Sorry guys! It's been almost ten months! I've been dealing with a lot of stuff and finishing my first year of university, so it's been crazy enough for me to forget about this story...my bad. :P

Well hope you enjoy and leave a comment! Don't be shy ;)

P.S. I didn't edit so don't be surprised if it sucks.

The Most Important Person in the World to You Is…?

Chapter 10

Liars

The next day, Shinichi had almost turned back into his former self as Conan, so Heiji went down to the professor's to get him another from Haibara before she left for school. When Heiji returned, Shinichi had become Conan again.

"This is really difficult to remember, geez." Heiji said. Shinichi snatched the capsule from Heiji when he held it out to him, quickly swallowing it.

"Shut up, Hattori. Besides, I think Sonoko is coming over right now." Shinichi said, heading to the bathroom as he grunted under his breath, attempting to hide his pain.

"What's she coming over for? We need to revisit our suspects today," Heiji complained.

"Sonoko is Ran's best friend. We haven't exactly been honest about what's happened to her..." Shinichi mumbled, shutting the bathroom door. Heiji rolled his eyes.

"Why should we be honest? She'll get in the way. I had to talk Kazuha into going home because she couldn't handle being here." Heiji said from in front of the bathroom door. Kogoro came out of his bedroom right as Heiji finished.

"So in other words, your little friend was in the way of investigation." Kogoro mocked.

"No..." Heiji defended under his breath. He cleared his throat and stood his ground just as the front door sounded. Kogoro sighed and went to answer the door.

"See, you agree with me Oji-san." Heiji teased. When Heiji rounded the corner and saw Sonoko standing in the front entrance, his smug expression melted from his face. He suddenly felt really bad for her just seeing her.

Sonoko's normally perfect brown hair was a little frizzy and unkept. Her eyes were red, but the puffiness was hidden under an obvious layer of makeup. Her school uniform's blouse was crinkled and she held her leather bag in front of her with both hands.

"Suzuki-san..." Heiji mumbled. Sonoko looked up, tears threatening to slay what little composure she had left. Kogoro tried to smile for her, inviting her in. He gently pushed at her back to bring her to dining table offering her some tea or coffee. She accepted a cup of tea. She barely sipped at it, staring into space as she did.

When Shinichi finally came out of the washroom as his normal self, he whispered to Heiji whether she heard him or not. Heiji shook his head.

"She's really out of it," he'd said. Shinichi nodded, slowly walking to Sonoko. Before he could say anything, she said the thing he didn't want to hear, especially when he'd been beating himself up previously.

"This is your fault, you know..." she said. Shinichi didn't argue. He agreed.

"I know...because I'm never here, right? That's your reason?" Shinichi asked.

"Yeah...and others," Sonoko said, looking up at him. "Do you have any idea what kind of pain you've caused Ran over the past few months? Not knowing where you are, never answering her calls, missing school, putting cases before anything else...or do you just not care?"

Shinichi stared into Sonoko's pained eyes. She held tears back with all the strength she had. He smiled, admiring how strong she was.

"I do care, Sonoko. Trust me, but...I haven't been able to be here for her for a good reason, having nothing to do being away. I can't say...but it really is a case. Involving me." Shinichi explained. Sonoko's expression softened. She slumped in her chair.

"Anything on where she is...?" she asked.

"Yeah. I saw her." He admitted. Sonoko shot up from her seat.

"What? Really? Where?" she shouted.

"In an old amusement park. She was being kept there, but there's only one more place where this Man is keeping her. He said so. Once I find, she'll be safe. Ran is my top priority. Believe me."

Sonoko put on a brave face, happy that he thought of Ran that way.

"If anything more happens to her, you're responsible, detective-geek." She said, grabbing her bag and heading towards the door. She stopped and turned her head only a little. Shinichi spotted a tear falling down her cheek, but said nothing.

"Ran's really lucky you know...to have you." Sonoko said, sniffing a little as she opened the door.

"I'll find her, Sonoko. I promise. You'll see her again." Shinichi said as she closed the door behind her.

"So, why exactly do you want to ask Hideyoshi Keiko-san? She basically told us everything from her nephew's bad grades to his psychic premonitions." Heiji complained, following Shinichi up to the suspect's front door.

"Just making sure we didn't miss anything. It'll only be a couple minutes and then we go to the hospital to visit Hideyoshi Juro-san."

"What about that weird woman Jackie Parker? She seems fake enough," Heiji joked. Shinichi rolled his eyes and was about to knock on the door when Keiko opened it for them.

"I knew you were coming. Make yourselves comfortable," she said tiredly. Shinichi closed the door behind them, taking his shoes off. When they sat down on the couch in the living room, Keiko brought out tea.

"Thanks Keiko-san," Shinichi said. She sat across from them in an armchair, staring at them to start.

"We just wanted to come by to make sure we got all the details. We need to gather as much information as we can." Heiji said. Keiko nodded.

"So, from what you've told us so far, Isao-san was your nephew who was never strong with social and academic abilities. However, when he saw his mother get killed by his father, Juro-san, he developed psychic premonitions, a psychological ability that runs in your family. Isao-san's grades went up and he won all karate tournaments until he fought against Ran and didn't win, ruining his reputation. He had one last dream where he saw himself die, then followed through. Did you get everything right?" Shinichi said. Keiko nodded, sipping her tea.

"That's basically it regarding Isao-kun. Anything to ask, detectives?" she asked. Heiji nodded.

"I have a question for you. Well, more your point of view on Juro-san's case. He disappeared six months after the accident, quitting his job. When he turned up, he was drunk and was mugged, ending up in a coma from the beating, where he remains in the hospital today Though in a newspaper article it said he was mugged and beaten, he truly had a stroke. Is that correct?"

Keiko's face went pale. She had to put her teacup down to keep from spilling it. Shinichi squinted in on her, watching her reaction. Before he could open his mouth, she relaxed and nodded.

"Yes, that's true as well."

"Keiko-san, when your brother killed his wife, why didn't any report it? Why did you just let it go as if it were nothing?" Shinichi asked. Keiko picked up her tea again and sipped it.

"Because we were glad she was gone. My brother killed her because she verbally abused my nephew. She was the reason he was shy and got bad grades. She called him a loser...a brainless nobody. She treated my brother like he was the same, saying how much she regretted marrying him and how she didn't see them as her family. We were glad she was gone. Isao-kun too." Keiko explained.

"Was there anything that caused her to say those things? Any family history of depression or mental illnesses?" Shinichi asked.

"No. She was just a hateful woman. She was the loser, not my nephew! She got drunk with her friends at bars and had affairs with other men. I know because she told me about the crazy people she met who made her feel young again, like she could do what she wanted and no one could say anything. She thought I supported her...how stupid she was."

"Any input on Juro-san? How he handled it afterwards, as well as his son's death?" Shinichi asked.

"Juro was a mess after Isao-kun's death. Once he rid us of his wife, he was happy. Seeing Isao-kun made him happy..." Keiko revealed. "But once Isao-kun died, he just...he wasn't the same person. He kept muttering under his breath all the time. Crazy things that didn't make sense would leave his lips, confusing me to no end. Even my premonitions didn't reveal anything about his behaviour. Not that I expected them to."

Shinichi and Heiji nodded in unison, excusing themselves from the meeting. They thanked her for the information, but before she closed the door, Shinichi stopped her.

"You know once Juro-san comes out of his coma, he'll be arrested for murder, right?" he warned. Keiko sighed and nodded.

"I knew he would be eventually."

Shinichi and Heiji left the property and walked in the direction of the hospital.

"I don't think it's her," Heiji said. "Couldn't be."

"I agree. She's being honest. I can tell in her eyes she hides nothing, except for one thing..." Shinichi said. Heiji smirked.

"How she reacted to explanation of her brother and his coma. You think she knows something we don't?"

"Maybe...that, or she was trying to hide the shock of no prior knowledge to her brother's hospital stay."

"Yeah, that's possible too."

"So, let's see if Jackie Parker and Juro-san are at the hospital like before. If so, I have questions for Jackie." Shinichi said, his lips curling up into a cunning smile.

I think Jackie isn't who she says she is, Shinichi thought.

Shinichi and Heiji raced inside the hospital once they arrived, going to the same floor where Juro had been before. Shinichi dashed ahead, looking at the face of every nurse and medical student imaginable. Having not seen her, he began to ask around.

"Excuse me, do you know where I can find Jackie Parker? She's a medical student." Shinichi said to an advisor.

"Jackie Parker? Don't think so."

Shinichi and Heiji continued to look for her, but no luck.

"I don't understand, Kudo, she was here, wasn't she?" Heiji huffed, running up to Shinichi. Shinichi shook his head.

"Jackie lied to us...again. The address she gave us is probably another fake one too. I don't understand why she's lying to us! The other students haven't even heard of her!" Shinichi shouted in frustration, kicking at a wall. Heiji put a hand on Shinichi's shoulder.

"Maybe we could visit Juro-san. You never know, something good might come out of it."

"Fine..." Shinichi said, breathing out dramatically. However, when they arrived, nothing had changed. Juro Hideyoshi lay in bed untouched and unmoving.

"Well this was certainly helpful," Shinichi said sarcastically. Heiji rolled his eyes.

"We'll figure something out. We might have the send the officers out to find her. After all, we still have about thirty-something hours left to find Mouri-san."

"Yeah, thirty-something..." Shinichi mumbled.

Shinichi was about to leave the room when he spotted something; a syringe on the side of his bed.

That wasn't there before...was it? His bedside was clean of clutter. Doctors and nurses would never leave that lying around...

"Hey Hattori, that wasn't there before, was it?" Shinichi asked for confirmation. Heiji walked over to where he was pointing, shaking his head.

"No, I don't remember it. It was only yesterday we were here, right?"

"That's what I thought..."

"Should we bring it with us?" Heiji whispered. Shinichi nodded. Heiji took out a handkerchief and picked it up, stuffing it in his pocket inconspicuously.

"We should get going before someone comes." Heiji said, leading the way out. Shinichi took one last look at Hideyoshi-san's comatose body before leaving the room, feeling extremely uncomfortable.

Why do I feel like I've still missed something?