Chapter Twenty-One

Pieces of puzzles… forgotten over long periods of time… can only be solved by detectives… Conan clutched his head in frustration. I just don't get it! I know someone like Kaito is cryptic, but he was too cryptic! Wait… cryptic? I think I got something! He looked toward Heiji, who bore a similar expression of resolve.

"That's it!" they both exclaimed. "They must have known each other in the past!"

"Wait…" Conan interjected. "The victims were so young that they couldn't have…"

Heiji sighed. "Well… what about the fathers?" he asked. "All of their fathers are owners of large companies and each has at least one elementary child. My guess is that they went to the same school when they were kids. How about we both go and see if they recognize the names?"

Conan agreed, and Heiji placed him in his wheelchair. They pushed the wheelchair to the front door, where Ran was blocking the way.

"Where are you two going?" she inquired. "More importantly, why are you leaving the house, Conan-kun? You are still sick!"

Conan coughed a little. "I'm fine, Ran-san," he whispered, actually feeling drowsy from thinking so much. "Besides, I doubt Hattori will let me leave this wheelchair…"

Heiji grinned. "He's right, Ran," he added. "Plus, in case you forgot, we are both detectives; we can't just quit a case. We think we have a lead and are going now to check it."

Ran's eyes widened in horror. "Y-you can't!" she exclaimed. "You'll get hurt!" She was then interrupted when Conan stood up and hugged her.

"We won't get hurt," he said quietly in her ear. "We have each other's back in this. Plus, we are only going to check a lead; it's not like we know who the killer is yet!"

Ran closed her eyes and sighed. "Alright," she said hesitantly, "you can go. But make sure you're back by dinnertime!"

Heiji and Conan waved goodbye and entered the rental car.

"Hey Kudou, are you gonna be okay?" he asked as he started the ignition. "Ran did have a good point that you are still sick…"

Conan yawned and leaned his head against the window. "I'm feeling a lot better," he replied, "I just need a bit of rest before we get there…" He closed his eyes and his breathing evened out almost immediately.

Heiji smirked as he watched Conan sleeping. He could tell that Conan was telling the truth about feeling better, and that was a good thing since he was sick for over a month. He then began thinking about the love letter Ai wrote for Conan.

Dear Shinichi,

I know it isn't like me to write something to you, but I just can't say it. Ever since I first saw you in your true body, I felt something different… After a while, I realized that something was love.

I was surprised by many things about you. First off, you were more handsome than I initially thought when I saw your child body. You looked intelligent without even needing braces or glasses! You are also the smartest and most charming guy I know. You always know what to say to someone, even if it makes them upset or surprised. Your deductive reasoning probably told you long ago that I liked you, but you felt nervous too, didn't you? Love can be quite impactful in our short lives.

You may hate me for many reasons (mainly for creating the APTX 4869), but I will never be able to relinquish my love for you. I may sound selfish when I say that, so I should probably reword… I want you to decide who you love and to be happy, but… could you make me happy too?

Sincerely,

Haibara Ai aka Miyano Shiho

Heiji laughed again; he enjoyed romance stories like these in which they both have feelings for each other but can't admit it. He knew Ai was a huge tsundere and Conan had two girls to choose from, but he couldn't help but feel envious. As if like magic, his phone rang.

"Hello, who is this?"

"Baka! Why haven't you answered your phone?"

Heiji cringed. "Hey, Kazuha… how's everything going?"

"Stop it, Heiji!" she cried. "You made me worry for a whole week! You suddenly leave Osaka on a 'secret trip' and don't answer your phone; I was about to call your dad to find you!"

Heiji sighed. "Sorry," he whispered. "I've just been really busy helping someone that I haven't bothered checking my phone."

Kazuha was surprised; Heiji never felt guilty about something unless it involved murders. "Are you investigating a case again?"

Heiji gasped; apparently some of his skills rubbed off on her. "Y-yeah… so what?"

"Are you with that Kudou kid again?"

"I was for a while," Heiji lied, "but now I'm helping Ran take care of Conan since he's been really sick." He knew if he said a flat-out yes or no, it would be suspicious.

"Wait… the brat's sick?" she exclaimed. "What does he have?"

"He's had pneumonia for a while now, but he's finally starting to get better," Heiji replied. "In fact, I decided to take him with me while I investigate a lead to the case."

Kazuha gasped. "You can't!" she cried. "You can't be solving a serial murder; you'll be killed! And why are you taking a kid with you?!"

Heiji sighed, rolling his eyes. "Its fine, Kazuha-chan," he replied, "don't forget that I am a detective; I've solved these in my sleep!" He laughed to try and calm Kazuha, but she still felt reluctant.

"A-are you sure?" she whispered. "Are you sure you will make it through this case alive?"

"No," he replied, surprising her. "I never do know for sure, Kazuha. However, that is the thrill that keeps us detectives searching for more cases; we like risking our lives for something like this."

There was a long period of silence before Kazuha said anything. "Okay…" she eventually said. "Just please make sure you don't die, Heiji!"

"Don't worry, Kazuha. I'm not easy to get rid of!"

"Kudou… Oi, Kudou, get up!"

"Wha…?" Conan slowly opened his eyes and saw Heiji's blurry face above him.

"Get up, sleepyhead! Don't you want to solve this murder case?"

Conan sat up and gasped, partly because of the dizziness. "Right… where are we exactly?" He was interrupted with Heiji's sudden burst of laughter.

"You should know, Chiisana Tantei-san. You've been here quite often; more often than someone your age."

Conan groaned. "Don't tell me…" He looked out the window and saw the characters on a sign for 'Teitan Elementary School.' "Why are we here? Is this the school the victims' dads went to when they were kids?"

Heiji flashed a grin. "Let's start three hours ago…" he began in a mysterious whisper. "You had just fallen asleep, and I received a call from Kazuha. She started worrying like girls normally do, and that's when I got the idea: maybe the dads knew each other as early as elementary school. Thankfully, if I am wrong, the high school is fairly close since we both agree on that."

Conan frowned. "Well, there is a possibility of that, but the chance of that isn't likely. My theory is that they were in some kind of club and made some kind of promise to not get ahead of each other. As a result, all but one became big in business. That would make the one who didn't want to kill the rest out of pure jealousy. But, to make his old friends feel worse, he would kill their young daughters in their own offices."

Heiji smirked. "It seems we think very similar," he said. "I also believe that one was jealous with the rest, but it may have been for another reason. But, I don't think we have time to go over our separate deductions. We should check for evidence first."

Conan nodded in agreement as Heiji pushed his wheelchair to the school. Once they reached the doors, Conan realized something. "Hattori, won't they recognize me with you?" he asked worriedly.

Heiji reached into his bag and pulled out a white mask. "Put this over your face and cover your hood," he instructed. "That way, I could make up an alias for you." Conan did so, and they entered the school building.

"Hello, how can I help you?" an old woman at the front desk asked politely.

"Yes… you see, I am Heiji Hattori of Osaka. I am a high school detective trying to solve the recent serial killings. Could you give me any extra information?" He reached in his bag again and handed the woman a manila folder.

She quickly glanced at most of the papers until she saw the list of the victims' fathers, making her turn pale. "I… know these people…" she whispered. "They formed the karate club at this school twenty years ago when they were in high school. Their leader, Tamaki Izumi, was reckless as a teenager; as a result, he never lost in a fight, making him Japan's best during his entire high school career. The others were fairly good, but only one could stand his ground in a fight with Tamaki for more than a couple minutes: Kousei Kieran. What surprised most of us was that Kousei was the quiet reader of the group; no one understood how he could do something as complex as karate.

"Over their entire high school career, Kousei and Tamaki always went to the country finals with the rest of the team on the sidelines. When it came time for national qualifiers, they did not enter for the fear of hurting the other's pride. Because of this, they all made an agreement when their final year came to a close: they would never get ahead… they would stay equal to the others.

"That seems simple, right? It wasn't. After fifteen years, people noticed everyone was married, had at least one kid, and were presidents of large companies. However, Kousei did not excel as well as the others. He had tried becoming a writer to embrace his love for words, but he could not afford getting his work published. Actually, he lived in his mother's basement without anyone's knowledge because of his habit of spending any penny he was given. No one's really heard from him for quite a while, but there are rumors of his jealousy toward the rest of the group." She sighed. "Did I help you, Tantei-san?"

Heiji smiled. "You did," he replied as he bowed. "Thank you." He looked down to Conan, who had surprisingly fallen asleep and laughed as he left the school. When they both were in the car, Heiji looked through the rearview mirror and noticed Conan was breathing harder than normal and starting to sweat.

"Oi Kudou, get up!" he exclaimed.

He would not wake.

Heiji sighed as he climbed to the back seat and shook Conan. "Get up, Kudou!"

Conan slowly opened his eyes and sat up. "What's wrong, Hattori?" he asked in a whisper. "Did you realize something about the case?"

Heiji rolled his eyes. "I think you're getting sick again, Kudou," he said. "You can hardly stay awake, and you were sweating and breathing hard a bit ago."

Conan turned pale. "That was just a bad dream…" he started to reply, but was quickly interrupted by a coughing fit.

Heiji gasped, noticing blood on his white mask. "You are still sick, Kudou!"

Conan started to protest, saying he was fine, but Heiji was more worried about how Ran would react. "Just rest for a bit," he said. "I'll figure out where we can hide out until this murder is solved."