File Eighty-Five: Back in the Game
"Kudo?! What are you doing here?!"
Now, Kudo Shinichi knew for a fact that his luck was rotten ─ he had been aware of it for a long time now, and mostly had learned to live with it. But this was something else.
Though he should have imagined. Of course he would encounter Great Detective of the West, Hattori Heiji, the second he placed a foot inside Osaka.
Prompted by the sigh his fellow detective let out, Hattori blinked, "Kudo?" then leaning forward asked, "Are you okay?"
"I would, if you kept it down." Really, the way he was shouting his name so casually didn't bode well to him. "It's Hirai, you idiot."
In response, the boy from Osaka laughed awkwardly, causing the other teenager to sigh, feeling tired all of a sudden. He didn't have the presence of mind to even wonder how this detective knew Hirai Arthur was, in fact, Kudo Shinichi ─ though he wouldn't put it past him to actually connect the dots after they met in Ekoda such a long time ago, when he had been trying to warn one of those victims he had once hid, under his disguise.
"So what are you doing here?" questioned Heiji, moving to rest his back at the wall, right beside him. "Are you here to see the kid?"
Shinichi merely shrugged, and crossed his arms in front of his chest, frowning at whatever had just crossed his mind.
And, nothing. Easily as that, a blanket of silence had fallen onto their shoulders, squeezing tightly around each other, and making it almost impossible to get rid of ─ Shinichi, certainly, didn't help.
But Hattori wouldn't give up, "That Kazuha," that, or he didn't notice a thing, Shinichi couldn't tell. "She hasn't arrived yet?"
The other detective barely reacted to that, just watching with a bored look as Hattori went through his phone, glaring at the screen as if it was at fault for his friend's tardiness.
But then it beeped, and Hattori's face contorted into one of confusion. "A text from the kid." Now he had caught Shinichi's attention. "A photo-?" The widening of his eyes confused him momentarily. "H-Hey, Kudo…"
Not even thinking of the fact that he had used his real name again, Shinichi leaned closer to see in his screen. "H-Hattori." A similar expression took over his face. "Why did Conan…?"
They exchanged a puzzled look for several seconds, before turning to glance at the phone again. Conan had sent them a picture, without bothering to give out a description or an explanation of any kind.
Which this time was definitely needed ─ it wasn't an everyday thing to receive a photo of the interior of a bomb, for crying out loud.
The phone started blaring with a call, startling both teenagers so badly that it almost slipped from Hattori's hands.
"What are you doing?!" hissed Shinichi, exasperated. "Answer it!"
"It's easier said than done…" He grumbled, as he fumbled with the device, until he finally answered.
Being great detectives, they both should have deduced what came next.
"How do you deactivate it?" Yet the strangely calm, young voice that rang in their ears still made them ─ because Kudo was keeping his ear close to hear, of course ─ freeze in their spot. "Hey, are you there? I don't have time for this." Then, a sigh. "Nevermind, I can just guess-"
Heiji didn't have the time to react before Shinichi promptly snatched the phone away from him, "Don't joke like that!" and shouted, panic clear on his pale face.
It took a moment for Conan to get a proper response together. "What are you doing in Osaka?"
"It doesn't matter. What's happening there?!"
"There's a bomb, obviously." The child sounded quite annoyed. "Several, in fact."
"But how-?"
Without warning, the phone was snatched from his hands. "We can talk about this later," said Heiji, giving Shinichi a pointed look, and hearing the kid huff. "Let's see…"
He removed the device from his ear for a second, to inspect the photo he had been sent.
"Alright, this is an easy one ─ just cut the blue and the yellow cord, and you will be fine."
There was an affirmative sound, and some shuffling. "Thanks," the child said, rather curtly. "I'll call you later."
"Just make sure to explain this when you're safer, okay?"
And like that, Conan ended the call, leaving Hattori to give the phone a long look, before letting his shoulders drop and turning to glance at Shinichi beside him.
"I know you're worried," he began, with a held sigh. "But panicking won't do him any good, Kudo."
He was right, Shinichi knew, but didn't admit it out loud. What happened there? He wondered, frowning deeply as he thought of the many possibilities. Kuroba wouldn't do something like that. Never.
"Could it be…" then he said, eyes widening widely. "The Red Siamese Cats?"
"That's… a possibility." Heiji crossed his arms in front of his chest. "They said they were going to act today."
Shinichi said nothing, just stared at Hattori's phone one last time, before letting his gaze wander to the sky above them all.
Wishing, with all his might, that Conan and the others arrived back home safe and sound.
There was no time to waste, Conan reaffirmed that inside his mind as he quickly shoved the phone away and took out a small pocket knife he carried around ─ it was terribly convenient that he had one with him, the kid couldn't believe his luck. That was, at least, until he remembered he was there while a terrorist group had decided to make their move.
"The airship's been hijacked." Ai had confirmed his suspicions over the Detective Badge not that long ago. She had let him hear, too, that they held a grudge against Suzuki Corporation because Jirokichi had helped the police in bringing down their organization.
The airship was, for whatever reason, still heading for Osaka ─ and even if he couldn't tell why, Conan could still imagine that their motive was far from good.
As expected, this one is behind the smoking room, he thought, glaring at the bomb for a couple of seconds, before shuffling closer. If they were to detonate this, the bacteria in the smoking room would be released throughout the ship.
And if they were to cause a hole in the ship itself, the bacteria could spread to the outside world…
He paused, freezing in place, before moving again.
"Contact the police." Conan frowned as he carefully cut the cord as indicated. "Should a single wrong move be made… I will obliterate this ship."
Obliterate… Once the red light blinked off, the kid let out the breath he didn't know he had been holding, and stepped away.
"Hey, Conan!" The kid in question turned when he heard his name, just to see Genta a distance away, waving his arms to him. "I found one-!"
He was cut off suddenly by a hiss, and blinked confusedly at his friend, who held a finger to his lips while approaching him.
"Idiot," he whispered, once he reached him. "One of those guys could still be here."
Quickly, Genta covered his mouth, causing Conan to sigh, tired all of a sudden, as he let himself be guided to the bomb.
"You were right, it was near the fuel tank," commented the bigger boy, more softly this time. "I think Ayumi and Mitsuhiko found the other one."
Nodding was a response he gave him ─ his mind was somewhere else, after all.
If hijacking was their only plan… Why would they use both bombs and the bacteria?
"... Conan?" At the small tinge of fear audible in his tone, the bespectacled detective gave his friend a questioning look. "Did I mess up or something?"
He genuinely could not understand what had given him that impression. "No?" His confusion was evidenced by the questioning tone. "Why?"
"You're staring at me… It's scary." It was just at that point that Conan realized he had kept his gaze on Genta's face this entire time. "And you were yelling my name earlier, too."
The detective fell strangely silent at that, looking away from him and, unconsciously, walking quicker.
"What was all about, anyway?" Genta crossed his arms behind his head.
He saw his friend stop in his tracks, so he did the same. For some weird reason, his friend just stood there, unmoving and unwilling to turn around to face him.
"Genta," then he said, so softly that he almost missed it. "You… You didn't visit the smoking room, did you?"
Genta flinched. "A-Ah…"
The next second, Conan was staring at him with wide, panic-stricken eyes piercing his soul. "Did you?!"
"But we only took a little peep…" he tried to defend himself, feeling gradually more insecure at the pale face staring back at him. "Because the smell of the smoke was so bad, I closed the door right away… Hey, Conan, are you alright?"
"Huh?" Conan jumped, as if startled, then managed a stiff smile. "Ah, no. It's fine."
Even though it was not. Spinning back around, he let his smile drop and a frown take its place. It isn't just the sneezing we have to worry about, but also the smoking room?
He spotted Ayumi and Mitsuhiko standing a good distance away, waving their arms at them and prompting him to start jogging their way. Ayumi-chan and Mitsuhiko should be fine, but Genta...
His teeth gritted, tightly, at the memory of the woman that had sneezed on him ─ having been exposed to the bacteria twice already, it would take a load of luck for him to remain not infected throughout it all.
And if there was something that every single living being in this world would agree on, was definitely that they had an utter and unrepairable lack of good luck.
There was nothing he could do but to hope so, pushing it to the back of his mind and, as if there wasn't any thought of nefarious nature coursing through his head at the moment, met with the rest of his friends before quickly disposing of the two bombs that they had found.
One bomb left, he thought, wiping the sweat out of his brow while standing back up. Now, then, where could the last one-? His thoughts came into a stop when his eyes fell on the elevator. "Get down!"
His friends fortunately listened, crouching down as he had done less than a second before. Someone was using the elevator, steadily rising to where the jewel was displayed ─ Jirokichi was there, he could see thanks to the help of his glasses, held at gunpoint by one of that organization.
Once they were out of sigh, the child took a big breath, "I'll go find the last one," and informed his friends, leaving no room for question. "You guys stay right here."
It didn't take long for Conan to find the last bomb, yet that didn't make the job all the easier for him. You have got to be joking, he grumbled in his mind, stretching himself to reach the bomb, but being ultimately unable to do it.
Internally wishing that his limbs were a bit longer, he grabbed onto the tank for balance and stretched himself as much as he could. Whatever you do, he told himself, standing on the very edge of the platform, fingers barely brushing the tape that attached the bomb to the fuel tank. Don't look down.
So focused was the kid in his task, that he didn't hear Ai's desperate whispers through the badge, warning him they had found out they were missing.
By the time he managed to recover the bomb and was safe again in the ground, the voice in the badge had already ceased, and he only realized the trouble they were in when he, after disposing of the bomb, went to join his other friends.
He didn't get as much of a pleasant surprise when he ran across two other men, escorting the three Detective Boys, who stared back at Conan, horror written all over their faces.
So he reluctantly allowed them to lead him back to the dining room, with every other passenger. He said nothing, not even a word, even as the two men made them stand in front of the member he had seen on the elevator before ─ the leader, he assumed ─ and passed the bomb Conan had deactivated to him.
Conan remained calm throughout it all, never allowing fear to show. Not even when the leader, after inspecting the broken device in his hand, gave his detective group a terrifying gaze.
"You guys did this?"
"I did." The small detective didn't even hesitate. "They had nothing to do with that."
Slowly, the leader left the bomb back to the others his men had collected, and set his cold, murderous glare on the little boy in front of him. In turn Conan, ever as unwavering, simply held his gaze with a fiery one of his own.
When the man stepped forward and his friends scrambled away, obviously terrified, Conan stood up firmer, raising his chin in silent defiance. Far from intimidated, naturally, the man smirked in amusement.
"Such bravery."
Thus, saying nothing else, the leader sprung into action. Conan had barely had the time to yelp when a hand latched onto his shirt and easily lifted him from the ground.
Everything had happened in a blur, too quickly for his brain to properly process anything but the panicked and horrified screams all the same drilling into his ears. Before he knew it, the man wasn't holding onto him anymore, he was just smiling from the other side of the window, in a way he could only attribute to a person pleased by his own splendid, well done job.
… Wait. Window?
Ran's face popped up suddenly when the man stepped away, and Conan's hands stretched forward, to her, purely by instinct. They just wouldn't reach ─ if anything, the girl seemed to retreat away from his grasp.
Only when he recognized the fear decorating her snow white face, his eyes widened and his expression copied hers perfectly.
And naturally, screamed.
Soon he couldn't see Ran, or anything else. He was now facing the surface below, limbs extended in a vague attempt to stop his fall somehow, and eyes closed against the wind painfully slapping his face.
In some part of his mind, Conan was glad his eyelids were tightly shut, rendering him unable to see. Yet, it also prompted his mind to wonder, again and again, when.
When was the pain going to hit ─ was it going to be the freezing cold waters splashing his entire body, leaving him to his inevitable drowning, or the hard ground breaking every bone until he gave out his final breath?
The familiar sense of something circling his waist and pulling up prompted his eyes to snap open.
"Hard to believe they would toss you out a window…" The sigh behind him was unmistakable, too.
His eyes closed again, quickly, after making sure that the sea wasn't rapidly getting closer anymore. Calm down, he chanted in his mind, struggling to get his breathing back to normal. You are okay now.
His heart wouldn't stop pounding, however, painfully hitting his ribcage with such strength that he wouldn't be surprised if it just leaped out his chest.
"You…" He let out in a shaky breath, eyes still closed so not to look. "You still haven't gotten an engine, have you?"
"Hey, give me a break." KID sounded pretty annoyed. "Didn't expect a certain impulsive brat to wind up attempting skydiving without a parachute twice in, what, a single month?"
"The first one was your fault."
"Because you got yourself a gun in your head. Would you have preferred that?"
"At his point, I'm actually considering it."
KID gave the child a watered-down glare that went unnoticed, of course. "Let's just not make this a habit, okay?"
"Oh, look. There is something we can actually agree on."
There was a grunt, Conan heard but couldn't bring himself to care. Just opened his eyes the moment he felt the thief settling him back into the ground and immediately ran off, whisking away from his hold.
KID didn't comment, just watched closely as the miniature detective stopped, still breathing heavily due to the prior scare, gaze fixed on the now small airship crossing the broad blue sky above.
Besides the tiny fists clenching at his sides, Conan didn't move, nor did he make a sound. Just the waves filled what it would be otherwise an ominous silence with their beautiful melody, while they danced and gently caressed the boy's feet, drenching his shoes and socks with sea water ─ an action that went completely ignored by the kid.
Instead, a loud and audibly frustrated groan teared away from the confines of his throat, and promptly let himself plop down, as if defeated.
Kaito said nothing for a while, waiting for any other kind of reaction. When he found none, he took a tentative step forward, then another.
"Come," he said softly, yet the kid didn't even seem to want to look at him, stubbornly keeping his gaze ahead. Kaito moved even closer until he was standing right beside the little boy. "I will take you to a nearby police station."
Conan's fingers dug into the sand.
"They will take care of you until someone can pick you up," crouching beside him, the magician went on. "Maybe if you call your parents-"
To his surprise, the kid hopped back onto his feet, glaring at the ocean in front of him for a few seconds, before hastily turning around and, out of the blue, powering-walk along the shore.
"Tantei-kun!" It had taken Kaito a moment more than needed to react, but his much longer legs allowed to catch up with the child just fine. "What do you think you're doing?"
"Getting back to the airship."
Kaito looked at him as if he was insane. "You can't fly, Tantei-kun."
Conan's frown became more prominent, if possible, and put a hand inside his pocket, looking for his phone.
"Guess I'll have to find a way to."
Kudo sighed, forcing himself to look away from his phone screen, hoping that he could distract himself with anything ─ not even five minutes have passed from the last time he had checked, and he could have sworn that it had felt like hours.
He hasn't called yet. Did something go wrong?
… Did something happen to him?
He took a deep breath, forcing those thoughts out of his head, figuring that they definitely weren't helping his case.
"Damn it." He supposed he wasn't the only one feeling restless about it, judging by the way Hattori kept scrolling down in a web search. He had been doing it for about half an hour now. "There isn't anything about those cats that can be of help."
It was true, Shinichi knew, since he had been doing the same thing until a few moments ago. "Besides their recent attack at that research facility a week ago, there isn't all that much about them," the detective of the East said, frowning as he did so. "They hadn't made a move for over ten years."
Not that there could be anything that might help their situation. Even if they had actually hijacked an airship, they both were there on ground, unable to do anything but to wait ─ and he hated it.
He must be there. And that was his only hope, as much as he was reluctant to admit. He won't let anything happen to any of them.
Please. He closed his eyes and gritted his teeth. Please, Kuroba. I beg you.
Groaning, Hattori leaned back against the wall, massaging his temples. Then, he shook his head and gave his phone a look one last time. "He hasn't replied, has he?" asked Shinichi, even though he knew the answer.
"Not a word." Despite the shrug he gave his fellow detective, the worried frown was still there for him to appreciate. "How about you?"
A humorless chuckle escaped him without meaning. "He isn't going to call me," he said, lips curving into a bitter smile. "I'm certain of that."
This confused Heiji, by a whole lot, but then he realized the kid had called him before, and his mouth closed.
Crossing his arms behind his head, in a nonchalant manner, he hummed to himself. "So the kid's mad with you?" Shinichi affirmed his question. "Isn't that normal?"
"Probably more than it should." He gazed away from him and set his eyes in a random spot on the floor. "It is my fault, though."
Hattori looked as if he wanted to ask for more.
"Heiji!"
Kazuha's distinctive voice prompted Shinichi to, as discreetly as he could, inch away from the Osakan boy, hoping that he could somehow pretend he was an ordinary passerby that was just there, and definitely was not acquaintances with him.
"You're late," groaned Heiji in return.
He did glance at her and noticed that there was a young boy, probably as old as Conan was, holding onto her hand and carefully studying Hattori with vivid, curious eyes.
"He's Kawaguchi Satoshi-kun, the son of a relative. They just moved from Yokohama to Nara, and they happened to be visiting my place." Shinichi didn't have to wait long for an answer, since the girl introduced the kid to a bemused Hattori. "He said he'd like to meet you and, see, Heiji, you being good friends with Conan-kun means you love kids, right?"
Hattori awkwardly scratched his cheek, looking down at the smiling boy. "Nice to meet you!" the child beamed, so he was in the obligation to return the gesture with a friendly one of his own. "Sorry if I sound rude, but are you two a couple?"
Shinichi could have sighed at the string of denial and flustering that followed that innocent question. That kid is sharp, he thought with a small chuckle. Well, then again, with those two, that isn't that much of an accomplishment, I guess...
"In that case, may I take Kazuha-oneesan as my future wife?"
Despite the noticeable blush on his entire face, Hattori waved his hand. "Go ahead, go ahead..."
"Thank you very much, Heiji-ojisan!"
"Pfft..."
Clamping a hand to his mouth, Shinichi turned around, doing his best to ignore the very dark look that was settled into his form ─ and from bursting out laughing right then and there, of course.
Far from noticing what had just happened, Kazuha kneeled down in front of the child, "Satoshi-kun, I'm glad to hear about your feelings," and with the sweetest smile she could manage, spoke to him. "But you have to think hard about that kind of thing. For starters, in order to get married-"
"I know. Boys need to turn eighteen before planning to get married, right?"
"Then let's wait until you're eighteen. If you still haven't changed your mind, I'll consider your proposal."
Lips tugging upwards, Shinichi crept up to the teenage boy quietly. "Be careful, Hattori-ojisan," he whispered. "A formidable rival has appeared."
Hattori spun towards him, glowering at the detective so fiercely that it made him falter. "Listen, Kudo-!"
"Kudo?"
Both boys flinched and, ever so slowly, turned their heads until they met with the girl who, now focused on them, blinked owlishly.
"Ah, not 'Kudo'. I said 'kuro'," Heiji said, forcing a laugh out that sounded terribly fake in Shinichi's ears. "As in the color black. I was telling this guy over here-" Hattori patted him on the shoulder, "-that black doesn't fit him. He told me he was planning on buying a black jacket on-"
"... Heiji, since when you're interested in these things?"
Just as he was about to let out a breath of relief, Shinichi felt that kid's gaze settling on him. He couldn't help but flinch as he seemed to analyze his very soul ─ a feeling that he had become oddly used to through the years. He didn't wonder why.
"Kazuha-oneesan, who is that person?"
Kazuha glanced at him and paused, realizing she didn't know him. Shinichi smiled politely, despite him being internally panicking right now.
"Hirai Arthur," he said, under the nervous gaze of Hattori next to him. "You must be Toyama-san, right? Hattori told me a lot about you."
Again, Hattori glared. Again, it went completely ignored.
"Eh, you know Heiji?" Kazuha sounded interested.
"We met in Ekoda once," he lied smoothly. "I ran into a murder and became a suspect. Hattori happened to be there and solved it."
"So you ran into murder in Ekoda?" Kazuha raised an eyebrow, focusing on Heiji. "Why am I not surprised?"
Offended, Hattori whipped his head away, and Shinichi let out a nervous laugh. That was, of course, until the sound of a phone beeping made them jump, startling Kazuha who, confused, watched as her friend rushed to answer it, and the other boy to frown, eyes carefully studying his every move.
"I'm at Mikawa Bay in Sakushima," the familiar voice said as soon as he answered.
"What, you're still only there?"
"It can't be helped. I got thrown out."
"Thrown out?"
"... Thrown out?!"
Hattori, far from replying to the concerned older brother, waved him off and Shinichi, with a frown, just stood back, forcing himself to keep quiet. The kid and Kazuha gave him an odd look, but he couldn't care less at the moment.
Just exchanged a look with Hattori who, with a slight and almost imperceptible nod, walked away to a slightly quieter corner.
Once he was gone from his sight, Shinichi let his shoulders drop, exhaling deeply and loudly. So he did get himself thrown off. Despite him wishing he could, the detective was hardly surprised. Well, the fact that he called means he made it okay.
I wonder if Kuroba had something to do with it...
"Say, ojisan..." Shinichi blinked twice, until he finally understood he was being addressed. "Could you, by any chance…"
His gaze flickered to the little boy who stared back at him with those big, inquisitive eyes. "Yes?" Smiling a bit, he leaned forward.
"... be wearing contacts?"
At that moment, Kudo Shinichi seriously wondered what was wrong with little kids nowadays.
"What?!" Meanwhile, Heiji was gaping at the air, pressing his phone closer to his ear to make sure he had heard right. "Is… Is that true?"
"Yeah," replied the kid, calmly, as if it wasn't so much of a big deal. "The airship carrying the bombs, the killer bacteria and the hijackers… It's all coming toward you."
"What a full package..." He had hoped it would be just one of them ─ and guessed he had been naive. "Just like the yakisoba okonomiyaki deluxe with pork, squid, and octopus as triple toppings!"
Conan made an unusual pause. Hattori could easily imagine giving the phone in his ear a look. "Who are you? Genta?" Then, he heard a chuckle ─ distinctively weak, he couldn't help but acknowledge. "You forgot the eel."
"Ah, the kid that has an unhealthy obsession with eel, right?" he put on a cheerful tone, despite the frown decorating his face. Conan didn't respond. "Hey, don't fret. Your friends are all going to get out of it just fine."
"It's not that." The child huffed, then seemed to hesitate for a fraction of a second. "He's… probably infected." He couldn't help the sharp inhale of air as a result of his words. "One of the people that is infected… She sneezed on him. He also peered inside the room where the bacteria had been released."
Hattori went thoughtful and silent for a while. "And how about the rashes?"
"No… He didn't have any when I last saw him."
"Then, you're probably thinking too much. He was probably lucky and didn't get infected despite the close exposure."
"Lucky is a bit…"
"He didn't display any symptoms, did he?" Heiji tried to reason, calmly. "Children develop rapid post-transmission symptoms. Had he been infected, it would have manifested right away."
He was right, Conan let that thought sink for a second ─ Genta seemed to be a bit too fine for someone in contact with deadly bacteria. But how? Despite the relief that coursed through his veins right now, he couldn't help but believe that there was something more. Something that didn't quite fit with the whole situation.
How did Genta manage to stay safe after all that?
"So," Heiji began, bringing the young boy out of his own thoughts. "Was she the only one?"
"Actually, so far there were two people infected-"
"Three."
Confused, Conan turned around to look at the magician. "Three people," he repeated, not taking his eyes away from the goat ─ yes, it was a goat, Conan had to take a second look to confirm it ─ he was so busy playing with. "That director named Mizukawa also had a rash on his right palm."
"There you have it." The child focused back on the phone, ignoring the giggle he heard behind him. "Just guessed you might want to know."
"And, are you all right?"
"Yeah." He took a quick look at his hands. "For now, anyway…"
"Hey…" Hattori groaned. "What do you mean, 'for now'?"
The kid opened his mouth to reply, when a loud sound reached his ears and prompted his head to raise, eyes locking with something that swiftly cut across the sky.
A helicopter?
"Police HQ…" He managed to read the words on it thanks to his telescopic glasses.
"Are they chasing the airship?" He heard KID wondering behind him.
An idea struck Conan suddenly, "Sorry," so he hurriedly said. "I'll call you back."
"Hey, wait-"
Obviously he didn't wait ─ a tap on the red button and Hattori's voice was cut off. Following that action, he typed another different number, causing KID to give the child a questioning look from his spot beside the affectionate animal that, at the lack of the attention it was receiving, started to push his head against the magician's torso.
Conan gave the scene a dull stare.
"Megure here."
He jumped back into action, fetching his bowtie from his pocket and hurriedly adjusting the dial. "Inspector Megure." When Kudo Shinichi's voice reached KID's ears, he looked up, perplexed for less than a second until he realized what was going on. "It's Kudo."
"Oh, Kudo-kun!" Megure sounded pleasantly surprised. "Wait, isn't this Conan-kun's phone?"
"Ah, I borrowed it," he said without even batting an eye. "Mine broke recently so I had no choice."
Though he didn't say it out loud, Kaito had to admit he was impressed by the scene developed in front of his own two eyes. Hadn't he known any better, he would have easily mistaken him as a miniature Kudo Shinichi ─ KID didn't fight the delighted smirk that blossomed on his face.
This kid never ceased to surprise him.
"I'm currently in Sakushima, Aichi Prefecture. But I saw a helicopter from the police HQ chasing that airship."
"Yeah, we have Sato-kun and Takagi-kun en route. In fact, Kudo-kun-"
"I already know about the hijacking." He had no time to waste on pointless explanations. "And I'd like to make a request, Inspector."
"What is it?"
Conan's eyes narrowed. "Allow me to board that helicopter." The smirk dropped from the magician's face, leaving room for a puzzled expression to take over, and it only grew more prominent when his serious gaze fell on him, suddenly. "Me, Kudo Shinichi."
Not even his poker face could hide how lost he felt at that very moment. Not that Conan was particularly helpful in that regard. He just walked up to him, silently, after placing his phone back into place.
"Let's get going," he said, eyeing the goat KID was playing with, then disregarding it completely and descending the stairs and into the sand. "There's a helicopter coming for us."
"Us?" He pointed at himself.
"Yeah, us two. Without the goat."
"Eh?!"
"You're not taking that goat home."
"But Tantei-kun-!"
"The goat stays here. And that's final."
KID's mouth opened as if to say something, yet no word came out of it. Conan just watched him, annoyance clearly evident by a raise of an eyebrow, while the goat inched closer and affectionately licked the magician's cheek.
In response, the teenager sighed and promptly embraced the animal tightly.
Conan merely waited, giving the magician a look that spelled out his feelings much better than any words could.
Before long they were walking away, Kaito glancing from over his shoulder to the goat that stared back, unmoving ─ at this point, Conan just wondered if he could have been better off losing consciousness in the fall, or something, anything.
"Sometimes…" KID sighed, facing the front again and wearing an extremely childish pout. "... you don't have a heart, Tantei-kun."
"I'm just being practical here," he replied, casually crossing his arms behind his head. "You can't fit a goat in a helicopter with Detective Sato, Detective Takagi, you and me in there."
"Wait, does that mean…?"
"That you're going to disguise as Kudo Shinichi, yeah."
… I have to disguise myself as him again?
"It shouldn't be a problem, right? Your face is identical to his, after all."
Kaito paused and froze in his spot when he considered those words again. Seemingly noticing that he wasn't following anymore, Conan stopped as well, and slowly turned around.
Their gazes met, and Kaito had a distinct feeling of cold sweat dripping down his forehead.
"You will do it, won't you, Kaito-"
The overly bright grin he directed his way sent shivers down his spine. His eyes, wide and innocent at first place, that settled on his form sent all the alarms off inside his head.
"-KID-niichan?"
That was the gaze of someone that knew.
But how could he…?
There was something for sure, though. Kaito had no idea why Conan was so certain that his and Kudo's faces were so similar.
"Tantei-kun… Do you know who I am?"
The thief's demeanor had changed, Conan observed. Poker face back on, and a focused frown on his face, he looked as if he was preparing to escape any second now.
As much as he was curious of how he would pull something like that, he figured it wasn't the time to test it. Even if he didn't like the thought, KID was probably the only familiar face around at the moment and, therefore, his only ally.
"What would you do if I did?"
KID suppressed a flinch. "What would you do?"
"Answering a question with another question, I see." Conan rolled his eyes. "I would have to make sure you're arrested, obviously. That's what detectives do."
Shoulders stiffening. A foot slightly behind the other, as if he was ready to take off running ─ it was weird for the child to see the usually carefree magician adopting such a defensive stance. As if his back was against the wall, with no way out, yet ready to fight that battle he knew he would not win.
"Aren't you lucky..." It all went away, just like that, when the kid smirked. "... that I know absolutely nothing about you, Kuroba-niichan?"
Having said that, the kid resumed his walking, leaving KID to stare with a bewildered look that not even his poker face could hide.
Eventually, he snapped out of it. A chuckle bubbled up his being, and in two long strides he was back at the child's side again.
"I'm surprised you didn't research Kuroba Toichi before," he said, a tinge of amusement touching his voice. "Considering you thought he was Kaito KID and all."
His nose wrinkled at the memory ─ he still wasn't entirely comfortable with the thought that he had jumped into conclusions without doing proper research. "He's the first Kaito KID. Friend of my parents. Father of one." This time around, he had done plenty of it. "Kuroba Kaito, same age as my brother… Hey, have you met him before, by the way?"
"Hilarious."
Not that he received a response. Instead, the child detective broke into a light jog ahead of him, until he reached a black big box made up of smaller squares that stood there, in the middle of the beach ─ it didn't take much to recognize it as the Ohirune House since it was a rather famous spot in that island.
"What are you doing?" asked Kaito, not letting his eyes stray away from the boy who climbed it up and, instead of setting in one of the boxes like any normal tourist, promptly sat on the very top.
"Waiting for the helicopter, of course," he replied, bored as if it was obvious.
Raising his arms up in the air, in a clear sign of giving up, Kaito immediately joined him. Being honest, the magician kind of expected him to scoff or something of the like, irritated at his mere presence, but he didn't. All he did was sit there, in silence, contemplating the sea that extended in front of his eyes with a slight frown adorning his features.
His arms, which were hugging his legs, unconsciously squeezed his knees closer to his chest. Tightly.
"You're quite the intrepid young man," so Kaito decided to speak, even if he didn't receive a reaction. "After everything that has happened, you're still willing to get in a helicopter to jump back into an airship..."
Conan turned his head away.
"My bad. I forgot you have an utter deficiency of sense of danger and fear is-"
"That's stupid." The kid interrupted with a scowl. "Fear is a survival instinct ingrained into our DNA. I'd be dead by now if that wasn't the case."
Despite the harsh tone, KID didn't even flinch. Probably, that was because, as weird as it sounded, that was the first time he saw the small detective being honest ─ behind those words, the truth was peeking out for him to realize.
The child was scared, maybe terrified ─ Conan was, in his own way, admitting it. Yet, and that was the most astounding thing of it all, he was more than willing to push it all away for the sake of those he loved.
Wonder if that goes in the blood, huh, Meitantei?
"... Say, KID?"
The uncanny hesitancy he heard took him aback. "Yeah?"
"Were... Were you afraid?"
"What do you mean, Tantei-kun?"
With a sigh, the child placed his chin to his knees, looking as he was regretting even starting this conversation.
"At that time, when Snake took me hostage… It sounded as if you knew each other already." The memory still sent shivers down his spine, but ignored it. "And I know for a fact that my brother wouldn't have stayed at your house if you weren't somewhat entangled in all this mess."
"As expected from you." Kaito leaned back, grinning all the way. "But was it really all you deducted?"
"Kuroba Toichi." At the name, the teenager's smile faltered a bit, but remained in place otherwise. "Died nine years ago in a magic show. Wasn't declared dead until three years later, body never found. With such a strange death, it's hard not to think about murder."
Conan paused and gave him a serious side look.
"They did it, didn't they?"
"Correct again. Congratulations, Tantei-kun."
"Why?" he asked, not affected by the magician's obviously fake grin. "Why was he targeted?"
He was hesitant at first, Conan could tell by the way he turned to gaze up at the sky, with a look that not even the detective could, for the life of him, possibly decipher.
Then there was a long sigh and, cushioning his head with his arms, said, "Pandora Gem."
The boy blinked confusedly. It only served to amuse Kaito.
"It's said to be hidden inside a larger gem, and that it glows red under the moonlight." The puzzlement only became more prominent at his explanation. "Have you ever heard about the Volley Comet, Tantei-kun?"
"... Yeah," he drawled, very slowly. "Heard it passes close to Earth every 10,000 years, but-"
"That's when the gem cries."
"It... cries."
"And if you drink its tears, you become immortal."
There was an absolute lack of a proper reaction from the usually quick-witted child who sat beside him, unblinking and piercing at his very soul with such an inquisitive gaze, as if he was searching for something more than what had just been said, that he definitely didn't find. Finally, his shoulders dropped with a huff, and that glint of annoyance returned.
Kaito didn't think much of it. Until the moment he saw his fingers reaching for his belt.
"H-Hey!" This time, he really panicked ─ the kid looked as if he was more than eager to stick a soccer ball to his face, again. "I'm telling you the truth! I really am, Tantei-kun."
"You think I'm buying that fairy tale nonsense?" Conan stood back on his feet, visually exasperated now. "I might be a child, but I wasn't born yesterday. I'm not that stupid."
"Believe me." He tipped his hat downwards so that it was partly covering his face. "I know that."
"That's the most absurd thing I've heard from you, and that's saying a lot… Who would possibly believe-?"
"My Dad, for one." Conan's voice died down in his throat, abruptly. "Whoever killed him as well."
It was strange, Kaito mused. He had thought he would never live to see this little boy running out of words, yet there he was, standing there and gaping at the air, incapable of coming up with an appropriate response.
He couldn't really help the chuckle that eluded him. This, of course, resulted in the kid letting out a low growl, and reaching out to tear his hat away from his face ─ in return, KID laughed louder.
That was because the boy had frozen in place, bewildered beyond a doubt by the face of his own brother grinning back at him. "What?" the teen said, causing Conan to wake up from his stupor with a groan. "Didn't you ask me to disguise as him?"
He didn't even want to ask how he did it, but with a puff of smoke, he was sitting cross-legged, wearing Teitan High School's uniform, and laughing amusedly at the boy's clear displeasure.
"How disappointing..." He teased further. "I thought you'd thought it instantly, just like the other time."
Conan plopped back down, unwilling to look back at him.
"May I ask you something? It has been bothering me for a while." The non-committal hum he received encouraged him to continue. "How did you figure out I wasn't him?"
"Secret."
He hadn't even considered it. "Please, Tantei-kun-"
"No."
"Meany."
When the thief sighed, Conan took it as a sign that he was giving up. He truly was glad for that, even if he wasn't truly willing to admit it to him.
That's something I definitely can't tell anyone.
He would most certainly die out of embarrassment if he did.
"Suppose I shouldn't have been surprised," said KID with a shrug. "You two seem close."
Conan raised an eyebrow. "Funny for you to say that, all things considered."
Kaito could definitely see his point. If he wasn't mistaken, those two brothers have lived separately for about a year and a half, not counting the time the child lived in America. It was a wonder they haven't grown even more apart.
That's disheartening, Kaito couldn't help the thought. They were inseparable before.
Even if this detective had been too young to remember, he definitely did. A shy, tiny boy clinging to his older brother's leg that would smile so brightly in his presence that he would fear going blind flashed in his mind, and was gone before he knew it.
It was as if this kid here was a different person altogether ─ he wondered when was the last time this boy had an expression like that. Which wasn't fair, since Tantei-kun was only eight.
"Those crows..." he muttered under his breath, without even noticing it. "They really are not good for anybody, are they?"
"That's why they have to disappear…" He only realized he had said it out loud when the small detective pointed out. "And, one day they will…" then he added, in a soft whisper. "When that happens, everything will go back to how it is supposed to be."
"When? Not 'if?"
"There's no need for if. I know it will happen."
When Tantei-kun grinned, Kaito was sure he had seen something else ─ a sunny, adorable smile he hadn't witnessed in such a long time. It was brief, and the next second it was completely gone, but it had been there.
Only the tender eyes remained, gazing down at his little finger so sweetly that it stunned him.
Until the meaning of what it could be suddenly dawned on him, and closed his eyes solemnly, keeping his thoughts to himself.
The news of the deadly bacteria being released on an airship heading to Osaka had spread quicker than any disease could ever do, sending the entire city swirling down into a black hole of panic and horror.
People were rushing around like crazy. Children were clinging to their parents as they scrambled for a way out of danger. Running into each other, fighting others off their way for survival ─ somewhere in the middle of the mess, the cries of a little girl could be heard, and nobody cared about it.
The train station was overflowing with people. Roads were congested beyond belief, and the sounds of horns pierced through, desperate, as if cars would suddenly grow wings and take off flying if they horned loud enough. Angry screams and insults all the same impregnated the air.
"What?! He killed the dog?!"
Also, there was a certain teenager and a little child watching as hell broke loose across the street, comfortably sitting on a bench in an empty park.
"You're missing the point! The thing is, at that moment, Holmes proved-"
"But, the dog-!"
"Hey, will you let me finish or not?!"
Though, to be fair, Shinichi wasn't all that comfortable with the situation he had been put in. Under the pretense that they would try to get something quick to eat ─ which Shinichi hadn't completely opposed to, since he hadn't had the time for a proper meal today ─ Kazuha and Hattori had left him with the kid, promising that they would return soon.
That had been before all this chaos had started. Shinichi seriously doubted they had bought anything.
"Boring~" the child said, eyelids sliding down and staring at the teenager with a blank look. "Do you seriously like this old man that much?"
He had to be patient with him. "Listen..." Shinichi took a deep breath. "Do you have any idea of what a good detective story is-?"
"Yeah! My Dad reads Agatha Christie to me every night!" he chirped, a bright grin decorating his entire face. "Poirot-san is the best detective in the entire world!"
His expression became very dark all of a sudden.
Say that again, you little brat…
"Do you know?" Satoshi continued, not quite realizing the imminent danger in front of him. "I'll be a detective when I grow up."
… Eh?
Shinichi froze at that, blinking at the little boy that was smiling, radiant and unbelievably happy, at whatever fantasy he had conjured in his mind. "I heard that Heiji-ojisan is such a good detective even though he hasn't finished school yet..." he rambled on and on, not noticing Shinichi's eyes opening gradually. "Kazuha-oneesan told me a lot about him, so I really wanted to meet him..."
Giggling to himself, Satoshi turned to face him.
"I want to be an amazing detective, just like Heiji-ojisan!"
"I want to be an amazing detective, just like you, Onii-chan!"
The grin faltered. Through blinking, confused, wide eyes, Satoshi observed the teenager's mouth hanging open, as if to speak but rendered unable to articulate a word. Just as he was about to ask him if he was okay, the older boy closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and gazed back at him.
"You will." Smiling, Shinichi leaned back into his seat. "Don't doubt that, not even for a second, kid."
It took a moment for the child to nod, albeit hesitantly, and slowly look away. From the corner of his eye, he glanced at the older boy and noticed, for some reason, that he was having a staring contest with the ground, frowning deeply for things he wouldn't hope to understand.
Satoshi slid away, ever so slightly. This guy is weird, he affirmed in his head.
When a pair of hands suddenly landed on his shoulders, Shinichi wasn't afraid to say that he jumped, badly spooked. "Kudo!" And the call that followed didn't help. "What's the long face of?"
Shinichi gave him a murderous glare, and only then did Hattori notice the child giving them an odd look of his own. "C-Cool down, Hirai…" he added, lamely. "We're going to find a way out of here..."
Kudo's glare didn't waver, nor did Satoshi's confused frown. Luckily for them, the kid didn't have time to question it before Kazuha came by, complaining vehemently to Heiji for leaving her behind.
Once it was all settled, they decided to head to a less congested side of the city. Kazuha set off first, taking Satoshi along by the hand.
Shinichi hadn't said a word throughout it all. Hattori, seeing this, moved closer to him.
"Kaito KID is there," he whispered, having no need of context. "Conan hasn't gotten hurt on a heist before, right? Not even when he jumped off a building-"
Suddenly, Kudo stopped walking, prompting Hattori to pause and look over his shoulder, questingly.
"Actually, knowing that those two are together right now…" he began, his lip twitching at whatever thought was running through his mind. "... worries me more than anything."
"... Huh?"
"It's been a while, Kudo-kun."
To be frank, Conan hadn't expected to be allowed aboard a helicopter ever again. But he was and now, sitting in between KID and Sato, he was praying to no god in particular that it wouldn't just fall down, like the last time he got in one.
"Same here," replied the imposter, perfectly replicating Kudo Shinichi's ever polite smile.
"But I'm surprised to see Conan-kun here as well."
He hoped the small laugh she offered her would be enough to keep any questions at bay.
"What were you doing in Sakushima?" asked Takagi.
"That's a long story..." And he wasn't lying, actually.
"I'll explain everything later." Though, Conan was sure, it wouldn't happen. "For now, please pursue the airship."
It was amazing how efficiently things would get done using his brother's name, mused the child inside his mind. Without a doubt, he would absolutely do that again, even if Shinichi wouldn't be thrilled with it ─ not that he cared enough.
Looking down at him, Kaito grinned and the boy, mirroring his expression, gave the thief a thumbs-up.
In no time, they had caught up with the airship. Kaito convinced the pilot that, in order to avoid drawing the criminals' attention, the smartest thing to do was to elevate adequately.
"What's the direction of the wind and the speed of the helicopter?"
"Southeast," the pilot replied, even though he couldn't understand why that was relevant. "200 kilometers per hour."
"Continue straight ahead and once you overtake the airship, please maintain the same speed."
Time was nearing close ─ Conan inhaled, hoping to soothe his frenetic heart into regaining a somewhat normal pulse. KID had stuck his hand out the window, checking for any wind currents, he presumed, so he allowed his eyes to slide shut.
"Kudo-kun, what on Earth...?"
Everyone… They could be in danger, right there, inside that blimp ─ that thought crossed his mind making his body shudder, and decided that was much more terrifying than any crazy stunt could ever be.
I will be there soon.
And suddenly, he wasn't all that scared anymore.
"All right then," KID said, a bright grin stretching from side to side on his face. "Please excuse us!"
Sato and Takagi let out a startled gasp, which was quite justified since Shinichi's look-alike had, out of the blue, snatched the little boy in order to jump out of the helicopter. After that, they stared in complete disbelief as his school uniform came off, revealing a very familiar, immaculate white suit and an easily recognizable hang glider.
Relief coursed through the small detective's veins the moment he felt KID coming into a stop, landing safely on top of the airship ─ short-lived as it was, anyway. Conan's eyes flew open when KID took a step backwards, then another.
The strength of the wind was too much for KID to handle. "The wings, the wings!" the child realized the reason, just as the thief started stepping back even faster ─ obviously, Conan was starting to panic a little now. "Fold your wings! I'm telling you to-!"
"I can't press the switch with you in the way!"
"Damn… You're useless..."
"H-Hey, what are you doing?" He bit back a laugh. "Stop it!"
"Could you at least keep still?! I'm trying to press the switch."
"Even if you say so, it tickles!"
"Bear with it!"
"But-!"
That was when KID slipped, sending them both flying away. Luckily, Conan reached to take possession of the thief's grapple gun, and shot, successfully managing to get the hook to latch into the ship and, by some rare moment of good fortune, keep themselves from drifting away.
"You…" Conan finally breathed out, for what it had seemed like an hour since he had last done that. "You didn't think this would happen?!"
"I'm not the one who planned it..."
"I'm not the one who runs off flying every single heist."
"I don't just run off-"
The string of shots that followed prompted both of them to shut up and remain as silent as they could, hoping that they wouldn't be seen. The shooter didn't seem to have noticed their presence ─ just fired a couple of warning shots to Takagi and Sato, who instantly scurried back inside before the helicopter flew away. Only once they made sure that the criminals had gone back inside, they went back to the ship.
Soon after he was let off the little kid rushed ahead and kneeled down in front of the door that led to the inside.
"Well then," said KID, before he could even think of opening it. "I bid you good luck."
"You're not coming along?"
He offered a smirk in return. "I'll be checking on the situation here for a while," he explained, making himself comfortable on top of the airship. "After all, the gem's already fallen into the leader's hands."
Ah, yeah. With all what had happened, he had kind of forgotten that the thief had his own motivation to be there.
"Oh, yeah." KID looked for something inside his pocket. "Catch."
Conan scrambled to his feet, hurriedly rushing forward to catch the object that KID was passing him before the wind would take it away, when he stopped, looking confusedly at the air and his empty hands.
A light chuckle made his eyes dart to the thief, then at the gloved white hands. There was something, indeed, securely held between his fingers, and Conan glared ─ which far from being intimidating, it only made the whole thing even more entertaining to KID.
The child brisked it away from his grip and studied it carefully. "What's this?" he asked, sounding exasperated.
"That old man's fingerprint seal." Conan decided he didn't want to know how he had gotten his hands on it. "Although I correctly guessed the glass case would be protected by a fingerprint authorization system, I have no use for it anymore, so I'm entrusting it to you."
"How… thoughtful of you."
"Oh, you wound me Tantei-kun. Did you doubt it for a moment?"
He couldn't handle him anymore, so he rolled his eyes and turned back to the door. Just as he was placing his hand on the handle, the magician spoke again.
"By the way, about your important nee-chan… It's best that you keep an eye on her."
Conan eyed him, incapable of understanding where that had come from.
"That man Fujioka grabbed both her arms earlier. She did push him away quickly, though."
"Stupid, that's nothing to worry about." The boy shrugged. "He didn't sneeze or cough, she can't be infected."
KID hummed in response, lazily crossing his arms behind his head. "Just thought I'd let you know."
Even after the thief had fallen silent, Conan still kept staring back at him, eyes narrowing and his words lingering on his head for a moment more than it would be considered healthy. He snapped out of it, nevertheless, by shaking his head and concentrating back on the door.
With some effort, he succeeded in getting it to slide open. He gazed down at the darkened interior, taking a deep breath in.
Ultimately, he jumped right inside and, like that, he was back in the game.
A/N:
CherryGirl 21-6: Well, I will try not to… But I can't promise anything for now.