Chapter Text
“Heiji… Can we go back now?” Kazuha clung onto Heiji’s back, following him as he led them further inside the forest.
“Idiot! Y’know I'm not forcing you to stay with me? You can go back to that karate chick, I betcha she’s waitin’ for you back at the cabin. It’s also safer with her than meeting with the culprit out here!”
“But…What if you encounter a monster? Ran-chan told me she saw one when drivin’ with her dad here!”
Heiji grumbled, about to yell at her about the fact that monsters don’t exist but he was then quickly distracted by the looming fog that was spreading rapidly around them.
A familiar voice then yelled out from a distance, “Kazuha-chan! Hattori-kun!”
Kazuha quickly whipped around, letting go of Heiji for just a second. “Ran-chan!”
And in just that second, Heiji disappeared from right in front of her and the fog had lifted, which led to Ran easily finding her and grabbing her by the shoulders. “Thank goodness you’re safe! The sun’s setting soon, it isn’t safe to go searching for clues right now, we also don’t know if the culprit is truly out here or not…” She then paused as she looked around, realizing Heiji wasn’t with her. “Where’s Hattori-kun?”
Kazuha looked behind her shoulder, confirming that Heiji really did disappear. She turned to Ran and soon embraced her. “I don’t know! He disappeared! The fog monster must’ve taken him!” She cried out.
—-
Heiji looked around confusedly, in the split second Kazuha let go he heard footsteps so he ran after them, but now he doesn’t know where he is and the fog was still thick around him.
He hoped that Ran and Kazuha found each other, because he then wouldn’t have to worry if they could combine Kazuha’s aikido and the other girl’s Karate skills. He was able to witness just a bit of her skill when she threatened her dad by kicking a nearby tree, leaving a deep dent on it.
Assuring himself in the belief she was safe, he shook his head and returned his attention to the matter at hand.
Damn it… Where am I?
It was getting dark and hard to see so he was just wandering at this point, hoping to hear the footsteps again.
This fog… it was written inside the culprit’s diary. He mentioned seeing something in the woods, could that be what that Ran-neechan saw? He also mentioned that he was searching for something that appears WITH the fog, so he’s definitely close to wrapping this case up.
The fog was making it difficult to see the ground below him, and the air was becoming even more suffocating. While pondering, he took one step and the ground suddenly disappeared beneath him, unfortunately it was too late for him to realize when he lost his balance and came plummeting down a hill, roughly crashing onto the dirt and landing inches from a small river stream. “Ouchh.” He tried standing up but his legs faltered from meeting the ground in such a strong way. He hissed as he attempted to stand again, doing so successfully this time. “Kazuha’s gonna get mad at me again…”
Swoosh, slosh slosh.
His ears quickly picked up on the sound in front of him and he took a defensive position, noting someone was coming close to him. He squinted at the fog and noticed a dark silhouette, he smirked but it quickly faded when it got closer and seemed way bigger than a human figure.
Soon enough something furry stood in front of him. This…This isn’t the…
He slowly looked up and was met with glowing blue eyes that were almost covered by long dark strands of hair. Within close proximity, he could see the creature’s full form in front, the beast could very well be at least 6’5.
“Oi oi, monsters aren’t real… This must be some trick the culprit set up.”
Heiji wasn’t certain on what it was, but the creature didn’t seem to realize he was below it so he tried to step backwards a bit but his injured leg wouldn’t comply and sudden pain shot through him, making him jolt in pain. He bit tongue so as to not make a sound but when he looked up, those monstrous eyes were burning into him.
“Hey?”
The creature then used its hand to pin him down, Heiji fell on his back, feeling its scaly hands press down on his stomach. “O-Oi! Shit this feels so real…”
He then felt that long hair fall onto his face, and soon enough his surroundings darkened as he felt soft fur touch his forehead.
!?
“You… injured..”
His face felt hot from the warm breath of the creature, he sharply breathed in, adrenaline quickly pumping in. He cringed even further when he noticed the creature was panting rapidly.
It let go of Heiji and instead placed both its arms next to his.
It kept panting, and seemed to be in pain.
“Sorry…”
Heiji looked up at it, puzzled, “huh?”
It then made a horrific shriek and started tweaking out. It shook uncontrollably, losing its balance and falling on top of Heiji who groaned at the sudden impact, he felt goosebumps crawl throughout his skin at the tangled fur touching him. Everything around him started heating up more intensely and he noticed smoke coming out from the creature , and with that fact came the slow realization that it seemed to be melting, growing smaller in size.
“Oi! Are you okay? Don’t die on me!”
Shit.Shit.Shit. Is this thing really going to melt and die on top of me? I need to call for someone… I need to do something?!
Heiji panicked, continuing to yell at the creature until it morphed into a humanoid figure, although it still kept its fur and scaly claws, but its hair shrunk and its face softened.
Suddenly the painstaking sounds it was making silenced, and he felt a calm rising chest press against his own where his heart was beating uncontrollably.
After some of the shock wore off, his shaking hands lifted the face of the thing and he grew increasingly concerned.
“Kudo?…”
This thing isn't the culprit, but Kudo? That other high school detective he was going to challenge next week. Why’s he here? What did he turn into? Is this the reason to his sudden disappearance?…
So many questions spiraled in his head. He tried to sit up but he legs still hurt as hell if he tried to move, and it was even harder with another guy laying on top of him.
So he could only lay there, taking it all in.
“What should I do?”
Shinichi also looked injured, and he seemed to have passed out from the sudden transformation.
They could only wait there until someone found them, which would probably be in the morning considering night had fallen upon them. The fog had also disappeared.
Heiji sighed and continued to contemplate, feeling Shinichi’s slow breathing, warm against his neck, and his own fast pacing heart beat against the sleeping detective’s steady one.
Sooner or later he would pass out from exhaustion, but for now he could only wait.
Wait, what about the culprit?