Okay... I'm pretty sure you all want to kill me right now... but you CAN'T! Cause then you would never know how the story ends! Still, I'm really sorry about how late this is and how short... and fillerish... NExt chapter is better I PROMISE! School started so it was hard to find time to write... really, really sorry! I may not get newchapters out every week now. Probably more like every week and a half or two weeks. I'll try to get it as soon as possible though! Also, sorry for not responding to a lot of reviews! I'll try to do better for this chapter! I still love EVERYONE who comments!
Thanks Akira Verity for PMing me and making me get off my lazy butt to write! I hope you enjoy this chapter, next one will be better and hopefully sooner!
A loud bang sounded as Hattori slammed open the door at Agasa's house, the sounded once again when the door shut.
"Yo! Where are ya?" The Osakan called throughout the house, craning his neck to spot the two inhabitants. It wasn't long until he heard two sets of footprints coming up the stairs.
"Ah, Hattori-kun!" The kindly professor greeted, seeming surprised at the teen's invasion of his home.
"This had better be good." Ai grumbled, seeming only annoyed.
"The station just got contacted by the original murderer of those officers, turns out if we can convince him to agree to it, he'll tell us how he did it and remained undetected. He'll be calling tomorrow to have a chat using the computer. We just have to convince him to do it." This shocked the anger out of the seemingly little girl's face as she simply looked at the Osakan in surprise. Surprisingly, it was Agasa who killed the slightly hopeful mood.
"Knowing how it was done will not necessarily help us find them." The portly professor said sadly, and with a drooping heart Hattori had to admit that the man was right. It was trying to find out information about the group all over again. None of this was really leading them to kidnapped detectives, but what else could they do? Hattori let out a heaving sigh.
"I know." He sighed again. "Nothing we're doing is actually helping. Kudo is probably going to die, just because we couldn't figure out where he was. He could already be dead." The tan teen lowered himself into a chair. "This whole case is just messing with my mind, I don't know what to do about it. We're getting next to no actually helpful leads. I feel like I'm just missing something. Something important. Feel like that with those stupid break ins too. Especially the one at the station..."
"What break-ins?" Ai suddenly interrupted, her voice deadly serious.
"Hm? Oh, I don't really think they're that important. I haven't thought much about them with Kudo still missing. The other day we were questioning someone and the house next door got robbed, Pretty well done considering it was the middle of the day. Ran into the same robber trying to steal something from the evidence rood. Doesn't look like he got it though. Pretty good that time too, only reason he got caught was that I found him. And I wasn't even supposed to be there."
The mini-scientist's eye's were wide.
"What about the room with the reports, was anyone in there at the time?"
"I don't think so. But I heard one of the officer's say that they checked it out and nothing in there had been touched."
"That doesn't mean that nothing was seen. Think about it, did anything in the evidence room look disturbed?
"Other than that bat he used to attack me? I don't think so. Everything was accounted for at least."
"Nothing looked like it was touched and yet you know he was in there. What makes you say he wasn't in the other room as well."
Hattori had to admit that she had a point. But still... "You would have to be a real professional to be able to do that."
"Yes, a professional. As in, maybe someone from a LARGE CRIMONAL GROUP. Worried about being found our for some reason. Like maybe the police finally noticed them."
Suddenly Hattori was on his feet, his eyes wide as he cursed his own stupidity. "DUH! He was- ugh! And I let him get away." He suddenly turned to the door with a fierce fire in his eyes.
"Where do you think you're going?" Haibara asked as he moved to the door.
"I'm going back to-"
"TO what? Search for someone who disappeared a few hours ago? Distracted and an idiot you may be, but if there was anything that you could have used to say where to go, you would have found it then."
Hattori groaned as he sank back into the seat. "How could I have not figured it out? You made it seem so obvious." The girl smirked.
"I have a lot more knowledge about the inner-workings of an organization that either you or Kudo-kun. I made it seem obvious because for me, it was. For you, not so much." She smirked softly and turned to leave. "It would be safe for you to assume that everything you guys know, they know you know." With those parting words she walked down the steps. Agasa stayed up to speak with Hattori as well as give him something to use to record the conversation with the murderer so that they could have a copy to analyze. Once the man gave the teen the device, Hattori rubbed his head in embarrassment.
"I actually came to get a key to Kudo's house. See if his dad had any files on the guy we're supposed to talk to. Now I think I'm going to go back and look over everything from the robbery this morning, but if you don't mind I'll be back later for the key."
Agasa nodded, beckoning the teen to another room where the professor pulled out the key Hattori desired. "I'll just give it to you now. Just bring it back when you're done. Oh, and remember to lock up, Okiya-san is gone for the week and I don't want the house to be left open."
"Don't worry." Heiji yelled as he began walking out the door, waving once back to the old man before leaving for the station. He knew that the little girl was right, he wouldn't find anything he hadn't this morning. He still wanted to try.
When he arrived at the scene he found it was unsurprisingly empty. Most of the officer's had considered it simply as a failed robbery attempt. By now, Hattori knew better. He scoured every inch of the scene where the man had made his escape, and charted his movements up to the evidence room where he still found nothing useful. There was a small trinket that had been moved on the table recently it looked like, probably the very thing which made the noise attracting him to the man's presence. Oh well, everything was as he expected. There was nothing he noticed now that he hadn't earlier. He felt anger wash over him directed at the man who knocked him out. The man who had taken away what could have been their first real lead. Oh well, there was nothing more to do here. Might as well just head back to Kudo's house and look through those police records.
Suddenly he felt a hand on his shoulder and he turned to see Satou smiling wearily down at him.
"I talked to Megure-keibu and most of the other officers and convinced them to let me and you speak to the man tomorrow. I have a feeling that we are the ones who can really convince him to help. Will you be here?"
"Course I will. I was gonna be here whether I had his permission to be or not."
The woman's smile got a little more sincere before fading off into a frown.
"We will find them, won't we?" She whispered, her eyes downcast. She spoke softly, fearfully, as if she hadn't meant to speak at all. Hattori closed his eyes slightly as images passed through his mind. Ran's terrified calls coming though Kudo's phone, the bags under Haibara and the professor's eyes, all of the officers desperately following every lead, Kudo himself, standing tall and defiantly. He almost seemed to be glaring, saying:"Come on, a case this important and you can't even solve it?". Hattori's stare hardened.
"We'll find them, definitely."
Ran sat with Sonoko and Kazuha near the window if a cafe. Three untouched drinks sat in front of the downcast girls. Ran's phone rested like a stone in her pocket, but she wouldn't touch it. She knew that any attempts to call him would be met with the same heartbreaking failure as her earlier ones had. A second later a waitress set down a plate in front of the girls, each one looked up in surprise to see her smile at them kindly before walking away. None of them had ordered anything, but this wasn't the first time they had been offered random food when stopping for a rest. The news of Conan's disappearance was all over the newspaper, and everyone felt sorry for the kidnapped child's older sister. That and the girls looked completely miserable. Not that a slice of fudge ripple chocolate dream cake was really going to do much about that. ...okay, maybe it helped a little. Ran absentmindedly played with the dessert as Sonoko devoured the chocolate goodness.
Her dessert was gone in seconds while Ran and Kazuha had both eaten less than half of theirs. The short haired girl pushed her chair away with a clatter and banged the table.
"Okay! We've rested, now lets get back to searching for the brat with glasses."
"Where are you expecting to go?" Ran asked, her voice a sad monotone. Both of her friends were shocked. Both because of her tone and because those were the first words she'd spoken that day. They were even more surprised when the desolate girl continued. "We've searched almost everywhere. There is no where else to go. I don't know what to do..." Kazuha was quick to snap out of her shock and attempt to cheer her friend.
"We haven't looked everywhere yet. There are just a few more places we haven't looked for him yet. If he wasn't anywhere else, that must mean that he's in one of the places we haven't searched yet. We just have to keep going."
"Y-yeah!" Sonoko was quick to agree, "We can't give up yet! We'll find him, or he'll escape. He always manages to do something impossible! You'll see. We've been in so many cases, and everything always works out for the best-"
"This isn't some movie where you know the good guy is going to win, Sonoko." The girl said sadly, her voice sounding dead. "W- what if his luck has just- just run out."
The girl's two friends shared glances before Kazuha spoke again.
"Then he still has the luck of everyone else to count on. Think about it, he has us, his friends, the police, your dad, and Heiji looking for him. All of our luck can't have run out at once." The girl pulled up her bag and begun digging through it. "I wanted to give this to Conan-kun after we found him, but I think right now it would be better off with you than just sitting in my purse."
The pony-tailed girl opened cradled hands to reveal a small omamori, the fabric displaying a blue as deep as Conan's eyes with intricate designs done in a red to match his favorite bow-tie. With trembling hands Ran took the charm, opening the top to see a picture and a flat piece of glass. She shakily held the picture to her eyes, seeing her, her father, Conan, Hattori and Kazuha all smiling in the way that could only be caught on candid camera. She couldn't remember the exact time the picture was taken, but her eyes zoned in on the happy smile of the youngest member. A truly happy smile was sometimes hard to find on the boy, but this picture captured it. With a small smile she placed it back into the bag, holding up the glass instead. "What's this?"
"Oh, I got that from Agasa-hakase. It's a lens from one of Conan-kun's old glasses that fell out while he was fixing them. It's not really as personal as a handcuff link, but everyone knows that 'small glasses wearing kid who hangs around all of the detectives'. Also, its kind of like a magnifying glass with out a handle. I thought he would like that with how much he loves mysteries."
Ran fingered the small bit of glass, allowing a small smile to filter across her face. The lens was perfct. One of the first things people noticed abut Conan-kun was his dorky, oversised glasses. It was certainly one of the first things she noticed when she first saw him. He even slept and bathed in them. IT was as much his trademark as his little bow tie.
Secretly the glasses made her think of Conan-kun as Clark Kent. For the boy was certainly her Superman. He'd saved her life dozens of times, and more importantly he was was always there for her. To comfort her when she missed Shinichi and to sit with her when she cried. He was her Superman, saving her from both danger and despair. She gripped the lens, obviously an old used one, and turned her face up to her friends.
"Thank you Kazuha-chan. It's perfect." The two other girl's grinned.
"Okay, lets get going then!" Sonoko yelled, Kazuha chiming in right after.
"Right! My charms always work. We'll find him in no time."
With slightly renewed spirits the girls were off again, not knowing about the revelations of the police nor of the meeting tomorrow. The only thing they knew was that Conan and Takagi had to be out there somewhere, and that they would stop at nothing to find them.