shifted his gaze to the table, wondering if they were going to sit anytime soon as the pain in his back resurfaced, throbbing as the anxiety grew. But he could do this. They were… colleagues. He had to remember that.

Hakuba started again, voice tired, but stable. “As I mentioned in my letter and emails, I had a sort of question to pose to you, but it deals with ethics and nitty-gritty… really, I’d just like to chat, if you’re inclined. I’ve always wanted to meet you formally, and see how we hit it off as I’m to understand we have much in common. Since I’m here in Japan for the moment, and you’re no longer vanished, I thought it would be an ideal time to try.”

thelotusflowerfiles:

Shinichi clasped his hand briefly, taking in the size, texture; the fact that they shook slightly and were firm but gentle in their grip before crouching down to Twig. He couldn’t help but to smile at her. A small tiny smile that just barely lift the corners of his mouth but was so gentle and sweet.

“This should be fine. She seems like a lovely lady.” He said to him before addressing Twig. “Good Afternoon, Twig.”

Hakuba noticed the smile, tilting his head at the detective as he turned his attention to the dog. Cute. It helped him ease into a more genuine of his own, for the moment able to ignore the building pain in his back from standing still for so long. “She’s a good girl, yes… she’ll shake, too, if you ask her in english. Won’t you, Twiggy?" 

Twig looked back and forth between them, large ears twitching and angling toward whoever last said her name. She loved attention, and her tail wagged harder to show it, doing all that she could to stay sitting politely though she really wanted to run to this new person. Frustrated, she closed her mouth and pointedly sniffed at Shinichi, ears falling back. 

"I think she can tell that you’re a dog person,” Hakuba laughed, biting his lip. 

thelotusflowerfiles:

After dropping off the case files dealing with the regular ‘are you okay’s  and ‘you should sleep more’ from Takagi and Sato Shinichi had managed to get home with out an incident, thankfully.

The next morning Shinichi had woken up to a strange dream involving Downey Jr’s Holmes and a talking dog named Tim. There was something about a lost tea cup the belong to Louis the Sixteenth and a traveling giant cranes show loosing their golden llama deity statue.

It took three cups of the strongest coffee he had to take the edge off of the ringing in his ears that came from the screeching of large birds. Rubbing his fingers over his eyes he sighed and tried hard to forget his dream.

A shower washed away anything else that lingered. Towel over his head he glanced at his blinking phone.

[text]: okay

Dressing in a pair of jeans, white button down, and a light grey cotton vest, and a black blazer he wondered if he could sneak in a few case files at the cafe. Fingering his bangs a bit in the mirror he smoothed down most of the fly-a-ways before heading back down stairs to leave. Grabbing a black leather satchel he place about six in and tossed it over his shoulder. He was almost out the door when he remembered his glasses sitting on the desk. Sighing he walked back to them and hooked them into the blazer’s lapel.

Periot’s was slightly emptier than usual as Shinichi sat down in a corner booth; back to the wall and eye on the door. Even after being back and solving cases openly again the constant need to reaffirm a small measure of precaution never left. Settling down with a hot plain tea Shinichi got to work on a three person murder suicide and waited for Hakuba forgetting that it was only 1:15 pm.

As the time drew closer, Hakuba found himself getting more and more nervous. The staff at the house made sure that he was properly given tea as per Baaya’s instructions, and arranged for a car despite his assurance that he could call for a cab himself, really. He could drive himself, even, though on the off chance that he’d have to resort to the stronger painkillers in his bag…

Resigned, the Superintendent General’s son allowed himself to be driven to the cafe in question, though he begged them to let him walk the last half a block on his own. He didn’t want to be seen as someone weak, not for their very first meeting. Hakuba wanted to be Kudou’s colleague. He would be formal and polite, but there would be no awkward hierarchy of superiority– even though Shinichi was better. 

Though that was a given, Hakuba thought with a sigh as the car pulled up to the curb, given that he wasn’t a detective anymore. 

He stepped out with cane and canine, taking a moment to get his bearings before nodding to the driver. Yes, he’d call if he had any trouble, and yes, he’d call when he was ready to return to the house. Yes, he had his wallet. No, he didn’t need anything.

Twig waited patiently while they spoke, ears twitching at all of the people that passed them on the sidewalk.

Finally, Hakuba made his way into the cafe, awkward limp in his step, and drew himself up, looking for familiar faces. Anxious as he’d been, it was an instant relief once he found that Shinichi was there already, waiting. He checked his watch to ensure that he had made it on time – 14:59:21 – then made his way over to the back corner. A suitable place for detectives, really. Er, and ex-detectives.

He didn’t want to interrupt Shinichi’s work and approached cautiously with that in mind, hoping that he, or the jingling of Twig’s tags, would be noticed before he’d have to say anything at all. 

thelotusflowerfiles:

Coffee in one hand his phone in the other Shinichi got to the front door when his phone went off.

[text]: So far. 

Slipping the phone back into his beast pocket he hefted the completed cold case files and started toward the precinct. 

Well that was… terse. Hakuba frowned at his phone, but let out a small sigh. Kudou was, after all, an INTJ from his observations– his brevity was simply practical. Efficient. Nothing more was needed, so why bother with the unnecessary fluff of societal convention? It both pleased him, as the authenticity was so refreshing, and made him nervous. He hoped that he could keep his chatter down to a minimum at their meeting. His need for it to go well was somewhat desperate. 

Instead of responding right away, Hakuba went about his day. His slow, agonizing day of torture. Relearning the Japanese train system, which was similar to the Tube, but far more compact. At least Twig was allowed to accompany him while wearing her bright red service animal vest. The cane afforded him some preferential seating, as well, but being a foreigner, he did his best to avoid taking advantage. He didn’t want to be separate from the rest of the citizens. He never had. Not for his mixed heritage, and certainly not for his disability. 

In the end, after wandering Tokyo, he hailed a cab to take him back to his father’s house, exhausted. He’d forgotten just how much walking there was to do in the city. Not that there wasn’t in London, but it’d been at least two years since he was in fit condition for this amount of physical activity. 

Needless to say, with another round of medications, he went to bed early and gratefully. 

The next morning, he waited… waited… waited as patiently as he could until he couldn’t stand it any more and finally sent another text to Shinichi. It was 10:34:24 according to his watch. Their proposed meeting was 15:00:00. It had to be safe. 

But when he went to text, Hakuba paused, frowned, and sighed. He didn’t want to be a pest. What could he say that didn’t sound so impossibly needy? 

He waited until 12:14:00, then sent the text anyway.

[text] I’ll see you there.

Was that too presumptuous? 

[text] I’m very much looking forward to it.

Was that too much pressure? Hakuba avoided adding an emoticon, grimacing at the thought, and instead rubbed Twig’s shoulders, rolling her fur between his fingers. She looked up at him, ears back and sniffed.

“…yes, I realize I’m being too sensitive. You don’t need to tell me.”

More nose twitching, then a tailwag.

“Shall we take a cab?”

Indifferent, Twig just wagged her tail again. 

“For a service dog, you’re really of no help, my love.”

She smiled. So did he. 

thelotusflowerfiles:

Mornings had always been difficult for the detective. Shinichi rolled over and struck his hand out from underneath the covers the snatch his phone. As it disappeared under the covers he sat up to look at it. 

It WAS Hakuba who had text him so late last night. Yawning Shinichi climbed out of his bed and made his way down stairs to start coffee. it luckily wasn’t that early for him to be awake but after getting about two hours of sleep he was a little more than upset.

[text:] As one who does this as a training challenge I can understand. If you don’t mind I’m going to save you to my contacts to avoid further confusion.

Sighing he finished off his coffee and began to start his morning routine.

Relieved though he was that Shinichi didn’t appear upset (oh, little did he know), Hakuba wondered why he hadn’t added him to his contacts already. After all, he’d provided his phone number… but then, perhaps Kudou had never intended for them to exchange numbers at all. He couldn’t help but feel a little disappointed by that, but… he also couldn’t blame him. Shinichi was, after all, a celebrity.

Or used to be. He wasn’t entirely certain where he fit these days. 

[text] Yes, please do. Is tomorrow at 3 o’clock still viable?

He set the phone on his lap and turned his attention back to the dog as she chased her own tail, barking like mad. Laughing, he went back to his tea. Whatever would he do without her?

thelotusflowerfiles:

Shinichi heard his phone chime and looked up from the research book. He slipped off his glasses and tossed them on to the desk along with the book and crossed over to the table. After rummaging through the documents he found it under the fifth file and above the autopsy photos.

A text? He swiped his phone keypad and unlocked it. An unknown number usually meant one of two things. His mother was using a payphone or a hotels or a certain thief that liked to send cryptic riddles and puzzles. Opening it he found that it was nether. Eyes narrowing he hesitated over the text bar.

[text]: who is this?

Alas, poor Shinichi; once Hakuba was out, he was completely out until well into the next morning. Friday found him with a cold, wet nose digging under his palm, then a tongue licking his face. He blinked, groggy, and pushed away from the wriggling dog with a half laugh, half whimper. “God, Twig, what the bloody hell are you doing?”

She responded by stretching out on her belly, front paws batting at his face while her undocked tail waved back and forth eagerly.

“You’ve been stuck in here all night, haven’t you? All right, all right… I’m getting up." 

It took him a while to get out of bed and dressed enough to take her outside, but soon enough he was in the back garden, relaxing on the bench next to the koi pond, checking the messages on his phone while sipping a cup of green tea. Although he didn’t intend to stay with his father long, it was at least nice that he still had staff around to make it for him. 

Kudou’s message confused him at first, but then he sighed. Right. It had been a pain to track down Shinichi’s number, but he’d thought it necessary. Perhaps he should have asked for it via email… but then, he did say that he would call. Kudou should have been expecting it.

[text] Hakuba Saguru. Apologies; I should have mentioned that earlier.

Hakuba glanced up from his phone and watched Twig sprint across the yard, then looked back at his phone, wondering if he should add anything else.

[text] It seems that I’m just as much a ferret despite having been retired.

thelotusflowerfiles:

Shinichi jolted from the nap he was taking and stared at his offending phone. Case files and papers scattered about him like morbid flower petals of violence and death. His half touched coffee now cold and gross sat just behind his head on side table. More papers slid to the floor as he sat up and took his phone out of his back pocket. An email from Hakuba.

Sounds great. I’ll meet you then.

He hit the send and rolled back on to his side. Papers crumpling and complaining under his weight. He jumped when a pen poked him in the ribs. Offend he tossed it towards the desk and missed. Glaring at he snorted and curled back up with his back to it. After a few minutes he was snoring softly and ruining the cold case documents.

The flight was long; so much longer than Hakuba remembered. How did he used to make this trip so often back in the day? By the time he deplaned, he wanted nothing more than to take his medication and sleep until his meeting with Shinichi. God, his back hurt.

If it hadn’t been for Twig, he might have avoided asking for help despite the pain. Fortunately, wounded though his pride was, he still had some degree of common sense… and no desire to end up at a Japanese hospital. He remembered all too well how foreigners were treated. But, the Tokyo International Airport representatives were kind to tourists, and helped with Hakuba’s luggage after a brief conversation in which they were overly enthusiastic about his admittedly rusty Japanese. 

He tried, very hard, to not feel insulted by it. It wasn’t their fault that he was no longer really news in the country, and he did have an accent. Alas. 

Somehow, eventually, he made it to where his father was waiting – for once – and managed an awkward bow to the airport staff before letting the Superintendent General take over for him. Desperate to avoid awkward conversation, Hakuba feigned sleep in the car ride to the manor, and a little while later, found himself, finally, in his old bed.

The room was barer than he remembered, but it was comforting in a way. It hadn’t changed. And, really, if it weren’t for the corgi curled up next to him, it was just like those days when he used to lie there, waiting for sleep. Though, unlike before, he had medication to help with that now. Such nice, strong medication that eased the thoughts right out of his mind. 

Hakuba looked to the window, instantly reminded of Kaitou Kid. How often had he wished for him to visit? It was still bright out, only early afternoon. Kid still did heists… Perhaps he could…

No. 

No. He was not about to get wrapped up in that again. Instead, he strained for his phone and typed a message out to Shinichi. 

[text] I have, in fact, made it to Japan in one piece. Will Saturday still work for you?

Better. 

He closed his eyes and let the painkillers and jet lag overtake him, fingers threading lazily through the coarse fur on the dog’s neck. Hakuba was no longer a detective and had no reason to chase a thief. Not that he could, anyway. But discussing cases and Holmes with a fellow detective at a cafe? That was safe. 

Painful, but safe.