You know what I've noticed? Ran will, 98% of the time, not deny Sonoko's teasing of she and Shinichi being husband and wife. She just turns red in the face and goes "Mou, Sonoko!" Despite her being so worked up when suggested that they're dating. Am I the only one who noticed? Oh well.
I love these "In Which xxxx" chapter titles. They're so fun! :D
I forgot to mention last time, but this story will have spoilers up to the Mystery Train case. Just so you know. Stuff like Burbon's identity being revealed and the London arc have happened.
Thanks for the awesome reviews, guys! I seriously appreciate it. And as promised, here's the second chapter! And to those wonderful guest reviews, I'll reply below:
1412RenkoNalu - You can smell the thrill! I can feel it tingling in my fingers when I write. That's a good match! I hope I live up to your expectations, and thanks for your wonderful review!
Great (Guest) - Don't worry, I don't plan to kill off everyone's favorite Osakan, but like I said before, I'm a sporadic person. And I am following Sandman, the one with the guy killing all the kids with the six syllables. I get giddy every time I see a chapter update. :D Thanks for your review! Check back soon for another update.
Shadowhunter417 - Thanks so much for your enthusiasm! I really mean it. Thanks for putting in the fifth review and allowing me to update! :)
Chapter 2 – In Which Conan Gets Interested
"It is a capital mistake to theorize before one
has data. Insensibly, one begins to
twist facts to suit theories,
instead of theories
to suit facts."
-Sherlock Holmes, A Scandal in Bohemia
"The body of Yakov Goldstein, eighteen, was discovered last Tuesday night in Cairo, Egypt by an elderly couple on an evening walk. Goldstein has been missing since three weeks ago, when he disappeared from the streets of Tel Aviv in Israel on his way to school. The deceased, killed by a single shot in the heart, was a well-renowned high school detective all around Israel and the surrounding area. Goldstein's parents deeply grieve the loss of their son, and implore anyone who knows anything to please contact local authorities. This makes the eleventh body of a teenage high school detective discovered, all eleven from foreign countries and being discovered hundreds of miles away from their home. Police are baffled, and ask that teens be wary of suspicious persons. It is unknown where the culprit will strike next. In other news…"
The television screen flickered to black as he pressed the power button. Seven-year-old Edogawa Conan sat back into the small couch in the Mouri Detective Agency, a sad look overcoming his normally bright and cheerful lapis lazuli eyes. He had been following the reports since they began all those innumerable weeks ago, starting with Chinese detective Sung Wang Ming, found in Poland after being missing for two weeks. At first he hadn't paid much attention, but once the third detective, French teen Juste Ackhart was found in Russia, things got interesting. One was an accident. Two was a coincidence. Three was a pattern. As they saying went, anyway.
With each new body found, the false child grew more and more intrigued in the case. Sure, he worried a bit for himself and his fellow Japanese high school detectives, namely Hattori and that other nuisance that sometimes showed up to KID heists, Saguru Hakuba. Should he also be concerned for Sera Masumi? Nah, she hadn't made much of a name for herself in the detective world, so she should be fine, but that didn't put Conan any more at ease. There was no telling how much sick serial killers knew about their potential victims.
Representatives from all over the world had already had two meetings regarding the discoveries, one of which Kogoro had attended, being the "famous" detective he was. The young sleuth had tried to listen in to Kogoro's phone conversations with Megure-keibu regarding the conference and the case, but he was always ejected from the room, and attempts to bug the room all ended in failure, whether the device being discovered or stepped on. He hadn't even seen one photo of the bodies, and he was sure the old man was keeping an extra close watch on the case files, specifically so that the "freeloader" didn't get into them. This seemed to only drive Conan further in his determination to get his hands on those files. Attempts made late at night resulted in failure as well, for Kogoro had taken extra precautions to lock the files in the desk, and the key was not in its usual hiding spot.
The worldwide case didn't stink of the Organization, the men who had shrunk his body, but it sure as hell smelled something awful. And Conan was determined to get to the bottom of it.
Conan let out a sudden sneeze, the tremor shaking his entire sickly frame. He groaned and fell back into the pillows, wiping the snot from his running nose. There wasn't much thinking he could do, not with this massive cold wreaking havoc in his body. Having his immune system reduced to that of a child along with his physical form was one of the plethora of downsides when it came to being shrunk. He dryly reminded himself not to get involved in more shady deals.
Ran had called Shinichi's phone once or twice, and Conan knew why the moment her name popped up on caller ID. She never mentioned the true reason behind her calls, but he knew that she just wanted to make sure he was okay and safe. Which, unbeknownst to her, he obviously was, speaking through his bowtie in the bathroom or in an alley on the way home from school.
"Tadaima!" A voice greeted, and Conan craned his neck backwards to reveal the upside down form of said Mouri Ran, currently returning home from school, accompanied by Sonoko and Sera. Conan's eyes instantly narrowed as his gaze landed on the latter of Ran's companions. He still didn't completely trust the tomboyish female detective, even after confirmation that she was not Bourbon.
"Welcome back!" Conan greeted as best he could, his voice coming out weak and ragged.
"How's the brat with glasses feeling today?" Sonoko asked, sitting on the armrest of the sofa and setting her school bag by her feet.
"Give him a few days and he'll be back on his little detective feet!" Sera responded cheerfully, sending the sick child a glance intended for the adult lurking inside that small form. "Ne?"
Conan returned the glance with an equal amount of suspicion. "Un!" He agreed.
"Stay still, Conan-kun," Ran smiled, coming around the couch and sitting on the edge near his feet. She shook a thermometer in her hands. "I have to take your temperature." She held the thermometer above his face as she leaned down close, a bright smile curving across her lovely countenance. "Say 'aaah!'"
Conan obliged to her motherly actions and allowed her to slip the device beneath his tongue, resisting the red that threatened to color his cheeks. No matter how well Shinichi pretended to be a first-grader, the shrunken sleuth couldn't pretend that Ran's closeness didn't stir his insides.
"Have you seen the news?" Sera asked, loitering around the agency as she took a stab at conversation. Perhaps she noticed the most recent newspaper on Kogoro's desk. Currently, Mouri Kogoro was out on a case, tailing a woman's husband under the suspicion of adultery. "They found the eleventh detective out in Egypt."
"I heard!" Sonoko commented, ever the gossiper. "It's too bad; I saw his school picture on the news. Why do all the hot guys have to die young? I totally would have dated him."
Heh heh heh… Conan chuckled inwardly.
"Sonoko!" Ran chided, sitting up. "What about Makoto-san?"
A guilty look flashed through Sonoko's eyes. "He's still away for some big karate tournament, so what's to stop me from checking out the eye candy while I'm awaiting my knight's return?"
Ran pursed her lips, but didn't pursue the subject. Instead, she admitted, "I'm a bit nervous. All these detectives going missing, and turning up dead in foreign countries? It all seems a bit scary, doesn't it?"
"Worried about your husband?" Sonoko teased, nudging her friend slyly.
"Mou, Sonoko!"
"You don't have to worry about Kudo-kun," Sera said, flipping through the newspaper absently, her feet lazily crossed atop the desk. "He's been gone, what, five, six months? If he was mixed up in this, he'd have been found dead by now."
Of course I'm not mixed up in that, Conan thought grudgingly. I'm right here.
"He does say he's mixed up in a big case, though, and can't come home." Ran countered, removing the thermometer from Conan's mouth and checking the screen, though her eyes seemed to be looking right through it and focusing on something none of the others could see. Conan watched sadly.
"Don't worry," Sonoko consoled her worried friend. "Shinichi-kun will always come back to his wife! That guy won't let his woman be leered at by other men!"
To this statement, Ran strongly oppressed, with Conan turning a bit redder, and hoping that it would be misinterpreted as a sign of his fever.
At that precise moment, a knock interrupted Sonoko's teasing, and Ran opened the door to reveal the four small forms of Conan's friends, Ayumi, Genta, Mitsuhiko, and Haibara. The three aforementioned were grinning wildly, asking over each other if they could visit Conan until their voices sounded like simple gibberish. The other girl, Haibara, simply crossed her arms as the corners of her mouth tweaked up in a sort of half-smile, amused by the Detective Boys' antics.
Ran smiled brightly and opened the door wider, allowing the first graders passage into the Detective Agency. Conan propped himself up on a mountain of pillows as the children filed into the room.
"Conan-kun!" Ayumi greeted cheerfully, putting a folder on the couch at the shrunken detective's feet. "I brought your homework! There's the worksheet on telling time and we got to color in a clock!"
But I know how to tell time, the Shinichi side of the faux child whined inwardly. "Thanks, Ayumi," Conan said, taking the folder and flipping through the four worksheets with the enthusiasm of a rock.
"Hey, Conan-kun," Mitsuhiko grinned. "When you get better, there's a girl in our class who says she wants us to find her cat!"
"Nothing's too hard for the Shounen Tantei!" Genta cried enthusiastically, earning a "Yeah!" from the freckled boy and cute girl. Haibara let out a light-hearted chuckle as she stood by the couch near Conan's head.
The Detective Boys hung out at the Agency for most of the afternoon, comparing notes and talking about the latest episode of Kamen Yaiba before finally departing for their own homes just as Ran was making dinner. Genta was disappointed to discover she was not cooking eel rice, and this fueled him to depart faster, Mitsuhiko and Ayumi on his heels. Haibara stayed behind long enough to whisper to Conan, "Call Hakase's house later," before herself leaving for home.
Conan blinked, surprised at her comment, but silently nodded. The fellow APTX 4869 victim rarely called on him, and when she did it was never a good sign. Did she have a clue leading to the Black Organization? But she wouldn't tell him that, because she knew he would immediately go after them. So what could it be?
Could it have something to do with the missing high school detectives? That girl always knew more than what she let on, deciding until the last possible minute to tell him. His mentally berated himself. No, she probably wanted to torment him, teasing him by waving the newest APTX 4869 antidote in front of his face and deny him when he practically begged her for it. Knowing her, that's probably what it was.
Sonoko and Sera were invited to dinner, but both refused, the former sayings she had some last minute shopping to do for a party she was being forced to attend, and the latter muttered something about procrastinating on a term paper. They stayed for a few extra minutes to finish consoling Ran on Shinichi's safety before finally taking their leave.
Finally, Conan couldn't help but think as the door swung shut behind them.
As Ran was putting the final touches on the meal, the door opened once again to reveal the slouched form of Mouri Kogoro, just returning from his stalking mission. The tall detective was panting like an out-of-breath dog, his black hair disheveled, a dead cigarette dangling from his lips. With a groan he flopped into his chair, discarding his hat and sunglasses listlessly to the floor.
"UGH," he grumbled tiredly. "That man sure knows how to bore a guy. Who stands randomly in the park for three hours!? Ran! Is dinner ready yet?"
"Almost." Ran yelled back. "I'm finishing Conan-kun's soup and then I'll start our udon."
"Why the brat first?" Kogoro whined, and lit a fresh cigarette.
"Because he's sick!"
"That's no excuse! I've been working my ass off on these disappearances, and I just got the file for Yakov Goldstein this morning! I'm supposed to look it over –" Kogoro stopped in the middle of his sentence, his eyes flying straight to the sick child cocooned in blankets on the couch. Conan had been listening with earnest to the older detective's rant with an almost hungry expression, which quickly morphed in a ditzy child-like grin the moment he and Kogoro's eyes met.
Kogoro knew Conan's ability to attract death wherever he goes, and while he'd admit that the kid was pretty smart, he also knew that he was in way over his head, and just by even talking about what the guys at the station were calling the "Missing High School Detectives" case would send the freeloader into a deducing frenzy. It was all his fault. His great detective awesomeness had rubbed off on the kid, and now he finally believed he could solve a case on his own. But he wouldn't let that brat anywhere near his case files.
"'Tou-san!" Ran chided, striding into the room and plopping a bowl of steaming soup on the table. "Stop staring at Conan-kun like that!"
"But Raaaaan…"
Conan tuned out most of the following conversation, mostly because it just didn't interest him. His mind was wired on the newest information: Kogoro had files to Yakov Goldstein's murder. Had the crime been different than the rest? What could be different about the Israeli detective's crime scene, or the body? A tingle of excitement raced down his spine. He shouldn't be excited about a global serial killing, but the anticipation of catching such an intense culprit was like a super adrenaline rush. He couldn't wait to get started.
But first…
"Itadakimasu!" Ran's soup was as delicious as always. The Detective Agency was lively with Kogoro's rants about the stalking mission, careful to avoid the topic of missing detectives, and Ran's insistence that he stop talking about people in such a rude way and eat his greens, while Conan reclined on the couch deep in thought.
He found it difficult that he could be having such a simple meal while somewhere in the world, perhaps not now but soon, another teen detective would fall victim to whatever the culprit was planning. He should be doing something, collaborating with the police to protect Japan's teens, getting a hold of those case files, anything! A case was right under his nose, and he couldn't do a damn thing about it.
Finally, Kogoro retired to bed, and Ran quickly followed after tucking her surrogate little brother into bed. "Oyasumi nasai, Conan-kun," she smiled, and kissed him lightly on the forehead before turning the lights out and leaving the room, just missing the red that flooded the child's cheeks.
Damn, Conan thought as he lay in the dark. How does she do that to me?
As Conan drifted between awake and asleep, he suddenly recalled Haibara's request that he phone the Professor. Even if all Haibara wanted to do was boast about her latest antidote, it wouldn't hurt to at least call and have a chat with the Professor. Talking to the old inventor was always a good way to get everything off his chest. Wincing a little as his headache pounded due to his sitting up too quickly, the miniature detective stood and pattered to the bathroom, pulling out his cell phone and dialing the professor's house.
"Moshi moshi?" Came Agasa-hakase's voice after a few rings.
"Hakase, it's me," Conan said, his voice a bit rough.
"Ah, Shinichi!" The professor chortled cheerily. "How are you?"
"I have a cold," responded the child, his voice deadpanning. "I've been better."
"That's good."
Conan rolled his eyes. "What is it you wanted to talk about? Haibara said that I should call."
"Oh, right." Agasa's voice lost its cheerfulness and became sterner. "Shinichi… I don't want you to get too wrapped up in these disappearances."
Conan stared at his reflection in the mirror through half-lidded eyes. He should have known it would have been about this. The professor had always been his good friend and neighbor growing up, sometimes acting as his second father when his real one left for America with his mom. He would always appreciate the old man's actions, his precautions and his always looking out for his young neighbor, but sometimes it was downright overprotective.
"What makes you think I would be wrapped up in it?" Conan tried to defend himself.
"Because I know you," Agasa fired back. "I know that you can't resist a case like this, and…"
A second person entered the conversation. "Edogawa Conan may not be in danger," Haibara's voice said. "But Kudou Shinichi is. What Hakase is trying to say, Kudou-kun, is that while you may not be in direct danger, you have no idea what this culprit wants to achieve, and for all we know he may know your secret. And even if he doesn't, he can still raid the Kudou mansion and expect you to be there. And what happens when he finds Subaru-san instead? Keep your guard up and stay safe."
Conan blinked, then a sly smile quirked his lips. "Oh? What's this? Haibara-san is worried about me?"
"Baka!" Haibara snapped. "I just don't want to lose my test subject."
Conan snorted. "Okay, okay. I got it. I promise I won't do anything insanely crazy. And for the record, Subaru-san can take care of himself. If he's a Holmes fan, he should know some martial arts!"
"That's not the point!" Haibara tried to yell, but she was cut off by the professor.
"Thank you, Shinichi," Agasa said, and Conan detected a hint of doubtfulness in his tone, like he had an inkling that promise would be broken.
As Conan snuggled back under his comforter, and sleep began to overcome him, Haibara's words repeated in his mind. Edogawa Conan may not be in danger, but Kudou Shinichi is. Would the culprit really come after him? He certainly had a name for himself, making him a candidate, but would he go after such a big name, knowing the public outrage it would cause? Granted, he'd been gone for several months now so his real disappearance would go unnoticed for a few weeks until Ran got paranoid that he hadn't called, but still... would it be worth the risk?
Conan winced, his headache reminding him he still suffered a severe cold. His last thoughts before drifting into a dreamless sleep, consisted mostly of silent prayers to Kami-sama to keep his friends safe.
As usual, thanks for reading, and 5 reviews get a new chapter! You know you want to click that small box right down there... ya know ya want to! :D
See ya next time! The story will start to pick up a bit now, so look forward to it!
Coming Up: Chapter 3 – In Which Yakov Leaves a Message
