More Than A Gemstone (Kaishin)

Apology

"..."

"....."

"......"

"...you talked to the culprit."

"I did."

Despite the ticking clock within this room, nothing but silence filled his surroundings. Shinichi was thinking, and Megure-keibu was quietly expecting his conclusion.
"...he does not have the profile of a murderer. If I take a look at him just well, he seems nothing but your every day kind of hardworking family father. That is..."

"-surprising? The same thing I thought as well."

"-and he admitted to the crime-"

"-in full, with every detail-"

"-and yet he cannot even come up with a reason to why he had done it. It was almost as if something possessed him."

"Precisely."

Megure-keibu's eyes lasted on the highschool detective, observing him closely. While he was still blind, he hadn't lost any of his sharp mind and deduction skills. He knew as well as the keibu that something was incredibly foul here.
"Will he be admitted to the hospital? I would like a report upon the state of his brain tissue... I have heard about sudden changes like this, precisely with a tumor being at fault."
Megure's eyes lit up and he gave a silent nod before waving one of the officers towards him, tasking him to contact the local hospital for a scan.

Shinichi remained on his chair provided by the police station, silent. He did not recognize this man to have had any form of malicious intent... He had seemed confused, if any. And frightened for not only himself but his wife and his two children. His pokerface twisted into a short grimace; Shinichi shook his head lightly to snap back into reality.

The pain is getting worse again...

"Keibu, could I have a glass of water? I need to take my medication."
"O-of course."
Kudo was handed a glass of water and the detective popped a pill effortlessly, downing it with the refreshing liquid.

That's another antibiotic pill down...

When can I finally stop taking those? When are my eyes going to be healed?

Shinichi had given up on counting the days since he had become blind. Weeks, by now. Painful weeks of changing bandages, cleaning his eyes and swallowing pills.
It was almost like a curse at this point.

I'm almost humoring KID by now... a curse...

"I'll take my leave now. Goodbye, Megure-keibu. And please do call once you've received the report."
Shinichi stood up from his chair and grabbed his cane, quietly walking out of the room. He knew the police station in and out, he was certain he would find out even without the cane.
And yet, Ran was waiting for him outside.

...

...Ran?

"Shinichi, here you are. I've been trying to find you for so long."
The sleuth quirked an eyebrow, noting the stranger walked next to him almost casually.
"How so? Didn't you want to go shopping with Sonoko today?"
"A-ah, something came between that. You see-"
Shinichi didn't bother to listen, slender fingers slid into his pocket to whip out his phone. Head lowered, Shinichi hummed with a certain smugness into the microphone.
"Call Ran."
"W-why are you-"

"Hi Shinichi!" Ran's melodic voice sang through the phone and the sleuth could feel a stupid grin threatening to crawl onto his lips, "what do you need?"
"Nothing in particular," Shinichi hummed, "I was just checking up on you. Try not to spend so much."
"I won't, thanks!"
The Ran next to him was chuckling awkwardly as Shinichi hung up, and proceeded to breathe out a mournful sigh afterwards.
"Mah, you're no fun, detective. Have some empathy."
"Empathy?"

The sleuth snorted and shook his head, quietly feeling along his way with his cane.
"You should stop bothering innocent people like me. What do you want? I thought we're done here."
Kaito frowned a little, then set up a soft pout.
"Shin-chan..."
"Do I have to turn back around and walk you to the police station I just came from?"
"Okay okay!"

Kaito was turning a bit moody. His Meitantei was being a smartass little shit as usual, the sun was way too bright, and it hurt to walk. Yet he surely wouldn't let Shinichi know- not that he could have spotted it anyway, and Kaito prided himself at being able to keep a good appearance up.
"I came to... apologize, precisely."
"Apologize? You? How wonderful, let's just turn around, the police station is-"
"Meitantei for god's sake, will you stop with that?!"
The sleuth couldn't suppress that short laugh that came from his lips.

Got to tease that guy from time to time as well.

"Well then, go on. I don't have all day."
"I've noticed. Slow down a bit, will you?"
Shinichi paused, surprised. Why should he, even? He didn't even think he was walking fast at all. Or was he?
"That curse... He can't lift it. I can't lift it."
Unsure what he was talking about, the detective quirked an eyebrow- it turned out a bit more painful than expected, and he winced for a second.
"What curse?"
"Meitantei you cannot be serious. Did you forget you're blind?"
"Oh, this old story of yours. Please stop with your antics, it is far from amusing."

For that, Shinichi received a gentle punch to the shoulder, startling him in return. Almost immediately, he growled at the thief next to him.
"Do that one more time and I'm calling the police on you."
"Fine, fine! Do what you want. I've tried it. Kudo, I'm sorry. I can't lift this curse. He can't lift it. And now he's gone as well-"
Kaito sucked in a sharp breath and shook his head, composing himself again. That had almost gone wrong quite bad.
"...forget about it. Look, if... if you need help or-"
"Shut it right there."

Shinichi stopped and turned to face Kaito, frowning at him, voice as hard a steel.
"KID, I am blind. That doesn't mean I'm helpless. Incapacitated. I'm finding my way around, by myself. I may need this cane to see, but I manage it. On my own. And I'm still solving cases. And know what?"
Shinichi reached out, poking his index finger into Kaito's chest.
"I will get you behind bars soon enough. Now, is there anything else you want, or does this annoying charade of yours have an end now?"

Kaito looked down at his finger, then further down towards his own knee, in a protective gear to support him walking. The cane in his own hand, supporting him as well.
And suddenly, Shinichi arresting him wasn't quite out of the picture for this thief anymore.

"I... no. No, that was all. I... will take my leave then."
Shinichi nearly felt bad as he listened to KID's footsteps going away from him. For a moment, his voice had sounded so... different than usual. Gone the smugness, gone the charade.

And for a second, Shinichi questioned his words. Was that thief actually concerned for his wellbeing?