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Miyano Shiho - genius biologist, mad scientist, member of the criminal gang the Black Organization, archnemesis of the world’s greatest detective Shinichi Kudo … and currently standing in line behind that same detective at Starbucks.
“What are you doing here? Making viruses to wipe out humanity not keeping you busy?” Shinichi keeps his voice light and airy, and to an uninformed observer, they might almost look like friends. But underneath his demeanour, a tension builds and knots its way through his body. Idly his hands inch closer to the gun he has concealed on him.
“Peace,” Shiho noticing what his hands are doing, says, “I’m just here for some hot chocolate.”
“I’ll order some for the both of us then”, Shinichi declares decisively, as the line moved forward and it was Shinichi came up to the counter.
Before Shiho could protest, Shinichi orders, “Two large hot chocolates please”
“You really didn’t have to” Shiho protests weakly.
“I wanted to. We have alot to talk about” he replies. What he doesn’t mention was that he wanted to cut off her route of escape. The silent accusation stings, but it’s not like he does it without reason. Their history is full of her throwing a bomb in his hands and then running. But she hopes he'd at least give her some credit, she wouldn’t have walked up right behind him in line if she weren’t prepared to face him.
They take a seat with their orders, and Shinichi Kudo remarks, “Even when we were on the run together I don’t think we’ve ever had a hot chocolate together.”
Ah that brings back memories for her. They’re paths had only aligned once, about a year ago, when she was in South America. She had been working on the APTX 4869 supervirus in a remote lab in the Amazon jungle when the director of the Black Organization’s South American operations went rogue and tried to seize the virus at the behest of some powerful drug cartel. She’d taken the virus, burned her notes and ran. And then she found Shinichi, who was in South American investigating disappearances related to cartel activity. By some miracle he believed her, and they ended up fleeing from both of their enemies together.
“We were a little busy avoiding a firing squad across Latin America.”
“You were busy avoiding a firing squad, the cartels were gonna dip me in an acid bath if they caught me” Shinichi points out, ever the stickler for details. He downs a sip of hot chocolate and then continues, “So did the Black Organization ever catch the traitors who hijacked their operations?”
Miyano Shiho swallows, her throat dry. She doesn’t know why she’s so nervous, it shouldn’t feel this significant to tell Shinichi she was no longer on the wrong side of the law. It’s just because she doesn’t want him to get the wrong idea about why she did it, she tells herself, he’d be unbearably smug about it.
“About that, I’m not really a privy to Black Organization operations anymore” she confesses.
“What?” Shinichi asks confused.
“Can we take this outside, there are people here” she hisses.
She knows the odds anyone is listening in on their conversation is really low, but it feels surreal to speak about secret organizations and new lives and starting over in a mundane setting like Starbucks.
As they step out of the door, one of her heels hits the ground at the wrong angle and triggers a sharp pain in her ankle leading her to trip. Before she can get up, Shinichi picks her up and puts her on his back.
“I’m not an invalid”, she protests.
Shinichi just gives her a naughty smile and says, “Doesn’t this bring back old memories?”
She raises her eyebrows at that, “the last time we were in my position it was because my leg had been shot. Not exactly the type of memory to get all happily nostalgic over.”
Shinichi hums noncommittally, “we made it out alive I’d say that’s a good reason to feel happy.”
She remains silent because he does have a point. She let’s herself sink into the warmth of his back. She remembers that day - her leg bleeding out, the bone deep certainty she was going to die, the moment when Shinichi decides to save her instead of leaving her. She still cannot understand it. Everything she had been taught would’ve told her to leave her behind that whatever her usefulness she wasn’t that useful. And she remembers feeling oddly safe in the warmth of his back, like everything was going to be alright despite all signs pointing to the contrary. She wondered if Shinichi’s optimism was a disease transmitted through skin to skin contact. It wasn’t precisely a sound scientific theory but it was the only explanation she had as to why he has that effect on her.
People are staring at them and usually she would feel intensely conscious about the scene they were making. Instead she buries her face in his back and decides to stop overthinking it and enjoy it. It’s cold and his back is ridiculously warm she decides, that’s it. All Shinichi Kudo is to her in this moment is her own personal space heater.
They find an empty park not too far from the Starbucks and he lays her down gently on the park bench. There is something unreadable in his eyes, an emotion she can’t quite name, something that makes her wonder if she has the same effect on him he has on her, and she squirms under the tenderness in his gaze.
“You mentioned not being privy to the operations of the Black Organization anymore?” Shinichi speaks softly and let’s the end of the statement trail off into a question. The words are burdened with significance, and Shiho feels scared. Shiho is scared of alot of things, but she knows how to deal with them, but her own feelings? No one’s ever taught her how to deal with those.
She faces away from him before beginning, “After they caught us and infected us with the super virus I made, I realized that this was what my choices lead too and that they were wrong and I couldn’t be a part of the Black Organization anymore. I don’t want to make superviruses anymore. So I left and came here to defect to America. They’re one of the few governments powerful enough to maybe protect me and they’re interested in what I know about the Black Organization.”
Shinichi throws back his head and let’s out a laugh.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t realize my crisis of conscience was such a joke to you” Shiho bites acridly.
“No no, I’m not laughing at you” Shinichi reassures,”it’s just that the NCB back in Tokyo wants me working with the Americans for the foreseeable future. I just found it funny we’ll both be in the US. What are the odds.”
The revelation throws her for a loop and begs the question now what? For so long their relationship has been that of enemies, but they no longer have a reason to oppose each other, so what are they now? They’re not friends so are they just strangers with history from now on? The thought makes Shiho sad. She really wants to ask, but the question itself scares her.
It is Shinichi who answers the question anyways.
He scratches his neck sheepishly and says, “You know when I gave my mission report to my boss at Interpol and mentioned your involvement, my boss said that you’d be a great asset for taking down the Black Organization.”
“Pardon me?” She asks blinking, not quite getting what he’s getting at.”
“I mean you’ll be in America, I’ll be in America, we make a great team, so why not be partners, you and me?”
Partners. She turns the word over in her head, and it brings a great fluttering of happiness in her chest. She doesn’t even try to deny it, she hugs Shinichi and says, “Someone needs to keep on top of you to make sure you don’t fall in a pit and die, guess it has to be me.”
“Hey I’ll have you know I’m the world’s greatest detective” but there’s laughter in his voice.