Interview with Kudo Shinichi, a detective conan/case closed fanfic

DISCLAIMER:
名探偵コナン/Detective Conan
Gosho Aoyama©1994

One fine afternoon, Kudo Shinichi, the police detective of MPD, found himself questioned on a day off by a guest who was curious beyond belief about his love life. Or rather, how his love life turned out to be. And he could do nothing but answer all those questions.

Interview with Kudo Shinichi

"Can you please stop with that 'we need to talk' phrase? It's giving me goosebumps every time you use it, as though something is going terribly wrong. It's a rather enjoyable afternoon today. Getting my mood ruined is the last thing I want."

Q. Q?

"I took a day off. I worked seventy hours straight before, so I guess I deserve my rest? As much as I love mysteries, I'm still human. Not a Terminator who can work non-stop."

"What? My love life? What part of it do you want me to explain again? I thought you knew it all already. Wait—is that the reason behind this rare visit? To interrogate me about my personal romance?"

Q. Q?

"Oh, well. Go ahead."

Q? Q?

"Yes, I loved Ran. I was very much in love with her. You know that better than anyone, I suppose. After returning to my actual body and age, I confessed to her and we were dating for awhile. However, we realized that it wasn't the same anymore. Both of us had changed. So we broke up, for good. It was devastating, you see, experiencing first heartbreak. I've always had this thought that Ran and I were meant to be together, and reality proved that we weren't. But even back then, I knew I had to move on. And I've moved on. We've both moved on."

"Um, we were going out for… perhaps sixteen months? Just right until before my nineteenth birthday, though I'm not really sure. Why are you now asking me that again? It happened fourteen years ago, for God's sake."

"Three years. For three years, I didn't date anybody else after Ran. Damn slow recovery, I know. But I was fine. I had to do that much because it wouldn't do justice for any girl if I used her as a rebound."

…Q?

"Ai? You don't need to worry. She's not a rebound. I'm not choosing her because 'there is nobody else', but because I really want to be with her. Well, if I'm allowed to be completely honest with you right now, I have to say that the first time I recognized my feelings for her was when she was still twelve years old. I was freaking out. Could you imagine my situation? I was twenty-three, just got accepted in MPD, and was developing a strong, romantic feeling for a twelve year old girl! I thought I had turned into a pedophile. Sure, I'm totally into that 'inner beauty' shit… but come on, what do you expect from a twelve year old girl's physical appearance? Almost-flat breasts, skinny arms and legs, no curve whatsoever—"

"Hey, hey, hey, I'm just a man here, okay? You can't blame me. But Ai hadn't even hit puberty back then, and yet her face, her laughter, her frown, her sarcasm, everything about her haunted me every day, followed me everywhere. Good Lord, I can't help but laugh now whenever I remembered how frustrated and panicked I was at that time. I thought I went insane."

"I know. That was what I always told myself. That inside, she is 'Miyano Shiho'. An adult, a smart scientist. But it didn't make me feel better, because it was the face of 'Haibara Ai' that I looked at when I spoke to her, and it was her child-like body that I saw when she made my heart twitch."

Q? Q?

"Eh? Why didn't Ai take the antidote like I did? Haven't I told you?"

"She didn't want to. 'Miyano Shiho' lived in nightmares, she said. She wanted to live a better life, as 'Haibara Ai'. So the FBI agreed to help officially change her identity."

Q…?

"I never told you about this part of my life, but I dated lots of women to distract myself. The heartbreak with Ran was awful, but this particular realization was a lot worse. I went out with numerous girls; most of them were a one-time fling, just to convince myself that I'm no pedophile. However, the more I tried to replace her, to get her out of my head, the more it occurred to me that she's the one. It was hilarious, if I recall it now. Plenty of one night stands… and still those were in vain."

Q-Q? Q!

"Are you really that surprised? Did you actually think I never had one night stands? Come on, we're both adults here. I'm thirty-three, remember? At this point, I practically had done almost anything you've ever done with your husband."

Q-Q-Q… Q! Q!

"Oh my God, are you blushing? Okay, okay, I'll stop."

…Q. Q?

"I waited. After accepting the fact that I had grown to love Haibara Ai, I waited for the right time to confess. To tell her how I feel. It's funny how Ran used to wait for me, and suddenly I became the one who does all the waiting for someone else. I guess karma indeed exists. It was almost crazy how I managed to suppress my feelings inside for four years when I saw her almost in a daily basis. Strangely enough, watching her grow up soothed my heart. I knew time passes by, and someday I would get my chance."

"Yeah, she was sixteen when I confessed."

Q? Q? Q?

"On her birthday night. She looked… what's that word? Dumbfounded? She stared at me in disbelief for a few seconds too long before asking me when I began to feel that way about her. And suddenly there were tears flowing down her cheeks the moment I answered her question. She said those were tears of relief. Apparently, she has always been fancying me, ever since I was Edogawa Conan."

Q? Q! Q! Q!

"I know, I know. I was such a fool for not noticing that. You told me once that she was always staring at me from a distance, didn't you? And yet I never took it seriously. Sorry. Ai was always a bit of an observer, so I never put so much thought into it even though I often felt her gaze upon me."

"She is precious to me and I love her. The selfish part of me wanted to keep her for myself as soon as possible. But we had to be careful. I couldn't simply date a high school girl ten years younger than me. So I had to wait some more. We waited. Moreover, Ai wanted to graduate high school and enter Meiji University first. I respected her decision."

"It's fine. We didn't raise enough suspicion when I picked her up after school because people always did say we had this strong, solid friendship chemistry around us… and they thought I was only doing that because she lives next door."

Q…?

"No, I don't mind people who say that we look more like friends than lovers, even after knowing we're going out. I think it's important for your partner to be your best friend as well… because you're going to spend so much time with her, or with him. I'm experienced enough to realize that relationships aren't just about physical attractions. I need someone who suits me. I need a girl who makes my heart race not only when I'm touching her, but also when I'm talking to her, debating with her. And I found it all in her. In Haibara Ai. That's why I'm upgrading this relationship into a lifetime companionship."

Q-Q?

"Yes. I'm marrying her next month. You've got the invitation, right? That's why you flew here to ask me these things?"

Q! Q? Q!

"It's about time. I've waited for her long enough. Congratulations, finally you're going to have a daughter-in-law."

Q-Q… Q...

"Good Lord, please don't cry."

- end -

from skybluescramble:

Hello again.

I had so much fun writing this piece, and I must admit this format is NOT my original idea. I once saw someone writing a story like this for Harry Potter fic and I thought, "Ah.. Perhaps I can use it for my Detective Conan fanfiction someday." The reason why the questions weren't written down because it's better to leave them to your own imagination. Don't you think so?

So this is it.

Please tell me what you think by leaving reviews, and can you guess who does all the asking?