Okay, so I'm back, after a break where I caught up on schoolwork. This new story should be several chapters long, but I likely won't be able to update very frequently for at least the next week due to a fifteen page research paper I need to complete. So sorry about that. :(
In the meantime, please read and review this chapter. Tell me anything you want, just so long as it's constructive. I am also debating whether or not to update/overhaul some of my old stories, so if anybody has any requests, don't hesitate to ask. I am also taking artwork for story covers as well.
Disclaimer: I do not own this series, its characters, or its plot in any way, nor do I intend to make any financial profit from this.
Chapter One
There were only a few things that genuinely scared Conan. Believe it or not, almost all of these things involved one person: Ran Mouri. Generally, Conan got scared whenever Ran was in danger, but Ran herself was fully capable of scaring him.
Right now, Conan was wishing he was anywhere else. He cringed as Ran continued shouting.
"Conan-kun! What's that supposed to mean?"
"I just meant…"
"Well, it's a terrible thing to do! How is Dad supposed to be a detective if you're always knocking him out?"
As the one-sided argument continued, Conan thought back to how the argument has started in the first place.
XXX
"Mouri Detective Agency," said Kogoro, picking up the phone. Conan was lying on the couch reading while Ran cleaned in the back. "Oh, Megure-keibu-dono! What, a murder?" Conan's ears pricked up as Kogoro talked to Megure over the phone, taking notes on a small notepad. "Right, then, I'll be over right away!" Kogoro finished, hanging up and putting on his jacket.
"What happened, Dad?" Ran asked, wringing a rag into a bucket.
"Some guy got murdered over in Haido Park. The police are still looking into contacting his family and reconstructing what happened. He wants me there because…well…"
"What is it, ojisan?" asked Conan, making his face look as curiously innocent as possible.
"I don't think I can tell you," Kogoro sighed. "I'm going to go, but you two stay here. Ran, make sure that kid doesn't follow me." He jabbed a finger at Conan, who scowled. A minute later, the door shut as Kogoro went down the stairs and hailed a taxi.
"I'm going out for a while!" Conan said at once, hoping to follow Kogoro to the scene.
"No way!" Ran snapped, grabbing Conan by the arm and dragging him back to the couch. Then, knowing that Conan would slip out the moment she went back to cleaning, she wedged a chair under the doorknob. It would take more strength than Conan had to un-wedge the chair, so Ran knew he was trapped. Humming to herself, she opened a window and returned to cleaning.
'Great,' thought Conan, looking around. It wasn't the worst place he'd ever been trapped in, but it was the first time that he was hesitant to try to distract his captor. He opted to try persuasion.
"Ran-neechan," he began, looking at the floor in a very cute pose, "I promised to meet my friends this afternoon, but I can't get out the door. Could you move the chair so I can get out?"
"No," said Ran, her usually nice tone completely absent. Conan looked at her, stunned. "Is there something wrong, Ran-neechan?" asked Conan, trying to keep the worry out of his voice.
Ran stopped cleaning and looked away, her bangs obscuring her face. "Dad went to see Araide-sensei the other day," she began, her voice neutral.
"Did he tell ojisan to stop drinking again?" asked Conan.
"It wasn't a normal checkup," said Ran. "Dad wanted to find out why his memory of all the cases he solves is so bad."
'That's unprecedented,' thought Conan, instantly becoming wary. He had a bad feeling about where this was going. Unconsciously, he began to panic.
Ran continued, "During the testing, Araide-sensei gave Dad some anesthesia so he could do some more…intrusive tests without injuring Dad. It didn't work. It took several times the normal amount to finally knock Dad out. Araide-sensei realized that Dad must have developed some kind of immunity to sleeping drugs. Dad started losing his memory around the time you showed up, Conan-kun. What do you think of that?"
"It's probably a coincidence," said Conan, his nervousness appearing in his voice clear as day.
"No, it's not!" said Ran loudly, stamping her foot. For the first time, she looked him right in the eyes. "What do you have to say for yourself, Conan-kun?"
"Well, I think someone might have had too much to drink that day," said Conan, unconsciously edging away.
"Conan-kun! What's that supposed to mean?"
"I just meant…"
"Well, it's a terrible thing to do! How is Dad supposed to be a detective if you're always knocking him out?"
By this point, Ran was beginning to completely lose it in her anger, her eyes locking on Conan. Conan knew he'd have to come up with some trick to explain away Kogoro's lack of memory, but now wasn't the time. With Ran not thinking straight, Conan bolted, jumping out the open window and inflating a soccer ball from his belt to use as a cushion. He hit the ground running, the sound of Ran's yelling still ringing in his ears.
XXX
With nowhere really to go, Conan wandered the streets, heading for Prof. Agasa's house. It was the only place he could think to go.
When Conan finally reached the house, he went right up and rang the doorbell. He heard some shuffling feet inside before the door cracked open and a small girl peeked out. "What, Kudo-kun?" Haibara asked. "Agasa-hakase is out, so there isn't really a reason for you to be here."
"Just let me in and I'll explain," said Conan hastily, surprising Haibara. Sensing something to do with the Black Organization, she quickly unchained the door and let him in.
"So what is it?" she asked, offering him a drink and looking at him with a gaze that could melt glass.
"It's Ran again. She suspects."
Haibara rolled her eyes in irritation. "So you thought you'd have one of us call as you in your adult form to throw her off. Or maybe you want some of the antidote? Well, the answer is NO. Knowing you, you'll just waste it again."
"Actually, Haibara, it's not that," said Conan, staring into his drink. "Ran suspects Edogawa Conan of being Sleeping Kogoro, not Kudo Shinichi. She hasn't put two and two together this time. I had to run to avoid getting my head smashed in when she confronted me about it."
"Tell me everything, then," said Haibara, gesturing towards a couch. Conan took a seat and quickly relayed what had just occurred. "So it was the sleeping darts that were the trigger this time, huh? Well, those darts are pretty potent, so I suppose it was inevitable that you'd eventually get found out. Unfortunately, that puts us in a perilous position. Mouri-tantei's agency is the perfect front for leads on them, but there's no point in having a front if it's unusable."
"Tell me you have an idea for how to fix this," said Conan.
"I might have an idea," said Haibara vaguely, a smirk slowly etching across her face. She turned away from Conan slightly, so he could only see part of her face. "It's not an idea I particularly enjoy, though. What we'll have to do is engineer a situation where Mouri-tantei falls asleep and solves the case without you being around."
"How am I supposed to do that? If I'm not around, Sleeping Kogoro can't appear!"
Haibara placed her mug on the table and stood up. Turning to Conan, she commanded, "Go get some paper, Kudo-kun. We've got some planning to do."
XXX
Haido Park – Later That Day
Megure and Takagi were getting absolutely nowhere with the case. Kogoro had shown up, taken a brief glance at the evidence, and promptly concluded that the murder was a suicide, completely disregarding the odd evidence that had been collected.
"Where's Conan-kun?" Takagi had asked once the investigation started grinding to a halt.
"I'm not bringing the kid along anymore," Kogoro had stated quietly, refusing to elaborate.
Now, an hour later, the three suspects, all joggers who had been in the park at the time of the murder, were getting impatient. With no hard evidence, Megure was about to be forced to let them go, despite his better judgment. Then they all heard a noise that made both Megure and Kogoro cringe.
"What's going on?" asked Genta loudly.
"Look here!" Kogoro shouted at the Detective Boys. "This is a crime scene; you can't just barge in here!"
'No Conan-kun, huh?' thought Takagi. Indeed, it was just Ayumi, Mitsuhiko, Genta, and Haibara who were there; Conan was nowhere to be found. Oddly, Haibara was wearing a pair of Conan's glasses, but all the adults assumed it was a stupid kiddy fashion and paid it no attention.
"Never mind that; why do you all think it's a suicide?" asked Haibara loudly, cutting across the conversation.
"How do you know what we came up with?" asked Megure.
"I know because this is clearly a murder and you all always get the answer wrong until Mouri-tantei takes pity on you and pretends to go to sleep," said Haibara quickly, in complete neutrality, stunning the police officers. "What's up with that money?" she asked, pointing to where some money had been identified as being a part of the scene.
"He probably threw it away when he decided to commit suicide," said Kogoro rudely, angry over the 'pity' remark.
"But who does that when they're being chased?" asked Mitsuhiko, piping up.
"They were trying to avoid being robbed," said Kogoro, grinning evilly. "They figured if they threw their money away, the robbers would go after their money and not them."
"So did he kill himself or get robbed?" Ayumi asked innocently.
Megure and Takagi looked at each other with identical 'What is this crap' looks while Kogoro looked stunned. Takagi instantly pulled out his notebook and flipped to where they had interviewed the suspects. Haibara tugged on his pants leg, and he bent down to let her see. Haibara looked at it a minute before going away. She approached Kogoro, who was busy berating the children for being annoying, and stuck a speaker on his belt.
Kogoro did not expect to receive the usual prick as he fell asleep from the dart that came a minute later. Right before he lost consciousness, he spun around, looking for Conan, but he was nowhere to be found.
I'm pretty sure Haibara and Conan's trick is pretty obvious, but if not, I'll explain it next chapter, along with the details of the robbery-murder itself. As I've stated before, please review this chapter and tell me if it's worth continuing or not. Also let me know about the previous story updates. ~CK94
Next up: Kogoro solves the case, but Conan still isn't in the clear!