I do not own Detective Conan or any of its characters. Both belongs to Aoyama Gosho.


Chapter II
– Deciphering –

"Ne, Shinichi? How was it?" The brunette looked at her friend across the table.

"What do you mean?" he asked with a puzzled look.

"You know what I mean," she replied.

Shinichi still didn't know what she meant and kept looking at her curiously.

Ran's straight expression faltered for a moment. "When that guy kissed you two days ago, how was it?"

A curious glare was shot at the teen detective. "You're not seriously asking me that, aren't you?" he asked incredulously.

"I-I'm just… I thought… " Tears started to form at the corner of her eyes. "Did you… like… it?"

Blue eyes widened and then softened again. "Of course not. Why would I like to kiss a boy? I'm not gay or anything. Besides: it was him who kissed me, not me, him."

"O-Okay." Gladly she smiled again. "But didn't you feel anything?"

"Well, I… um…" He really didn't know himself. While still thinking, he noticed Ran's expression turning sad again. "D-Don't worry! I didn't feel anything besides shock. It doesn't happen everyday that some stranger walks up to me and kisses me."

"But still…" Ran seemed to not believe him.

Shinichi sighed, since he knew how it must have looked to his best friend. He didn't resist or pushed the other boy named Kuroba away. She was probably thinking he had enjoyed it. But he hadn't, hadn't he? "Just believe me, Ran. I didn't push that Kuroba guy away because I was so startled. I was so shocked I couldn't think straight and I couldn't really understand what exactly was happening until it was already over. So, there's no need for you to worry, trust me."

Ran's saddened features looked at him with a considering look. Then she sighed. "Jeez Shinichi, I started to think you actually like guys."

Carrying two huge cups of ice cream, Sonoko walked towards their table. With a huge grin she placed one of the cups in front of her surprised friend and sat down next to her, placing her own cup in front of her. "Don't they look great?"

"S-Sonoko. I don't know if I can handle such a big cup." With an almost fearful expression the brunette glared at the huge cup before her.

There were probably at least ten different sorts of chocolate and vanilla ice cream inside that cup, together with an enormous pile of whipped cream and the tailored cherry on top.

Laughing mockingly Sonoko raised her spoon to take her first bite. "If you can't handle it alone than let your husband help you."

"He's not my husband Sonoko!" Ran retorted with a high-pitched voice.

Shoving the ice cream greedily into her mouth, Sonoko kept laughing at her friend inwardly. Suddenly she seemed to remember something. "Ne, Shinichi-kun?"

"What?" Taking a sip from his coffee, Shinichi looked at the blonde.

An evil grin was plastered on Sonoko's features. "What was that between you and that Kuroba guy?"

A faint blush made it's way on Shinichi's face. "N-Nothing."

"Eeeeeh, are you sure?" Her voice was pungent and mocking. "To me it looked as if you enjoyed it."

Ran stopped glaring at her ice cream. "Sonoko."

A warning look was shot at the blonde. "R-Ran. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to–"

"It's okay," she replied. "Just drop it, please."

Sonoko nodded in response. Soon she munched on her cup again, when something else came to her mind. "Aaah! I still don't know when KID-sama will appear!" Slamming one hand on the table, causing the cups to rattle, she pointed at Shinichi with her other hand. "You said you solved the riddle! Tell me when and where KID-sama will appear!"

A little smile appeared on Ran's face. "Sonoko, what are you planning to do when you know?"

"I'll let myself be stolen instead of the jewel he's after. Then I will be able to see KID-sama's handsome face! Shinichi-kun, tell me!"

Shinichi had been backed against his seat by Sonoko leaning over the table in his direction, almost lying on the table. "O-Okay I'll tell you." He heaved a relieved sigh as Sonoko finally set back in her seat, waiting for his explanation. "The first line 'When the dagger meets the cross' refers to the time of the heist. KID actually used a really simple trick. Look at this Kanji." He pointed on the newspaper sprawled on the table.

Curiously Ran and Sonoko looked at it.

Ran was the first to look up again. "That's the Kanji for 'tanken' (A/N: dagger). What about it?"

"'Tanken'" the teen detective continued. "can also mean something different."

"Hm." Sonoko placed a hand under her chin in thought. "The only other meaning I can think of is 'hour hand', but does that… " Her eyes widened in realisation. "So that's the trick. He changed the Kanji of the words."

"Exactly." A smirk appeared on the detective's face. "Some japanese words have multiple meanings, but one Kanji has only one meaning. KID used that to decipher his message."

"I see! So that's how we can decipher the note!" The blonde took the newspaper away from the table. "The next Kanji would be 'kousa' (A/N: cross) which can also mean… golden sands? It still doesn't make sense."

"That's because 'kousa' isn't deciphered," Shinichi continued. "When the hour hand meets the cross. Think about it."

"Are there any crosses on clocks?" Again Sonoko was deep in thought.

"I know!" Ran exclaimed. "On some clocks there are X's instead of tens! So that means when the hour hand meets ten. Ten o'clock!"

"That's right. Not only is the 'X' the roman sign for ten, but the japanese character for ten also looks like a cross (A/N: ten = ju )," Shinichi explained.

"What about the next lines?" Obviously Sonoko still couldn't decipher anything on her own.

"'When Showa declares his love'. What is the first thing coming to mind when you think about Showa?" Again Shinichi wanted to help the girls to solve it on their own.

And again Ran was the first one to speak. "Emperor Showa. His birthday is celebrated as a national holiday." Then her eyes widened. "But that was six days ago! We missed the heist!"

"That's not it." To him it was fun watching the girls struggle with the solution of the riddle. "There's another holiday involving Showa."

With a thud Sonoko's head dropped on the table. "I can't figure it out. Ran, you take over."

"Eh? O-Okay. But Shinichi, can't you just tell us?"

"This way it's more fun for me."

"You're hopeless." The brunette sighed. "Okay, so the other holiday involving Showa is… probably the Greenery Day, the 4th of May. How does that fit with 'When Showa declares his love'?"

"Why is Greenery day being celebrated?"

"It's a holiday dedicated to nature and environment," the brunette muttered.

"Why is it dedicated to nature?"

"Because… " She was lost in thoughts for a few seconds. "Because Showa loved nature and plants! So that's the day when Show declares his love, right?"

"That's right. So the next line 'I will save the pale princess from her prison with a kiss'. What could that mean?"

"When we use the trick from before it would be 'I will save the blue princess'…"

Shinichi's smirk widened into a smile. Watching Ran thinking like that made him somehow happy.

"Blue Princess, Blue Princess," she mumbled. "I heard that somewhere before. Sonoko, can't you think of anything?"

The blonde as well seemed to have heard the name before. "I know!" she suddenly exclaimed. "Blue Princess! It's the jewel exhibitioned at that hotel that makes that party we're invited to! But wait a minute. It's actually a necklace with a jewel on it."

The smirk was plastered on the detective's face again. "The Blue Princess Necklace. It's a necklace consisting of a single chain of platinum links connected by pairs of round brilliant cut diamonds. The sapphire is mounted in a pendant at the front of the necklace, surrounded by baguette-cut diamonds and eight smaller square-cut sapphires placed symmetrically around the edges of the setting. The sapphire itself is a 98.6-carat deep cornflower blue cushion-cut sapphire with a combination of desirable characteristics such as the deep cornflower blue color, well proportioned-cut, good transparency, and perfect clarity. Unlike the Logan Blue Sapphire which has an unusually large table, the Blue Princess Sapphire has a smaller octagonal-shaped table."

"W-Where do you know all that from?" Dumbfounded Sonoko glared at the other teen.

The smirk never leaving his face, he leaned back in his seat. "I started researching about two days ago, since I already had an idea of what KID was after."

"But from where did you get all that information from?" the blonde asked again.

"Google."

Sonoko sweat-dropped. "Google," she repeated.

He leaned forward, glaring at her with a challenging look. "Is something wrong with that?"

Ran butted in before a fight could start. "So 'saving the princess from her prison' means taking the jewel out of that pedant on the necklace, doesn't it? Then what about that other part: 'Will the dove's castle be destroyed by the ringleader'?"

"Use the trick from before again on the words 'castle' and 'ringleader'," he replied.

Happy that she had been able to end the fight before it could have started, she was lost in thought once more. "So 'shiro' (A/N: castle) can also mean… 'white'. Then it would be 'white dove'."

The detective took another sip from his coffee. "And the next part?"

"The next word was 'gankyou' (A/N: ringleader). It can mean… glasses. But why glasses?"

"It's a challenge," he answered.

Suddenly Sonoko spoke up again. "Who is so important to KID-sama that he challenges that person in his note?"

Taking another sip from his mug the detective continued. "What person, wearing glasses, can you think of that is able to decipher KID's note and has a relation to him?"

"Don't tell me you're talking about that brat in glasses," the blonde retorted.

"Who else could you think of?" Shinichi ignored the indirect offense by the blonde.

"KID-sama is challenging Chibi-chan?"

Sensing another fight to start Ran butted in again. "What about that 'save with a kiss' part?"

"That's the part I couldn't solve. It doesn't seem so important anyway, though I'm still trying to figure it out," he replied.

"And why did KID use such an easy trick?" she continued.

"You weren't able to find it out until I helped you. To you it wasn't that easy."

"I-I know, but it's still pretty simple once you found out. And what does 'white dove' mean anyway?"

Finally emptying his cup Shinichi continued again. "That is referring to KID. Because 'white dove' is something easily associated with him, he tried to confuse us, by using such a simple trick, playing with different word meanings. Instead of trying to find the true meaning of the words first, people try to look through what's confusing them. So most people weren't able to decipher this code, since they were trying to find the truth behind the wrong words."

Ran looked at her cup again. "I see. So are you going after him? You went through all the trouble to decipher his code."

"Of course I'm going after him. I can't let him steal that jewel next tuesday when I can stop him."

"Aren't you actually a fan of bloody murders?" Sonoko asked.

Shinichi sweat-dropped. "I'm not a fan of those murders you know. I enjoy to solve the mystery behind them, finding the culprit and making them atone for their crimes."

"Now he's going all detective-y again!" Somehow Sonoko had managed to devour the whole cup while they were talking.

Ran pointed at the empty cup. "S-Sonoko. When did you–"

"I'm going to get another one!" With that the blonde jumped up from her seat and ran off to get herself another cup.

"Can't she just order one?" Still staring after the girl, Shinichi placed his now empty mug on the table.

"I think she can't wait that long. But it's a shame that Conan-kun's not here. KID challenged him and now he's still away on that camping trip with the professor and the kids. He always enjoys going to the heists."

"Then I'm going to substitute for him. We don't want to disappoint KID now, want we?"

Smiling Ran finally tried a bite of her huge cup of ice cream. And Shinichi watched, glad not having to watch her from the body of a child.