Blink: The Tenth Muse Chapter 8

[Sherlock Lupin 41]

FFN link: http://www.fanfiction.net/s/8148002/8/Blink-The-Tenth-Muse

Tugging the brim of her hat down further, Shinmi walked through the gates of Edoka High as the final bell of the day sounded. She leaned against the brick fence, eyes on the door, waiting for Kaito to come out. They had to practice for a show that was going to be that weekend, and then she would be reading lines with Lupin-hopefuls until Kid's heist started. She sighed softly; there had yet to be one actor she thought could play the part perfectly and not make Hisao accidently-on-purpose throw his book of Sudoku puzzles at Minoru and 'miss' as Shinmi would leave with the actor to read lines. Minoru would gravitate towards the door after talking to them, and Shinmi could only hope that they sucked at acting if their threesome had a negative view of them.

She gave Kaito a half-wave as he came out of the school, followed by a girl who looked a heck of a lot like Ran did and… was that the detective who went to Kid's heists? As Kaito approached then, she pushed up her glasses which she had totally stolen from her father and had Agasa change the lens.

"You ready to go, Kai?" She asked, and she feigned confusion when the girl gave a small gasp. "Um, what is it?"

"You… you're… !"

"I believe Aoko-kun means to ask if you are Kudou Shinmi," the detective, she believed his name was Hakuba, said. He gave her a curious look as he scrutinized her, "I'll admit the resemblance is… uncanny."

"Ah, no, sorry," Shinmi said sheepishly with an embarrassed grin. "My name's Keiko. I'm Kaito's cousin."

"Eh, really?" Aoko gaped. "You look just like her though!"

"Well, I also look a lot like Kaito," she replied with a shrug.

"Mou, I guess that's true…" Aoko agreed. "You look a lot better than that Bakaito."

"Still though," Hakuba's face was contemplative. "Your resemblance to that actress is an extremely great one."

Shinmi shrugged, "Yeah, I get that a lot. We're not related as far as I know though."

Hakuba didn't look too convinced, but when he sighed, she knew he let it drop. However, he didn't stop talking to her. "Keiko-san, are you aware that your cousin is Kaitou Kid?"

Shinmi blinked, "Isn't Kid like, forty or something?"

"Not according to the hair sample I got of him," Hakuba said with a smirk.

Shinmi tilted her head to the side, "Well, I guess he is rather spry for a man that age…"

"You don't actually believe him, do you?" Kaito gaped. "What ever happened to family taking care of family?" He then remembered something, "And I was even handcuffed to him during the last heist!"

Shinmi rolled her eyes, "I don't actually believe him, Kai." Yes, you do. "You've never done anything that would make me think you could be Kid." Actually, he's done a lot of things. And you even saw him with the monocle. That's about as much proof as you need. "I do know that you're his biggest fan, ever. He's too great of a magician not to be your idol." No, everything you've seen Kid do, Kaito could do just as easily. She smiled, "Well, Kaito and I really need to get going. It was nice meeting you both!"

Hakuba nodded, "Likewise."

The cousins departed with a wave. When they were far enough away, Kaito asked, "Do you think Hakuba believes you?"

Shinmi snorted, "Not in the slightest."

~:~

Kaito and Shinmi lay on the grass in the background of the Kuroba house. The yard was strewn with confetti, glitter, silly string, and feathers. Cards were stuck into trees, and the doves had already flown to a safer area. Both teens had lazy grins on their faces. Kaito sighed, "That… was awesome."

"… Yeah, it was," Shinmi had to agree. "It will never work on that stage though."

"Well, we need a bigger one then," Kaito said with a slight pout. "An even greater one than a normal stage. One where the whole world can see us!"

"Well, all the world's a stage," Shinmi shrugged. "You just have to take your place."

"All the world's a stage…" Kaito snorted, "Well, we should be able hold a show for all of Tokyo… let's do it!"

"… Kai… " Shinmi sighed, "How do propose we do that?" Actually, a certain way came to her mind, but that would be impossible at the moment.

"I'll find a way!" Kaito said, "I'll definitely find a way."

She shook her head with a tiny smile, "You do that."

~:~

As the actor moved to whisper the line in her ear, Shinmi internally groaned when he grabbed her shoulder instead of slamming the wall behind them. With a smirk, she said her line, and the scene ended on a not so dramatic note. The directors made a few remarks, and the two left the room.

She smiled brightly as him, "It was nice working with you."

He gave her a nervous smile, "You too, Shinmi-san."

They parted ways in the hall and she reentered the room Minoru and Hisao were waiting in. When she saw their expectant looks, she shook her head, "He can't block to save his life, and he grabbed me."

"Good," Hisao nodded. "I didn't like him."

Minoru rolled his eyes, "You didn't like any of them."

"Neither did you," Hisao shot back with a snort. "You were practically glued to the door."

"Details, Hisa-chan," Minoru said dismissively.

"Keep calling me that, and I really will throw this at you," the other boy threatened, filling in another number.

Minoru snorted in return, "You know you love me, Hisa-chan; don't deny it~"

"Only in your dreams."

"I'll see you tonight~!" Minoru waggled his eyebrows suggestively and grinned.

Shinmi rolled her eyes, "Before this becomes a repeat for heists when we're together, I'm going to head to the bakery café thing across the street."

Hisao looked up from his puzzle, "Is it already time for a break?"

"Yeah," Shinmi nodded, "We've got the second set in thirty minutes. You want me to bring you anything?

"I want a muffin," Hisao demanded, going back to his puzzle.

"I want one those cupcakes with icing in the middle!" Minoru said, bright eyed.

Incredibly amused by their different responses, Shinmi laughed silently as she slung her bag over her shoulder and then turned with a wave, "Sure. Blueberry and chocolate?"

"You know us so well~!"Minoru praised.

"Gods forbid I don't after all these years," she replied, leaving.

~:~

Across the street at the 'bakery café thing,' Shinmi was nursing a cup of coffee at a table in the corner when the woman sitting in a table in front of her dropped the muffin she was eating and fell forward, spilling her drink and sending the cup to the floor with a crash. Time seemed to stand still until…

"Holy shit…" a teenage boy was blinking wide eyed as he walked closer to the body.

"Don't get any closer," Shinmi ordered, rising from her seat. "And would someone please call the police and an ambulance?"

Ignoring her completely, he took out his phone and took multiple pictures, completely circling her body. Satisfied, he turned to Shinmi, "I already did both with my phone when she first fell. You can check my call log to make sure I'm not trying to deter you in any way." He smirked, "I got a very strong whiff of almonds when I got close to her, so I'm assuming cyanide poisoning. Feel free to begin your investigation, Meitantei-chan."

With a dark look, Shinmi glared at the teen when as she approached the body. It took one sniff to confirm the scent of almonds, and Shinmi turned to the boy as she dug her gloves out of her bag, "Who are you?"

"I'll tell when the police arrive," he replied easily, amber eyes flickering with mischief behind white horn-rimmed glasses. "Feel free to ask for any and all of my pictures if you need them, Meitantei-chan."

Shinmi rolled her eyes, but she noted that he did look rather familiar to her, but she couldn't place where she had seen him. Ignoring him for the moment, she put her gloves on and picked up the discarded muffin and sniffed it. With a frown, she put it back down.

"I take it that's not where the cyanide came from?" the teen chanced.

"Not from the muffin at least. I can't say anything about that drink though" Shinmi said. "She'll be dead before anyone can get here though."

The teen turned to the small gathering of people who were watching a safe distance away, "Sorry, but none of you are leaving until this is wrapped up. If you have anywhere to be, I suggest you call and explain." He grimaced, "That includes me too." He dialed a number on his phone, "You're going to have to take a slight rain check on those pictures, Meitantei-chan."

She watched as he walked away, running a hand through ginger colored hair. As she went to go talk to the manager of the establishment, she ran profiles through her mind, but for the life of her, none of them matched up to the teen. Pushing him out of her mind for the moment, she flashed the manager a reassuring smile, "I'd like to ask you some questions about your employees that clocked in to work today if that's okay with you, Manager-san."

The old man blinked at her, eyes wide, "You're…"

Shinmi finished the sentence for him, "A detective."

~:~

By the time, Megure arrived, Shinmi had already called Hisao and asked him to pass along a message that she would be back late.

"Shinmi-kun? Are you throwing away your anonymity?" he asked her.

"Ah, no, but not many people were here, and my leaving might have sent you on a wild goose chase for a possible suspect," she replied sheepishly.

"What have you collected so far?" Megure asked her.

"Keibu, when you said the anonymous tip was discovered," a woman said, "I didn't think you meant it was a teenage actress."

"A teenage actress who has been called the 'savior of the police force,'" Shinmi almost groaned when the teen spoke up next to her. He smirked, "If you won't trust her now that you know how young she is, that's a problem, ne?"

"You're not helping," Shinmi grumbled.

"I have no idea who you are though," Megure said sternly.

"He took pictures of the body before I touched anything with his phone," Shinmi supplied. "Aside from that, according to the manager, today has been rather slow and only two other people were working. One of them Kobaru Reina-san, who was working the register, and the other is Takaki Kenya-san, who was working with the manager in the kitchen. The victim died of cyanide poisoning while eating a muffin, but I don't believe the poison was on the muffin. There are five other people who were here within an hour before the death, and none of them left." She gestured to the group of two men and three women. She shot the teen who had yet to give his name a look, "And then there's you."

"And you," he shot back a grin. He glanced at the group, "Sorry, but none of us are leaving; we're suspects."

"What?" A man asked, outraged. "If you're looking for the killer, it's that kid right there! He was sitting with her after all!"