A/N: This chapter stretched a bit too... But in a good way. :D I hope you like this. This explains a bit more Akai's behavior and the conversation between Tsukiko and Conan is better and... well, I quite properly wrote this again.
Chapter 5.
Tsukiko let out a deep sigh after sitting at the roof for about half an hour and thinking about her current situation. A bunch of questions were running about in her head, ready to form a hurricane. What an earth had happened? Where was she? Why was she there? And even when the girl was walking back to her room, those questions still bounced around.
About at the half-way on the corridor of her room, the blonde stopped her approach. There were some people right in front of the door of her hospital room. Two tall ones, probably adults, and one shorter one. All of them seemed distinctly familiar despite them being at distance and Tsukiko still having her friend's glasses perched on her nose.
"Tho- Those three…" The girl slipped behind a corner and lifted the glasses on her forehead. "I must have seen wrong…" She muttered, peeking to the corridor where those people still were talking about something. Now, when Tsukiko had a good look on them, she could easily recognize them and could only gulp at the realization. There was no room for further thoughts though as those three people entered her room.
"Oh no, I left my calendar on the table. If they see my drawings… I'm in trouble. In big trouble…"
"Eh, where is she?" Jodie asked once the door was open and trio was met with an empty hospital room.
"It seems she only eats here." Conan stated as he pointed a nearly empty plate on a table placed next to an open calendar. The boy took a good look on his surroundings but couldn't find anything noteworthy.
"She has drawn something again…" Jodie mused, picking up the calendar. "Sometimes it's painful to know the truth." She read under the newest drawing. The picture had only one person in it. A young woman with a long black hair and friendly eyes. But right now her eyes were very sad and teary, and her smile wasn't that bright either. The Miyano Akemi in the picture wasn't watching towards the person who held the calendar, only the page's bottom corner in front of her.
"That sentence… I heard it not long ago." Akai thought aloud.
"Really? Who said it?" Jodie asked with great curiosity while keeping the page of the calendar towards her chest, hiding it effectively from view. The words made the man blink and realize he had spoken his thoughts aloud. Akai sighed, this time inwardly.
"It was a blond girl on her way to the roof a bit after you called. I doubt she is still there."
"What did she look like?" Conan asked then. Once Jodie had mentioned the girl on the way to the hospital, he was curious to know more about her. The boy still didn't know much though.
"She wore glasses and had a violet jacket. That's all I noticed since we were going to opposite directions. I doubt she noticed me… And I still stand in my opinion that we should ignore her." The message from Hibiki was in the agent's mind. While he had no idea what the other person wanted from the girl other than keeping her safe, Akai was certain it included keeping the girl out of the Organization business. And if no attention was drawn on her by the FBI…
"Do you think so after seeing this drawing she drew?" Jodie practically showed the drawing to Akai's face. The man frowned a bit and remained silent for a moment before answering carefully weighted words.
"Yes." The Silver Bullet finally stated, taking the calendar from the woman and closing it slowly. "I do think so. Right now we have to concentrate on the Organization and the wolf hiding in this hospital."
"What if she is a spy too?"
"I doubt that." Conan commented. "It's very unlikely for her to be a spy. You said she had been in coma, right? Do you really think that organization would send a spy immediately to this hospital? Besides it's impossible to fake coma for that long a time period."
"Okay, okay then. Maybe she is not a spy." Jodie mumbled in dismay. She obviously wanted an excuse for keeping an eye on the girl. "But who is she then? And where is she now?"
"Well, since her bag is still here I think she is still at the hospital." Akai stated and placed the girl's calendar back on the table. After that he left the room. The agent's thoughts were in slight disarray. Seeing the picture of Akemi had shaken him. The words written right below it had nailed any double-meaning there might've been. And it all just made him wonder just how much the girl knew. Previously he had been able to dismiss the drawings as coincidences but now… He had even more of a reason to keep the girl out of this all. Oh, how he hated life debts…
Tsukiko peeked behind the corner right in time to see Akai leaving the room. Jodie and Conan left it a moment later.
"Kami, am I at Haido Central Hospital? In the world of Detective Conan? Trapped in here?" Even more questions bounced around her head. The whole situation was absurd yet it seemed to make sense in some bizarre way. "Well, at least that explains why I can't contact my family... But what should I do? What can I do?"
Really, what should she have done? Go and tell everything to them? Hi, I'm from another world! Bad choice, they had more important things to think about. They had no need for distractions or liabilities… And they probably wouldn't even believe her… Scratch that, they definitely wouldn't believe her.
"Okay, I need to make up a cover story. And…" Tsukiko's thoughts came to a halt as she remembered something. Actually two things. The first one was the car that had hit her mere minutes after arriving: a blue Dodge Viper. Chianti's car. The fact was something ground-shakingly terrifying that also explained the blue car paint in the buckle of her bag's strap. And the second thing was from the night before… "Did I say to the nurse… that my name is… Okiya Tsukiko?"
What a mess… Tsukiko could practically feel how her brains got overheated. A proper thinking fever.
"I need something to drink…" The girl muttered, making her way to downstairs.
She found herself standing in front of a drink automat of a patient lounge, pondering what would she choose to drink. Her hand found its way to rub her eyes gently. The glasses of wrong prescription were already affecting her… And the shock of realization of her surroundings was also wearing on her.
"Aisu tii… 350 yen." Tsukiko inserted three coins into the machine and pressed the matching button. After a few seconds the girl picked the lemon ice tea can from the machine.
"Weird… Last time when I saw those coins I had two and half euros." The blonde mumbled as she opened the can. She had to fumble a bit on the clip due her glasses but eventually opened it just fine.
"Neechan… Are you tired?" A kid's voice asked from somewhere on her left. Without looking at him, Tsukiko took a sip from her drink, left-handedly.
"Nope. Why do you ask?"
"I just thought. You have been in coma for five months and I saw how you just rubbed your eyes." The boy, none other than Edogawa Conan, answered. "And for a coma patient neechan is up and about quite well."
"If you know I have been in coma, then you might also know who I am." The girl remarked dryly, still not looking at the kid. And lo and behold! The kid went into detective mode!
"I heard that your name is Okiya Tsukiko. I also know you really like drawing and you are allergic to some uncooked vegetables." Conan told. Tsukiko noted idly he wasn't mentioning that she possibly knew a lot but maybe that was a sign that the boy wasn't suspecting her. She had no idea that someone was trying to cover her knowledge.
"Uncooked vegetables?"
"Carrot for example that was in the salad. You had bitten one but left it on the plate among the rest. You obviously like carrots but can't eat them like they were. About everything else was eaten though." (A/N: Let's say that the food Tsukiko ate is like the food served in airplanes…)
"Good job, Tantei-chan. As I expected…" The blonde clapped her hands together a couple of times, half-heartedly. "Everything you said is true, more or less. But tell me… Can you also reveal why you came to talk to me?"
"Well… I…" The kid was obviously taken aback by the comment 'As I expected'. "I wanted to ask some questions from you."
"How brave of you… Go ahead then. Ask." The empty ice tea can flew to the nearest thrash bin, tossed by the girl's left hand. That caught Conan's attention too.
"Aren't you right-handed?"
"Probably…"
"I mean your calendar was at the right from your plate after you had drawn into it. And you had also placed your fork and knife to the right edge of the plate-…"
"Yes! You are right. No need of telling all your deductions, Tantei-chan." Tsukiko snapped. "Was that the question you wanted to ask?"
"No… I just…"
"Well, I'm heading back to my room now and I have no need for stalkers… So could you ask it quickly, Tantei-chan?" Oh, the enjoyment Tsukiko got every time she saw the boy reacting to the 'nick-name'. His eye twitched and it took a moment for him to find a way to reply. Apparently the nick-name threw him off guard due its annoyingness.
"What is the reason you came here?" Conan finally managed to ask. Thankfully Tsukiko had recalled the details of her accident a moment before so she had no problems in answering. She just didn't feel like telling to the boy. He'd just freak out. Better keep it vague then…
"I got hit by a car somewhere in Beika town, closer to Haido though since I'm here... If I remember right it happened in November though." At least the estimations of DC timeline told her so. Tsukiko spared a glance on the boy. The gears were moving steadily, trying to find as much information as possible.
"I already know that. I want to hear more about the accident itself." Conan 'whined'.
"Then why didn't you say so?" The brat and his questions were starting to irritate her. "Okay, I'll tell you then. I was walking across a street when a car came behind corner, over-speeding, and hit me. The car didn't stop nor that other car that was driving right next to the one hitting me. It was probably a street race or something. Aren't there two such gangs around here? Black Star and Red Comet?" The explanation was short and precise. Tsukiko even tried to divert the detective kid's attention to another possible explanation. "Satisfied?"
"Do you remember anything about those cars? What did they look like? It might help me to catch the culprit."
"You? What do you mean by that? I didn't ask your help. Besides what could a kid like you do?" How annoying. He was acting like a greater detective to a complete stranger(though he did that in regular basis) and most likely thinking he could catch the culprit(which he can't). "Besides, I doubt there is any chance of catching them. It was a pure accident after all."
"But…" Conan seemed annoyed too. "Fine, just tell me about those cars."
"There is nothing to tell." Tsukiko shrugged and slightly shook her head. "But you are in luck that I happen to be interested in expensive cars since they are interesting to draw… I can give you a picture if you just wait a moment…"
The girl took a step away from the drink automat. "I've got a calendar in my room – are you know since you sneaked in – and with some luck it might even have a page or two to spare…"
"But can't you really tell me anything, Tsukiko-neechan? Since you like cars you've probably recognized them…" Damn, he caught on the lie. Not that he knew it was a lie.
"If you really want to know… the car that hit me was a blue sports car… possibly a Viper and the other one was a black Porsche 356A…"
Mistake. I had said too much but now it was already too late. Conan's eyes widened and before I could react he had grabbed my hand and was dragging me to upper stairs with a hurry.
The shrunken detective led Tsukiko to the third floor where her hospital room was. Dragged really. But once the girl saw Jodie there, waiting, she stopped. And despite the strength of the boy, he still was only a first grader. And no amount of strength or willpower could move someone considerably bigger. No matter what sort of picture the movies and openings gave of the boy since usually Ran was reduced into a Damsel in Distress…
At the sudden stop, Conan gave Tsukiko a surprised look. The girl made a split-second decision of how to deal with the situation. There was no way she'd willingly come along no matter how exciting it would be! That would be just plain suspicious… Tsukiko pulled her hand free hand back and did something that surprised everyone – even the girl herself. She spanked Conan's cheek. In the moment of confusion Tsukiko took her chance to free her hand from Conan's vice-like grip. Then she dashed off, past stunned Jodie and to the direction of her room.
The girl ran away. Conan watched after her while rubbing his stinging cheek. Jodie walked up to him squatted down on the boy's level.
"Are you alright, Cool Kid?" She asked.
"Yeah… I just didn't expect that she would hit me or anything like that." The boy muttered. "I think we should go after her. I know where she is."
"Did you find out something then from her?" The female agent questioned as they made their way towards the girl's room.
"Yes… And I'm almost certain that she knows more that she let on. She was deliberately vague when I asked questions."
They arrived to the door but when Jodie tried to open it, she found someone was holding the door knob and thus trying to stop her opening the door but restricting the movement of the knob.
"Okiya-san? What are you doing? Let the door knob go." Jodie called through the door.
"Le-Leave me alone!" They heard from the room. The agent tried to twist the door knob a couple of times but no avail. Conan looked at Jodie and then at the door knob.
"Turn it to the other direction." The boy said quietly.
"Eh?"
"Right now you are turning the door knob clockwise. Turn it to the opposite direction. It also opens the door but I bet she doesn't expect it." The kid explained, nodding his head towards the door behind which the girl was, clutching the knob with her both hand to prevent it from being twisted. Jodie considered the situation a moment and did like Conan had described. They heard a surprised yelp behind the door and a soft thump when the door opened. The duo found the girl sitting on the floor a short distance from the door. She had most likely fallen down when the door opened, taken by surprise.
"Why can't you just leave me alone?" Okiya Tsukiko asked angrily as she got on her feet.
"Okiya-san, calm down. We just want to talk with you." Jodie said, attempting to placate the girl. The young blonde just huffed, her hands on her hips and gaze on the floor.
"…Fine then. Talk what you have to."
"Tsukiko-neechan, what do you know about… us?" Conan asked. Tsukiko frowned as she heard a different tone in his voice, 'the detective tone'. The more curious and adult-like one. The girl sighed deep.
"Nothing special… Nothing worth of mentioning." She waved a dismissing hand while looking out the window. The girl turned then and walked to the said window, her hand burying themselves deep into her jeans pockets.
"Okiya-san, is it okay if we come here time to time to check that you are alright?" Jodie asked carefully, sensing the girl's obvious discomfort.
"Whatever…"
"Alright, we'll see you at some point tonight then." With that the duo left the hospital room and Tsukiko sighed again. For a minute she weighed about the possibility of telling everything to them but in the end she'd decided to stay in her first option.
"She might be in danger." Conan stated once he and Jodie were walking around the floor without any particular destination. Now they were far enough from the girl's room (and Mizunashi's) so they could talk relatively free.
"Danger?" Jodie repeated in confusion. "What makes you think so?"
"She told me about the two cars that she saw: a blue Viper and a black Porsche. The Viper was the one that hit her and the accident happened in Beika town." The chibi detective told with a worried frown evident on his face.
"She was brought in a bit after Mizunashi's accident…" Jodie remembered. "It was probably when the Organization was leaving from Beika after they tried to kill Mouri-tantei."
"It's possible that they remember her but it is also possible that they didn't pay any attention to her. But she made clear she didn't think we'd have any chances in finding them. Although it might've been due the fact I'm just a kid."
"But the drawings in her calendar…" The female FBI agent thought aloud. "They can't be just a coincidence… What's more, she indicated knowing about us despite the fact we meet for the first time."
"Yeah…"
"I don't care what Shuu is saying but I'm going to keep an eye on her. She is either dangerous or in danger, and we'll find out exactly which one."
A/N: As you can see I also fixed they ways people address Tsukiko. Previously Jodie was calling her 'Okiya-chan' but then I realized it wouldn't make much sense since in the manga she was calling Ran and Sonoko 'Mouri-san' and 'Suzuki-san'. Conan in the other hand tries to be childish with 'Tsukiko-neechan' while before it was 'Okiya-neechan'.
But that's about it. For those who are reading Leap to Relatively Unknown might wonder why Tsukiko didn't get connection to her brother if he is in DC world... Well, two reasons among which you can choose from: time-distortions since in a way Shugo arrived after Tsukiko even though he is before her in the timeline... or then Shugo had a phone jammer next to his phone(or has changed his number). Take your pick. :)