A/N: Guuh, finally! This took me ashamedly long seeing this is quite short... but now we have this part here.
Chapter 41.
"Okay, that's so unfair. You're telling me that you ditched me back then because the kids had asked you to accompany them to investigate the haunted depot? And you met with Hattori Heiji-san with whom you sent messages to Tsuburaya-kun's cell phone, giving the solution?"
"Yes, how many times I need to say it?" Miyoshi sighed from the other end of the line.
"Well… how about a half a dozen? After all it's been two months since that and it's only now that I managed to get it out of you?" Tsukiko huffed, changing the channel on the television. News were running there.
"I'm sorry; I just knew you'd react like this…"
"I'm not reacting 'like this'!"
"Yes, you are! You are being incredibly childish."
"Well, I would've wanted to investigate that store house. Designed by Samizu Kichiemon and all! And meet Hattori-san! Why didn't the kids call me anyways?"
"They thought that you are too close with Conan-kun and wouldn't have kept quiet about it."
"They should know that I enjoy messing up with him even more…" The blonde muttered. Her attention strayed to the television screen again. They were announcing that the trial for the robbery case in Teito bank back in January would start soon. "Oh, wait a second… Niisan! The robbery case from back then is on the news!"
Subaru walked to the library and settled standing behind the sofa that Tsukiko was occupying at the moment(again).
"You said you wanted to know more details about that one, here you go." The girl got up and continued talking with Miyoshi.
"Ah, the news are running now. I'm watching them too. And… Oh!"
"Oh what?" Tsukiko muttered.
"Nothing… I just think I know where to go tomorrow…"
"Really?"
"Yeah. Related to one case of mine…"
"I see…" Miyoshi wouldn't… Was she really investigating Raiha Pass? Nah… Don't jump into conclusions Tsukiko!
The two ended the call quite quickly. It seemed that both of them were in hurry to get into their own things now. Tsukiko went back to the library where Subaru was now sitting on the sofa and watching the footage running on the television, a thoughtful look on his face.
"Well?"
The man looked up.
"'Well'?" He repeated.
"Are we going to that area? I bet Jodie is going to the Beika department store anyways, in hunt of the cap that Scar face wore back then." The girl explained.
"And the organization is surely making their move now." Subaru nodded.
"Who do you think is the man impersonating… you?"
"…Bourbon. He surely is investigating this."
Tsukiko approached the sofa and sat down next her 'brother'. "So… What's the plan?"
So, on the next day the siblings found themselves in the Beika Department Store. They decided to split up though, as Tsukiko wasn't too fond of Miyoshi meeting Subaru yet and Subaru wanted to avoid Jodie and possibly any other familiar faces they might encounter. And Tsukiko had other plans for the day too…
In any case Tsukiko managed to find Conan, Ran and Kogoro right when they were about to go and talk with Jodie and Camel.
"Jo-Jodie-sensei?" Ran noticed. "Wh-What are you doing here?"
"Just… Just a little investigating…" The female agent stuttered.
"And aren't you becoming fluent in Japanese, too?" The karate champion noted.
"Ah, that's because of Camel here…"
Tsukiko held back a snicker at the expression on the said man's face.
"Yeah! I've become fluent in Japanese! Because I like Japan! Got a problem with it?" Jodie declared then.
"Ah, no…" Ran smiled nervously.
"Jodie-sensei… If I recall, you're the FBI agent who was teaching English at the high school…" Kogoro remembered.
"Didn't you go back to America?" Ran added.
"N-No… I still have a few things to do here…" Jodie told them. "Th-This is my partner, agent Camel. Make sure to say hello whenever you see him."
"Wherever we may meet, it'll be a pleasure to see you…" The other agent nodded and the two left. That's was Tsukiko's cue to meet with the trio.
"Guess who, tantei-chan!" She covered the little boy's eyes.
"Tsukiko-neechan." The kid answered without any hesitation.
"Correct!"
"Tsukiko-chan, you're here too?" Ran greeted the blonde.
"Yeah, I figured I needed something new so I came here. And then I spotted you three." Tsukiko smiled. "Say, who was that woman just now?" She asked as Ran and Kogoro weren't supposed to know that she was actually connected to Jodie and the FBI.
"Oh, she was my previous English teacher, Jodie-sensei. Pity, you couldn't attend on her lessons. They were really good."
"Is that so?"
"Yeah, though… what I've heard about your English skills, you probably wouldn't have even needed them."
"Rubbish! Learning from a native speaker is different than regular school lessons. I bet I would've enjoyed those lessons of hers." Tsukiko waved her hand. "But say… What brought you lot here?" She asked when they headed towards another section of the floor. She noticed from the corner of her eye that Subaru was approaching that clerk lady Jodie had been… erm, harassing with questions earlier.
"Geez, it's already past 1:00!" Kogoro muttered while glancing at his watch. Tsukiko checked the time from her own one too. After she'd been filled with the details, she's decided to tag along with them.
"Seems the client isn't coming…" Ran glanced around.
"Stop, stop! We're going home!" The man announced then and pressed the elevator button. By then Conan and Ran noticed the bag by the elevator doors.
"What's with this paper bag?" The boy asked.
"Maybe someone lost it?"
"It'd be best if you didn't touch that…" A man approached the quartet. Tsukiko narrowed her eyes at him. "Because it probably has a bomb inside…"
"A bomb!?" Ran exclaimed.
"'Probably'… What makes you say that!?" Kogoro demanded immediately.
"That's because… I'm also strapped like this!" The man revealed what was under his jacket: packets of C4(probably) strapped with ducktape around his chest.
"A BOMB!?"
A panic but most of all a confusion rose in the room. The man with the bombs explained what had happened to him and that the sender of the 13 red t-shirts should be located. Tsukiko took a step away from the center of the attention, towards the crowd of spectators. This time she didn't want any attention to herself. In the back of the crowd she also managed to spot Subaru and Scar face. But now wasn't the time to confront either of them. Subaru because it wasn't needed for anyone in the floor(Conan, Ran, Kogoro, Scar face) know about his presence. And Scar face… well, that much was obvious.
But what Tsukiko didn't know, was the Mai was there too. She was in the far end of the crowd, drinking a canned coffee and observing people around her. She was sure that whoever was walking around while wearing the face of Akai Shuichi, would be somewhere close to the Teito Bank. Especially since his face was shown in the news just a day before. And the department store was her biggest bet since one could easily blend in there and follow people without their noticing.
"He is deliberately showing himself to the people associated with Akai… And now it's easier to him since people are looking for him too… Damn, why I have to be stuck in this floor?" The bespectacled girl's eyes wandered to the people on her left. And there… "There he is! I can't believe my luck! I found him!"
The face of the man was definitely the same she had seen on the previous occasions. And the scar was also about the same than during the bank robbery. But when one had a face memory like Mai's, one could easily say that it wasn't the exact same one.
"A mask. As I thought. He isn't the real one." She smirked before focusing on the case going on. Ran was settling the shirt sleeves according to the folds in them. And then Conan got to the work. With all thirteen of them.
Tsukiko stayed quiet during the process of Conan investigating and slipped deeper into the crowd. She better get to Subaru now when everyone's – even Bourbon's – attention was on the shirts.
"Hi…" She whispered, tapping the man on the shoulder gently.
"Hello." Subaru replied. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah. Why?"
The man looked at the girl and offered a smile.
"You are planning again something." He stated. Tsukiko blinked.
"What makes you think so?" She arched her eyebrows.
"I've learnt to read you quite well."
"…Good. That's the job of a big brother. Looking after the little sister."
"I suppose so… Excuse me…" Subaru weaved his way through the crowd to see the t-shirts better. Tsukiko stayed behind and took out her cell phone. Maybe she could give Jodie a call. Just to ask how she is doing.
"Hello?"
"Hi, Jodie-san… How are you?" The girl asked a bit nervously.
"Tsukiko-chan! I'm fine thank you for asking. But what's so suddenly? Has something happened?" Tsukiko could hear concern in the woman's voice.
"I'm fine yeah… A bit scared though…" Tsukiko didn't even need to fake it. The case was making her nervous for some reason. Maybe it was the organization outside. Maybe it was Bourbon nearby and she might accidentally slip something(like that would happen…). Or maybe it was something else entirely hitting hard on her.
"Scared? Tsukiko-chan, where are you?"
"Beika Department Store… In a floor that's closed because some guy has placed bombs by the stairs, escalators and elevators…"
"A-… Tsukiko-chan…" Jodie paused. "I'm sure it'll be alright eventually. The police is by the stairs after all."
"Really? H-How d'you know?" Tsukiko fingered the cell phone charm in her phone, Totoro, absent-mindedly.
"I'm in the floor below with Camel now. Say, can you see anyone familiar there?"
Familiar… Jodie meant Scar Akai but Tsukiko decided to dodge the question.
"Umm… There's Edogawa-kun with Ran-senpai and Mouri-tantei trying to solve the case of red t-shirts… I met up with them and tagged along to this floor. And then there's Subaru-nii! He came with me earlier but we split up since we had our own things to find." Well, it was true in a way. Tsukiko had wanted to find Conan and co. while Subaru went to find information about the Scar face.
"No one else? You don't see anyone who's even remotely familiar to you?"
"No…" Tsukiko spotted the Scar face in the distance just like Subaru did. "I don't see anyone."
Mai crossed her arms on her chest and smug smile found its way on her face. She had now both seen Tsukiko's brother for the first time and confirmed her suspicions that Tsukiko was somehow related to the case of Raiha Pass. Hmm… the girl would need a better name for that case to call with… Reichenbach. Yes, that would work well.
The brunette followed as her classmate ended the call and the girl's brother returned to her side after spotting too the scarred man. A satisfied smirk was also on the man's face as he pushed up his glasses, half covering his face. He seemed to say something to Tsukiko to which the girl nodded and reply something quietly.
"Complicated matters… Tsukiko lives with an FBI agent and not with her brother. She barely even mentioned her brother before Suzuki and Ran-senpai met him. She admitted being adopted and being scared that it'd be discovered… So, probably Jodie-sensei doesn't know about that fact either. According their behavior just now, they both know that this 'Akai Shuichi' is a fake one but neither of them seem to be going to tell anyone nor confronting the man about it. They both have a good reason to let him roam around with that face then. But why…? What could they be protecting then? The location of the real one? Or the person who presumably killed him? Or both? Either way they work well together… Like real siblings now that Tsukiko isn't trying to emphasize their relation... She seems happy with him. That's good…"
Mai smiled at the sight of the two of them before focusing on observing the fake Akai once again.
A/N: Yeah! I finished this up yesterday but decided to post today in honor to the newest chapter. Have you seen the spoiler pics?! Awesome! *cue hype* I'm going to continue writing as soon as possible. And I got a new idea for the next chapter. It'll also explain some matters.
Review replies:
-Partsu:
Really? Thank you. It's hard these days.
-Akai4Ever:
Thank you. Yes, Vermouth gets involved too. A bit.
-Hikari:
You're welcome. :)
How come Vermouth is out of character? I tried really hard to capture her personality. She kinda hard one actually.
Actually, it isn't that simple. You'll see in next chapter more about the matter.
Yes, I'll put the lupin movie too. It'll be number 68 or so... But first I need to see it when it comes with the sub.
Well, this far I'm just following the plot since it's so awesome... I don't have an ending thought up yet.
Yes, they are cute! Pact? Maybe...
-DDmasters:
She is. XD
-Yoru-KID's Rival:
I'm glad to hear that you like this. :D Thank you for reviewing now. I'm also incredibly lazy when it comes to reviewing.
Next case is here!
Yeah, but the Shonen Sunday magazine isn't being published on Golden Week so the file doesn't come either. but now we have it!
I love those reactions! XD
-chibianimefan26:
No, she doesn't. One of the things she has learnt from Kaito is poker face(that she has used already a bit, tried) and she has more common sense than him.
Well, maybe but not for a long time.
Clone? Nope. Just a mind? Maybe. Appearance change? That happened too? *goes to read the very first chapters* Whops? Well, a bit.
Yeah, but plain MoonRaven was already in use when I changed it from Tsukiko95. And numbers don't matter that much.
Who would trust Vermouth? Pisco died, Calvados died, Irish died. She disguises and tricks people.
Oh yes, I shall take over the world!
More people have read but only you reviewed.
Kage is in the next chapter. I consider her as an alter ego of Tsukiko just like Red Moon. Like some people consider Conan and Shinichi as separate people (favourite character polls for example).
-Kitty Katrona:
She is but she won't find out about Red Moon-is-actually-Tsukiko. In that chapter Tsukiko merely asked questions since she had missed the news for real and considering the excitement in the class room, Mai had no reason to suspect Tsukiko for eagerly reading the news paper.
Yeah, Subaru most likely has at least an inkling about the situation. :D No... not really. I just have in DCTP Cbox the username Akai Tsuki and thought I could use it in this fic too. Thus Red Moon was born.
-GeekyGenius:
Hetalia rocks! And it's one of the fandoms I've been into while not so much in DC. Vermouth knows everything! (well, not really)
Next? Next I'll mess up with you all even more! Muahahahaa!
-Mullkkkkkk:
You're welcome XD
Thank you! *blushes* I'm happy! *floats away*
I wish you luck then. I'll be curious to read if you ever happen to succeed. :)
But now I'm going back to writing! Maybe... I gotta check DCTP forum first.