Chapter Text
Shinichi will admit, there was probably a better way of handling this. If he had known, at the time, how much of a headache this was going to become, he would have looked for said better method.
As it was, he blindly walked into a trap.
It started innocently enough with a single question.
“Have you thought about a cross-over between Elementary Conan and the Moonlight Magician?” It was a question from a fan during one of his many panels. It was a question, plain and simple, a simple yes or no. If Shinichi had said either answer, that would have been the end of it.
Instead, he answered, “Conan and what?”
His father face-palmed beside him as the crowd went wild. How could he have never heard about Moonlight Magician? How could he call himself a mystery novelist if he’d never read of his competition? Didn’t he read the fan letters they sent him?!
(The answer was no. Sonoko read them and gave him the important ones.)
“Settle down!” the announcer called over the crowd, “Settle down! I’m sure Kudou-san has a good explanation for this!”
The crowd still grumbled as the announcer turned to Shinichi, death threats concealed behind a camera smile.
Shinichi gulped.
“I don’t mean to raise a ruckus,” Shinichi started, “I do try to read as many letters as I can, but there are thousands of them every day. And you must know, as my fans, that my primary job is a homicide detective working with Tokyo Division One. When I’m not solving cases, I’m writing some for my novels. There is not a lot of time in-between for reading and catching up on the latest genre trends.”
Shinichi left out the part where he’d still choose Sherlock Holmes over any modern book, especially one concerning a thief.
“Next question?” the announcer asked when the crowd didn’t immediately break into another mob. He pointed to a hand in the back.
“For Kudou-san again,” said a girl dressed up as Rei from the first Elementary Conan cover art. “Now that you know about it, are you going to read Moonlight Magician and consider a cross-over?”
“Yes, of course,” Shinichi agreed with a smile.
The girl narrowed her eyes, “You’re lying.”
Shinichi froze, “Excuse me?”
“Everyone knows Kudou-san’s left eyebrow twitches when he lies!” the girl exclaimed.
... Does it really?
“You’re lying, Kudou-san!” the girl said into the mike as the crowd rallied around her, “You’re lying to your fans! You’re lying to the world! Most importantly, you’re lying to yourself!”
And that’s how Shinichi found himself in an impromptu PR meeting with his agent.
“Well…” Sonoko said, turning off the video of the panel, “You done fucked up.”
“Thank you for putting that so eloquently,” Shinichi grimaced, “Aren’t you supposed to be the heiress of a company or something?”
“I am, which means I have something to fall back on when this runs itself into the ground,” Sonoko put her tablet down, “You, on the other hand, don’t.”
Shinichi raised an eyebrow, “What is my homicide detective-ship? Chopped liver?”
“You said it, not me,” Sonoko shrugged, “Anyway, the only way we’re going to avoid this shit-show is to get Kuroba and his agent on the line and get a cross-over started.”
“...Who?”
“You can’t be this dense,” Sonoko groaned, “Kuroba Kaito? Author of Moonlight Magician? How do you not know?!”
“I didn’t know a series like that existed until a few hours ago!” Shinichi protect, “How was I supposed to know the name of the author?!”
“It’s been around for years! Quit living under a rock!”
“I didn’t know that! And I do not live under a rock!”
“Don’t get your twitchy eyebrows in a bunch,” Sonoko tutted, “I’ll take care of setting up the initial meet and greet to see if we can get a project up and running.”
Twitchy…? “Hey, you’re the one that posted that!”
Sonoko froze, paling considerably. She shot Shinichi a shaky grin behind her phone.
“No, you don’t get to play cute with me! You basically led my fans in a revolt against me!” Shinichi slammed his hands against the coffee table, “And my eyebrow does not twitch when I lie!”
“Shinichi, trust me as your agent when I say: you need to make this cross-over happen!” Sonoko begged, flying right past excuses into appeals, “He is running the circuit on female readers! He’s managed to pull from all genres and keep expectations high! You need to do a cross-over with him!”
Shinichi glared, “Just say it. You want to see a cross-over for one of your OTPs.”
Sonoko held a stiff upper lip for all of five seconds before caving, “Hanaji and Lancelot-san need to meet! I can’t rest until I see the two worlds connected!”
Shinichi sighed. How did he know Sonoko so well? He really wished he didn’t.
“Please Shinichi!” Sonoko begged, tugging on his arm until he finally paid attention to her.
“Ugh, fine,” Shinichi dragged a hand through his hair. “I’ll ask the author if he wants to do a cross-over.”
Sonoko cheered loudly, throwing her hands up in celebration.
“Don’t get ahead of yourself!” Shinichi jabbed a finger at her. “The guy still has to say yes. I can’t make him do anything.”
“But you’re a fantastic writer!” Sonoko smiled smugly. “We’ve got this cross-over in the bag!”
Remember what they say about counting chickens before they hatch?