Yes, I'm back in a couple of hours with a new story. Seems no one has touched FFA yet... =(
This is a crossover. I state it again. And the other manga I use for this story...is (again) in the mystery genre. Yet it stands in my list as number two, right below Case Closed. It's so hard to find the manga...it's just so quiet and lesser-known. Maybe riddle lovers might want to open this question before reading the story, so here goes the clue: The person who drew (not come up with the storyline!) Detective School Q is the same person who did the artwork for this manga. And no it is not Detective School Q either. Any guesses?
Ratings...may contain instances of short skirts being blown by winds. I'll try as much as possible to keep it to K+, alright?
The teacher stepped into the class, with a student following closely at her side. The students fell silent, their eyes latched onto the pretty young lass in a uniform that was different from theirs.
"Class, we are going to have an exchange program with Fudo High School, and today I shall introduce the two students that will be here with us for the next week." She turned to the girl, and did a double take. Sonoko raised her hand.
"Teacher, you said there were going to be 'students', but I only see one girl with you. Where's the other student, or did you just make a mistake?"
The teacher rustled through her papers and folders, all while looking panicked at the long-haired girl. She looked at the teacher for a moment, and then whipped out her phone and dialed a certain number. Just outside, she heard that familiar ringtone, and pushed open the window. She reached her hand down and grabbed hold of a bunch of hair.
"Eeeyah!"
"Just what are you doing down there?" she scolded the boy sitting on the sill below her.
"Ow-Ow-Ow let go of me!!!" he struggled, trying to pry her fingers off. She loosened her grip, and the boy nearly fell down to the ground below, if not for his friend yanking at his hair again. She hoisted him up into the classroom, and turned to the flustered class.
"There. Here's the other student."
…
Conan just liked to blow bubbles into his drink. He had no idea why, but it always seemed to cool his hot chocolate down considerably. It was a good and fun technique to use if Ran made his chocolate so hot that it scalded the skin off his tongue – which was most of the time.
He didn't have school today, but Ran had, so he was stuck inside the house with nothing to do. It was snowing outside, and he wrapped himself warmly in layers of blankets he took from Kogoro's, just to annoy him. Snuggled up in bed with a stack of manga he had borrowed from Mitsuhiko, he waited patiently for Ran to come back home.
Just then, the doorbell rang.
He put down his things grudgingly, and opened the door, anticipating Ran.
A girl with long hair streaming down behind her beamed down at the little child. She bent forwards and stroked his head, smiling happily.
"And how's my little Conan-kun doing?"
He shared her smile, and replied, "Ran-neechan, you're home!"
"My, my, what a cute kid brother you have, Ran-san!"
Conan peeked behind her shoulder to look at the other person who spoke. The girl behind Ran had her hair partially pinned to the back of her head, with a fringe flopping down on her forehead. Hopping around behind her was someone, Conan was not sure of the gender, but the person seemed to have tied-up hair too.
"Ran-neechan, who are these people?" he asked, his eyes brimming with curiosity.
Ran got up, and invited her guests in. Conan skipped to the side, and looked at the second guest: a teenage boy with his shoulder-length hair tied at the back.
"Just like a bell rope," he thought.
The three of them sat down on the sofa, and Conan whisked them some cocoa with marshmallows in the mugs. Ran ruffled his hair in fondness, and he snuggled up to her for warmth.
"Conan, I want you to meet Miyuki Nanase and Hajime Kindaichi. They are exchange students from Fudo High School. Miyuki-san and Kindaichi-san, this is Conan Edogawa, the little kid I'm taking care of." Ran pointed to each of them in turn, and the kid mentally noted down their names.
"Nice to meet you, Conan-chan." Miyuki extended her hand, and Conan shook it eagerly. Kindaichi, on the other hand, was staring at his own feet, eyebrows furrowed in deep thought. Miyuki elbowed her friend in the ribs, and he jackknifed to a start.
"Eh…Sorry, Ran-san, Hajime is always like that when he's trying to solve a case." She said apologetically to her host.
Conan's ears perked up. Case? Then Kindaichi is a detective?
He hopped down from his seat and picked up the packet of marshmallows. His hand slipped by accident, sending a stray treat flying into Kindaichi's mug, and a drop of boiling chocolate hopped onto his leg. Conan braced himself for a scolding, but none came. The guy just sat there, thinking, oblivious to the fact that the chocolates had been spilled onto him.
Conan turned to Miyuki and asked an innocent question. "Since Kindaichi-oniisan is not responding, would he mind if I dropped a rock on him?"
Both the girls tried to hold back their laughs. Kindaichi was still not listening.
"Conan-kun you naughty boy, don't go dropping things onto people just like that! You'll get scolded for it!" Ran chided, and pulled him towards her. Miyuki trod on Kindaichi's foot in annoyance, which finally made him listen. "Hajime-chan, would it even kill you to quit pondering over that case for a while?" she whispered irritably.
Kindaichi pouted back at her like a mischievous kid.
Conan sniggered. Man, they're just like Hattori and Kazuha. They sure bicker a lot.
"Say, what case is Kindaichi-oniisan thinking about?" he asked, "Maybe Uncle can help out with it." Only because I'm the one pulling the strings from behind.
"Hay, Conan-kun's right! Ran-san's dad is the famous detective Mouri Kogoro, right! Oi, Hajime! Maybe Mouri-sama can help you." Miyuki pulled at her friend's cheek to make sure he was listening. Flapping her hand away, he mumbled, "I don't need help."
"But it would be good if you have more heads to think about is, isn't it?"
"He would at most get in the way."
Conan hid his scowl under his child-like face. I know that is true, but was that comment directed at me?
"Ran-san, is it okay with you if we ask your dad to help us on this case?" Miyuki asked, to which Ran gave a nod. "In fact, I'll go ask Dad now. He's just in the office downstairs." Ran said cheerfully, and went off, leaving the three of them in the living room.
Kindaichi shot Conan a weird look, which he returned with the cutest, most innocent grin he could manage.
"Conan-chan, is Ran-san really your sister?" he asked the child. Conan did a double take, and two steps backward.
"Y-No, she's just taking care of me for the time being, while my parents are away. But Ran-neechan's a really nice person."
"Okay…." He didn't look convinced. Conan gulped down any lumps rising up in his throat. Stay calm, even if he says I'm Ran's sister it's okay if he gets the facts wrong. My identity would be hidden better this way. If he is a really good detective like Hattori, then I may just be luring myself to Death's trap.
…
Later, Ran came back in with Kogoro.
"What's all this about a case, huh? Is it for me?" he asked eagerly, leaning forward to look at his two 'clients'.
"Eh, Dad! Miyuki-san and Kindaichi-san just want you to help them on a case they are working on, that's all!" cried his daughter in frustration, while trying to hold her dad back. Conan's eyelids sank till they were covering half his eyes.
Same old Uncle…Always thinking about money when anyone says 'case'.
"I told you, I don't need help," muttered Kindaichi, only to get elbowed again by his friend.
"What he means is, Mouri-sama, is that we would gladly appreciate your help on this matter. Kindaichi-kun here has been working on a pretty tough case recently, and we thought that you should have a look at it," said Miyuki, her eyes shining with admiration.
"Whoever said anything about 'we'?" he muttered, and once again he got elbowed. "Fine, fine! I'm shutting up!" he cried, exasperated.
"Okay…then how much are you going to pay me?" Kogoro glared down at them, his motive clearly spelt out in his expression. Ran yanked his collar back, whispering angrily into his ear, "Dad! Can't you do something free of charge for once?"
"And be an amateur? No way!"
"I say Uncle should help them, but only if Uncle gets a kick out of solving the case," piped up the little kid in the room. "Just like Shinichi-niichan."
Everyone in the room fell silent.
"Quit comparing me to that twit, you brat!!"
"Shinichi….when is he going to come home….?"
"Shinichi? As in Kudo Shinichi, the High School Detective of the East?"
"…Shin –what?"
Voices burst into the room at the same time, loud ones, soft ones, excited ones and confused ones. Everyone was talking simultaneously, and it was a couple of minutes until the chatter died down that Miyuki explained their predicament to Kogoro.
"A few days ago, we were looking around in a museum when we came across a highly guarded exhibition. It was armed to the teeth with police officers, laser sensors and those other things used in a vault. Kindaichi-kun here asked the curator what it was for, and he explained that it was to guard against a particular phantom thief that would try to steal the object. Just as we were about to leave, the thief appeared and took the jewel, and then disappeared. What Kindaichi-kun is trying to do now is to work out how he stole the jewel."
"He came from the vent, dropped partially reflective mirrors into ledges he had placed there earlier, which reflect key lasers into receptors, so the alarm would not be triggered. Then, he simply jumped onto the box, having cleared away the lasers there, opened it, plugged the sleeping gas tube and made off with the jewel through the air vent. He exited the vent at the roof, where he flew away."
Everyone turned to stare at the child, who had just stated the method. Kindaichi blinked, and scratched at his head frantically.
"Yeeeh, I knew there was something wrong with the ledges on the floor! And now I've been duped by a kid!" he cried in frustration. Miyuki giggled, then asked Conan, "Wow. I don't think you were at the scene, were you? And it's pretty amazing to beat Hajime-chan at this game. You're good, Conan-chan."
"I was at the scene, Miyuki-oneesan. I got close to the thief just before he flew away, but I didn't catch him."
Miyuki applauded for him in astonishment and admiration. Kindaichi just rolled his eyes.
"Nah, it's nothing. I bet Kindaichi-oniisan could do it. He would have figured it out soon enough anyway." Conan blushed slightly at the popularity plus he got. He glanced at the teen, and saw that he had promptly gone to sleep.
How rude. Conan went over and pretended to trip over Kindaichi's foot, where in reality he smacked him hard on the shin. The teenager yelled, and shook Conan off his leg, before throwing some marshmallows at him, which the child contentedly caught and ate. Then, Conan picked up some more air-blown sweets and flung them back at the teenager.
"Alright then, we kindly appreciate your help, Mouri-san. But I think we should be going now," she muttered, watching the marshmallow fight slowly evolve into a food fight. She pulled Kindaichi by his hair, and led him out the door, saying goodbye to the little family.
"Now what was that all about?" asked Kogoro in confusion.
"Conan-kun, you know you should not be playing with your food! Now you go clean up all those biscuits that landed on the floor, and I don't want to see even a crumb of it when you're done, alright?" Ran huffed, pushing Conan over to the first biscuit she saw.
Conan bent down and quietly picked up all the biscuit pieces.
Okay. Relax.
But I have a feeling that there's going to be something more coming on later….it's that 'shinichigami' feeling again. Uh oh…..
He got up, and threw away the remnants of the biscuits, making a mental note to be wary about the duo.
Yes I am trying out a new style of writing.
For those who guessed the answer without refering to the story, good for you. For those who did not...well, try harder next time, then.
Anyone wants me to continue? Or should I keep this to a oneshot? Review needed to fuel the next chapter, alright?!