File Eighty-Nine: A Mysterious Thing
"I have a request, Occhan."
Raising his head, he could see it. Despite the years, barely anything had changed. Of course it's still the same, he remarked in his head. Only four years have passed.
Although four years weren't a lot for a building, it certainly was to him. A lot has happened in that time… His fists clenched inside his pockets. And all of it...
"I need you to take me somewhere."
… started here.
"Conan-kun." He did not move, even when two hands settled themselves on top of his shoulders. "Are you sure you want to do this?"
Even if he didn't need to, the child slowly turned his head to the girl, noticing that she was frowning a little, giving him that concerned gaze of hers.
It took a moment for Conan to put his words together. "I don't want to," he finally admitted, head raising to gaze at the building once more. "But this is something I have to do."
Her only response was a gentle squeeze that, honestly, was more than enough. So he offered her a small smile in return, before glancing at his other side, where Kogoro, looking as if he wanted to get over everything, stood, unmoving.
It made his smile widen, just a little.
"What are you standing around for?" All of it disappeared into nothing when he spotted a certain small scientist calmly walking right past them. "We don't have all day."
Conan's expression twisted in something akin to annoyance. "Yeah, yeah," he mumbled, throwing his hands in the air. "Geez, I'm coming."
Still huffing to himself, the boy separated from Ran who, in turn, watched him go up to her, arms crossed behind his head while he complained about something. Ai didn't seem to be bothered by whatever he was saying.
"Come to think of it…" Ran brought her eyebrows together. "This is the place where Ai-chan…"
"Yeah," nodded Agasa, coming to a stop beside Mouri. "Even if Conan told her it wasn't necessary for her to come, she insisted regardless."
She seemed to contemplate his words for several seconds until she directed her gaze to the two kids ahead of them, arguing over something that probably wasn't all that relevant right now. Conan was huffing, crossing his arms behind his head, while Ai remained unaffected, like always. "Ai-chan..." She frowned in concern. "She must be so scared right now."
"Really?" Kogoro raised an eyebrow, incapable to see a sliver of emotion in the little girl's face. "How?"
Ran glared at her father. "It wouldn't kill you to be a little more sensitive," she said then, turning her head harshly, began to walk, leaving her father to blink, confused about that entire ordeal. After the third blink, he turned to the Professor who, raising his hands in front of him in a defensive posture, shook his head, a nervous smile plastered all over his face.
Unaware of what was happening with the adults, yet failing to care, Ai covered with the back of her hand a yawn that escaped the confines of her throat, and suddenly felt a pair of eyes on her.
"What is it?" she asked moodily, wiping a tear from her eye without needing to look. She didn't need to turn either to see him flinching, then turn his head to look somewhere else, grumbling under his breath. She snorted at his actions, yet lacked interest enough to ask any further. "May I ask you where all this interest in this place came from?" Ai questioned instead. "So suddenly, at that."
Conan looked back in front and, by the frown that his features quickly adopted, she figured it was serious business. "Rum."
She almost tripped at the name. "Excuse me?"
"You heard it ─ Rum." Ai went quiet when he repeated it. "I was hoping to find something about him. Unless you know something, that is."
The girl debated to herself for a moment, and the boy waited patiently until she sighed, heavily ─ probably, she could see that there was no point playing dumb if he knew about it too.
"Unfortunately, I have only heard rumors about him," she said, calm and collected as usual. "A large brawny man. An effeminate man. An old man. Nobody ever agrees on what he looked like."
Conan's finger came up to stroke his chin. The effeminate man fits with the description… He thought, conjuring in his mind the face of that teacher. But the other two are nothing like him.
"So? Who told you about Rum?"
"You." Evidently, Ai didn't get it initially. "Even four years ago, you gave me quite the headache with that code of yours… But I finally got it."
Truly, her reaction wasn't one he hadn't expected from the scientist. To be honest, he had guessed she would be angry for him to keep trying to decode something she had written for her sister years ago. Even indifference was a probable chance, or surprise was natural, too.
But she did none of that. She stood in place, stopping all movement to stare at him like he was insane.
"Eight flowers. Nine letters, in no specific order," she spoke, slowly. "That can be in Japanese, or not. Capital letters, or not…"
"Thought you didn't remember…"
"... And you solved it?"
"Y-Yeah, pretty much."
"Do you… happen to know how many combinations there are in there?"
"Didn't count them, but I figure they're a lot."
"More than a lot!" She was exasperated now. "If you were to write all of them on paper, you would die of old age..." Then rubbed her temples, as if she was about to have a migraine. "And you somehow managed to get it right."
"Twice." He grinned sheepishly. "Luck is vital for a detective."
"... Guess even a murder magnet can get lucky twice in his life."
"Well, maybe I wouldn't need that luck if you had made it just a tad easier."
"I was going to add a hint," she said, looking at him as if it was obvious. "But I couldn't..." Then, she frowned at the memory. "Rum had his eye on me all the time."
Conan hummed in thought, accepting that recent bout of information. "Though, isn't it strange?" he commented after a while. "The descriptions of his appearance are varied, even contradictory, but you knew it was him."
"Onee-chan taught me to look over my shoulder all the time." Considering their situation, Conan didn't find it strange at all. "That included general descriptions of members that could come after me."
"So she had no other choice but to rely on rumors for Rum." The girl nodded, resuming her walking, and the boy followed. "Then, when you noticed your teacher acting suspiciously around you, you thought about what your sister had told you." He crossed his arms in front of his chest, failing to completely grasp the situation. "But to figure out he was Rum, out of all people."
"Despite the various descriptions of his appearance, there was a special trait that remained the same. And, on one occasion, he accidentally let me see it." Her hand raised until her fingertips were gently brushing against her eyelid. "He injured an eye in some kind of accident. Either his right or left eye was an artificial eye, she had told me."
All other words that the boy could have emitted right then and there caught in his throat. If I remember correctly… He took a deep breath, slowly calming down. That teacher was always hiding his eyes with his hair.
"Are you satisfied now?" Conan blinked in confusion. "Or is there anything else you want to know?"
To be frank, there was so much he wanted to know, yet he doubted she held any answers to those questions. Thus, he shook his head and promptly stopped in his tracks.
Hopefully, there's a clue about it here. Raising his head, his reflection on the glass door stared back at him ─ and got incredibly disappointed when he realized he didn't appear all that confident on the outside.
From the steps that stopped right behind him, he considered it safe to bet that the adults had caught up to him, and had yet to make a comment. They waited patiently.
Isn't this embarrassing? He mentally chucked, humorlessly, reaching up to the door handle. This girl literally got her life ruined after what happened here… He could feel Ai's ever intense gaze stuck on him. Yet, I'm the one who-
All those thoughts were cut short when he felt something pressing over his hand, so gently that he wouldn't have believed who its owner was if he hadn't been looking, wide-eyed so. "You're taking too long," the little girl said, her voice ice-cold, unlike her hand. "This is just a door."
Before he could fully process her words, he felt himself yelping in surprise when she, without warning, promptly dragged him inside. Any other time, he would have probably complained, yet this time around the boy just let his gaze wander about, curiously ─ the place had barely changed.
At first sight, there was barely anything special about this room ─ just color, a shoe cupboard a bit to the left, and more color ─ yet it was enough to stir conflicting feelings deep inside himself. On one hand, he remembered this as the place where he would patiently wait for his brother, sometimes accompanied by Ran, to show up with a warm smile in his place. On the other...
"Good morning."
It had startled all of them badly, made them jump towards the source, too, just to see a young woman there, head slightly tilted in confusion, yet a smile firmly in place. "Is there something I can do for you?" she asked, polite nonetheless.
"E-Eh…" the pathetic laugh that escaped Kogoro made Conan sigh. "Yeah. Well, you see…"
"We wanted to see the place, if you please," Ran covered quickly, slightly pushing her father out of her way. "My little cousin is starting preschool next year."
He mentally thanked Ran for her quick save, letting out the breath he didn't know he was holding when the woman nodded and kindly motioned to the shoe locker beside them. Nodding enthusiastically, Conan rushed there, followed closely by Ai.
"Hey." They stopped in their tracks, turning around to see the woman eyeing them, strangely. "You two…"
Conan couldn't help but take a step back, weirded out by the way she was staring at them both. She couldn't… By the corner of his eye, he noticed Ai frowning at her, looking as if she was ready to run. She couldn't have recognized us, right?
"... and that young woman over there." It confused both kids, however, when she cast a glance towards Ran's way. "Don't you have school today?"
… Ah. He felt like he could breathe again. So that was it.
The childish smile came back easily, "Both our schools are closed today," and the lie came out with barely any effort at all. "It's a holiday that's exclusive to our town."
She opened her mouth to speak, "That's why I decided to come," but the kid didn't let her ask anything. "I needed to see with my own eyes that Taka-kun would be fine here." His eyebrows were brought together into a determined, cute frown. "So I brought my friend here for a second opinion!"
His friend just stared back at the woman, blankly.
"So, you will be his teacher, won't you?" Again, he didn't give her a chance to speak. "You're using that, after all."
She lowered her head to her chest, then nodded when she realized she meant the apple-shaped badge she had on her.
"Oh, so you're a teacher?" Agasa approached them. "Shouldn't you be in class right now?"
"Yeah, but I took a bathroom break," she answered. "The children are entertained so…"
"Entertained?"
"Well, today is a special day."
Special?
Not that he had time to ponder about it, since she motioned to follow them. After changing into some indoor shoes, the group was led through a long hallway. Finally, the woman stopped, then, holding a finger to her lips, gingerly opened the door. Conan was the first to peek inside, and also the first one to get the shock of his life.
Children of all classes, judging by the different badges that they were carrying, were staring in complete awe at the figure standing in the center. Wait… Her bright smile was unmistakable. Isn't… He watched strands of her auburn, long hair gently falling into her shoulders as she leaned forward. Isn't she…? As she giggled dedicatedly under her hand, Conan couldn't help but take a step back.
"AH!" He flinched, violently so, when that loud exclamation boomed through the entire room. "Yoko-chan~!"
Expectedly, all heads snapped towards the way, every gaze instantly flickering at the two unknown people standing there. It took a moment for the shock to fade from the idol's face, allowing her smile to go back in place as if it had never left.
"Mouri-san!" She waved at the detective, who immediately bursted inside, without waiting for any kind of invitation. "Didn't expect you to meet you here!"
When the detective laughed stupidly, Conan felt like crying. At first, he had planned to take a quick look around then leave, gathering as little attention to himself as humanly possible, but now, seeing that all kids, teachers and Okino Yoko's manager were staring at them, puzzled out of their mind, he guessed it wasn't an option anymore.
While Yoko looked cheerful rather than confused, her manager, Yamagishi Eiichi, appeared utterly lost, unable to get out of his shock at seeing him there. "M-Mouri-san?" he questioned quietly, his gaze falling on the boy long enough for him to scramble backwards, then back to the detective. "What are you doing here?"
"That's what I was wondering..." Kogoro blinked at the smiling idol. "What would you be doing in a place like this, Yoko-chan?"
"I like children," she replied. "So I decided it wouldn't be a problem if I paid them a visit." Directing the children another smile, she continued, "They said they were big fans of me… Isn't that endearing?"
"It is, it is! They are so cute!"
"Oh? You like children, Mouri-san?"
"Yes, yes!"
I beg to differ. Conan huffed, arms crossed in front of his chest, while glaring at the man, who laughed boisterously now. Did he forget why we're here, anyway?
"... I need to get out of here."
Huh?
Undoubtedly, the sight that the kid encountered the moment he spun around was unquestionably not one he had predicted. There was a hand gripping onto the hem of Ran's shirt strongly enough for knuckles to go white, and beads of sweat were rolling down her sickly pale face despite the shivering that shook her entire body. "This pressure…" barely reached his ears. This pressure strong enough to crush my bones…
Sure enough, it didn't fail to send a shiver down his spine. "Is there…" Ran was the one to inquire first, however, frown in place and hands resting on the little girl's shoulder in a futile attempt to soothe her. "… a member of that organization here, Ai-chan?"
A shaky nod provided her with all the answers she needed. "A presence as strong as this..." She hugged herself, feeling cold suddenly. "... it has to be her."
"Her?" Conan barely restrained himself from yelling. "You mean Vermouth?"
She did not respond, but her silence was enough for him to frown, stealing a glance towards the idol that was chatting amicably with Kogoro. Could she be under disguise? His lips pursed together, thinking of everything that would go wrong from now on. But why?
Why would she be in a place like this?
Ran, on the other hand, gave Conan a long look before turning to Agasa, and nodded firmly. "Are you feeling alright, Ai-chan?" she asked, loud enough for the teacher accompanying them to hear. "Maybe some fresh air will make you feel better."
Then, taking her hand, the girl gently led her away. Even if Vermouth promised she would leave Ai-san alone, thought Conan, watching them disappear from his sight. Getting her out of sight is for the best. At this point, he wasn't all that sure that it was safe trusting her word.
His head gingerly poked out the door again.
"See, children, this is my friend, Mouri Kogoro," Yoko ─ Vermouth? ─ said, beaming at her young audience. "He is an amazing detective."
"Yes, yes, I am!" he laughed, chest rising with pride. "And I guess you kids want to hear all about it."
Silently, Conan heard how the toddlers cheered, and how Kogoro cleared his throat to start his story, but paid no attention to that. His eyes were glued to the idol who still smiled ─ perfectly in character, the boy would say. If he didn't know any better, he would have believed she was the one and only Okino Yoko.
But Vermouth was good ─ terrifyingly good and deceptive, which made her dangerous.
"Conan?" Agasa hesitantly tapped his shoulder. "You know..."
"What?" he blurted out, not taking his eyes out of the woman.
"That teacher from before is gone."
"Eh?"
"Good morning Kaito-! Wait. Isn't that Hirai-kun?!"
Laughing nervously, Shinichi raised a hand and waved. "Good morning, Nakamori-san-"
"Don't give me that!" she exclaimed, exasperated for some reason. "Are you okay?! We were really worried about you."
Somehow… A swift glance towards Hakuba and Akako, who merely stood there staring, had him laughing dryly in the privacy of his own mind. I doubt 'we' is the most appropriate word.
"If he's here, that means he's just fine." Kaito waved it off, shrugging, as he approached his seat. "Don't make a fuss over it."
A giggle crossed his ears ─ he didn't have to look to figure out who it belonged to. "It is rather difficult to take you seriously, Kuroba-kun," said Akako, stealing an exhausted sigh from the magician in question. "Especially with your face looking like that."
Aoko eyed him for a moment and blinked. "What happened to you, Kaito?"
She just noticed it? Huffing, he sent a brief glare at the detective still standing beside her. "It's bruised," he explained, gently tapping his fingers across his purple-colored ─ and miraculously not crooked ─ nose. "At least I didn't break it."
Shinichi didn't seem to mind. "He doesn't look any different, does he?" instead he pointed out a smirk crossing his face.
Soon Aoko's face adopted a similar expression. "That's about right."
"You-!"
"Though I find it the most curious… How did it get like that?" With an arrogant smile, Hakuba crossed his arms in front of his chest. "If I were to guess..." Shinichi barely reacted when his fellow detective turned and eyed him for a while. "... I'd say you finally got into Hirai-kun's nerves."
Kaito internally flinched at the remark, and was about to wave it off when he realized that all the attention was currently on Kudo who, in turn, stared at Hakuba rather blankly. He couldn't help but wonder how the detective would get out of that situation.
Of course, Shinichi wouldn't give him the answer Kuroba expected. Just shrugged, "He deserved it," and said, nonchalantly shrugging while passing by him to reach his seat.
Kaito figured he should have pretty much protested about the shameless lie that had reached his ears, but was quite surprised by it, hindering his response time. After a moment or so of staring, he finally noticed the dull look his childhood friend had fixed on him.
"What did you do now, Kaito?" she asked, annoyance and exhaustion all the same tinting her voice.
"What did I do?! I'm clearly the victim here!'
"If it's you, you're clearly the culprit!"
"Culprit of what exactly?"
"That's what I'm trying to find out, Bakaito!"
Kaito's eyebrow twitched while he opened his mouth to make his point across. "Speaking of 'culprits'..." Hakuba interrupted before he could get a word out, however. "Didn't you have something to say regarding our criminal in white, Nakamori-san?"
"Ah, yeah!" The way she now smiled brightly was almost disturbing. "Now that we're all together, there was something I wanted to talk to you guys about…" The determination in her gaze was distinctively scary ─ specially for Kaito. "We need to step up in our game."
"... Game?" Shinichi blinked, confused.
"KID, of course!" He figured he should have expected it. "We already lost our chance the other day because only Akako-chan was available, but next time… we can't lose."
"But KID hasn't sent a notice yet…" Briefly, he gave Kaito a side look and noticed that, indeed, he appeared even more lost than he was. "Did he?"
"Not yet. But when he does, we will be prepared." Out of the blue, she hit Kaito's desk with her palm ─ an action that didn't fail to startle the magician, badly. "That's why I have decided. We're going to have a meeting once per week."
"But… Nakamori-san…"
"A planning session, huh?" smiled Akako, maliciously, ignoring the two boys that clearly wanted to protest. "That sounds surprisingly interesting."
"I don't see why not," Hakuba added with a smirk. "And I don't seem to have anything to do next weekend either."
Aoko grinned and nodded her head, looking a bit too excited at the prospect for Kaito to feel comfortable any longer. This could be a problem, he sighed then, glancing one last time at the detective on the desk adjacent to his, grimaced.
He would need to lie low for a while ─ Kudo didn't have to say it out loud.
Before long, he found her. Not in the way he had expected, though.
It had taken far less time than he had predicted. If he wasn't mistaken, not even five minutes had passed since he had told Agasa to 'keep an eye on Occhan' and disappeared from sight before the old man could even think of objecting. Now he stood in the end of the hallway, shocked to see the missing woman leaning against a random door, gaze fixed on the floor, as if reminiscing about something ─ something sad, he would infer, given that she had just wiped her face with the back of her hand.
"Miss?" She jumped when he came to a stop right in front of her. "Are you okay?"
Conan didn't understand why, but the woman let out a gasp when he saw him then, for whatever reason, her eyes widened dramatically. "Is something wrong?" he questioned, head tilting in utter confusion, watching as her entire expression softened.
Immediately, she shook her head. "Nothing important," she declared, settling her still red, watery gaze on the child in front of her. "So what are you doing here?" Leaning forward slightly, she smiled at the kid, her eyebrows raising ever so slightly. "You haven't been a bad boy and sneaked out of your dad's sight, have you?"
Privately, he decided he would rather spend an afternoon with Kaito KID and eat an entire box of raisins than calling that man 'Dad'. "I was on my way to the toilet," he replied instead, a sheepish grin adorning his face. "But I can't find it."
The woman stared at him for long enough to become uncomfortable before she sighed, her smile still present on her lips. "It's okay," she said, then kindly motioned him to follow. "Right this way."
Nodding empathically, Conan began to walk ─ not without giving the door she was leaning against a last, suspicious look.
It wasn't all that hard to find the bathroom, which Conan found it understandable, considering it was a preschool filled by countless of toddlers with a poor sense of direction, but nevertheless, the teacher gladly led him there. Before long, she stopped in her tracks, letting him know he was there ─ not that he couldn't tell, anyway.
"Thank you, miss!" Regardless he said cheerily.
"It's not a problem. Can you remember your way back from here?"
"Yup!" Giggling at the cute boy, the teacher turned around to leave. "But, miss?"
"What is it?"
"Why were you crying?"
His innocent smile remained firmly in place, despite the obvious discomfort in her face, or the way her shoulders tensed unnaturally. "Did something happen?" he pressed further, making sure not to break eye-contact.
Though he initially didn't understand why, he could appreciate the shock in her gaze before it disappeared with a sigh. "You know, little boy," she said to him, sliding onto her knees so that she could be at eye-level with him. "You kind of remind me of someone I met before."
Conan blinked, surprised. "Someone you met before?"
She smiled ─ there was something sad, nostalgic even, in the way she did so. "He used to be one of my students," when she confessed, Conan couldn't help but flinch and hope it didn't show all that much. "He was rather shy, but very intelligent. Observant, too." Briefly, she laughed. "Even the day after I broke up with my boyfriend, he came up to me and asked me..."
"Are you okay, Sensei?"
He hoped the cold cursing through his veins, filling with panic his every cell, wasn't as visually clear as he thought it was. Faintly, he could remember meeting this woman before, when he was much younger.
No wonder he did ─ he had been in Apple Class before, how come he hadn't thought of that?! If she recognized him… All of a sudden, coming here wasn't that much of a good idea anymore.
"Conan-kun-"
"E-Eh?"
"-should have been around your age right now." Conan let out the breath he didn't know he was holding. "You look a lot like him… and I don't mean physically." The boy wasn't sure how to reply. "I would have believed he was you, if he hadn't…"
"You make it sound like something bad happened to him." The teacher looked away, unwilling to talk this over with a child. "Something… happened in that room you were in before I met you?"
Probably, he was pushing things a little. "You're rather clever as well." Maybe more than a little. "Someone bad did something to Conan-kun that he shouldn't have done."
"Who was it?" Then he pretended to think. "If it was inside a preschool, maybe it was an inside work…" He caressed his chin with his index finger. "A teacher, maybe?"
"That's… exactly it." She blinked repeatedly. "He was Conan-kun's teacher."
"... Oh."
"Even now… I can believe he did something like that." The woman wasn't looking at him anymore, just kept her eyes fixated on the ground instead. "Our job is to protect the children. To take advantage of that trust..." Her fists were clenching, Conan noticed, which made him wonder if she fully meant to talk about this with him anymore. "That can't ever be forgiven. Ever."
Huh? Conan blinked when the woman suddenly stood, laughing awkwardly once she noticed she had spoken too much. Something is off about this woman. She hugged herself awkwardly, as if hiding her hands from view. Could it be?
He felt himself frown.
"Why does it sound like you can't forgive yourself either?"
It didn't surprise her this time ─ her eyes softened instead.
"You know, boy, that room where that happened hasn't been used in a while. I asked the principal to leave it exactly as it was from that time." Her kind smile became rueful when she tilted her head towards the place where the room in question was. "I told him it was because his brother ─ he comes here from time to time. I think he still misses him dearly. They were pretty close."
The child tried not to react that much. So he has been here before, he realized. Well, it was natural ─ it was the prime crime scene, after all.
"My coworkers still don't understand it, and that's okay. They weren't working here when everything happened yet, so they do not know about the incident." Conan supposed they were the replacement for Rum and Vermouth after they left. "But sometimes, I find myself in that old classroom wondering..." She frowned deeply. "Wasn't there something I could have avoided to save that child-? No, my student. I don't care what class he was in... He was my student..."
"Sensei."
Slowly the woman quietened down at the small, but extremely familiar voice. She didn't turn, she stood in place, every muscle of her body frozen solid until he spoke again. "I don't think..." Immediately, she spun around for her gaze to meet with a young, yet strangely wise, one. "... this Conan-kun would like it if you kept blaming yourself."
Then he smiled so brightly that it felt just as if she was staring right into the sun.
"There was nothing you could have done, was it?"
"... I-If you think about it, there probably wasn't..."
"There you go then." He faced the bathroom and quickly rushed inside. "Thank you for showing me the way, Sensei!"
Dumbfounded by the conversation, the woman nodded slowly, watching him disappear inside a bathroom stall. Hesitantly, she took a step forward, hand reaching for her own chest, until she seemed to think better of it.
"There is no way," she mumbled, with a quiet chuckle, and promptly turned back around to the way she had come from.
Gradually, her footsteps faded until there was nothing but silence ─ which eventually was filled by the creaking sound of a door slowly opening. She's gone? A head peeked out, making sure he was all alone, before he let out a heavy sigh.
Making as little sound as humanly possible, the kid made his way through the hallways. That was close, he internally remarked, looking over his shoulder to confirm that nobody was around. I said too much there. He barely refrained himself from smacking himself on his forehead ─ unlike him, a certain scientist wouldn't stop herself if she ever found out what he had done.
But really, he couldn't help it. She was suffering. The moment that realization had hit him, he had felt like there was no other choice. Suffering because she couldn't save me…
Despite knowing there wasn't anything she could have done, she...
Shaking his head, Conan forced himself to focus. There was no time for pointless reflections, especially when the infamous room in question was there, beyond the door he stood in front of.
She kept it exactly the way it had been left? Briefly, he wondered why. Maybe, she just wanted to keep the memory of her own failure alive ─ human nature is weird, he reflected.
His hand was on the door handle, yet he couldn't find the strength to order it to move. I want to run away, the thought crossed his mind before he could stop it. I really… really want to go back home.
Groaning, the young boy shook his head, forcing his feet to stay there, firmly planted on the ground. I don't want to run away… He inhaled deeply. I don't want to run away, he repeated, louder in his mind.
"I don't..." he breathed out. "I don't want to run away."
The door like that slid open just for the boy to take a step inside. It's just a classroom, he reassured himself, calmer this time, slowly but surely moving to the center. An ordinary preschool classroom.
Still shaking with nervous energy, he couldn't help but laugh, letting his shoulders drop. There wasn't anything to fear after all, he thought, scolding himself for being all that scared for nothing.
Just a few colorful tables and chairs were there, he noted, eyes roaming across the room. A closet was there, filled with several toys that kids were overjoyed to play with, he assumed. Oh, there are books too, he noted, curiously crouching closer ─ he remembered now, he enjoyed these fairly more than the toys, even though they were a bit too light for his liking, and had too little text for him to be comfortable with.
His parents had barely been surprised about it when he brought that to their attention, but allowed him to bring one from home instead. The other children had thought it was weird ─ he had been overjoyed.
He smiled a bit, amused at the memory. Well… He stood back up, hands on his waist. Looked there wasn't anything to be worried… Without noticing, his arms fell back at his sides. … about.
Unable to tear his eyes away from the billboard, Conan unconsciously took a step back. 'Please', 'Excuse me', 'Thank you!' The words, plastered in bright colors all over the place, were everywhere, prompting the kid to take a shaky breath in and continue backing off. 'Good morning!', 'Thanks for the food!'
Pain spread all over his back when he felt his back hitting the wall, but he barely registered it. Instead, he pressed himself further against it, beads of cold sweat rolling down his cheek and he just stared, eyes wide open, terrified.
Then, all of a sudden, the air suddenly froze solid in his lungs.
'Nice to meet you!'
He barely got to grasp the colorful sign before the thing was pressed against his face again, hard enough to physically hurt. There was no doubt in Conan's mind ─ last time was a fluke, he would not let him go again.
Tears were collecting in his eyes by the time he had accidentally torn the paper away from the billboard in the struggle. It was scary ─ so undoubtedly scary that little Conan wanted to just hide in a corner, but this man wouldn't let him.
Little Conan did not know what the smell filling his nostrils was, but it made his eyes feel heavy and his limbs hard to move ─ but he realized that wasn't something he could allow. Not yet, at least.
At least he needed to finish his message... He needed to hurry, too. With every second that passed by, even thinking was becoming harder ─ with the last strength he had, he let his badge drop.
His Onii-chan should be able to figure it out. Figure out why he had chosen that sign in particular… and why the character 'na' in his name was... scratched off…
"So a little fighter, huh?" Followed by a sneer, the long-haired figure calmly walked into his rapidly blurring visual field. "Good, good!"
When the figure approached him, studying him from close, Conan couldn't help the shiver that struck his body, rendered unable to look away from the completely white eye that was right beside his face.
"You're a rather promising one, little boy."
He didn't know what he meant with that, but didn't want to know either ─ Conan just wanted to go home.
"I'll leave the rest to you, Vermouth," was all that the man said, disappearing behind the door ─ briefly, Conan wondered who this 'Vermouth' was. "Will be waiting for you outside."
A strange cold feeling made its way down his cheek, and it took a moment for Conan's sluggish brain to register it as a tear. He didn't like this ─ his eyelids were dropping now, and the paper in his hand slid away from his grip. Yet, far from falling as well, his hand shot forward, fingers stretched as if he could reach freedom if he tried hard enough.
"I'm really sorry, Conan-kun," was whispered in his ear. It sounded genuine ─ Conan wondered why, yet, he wasn't able to ponder over it any further.
Just before everything faded into black, Conan reached forward one last time.
… Please find me… Onii-chan...
"-nan. Conan... Hey." Slowly, the darkness gave way to a shapeless blur. "Hey!"
"I-I just found him like that… That's why I called you..."
Gradually the odd white blob took the form of a face, distinctively old and seriously concerned. "... Pro..." It came out dramatically weaker than he had intended. "... Pro… Professor?"
He was sitting on the floor, hand pressed against the wall, he slowly noticed when his eyes took a better look of his surroundings. Yamagishi was also there, pale and scared, he noted, shifting into his feet as if he didn't know what he was supposed to do.
A sigh got his attention back to the old professor. "You're okay." Gently, the man placed his hand on his cheek with such an amount of tenderness that he hadn't expected to see coming from him. "It's over now."
His hand wiped something away from his eye, and only then he realized he must have been crying. He couldn't help it, he was exhausted ─ without thinking much about it, he rested his forehead against the old man's shoulder.
"Excuse me…" Yoko's manager hesitantly approached them. "Is he okay?"
"Just a little sick." Conan didn't protest, even as he was lifted. "Wonder if there's a bug going around these kids or something…"
Stubbornly, the boy kept his face firmly placed against Agasa's shoulder who, in turn, said nothing about it, just smiled gently and walked out of the room, leaving the manager to stare back in confusion.
When she saw Conan and Agasa coming their way, Ran could already tell things hadn't gone that well. The boy walked slowly, gaze cast on his feet, which dragged lethargically across the ground, while the old professor just contemplated him, wearing a tight frown that had formed due to concern.
An expression that Ran replicated, and intensified when they both came into a stop in front of them. Solemnly, Agasa shook his head, giving the girl the confirmation she actually didn't need. All the while, Ai remained just as still, making it impossible for her to understand what might be going in her head at the moment.
Finally, Ran crouched in front of the boy, resting her hands on top of his shoulders. "Conan-kun." She didn't wait for the answer that she would not get. "Let's go home, okay?"
His head raised sharply, suddenly alert. "Occhan-"
"It's fine. I called him earlier and told him what you and Ai-chan said." She was quick and reassuring. "He said he would be careful."
Conan didn't reply verbally, but he still frowned deeply.
"Vermouth is there," he heard Ai voicing his thoughts before he could fully process them. "With people like her, being careful is never enough ─ a moment of carelessness can prove fatal." When he turned around to see her, he met with her cold, narrowed eyes. "A woman so vicious as her can never be trusted."
His mouth remained sealed, lips pressed together as he took into the brief, yet at the same moment long silence that settled in after those words were first pronounced. It was lost, however, when the little girl closed her eyes and an enigmatic smile decorated her face.
"Yet, you trusted her word." Conan blinked repeatedly at that. "She said she wouldn't lay a finger on me, and I'm still alive." She turned around, letting a brief chuckle escape her. "We all are, even though she knows every secret that should forever be held away from that dreadful organization." Finally, she shrugged. "I find it incredibly unlikely she would have a sudden change of heart, even for her standards."
Just like that, she started on her way back home, leaving the other child to stare back, shocked by what had just transpired in front of his eyes. Before long, it began to gradually vanish while the realization began to sink ─ she was right. Vermouth could be unpredictable in most ways, but for the most part, something about her had remained constant…
She had never made a move against them, Sherry being the only exception for motives he couldn't understand ─ yet, after she had promised him she wouldn't chase after the little scientist, the woman had basically given up.
Even back when Kogoro had been trying to look into Snake, she had told the Organization that it had absolutely nothing to do with them. She wouldn't do anything like that now.
Maybe it would be okay if they just went ahead, he affirmed inside his head, gently separating from Ran to join the other girl, until he noticed something was off.
"Ai-kun?"
Agasa had noticed it as well. The little girl, instead of moving forward, had paused in her way for no apparent reason. It picked Conan's attention, so he was about to ask why, until he noticed that her gaze ─ strangely soft, melancholic even ─ was fixated in something else, so he followed it, until his own eyes met with brilliant green, and a bit of pale pink in the middle of it all.
Ai was contemplating a tree. Conan's own eyes went wide when he realized it.
"Ai-kun, is something wrong with that tree?" Agasa was understandably lost.
"That's… a cherry blossom tree," mumbled Conan, leaving the professor to gasp in surprise. "Spring is almost over so most of the flowers are all gone..." He let his gaze travel through the row of trees that stood on both sides of the street. "See, the green leaves are starting to bud."
Hesitantly, Ran took a step closer to the children, hoping that there was something she could say, but failing before she could even begin ─ there was that glint in Conan's eyes that she absolutely hated yet, at the same time, told her that there wasn't anything she could do to take it away.
Conan-kun is obviously remembering what happened to them, she reflected, shoulders dropping slightly. Definitely, Ai-chan is also...
Her thoughts were cut short when she really looked at her, however. "Ai-chan," she breathed out in surprise. "You are..."
In fact, the little girl was smiling ─ so tenderly at that, it almost felt unreal coming from her.
"This place..." Her hands latched behind her back, gaze roaming across the place, as if lost in her own memories. "It reminds me of Onee-chan."
Conan's head snapped to her. "What?" he blurted out without thinking.
"You solved such a difficult code, but you fail at the obvious, don't you, mystery-nut?" The boy looked ready to say something about that, but didn't get to. "The reason I hid here hoping that Onee-chan would find me… It's because it was our place."
Although at the moment Conan wanted nothing else but to inquire further, to satisfy his own curiosity, he really couldn't. Not when Ai seemed to be so genuinely, yet strangely, happy there, lost in her own memories. It was a unique, disconcerting sight to witness…
"You know, Conan-kun..." Ran walked closer, a similar expression decorating her face. "Looking at cherry blossoms reminds me of when I met Shinichi."
"Onii-chan?" he questioned, surprised.
"Yeah." Her gaze softened. "I doubt Shinichi knows, but back then, I hated him."
"Eh?" Agasa gasped, completely taken aback. "You hated him?"
Unlike him, Conan chuckled. "I wouldn't be that surprised," he said, arms crossed behind his head. "If he was anything like he's now, I doubt he was all that approachable."
"Right!" Ran scoffed, head turning to her side. "Even then, he was such a jerk!" She crossed her arms, and Conan found it surprising that she would still feel mad, even when it happened years ago. "All he did was call me a crybaby." She giggled a little after that. "I guess I didn't make all that much of a good first impression either…"
"Well, in fact..."
"Huh?"
A mischievous glint behind his glasses took her by surprise. "I heard about that story before, about how you guys met," he said with a weird grin. "And something might have escaped him..."
"Something?"
"Yeah, something really embarrassing."
"What is it, Conan-kun?"
"Oh? Why do you want to know so badly?"
"What? No, I'm just curious…"
"Hmm…"
"I'm serious!"
"Alright, so if you really want to know…" Conan barely held back a laugh at the determined frown on Ran's features. "He pretended to lose his badge, so he made you make a paper one for him, right?"
"Yeah."
"And do you remember what you did?"
"Uh… I wrote his name on it and…"
"You smiled." Ran blinked, prompting Conan's grin to widen. "I remember he said that, since that moment..."
Without realizing, his words had trailed down into nothing, just like his mind, when his gaze fell once more on the figure standing there, hair gently swaying the breeze, barely hiding the rare, radiant smile that still lingered there.
He was brought out of it when he noticed the older girl crouching next to him, eyeing him curiously. Jumping, he was about to put on an excuse for his weird behavior, when the scientist turned around and blinked at him, in confusion, upon realizing she was being stared at.
"A-As I was saying," he faced the other way, hoping that the unnatural warmth spreading through his cheeks wasn't as visually noticeable as it was to him. "He said that, since that moment, he had been heels over… for that smile."
This silenced Ran into staring, rendering her unable to do anything but gape at the boy, cluelessly. Though it had been a slow process, Conan could clearly tell when her words really sank in her mind given the abrupt change of color of her face.
"C-Conan-kun! Don't make up stuff like that!"
"I'm not lying."
"Then, Shinichi must have been playing a joke on you…"
"He really wasn't."
"Don't believe him for a second, Conan-kun. He-"
"Ran-neechan, you look like a tomato."
"Well, well." Agasa held his hands up, laughing nervously, probably feeling compassion for the poor embarrassed girl. "I think that's enough for now, Conan."
Rolling his eyes, Conan conceded, then joined Ai, who had already begun to walk again. Though it wasn't all that evident now, the boy could see that the ghost of that radiant smile still lingered there. Wisely, he kept all comments about it to himself and simply let himself appreciate the scenery in silence.
Nature was a mysterious, unpredictable thing, Conan reflected while he contemplated the few little flowers that remained there despite the incoming summer. Soon they would inevitably fall on the ground, leaving a place for new green leaves that would continue to sprout until hazakura was finally over, letting all that characteristic, ephemeral beauty that made it a cherry tree, just, go.
But the memories would never leave. For the better or the worse, they would linger on his mind forever.
Perhaps, however, the most intriguing fact was how something could be a bearer of so many dreadful memories. Yet… He glanced at Ai from the corner of his eye. At the same time… Ran didn't notice him turning to look at her from over his shoulders, lost in her own world.
"Eh?" Conan could almost feel his warm hand leading him through a path full of cherry blossoms. "What do you mean, you can't read?"
"I brought this book I took from Dad's library, but I couldn't read it..."
"Ah, no wonder you couldn't." His laugh was clear in his ears, even now. It had really confused him. "It must be kanji."
"Kanji?" He remembered blinking owlishly before shaking his head rapidly. "Teach me how to read, Onii-chan!"
"But learning Kanji at your age is a bit…"
"Please!"
"Okay, okay," he finally conceded with an exhausted sigh. "We can read a book together when we get home and see what characters you can learn, alright?"
"Yay! Thank you, Onii-chan!"
It was undeniable that virtually nothing had changed after everything that he had experienced today ─ the past couldn't be altered, and even now things weren't really any different from yesterday. Dreadful memories had surfaced again, and no progress had been made, but…
While he could hardly call it a 'success', he couldn't really say it was a complete waste of time.
It's a mysterious thing…
His lips curved upwards ever so slightly.
"Let's head back home, Conan."
"Yeah!"
A mysterious thing, indeed.
Most of June went strangely peacefully, if the string of murders and mysteries that were a daily thing in Conan's life didn't count. All in all, however, it had been nice to have a few weeks of much needed quietness...
There was a part in the child's mind, though, that wondered if this wasn't just the calm before the storm struck, flipping their hard fought normality upside down.
I haven't heard from the Organization since that time, he reflected that Sunday morning, leaning onto the very comfortable seat of Poirot. Well, if Vermouth was really there, that is. Boredly, he let his eyes fall on the older detective, who was grumbling something of being 'out of luck' ─ the horse he had bet on hadn't won, Conan guessed.
When he arrived home that day, he insisted he had been with Okino Yoko, no questions asked.
"You can't fool these eyes!" Conan wanted to roll his eyes at the memory. "She was the real Yoko-chan, there's no doubt about it!"
Though at the time he had shrugged it off, now he couldn't help but wonder if there wasn't some truth in what had seemed to be plain fanaticism talking. If she wanted, Vermouth could have easily fooled him, but… He frowned lightly. Occhan really kept an eye on her the entire time, and she did nothing out of the ordinary. It's hard to think that she would go through all this trouble just to talk with a group of preschoolers.
Yet Ai had definitely sensed some of them there. Could she have been disguised as somebody else?
"Sorry for the wait." A hand settling a glass of orange juice in front of him woke him up from his stupor. "Here-"
"Wait, aren't you-?!"
When Conan looked up, he was beyond shocked, just like the man and girl beside him. "Mouri-san." The tanned man smiled politely, not looking at all that surprised to see them there. "It has been a while, hasn't it?"
He really, really didn't think he would see that guy ever again, yet there he was, setting a fruit parfait for Ran, who eyed him, as bewildered as he was. "Amuro-san!" she exclaimed, eyes widening in recognition. "I didn't know you worked here."
"I just started here," he replied, settling Kogoro's coffee last. "I'd say it's a coincidence to see you all here, but it really isn't."
The uncanny honesty took Conan off guard, but did nothing more than watch him turn to Mouri, his expression becoming severe all of a sudden. "That brilliant deduction the other night showed me how inexperienced I am," he said, standing straighter than before. "I thought long about it and decided it ─ I have to start from the beginning."
"Ah..." Kogoro lost his interest suddenly. "So? What does that have to do with working here?"
"The reason I'm working part time near you is because I want to be with you in every case you get involved with." Then he bowed, startling all three of them. "Please make me an apprentice!"
Conan could barely believe his ears. Occhan's… apprentice? He rubbed his eyes, then realized that he wasn't seeing things either. No way.
The shock dimmed quickly enough for the great detective. "The thing is..." He grabbed the coffee cup and brought it to his lips. "I don't accept apprentices."
Amuro didn't look like the type that would give up so easily. "As tuition, for each case..."
Ran and Conan strained their ears to hear, but it was useless. Not that it was all that necessary, because they could tell that it was a lot when Kogoro's face shifted completely, and he screamed:
"Hired~!" Amuro stood back, grinning from ear to ear after he had succeeded. "From now on, call me sensei, Amuro-kun."
"Mouri-sensei!"
"And bring me more coffee. I just finished this cup!"
"Yes, Mouri-sensei!"
Silently, Conan and Ran exchanged a look before focusing on the blonde man happily retreating away, before sighing in unison. Will this be alright? thought the child, cringing at the boisterous laugh that still echoed in his ears.
"Are you sure about this?" Ran asked, dipping her spoon on her parfait. "Having an apprentice and everything…"
"Why not?" Kogoro shrugged. "Passing down their incredible detective knowledge is a must for a brilliant detective like I am."
Funny coming from someone that initially declined the offer until money was involved…
"Yeah, but…" There was still a bit of uncertainty in Ran's voice. "Do you know how you're going to, uh…?"
"Observation." The kid felt his eyelids drop at the answer. "If he wants to be my apprentice, he'll have to learn how to observe-"
"In other words," Conan interrupted, calmly but straight to the point. "You're just going to get paid for virtually nothing."
"What do you mean by nothing?" Kogoro's voice rose. "He gets to see me and learn from close."
Conan just stared, long enough to make the grown man try to shrink. "That's called 'scamming'."
"What did you say there?!"
"The truth." It was almost disturbing that the kid didn't even blink. "He's actually fairly better than you at this..."
"He isn't better than-"
"And you're charging him. For practically nothing."
"Like I said, he's going to watch-"
"Please, anyone could learn so much more watching Okino Yoko's last TV drama."
"Oh, no. You didn't just disrespect Yoko-chan-"
"The fact that you consider it rude is another point in my favor."
Completely irritated now, Kogoro rose from his seat, palms loudly slamming against the table. "Listen, you brat-!"
At that point Conan's dull stare of boredom had given way to surprise as he witnessed Ran's glass toppling over, leaving Ran to momentarily panic, scrambling to catch it before it would end up in pieces. Closing his eyes out of instinct, the kid waited for the inevitable sound of shattering, yet it didn't come. Although she managed to catch it in time, not everything was saved.
Unable to save it from its destiny, Conan watched as the strawberry slipped from the cushion of cream it had been resting on and made its inevitable way to the floor. Little did they know that innocent little strawberry would be the start…
The start of a sweet and sour major case.
A blink of an eye later, the strawberry was on the floor, "Geez!" and Ran was screaming at her father, who flinched back upon eye-contact. "I was looking forward to eating it!"
"S-Sorry. I'll call Amuro-kun and-"
"You better pay for it, Dad!"
They were utterly hopeless, Conan decided, letting go of the breath he had unconsciously held back. Loud, as well, he laughed dryly, resting his chin on top of the table to watch Ran go on. That was until his head raised up upon hearing a sound that definitely didn't belong in such a place ─ a meowing?
He felt curiosity tugging at him, causing him to slide from his seat and crouch under the table where he found the answers to all his questions in the form of a white cat, rolling around the fallen strawberry while playing with it.
"You don't have a collar," he muttered, observing the animal through big eyes. "But your coat is shiny..."
He tentatively stretched his hand towards the cat and, seeing that it didn't seem to mind, gently scratched behind the ears. "Smooth, too." The cat purred, content with the treatment, prompting Conan to smile a little. Considering all this, though, Conan could conclude one thing ─ this cat had an owner.
Where could they be? That was the biggest question.
"Geez." The cat was brisked away from him, suddenly. Raising his gaze, he wasn't surprised to see Kogoro lifting the animal by the scruff. "Where did this cat come from?"
Conan tried not to snort when the cat scratched the man's face in response ─ and failed.
"Oh, Venus!"
A woman bursted inside, eyes lighting up instantly when she saw the cat Kogoro was scowling at and, in a swift movement, took it into her arms, snuggling with the animal.
"Oh, I'm so glad you're unhurt!" she then exclaimed in English. "Thank you so much for finding her!"
Kogoro just stood there, awkwardly, until his daughter translated from her. "My father is a detective," she explained to her, in the same language, smiling politely.
"Really? How admirable!" The woman beamed. "I'm fond of crime novels myself! And I love to hear stories..." As she began speaking quicker because of excitement, Kogoro and Ran's expression shifted, transforming into utter confusion. "But I have a flight to catch ─ such a shame… I know!" She perked up, as an idea crossed her mind. "May I invite you to my home in London?"
Clearly, none of those two understood a word that had been said, yet it was impossible to miss how Conan perked up instantly, staring at the foreigner as if he was expecting her to say she was joking or something. When those words, whatever they meant, seemed to sink in the little boy's head, his reaction was instant.
"Wow, that's great!"
His grin was bright, almost blinding, and threatened to split his entire face in two. His eyes sparkled, in a way that was rare to see on his face, while he excitedly rushed forward ─ Ran wished she could understand what had gotten this usually mature boy this overjoyed.
"Oh, you accept?" The woman turned to the boy, glad that he could understand what was being said. "Then, when can you visit?"
"Next weekend!" Despite the language barrier, Ran heard he was talking very quickly, as if she would disappear any second before he could tell her whatever he wanted to say. "We don't have school next weekend!"
Kogoro's gaze squinted, studying those two as if he could tell what was going on if he tried hard enough, but failed miserably. "Forgot the brat can speak English."
"Well..." laughed Ran, awkwardly. "Conan-kun lived in America for a while, after all."
He agreed with that easily. "Wish I could tell what they're saying, you know..."
"He's arranging you all on a trip to London." At the sudden voice, father and daughter jumped, spinning around to see the blonde waiter, looking not bothered by that, a fruit parfait in his hand. "That's unlucky for me..." Smiling a bit, he passed the dessert to a distraught Ran before turning to his mentor. "Suppose I'll have to wait a little longer to join you in a case, Mouri-sensei."
Both of them blinked cluelessly, slowly turning to glance at the beaming kid before their gazes rose to meet each other's. "What?!" they screamed in unison.
"Oh, good!" The woman was barely affected by this. "Then I will arrange your trip as soon as I return home, okay?"
"Sure!" Conan's smile widened, if possible. "Thank you, ma'am!"
Then, quickly, as if she would vanish in front of his eyes, rushed to gather his phone to exchange contact information. London… Conan couldn't believe his luck. I'm really going to London!
Just as quick as she had arrived, she was gone, Venus nestled comfortably in her arms, but her contact information was registered inside his phone already for her to call once she got back home ─ it would be, for sure, an awfully long wait.
Conan was basically bouncing on his feet, but if the two dancing out of happiness behind his back did notice it, they said nothing about it.
Aaah! I seriously can't wait!
None of them saw Amuro casting a last, scrutinizing look on the little boy, before turning around, silently leaving them to celebrate.
A/N:
CherryGirl 21-6: Well, about Kogoro and Eri, I haven't really thought about it, since there isn't all that much focus on them in this fic. Regardless, I actually like them so it's highly possible that we will get back together at some point. And about that other thing, I can really see that happening xD If the opportunity ever comes, I might steal your idea, lol.
F. C. Meyer: I'm not sure how I'm supposed to reply to this, so... xD
Dy: Yeah, sorry about that. I really considered it, but eventually decided not to. There is already so much going on in this fic to put a subplot like that… Thank you either way for sharing it with me!
Raises1005118: To be honest I've actually never considered, but you're right, it would be really interesting to see how it would play out here. Not making any promises, though xD