I glanced at my watch then back out of the window. I let out a sigh of boredom. I repeated Hattori's phone call over in my head for the fifth time.

"Hey Kudou! Why don't ya and that nee-chan come ov'r to Ôsaka for a bit, huh? It would be lots of fun!"

"Why?" I retorted. "You know that I'm the one that makes the money in this house and this month's been slow on cases. We don't have the kind of time or money to go over there just willy-nilly. We have to have a reason to go over there."

"Well, I guess I don't really have a reason. But ya should come ov'r so I can take ya to that restaurant..."

"No. That's final."

"Aw, com'mon Kudou..."

"Nope."

I was walking up to the apartment that I was staying in with Ran and her dad when I saw Ran come bounding out of the place. She looked all excited and happy, and Sonoko soon cane after, looking just as perky. Going shopping, I supposed.

"Conan-kun?" Ran saw me and stopped at the base of the stairs, Sonoko almost running into her from the back. "Who's on the phone?"

"Ah, it's Heiji-niichan."

"Oh? Tell him to say hi to Kazuha-chan for me, okay?"

"Mmhmm!"

I turned back to the phone. "Kudou, ya still there?"

"Yeah."

"I just received an e-mail while ya were stallin', and I have a case now!"

"Really?" I put on my most sarcastic tone. I continued to head up the stairs and into the detective office.

"Yeah, it's from a girl by the name of Chitanda Eru-san."

"Chitanda? Isn't that a wealthy family?"

"I don't know, but it means I've a case to solve. And get this, she's from the Gifu prefecture."

"So, because she's coming all that way, I'm justified in why I should come from Tokyo? Not happening."

"Aw come on, Kudou!"

"No. I'm hanging up. I'll talk to you later."

"Wait!" I clapped my phone shut on him.

Now that's the first call I got from him. And I really figured that the trip to Ôsaka was canceled. But then I got his second phone call...


During school, while we were working on kanji, Hattori called me again. I jumped when it vibrated and bumped into Haibara. She glared at me. I mouthed 'phone' to her and she seemed to understand. So I had to raise my hand and excuse myself from class. I was perturbed at that point. "What?!" I barked into the phone.

"Kudou, this is bad, they're lookin' for ya!"

I was completely confused. "Who?"

"The clients that I told ya about! They're lookin' for ya! What do I say? They're very intent on findin' ya too, so they came to me! I tried ta brush them off and tell 'em no, but especially the one girl, she's so persistent that 'er eyes glow when I say anything about ya. 'Er eyes are HUGE!"

"Whoa, calm down!" I was a little nervous myself. "Are they dressed in black?"

"I really doubt they're a part of that. They're too young lookin', they're our age. But the one has the personality of a B.O. member. He looked at me with the intent of blackmail! I could sense it!" Could there be a organization member that was my age? Haibara is a little older than I am, but not by too much... "I can't really hold 'em off, I don't know how. I told 'em I'd look into it fer them, but they expect a lot out o' me 'cause I'm yer friend. Ya either need ta come here or tell me how to get rid of them!"

"I don't see how my coming there can be much of a help, I might give myself away!" Oh, no! I heard footsteps in the bathroom.

"Conan-kun?" called Mistuhiko's voice.

"I have to go!"

"Kudou, tell me how ta shake them!"

"I'll come over to Ôsaka as soon as possible. If there is anyways at all to distract them..."

"Conan-kun, are you okay? You've been gone awhile..."

"...Do it!" I whispered harshly into the phone, slapping it shut, and shoving it into my pocket. I turned and flushed the toilet then came back out and almost ran into Mitsuhiko.

"Oh there you are Conan-kun. Kobayashi-sensei was worried because you ran out looking a little pale."

"Yeah, just a stomachache..." I lied. "But I'm feeling better now." I smiled faintly searching my brain desperately for an excuse to make a few other phone calls and to go to Ôsaka by myself. I found myself with a lack of ideas so I ended up going back to class with Mitsuhiko.

I sat deep in thought the rest of the day. Once school was let out I ran off by myself to see if I couldn't get a few things sorted out about this trip.

As you can see now, I'm on a train now heading to Ôsaka. My mom was conveniently in town on a trip to visit me so I had her come with me, Ran then, wanted to come too when she found out that my mom was in town and that we were going to Ôsaka. This situation might be a bit tough. I glanced at my watch. We'd arrive at the station in 20 minutes, around 8 o'clock in the morning. Today was going to be a long day and I had to keep my wits about me especially around Ran and these curious tourists. I wish that Ran hadn't have decided to join just in case something came up, but you can't stop the inevitable.

*scratches head* Gah! I liked writing Oreki's chapter better! (not that anyone is actually reading this story...) It's up there just because. Yup.