Just Another Lead... Right?

He Is...

'He looks like... but that can't possibly be it,' a man thought, still looking at the picture on his phone that he had impulsively snapped when met with an unbelievable sight.

Amuro Tooru had been making rounds, walking the dog and enjoying a relaxing day. If that day involved coincidentally passing by his 'co-worker's house', what of it? He honestly did not expect to find out anything like a boy remarkably like Shinichi Kudo walking out of Sharon Vineyard's house.

A part of him rejected it out of hand because of the impossible and another part of him thought what if the impossible was a conspiracy in the first place?

Even then, anyone involving themselves with Chris Vineyard can't have it good. At the very least, he needed to check this out. It was how he found himself following the teen for a bit, who had yet to notice as he strolled through in no hurry, occasionally eying the cafe windows at the deserts on display and even snapping photos while texting on his phone.

Amuro couldn't find anything off about such behaviour, probably sending those desert photos to friends and getting opinions. Maybe even to a girlfriend as they decide where to have a next date for all he knew, because in following the teen, he felt less like Kudo Shinichi when taking a closer look at the appearance such as the hairstyle and the hands. The behaviour was also unlike of the detective that he had heard about.

Still, then what would a random teenager be doing at a house like Chris Vineyard's, Vermouth's latest persona, because she would rarely have any visitors especially with her famous actress persona? It was why he managed to follow the teen all the way to a crowded train station but unfortunately lost him to the crowds which ended the tail.

Amuro sighed, as he brought back the dog back to the planned route and was left to contemplate his choices. If he was going to pursue this, he needed to make sure that this does not come back to bite him, with the worst-case scenario of Vermouth being aware of this pursuit.

Well, he had a job to do...

***

'Kudo-kun...? But what would he be doing there?' a woman thought, with an unmarked car idly parked just across the seat when she saw a teen walk out of her target's house. After getting a good look once more to make sure she was not mistaken, she had driven away so Vermouth wouldn't notice her.

'Or she already has...' Jodie Starling thought, 'But at least she might no do anything. Not now, not yet.'

Jodie never bothered to fathom her greatest enemy's mindset, even when profiling was useful to understand and take down enemies. But Vermouth, Sharon or Chris Vineyard, had always been inscrutable from the day she ever met her. Even after their recent clash, neither had made any move against the other and they were in uncomfortable stalemate.

It was unsurprising despite how much both women wanted to end each other, when the FBI had no authority on Japanese soil and cannot engage against a civilian otherwise without any solid evidence they unfortunately did not have against Chris Vineyard, a woman great at covering up her tracks. Meanwhile, Vermouth had stayed her hand against the FBI agent even when she could choose any disguise and off her but probably understood how foolhardy it would be with a skilled FBI member with their guard up.

It still had not stop these subtle plays, like the occasional stakeouts that Jodie partook in with the hopes to uncover any chinks of her enemy because Chris Vineyard, the influential actress did not even bother to cover up much of her personal life despite her reclusive privacy. She knew they were both aware of each other but stayed both their hands, unless there was an opportunity for otherwise.

Jodie would not say that the teen boy extremely similar to Kudo Shinichi except for a few appearance differences such as the ruffled hair was an opportunity but it made Jodie wonder what game Vermouth was playing, or whether the teen boy knew what he was getting himself into.