The Return of the Maple of the West - Nishi no Kaede no Kikan( 帰還): Prologue - Jomaku (除幕)
Characters: Mouri Ran, Kisaki Eri, Edogawa Conan, OC
Episodes mentioned: 345
Bold: foreign words
Italic: Phone conversations and thougts.
Disclaimer: I own nothing except for Risa, Nobara and Dante. The rest is all property of Aoyama Gousho-sensei.
Warnings: Probably poor construction of sentences (English isn't my first language so I suck at descriptions) and...OOC (the characters are too much complicated to write, specially Conan)
Milan, Italy
In a small house that was located right outside of the well-known Accorsi family, a tall young chestnut-haired woman of about 24 years old was sitting on the bed reading the last article about a strange sniping that had ocurred last month in New York. At her side, there were a pile of American and European newspapers, including the suicide of the supposed Japanese serial-killer that took place in new York three years ago. The picture of the deceased was circled red, as well many other pictures that belonged to victims of random sniping: France, Italy, Germany, Spanish, USA. As usual, there were no clues on the culprits behind the assassinations except the witnesses' testimony.
"People wearing black, one of them a female with short orange hair, the other a elderly male and the last one in New York...a young male. The three were always nearby the sniping sites but not necessarily together." Her brown eyes narrowed at the "wearing black" part. This must have been a hit, she deduced. Probably by a mafia-like organization because there's no way the same black-clothed people would be at every sniping place by chance. Whoever they are, I have to hand it to them; these guys' range is way better than our police force. However, the FBI too have their own special bullet... The corner of her lips curled into a small smirk before her mind projected a shadowed figure of a man with piercing olive-green eyes and wearing a knitted cap. One second later, it vanished as quickly as it had appeared.
Her eyes drifted to the envelope signed "VERMOUTH". Sighing, she stopped reading the article and foccused on the letter that had been placed inside the envelope. Like the others, it was a beautiful silver envelope who did not have a return address, only its mysterious sender's name. Inside of it, there were written the same English words Risa was more than used to read: "I'm sorry". It was a simple phrase written in cursive handwriting, probably done by a female, judging from the curly ends of the "I" and the "s".
Too bad that Madreis more interested in her new husband now than solving mysteries... "Well, one thing is certain; this person is certainly fond of liquor." She mused aloud, instantly translating the word to the well-known Italian liquor she was a bit fond of drinking, much like with Rosé, her parent's favourite drink.
Risa then put away the article and prepared to pull the covers one more time. Unfortunately, Fate had other plans for her; a distinctive sound that came from her cellphone was all it took for the young woman to be fully-awaken; there were only two people who would call her this early and one of them was a heavy insomniac, the other lived on the other side of the planet.
Since the first one - her assistant and partner in investigations Dante Balducci who she affectionately called "Dan-kun"- had told her he would not bother her today, it could have been only one of her important people, other than her mother, aunt, half-siblings and Dan-kun. Muttering angrily about relatives who don't know the difference between time zones, she answered the phone without looking at the number, guessing the caller's identity.
"Buon giorno." She sarcastically greeted the speaker. "Pray tell me what seems to be so important that could not wait until 3 hours later?"
"Sorry, Risa-san. It's just that..." Risa waited for her maternal cousin Mouri Ran to complete the sentence but she had a good idea of what it could be; the karate champion would only talk to her about two things: her father's latest solved case and her constant worries concerning a certain meddlesome teenage detective brat.
"Shinichi is being secretive again." The young woman nearly face-palmed herself before composing herself. "Ran, mi cara cugina, if he prefers to play "James Bond" and leave you out of the loop, I don't see how I can help you."
Her cousin's voice was now a lot softer, almost in the verge of breaking, making Risa try a different approach which she was 84% sure it would work.
"Next time you confront the idiota, you better punch him for all he has put you through."
A heartily laugh was the confirmation that Ran's mood had improved. Risa couldn't help but smile; Mouri Ran, her aunt Eri's daughter, was one of the people the older chestnut-haired loved as a little sister, the other being the aforementioned detective brat. Honestly, that guy...how could he just leave his best friend-slash love interest worrying herself to death?
That irresponsible detective...I'll plummel him to the ground the next time I see him. She darkly thought, a sadistic glint momentarily appearing on her eyes.
"I might as well do that!" Ok she was laughing again; good sign. "Actually, I'd like to ask you something; last week, Tou-san received an invitation to a "off-season Halloween Party" at the docks...it was signed "Vermouth." I've called Shinichi but that tantei-otaku just gave me an evasive answer. Do you know what does it mean?"
Risa's eyes widened and she grabbed the envelope again. "How did you pronounce it?" She heard Ran struggling with the uncommon English pronunciation but eventually spelling it in a clear voice: "V-E-R-M-O-U-T-H. Vermouth."
Vermouth and Belmotto…
"The name translates to an alcoholic beverage quite known here in Italy. Japanese pronounce it as "Bermotto." Risa quietly explained, hearing the rather confused voice from the other side of the line. "Alchool?"
"I have to go; tell Ba-san that "Kaede" is returning. She'll know what this means. Oh and by the way, let Oji-san know that I'll probably be around for some time, please? Thank you."
"Eh, wait a-" Risa snapped the phone shut and after quickly checking the next flights to Narita Airport, she carefully removed the brown contacts, revealing a pair of turquoise blue orbs that shined with determination. Its color and shape was uncommon for a Japanese but she had heard Madre say that her father J.P.V. came from a Caucasian background, making her a half.
"Looks like I may have found a lead on you after all..." Again she smiled, this time more confidently. "Right? Signora Bermotto".
Meanwhile, in the Mouri Detective Agency, Ran grudgingly put away the agency's phone and before using it again to call her mother's work' number. As expected, the always cheerful voice of secretary Midori-san answered it and happily passed the call to Kisaki-sensei's office. Two seconds later, mother and daughter were exchanging greetings. Then, Ran relayed what Risa had asked her. For some time, she heard silence on the other side of the line.
"It probably has to do with my younger sister's deceased first husband." Her mother's voice eventually said. "Nobara's first husband took our name - Kisaki - as his married name and apparently committed suicide 14 years ago in suspicious circumstances. . Not to mention he used several alias due to his work which I never really understood what was about since that girl was always a secretive one like my late brother in law...she wanted to be a detective when she was young." The voice sounded nostalgic. "Anyways, our parents never knew who he really was but Nobara married him without consent. After he passed away, she became obsessed with finding the real culprit; that girl was sure something or someone forced him to commit suicide. She left the country with Risa in order to find more clues because her husband was a non-Japanese."
"J.P.V." Ran suddenly remembered what Risa had once said. "Oji-san's initials were J.P.V., right?"
An audible gap was heard on the other side of the line. "How did you know it?"
"Risa-san said it that Oji-san received letters from a person that addressed him as J.P.V. I just thought it made sense..."
"That girl is stubborn like her mother..." She heard her mother complaining loudly which was quite uncommon for the successful lawyer before continuing, this time in a more pleasant voice. "When Miss Maple arrives, we'll have a lot of things to chat about.." (1)
Miss Maple? Wouldn't it be "Miss Marple"? Unlike what Sonoko and Shinichi believed, Ran was fond of mysteries, just not Sherlock Holmes. She and Risa were great fans of Agatha Christie's books and her cousin's favourite character was... realization dawned within her.
"Ran, are you listening?"
"Ah yes, sorry. Tomorrow at 12 pm at Poirot, right? I'll ask Azusa-san to reserve a table for us."
"Thank you again. See you tomorrow, Ran."
"Hm. Until next time, Okaa-san." She hanged up the phone and sat in the sofa, reading the last message that detective otaku had sent following the strange "minor kidnapping incident". For some reason, Ran was recalling the voice of that lady. What did she call her again? She knew it was English and the voice did seem familiar...
"What's wrong, Ran-neechan? You look deep in thought." The bespectacled seven-year old boy observed, his intelligent blue eyes hiding behind the thick-framed glasses whose shape looked exactly like Yuusaku-ojisan's. His contemplative expression was so like Shinichi Ran had to rub her eyes to check if she wasn't hallucinating.
Risa-san said that some people develop hallucinations out of need and longing...I wonder if that's the case with me. She wryly thought before answering to Conan-kun. "Well as of tomorrow, Risa-san will stay with us until she finds an apartment. Shinichi told you about her right? That she was my cousin on Okaa-san's side."
Her pseudo brother's reaction was...akin to a child who was denying everything that he was being told. "What? That good-for-nothing wannabe detective, that Nancy Drew is coming?!" No no, everyone but her!" Again, Shinichi reappeared on her mind. When they were young, Risa liked to make fun of him and dragged them with her to "explore" new mysteries which consisted of visiting haunted places and solve unexplainable codes. She had said it was good practice for detectives and… wait a minute. Since when Conan-kun knows Shinichi's nickname for Risa-san?
"I see Shinichi told you everything; you even know Risa-san's nickname." She couldn't help but say the last part in an accusing tone.
Conan-kun made a distinctive sound of gulping before awkwardly laughing, scratching his cheek. "Shinichi-niichan wanted me to be informed...he said that information makes a good detective."
This time Ran laughed but in her eyes he still looked a bit suspicious. "That definitely sounds like him." The girl placed her cellphone near her ear and gave Conan a knowing look. "I can't wait to tell him about Risa-san."
The boy named Edogawa Conan instantly paled and excused himself from the room, making a dash to the toilet. Ran's sharp cerulean eyes kept following the boy's figure until he closed the door.
"Busted." It was all that Ran said before putting the phone away and prepare a good cup of tea and the strongest black coffee she knew Shinichi liked so much. You have a lot of explaining to do, Shinichi.
Translations: Madre- Mother; Buon giorno - Good Morning; mia cara cugina - my dear cousin; idiota - idiot; Signora - Mrs.(1) The "Miss Marple" said by Eri is a pun in one of Risa's many alias: Ogata Kaede (緒方 楓). Kaede, as you know from other fandoms - cough cough Efen Lied- translates to "maple".
And so it begins...the shrunken detective Edogawa Conan's week of pain (Shinichi, you should have seen that coming). I might post the first Chapter if this gets reviewed...but I must tell you. I am a total newbie when it comes to writing fanfiction.