Playing the Right Note
A
Detective Conan AU fic
by
Deborah J. Brown
Detective Conan is copyright Aoyama Gosho.
Author's Notes: This story is a sequel to Playing with the Big Boys. As such, it's really a good idea to read that fic before you read this one. There are things only barely referenced here that were established in the original story and won't make sense without reading Shoji's introduction.
I'll be making further comments on the story in my Live Journal, user name: kosaginolegion. Review here, if you would, but feel free to comment there as well, or respond to stuff there. I'll be answering any questions on the fic there as well.
Prologue: Overture
She'd listened to the tapes. Over and over and over again. So many times that she'd have worn them out if she hadn't copied them to her computer. Her mother's voice. Kind, soft and terribly sad. Telling her so much and, at the same time, so very little. Nothing about her father or her family. Nothing of how Miyano Elena felt or thought. Yet beneath the small encouragements, rare glimpses could be seen of the woman who had once had ambitions of a life very different from the one her family chose for her. The life that she, dutiful daughter that she was, had accepted, giving up a promising career on the operatic stage.
Sometimes she wondered what her mother's life would have been like if she'd pursued her dream. Certainly Akemi and Shiho would never have been born, but did her mother regret the passing of her career? There was sorrow in her mother's voice on those tapes, yes and certainly her mother's life had been cut short because of her part in Miyano Atsushi's research. Yet there was something else there, and she treasured that something else as the only link she had with the mother she only barely remembered. Treasured the love and concern that she heard in the voice of a woman who'd died when she was three years old.
Treasured and gained courage from it..
Chapter 1: Aria
AI:
"Cherry blossoms gracefully bloom o'er the fields that lie. "
Ayumi's clear young voice rose and fell, then quavered and came to a halt. Her eyes were wide as she stared out into the theatre. She looked terribly small and alone out there in the middle of the stage, her dark hair gleaming in the light and her eyes huge as she licked her lips nervously. "Uh... High up is the castle wall, where have warriors gone?" Slowly she made her way through the song, hesitating here and there as if she were having trouble remembering the words. From her position at the other end of the small choir, Ai winced. This was, fortunately, just the rehearsal but she wondered if Ayumi would be able to get past her stage fright on the day of the performance.
Still, Ai had to admire the little girl's courage. Standing up alone in front of an audience wasn't something she wanted to do. It wasn't that she didn't enjoy music, she wouldn't have agreed to join the choir if she didn't. Nor was it really the same form of stage fright that affected Ayumi. No, her real fear was being noticed. Standing where she was, behind and amid other children, she could blend in.
Singing a solo meant being the center of attention. Meant that one of those pursuing her might see her and recognize the 18 year old prodigy Miyano Shiho in the seven year old Haibara Ai. She was trying to be braver, trying to learn the courage that she'd lost - or perhaps never had - but there was only so much she dared. She wondered how her mother had done it, in those days when Miyano Elena had been on stage. It would have terrified Ai.
"It's all right, Ayumi. The dress rehearsal is often much worse than the real thing. You'll do fine next week." Their pretty young music teacher smiled from her position at the grand piano, then gestured to her assistant. "Shoji, would you turn the page to the next song? This is for everyone, all right children?" As the boy did so, Ai wondered, yet again, why Miss Tsukano had persuaded someone whose voice was as bad, if not worse, than Conan's to assist with the music class.
Shoji's agreeing, at least, Ai thought she understood. He was a victim of the same drug that had turned both herself and Conan into small children. Before that he had been an FBI agent, Akai Shuichi, who had come to Japan in search of the criminal organization to which Ai had once belonged - and from which she'd escaped . He was simply keeping an eye on her because - sooner or later - their mutual enemy might go after her again. Though what he thinks he's going to do, at this size and with a broken arm, is beyond me.
She eyed the American 'boy' curiously. Tall for his apparent age but too skinny, he had an awkward air to him that wasn't helped by the presence of a light cast on his left arm. She could only describe him as gawky and unimposing, a far cry from the tall, menacing - though admittedly equally skinny - man dedicated to the extermination of the Black Organization. His hair in adulthood had been sleek and a trifle curly. Now it had a shagginess that reminded her of a young bird. A black rooster, no doubt. Only the eyes, greenish-yellow and looking like they could see right straight through you, remained much the same. Oh, he did his best to soften that particular expression but every so often it would flicker to life and make Ai wonder if he was going to burst into flame from the heat of whatever emotion he kept so carefully hidden.
A month or so earlier, Ai would have run from him, even in his current - innocuous - form. She hadn't known him personally when she'd worked for the Blacks, but she knew from various warnings and photographs that he was regarded a high risk to the organization. He'd been instrumental in taking down dozens of lower echelon members and the boss apparently considered him incredibly dangerous for reasons she didn't understand, to the point of having his photograph passed to all the members of the organization with the warning that he was to be avoided unless a certain kill was possible.
Was that how this happened to him? she wondered as the boy finished flipping the pages of Miss Tsukano's music book to the next song. Had someone slipped him the APTX drug, expecting it to kill him, only to have him turn out to be one of those rare people who could survive the systemic shock that it caused in the process of de-aging its victims? It had to have been a massive dose, too. At least twice what she and Conan had received, to turn a twenty six year old to a small child. A tall small child, she noted to herself as she joined the rest of the class in singing the next song. The dark haired American boy barely had to stretch to reach the pages.
The girl standing beside Ai nudged her, reminding her that, if she didn't want any attention paid to her, she'd better pay better attention to what she was supposed to be singing.
.oOo.
SHOJI:
"Thank you, Shoji. You're being really helpful."
He shrugged, putting the last of the sheet music away in its case while the other children put away the chairs that had been arranged in a semi-circle on the stage. "It's something to do on a Saturday," he told the dark-haired woman, even while he kept an eye on Ai and Ayumi. The two were off in a corner talking and he wondered if Ayumi was going to be okay. The little girl seemed awfully young to be doing a solo. Especially if it made her that nervous. He was rather glad no one was pushing Ai into it.
The music teacher smiled gently and pushed a lock of her long black hair out of her face, the faint scent of her perfume following the gesture. Shoji rather liked the subtlety of the scent. It reminded him of another perfume, one his mother had favored. To his annoyance, he was reminded that it was also Her favorite - when Vermouth wasn't disguised as a man that was. He didn't need to remember that. Realizing that Miss Tsukano was talking, he turned his attention to the young woman. "Yes, but considering that you don't seem to like music very much, I have to appreciate your helpfulness all the more." She handed him a few more pages but didn't try and help him put them away. He was rather glad of that. It still aggravated him that he'd broken his arm a couple of weeks back and he hated having to accept help for it.
Getting the folders in order took a bit of concentration, but Shoji finally answered, "I don't hate music. I'm just really bad at it." Not for the first time he wondered why the teacher had encouraged him to help her out. An attempt to draw out the rather sullen foreign kid, no doubt. He'd always worried teachers, probably because they half expected him to turn into yet another of the hundreds of young punks who ended up in jail or worse. Nor could he blame them - he nearly had. He didn't mind, though. He liked listening to the others. Enjoyed their cheerful if slightly off-key enthusiasm. He just didn't want to sing himself. Nor does it hurt that it means I can keep an eye on little sister.
Ayumi was approaching, distracting Shoji from his thoughts. Behind her was Ai, who gave him one of her patented I-don't-trust-you-as-far-as-I-could-throw-you glances before perching on a stool near the piano. "Teacher? Could I try again? I want to get it right." That startled Shoji. Ayumi had sounded so very frightened, earlier. As scared as she'd been, he wouldn't have thought she'd want to keep at it. But then, the child tended to throw herself into things with a foolhardiness that appalled Shoji. Admittedly, this wasn't one of those situations, but given the choice between running into or away from trouble, Ayumi far too often chose the first. Shoji wasn't sure what to make of it, especially since it seemed to be affecting Ai.
He glanced at the younger girl, trying not to let his worry over her show. Half the time she seemed to resent him, the other time to be slightly afraid of him. Sometimes he wondered if she remembered him from all those years ago, if she realized - subconsciously - that he was the brother who'd deserted her when she was three years old and resented it. The fear he could understand better. She had no reason to trust the FBI, no reason to think they'd treat her better than they would any other Black Organization member. The fact that she'd refused their protection told him that she wasn't ready to trust anyone except those closest to her.
For a moment Shoji wished he could have seen what Ai had looked like before the drug had transformed her. She'd resemble their mother, of that much he was sure. Pretty, dirty-blonde hair, with huge blue eyes and an angular face. She had a bit of their mother's temper too, he'd seen it flare occasionally, when annoyance at Genta's eating habits or Mitsuhiko's lack of a critical sense would get the better of her. Or when Conan is being particularly himself.
Realizing that Miss Tsukano was talking to him, Shoji apologized. "I'm sorry, I was distracted." He hurriedly pulled out the sheet music that had been requested, while Ayumi took up her position at the center of the stage again. The girl had taken up her position at the center of the stage again, standing as straight as she possibly could.
The memory of standing in much that way as a child, with an ocean of faces in front of him, caused Shoji to wince and feel a surge of panic. He couldn't blame the girl at all for choking again, as her imagination must have supplied the image. "Maybe she's not ready," he whispered to the teacher, who smiled gently at him but continued playing. Ai gave him a glare, even as Ayumi took a deep breath, relaxed her hands and closed her eyes.
This time she sang the song perfectly.
.oOo.
AI:
The class marched politely down the hallway, going from the auditorium of the Beika museum to the Children's Exploritarium where they'd be staying until their parents came for them. Ai, Ayumi and Shoji would be staying a bit longer than most of the others - Professor Agasa had taken the other boys on a field trip, which meant that they wouldn't be back until a couple of hours later. Fortunately, there'd been no problem with the agreement that - as long as they behaved themselves in the museum - the three children could stay there while the others students went home.
Glancing up the line, Ai noted Shoji looking at a signboard in front of a large blocked off doorway set between a couple of glass cases filled with early twentieth century weapons. She eyed the sign as well, amused at the overly dramatic presentation of what was, essentially, just a "Under Construction" message. Big lumps glass were glued to the corners of the signboard, which advertised the new change to the Works of Man exhibit, including a flawless man-made diamond that was being loaned to the museum. The glass pieces had been cut into ovals, similar in size and shape to the man-made gem that was shown in the photograph on the sign. They glittered brilliantly, surfaces reflecting far more than a normal diamond would, due, no doubt to some sort of coating covering their surfaces.
As they passed the door it opened and one of the workmen preparing the exhibit passed by. Ai caught a brief glimpse of the room beyond. A number of glass cases along the walls and another at the center of the room surrounded by four poles. She could see something glittering within the glass case, a brilliant object that had to be the diamond. Then the door shut quickly and the workman gave them a cheeky grin before heading down the hall in the other direction.
To Ai's amusement, Shoji looked more interested in the security arrangements than in the tantalizing glimpse of the diamond. He'd eyed the poles around the case with a critical eye and nodding in approval. You can take the boy out of the FBI but you can't take the FBI out of the boy.
The Exploritarium was in the older part of the museum, which meant the children had to go thru a number of galleries. Ai couldn't help but notice a general run-down air to the place. The paint was faded, darkened with the oil from many hands and the floors were scuffed beyond the ability of mopping and waxing to remedy. She vaguely remembered Conan commenting that this had been the museum where he'd first used Mouri as a mouthpiece, solving the murder of the previous owner by one of the curators. There'd been a walking suit of armor, now given a place of honor in the main hall beside the painting that had inspired the killing. Somehow, I would have thought that that was rather lacking in sensitivity. Apparently, however, the museum was trying desperately for any sort of publicity, using even the sensational murder to attract attention.
Their teacher stopped them at the doorway and, after giving them the usual "Please behave yourselves, my Uncle has been very kind, allowing us to use the museum's auditorium for practice while the school auditorium is being repaired," she counted heads and sent group into the room.
As she passed by, however, Miss Tsukano stopped Ai and drew her aside. "Could I talk to you, Ai?" The small brunette waved the rest of the class on and crouched beside Ai. "You and Ayumi are Shoji's friends, right?"
Puzzled, Ai nodded. "Well, sort of. He's more friends with Conan and the others. They all like Yaiba." So did Ayumi, for that matter, but Ai wasn't going to let a little thing like the facts interfere with her general disdain for the male animal's fondness for random and unscientifically thought out plotlines that included as many explosions and rubber monsters as could be fit into an episode. "Why?"
Their teacher hesitated. "Well, I don't like to interfere, but... he's sort of lonely. Do you think you could help me draw him out? Not too quickly, of course." She glanced towards the doorway into the Exploritarium, where the tall boy could be seen leaning against the wall in his usual pose of disinterest. "It's really my fault. I shouldn't have pushed him so hard to come with us. But it's obvious he knows more about music than he's letting on... And he seems to like it, otherwise."
That startled Ai. She'd heard Shoji sing, seen his grim expression when Miss Tsukano tried to get him to sing on his own, to try and help him get the notes at least closer to right. It had been an abysmal failure. Shoji had sounded like a love-sick mountain goat and seemed entirely uninterested in trying to change that. "He does?"
"He almost smiles when he listens to all of you," Miss Tsukano elaborated. "I don't know him very well and he is hard to read, but I think that he wouldn't respond at all if he disliked it. I'm pretty sure that he wouldn't be helping me if music was something he hated. He's the sort to do exactly what he wants to do."
The idea that Shoji was there because he wanted to listen to them sing seemed strange. Ai couldn't tell their teacher that she thought Shoji had joined the group in order to keep an eye on her. Thinking about it, she wondered if maybe she was being paranoid. At last she nodded. "I'll try," she agreed. "Though I don't know, Teacher. Even if he isn't tone deaf, he's a really bad singer. Are you sure you want him trying again?"
Miss Tsukano laughed. "He might surprise you, Ai. Now run along, I don't want him realizing that we're talking about him."
.oOo.
SHOJI:
If you don't want me realizing you're talking about me, Shoji thought wryly as Ai entered the room in front of their teacher, you really don't want to be talking within my sight. His training had included reading lips and while he wasn't as good at reading Japanese over English, he'd managed to get the gist of what Miss Tsukano was up to. He couldn't, however, be particularly mad about it. It wasn't really their teacher's fault that he'd had the experiences he'd had. If anything, it was his own fault. Even though he didn't want to sing himself and while he didn't appreciate excessively choral works, the sound of cheerful voices singing was a reminiscent one - from a time when music had just been fun.
Speaking of fun... "Yahhhhhh! Teacher, Gyou just pulled my hair." "Oh, look! They have bubble games over here!" "This place is great." "Shun, please don't climb on that. It isn't safe." The yells and screams of happy children and a rather harried teacher interrupted Shoji's thoughts, combining with the electronic noises of myriad interactive exhibits that were intended to be educational and which, Shoji thought, were more along the lines of a modern torture devices to most adults.
A small smile quirked his lips at the thought. Vermouth, in a straitjacket, forced to sit in the middle of all this and answer every weirdass question these kids could come up with. No. Knowing her, she'd probably enjoy it. It occurred to him that the thought had been almost fondly derisive and he hurriedly pushed it away. He did not like Vermouth. Not at all. He certainly didn't trust her. Not after all her betrayals. He was cooperating with her and her plot - whatever it was - simply because it meant he could keep an eye on her and her doings. Nothing else.
Stepping sideways to avoid an unguided missile in the form of a short boy in a pokemon T-shirt, Shoji scanned the room to find Ai and Ayumi. He was amused to note that while Ai had promised to help their teacher in her plot, the smaller girl wasn't hurrying to do so. Smart girl. Even if I didn't know what she was up to, I'd be suspicious of a change of behavior.
The two had found a corner and were examining one of those plasma balls that held a charge which would follow the hand that touched it. Reading her lips, Shoji realized Ai was lecturing the other girl on the fundamentals of electrons and physics. It was, he thought, typical of her. A flash of memory came to him of his father reading an extract from his latest paper to Shoji's little sisters as a bedtime story. He watched the tiny brown-haired girl, smiling to himself. She looked so much like their mother, but her attitudes towards people and towards science were very much their father's. Give her someone to teach, something to lecture about, and she's happier than a puppy in a meat shop.
Shrugging off the thoughts, Shoji wandered closer, evading the wild animals disguised as human children. There weren't that many left now - over half of the choir class had been picked up at the end of practice - but even fifteen children could turn a fairly small room like this into a riot. He had to admit it was a good place for kids, though. The sort of place he would have enjoyed for the play value if not the learning experiences.
"Oh, this one looks interesting, Ai!" Ayumi was sitting in front of a computer with a digital camera attached to it. "It'll show you what you'll look like when you're big!" She was already playing with the controls, a picture that showed her seven year old face slowly turning into something a bit older. If the thing was to be believed, Ayumi would be a pretty thing in less than a decade. Shoji was suddenly very glad she had two very dedicated knights to protect her. Not that Conan and I wouldn't too, but Genta and Mitsuhiko are more likely to be there than we are. At least I hope not to be here. Given Ai finds a cure for our condition.
His little sister had a look on her face that suggested that she couldn't think of anything she wanted to do less than have that device show everyone what she might look like as an adult. Shoji couldn't blame her, either. There wasn't a lot of risk of someone seeing the results and recognizing Miyano Shiho, also known as Sherry, in the little girl Haibara Ai. Even so, it wasn't a risk worth taking. He spoke up, "I don't think she wants to, Ayumi." He noted, regretfully, the sharp look Ai gave him. She still didn't trust him. Nor could he really blame her. The only thing she knew about him was that he was an obsessed hunter of the Black Organization and that his only reason for protecting her was because she was a potential witness. She couldn't know - unless he got the guts to tell her - that she was also his little sister. So far, he hadn't dared.
There was a pause and Ayumi glanced at Ai curiously. When Ai shook her head, stepping back from the machine, the little girl shrugged and got up. "Okay," she said. "What else can we do... Oh, I know! The Sound Room! Almost no one else plays with that." She was on her way without bothering to see if she was being followed.
.oOo.
AI:
She was seething inside, unfairly, unreasonably and uncontrollably seething. Ai knew perfectly well that Shoji was just helping her keep her cover but she could have handled the problem without him. This wasn't the first time he'd acted like an over-protective big brother, redirecting the conversation away from things that might put her cover at risk or just generally keeping people from bugging her. It was also unlikely to be the last. And the worst of it is that I would have been glad of his interference once. She couldn't deny her own cowardice. It had been a guiding force in her life for so very long after all. Growing up in the Black Organization, she would have done anything for a brother to protect her and Akemi. Now, however, she wanted only to learn the courage that made girls like Ran and Ayumi equal to the boys in their lives. Given I ever have a boy in my life.
Still, Ai could understand where Shoji was coming from. Even if she weren't an important witness against the Black Organization she was still the only one who might figure out a cure for the drug that had turned herself, Conan and Shoji into small children. Akai needed both to stay with her and to make sure she remained safe - at least for now. She'd just have to deal with his attitudes.
Entering the Sound Room, Ai wondered why it was one of the least popular of the exhibits at the museum. She would have thought that the opportunity to make lots of noise with sound equipment would have been a pleasure for most kids the age the Exploritarium was aimed at. A quick glance, though, showed that most of the exhibits were out of order, with big pieces of cardboard covering the control panels. Thinking about it, she realized that a lot of the Exploritarium's equipment was that way. The result, no doubt, of far too many children playing far too hard with it.
When Ai expressed that opinion, though, Shoji shook his head. "It's not just that. The whole place is run-down," he noted. "The adult exhibits aren't very well taken care of either. That new exhibit in the Works of Man area is opening up tomorrow, but it's the only thing that looks remotely worth it. And who wants to look at an old man-made diamond for more than a few minutes?"
Refraining from saying that she would have been interested, Ai wandered over to join Ayumi at one of the few working exhibits in the room. A series of games, mostly simple tone and pitch related, she could see why these, at least, didn't get much attention. One amused her, though. Sing or talk into the microphone and the software would alter your voice. Too bad Conan isn't here to make fun of. Shoji doesn't do that sort of thing. She sat down at the computer and started up one of the games.
It was one of the tests of musical memory. A sequence of notes would be played and needed to be repeated. First one note, then two, then three and so on. It was the sort of game that she was only decent at, but that she liked none the less for the complicated patterns it formed. Ayumi was better, probably because she was better at music, period. Once in a rare while, though, Ai would be lucky and come out the winner, but not this time.
"Do you want to play, Shoji?" Ai called to the boy, remembering that she was supposed to try and draw him out. If she'd neglected the 'duty' it was only because she really wasn't sure how she was going to go about it. And why do I have this odd feeling that our teacher asked me because she wants to draw me out too? The thought amused her and she almost smiled. "Let Ayumi beat the pants off you, next."
Shoji didn't answer and Ai turned to look at him and rolled her eyes. He was leaning over another console and wearing a headphone, listening to something. From the words on the screen the purpose of that station was to tell the user about the history of music. He was listening to a clip from a group named Rock On Shoujo, a band name she didn't recognize.
Giving him a poke, she asked again, "Want to play?"
.oOo.
SHOJI:
For such a little thing, Ai could poke hard. Shoji rubbed at his side ruefully and grinned down at her. "What?" When she repeated the question, obviously irritated with him for some reason, he shrugged. "I'm practically tone deaf, remember? I couldn't play a game like that even if I wanted to."
Ayumi looked puzzled. "But if you were tone deaf, you wouldn't like listening to music," she pointed out, a bit to his annoyance. That was the problem with attempting to cover things up. Sensible little people like Ayumi could find the fundamental flaws in his logic without bothering to think about it. People like Ai and Conan tended to look at the words more emotions - making it slightly easier to work around them. Now that Ayumi had said that, though, he would bet that little sister would be thinking a lot harder about how he felt about things rather than what he said.
In an attempt to head the thoughts off at the pass, Shoji turned the sound up on the headphones and held them out to the girls like a pair of speakers. The noise coming off them was music, but it was very different from the richly structured and carefully balanced chorals of his youth. Jodie always liked to say that his preferred music sounded rather like someone had gotten a band of deaf musicians together and mixed up their sheet music, a not entirely accurate description of the kind of unstructured sounds he preferred.
"Oh. Jazz." Ai shrugged. "So? That doesn't mean you can't recognize tones." She looked at him challengingly and added, in English, "I double dog dare you to play Ayumi."
Now that startled him. Where'd she get that from? he wondered, blinking at her. Then he smiled and shrugged. He could play. He didn't have to play well. You never turned down a double dog dare, after all.
Joining Ayumi at the other console while Ai took over the one he'd been at, Shoji gave the smaller girl a wry smile. "Go easy on me, okay? I don't play this sort of game usually." The little girl smiled and set up a game on the easy mode. He still made sure he lost within a few tries, a much simpler task than disguising musical talent, really. All he had to do was hit the wrong button halfway thru the sequence.
After about the third game, Ayumi shook her head. "Shoji, how do you know when to turn the pages?" Yet another of those questions that he wished that little girl wasn't so good at asking. He shrugged and glanced sideways at Ai, but the other girl was engrossed in searching through the music on the other computer and probably hadn't noticed. Ayumi, fortunately, came up with an answer that seemed to satisfy her. "Oh, of course. You listen to the words. And I bet Teacher lets you know when she's ready."
Relieved, Shoji nodded. "That's probably it," he agreed. "Anyway, I'm lousy at this game, so let's find something else to do." The two rejoined Ai, who was listening intently to something, her expression far away. Shoji was momentarily tempted to return her poke for one of his own, but didn't because a glance at the monitor stopped him. She'd found the section covering opera and, specifically, of a certain little known artist named Angela Beda, AKA the Sicilian Angel.
Their mother.
.oOo.
AI:
Listening to the voice, Ai could just barely hear her mother's vocal tones in the aria being sung. She was fairly sure, though, that the faint memory of that voice singing a lullaby in a language Ai didn't know wasn't just her imagination. It was a beautiful voice, sweet, pure and strong. Not the sort of voice one would expect from the slender, fragile-looking Miyano Elena. She re-read the biography, so very woefully lacking in real information. Birth date unknown. Birthplace, England. First appearance as Agathe in Der Frieschutz. Rumored to have been one of the rare performers actually capable of breaking a wineglass with her voice. She closed her eyes and let the sound draw her in.
As the song ended Ai realized that Ayumi and Shoji were both standing beside her. Both watched her with curious expressions and she smiled, shrugging. "It was pretty," she told them. "You wouldn't understand, Shoji." He smirked, an oddly irritating expression. "Or would you like to listen?" She held out the headphones.
"Why would it mean anything to me? Even if I liked opera, which I don't, it sounds all distorted. " Shoji asked and she thought she heard a note of actual regret in his tone. She shrugged in answer and he continued, "Anything good?"
Ai pointed to the monitor. "She's got a pretty voice. I take the breaking glass thing with a large grain of salt though."
With a puzzled expression, Ayumi asked, "Why?"
"Because, it's highly unlikely. It's possible to break glass with a sufficiently powerful frequency generator but the human voice isn't capable of the kind of amplification needed." It surprised Ai to see Shoji raise a brow in disbelief. "Show some critical sense, Shoji. It's never been documented..." Shoji's expression didn't change. "Even Enrico Caruso's wife admitted that she'd never seen him do it."
"Mother could," Shoji said quietly, interrupting the flow of Ai's thoughts and startling her. "She'd get mad sometimes and break every wine glass in the house that way." Ai wanted to suggest that his mother might have had other means that had assisted her in this task, but something in Shoji's face said that arguing with him on the matter would only cause a fight.
It was Ayumi who came to the rescue, as she usually did when Ai and Shoji argued. "Your mama was a singer, Shoji?"
"Mmmm. Yeah. She was. She was even on stage for a while before she married father." The yellow-green eyes softened momentarily and Ai had a sudden feeling that - in this at least - Shoji wasn't trying to hide himself. He really did love his mother, whomever she was. Maybe that was why he'd agreed to help the choir when he couldn't sing. Perhaps it had disappointed his mother that her child was so singularly untalented.
Ai got to her feet. "So, anything else in here of interest or should we go out and see if there's something else to do out in the main room..." Her voice trailed off as the room suddenly plunged into darkness.
"What the..." Ai was pretty sure that Shoji only stopped the curse before it got out because she and Ayumi were present. She ignored it, though, turning on her watch's flashlight and pointing it towards the door. Ayumi ran over to open it and Ai sighed, enormously relieved when the girl had no problem doing so. Beyond was more darkness, but the small flashlight watches they all wore would be enough to get them to the door of the Exploritarium. She gave Shoji a puzzled glance before hurrying after Ayumi. To say she was scared was reasonably accurate if a trifling bit understated. However, she wasn't going to let Ayumi go on her own. Not when they didn't know what was going on. It didn't help her state of mind that the other room was empty. She would have expected at least one or two children to still be in there.
Shoji moved quickly ahead of them before Ai or Ayumi could reach the next door. "Look. Let me check first." Ayumi made a disgusted noise and Ai couldn't help but be irritated as well. He was doing it again. Being over-protective when it wasn't necessary. "We can go together," Ai said, following closely behind the tall boy. "Don't argue. Neither of us want to sit here in the dark while you do the big brave boy thing by yourself." She was rewarded with a wry laugh and was told to 'come on, then.' Somehow, the tone irritated her more, as if he were indulging the cute little girl.
The three made their way through the darkened halls, passing between suits of armor and old paintings. The memory of Conan's story was clearly coming back to Ayumi and the little girl was moving along a trifle nervously. In a way, it made Ai feel better, because if brave Ayumi was scared, her own fears weren't quite so foolish. Even though I don't believe in ghosts, no matter what Heiji says, this is still unnerving.
Somewhere up ahead came the sound of shouting. Incoherent, enraged and quite likely blasphemous shouting that - in a comic book - would have been portrayed in bold characters and surrounded with small explosions. They paused, uncertainly and Shoji grabbed the two, pushing them off into a side hall as a flashlight shown down the hallway.
After a moment, the flashlight beam was gone and Ayumi whispered, "That's from the new exhibit area. Maybe there's a thief!" She was moving towards it before Ai or Shoji could stop her, just as the doors were flung open by a big man in a wrinkled suit and rain dampened coat. He was lit by the huge flashlight he carried in one hand, the shadows around him seeming to rise like monstrous beasts around him.
Ayumi screamed, falling backwards and cowered against the wall.
.oOo.
SHOJI:
The man cursed, a stream of profanity that Shoji would have respected better if it wasn't being aimed at a little girl. Anger got the better of him and he rushed forward to block the big man's path, glaring up at him furiously, not at all sure what he'd do if the stranger tried to sweep him out of the way. Belatedly it occurred to him that a six and a half year old's body simply wasn't up to the task of physically protecting another child from an adult's fist. Still, the one thing he was good at was bluffing and he gazed levelly up at the man. "You shouldn't swear like that in front of little girls, mister."
Behind Shoji, Ai had helped Ayumi to her feet, the two girls moving behind him. He wasn't sure if they were looking for protection or trying to support him but he half wished they'd run instead. The thought occurred to him, though, that this wasn't the only person in the building and who knew what the two might run into on their own. Best for them to stay with me.
The man eyed him, moment of temper settling down to startled puzzlement. "I thought we got all the kids out of here," he muttered. Then he squatted in front of Shoji, obviously trying to appear less threatening. Given that the flashlight beam was making his shadow huge against the wall behind him, the effort was something of a failure "I'm Inspector Nakamori, little boy. A policeman. Everything's okay. I didn't mean to scare your friend... Or your little sister." He glanced over Shoji's shoulder as he noticed Ai.
Before Shoji could open his mouth, Ai leaned around him. "He's not my brother!" Shoji wasn't sure exactly why the statement hurt so much. After all, she was just saying something she believed to be fact. She didn't have to be quite so defensive about the idea, though. Almost as an afterthought, she added, "Sir."
"Really? You two look alike."
Shoji couldn't resist remarking, "We're both part foreign, sir. We all look alike." He regretted the words even as he spoke them. An adult could make impertinent remarks of that sort to a superior officer - given that the superior didn't mind - but a child who made such comments was simply a smart assed brat. "Uhm. Sorry. That didn't come out the way I meant it to."
Nakamori gave him a long, considering look. The sort of look that said that he was certain Shoji had done something wrong and he was just waiting to figure out what. That, fortunately, was an expression Shoji was used to. It had never worked for Black and it wasn't going to work for Nakamori At last the Inspector shook his head and muttered to himself, "No, even the Kid couldn't disguise himself as someone that short."
The urge to note that the Kid - whomever he was - would probably not call attention to himself this way was intense. Fortunately for Shoji's continued safety, though, another voice interrupted. "Inspector Nakamori. They're just children. You're going to frighten them." Two more people were leaving the exhibit room to join the policeman. One
was Miss Tsukano's uncle, a tall cadaverous man who had always seemed to Shoji to be permanently harried and out of sorts. The other, the speaker, was Miss Tsukano, her expression reproving as she glared at the Inspector . Then she looked at Shoji and the girls, smiling weakly. "I'm so sorry, children. I didn't mean to forget you. I didn't see you in the Exploritarium when Inspector Nakamori insisted that everyone clear out."
Shoji nodded. "We were in the Sound Room when all the lights went out. What happened?" he asked. "What's going on?"
It was Mr. Tsukano who answered. "The Phantom Kid apparently sent a warning to a television station earlier this morning. Inspector Nakamori thinks he plans on stealing our diamond today. It's possible this outage has something to do with that. Though I think the rain is a more likely culprit." Shoji glanced behind the man into the room beyond. It was lit, dimly, with several tracks of emergency lighting and he could see a huge crowd of policemen surrounding the glass case. One emergency light gleamed under the diamond itself, creating a rainbow glitter through the room.
Nakamori grumbled. "I still don't get why he mailed it to the news. Or did mine get lost..." He stopped his mutterings and eyed the three children in front of him. "So, why haven't they been picked up? There were only a few kids left when we came in." He looked around, as if half expecting someone to materialize. Behind Shoji, Ayumi made a little noise of comprehension and Shoji noted to himself that he'd have to get some back story sometime. Oh. Wait, I remember. That weirdo thief. Before coming to Japan he'd studied the papers looking for any odd criminal activity. It would have been hard not to notice the activities of a thief who gave back his plunder after the chase was over and he realized that this Nakamori must be in charge of the bandit's capture... Now, what did Tsukano call him again? Oh, yes. The Phantom Kid. How very... melodramatic.
"My guardian, Professor Agasa, hasn't picked us up yet," Ai explained. "We were waiting for him in the Exploritarium when the lights went out, so we came out to see what was happening. You said the Kid. The Phantom Kid? Is that why you're here? Is the diamond in danger?"
It was something of a relief to have someone other than himself be the center of Nakamori's attention for a moment, though Shoji wished it weren't Ai. Again that suspicious look and another muttered, "No, that's even less likely. She's just a little girl." He pulled out his radio and yelled into it, demanding to know if anyone else was wandering around. The answers were all negative and Shoji realized that the police had cleared the entire building.
Nakamori turned and beckoned to a policewoman. "Right. I want everyone not police out of the way. Now." The young woman hurried over so quickly that Shoji thought she was going to fall over her feet. Something about the Inspector apparently inspired a sense of haste. Gee. Wonder what that might be. Shoji much preferred his boss's laid back methods. "Take them all to Tsukano's office," he ordered, only to come to break off as the music started.
First was a Sousa march, complete with children's voices singing the alternative lyrics, rising somewhere outside the building. Again, Nakamori let loose a flood of profanity that Shoji couldn't help but respect. He hadn't heard language that blue since his cousins in Little Sicily. I just wish he wasn't doing it in front of the girls. If he were bigger he could have done something about it. As it was, he just had to put up with it.
Miss Tsukano wasn't quite so sanguine over the matter. She put her hand on Shoji's shoulder and opened her mouth to protest. Before she could, though, more music rose. The Sousa march shifted to Gilbert and Sullivan, then Der Fliedermaus then, oddly enough, Disney's Dance of the Hours. It got louder, though not yet loud enough to cover up Nakamori's furious shouting. "GUARD THE DIAMOND! THIS IS JUST A DISTRACTION!"
"Der Frieschutz?" Shoji muttered, as Miss Tsukano hustled them to a corner. Shoji barely noticed her hand on his shoulder, being more distracted by the Kid's choice in music. He loathed most opera, but he knew the music and the singer's voice too well not to recognize what was being played. No, played is an understatement. Agathe's aria was getting louder and louder, hurting the ears and pounding against the skin like sound of bells from inside a church tower. It hurt and it was all he could do not to scream fury at whomever had turned his mother's voice into a torture device. Behind him, Ai cried out and he automatically moved to guard her, even as Miss Tsukano's hand tightened on his shoulder protectively.
The emergency lights flickered, dimmed and went out altogether.
.oOo.
AI:
The noise was impossible to think thru. Ai clutched at her ears, bending over and trying to hide from the sound. Dimly she was aware of a tall figure standing between her and the doorway, as if Shoji thought he could protect her from this with his body. A fine thought, but considering that it was obviously hurting him as much as it was herself and Ayumi, a vain one. He was glaring into the room, his entire body tense and angry. She'd barely heard him gasp the name of the opera as their teacher pushed them away from the doorway.
When the darkness fell entirely the woman's voice sang on. The voice of an angel, a voice so high and clear and perfect that it nearly broke Ai's heart to hear it. She knew that voice, had just been listening to it, though at a much softer level. It reached out to her, grasped at her heart and made her long to be held and comforted. The note rose and rose and rose and seemed to go on forever.
The crash of broken glass was so quickly followed by an alarm going off from the center of the room that Ai thought she'd imagined it. The next crash, however was much louder and more obvious, even over the horrific sound of steadily rising feedback from the alarm. The noise continued blaring for minutes more, before - suddenly - it all just stopped. In the silence that followed the only things Ai could hear were gasps for air and someone sobbing softly nearby. She forced herself to stand upright, to take several deep breaths as flashlights came on again and someone, ordered by Nakamori, went running off to get the lights back on.
In the meantime, Nakamori's men were scanning the room for any signs of the Kid. Light beams flashed back and forth, gleamed against metal and gems and flashed against glass. It only took a second for them to realize that, despite the room being filled with police, despite every exit being blocked, the diamond was gone.
The Inspector's reaction was enraged and memorably profane, if mercifully shortened by Miss Tsukano's reminder that there were children in earshot. Ai listened to his efforts to keep his mouth firmly closed around the cursing with rising amusement. At this rate, Shoji was going to have a whole new set of words he shouldn't say in his vocabulary. As if he needs anymore. Realizing that Ayumi had slipped away from her, she looked around. She could see the familiar light beam from the girl's watch as it headed to the case where the diamond had been.
Ai followed the girl and was, in turn, followed by Shoji, who'd apparently slipped free of Miss Tsukano in the confusion after the theft. That same confusion made it easy to get close, though Ai rather wished they weren't trying. She should have expected Ayumi to try and sneak up and get a view. It was the sort of thing Conan would do, and Ayumi would love a chance to do what the boy would do. Even though she wasn't nearly so well equipped as Conan to try.
The diamond case had been surrounded by four poles that, from Shoji's muttered comment, was some sort of sensor array and an expensive one. The glass case was shattered entirely, leaving only a few jagged pieces pointing upwards. At the center was a bracket that must once have held the diamond but which was now surrounded by broken glass from the case, the thin shards glittering against white satin in the light from Ayumi's flashlight.
"Oh, wow," Shoji whispered. "How'd he do it?"
Ai didn't have an answer. Nor did she have a chance to say so, because that was the moment that Nakamori realized what they were doing. The Inspector's roar of fury was deafening and Ai didn't have pretend childish fear as the man came down on them, raging at them so loudly that his words were only partially comprehensible. Ai could only comprehend one word in three but they were, mostly, directed at Shoji. Things like, 'interfering with police', 'criminal mischief' and 'aiding and abetting a criminal' were the least of the man's angry accusations. It wasn't until the lights came on again, showing Shoji staring up at him with a pale, frightened and tear stained face that Nakamori stopped. Took a deep breath. Glared at Miss Tsukano and her uncle.
"Get. Them. Out. Of. Here."
To Be Continued...