Case Closed: One Truth Prevails

Midnight Misery

A/n: This was originally gonna be an actual chapter, but I kept this on hold for a while due to lack of inspiration and motivation.

I decided to publish this as a tiny side chapter (I won't guarantee that this will be updated after this one). I just feel bad about putting this on hold for so long.

I hope you enjoy it, even if it didn't work out.

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(M/n) yawned into his hand, feeling tears gather in his eyes. He looked at the stacks of papers on his desk, feeling what little motivation he had left drain from his body. Boredom also left him fatigued, and he swore that he was going to cry.

The (s/c) boy added the papers he already finished to one stack, then took more papers from another stack. His brain was too tired to function, even with coffee, but he continued to use it anyway.

He worked tirelessly on Shinichi's assignments. Disguising his handwriting as Shinichi's wasn't a challenge. But exams were, so he had to figure out how to take his exams for him. There was a good chance that the detective wouldn't be coming back any time soon. On top of that, attendance was also a huge problem, so (M/n) had to figure out how to stop Shinichi's grades from dropping just for that.

And the worst part was that he had his own work to worry about. His workload alone was more than enough to make him want to cry, but everything Shinichi missed was just absolute misery. He wished that he didn't tell Shinichi's teachers that he would make sure Shinichi got his work done.

That bastard better better be grateful when he comes back, or all his grades will sink harder than the Titanic.

If he, Ran, and (S/n) ever found out about this, they'd never let him live it down.

Conan ran into (M/n)'s room to get away from (S/n). He took a second to catch his breath, and reevaluated all of his opinions about her before.

Once the boy was sure she was gone, he turned around to see the older boy slouched over his desk. Conan walked over and called out his name, but he received no response. Looking closer, he saw that (M/n) was asleep. He saw that there were dark circles under his eyes, but they were barely visible.

The blue-eyed boy reached up and rubbed (M/n)'s face, then rubbed his fingers.

Makeup.

That explained why (S/n) kept talking about her makeup supply getting smaller. But why did the teenager use makeup to cover his dark circles? Why was he so tired that he got them in the first place?

Conan investigated (M/n)'s desk to see if there were any clues relating to why he was so exhausted.

Well, those stacks of papers seemed like a big clue.

Getting something to stand on, Conan took a few papers from one stack and skimmed through them. At first, he thought nothing of them, but then he noticed something odd about the papers.

They all had the name "Kudo Shinichi" and his exact handwriting.

Conan looked at the other stack of papers, which were just blank. He immediately made the connection, then instantly felt guilty when he looked at the older boy again.

(M/n) was trying to fix and maintain Shinichi's grades.

Conan never used such cheesy and sentimental words, but seeing the other put so much effort into all of this...

It really warmed his heart.