Author's Note: Yay, I'm on time again! Thanks to the two reviewers Anonymous Foxz and the "Guest" who gave feedback last chapter-it made me really happy! So now we get into some more plot stuff (I guess) and... more Kaito! I think you see a pattern with that...

But I digress. Enjoy the chapter~


Chapter Nine: Ominous Outcome

"Hang on a sec, Kazuha; tell me what happened!"

"I-I can't, Heiji, just come back now!"

Heiji bit his lip. "Kazuha, how important is it fer me ta go? I'm still workin' on the case in Kyoto right now."

"Really important!" Kazuha screamed without hesitation. "Just come o'er 'ere an' make sure not ta let Conan-kun know 'bout it!"

That was enough of an answer for Heiji. "'Kay, I'll be there as soon as I can. Try an' calm down though, Kazuha; yer gonna make yer condition worse."

Kazuha burst into tears and hung up, leaving two very confused detectives.

"What was that about?" Conan inquired, quickly growing concerned. "That didn't sound very good to me."

Heiji shook his head. "I doubt it is. Kazuha was freakin' out 'bout somethin' an' wouldn't tell me what. All I know's that I gotta get back ta Osaka as soon as I can, an' she doesn't want ya ta come with fer some reason."

Conan rubbed his temples. "What should I do then? This was really bad timing."

Heiji could only agree. "I guess ya can stay 'ere an' find out as much as ya can 'bout Sango's death. Lemme know if ya find somethin' good." He slid his ball cap around, showing this situation was very important to him, and dashed off to the train station.

He forgot I can't buy a hotel room in my kid's body. The thought occurred to Conan, as well as the fact that he didn't have much money on him. But something else topped his priorities: his phone was ringing.

"Who is it?" he grumbled.

The person snickered. "My my, so hateful, Tantei-kun! Or do you prefer Meitantei-san?"

Conan thought of his nightmare and shuddered. "What do you want, Kuroba? It better be important; I'm pretty busy right now."

Kaito hummed. "Well, I found out about something interesting that you may want to see soon, so I decided to call~"

Conan's eyes narrowed. "How do you even know my number?!"

Kaito avoided the question. "So Tantei-kun, where exactly are you right now? Are you still in Osaka with Hattori Heiji?"

Conan denied. "I'm actually alone in Kyoto right now. I was helping Hattori with the newest victim's scene when he got called back to Osaka for something important." He huffed. "I can't really do anything here either since I can't buy a hotel room as a kid."

One could sense the grin spreading across Kaito's face. "You're stuck then? I can help with that! Just get a ticket to Ekoda, and the fun will commence!"

Conan raised an eyebrow. "Ekoda? So that's where you live then. I guess I can come, but please don't waste my time while I'm there. I have a lot to do with this case, and I could miss something extremely crucial to finding the culprit."

"Oh, I don't think you have to worry about that…" Kaito hung up before Conan could say anything more, forcing the shrunken detective to accept the offer.

Well, at least I don't have to worry about being bored. Conan put his phone away and began strolling to the train station. He purchased the ticket to Ekoda using most of his cash and boarded the train, groaning to himself when seeing how late it would be when he arrived. He'd better make this worth it; I have a lot to do tonight.

X

"Welcome to Ekoda, Tantei-kun!" Kaito spread his arms out proudly as the weary Conan left Ekoda station three and a half hours later. "I hope you enjoy your stay here!"

Conan yawned loudly. "Kuroba, where can I get some peace and quiet? I have to think about this case so I can figure out what I should do next."

Kaito bent down beside Conan with a laugh. "We can go to my house, Tantei-kun, but it's pretty late. You sure you don't want to get some sleep first?" Seeing Conan's nod, he stood back up and began leading him around Ekoda, pointing to multiple places of interest.

This guy is just like Hattori, Conan thought with a roll of his eyes. But I guess that's fine; he seems really happy that I came. I wonder why he called me here though…

"Okay, we're here!" Kaito interrupted Conan's thoughts as he gestured to a large apartment complex. "We need to be careful though; Nakamori-keibu has been patrolling the area for the past few hours since he thinks Kaitou KID will strike tonight."

Conan shook his head. "Don't tell me you have something to do with that."

Kaito looked insulted as he unlocked the door to his home. "Why, I would never do such a horrible thing! Besides, he's been doing that every night for the past two weeks since I haven't done anything eventful." He opened the door and let Conan inside.

"Wow, such a simple home for the international phantom thief," Conan commented sarcastically. "I figured you would at least have a big showcase for your costume and gadgets."

Kaito put a finger to his lips. "All that's somewhere else where no one would think to look. We should be going to my bedroom though so you can work on the case, right? C'mon." He took Conan to the first door on the left, which was your average bedroom except for the large poster of Kuroba Toichi on the wall.

"Ah, I figured you had something of the sort here." Conan sat himself at the desk chair with a smirk. "But that's quite the large poster you have. I wonder if it's hiding anything?" Pulling out his small notebook, he ignored his surroundings and began to read over his notes.

"Sheesh, Tantei-kun, I can tell you need a break." Kaito thought aloud with a small smile. "You're probably still sick too." But he let Conan work on the case until four in the morning when he noticed the not-child nodding off. "Oi, you need some sleep, Tantei-kun." He placed a hand on Conan's shoulder, surprising him.

"K-Kuroba, don't do that!" He set down his notebook and turned around in the chair. "What do you want this time? I still have more to take care of here."

Kaito clucked his tongue. "It's four A.M., so I think you need some sleep. We have a lot to do tomorrow, and I doubt you'd stay awake if you don't get sleep now."

Conan sighed. "Alright, but don't let me sleep more than a couple hours." He lied down in the futon beside Kaito's bed and dozed off almost immediately.

Kaito snickered. "See? You were tired after all." He placed a blanket over Conan and made his way to the living room, pulling out his phone to call someone.

"4:02:28:36. That's almost a record, Kuroba-kun. What do you want at this hour?"

"What time are you coming over to take me and my friend to the scene, Hakuba? I want to make sure we're both ready by then."

British detective Hakuba Saguru thought about it. "I suppose I can be there at precisely 11:28:32:16, but that will depend on if Aoko-chan is coming or not."

Kaito tensed. "Wait, what do you mean? Why are you suddenly calling her Aoko-chan?!"

Hakuba chuckled. "I thought she would have told you by now, but I guess it's not surprising. We started dating three weeks, four days, eight hours, twenty-six minutes, and forty-three seconds ago."

Kaito's grip slackened on the phone, making it fall to the floor. That blonde twit… Shaking his head and putting on a poker face, he picked up the phone and spoke normally. "That's fine with me. Ahoko can do what she wants." He faked a yawn. "Well, I suppose I should be going so you can get back to that Sherlock Holmes book you were probably reading for the three hundred and sixtieth time."

Hakuba snorted. "Three hundred and sixty two, thank you very much. But I have things to do as well, so I shall bid adieu." He hung up, laughing to himself as he pictured Kaito's anger.

He's getting it! I don't care if I was going to try and be nice to him for once; he shouldn't expect me to do nothing about it! Kaito wasn't angry—he was furious.

X

"Tantei-kun, wake up~" Someone was trying to wake him, but he was too tired.

"Not yet," he mumbled sleepily, "wait until I have to go…"

The person trying to wake him checked their phone. "We have to leave soon, Tantei-kun. Please get up."

He forced himself to sit up, wincing as his head pounded. "Ugh, what time is it? I feel like I slept for ten minutes." He opened his eyes and saw Kaito sitting beside him with a mischievous grin. That wasn't a good sign for whoever he was plotting against.

"I knew you'd be like this, Tantei-kun." Kaito held up Conan's small notebook with a sigh. "That's why you should've gone to bed when we first got here. Are you going to be okay for going out today? I was hoping six hours would be enough, but it appears I was wrong."

Conan yawned and ran a hand through his hair. "I'll be fine as long as it's not too strenuous." He began to stand when a wave of dizziness hit, making him clutch his head with a gasp. "Kuso, I didn't think I was that tired." Waving off Kaito's concern, he walked to the desk chair and collapsed onto it.

Kaito felt worried about Conan's health, so he pressed a hand to the detective's forehead. "Hmm, you're not particularly warm, but I think you should be careful when we go there."

Conan looked up to Kaito with half-lidded eyes. "Where are we going?"

Kaito smiled sadly. "Let's just say you're not the only ones with problems within the police." Seeing Conan turn even paler, he averted his gaze. "Thankfully, it was just only one officer so far, but we never know if another will be killed."

Conan groaned. "It's not going to be easy investigating a crime scene right now, but I should manage if I'm alone."

Kaito flinched. "Ah, well…"

"We're here." The person Kaito least wanted to see, as well as his secret crush, entered the room, the first looking surprised to see Kaito's "friend." "You know Edogawa-kun? That's a surprise."

Kaito somehow managed to keep a poker face. "Yeah, it turns out that our parents were good friends, so we started seeing each other about a year ago! Right, Tantei-kun?"

Conan went along with the story, even going as far as adding his own twist. "Yeah! Kaito-niichan and I have been playing detective and thief all the time! I always win though."

Hakuba nodded. "I see. Aoko-chan, you know you don't have to be so shy." He turned to the girl behind him, who was blushing.

"Oh, uh, sorry, Hakuba-kun." Aoko made herself visible to Conan and giggled. "Hello, I don't believe we've met. I'm Nakamori Aoko."

"I'm Edogawa Conan, a detective!" Conan replied happily. "And when you said Nakamori, does that mean you're related to Nakamori-keibu?"

Aoko agreed. "He's my dad, yes. He spends all his time trying to find Kaitou KID and doesn't get anywhere in the investigations…" She clenched her fist before her eyes turned to Kaito. "S-s-sorry for not telling you, Kaito," she whispered an apology. "I hope you're not mad at me."

Kaito flicked his wrist and handed Aoko a red salvia, laughing on the inside since he knew Hakuba would know the flower's meaning. "Of course I'm not mad! You love him, and I can respect that."

Aoko took the flower without knowing what it meant. "Thank you, Kaito. That makes me feel so much better. We should be going now to the crime scene." No one could deny, so the four of them walked to a gas station.

"He was killed here?" Conan inquired, feeling it was odd. "The other officers were killed in less obvious places that were a bit harder to locate."

Hakuba opened the back door. "There's a bit of a catch to your statement, Edogawa-kun. Just look for yourself." He turned on the light, and the storage room came into view. "No one found him for a while until someone noticed this red stain here." He gestured to a hardly-visible spot on the concrete and moved closer.

Aoko gasped. "That's so much blood!" She backed into Hakuba and trembled. "Poor Shizu-chan; I didn't think it was this bad!"

Smirking to himself, Hakuba wrapped an arm around Aoko. "Indeed, it is pretty gruesome for an officer as low as him. The victim was Arakawa Shizuo, who was a friend to Aoko-chan and just started his job in the police. He was assigned to traffic control a week ago, I believe."

What's that? Conan noticed a small bit of white coming out from the victim's pocket. He used his handkerchief to pull it out, blanching when realizing it was a piece of paper. Sure enough, it was another message from Black.

Have you tuned your piano, Kudou Shinichi? Mine is playing rather nicely, and I've almost finished the first movement of my composition.

~Black

"Hey, what's that, Edogawa-kun? Did you find something?" Hakuba began to approach Conan, who quickly slid the note in his back pocket.

"Uh, no, it's nothing! I was just checking the rigor mortis!" Conan lied as his thoughts started going crazy. He does know my identity after all! He must be part of the Organization and is going to tell Gin and the others! Ran's going to be in danger if I don't do something! His mind couldn't get over the first sentence, and he just wanted to run out of the building and scream at the top of his lungs.

Hakuba nodded and returned to Aoko while Kaito bent down beside Conan. "Oi, what's up? You're shivering. What did that piece of paper say?"

So the thief did see it. Conan shook his head with a shaky sigh. "I-i-it's nothing important. It was just a bit of bragging from the culprit."

Kaito raised an eyebrow. "I don't believe you. Let me see it." He held out his hand, but Conan backed away.

"N-no, there's no need to; it's not of importance to you!"

Kaito was about to snatch the note anyway when Conan's phone rang. "Hang on a second." He hit answer and went outside the gas station. "What's up, Hattori?"

"A lot." Heiji sounded tired—almost as if he was up all night. "I was hopin' it wouldn't be too much when I left, but it's a lot. How boutcha? Ya got any luck on the case?"

Conan pursed his lips. "In a way, yes. Kaitou KID called me last night saying I had to come to Ekoda with him since there was something that happened. I just found out it was another officer, but the note…" He trailed off as he shuddered.

"I don't wanna know yet, do I?" Heiji huffed. "That's fine 'cuz I gotta talk 'bout somethin' that happened 'ere while we were gone."

Conan tore his thoughts away from the note. "So what exactly happened, Hattori? You sound like you've been dealing with it since you got back last night."

Heiji agreed. "I 'ave. Ya see, there was 'nother murder 'ere…it was Kazuha's dad Toyama Ginshiro."