Detective Conan: Ritual (Challenge Fic)
Once, a long time ago, Kudo Shinichi did a report about coming of age rituals. All the information was easily obtainable, so it didn’t hold his interest nearly as well as it would have otherwise. Tonight, Edogawa Conan thinks back to that half-forgotten report as he builds his own ritual.
Three logs in an A-frame represent past, present and future. In the past, he had hope of regaining what he lost. In the future, he will have to build something new. In the present, he has the ritual to wipe the slate clean.
Kindling represents the minutiae of Kudo Shinichi’s life that he packed away this afternoon. The house is locked. The utilities are turned off. Instead of hacking away the pieces of himself that he’s no longer allowed anymore, he’s carefully removing them with surgical precision. He has a care for the future, even through the pain he’s feeling. There must be something left to salvage.
On top of the kindling he piles a pair of jeans, socks, shoes, a T-shirt and a green hooded jacket: the last clothes he wore as Kudo Shinichi. The last clothes Ran saw him wearing as Kudo Shinichi. These represent the burning of bridges. He called Ran after he calmed down, told her he wouldn’t be coming home. She’ll look for him anyway, so he’s arranged for her to receive a very official-sounding phone call tomorrow informing her of Kudo Shinichi’s death. She probably still won’t believe it, but he owes her that much, at least. Tomorrow, this is all going to hurt. Tonight the ritual keeps the pain at bay.
He didn’t wear the blue suit to do this. He left the glasses with Kaito, the only person he could trust both to let him do this properly and to give them back when he was done. Now, he takes the bow tie out of his pocket, the watch off his wrist and toes the shoes off his feet. Disarmed and with all his masks completely discarded, he picks up the box of matches. The matches represent Ai-no, she has nothing to do with this. The matches represent the knowledge that there will never be a cure and, instead of going back, he now has to go forward.
He takes out a match and strikes it on the side of the box. The head of the match is consumed in flame, and for a brief moment, he just holds it up and looks at it. Fire represents his will. It will burn away all that no longer holds true and leave him with whatever he has left. It will be enough. He will make sure of it. He takes a step forward and crouches down to put the match in among the kindling. In minutes, everything on his pile is consumed in flames. He watches the fire, and listens. And between the crackling fire and the silence of his own mind, he hears the words that will complete the ritual. He gazes deep into the burning representation of the life he is finally, completely leaving behind and speaks the words out loud.
“Kudo Shinichi is dead. He died chasing a mystery he couldn’t solve. My name is Edogawa Conan. You’ve never met me before, but I’m a detective. I solve mysteries and close cases. I protect people. I don’t know what I’m going to be tomorrow, but I promise you this: I will never be seven years old again.”
Across the flames, a shadowy figure steps into the light. Edogawa Conan looks into a face that is no longer a mirror and doesn’t flinch. Kuroba Kaito stares intently at him until the fire burns down to nothing more than glowing embers. His quiet voice breaks the silence of the ritual one last time.
“Pleased to meet you, Edogawa Conan.”