#next hollow verse drabble: aoko

[mintchocolateleaves]

A/N: Part 5. We’re bringing in Agasa. It’s what he deserves. I’m not going to link everything anymore! Please check the hollow-verse tag for previous parts! I’ll mark each one with the part number. If you don’t wanna tag search - this is also on Ao3.

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Shinichi has been to this town above the surface twice before.

Both times, he hadn't remained long.

The first time had been his during his exile, and with a target placed on his back by the king, Shinichi had not had the time too stay around. The second time, he'd barely spoken with an old friend before he'd realised the princess was in danger, and then he'd raced into the unknown to save her. Which...

Well, he knows where that got him.

The town seems to be perpetually engulfed in darkness, a night that will never end. The houses are barred up, unlived in. There's only one house that Shinichi can recall ever seeing with the light on - even now that he and Hakuba have arrived. Three people in a town meant for... hundreds.

Not enough to be considered a village, let alone a town.

Hakuba wanders into one of the houses, a place he's either squatting in, or has placed under his temporary ownership. Shinichi leaves him to it - there's a map for him to create, and so he wanders through empty streets, back to the town's square. There's another bench, and Shinichi slumps onto it as he waits, closing his eyes as he tries to consider everything that needs to be done, to process everything that's happened.

He's unable to die here. Shinichi isn't sure why, but each time, he wakes back up on a bench - one not dissimilar to this - and it should seem like a blessing, to be able to come back, to have a second shot - a third, a fourth! - but instead, it feels just like a curse. There's a force that keeps him unable to remove his mask, and he can't save the princess, not as he is now.

There's so much he needs to do, so much more to be done and Shinichi feels exhausted already. He just wants to sleep, to settle for a while and never-

"Shinichi-kun?"

Shinichi opens his eyes again. There, stood in front of him is a familiar face with rounded glasses and a lab coat. The professor - the final resident in the town above the surface. When Shinichi had returned before, they'd barely had the time to talk. Professor Agasa had mentioned the princess being in danger and that had been it. He'd not stuck around to hear anything else.

Now, Shinichi glances up, slightly ashamed with himself.

"Professor," Shinichi says. "I'm sorry, about before-"

"It's alright," Agasa says, and Shinichi shuffles to the side of the bench so he can sit beside him. "I'd expected that response, when I told you about Princess Ran. And it's not like I could offer a full welcome either. With everything the way it is."

Shinichi offers a small, short nod. And then, he frowns. "Where is everybody, anyway? Is everyone just asleep...?"

"I'm afraid I'm the only one left, Shinichi-kun." Agasa says, after a moment. He sighs. "That's why the town is so quiet. The other residents, they all go down the well and they don't come back." He pauses for a moment, to make amendments. "Well, that man with the maps has been coming back up recently, it's nice to know I'm not always alone."

Sympathy bleeds through him. Shinichi knows what it's like to be alone. It's not comforting to know that someone else shares that feeling.

"Why do they go below?" Shinichi says. "Surely they know what waits down there."

"It calls to them," Agasa says. "Everyone wants something, and whatever's down there calls to their dreams. Money, glory, enlightenment. Even adventure. Everyone's gone down that well, one by one and they haven't come back."

Shinichi lets out a small sigh.

"I suppose you'll be heading back down again soon," Agasa says. It's not a question, but acceptance.

"Ran is down there," Shinichi says, "I can't just leave her."

Agasa nods. "I know. Ever since you were a child, you dreamed of keeping her safe. That's why you became her knight."

Shinichi remembers. Days in the palace, learning how to wield a sword, repeating holds and drills over and over to ensure he became someone who could protect the princess. Not that Ran was incapable of saving herself - but two swordsmen was always better than one. He should never have let the king banish him - should never have left in the first place. If Shinichi had been more careful...

He doesn't have time to reminisce, to regret. Shinichi needs to keep going. He stands, ready to check on Hakuba, to see whether the map is ready to take him back into the infection.

"I need to keep moving," Shinichi says. "...Stay well, Professor."

"And you," Agasa says, a sigh to his voice. As Shinichi heads away, he hears the scientist mutter to himself: "Perhaps dreams aren't such great things after all..."

#dcmk #detective conan #kudo shinichi #agasa hiroshi #professor agasa #hollow-verse #mywriting #next hollow verse drabble: aoko