Chapter Text
"No, this just won't work, it looks...duller than what I was hoping it to turn out...maybe I mixed too many blues together..."
Shinichi tilts his head, squints his eyes, stands in a new positions, and rubs his hand on his chin. If there's anything his body language is trying to say, or literally yelling-it would be saying 'I'm unsatisfied.'
"What do you see, Ran?"
"Well, I see a gloriously, grand boat upon a vibrate blue ocean. It's beautiful. I think all the blue shades put the piece together."
"Well yeah, the blue helps connect the entire piece. That's the intention anyone can see. I'm saying that maybe it was that choice that made the painting too dull."
Ran huffed, she was slightly offended that Shinichi thinks everyone sees what he sees. Like it was obvious what the problem was. This man seems insatiable lately.
"Oh, I don't know Shinichi, alright. Have you entered a slump? Whatever you say about your paintings, they always look great. Your commission requests are as high as ever and the audience engagement is constantly rising by 6% according to your online media and recent exhibitions." She reads off her tablet when she pulled it up since the beginning of her visit, as if she knows what's wrong.
Shinichi was listening, but he didn't feel better. He can't expect her to understand his frustration, but he can't help getting frustrated. She probably thinks this is one of the many fits when he has one painting he is unsatisfied with and she appeases him with positive stats like she is doing now. It's not like she can detect the nuances of his past paintings to recent ones either. These paintings will always look 'great' to her, she's not a painter or an avid admirer. Just a consultant. Maybe this was something only Shinichi could see, or a much more skillful eye. He thinks his paintings are becoming boring the more he completes one. He can't stop himself from looking back and just compare how different he was.
Maybe it's time to put the paintbrush down? Shinichi thought, but he hastily erased that thought from his mind. If he said that to Ran, she just might faint.
"So, are you planning to publish this piece? Maybe add it to the exhibit scheduled three days from now?" Ran questioned, holding her stylus to her tablet and bringing back the professional purpose of her visit. They may have been childhood friends, but she puts work first.
Shinichi let that question sit in the back of his mind as he gazed upon his completed, dull painting one last time. After a mere twenty seconds he shook his head.
"No, I can't. Not this one. It's just..."
Ran sighed and put away the tablet with a small hesitation. They needed more paintings to make an actual exhibition hall like they planned. They had already rented out a hall at Syouzou-ryoku Contemporary Museum. Shinichi only approved of six of his paintings, he needed at least one more. At this rate, Ran wouldn't care what painting he put up, but that wasn't her choice to make. She doesn't want to tell Shinichi to 'just put anything up' because that disrespects his artwork and effort. Much to her disgruntlement, she has no other choice but to comply to Shinichi's wishes.
If only we weren't best friends. I wouldn't be so patient with him.
"Okay, Shinichi. Just let me know if you got anything you want to put up. You have three days, no, two. I have to cancel 24 hours in advance if you can't do it after all."
"Alright, it's getting late anyhow. How are getting home Ran?"
"Taxi. I'll be fine, it's not too late."
"If you say so. I'll see you later then."
"That better be the case. See you later." Ran gathered her things in her bag and took one last glance at the boat painting. She really couldn't understand what was wrong.
Shinichi walked her to the entrance, waited for her to put on her heels and saw her off.
As soon as she's out of view, Shinichi shuts the front door.
Like a man way pass his actual age he slumps on the couch and slouches on it until his necks bends between the seat cushion and the back cushion. After ten seconds of rest and silence he decides he's actually tired enough to sleep in for the night. So he rises from the couch and cancels his nonexistent plans in order to go to bed. He doesn't really care that he has another painting due in two days. He had paintings done on shorter time spans before.
Dinner was skipped, teeth was brushed, lights are off, Shinichi is in the bed.
It didn't take long for him to fall asleep. He slipped away on record time actually. The bed was unnaturally comfortable tonight, that probably contributed.
Shinichi's eyes opened to a strange scene. Erie almost.
It was just darkness at first, then he heard the soft singing of a woman's voice. It was calming, but also unsettling. The song got louder, and louder. The edges of his sight had a small, glowing hue of red.
What's happening?!
Shinichi tried to walk but he couldn't. He didn't feel the ground either. In fact he felt weightless.
Wait, am I falling?
Dread pooled in Shinichi stomach, he wanted to scream, but he couldn't. He wanted to flail but he couldn't.
I can't control myself..!
Shinichi just kept falling, and it was starting to feel like forever. Is this place an endless pit?
Shinichi was no longer scared, in fact, he was getting bored. Nothing was happening, he just falling for a long, long time.
Just as he was about to think it was forever ago that this all started, he spotted a white triangle just flying around in the corner of his eye.
It fluttered strangling. That looks more like gliding than flying. A paper airplane?
The white triangle was gliding closer to Shinichi.
Shinichi was scared, he didn't know what to expect. What the hell is that thing?!
Just as it was gliding closer, it propelled itself upwards and flew above Shinichi.
Is that a person? A person flying on his glider? How peculiar.
Shinichi was feeling was less fearful but for some reason the adrenaline never left him. Well, he was still falling, but he got bored of that a long time ago.
The man was wearing a white suit, a monocle on his right eye with a charm (he couldn't make out what was on the charm), and a matching top hat.
What strange clothes to go gliding with. He looks good though. Wait, what?
Shinichi doesn't understand why he isn't afraid of this flying man, or falling, or this entire situation. He can't hear that woman singing anymore, and the red tint in his vision is gone. Shinichi decides to faze out his thoughts and...fall in peace?
He resumes staring at the man, feeling strangely anticipating. He found himself wondering what the man in white will do, and how he'll do it.
Does he even know I'm here? Is he going to save me from my endless fall?
Right when he though that felt the ground. He was startled and fearful of his life, but the fear was short-lived. It didn't hurt, he was fine. His elite body check consisting of blatant pats on his pants would have to suffice.
Huh, weird.
Shinichi scanned his surroundings. He was in the many alleyways of the city. Shinichi walked out of the alleyway like he walked out of his house. Everything he was doing felt natural. He feels like he should be freaked out or scared shitless, but he wasn't. He felt this pull. It's almost as if the endless falling in the black void didn't register in his mind.
In his peripheral he spotted the white glider again. It's him!
Before Shinichi could even register another thought, he chased after it. As he ran towards him, small thoughts bloomed in his mind as he picked up things during his chase.
There's no one walking the streets, no cars, no buses. Just these tall, imposing skyscrapers, empty roads, and the limitless night sky. He thought, but all where muddled down to nothing more than a footnote.
The moon, however, was strangely looming.
Shinichi ran, and ran, and ran. He felt like he would never catch up, but he still gave chase as desperately as he allows himself. Somehow the white figure manages to stay within sight.
The man in white lands atop a building that Shinichi catches up to.
Good, be a good little mysterious man and stay right where you are.
Shinichi entered the building dead set on his pursuit for reasons he's still looking for himself. He won't give up. I won't give up.
The building had no one in it either despite every ceiling being on. Traces of people working, or just living was everywhere. But no one. The should elicit fear, but Shinichi didn't care about this ghost town. The man who adorned the white suit occupied his thoughts. He was filled with him. His heart began to race out of his control. It made him feel like it was because he was closer.
I'm getting closer to the truth!
...
The truth...?
Why did I think that?
Ah...I see....
I want to know who he is. Whose that man under the monocle?
Shinichi made it to the roof entrance and he slammed it open without even wondering if that'll scare him off. Somehow a part of him knew he wouldn't run away.
He saw him in his full glory. The man in white. His cape he didn't he had flickered with the wind he didn't feel was there. He looked ethereal.
Shinichi found himself reaching out to something he knew he couldn't just touch.
The man turned back to face Shinichi just by the slightest. He gave Shinichi the most enigmatic grin. His eyes just barely peered through all the white cloth and the rim of his hat.
Indigo, Shinichi gathered with his vast knowledge of colors. The way they reflected the moonlight was just...perfect.
The man turned his sight back to the moon above, much to Shinichi's dismay, and he raised his fist to the sky-the moon rather.
He unraveled his fingers to reveal a jewel of serene beauty.
A sapphire?
Shinichi's heart was beating unbelievably loud now.
Why am I freaking out NOW?
Shinichi felt like if he didn't run to him now he would never see him again, so he did. His instincts strongly told him so.
His heart is so loud-
He ran his hardest, but he never got closer, or did he just get farther? He tried yelling to him, but his voice never escaped his lips. It was like the beginning of the void.
*THUMP THUMP THUMP-*
He couldn't do anything. He never felt more frustrated, desperate, or clingy.
I just want to see...who he is...!
*BATHUMP BATHUMP*
Shinichi felt like he was about to leave this place, his running got more desperate by then. It was futile, he knows.
His heart was about to burst-
But he still saw it before he went away. That scene was just right. Like a freeze frame in time.
The man held the jewel into the moonlight. It hit the jewel, and then the light spilled on his face, particularly his eyes.
He's...beautiful....
*Thump--*
-
"AH!"
Shinichi's springs from his sleep, flailing in his sheets and sweating all over. His shout was probably his last surge of adrenaline.
"That dream felt so real, but it also didn't feel real at all." He shakily told himself.
He left that thought there in the back of his mind, and he rustled his sheets over himself again. It was still early, so he decided he'll sleep some more.
As soon as he closed his eyes, the memory flashed through.
His eyes shot open and he darted to his studio room.
I can't believe I forgot, even for a moment!
He got his brushes of variable uses and abilities along with two buckets of water.
I have to paint this now, or else I'll forget!
Aimless strokes become meaningful, bountiful colors become one entity, a piece is being created.
No, that's not right, it was more like this...!
Shinichi grew irritable, but he was motivated. He felt taxed but also energetic. He felt like he could paint anything but he was bound to limited resources. The canvas itself was a limit. So restricting compared to what he really wanted to express. He was feeling a lot of contradictions tonight....
He was so free...like he created that entire world....
-
"One last thing...there..."
Shinichi finalized the painting with a single stroke left. Wiping the sweat that formed on his forehead, he plopped the brush in the water bucket and he took a few steps back to marvel his own creation.
"This is...better than what I am now. Better than what I was! I never-never painted anything like it!" Shinichi wasn't one to talk to himself, but he had to show excitement some way or another.
The man in white...even if you were a dream, I'll have to thank you. Ah! Ran!
Shinichi had to dial her quickly, this painting was definitely going in the exhibit. He opened his phone-first thing he saw was the time.
7:09, yeesh. Is she even awake right now?
Shinichi may seem like a jerk right now, but he tried calling her anyways (can you blame the guy, he can barely contain himself).
She picks up at the fourth ring.
"Shinichi...What in the world-"
"I know, I know. But listen. I think I just created my best painting yet. I had a dream, well, you know what. Just come as soon as you can and see for yourself!"
"Holy. You sound like a kid again. You must really mean it. I'm getting ready right now."
Shinichi hung up first. He just couldn't wait for Ran to see.
-
"Wow. I'm gonna have to agree with you Shin. This blows the boat painting out of the water. Ah! No pun intended."
Ran safely arrived to Shinichi's place, now she is settled in the studio room with Shinichi. She admires the painting with him, and perhaps reached a higher understanding of Shinichi's past predicament.
"See? I'm not in a slump, I just needed inspiration."
"Speaking of inspiration, didn't you say something about a dream?" She inquired.
"Oh right," the artist remembered, "I had the weirdest dream last night about a flying, no a gliding man dressed completely in white! He was dazzling...and I just had to paint him. For some reason...he felt like the singular ray of light in a bleak world..."
Ran just stared at him in complete awe, or maybe she was just lost. Either way, the strangest things that manages to inspire artists amazes her. (No matter how inciteful and weird they sound). But she's glad he finalized and approved of something.
"Wait, how long did you take to paint this," realizing too late how long it's been since they last met, and it wasn't that long ago.
"Uh, all night?"
What was she going to do with him?
Ran sighed and clasped her hand over her eyes. She straightened afterwards and went straight to into professional mode. She'll spare him just this once because he completed a painting under tough conditions.
"Alright, I'm sure this is the last one you wish to exhibit, I'll have it out of here tomorrow and into the exhibition hall in time." she reported, sounding a tad bit exasperated in the beginning.
Shinichi only nodded excitedly to her words. He wanted to get the exhibit down quickly so he can take it home faster. This one was going nowhere. It's staying in its rightful place in Shinichi's studio. It really was his best work yet. Maybe his best work ever.
"By the way, what is the title of this piece?" Ran questioned for presentation and documentation purposes.
Shinichi was hung on the question. He hadn't quite thought of a name for the painting. He rubbed his chin, but very quickly he snapped his fingers and thought of
"Man in White. It's simple, snappy, and it tells you enough without saying too much.
"Man...in...white, okay. Got it." She wrote it down with carefulness and shut her notepad. Clasping her hands she brightened and told she Shinichi she has important calls to make while dismissing herself to the living room.
Shinichi eyes returned to his painting. His awestruck was never so copious all at once.
"Buddy, we're gonna make a show out of you." Shinichi whispered to himself, unknowing to the weight of his words and to the events that will unfold.
-
The exhibit started.
The evening was pleasant, a very crystalline summer night.
Shinichi was dressed in a navy three piece suit with a silver brooch on the left of his chest. It resembled a crescent moon and two thin chains dangled a few inches down asymmetrically.
He had already greeted the curator, plentiful guests, and commissioners so he retreated in some corner behind convenient curtains.
He spun his wine glass filled with cider. He didn't really want to drink it. He felt people stroke his pride whenever they requested to buy his 'Man in White' painting, and he was more than happy to turn them down, but he was tired. He needed to retreat eventually. Speaking of that painting could he see it from here?
He peaked through the curtains to try to see if he can, but his sight was filled with Ran's face.
"Geck!" He accidentally repulsed.
"Geck? Shinichi! What are you doing? As the host, you should entertain your guest! You have a reputation to uphold! And I'm also trying to feature you in a popular magazine, but I have to make you talk to this guy-"
"Ran, I just want to rest, just a little?"
Ran sputtered and huffed but eventually she decided she would leave him alone for a bit more time. Just a bit.
"Fine, I'll chatter in your place for a few more minutes, but you have to come out soon."
"Yes, mom."
"Watch it."
Shinichi zipped up immediately.
Shinichi was thus, left alone. He sighed contently and he resumed his peace which eventually was crashed and burned to smithereens. Some girl that looked startling, but decidedly not Ran walked up to him and greeted him.
This Not-Ran unfortunately could not read the atmosphere.
"You're Kudo Shinichi! The artist of this exhibit! I-I'm Nakamori Aoko! I came all the way from Ekoda to see you!"
Shinichi was tired, but he felt bad if he just shooed the girl away. He supposes he could entertain her. He stretches his hand out for her to shake it.
When she accepts, Shinichi spoke, "Nice to meet you Nakamori-san. Indeed, I am Kudo Shinichi. You've come a far way."
She blushes, feeling strangely shy.
"Y-yes. I really like your artwork. It ha-has a quality in them I've never seen before."
Gah! Stop stuttering Aoko!
Shinichi's eyes widened. He knows his reputation is present enough in the fine arts world, but no one has told him anything quite like this.
"Do tell, how different am I?'
"Ah! W-ell...It's just no matter what how differently you want people to perceive each of your paintings, they all feel like they have the same, I don't know, longing feel. Like you're searching for something... I just find that hard to portrayal. Am-am I reading too much into it?"
Shinichi is stunned. She seems like a average onlooker, but she really observes sharply with an open mind. "Uh, no, no! You could be right, or you could be wrong. I just paint what I feel. You may have enlightened me in something I never knew I did."
Aoko was shaking in her flats, basically ready to squeal at any moment, Shinichi just thought she was sick.
Just as the painter was about to ask the girl if she was alright a man with a slight English dialect called out to her.
"Aoko-san! You can't run off from me like that, I had been carrying around your champagne all while searching for you."
Huh, they had champagne too. Isn't Ran doing too much?
"Oh, sorry Saguru, I just saw Kudo-san over here and I wanted to head over and talk to him!"
Saguru sighs and hands her the drink. "Aoko-san, you mustn't rush when there is really no need." Aoko ducked her head in embarrassment and submission, "I'm sorry, by the looks of it you probably wanted to be left alone. I am Hakuba Saguru by the way. The escourt of this one," he pats Aoko's shoulder, "and a dectective. Specialty is burglary and theft." He finishes with a deep bow.
A detective huh. An interesting field.
"No, not at all. I'm happy I got to talk to her in fact."
Aoko blushed at that statement. It's not everyday you hear things of that sort by the one you admire.
"Is that so? I'm glad you enjoyed your conversation together. Apropos to the exhibit, it is sublime. I have also admired your work Kudo-san."
They shake hands and Shinichi thanks him.
"You flatter me, really." Shinichi scratches the back of his head. He had too many praises for one night.
"I meant it down to my heart Kudo-san. Especially the painting, 'Man in White'. It has a charisma you haven't painted before. It surprised me."
Shinichi was proud of another acknowledgement of his greatest work, star, no, gem of the exhibit, if you will. (Remember when he was shy? When?)
"I see, I am the painter myself, and quite proud of that one."
"I can see why. Something about it makes me feel...enticed. Forgive me if I seem strange."
"No, I...I don't feel like you are strange. It's interesting to hear new insight."
I was going to say I feel the same, but that would be even stranger.
Saguru nodded to respond to Shinichi then he looked at his watch. "My word! It's already 9:53 p.m.! Aoko-san we must be heading home now, we'll barely make it!"
They'd make it back facing the front of midnight.
"Awww, but I wanted to talk more. You stole the other half of the conversation! I didn't even see the painting you were talking about!"
"We can see it on the way out, I promised Inspector Nakamori I'd have you back before midnight and I intend to do exactly that!"
"Ugh! Why doesn't dad acknowledge I'm an adult already!"
Shinichi can't help but snicker inwardly. What a funny situation to be in.
"I'm sorry once again Kudo-san, but we have to get going. Until we meet again." Saguru and Aoko bow and leave. (Or Saguru basically dragging Aoko out).
An interesting pair...
Shinichi turned his head to towards the window in favor of the night sky.
'Stole...'
Why was this word he heard earlier sticking in his mind. The darkness of the night sky wasn't helping either.
Shinichi's heart was uneasy, he felt like this since the night he dreamt of the white clad man.
-
It was the morning of the next day.
Shinichi just woke up on his own and few minutes before his alarm, he was moderately upset that he did. He turned it off so that it didn't have to ring later. These are rare moments for him.
It was the second and last day of his exhibit. His grumpiness was vaguely erased at the thought of bringing his prized work back home. He just had to glide through tonight's exhibit.
Just as he finished fiddling with his alarm clock, he gets a call from Ran. He sighs; picking up-her timing was phenomenal.
"You better be lucky I was awak-"
"Shinichi! One of your paintings was vandalized!"
".... Which one?"
"Uh- Man in White!"
Shinichi was feeling lightheaded.