Mitsuharu
Title: Mitsuharu
Rating: T
Fandom: Detective Conan
Summary: There were only three kids of the Akai Family, right? There was no way that Masumi had a third older brother. So why the hell were these people calling him Akai Mitsuharu? More importantly, how the hell was he even alive!? [OC Insert as Akai Sibling]
"Eh, there was someone who looked like me!?"
"Just as I thought!" Ran said to the waitress. "So you didn't go to the concert hall yesterday, did you, Azusa-san?"
"N-No," Azusa denied. "I did not. Amuro-san, Haru-san, did they really look like me?"
"Indeed," Amuro nodded. "I met them at the entrance of the concert hall. I was really fooled,"
"Haru must've been suspicious of whoever that was though," Sonoko recalled. "During the rehearsal, he was constantly glancing towards her. I thought that Haru had gotten a crush on you,"
"No offense to you, Azusa-san, I see you more of a big sister to me," Haru told her. "I'm not attracted to you romantically,"
"But what do you think that person was after?" Ran asked. "It's pretty scary,"
"Talking of scary people," Azusa recalled. "The other day, I came back from shopping and saw a very strange duo peering into the shop. They were talking about something strange, like a dust cloth (zoukin),"
'Dust cloth?' Haru raised a brow.
XXX
"Hahaha!" Heiji laughed when he and Kazuha arrived at Mouri Detective Agency and were informed of the confusion. "I wasn't talking about a dust cloth! It was about buried gold (maizoukin)! I was just telling Kazuha that I wanted to go search for the gold hidden by the Tokugawa!"
"The mayor of the village where the gold is supposed to be hidden sent Heiji a letter asking for help," Kazuha explained. "Apparently, he got a clue about the hidden gold and asked Heiji to help find it. So I told him it'd be good if we asked Ran-chan's father for help to solve the case,"
"I'll pass. I'm not really interested in the gold," Kogoro declined. "While it's true that gold was hidden by the Tokugawa, it's also a highly sought-after treasure so it'll probably be returned to the state,"
"Since we're on a holiday, Ran, why don't you go with this brat?" Sonoko ruffled Conan's hair.
"B-But doesn't treasure hunting sound a little scary?" Ran hesitated.
"But Ran-chan, the letter even said the village would take care of all our needs!" Kazuha told her. "Besides, since Heiji got a letter asking for help, isn't it likely that Kudo-kun also got a similar letter? Maybe he'll show up!"
"Shin-kun also got a letter from the village mayor," Haru recalled. "But since he wasn't around it was left unopened. I also got a letter but wasn't sure whether it was a joke or not,"
"You got a letter?" Heiji walked over to the waiter. "Who are you anyway?"
"We met back in East Okuho Village," Haru reminded. "Though, it was rather brief and everyone was more focused on Okuda who got plastic surgery to look identical to Shin-kun,"
"Haru's nickname is the Replacement Detective of the East," Sonoko informed. "Haru, are you and Subaru-san going to go?"
"I think my schedule's free but why would you be asking me about Chewy?" Haru questioned.
"Because he's your bodyguard," Sonoko answered. "But I'm sure that you'll somehow escape his sight like you did yesterday,"
'Welp, Chewy you're officially known as my bodyguard now,' Haru sweat-dropped. "What he doesn't know won't hurt him,"
"What exactly won't hurt who?" Subaru entered the agency. In his arms was his puppy and on his shoulders were Cora and Taii.
"Holy shit!" Haru jumped back in shock from the sudden appearance. "I swear you have teleportation powers! You're way to silent to have snuck up here and opened the door without anyone noticing!"
"So where exactly are we going and for how long?" Subaru asked. "I'll pack our bags,"
"Yadori Village," Haru gave in. 'Wasn't he supposed to protect Haibara? How can he protect her when he's constantly with me?'
XXX
"Aren't you supposed to be keeping a low profile?" Haru asked Subaru as they were packing for the overnight stay. "Everyone's calling you my bodyguard. Eventually it'll make it to the news and the whole world will know,"
"I don't really mind," Subaru claimed. "It will help throw Bourbon off my trail. He'd think that I wouldn't want publicity,"
"Your personality is definitely different from the canon version of Akai Shuichi," Haru mumbled. "Are you sure that you're Akai and not Vermouth in disguise?"
"I've been living here for the past couple months," Subaru reminded. "I'm certainly not Vermouth,"
"Mrow," Taii rubbed his head against Haru's hand.
"Is it really alright with Azusa-san to bring Taii with us?" Haru petted the kitten.
"Enomoto-san said it was fine as long as we keep an eye on him so he doesn't wander off. Of course Cora will also keep an eye on the kitten," Subaru answered. "Haru, do you have two sets of clothes?"
"Yeah," Haru nodded.
"What about a toothbrush and toothpaste?"
"Yep,"
"Your phone?"
"I don't leave the house without it,"
"Phone charger?"
"Okay, now you're just getting annoying," Haru rolled his eyes. "Honestly, you're reminding me of Mom,"
"Do you or do you not have your phone charger?"
"Yes," Haru replied. "Scratch that, you're actually worse than Mom,"
XXX
"Welcome to Yadori Village, Hattori Heiji-sama, Kudo Haru-sama!" Takekuma Densuke, mayor of Yadori Village, said as he drove them into the town. "Thank you both so much for coming! Your friends are all welcome as well! I look forward to finding the gold with you since the fate of the village ultimately depends on it,"
"I suppose you're going to use the gold to attract tourists?" Heiji asked.
"Of course," Takekuma grinned.
"But why ask Heiji-niichan and Haru-niichan?" Conan inquired. "I mean, there are a lot of other professional detectives available, right?"
"Well, the truth is I've also hired some archeologists and historians to do some research, so I can't afford a professional detective," Takekuma admitted. "But since it would be rude to ask Hattori-sama and Kudo-sama to come for free, I told them that I'd take care of all of their expenses,"
When they arrived at the hotel, Heiji was annoyed by the run-down appearance. "Hey, hey, you pulling my leg or something? Why the hell do we have to stay at this old ugly place!?"
"Don't judge a book by its cover," Haru told the Osakan teen. "I'm sure it's not that bad on the inside,"
"I've bought some ingredients for food so I'll begin cooking right away!" The mayor held up bags of groceries.
"Would you like some help?" Subaru offered.
"I work at a café so I can help too," Haru added.
"That would be wonderful," Takekuma accepted. "This place wasn't always as desolate as it is now. Back then, lots of tourists used to visit to see the Black Iron Lake and this inn would be packed to burst. But after that incident, the number of tourists started to decline,"
"What incident?" Conan questioned curiously.
"A member of a gold digging team who were searching for the Tokugawa Gold got caught in a big landslide and died," Tanzawa Michiki, an archaeologist, informed. "After that, the soil around here became very loose and it became easier to excavate,"
"There is a tale that talks about the origin of the gold," Someji Yasukatsu, a historian, added. "It is said that an old couple who lived here helped Tokugawa Ieyasu when he was being chased by Imagawa Yoshimoto. They hid him in their house until the danger had passed. After it was over, pleased by their courage and kindness, Tokugawa decided to repay them by gifted them gold which piled up as high as a mountain!"
"I don't believe that story one bit," Haru whispered to Subaru. "If it was really that much gold, I'm sure it would have been already found,"
"There's also a song about it," Someji continued.
"The morning sun shines, the iron urn glitters in the evening song," Masuko Fumie, a novelist, recited. "A thousand pieces of gold in two thousand cups. It's a nursery rhyme that has been passed down from generation to generation. The lines, 'the morning sun shines, and the iron urn glitters in the evening sun' is often seen as a guide towards finding where the treasure is buried. However, the idea of a thousand pieces of gold resting inside two thousand cups is too far-fetched in my opinion,"
"But if there were really two thousand pieces of gold," Ran said. "It would be amazing,"
"Oh no," A reporter approached the two girls and placed a hand on each of their shoulders. "Because the two of you glitter far more than any number of gold pieces!"
"Hands off my friends!" Haru hissed, shoving the man away. 'Geez, the nerve of guys like him! Hasn't he heard about personal space? You don't just randomly grab someone like that!' Cora and Taii also hissed at him.
"Who the hell are you supposed to be!?" Heiji demanded.
"A-Ah, are you two their boyfriends!?" The reporter exclaimed.
"Didn't you hear me, moron?" Heiji snapped. "I asked you first so spit it out!"
"Well as for me," The man, Tsurumi Hajime, winked to appear charming. "I'm just a reporter here to cover a story about the Monster of Yadori Village!" A golden retriever started barking at Tsurumi and jumped onto him, licking his face enthusiastically much to Tsurumi's dismay. "I hate dogs! Stay away!"
"Arf!" Bepo greeted the elder dog happily.
"Ruff!" The dog barked back.
"This dog used to belong to the unfortunate man who died in the landslide," Takekuma informed. "After the incident, he was adopted by the people of the village. He always ran back to this inn and finally ended up staying here. However I'm worried because there's a pond nearby and he might fall in. But it looks like someone come regularly to feed him,"
"What's his name?" Haru petted the dog earning a lick to the face.
"His owner named him Shuichi," Takekuma answered. "He didn't know much Japanese but he heard that the name was made up of the kanji for excellence and one and he thought the name suited his beloved pet that he had adopted in Japan. Abel-san also had a red raincoat for when it rained and some of the villagers gave Shuichi the nickname Little Red Riding Hood, though they shortened it to Akai (Red) Shuichi, or simply just Akai or Shuu,"
"Wait," Haru said. "You're telling me that this dog is called Akai Shuichi?"
"The raincoat has long since worn away with time," Takekuma said. "But everyone still calls Shuichi by his nicknames,"
"I see…" Haru covered his mouth in an attempt to cover his chuckles.
"Akai…Shuichi?" Ran sweat-dropped. "Haru, wasn't that your late brother's name?"
"HAHAHA!" Haru couldn't contain his laughter. "Yes! Yes it was! Oh my Arceus, what are the chances? HAHAHA!" 'I know for a fact that this didn't happen in canon but I'm not even going to question it!'
'Why?' Subaru face-palmed himself. 'Just…why?'
'I feel sorry for Akai-san,' Conan thought. 'There was a case where the victim's name was Kudo Shinichi. There was also another case where the dogs were named Arthur, Conan, and Doyle but Conan had died a while back. I kinda know how you feel, Akai-san,'
XXX
Masumi received a video call from Haru and answered it. "Hello?"
"Masumi, there's a dog here in Yadori Village!"
"Okay?" Masumi raised a brow in confusion. Why was Haru so excited about a dog? His roommate owned one.
"Guess what his name is!"
"I'm going to guess Pochi but from your expression it's probably something else,"
"Akai Shuichi! The dog is called Akai Shuichi!"
Masumi blinked owlishly. "What?"
"The dog's name is Shuichi but since he always wore a red raincoat in the past, he was nicknamed Little Red Riding Hood and the nickname shortened to Akai Shuichi! The kanji used is exactly the same too!"
Mary had overheard the phone call and snickered. "Your oldest brother has a dog with the exact same name as him. He must be rolling in his grave,"
"Of all the possible names, the dog's name is Akai Shuichi!"
"That really is funny," Masumi agreed. "If Shuu-nii were alive, I'd definitely never let him live this down,"
"I hope he's actually a ghost following me around so that he also heard this!"
"Haru," Subaru interrupted. "End your phone call. We need to finish preparing dinner,"
"Okay, okay,"
XXX
During dinner, Tsurumi explained the story of Charles Abel who got trapped in a landslide. He was trying to tell his team members something but couldn't speak due to his damaged throat. He was given a pen and paper and managed to write three letters which formed a single word: nue, a fearsome monkey-raccoon-tiger-snake hybrid that brings disaster wherever it goes.
A high pitched shriek was heard, startling everyone. Shuichi started barking and pulling on his leash. "What's wrong Shuichi?" Haru knelt down in an attempt to soothe the dog.
"That's the cry of the nue!" Tanzawa said.
'I can't deny that the nue might exist,' Haru thought. 'Witches like Akako exist. I'm also from another dimension. A nue isn't too far-fetched,' "You're referring to the bird called the scaly thrush, nicknamed as the nue. Their cry is very similar to the cry of the nue described in stories. It's not native to these parts so it's very rare to hear its cry,"
"But the person who died during the excavation of the tunnel was talking about the bird, right?" Masuko questioned. "He wrote the word nueon a piece of paper, so there's no need to be afraid of the nue,"
"W-What are you saying!?" Tsurumi exclaimed. "The thing that the guy who died saw was the real deal! It was not a bird! He was in a cave, how on Earth would he see a bird!? It was the nue! It has to be!"
"Did any of the other members who survived actually see this so-called monster?" Heiji asked.
"Well, there's a popular rumor around here," Someji informed. "It goes that, long ago, the body of the legendary nue fell into the west side of Lake Hamana in Shizuoka. Four areas of Hamana City, namely Nueshiro, Dozaki, Ona, and Hanehira are named after the four areas where the nue's head, body, wings, and tail fell. It also says that the legs of the nue fell in Yadori Village. This village used to be called Yachou Village, combining the kanji for night and bird. But if you combine the two kanji, you get the kanji for nue! Therefore, the cry doesn't belong to the nue bird!"
After a few seconds, the cry stopped and Shuichi stopped barking. "There's nothing to be afraid of," Haru declared. "Because I highly doubt there's a real nue. If there was, then more people would've died than just the guy from the excavation team,"
"Kudo II is right," Heiji agreed. "Besides, all these nue stories are just tales from the past. I'm pretty sure the tale of the guy writing the word nue on a piece of paper is fake too!"
'Kudo II?' Haru's eye twitched, annoyed by his nickname.
"No," Takekuma took out an envelope. "It's real and I have that paper. See? It has the word nue written on it, right? According to the previous village chief who had dug out the man who had died due to the landslide, he found this paper next to the body and it was in the village office for sixteen years, along with this old, ornamental hairpin!" He held up the other object with his free hand.
'Just as with the paper plane case, I should look at it from multiple angles,' Haru took the paper from the mayor and turned it sideways and flipped it. "Metal (tetsuno)? That hairpin is metal, right? Are you sure that he wasn't asking what the hairpin was?"
"It does look like it's says metal!" Takekuma agreed. "But why would he use the last of his strength to write that down?"
"Beats me," Haru shrugged. "I never met the guy so I don't know his personality,"
XXX
"You'd do well to check your rooms before turning in," Masuko advised. "I was looking through the drawers in my room and found a dead mouse there!"
"EH!?"
"There might be an infestation," Tanzawa added. "You never know,"
"Strange, I was sure I'd cleaned every inch of the rooms," Takekuma recalled. "There weren't any rats or mice,"
"If there's a mouse, I'm sure these three will catch it," Haru petted Cora, Taii, and Bepo. "Besides, after getting shot multiple times, I'm not afraid of a rat,"
"Y-You do have a point," Ran stuttered.
"I'll be off," Someji headed upstairs. "I stayed up late last night so I will be sleeping early,"
The group entered their room but Ran and Kazuha were still wary of the desk drawer. "H-Haru, why don't you open it?"
It was Subaru who calmly walked over to the desk and opened it, revealing no mice but a couple notebooks. He picked one up and flipped through it. "It has the hiragana for a written over and over again," He inspected the name on the front cover. "This probably belonged to the foreigner, Charles Abel, who died," He noticed light outside and rushed over to the window. "There's a fire at the front of the inn!"
"What!?" The group rushed outside where the flames were. The same eerie high pitched sound was heard and a creature who appeared to be around ten meters tall came around the corner.
'What the hell is that thing!?' Conan and Heiji exclaimed.
Haru wasn't really bothered by flames anymore due to his brother helping him overcome his pyrophobia. Bepo barked at the nue, though it wasn't an aggressive tone. In fact, his tail was wagging happily as if he were calling to a friend. 'A friend?' Haru whistled. "Akai Shuichi, here boy!"
"Haru-kun that's not a golden retriever!" Kazuha yelled. "It's a ten meter tall beast!"
"Here boy," Haru repeated. "Come on, Shuichi. Come here,"
Bepo rushed towards the nue, still happily wagging his tail. He jumped over the flames and playfully tackled the beast. Cora and Taii also followed and Cora pulled off the bear skin, revealing the golden retriever. The dog pulled the sign out of the ground and held it tightly in his mouth. Everyone was shocked by the revelation.
"H-How did those three become large enough to reach the second floor!?" Ran stammered.
"Because this isn't the real wall we're seeing," Subaru pulled down the painted sheet. "It seems that someone used perspective shift to make the nue appear larger," 'It's quite a clever trick, especially since it would take time to train the dog to carry the sign,'
"Let's hurry and put out the fire!" Conan suggested.
Once the fire was put out, the four detectives noted the scent of kerosene in the area. "Why would someone pull such a trick?" Haru frowned.
"Haru, do you not know the solution to this case?" Subaru whispered.
"No, I can't remember every single case," Haru shook his head. "Most of the cases I remember usually are the ones that you, Shukichi, Masumi, the FBI, or the organization appear in with a couple exceptions. Jonah remembers more cases than me,"
"Where's Someji-san?" Conan asked, looking around.
"Did that guy seriously sleep through the entire thing?" Heiji said. "What if the fire had gotten out of control?"
'Someone missing means that person was killed!' Haru started looking around the area. He came across a trail of blood drops and stumbled upon Someji's corpse. "Call the police! Someji-san was murdered!" He also saw the large sign with a bite mark in it.
"What!?"
"It looks like someone was trying to blame the murder on the nue," Heiji inspected the corpse. "There are four long gashes, each about ten centimeters apart. The killer probably lured Someji-san out here and attacked him once. Someji-san ran for his life until he collapsed near the lake and the killer later added the extra three scratches to make it look like the nue did it. The only person who could have done it was the one who called us here, the mayor!"
"No!" Takekuma denied. "The truth is, I was asked by someone! Someone sent me a letter, some money, and that note I showed you at dinner. The letter said that if I invited you all here, the legend of the treasure would become famous again. There were also four enveloped addressed to each of you, which I simply sent as instructed. Didn't the letter I sent you contain an envelope as well?"
"Yeah," Tsurumi nodded. "The envelope contained information about the accident in the cave years ago,"
"Or, this is an elaborate lie you just cooked up," Masuko accused.
"I'm not lying!" The mayor denied. "The letter even had instructions on which rooms each person would stay in!"
"There might still be fingerprints on the painted screen," Haru said. "The killer probably thought that they'd burn it to get rid of it. They probably didn't think that the nue trick would be foiled so easily,"
"But how did they produce the nue's cry?" Ran asked.
"Singing wine glasses," Haru explained. "When I was younger, my dad once took out several wine glasses of various sizes and partially filled them with water. He ran his finger around the rim and it produced a sound that sounded similar to the nue's cry, though there were slight differences due to the different types of wine glasses,"
"Anyway, let's wait for the police to get here," Heiji ordered. "I want each of you to remain in your rooms. By the way, hand over your cell phones since the cry could also have been prerecorded,"
"Wait a minute!" Kazuha spoke up. "If the room arrangements were set up in advance, what if the rooms have some deadly traps or something!?"
"Not to mention the room we're in right now belonged to the foreigner who died in the landslide," Ran added.
"Is that true?" Masuko questioned.
"Yes, in the drawers we found a book of his in which he practiced writing hiragana," Ran answered. "There were other books as well,"
"In that case, let me stay in your room," Masuko requested.
"Why don't you let me take their room?" Tanzawa offered. "I would hate it if you had any bad dreams because of it,"
"Then I'd better move to a room on the third floor," Tsurumi said.
"Fine, but you can't take a single step outside your room," Heiji warned him. "If you do, I'll go ahead and assume you're the culprit! After all, the dog really liked you so you could've been the one to train him,"
XXX
"Takekuma-san," Haru asked when everyone else except the four detectives had retired to their room. "Why were those four specifically called here?"
"The archaeologist, Tanzawa Michiki-san, knows a lot about the Shizuoka region and has come here many times before to conduct digs. He had also headed several excavations all over Japan and until a few years ago, he would appear in almost every TV show related to archaeology until there was a scandal where the valuables he unearthed were actually imitations,"
"Masuko Fumie-san is famous for her novels which are full of the lore of Japanese monsters. She is knowledgeable of several myths and legends. Once, when shooting a drama, the color of the set was not to her taste so she took it down and repainted the entire thing from scratch. She's an art graduate so it makes sense she's strict about that stuff. The letter said if we couldn't find the treasure, we could increase the popularity of the village by spreading the story of the nue,"
"The man who died, Someji-san, was a historian who was an expert on the Tokugawa gold. The letter merely stated that Tsurumi Hajime-san was an exciting young journalist who was interested in the myths of Japan. I do not know why he was invited. The letter actually instructed me to call Mouri Kogoro-san from Tokyo but I knew I couldn't pay the fee since I spent all the money on renovating the inn. So I decided to call the high school detective, Kudo Shinichi instead, but I couldn't reach him. I also invited Kudo-san's older brother but didn't receive a reply. That's why I called Hattori Heiji from Osaka,"
'So I'm only fourth choice after that mustached old man, you, and your brother?' Heiji sent an annoyed look to Conan.
"Sorry, I don't get requests that often," Haru apologized. "I thought that it was a joke but when Hattori said he also received a letter, I decided to tag along. Anyway, I'd said that Masuko-san is the most suspicious among the group. She has an art degree so she could easily have painted the sheet to be realistic. The room she was staying was also at the second floor, the right height for the screen to hang from,"
XXX
'I waited so long to pull off this plan!' Masuko took out the poisoned needles and quietly walked towards Tanzawa's room. 'If they're going to reveal the truth, then I want to take that man down with me! The two of them left Charles to die!'
"Stop right there," Heiji called to her.
"I-I was only walking around the hallway," Masuko lied, quickly hiding the poisoned needles in her pocket. "Like the girls pointed out earlier, we don't know if there are any traps in the rooms,"
"We did some digging," Haru spoke up. "Charles Abel had a wife: you, Masuko-san,"
"So what if I was his wife?" Masuko snapped defensively. "That doesn't prove anything!"
"You're an art major so you're more than capable of painting a fake wall," Conan pointed out. "And the room you were in was the perfect place to hang it from,"
"I'm being framed!" Masuko claimed. "Obviously they wanted to make me out to be culprit so they invited me here!"
"Then why don't you go back to your room and wait patiently until we get the results from the fingerprints on the sheet we found?" Heiji suggested.
'No! I can't let this opportunity go to w—'
Haru had tranquilized her. A few hours later, the police arrived and Masuko was arrested. They found the two poisoned needles in her pocket as well as the knife in the lake.
This was the longest chapter yet. I was thinking of separating it into two separate chapters but thought it wasn't necessary.
I literally just randomly decided to name the dog "Akai Shuichi" because sleep deprivation.
