Whether it was the lulling aroma of baked sweets and fresh iced cakes that stranded Hiroshi Agasa right in front of the buffet, or his nose that followed the heavenly scent emanating from the pastries scattered across the table on the whims of his hungry stomach that begged to inhale the goods on demand, didn't exactly matter. It wasn't his delightful all you can eat in restaurants that he spent a large quantity of his youthful days in but it was enough to cause his stomach to rumble in an uproar.
He knew he ate lunch already. A healthy meal constructed by his dietitian and personal calories supervisor, Ai-kun, but even then it was a far cry from his earlier meal consumptions and portions he ate before Ai-kun barged into his eating habits and planned his meals. He sighed and eyed the vegetable bars and vegetarian cuisine grudgingly, ready to kiss all sweetness he laid eyes upon this evening goodbye, knowing wholeheartedly that Ai-kun would appear any moment and steer him away from the sweet pastries- from this heavenly paradise.
The more he stared, the more he silently assured himself that one piece wouldn't cause him harm. That, one piece of cake wouldn't ruin his dietary habit. One piece of cake couldn't rouse him to binge. He had self-control. He was in his early fifties, for goodness' sake. One piece of cake would surely do nothing.
Nothing at all.
With a determined nod, Agasa moved forward and served himself a piece of cake.
And then another.
And then another.
And then another-
Lost in the tastiness of the baked goods, Agasa hummed in trance, losing count as he craved sweets one after the other and stuffed himself happy. From the corner of his eyes he saw Genta stumbling away from pair of legs that strode passed him with his own plate of heavenly baked cakes.
Genta sat himself next to him munching loudly and moaning and humming around the spoonful of sweetness that he stuffed in his mouth like Agasa did moments prior, but the elder found himself not particular caring as he turned to his own cakes, filling his mouth with another helping and sighing contentedly. What a paradise.
Until Mitsuhiko came storming with a huge frown of disapproval.
"Genta!" he slammed his hands on the table, leaning forward as he stood on his toes, glaring across the table at Genta and his food. Agasa saw Mitsuhiko gnash his teeth when Genta narrowed his eyes and pushed his plate closer to himself in response.
"I ain't sharing my food."
The brunette shook his head unbelievably, "You were supposed to go looking for Haibara-san, not stuffing your face."
"I was hungry!" he retorted back, now circling his arms around his plate as though he feared it would be taken away from him. "My mind won't work with an empty stomach!"
Before Mitsuhiko could open his mouth to argue back, another head peeked from behind him, looking left and right, searching for something Agasa had yet to spot. The worry etched on Ayumi's face quadrupled and she stressed each word that passed her lips when she gazed at her two friends. "You haven't found her yet?"
"No, I couldn't find her." Mitsuhiko shook her head and deflated a little in disappointment when he saw Genta shake his butter cream smeared face too, negatively.
"Even Conan doesn't seem to be here. Ran-nēchan and Sonoko-nēchan disappeared too."
Agasa glanced at them mildly curious but ended up shrugging their conversation off like their many other child-like talks they usually had among another, as he turned his attention back to his cake when he remembered seeing Ran and Sonoko leaving the main hall building. Where to? He couldn't fathom but he guessed it was teenaged related things and their inability to sit still and enjoy the atmosphere. Children, Agasa thought and chewed his cake, what he wouldn't give to relive his younger years.
"I don't know what kind of mess poked your curiosity this time," Agasa started slowly and wiped his face, urging Genta to do the same by pointing at the handkerchief lying at the boy's side, "But there seemed to have happened a murder. The police came by to take testimonies. I think, Conan-kun followed them. And if you worried about Ran-kun and Sonoko-san, I have seen them leaving the site a while ago."
"Have you seen Ai-chan too?" Ayumi asks quickly with hopeful eyes.
"No, I thought she was with you." Agasa frowned, looking a little confused as he lowered his handkerchief and glanced around, taking in her absence within the group. "The last time I saw her was when she ran off looking for you the moment we came in."
The Detective boys shared a worried glance.
"She was with us until she disappeared." Mitsuhiko started slowly, "But if she is not with us and neither with Conan, nor with you, Hakase, then Haibara-san. . . ."
". . . .must be alone somewhere." Ayumi finished, looking a little troubled. "Maybe she got in trouble or something?"
Agasa pushed down the rising uneasiness brewing in him and waved a dismissive hand. "I wouldn't worry too much. She's old enough to take care of herself."
"What are you talking about? she's only seven and a girl no less." Genta frowned with lips pursed around the spoon before he heaped himself another spoonful of cake. "This is serious stuff, Hakase. We need to do something."
Agasa lowered the spoon and sighed. "Hey, Conan-kun wasn't too worried about her disappearance. Maybe he knows where she went off to. . . . .did you try asking him?"
"But Conan wasn't there when she left." Mitsuhiko replied, "We tried contacting her too but she didn't pick up."
"Try again then," was all Agasa said when he raised his spoon again, continuing to munch on his cake. "And then again. Then then again—"
Mitsuhiko sighed but pulled his badge out nonetheless, and not long after they picked up the soft sound of statics. But no response. Mitsuhiko was about to hang up when the static receded and rustles perked up before a voice came through the speaker, quiet and out of breath.
"Hello?"
The momentary silence exploded into bursts of thick laced happiness and worried inquires of the state of her well-being and her current whereabouts. The auburn haired rolled her eyes, although a small endeared smile twitched on her lips. "Really, you shouldn't have worried. Of course, I'm—"
"—you're friend's fine." Itsuki spoke after he grabbed the badge out of Ai's hands, even as the younger was glaring daggers at him. "She's with me right now, a police officer. We're leaving this building as of now. I'm sure you were told the same, yes?"
"Yeah, we were but. . ."
Ai snatched her badge from Itsuki, tried her best to dispel the unease festering on Mitsuhiko's voice, "I'll see you guys outside, alright?"
"Oh. . .sure. We'll see you, Haibara-san!"
"You can tell us why you left, later!"
"We'll be waiting for you, Ai-chan!"
Their voices droned out under the statics until the drumming silence expanded across the darkened room and ticked off Ai the longer she had to stare at the other's ready smile and crinkling eyes which of spoke mischief compared to the murderous glint inside her eyes.
"What was the big idea? I was speaking to them—"
"Weren't you about to tell them that you're here? Locked in here with me?" he shook his head. "It's best you don't involve them. You'll meet them after the heist, anyway. They won't keep us here for long."
Ai snatched back her badge and gave him sceptical look. "And why exactly don't they want you at the heist? Aren't you part of their force?"
"Don't you know what to day is?" he eyed her, wholeheartedly knowing that she wouldn't have a clue and still dared to grin at the revelation she showed with her furrowing brows.
"Won't you tell me?" she asked at last, rolling her eyes at his widening grin.
"Well, you could say that today is something like a. . .contest between Nakamori-Keibu and that new officer from Kyoto that looks like a rat." Itsuki pulled his snapback down and his hair fell over his hard and callous eyes, and Ai barely held back her urge to scoff at the blatant lie. "Remember Naomi and all those from before? She's my partner but also Nezumi-Keibu-ho's avid supporter. Naturally, she can't trust me today."
"And they are all against that Nakamori-Keibu?" she asked, mildly entertaining him, knowing he was keeping bigger secrets to himself, but for now she played along as she tried to remember what he told her before about those underhand tactics and sabotages.
"Yeah, they're fed up with his incompetency, I guess, since he has been chasing after Kid for such a long time. There's even talk that he might be fired," he snorted and looked at her with exasperated eyes. "It's not Nakamori-Keibu's fault that Kid is so. ..awesome. That poor chap is trying as best as he can already. At least he's able to recover all the stolen items from time to time."
Ai rolled her eyes and gave him a look. "So, you're an unofficial member of Nakamori's team? Figures, actually. Now I see why they wanted you out. Having a member of the opposite team as well as a Kid fan within a task force isn't exactly the best combination."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
Ai only turned away and ignored him, dialled the next number on her badge when she remembered that her detective freak of a friend hadn't his badge with her. She sighed and pressed a hand against her temple.
I'm surrounded by incompetent fools these days.
It didn't take long for the self-proclaimed detective genius, Mōri Kogorō and Inspector Nakamori to find Suzuki unharmed. The glass shards scattered across the carpet were already collected by the forensic team to determine whether it contained poison, or whether the rumoured murder attempt on Suzuki's life was only false speculation.
That was all good and well but—
"But where exactly is my daughter?" the worry wouldn't stop gnawing his stomach since Mōri had arrived. He was told his daughter would clear up the details as she had felt the need to specifically inform her own father—and renowned detective, let's not forget—before she mysteriously disappeared.
Witness statements, specifically that of Hakase Agasa reported to have seen her leave the room but for the life of him Mōri couldn't fathom why, except that she might have been threatened by culprit to remain silent—or worse, kidnapped.
"Let's not jump to any false conclusions. The entire thing might have been nothing but a false call." Nakamori held his hand up and looked around. "Since Suzuki's granddaughter went along with her, this situation might not be as serious as it seems, wouldn't they have stayed here otherwise?"
The majority nodded in agreement, relieved to dismiss it as nothing but bad bluff, yet the detective knew that his daughter would never perform such an ill-mannered prank, even as the tension lightened with the boisterous laughter from Suzuki, haling once more drinks from a waiter.
The Inspector shook his head. He was on duty, and Mōri used the same excuse. As long as his daughter didn't return to the scene, it was his duty to find her with his brilliant detective abilities through will or by force.
Mōri sighed, turned around only to see a sickening purple pallor on Suzuki. His glass dropped, stained the carpet whilst he clutched his neck, rasped out shallow breaths and fell onto his knees. He had barely comprehended the sight when the doors banged open, and a group of paramedics rushed in, laid him down on a stretcher and tightened the straps around the motionless body of Suzuki whilst they enquired certain information regarding Suzuki's well-being that only a handful of the surrounding associates could answer with their gaze still fixed unbelievably at the unconscious figure, even as he was pushed away towards the waiting ambulance outside.
Mōri couldn't really follow their movements as he roused from his stupor and his eyes finally left from the doors. The forensic team were already opening their bags and reading their equipment to preserve a fraction of the substance within the glass along with the possible number of fingerprints. But even as Mōri saw them working on the scene, his experienced mind knew a single thing that seemingly hadn't escape Nakamori either, whose eyes increasingly narrowed at the scene.
Somebody knew.
Who?
Mōri had yet to find out.
Exhausted, Kōnosuke stretched his limps, and not even the usual satisfying pop! could alleviate the strain of his shoulders. Sighing, his gaze wandered toward the cause of his sudden strain—laying flat against the lush grass of the backyard slept Suzuki's granddaughter along with the daughter of the sleeping detective.
How Chikage came across both of them in a matter of minutes was beyond him. Whilst, every cell of his brain argued that it couldn't have been coincidental, Kōnosuke knew since long ago that trouble always gravitated towards the Kuroba family, intentionally or not. This case was seemingly no different, and as a counter-effect, it had made sneaking them out particularly difficult.
Especially, because of that ridiculous dress-code Kaito proposed to Nakamori. It hardly allowed Kōnosuke to differentiate the nonchalant glances of passers-by from the sceptical gazes of hawk-eyed officers. Without their navy-garments, each and everyone looked the same to him. it was almost like trying to pick a needle from a haystack. Completely impossible.
The heist was increasingly becoming a double-edge sword, and Kōnosuke was slowly but surely starting to feel the effects of it. He could only hope that its sharp edge wouldn't be thrusted at Chikage. He wasn't entirely convinced whether she could replace Kid without a couple of mishaps. Whilst she was rightly accredited and feared as her alter-ego, the Phantom Lady had continuously operated within the shadows. Yet this was a heist—a masqueraded performance relying on showmanship—and not a case of simple thievery.
Kōnosuke sighed and gazed up at the twinkling stars glistering at the night sky. He could only believe that she was best equipped for this role, even as his worries continue to pile up.