Prelude to Courtship (Detective Conan, Takagi Wataru/Satou Miwako, #17)
Title: Prelude to Courtship
Author/Artist:
magic_truth
Pairing: Takagi Wataru/Satou Miwako
Fandom: Detective Conan
Theme: #17 kHz (kilohertz)
Disclaimer: I do not own these characters. If I did… I’d probably give Takagi a huge hug and tell him he was adorable.
@--`--`--
“Everyone, I’d like you to meet Takagi Wataru. Some of you may know him all ready, but in case you don’t, here’s the newest addition to the homicidal investigation unit!” Megure-keibu’s voice rang out over the police room. Those who weren’t gathered around the inspector and new addition turned their heads up to take a good look at the rookie.
He was tall with dark hair and blue eyes; his hair was a bit askew. His tie was just crooked enough and his pant just this side of wrinkled. It was nothing major but you got the feeling that he wasn’t exactly a smooth operator…that and he clearly didn’t have anyone to look after his appearance. His face was currently florid and it was obvious that he wasn’t entirely comfortable with the attention. Most of the onlookers took a good long look, nodded and decided he’d do just fine. A few of the female officers were tossing around the word ‘cute.’
“Satou-kun!” Megure called out and Satou Miwako stepped forward. “Yes, sir?” Megure smiled widely. “Satou-kun, meet your new partner!” Takagi’s eyes widened as he blushed and Satou’s jaw dropped. She took a moment to assess him and then turned abruptly to her superior.
“Megure-keibu...” She pulled him aside. “Sir, I really do appreciate your consideration but I don’t really need a partner…”
Megure shook his head. “Nonsense, Satou-kun! Two heads are better than one and what not.”
“Uh, but…sir he’s a rookie!” Satou protested, trying to keep her voice low. Takagi overheard, however, and raised a brow. “Jeez, nice to meet you too…” he muttered quietly.
Megure led her further away from the crowd and explained. “Satou-kun, he may seem like a mild-mannered, inexperienced detective but I’ve watched him. Not only is he the most good-natured, respectful guy I’ve ever seen. Not only does he have a good head on his shoulders but his police reports are impeccable.” He gave her a fatherly pat on the shoulder. “Trust me, Satou-kun; you’ll like him just fine.”
Satou hung her head and sighed. “Look what happened the last time you gave me a partner…” She muttered under her breath.
“What was that?”
“Nothing!”
Satou straightened her shoulder and approached the new addition to the unit. “Hello, I’m Satou Miwako but you already know that. Takagi, right? Well, let me show you around the floor and to your desk.” She turned on her heel and began walking forward.
Takagi sighed and followed her. He already knew that she wasn’t particularly fond of a new partner. At first glance he had been rather taken by…well, never mind that. Judging by her current demeanor, he doubted they’d be pals anytime soon.
“Chiba-kun?” He heard her call out. “This is Takagi Wataru, the new officer. He’ll be taking the desk next to yours. Can you see that he gets all the supplies he needs?”
“Uh, sure, Satou-san…” He turned to Takagi. “Nice to meet you.”
Takagi smiled and nodded. Satou turned and looked up at him. “I’ll let you get situated. If I need you, I’ll send someone to get you, ok?” Without waiting for his response, she turned and walked away. Takagi watched her walk away and shrugged his shoulders. Chiba grinned. “Wow. You have no idea how many of the men hate you right now.”
Takagi’s eyes widened. “What? Why do they hate me? What did I do to them?” He turned his head and looked around. He couldn’t see anyone throwing invisible daggers his way…
Chiba laughed. “It’s because of your partner. Satou-san is the most popular woman in the force. She’s beautiful, funny, smart and probably the best detective here. Anyone of those guys would love to be in your shoes.”
Takagi’s eyes narrowed. “Wait. Are you one of those guys?”
Chiba shook his head rapidly. “No way! Don’t get me wrong. Satou-san’s a pretty woman but she’s not really my type…but don’t you like her?”
Takagi blushed and he sputtered incoherently for a few moments. “I, um, well she’s…ah…certainly attractive but she doesn’t seem to like me much. She was complaining that I would probably weigh her down.”
Chiba just shook his head. “Don’t worry. You seem like the kind of guy she’d like anyway.”
Takagi raised an eyebrow. “Wait, what does that mean?”
“Chiba-kun! Megure-keibu is looking for you!” One policewoman called out and Chiba jumped up out of his seat without answering Takagi.
@--`--`--
Two weeks had passed since Takagi’s introduction to the homicidal unit. He hadn’t actually had much of a chance to interact with Satou. The few cases they had worked on together had been relatively simple to solve or there were many other officers around. The biggest case he’d been on had been during a flight to Los Angeles with Megure-keibu. They’d been on their way to pick up a suspect from the states when a murder had occurred on a plane. The case had actually been big news in the papers because it was solved by a teenage detective. Kudo Shinichi or something had been his name. To say that Takagi had been impressed would be an understatement.
But Takagi was currently in the break room, hoping that his coke would roll out of the machine soon because he was tired of shaking the machine. Five minutes and swift kick when he was sure no one was around, and the coke came tumbling out. Popping the tab, he took a seat and hoped no one would bother him. Chiba had been right. For reasons unknown to him, several of the men in the force seemed to think he was target #1 concerning all affairs Satou related. Takagi was becoming increasingly wary of walking by the interrogation room…
On top of that there was no truth in any of it. Satou-san rarely looked his way and spoke to him in a formal manner when they investigated together. The rumors about his feelings for her were completely unfounded as well. Completely. All fabricated lies from the peanut gallery.
Just then Satou burst into the break room. “Takagi! Megure-keibu just called us on a robbery in progress. Let’s go!” She ran out of the room without another word and Takagi jumped up after her. As they both made their way out, Takagi vaguely heard someone mention something about Satou’s vest.
After jogging through the police building and sliding into Satou’s patrol car, Satou filled him in on the robbery. Apparently, the robbery was occurring at the central bank: three men were holding up the bank at gunpoint. A quick-thinking young woman had dialed the police and had them listen to what was going on. The robbers were planning to take quite a bit of money and as of that moment they were still on the premises. They had back-up coming on the way but Satou and Takagi would be the first ones on the scene.
Just as Satou was driving to the bank, they witnessed the three robbers escape the bank on foot and head toward a fence. Satou raced her car forward but the last of the men was hopping over the fence just as she reached them. Jumping out of the car she called to Takagi over her shoulder. “Takagi!! Stay here and wait for backup!!” With that, she expertly climbed the fence and hopped over the top.
For a moment, Takagi was far too stunned over his superior’s capabilities. Looking around, he had yet to see their backup arrive. He knew that Satou was more than capable of taking care of herself but he couldn’t suppress the nagging feeling that he should go after her. They were partners after all. As he debated the pros and cons of disobeying Satou, he was struck by a thought. Someone had mentioned a vest, Satou’s vest. She didn’t have it with her and the emergency dispatcher had stated that the robbers were armed.
It didn’t take long for Takagi to disregard her orders and hop over the fence himself. Dropping feet first on the floor, he quickly began to make his way over to where he had seen them run. He didn’t hear voices, gunshots or anything to give up their location so kept running forward, putting to full use the rigorous police training he had acquired over the years. Takagi could feel his heart racing. Surely it was going at least 50 kHz.
Just as he thought he might have lost them, Takagi heard a gun fired and he raced forward to find Satou firing a warning shot. He spotted two men coming forward with their hands in the air after dropping their guns on the floor. He sighed in relief until he remembered the third man, who was out of Satou’s eyeshot. As Satou approached the two that had surrendered, the third approached her from behind. Surveying quickly, Takagi circled around unnoticed (he did have stake-out training after all). Just as the undiscovered thief raised the gun behind Satou’s head, Takagi shot forward and tackled him to the ground, a shot fired into the air.
Satou whirled around in surprise. “Takagi!” But she turned back just in time to see the two would-be surrenders reach for their guns. She shot at them both. “Don’t touch them! Get back and face the wall, both of you!” Takagi struggled with the third gunman for a moment before he got the upper hand. The man now lay on the ground, hands twisted behind him in Takagi’s grip. A knee was jabbed in his back, courtesy once again of the ‘rookie’ detective.
Just in time, backup surrounded the area and several officers came up to arrest the robbers. Megure-keibu strode forward, smiling appreciatively. “Great bust, both of you! I knew partnering you up would be a brilliant idea!” A breathless Takagi solely nodded and Satou looked down. “Thank you, sir.” She murmured. Megure just walked away and directed the other officers in proper police protocol.
Takagi stretched his arm and Satou turned to look at him. “Why did you disobey my order?” She asked him, a frown on her face.
Takagi looked away sheepishly. “Sorry, Satou-san, but I remembered that you didn’t have a vest on and that the men were armed. There were three of them and only one of you.”
Surprisingly, Satou took his arm for a moment. “Well, it was great move. Thank you. You saved my life…Takagi-kun.” She smiled shyly at him.
Takagi blushed in response. “Oh no, it was nothing like that.”
Satou grinned wider. “I’m amazed, though, you managed to take him down without needing a gun or anything!”
Takagi’s eyebrows shot up in surprise. “My gun!” He searched frantically through his coat pockets. “Oh…I must have left it on my desk. Along with my gun, handcuff and police memo…” He broke off blushing even more.
Satou shook her head in mock disappointment. “Oh for goodness sake…”
“Takagi-kun! Satou-san!” Chiba called out. “You’re both coming to karaoke right? Yumi-san is organizing it!”
Satou grinned and waived. “Of course we are!” She turned to Takagi questioningly. “You are coming right?”
For a moment there, Takagi mind began to glaze over. Suddenly, his partner wasn’t overly strict and annoyed with him. She was smiling, her eyes lit up, face flushed and she was asking him to come along. The afternoon light kissed her features. Satou-san was very pretty, Takagi reaffirmed in his mind.
Snapping fingers interrupted his reverie, however. “Takagi-kun? Takagi-kun? You’re coming right, let’s go!” She stood in front of him impatiently.
Takagi shook his head quickly. “Yeah! Yes, of course, I’m coming. Let’s go.” He began to stride ahead of her.
“Takagi-kun?”
He turned to look at her amused expression. “Yes, Satou-san?
“The car is over here, remember?” She jerked her thumb behind her.
“Oh! Oh, right.” Takagi followed Satou, who giggled to herself the whole way.
At the karaoke bar, Takagi was mulling around an idea in his head, while watching a certain someone. The idea? He wanted to ask Satou-san on a date. Sure, in the past few weeks he had been quite intimidated by her (Who was he kidding? He still was) but it had come to his rapid attention that she was also a dedicated and competent detective. Smart as a whip and loyal to the force, Satou Miwako was probably the best officer in the unit.
She’s got such a pretty smile too…
Takagi cleared his throat and pulled his gaze from the blue-eyed officer. Right.
“I knew it.”
Takagi head turned to face the speaker. It was Chiba. “What do you mean?”
Chiba grinned. “I knew you’d fall for her! I mean it was already pretty clear that you thought she was beautiful but I was betting that you’d fall head over heels, even though she’d been kind of mean to you.”
Takagi crossed his arms in defiance. “I don’t know what you’re going on about.”
Chiba just shook his head. “Suit yourself. I’m going to get Yamada-kun to pay up, though.” He walked away but not before taking one of the sushi rolls from the snack table.
Satou was currently singing with Yumi some song from a popular anime. Just as they were finishing up, however, she sat down and took a sip from her soda. Now was his chance.
He got up from his seat and began to edge toward her…when a large group of male officers raided the entrance. “Satou-san!”
“Sing the next one with me, Satou-san!”
“Satou-san can I pour you a drink?”
“You were brilliant in that robbery today, Satou-san!”
Takagi was taken back in surprise. What was going on?
Satou-san is the most popular woman in the force. She’s beautiful, funny, smart and probably the best detective here. Anyone of those guys would love to be in your shoes.
Chiba’s words came trickling back to him. Oh, right. Satou-san was very popular. So popular that one of the detectives riding up the corporate ladder at rapid speeds, Shiratori, was currently bringing her a new platter of food. Satou didn’t seem to be aware of the attention but she did like the food. Takagi rolled his eyes and sighed.
“Told ya.” Chiba was once again at his side.
“Shut up.”
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The End
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My notes: Sorry for the wait with this one, guys! I’ve been very busy with school so I haven’t had much time to fic. But here it is now, enjoy!! Dedicated to
ammchan - she made me the cutest Takagi/Satou icons! Thank you!