Through the Lens
Chapter 3: Unforeseen Dangers
Not for the first time, had Edogawa Conan found himself in what would have been a bizarre situation to any onlooker, but seemed perfectly normal through his deductions.
While it was true that he was currently gripping the second floor window ledge of an abandoned building, one that was on his usual route home between where he dropped Haibara off and the Mouri Detective Agency, he was perfectly in his element.
The day had been pleasant enough. Despite having to suffer through the monotony of primary school again, his mind had been stimulated this Friday going over the rather gratifying Kaitou Kid heist the night before. Kid had gotten away, but Conan had managed to get the jewel back from the thief, even if it had resulted in him getting completely drenched in water due to Kid's set-up. His phone batteries for both his phones were currently sitting in a bag of rice in the apartment, hopefully drawing out the last vestiges of moisture. The one for his "Conan" phone sat next to Ran's, while his "Shinichi" phone and phone battery were stowed safely away in the small hiding place he used to hide his gadgets when not in use or at Agasa-hakase's.
Thinking of that, he had meant to ask Agasa-hakase about an upgrade to the battery in his watch.
On the way home from school, his musings had been interrupted as he'd noticed a rather unusual peculiarity in the building he was currently scaling. This particular structure had been abandoned for some time, and it was a wonder that it had yet to be demolished. So when he had heard what had sounded like the cries of a baby echoing through an opened window of the dilapidated building, an innocent life possibly in danger, he had naturally gone to investigate. The doors had been locked, and all the windows on the ground floor were sealed shut. Something about the doors and windows seemed off to him, giving him an unpleasant feeling, making him look for an opening all the faster.
Something about the entire situation felt off, filling him with adrenaline as his brain bypassed the details he usually would have spent more time analyzing, using his energy instead to reach the baby as fast as possible.
Conan looked back up at the building, noting that the window where he had heard the cries coming from was open wide enough that he could get into. Without hesitation Conan had climbed the tree next to the building in a matter of moments.
His detective badge had begun to beep (thankfully that hadn't been damaged with the water), but he'd ignored it as he focused on the task at hand, turning it off momentarily. He didn't want the device to start beeping and scare him or the already frightened child as he maneuvered himself to the ledge of the window nearest to the tree. Of course, if there was a person in the building besides the baby, Conan didn't want that person to be scared off until he had assessed the situation. Thankfully his nimbleness made it fairly easy for him to swing from the branch to the window ledge.
Conan's fingers gripped tightly to the outcrop, his fingers feeling the rough wood that was worn and softened from weather and the old paint that was peeling away. He rocked back and forth, his fingers slipping slightly against the peeling paint chips. He paused in his motions, readjusted his grip, and then began to rock back and forth again, building up momentum to fully hoist himself up. Just as he was about to swing his body up from the ledge to get a better look in the window, a startled and concerned cry of his name made him stiffen in all the wrong places –
"Conan-kun!"
– his grip loosened and the next thing he knew he was falling from the window.
"Conan-kun!"
Conan's body jerked to a startling and unpleasant halt mid-air as he hit a branch from the tree. He grasped at the branch desperately but his hand couldn't find traction. His decent had slowed when he'd hit the branch, but not enough as he plummeted to an abrupt stop landing in a bush. Conan tried to cry out in pain, feeling bruised and battered all over. Stunned, it took him a moment to get scope of his injuries. For a moment he couldn't breathe as the breath had been knocked from his body. Even as he tried to cough, it took him an unpleasant amount of shuddering tries to gulp air back into his lungs. When he tried to move, he hissed in pain. The shoulder he had landed on was dislocated, though he was, thankfully, rather injury free besides some gashes and bruises. Wincing, Conan saw that one of the tree branches he'd grazed on the way down had left a rather deep and jagged cut in his leg, blood oozing in a deep rivet from the open wound.
His friends – he recognized a chorus of voices belonging to Kobayashi-sensei and the shounen-tantei-dan – all came running toward him. Just as Conan went to reassure them that he wasn't that badly hurt, a horribly high pitched ding! echoed from the window.
In an instant, a horrible feeling of dread welled up from the pit of Conan's stomach, right before a resounding din momentarily deafened them all.
BOOM!
Heat poured out the open window where Conan had just been hanging from as a fireball's flames licked the edges of the building, debris spurting out. Small pieces hit Conan, though he managed to put his arm up to shield his head and eyes from the larger parts.
Still, his body went into overdrive, the pain from his injuries momentarily dulled as he scuttled out of the bush that had mercifully broken his fall. Conan hobbled onto his bleeding leg and yelled at his gaping friends to run in the other direction.
Once they reached the other side of the street, another series of deafening booms! exploded from within the building as the heat from the explosion burst from the other rooms, glass shattering, the shards flying in a strangely mesmerizing way.
Sirens blared nearby. Conan had a moment to think that it was strange for the authorities to have been notified so quickly until he recognized the red Mazda RX-7 car that was speeding toward them like the devil itself. He recognized Satou-keiji's erratic faster than fast driving abilities screeching to a halt in front of the scene. She and Takagi-keiji emerged from the car, stood openmouthed, and stared at the now burning building before turning their attention upon the group off to the side, their eyes honing in on Conan.
With the way they stared at him, he had the wildest feeling that he should say it wasn't his fault, though a strange, inexplicable gut feeling told him the explosion had been because of something he'd done. He had a bad feeling about this.
Next Chapter: The Scene
Hope you're enjoying the story so far! ~ Jelp
