Chapter Twenty-Five

When they arrived at the Takahashi household in Kyoto, Conan was still heavily asleep and loudly snoring. Heiji tried waking him, but the pill would not let up.

He laughed. "Suit yourself… you can stay here…" He unbuckled Conan and lied him down in the back seat, covering him with a blanket, before knocking on the front door. The person that answered was Mitskuni Takahashi, father of Yuno and a former karate club member.

"Hello, are you by chance Heiji Hattori of Osaka?"

"Yes I am!"

"Well, it's good to see you… Didn't you say you were bringing a kid along?"

Heiji gestured to the car and smiled. "He's asleep, so I thought it best to leave him there."

"No, you can bring him to the living room to rest! No one else is home, as you requested over the phone."

Heiji laughed and returned to the car, carefully picking up Conan and carrying him in the house. Naturally, the house for the president of the country's leading toy company was filled with grandeur.

"Come; the living room is this way." Mitskuni led Heiji through a long hallway until it eventually opened up to a large living room with multiple sofas, billiard tables, and even a hot tub. "You can place the boy here on the sofa closest to the hallway." Heiji carefully did so, trying not to wake Conan. He did stir slightly, but after a few seconds, he was snoring again.

Mitskuni laughed. "I know my dear Yuno was the same way… always sleeping. She hated mornings, for it woke her of what her and her mother called 'beauty rest.'"

"Speaking of which… where is your wife?"

Mitskuni's expression darkened. "I-I guess I forgot to tell you on the phone… You see, she felt awful after Yuno was killed… as if it was her own fault. She…" His voice faltered as tears began to form. "She killed herself a couple weeks ago."

Heiji grimaced. "Sorry…" he whispered. "It must be painful having to bring her up… How about we begin the house search, starting with Yuno's room?"

Mitskuni agreed, and they headed to the second floor, which was split in half between Yuno's room and her parents' room. He opened the door to his daughter's room, and it was massive. With her father being the president of a toy company, Yuno got any toy she wanted and was even allowed to make designs for the company.

Heiji gave a low whistle. "This sure is a large room…"

Mitskuni smiled a little. "This was my wife's pride and joy. She put her heart into this room to make our daughter happy."

"Sir, did either of the girls keep a diary?" Heiji interrupted.

"Well…" Mitskuni thought for a moment. "I believe my wife had one… but why would you need it?"

"I need to see entries from up to a year before Yuno's death. Could you show them to me?" Heiji completely ignored Mitskuni's question.

"S-sure… Come this way…" Mitskuni led Heiji to his bedroom and opened the closet door; that alone could have held a billiard table or two. He began rummaging through a few boxes until he finally found an old journal. "This was my wife's, so please be careful with it!"

Heiji laughed as he opened it. "Don't worry, Sir; you can trust me!"

"Thank you for letting me read this, Sir. It has been of great help."

"I-is there anything else I can do for you?"

Heiji looked at his watch and saw it was already three o'clock. "No…" He yawned slightly. "I need to drive home soon, or else that kid's gonna be mad when he's not in bed in time…" He laughed and said goodbye, walking to the living room to get Conan. Surprisingly, he was still asleep.

That pill sure must be strong… Heiji thought as he placed Conan in the car and covered him with the blanket. He started the car and was about to back out when Conan finally awoke.

"Hey, you're finally awake!" Heiji exclaimed. "I thought you would sleep forever! How about we get some lunch while we're here in Kyoto?"

Conan yawned greatly. "W-what time is it?" he asked sleepily. "How long was I asleep?"

Heiji did some quick mental math. "Oh, you were out for only seven hours! Seriously Kudou, how can you sleep for seven hours after sleeping all night?"

Conan shrugged and yawned again. "I guess it's because I'm tired…" He leaned his head against the window and was out like a light.

Heiji laughed and drove to a nearby ramen place. He shook Conan. "Come on, Kudou… let's get something to eat! You haven't eaten anything for two days!"

Conan knew he was right, so he sat in his wheelchair, and the two of them ate ramen. For some reason, Conan wasn't his usual hungry self.

"Oi, Kudou… are you okay? You haven't eaten much…"

Conan looked Heiji directly in the eye, showing how tired he felt without holding anything back. "I'm just tired…" he whispered.

Heiji stopped eating his sixth bowl of ramen, paid the owner, and rolled the wheelchair back to the car. "You can rest on the way home," he whispered as he helped Conan buckle. He then climbed into the driver seat and started driving. They barely made it back to the hotel room before Heiji passed out on the bed, completely drained.

Ignoring all wants of sleep, Conan walked over to the desk and read the notes Heiji took while in Kyoto. He was so immersed in his thoughts that he didn't hear a man walk up behind him and knock him out with a lead pipe.

The sound of the pipe hitting Conan's head woke Heiji. "Wha…?" He sat up and saw the man jump out the window. His mouth flew open and he rushed to look outside; their room was on the twelfth floor. All he could see was… a hang-glider. He rushed back to Conan, where a note was lying next to him.

To the two Chiisana Tantei-san:

Just give this case a rest, will ya? You're gonna kill somebody… and that's yourselves!

-Kaito Kid

Next to the note was a bottle of sleeping pills. Heiji shook his head. No wonder people can't stand that guy…How does he expect us to be taking another break from this? At that rate, all elementary females would be killed!

To give Kaito's plan a downfall, Conan woke after only an hour. He was rather confused as to why he was in bed at eleven with a dull pain in his head. He walked to the desk once again and saw the note. He sighed and shook his head, throwing the note away. He went through the notes one final time at six and came to a conclusion on the killer's identity. He noticed it was earlier than normal, so he climbed in his bed and passed out before he could even cover himself.

Two hours later, Heiji crawled over to Conan's bedside. "Kudou… can I ask you something?" he whispered.

"Hmm?" Conan moaned, barely awake.

"Is he the killer?" he asked, mouthing a name.

"Yes…"