A/N Phew...here's the second part;')
Chapter 9: A heavy crown called guilt (part 2)
"If that's the case then white guy also refers to the colour of a car, doesn't it?" Mitsuhiko concluded, making me thank him over and over again when Okiya's attention was drawn away from me.
"But there's a whole bunch of white cars…" Genta complained.
"An ambulance." Ai stated in a tone of voice that left no place for arguing as she stepped up from behind the others.
"In Japan, under the road trucking vehicle law the the body of the car is required to be white."she explained.
I was grinning at her all the while, momentarily forgetting about my bad condition as I got swept up in the moment.
"Never thought I'd get such a kick from solving cases…"
"I see...But who could that be...the ambulance?" Mitsuhiko pondered.
"Think about it like this...What does an ambulance normally do for you?" I asked, as I once again tapped my Index finger against my right cheek in a pondering manner ,trying to give the children aa simple clue.
"It transports injured people!" Genta shouted.
"They give you medical care inside the vehicle..." Ayumi said.
"Ah! That's it!" Mitsuhiko cheered as he pulled down the sleeve of his hoodie to reveal a band aid.
"Band aids!" he said out loud.
"The white guy is the one that always gets injured a lot and carries band aids around with him because of that...so that must be Hosoi-san,right?"
"Exactly."Conan complimented him as I shot the boy an encouraging smile.
"Oh, the diary even says "When I got back from school I feel down in the entry way. I'm glad the white guy was just coming out." The Inspector read out loud as he looked at the diary over my shoulder.
"Yeah, his knee was bleeding and I gave the boy one of the band aids I was carrying…" Hosoi pondered aloud.
"Then we're left with the yellow guy…" Yuminaga stated with a thoughtful look.
"Taxis are yellow." Genta said instantly.
"But there are white and green ones too…" Ayumi shot down his idea.
"What about construction vehicles…?" Yuminaga announced his chain of thought.
"That would be the right answer." I nodded, looking at Conan to check if we'd "realised" the same thing.
It felt kind of strange to pretend that I didn't already know who the culprit was and to now be solving the case along with a shrunken Kudo Shinichi, who just happened to be the main character of a story-concept that I'd so adored.
But it was fun in a strange kind of way…
"Yes, In short,the person who has dirt under his fingernails." Conan nodded at my statement.
"Which would be Makabe-san,seeing as Edogawa told me about that small detail earlier on." I stated with a small, sadistic smile as I lied about getting the information beforehand.
I could feel his and Ai's eyes assessing me, knowing fully well that the little detective hadn't mentioned anything like that to me.
The man's reaction was instant, his eyes widened and he started sweating profoundly ,taking a small step back.
"W-what are you saying?!" he stuttered loudly.
"The dirt under my fingers is from playing a survival game in the mountains!" Makabe tried to defend himself.
"If I remember correctly you said that your clothes got ruined through being stained by a paintball gun?" Conan questioned the man.
"Uh,yeah." Makabe nodded.
"But in Japan what they use for survival games is air soft guns that shoot BB bullets, right Edogawa-kun?" I asked the little boy in fake surprise.
"Exactly, Paint guns are used in a different game called paintball." Conan stated with a smug grin.
"Oh?" Inspector Yumanagi took a threatening step towards the culprit.
"Th-those are mostly the same thing, aren't they?!" Makabe stuttered, taking another step back.
"But Paint guns use a water soluble ink that comes out clean when you wash it." I told them as I shifted on my feet, seeing as I was in immeasurable pain right now as small spasms ran through my body.
"Is that so?" the Inspector asked in an aggressive kind of way,advancing towards the man.
"A-ah well…"
"Moreover, Makabe-san, you said your favourite colour was the navy green used in camouflage clothing."Conan stated.
I accidentally laughed out loud and when I realised what I'd done I quickly hid my mouth behind my hand.
"Arere? Could you tell us what you found so funny, Byakuya-nee san?" Conan questioned his fake childish smile that always managed to give me the creeps somehow.
"Well...The colour that they normally use is camouflage clothing is called olive drab if I remember correctly...really just because it has the word "navy" in it doesn't mean it's legit." I explained, crossing my shaky arms in front of me once more.
They were disgustingly clammy.
"Have you really played that whatever-it-was ball?" the Inspector asked in a dangerously low tone as he looked Makabe deeply into his eyes.
"Th-the thing is I'm just a beginner…" Makabe tried to defend himself.
"Well, shouldn't we just check around where the garden was in the apartment building?" I asked, making everyone look at me.
"Byakuya-nee is right, according to Kaito-kun's diary the yellow guy was doing something suspicious night after night." Conan spoke, gladly taking all the attention away from me as he walked towards the charred remains of the building.
"And if we add in the fact about Makabe-san lying about the dirt under his fingernails…" I left my statement hanging in the air ,free for interpretation, as I started drumming my Index finger against my cheek again.
"We might conclude that Makabe-san was digging in the garden at night to avoid being seen." Conan finished our statement.
"He must have been burying something important there then…" I concluded with a low whistle.
Which was a mistake since it made my throat hurt like hell and I had to massage the skin over my airways to prevent an onslaught of violent coughs.
"And most likely that was…" Conan started saying-
"The money you earned as a day trader." we finished the conclusion together.
"What about it?" the Inspector asked the culprit loudly.
Makabe looked like he was about to try and defend himself before he slumped forwards like a hollow case.
"Two attaché cases…with money I earned as a day trader" he told us with a sigh.
"There's roughly two hundred million yen." he admitted.
"That much?" Yuminaga asked, clearly taken aback by the mentioned sum.
"Why would you bury it in the garden?" he inquired.
"So I wouldn't have to pay the taxes." Makabe stated simply.
"But last night when I got back from the movies...The landlord questioned me insistently after he'd found one of the cases...I got irritated and pushed him away, but he fell down the stairs…" the chubby man confessed to the happenings one day ago.
" He wasn't moving anymore and then I figured if I burned it all, just about everything would just be reset...an-"
I didn't even let him finish his confession seeing as a hollow sounding laugh escaped my mouth.
I knew that actually the Inspector was supposed to lose his cool and give him a much needed lecture ,which actually wasn't hard to imagine seeing as said man of the law was positively seething behind me and looked like he was about to explode with fury that he'd unleash from hell.
I put a calming hand on his shoulder as a warning to remain professional.
Kind of a joke seeing as I had totally my self control at the man's sheer ignorance.
Might have something to do with the fact that I was already dead, murdered at that.
"Listen here Makabe." I said icily, every last trace of my restraint gone.
"Just who was was supposed to not lose his cool here…?!"
I faintly remembered angrily flinging the manga volume away from myself after reading the man's confession, wanting to get my hands around that man's neck and squeeze it very tight just to make him come to his senses, even though I couldn't really relate on a personal level.
But now I could.
And I wasn't about to let him go without giving him a piece of my mind.
"You don't get to reset this. That's not your choice to make, about who gets to live and who dies. For you it might have been a simple reset but for Sugiura Kaito...It would have been a nightmare he would never be able to wake up from. How could you ever even entertain the delusion that you have the right to decide what the worth of a human life is? Simply taking someone's most important person like that...doesn't that instantly make your life mean nothing? This is no game that you can play around with all you want. You simply don't have the right to."
I could feel the look that I was getting ,crawling over my skin, so in an attempt to avert all that attention from myself I took my hand off the seething Inspectors arm.
"You better be prepared to make up for this in full!" said man shouted angrily as he gripped the chubby Makabe by the front of his green sweater and lifted him in the air.
"Including to Kaito-kun and his father who got mixed up in this!" he continued.
I suddenly started feeling a bit woozy as everything in front of my eyes turned black for a second, almost making me lose my balance.
Gladly, I still had enough time to catch myself from falling seeing as I recovered so quickly.
I inwardly praised the oh-so supportive stonewall behind me for literally having my back.
I really hoped nobody had noticed.
"Inspector! We just got word from the hospital!"the young policeman suddenly shouted, waving his phone in the air.
"They said the landlords operation was successful and that Kaito-kun regained consciousness!"
"Oh is that so?" Yuminaga asked with a broad smile, lowering Makabe to the ground again as the shounen tantei-dan let out a collective cheer.
Even I couldn't help but let a small,relieved smile rest on my lips for a few seconds, though I'd been fully aware of how this case was going to end.
"Well,now you can rebuild this apartment building with the money that you hid." the Inspector commented as the other policeman cuffed the culprit that was obviously wallowing in self pity and regret.
"Yes,sir." he mumbled before being led away.
"But there's still one mystery remaining now, Isn't there?" Mitsuhiko suddenly spoke up ,looking like he was in deep thought.
"Yeah, why is Conan-kun's nickname Kuroshiro-kun?" Genta agreed.
"What kind of car is black and white?" Ayumi asked.
I decided not to tell them anything as I settled on watching them instead.
I'd always found it entertaining to see the little kids trying their best to crack down on mysteries that even most adults couldn't solve.
I also wasn't trusting my body to work properly right now and having to deliver another lengthy explanation would surely take a lot out of me.
So I ,for once, kept my mouth shut as I stood on my two unsteady legs with my arms still crossed over my chest- now no longer to give off a certain look but rather to keep my body from being wracked by shivers and in a pursuit of warmth for my freezing body.
"I bet that's the car we police use, a patrol car." Yuminaga spoke up, looking towards said vehicle that was parked by in front of the burned down building.
"Since that's the most suitable name for the boy who puts the police to shame." he elaborated before saying his goodbye and walking away.
My eyes widened when he also acknowledged me with a respectful nod, though he seemed even more taken aback when I politely returned the gesture.
Well figures, I hadn't exactly been all smiles and sunshine earlier on.
"Well, how about we all go visit Kaito-kun now?" Mitsuhiko asked with a smile.
"Agreed!" Ayumi cheered.
"We should have the professor drive us since it's such a far way!" Genta added.
"Professor?"
I flinched when Okiya Subaru walked towards us, inquiring about the old man the kids were referring to.
I unconsciously scooted a little closer to the kids, as far away from the man as possible without making my movement obvious, though I could tell that Ai had picked up on it.
When I met the shrunken scientists blue eyes she quickly turned her head away and moved to hide behind her friends.
"You guys know a professor?" the sandy brown haired man asked again, crouching down in front of the kids.
I tried moving away even more, since suspiciously running away seemed like a better option than getting involved with the FBI agent in disguise.
I mean..thank you very much but,no.
"Yeah we do!" Ayumi nodded fervently.
"But he's always coming up with stupid games…" Genta complained.
"Oh,I'd like to meet that professor."
"I can introduce you!" Ayumi told him with a cute smile.
"I'd appreciate it." Okiya Subaru replied evenly.
"One more step master Byakuya, just ooone more step…" I cheered myself on inwardly as I tried sneaking away without anyone noticing.
"Now that I think about it...Byakuya-nee, you've never met the professor even though you're neighbours, right?"
"BUSTED!" I thought as Ayumi said those words just as I'd gotten ready to bolt.
I twitched nervously as I turned around to face them, frozen to the spot.
"That's right! I remember Eri-chan saying something like that!" Mitsuhiko nodded.
"Then Byakuya-nee san has to come along too!" Genta stated, looking about ready to drag me around Beika again.
"A-ah that's alright I'm sure that I'll meet him soon anyways, so you guys don't have to-" I tried protesting but the determined look in their eyes told me that there was no way out of this.
"Fine…" I sighed deeply, slumping forward, a move that made my migraine worsen even more to the point that it felt like little explosions were going off inside my skull.
I subconsciously flinched and let my hand wander to my aching forehead, flinching visibly.
"Ah- I've been meaning to ask you…How did you know the names of the tenants without anyone ever introducing them?" Conan suddenly spoke up, making me flinch in surprise.
A certain tingly sensation at the back of my neck told me that everyone was now looking at me.
"Crap...I'd completely forgotten about that!"
"A-ah that's-"I had to interrupt myself and a disgruntled expression settled on my face when I realised that I was slightly slurring my words and my legs were swaying dangerously und me, threatening to give out.
"Are you feeling alright?"
"Huh?" the surprised sound left my mouth before I could stop it.
"I noticed that you seemed a bit unsteady earlier and were leaning against that wall behind you all the while as if you were having trouble standing up…" the little detective stated.
"Is that true Onee-san?!" Ayumi asked in a worried manner, taking one of my hands into her palm before instantly letting it go with a shocked expression.
"Your hands are really warm!" she told me with wide eyes.
"I'm fine." I told her with a tight lipped smile, even though being touched by their concern.
"You really are burning up." I flinched when the palm of a hand pressed against my forehead, pushing back my baseball cap a bit.
I flinched away from the voice violently.
The hand didn't bother me at all...It was who it belonged to that was the problem.
"It's alright. I'm fine." I hissed in a defensive manner, pushing Okiya Subaru's hand away in a hurry.
That simple action made the world before my eyes get fuzzy again as sounds, smells and colours all started blurring together in my head in a strange way that made me want to close my eyes.
Which was exactly what I did.
I felt my body slowly falling forward as I let sweet, soothing darkness take control over my senses and aching body.