"You're free to go!" Those were not the words Takagi expected to hear from the officer glaring down at him. Nor did he expect to be practically shoved out of the interrogation room door before he'd even had time to process those words. But here he was, clutching his previously confiscated belongings, staring forward with a befuddled expression.
That was it? After hours of futile questions about a past he couldn't remember, after spending so long sounding like a broken record, repeating "I don't know" over and over again, they were just letting him go? Takagi half expected a hand to reach out at any second and drag back in for more questioning. But as the hands on his watch ticked forward, the door behind him stayed shut. Instead, a soft and yet also sturdy hand grabbed his arm and started pulling him along.
"Let's go, Takagi-kun!" Sato commanded in her usual authoritative tone. With a firm grip on his wrist, she ushered him away, her pace noticibly faster than normal, like she too worried the officers might change their mind at any moment. Takagi followed her lead without a word, and as he gazed at her, he felt his stress melt away, and his lips lifted into a gentle smile.
Takagi wasn't sure how long they'd been walking for, he was content to just follow wherever she lead. but they couldn't walk forever, and before long Sato stopped walking, letting Takagi's arm slip out of her hand. "I'm sorry." Sato said. finally breaking the silence.
"What for?" Takagi asked.
"I know I promised to wait until you were ready, but in order to clear your name, I had to look into your past." She confessed, unable to turn and look Takagi in the eyes.
"oh..." Takagi's smile vanished, replaced with a dejected expression. "It's fine, it wasn't your fault." he leaned against the wall and allowed himself to slide down until he was sat against the wall. As sad as he was, he wasn't surprised. Takagi could be clumsy and a bit scatterbrained at times, but he wasn't an idiot. his blood had been found at a 4 year old crime scene, he knew there was only one way to prove his innocence: figure out why his blood was there. And to do that first you'd need to know who he was 4 years ago, before that explosion stripped him of his memories.
"If I'm being honest, I think I know who I used to be." Takagi admitted, drawing his knees to his chest. "I have for a while, I was just too scared to acknowledge it." His thumb started trailing the scars on his hands, an unconscious habit that always seemed to rear it's head whenever he thought about his past. "I wouldn't be able to call myself a detective, if I hadn't considered the possibility, There's just too many coincidences to ignore, the timeline fits too perfectly."
"Do you need to talk?" Sato asked as she sat besides him, placing her hand on his.
"I guess, deep down I just hope I'm wrong." Takagi sighed, "It's some big shoes to fill after all, and a part of me was worried about how you'd react." He confessed, his eyes staring forward at nothing in particular. "But most of all I'm terrified. Terrified that I'll spend the rest of my life trying to escape his shadow, without ever remembering being him. But at the same time, I'm just as terrified that one day I will remember my life as him, and I'll cease to be me." Takagi lay his head on his knees and let his eyes lose focus as he looked down the hall. "You probably think I'm a coward."
"No." Sato reassured, leaning into him, resting her head on his shoulders. "I think everyone is scared of their future from time to time, it's just a part of life. especially when you know just how quickly it can change, and everything can be ripped out from under you." Her free hand unconsciously found it's way to her pocket, resting upon the rusted handcuffs, the momento of her late father. "It's fine to feel anxious or scared, what's important is to keep moving forward in spite of that, even when you feel like you're stuck at a crossroads with no correct answer. You never know, maybe beyond those is a better path you just can't see yet." Takagi raised his head to look at Sato again, and as he did, his gentle smile returned once more.
"Thank you for clearing my name, Sato-san" Takagi rested his head on hers. "to tell the truth, I was starting to doubt my self, and starting to think maybe I really was responsible, thank you for proving them wrong."
"I can't take all the credit, the detective boys and that waiter from Poirot Helped, without their help, you probably would have been stuck in a holding cell for the night."
"Amuro-san helped?" Takagi asked. "The detective boys makes sense, they always manage to turn up at cases somehow, but Amuro-san?"
"I don't know, Conan-kun said they just happened to be together. I wasn't exactly in a position to turn down more help."
"good point." Takagi chuckled. "Hey, Sato-san?"
"Hm?" Sato raised her head to look at him.
"Can I be a bit selfish?" Takagi asked, his thumbs once again tracing his scars. but this time, he wasn't staring forward at nothing, no, this time he was looking at Sato, wearing a soft smile as he did. "My previous name, do you think we could leave it unspoken, just a little while longer?"
