A/N: It's been ages... I know it and I'm sorry this has taken so long. It wasn't until yesterday when I watched DC movie 18 that I got inspiration to write more and even then I struggled with this one. Thus this is quite short...
But here's the newset chapter. I hope you like this one too. I'd also like to thank all the new(and old) readers who've subscribed or fave this story and/or me. :)
Chapter 51.
After the demonstration of the course of the murder was set up, the suspects were escorted to the sixth floor. And naturally that Hirukawa lady was the one to suggest that the conclusion was suicide, like she wanted everyone believe. Tsukiko suppressed a snort and decided to stay in the sidelines, behind Takuya and out of the direct sight of the other two high school detectives. Did Conan even count properly as one anymore? True, he was Kudou Shinichi in reality and had the brains but… he was still a kid right now. In elementary school, with kid friends, part of Detective Boys, with not many people taking him seriously… and all in all hard to group with Hattori, Hakuba and Sera together as he was now. Yes, he worked together with them well and they took him seriously but…
Tsukiko sighed, she was getting side-tracked. But she focused just in time to hear Sera reacting when Megure mistook her gender and called her 'he'.
"Me? I'm…"
"Yeah, Sera-kun, was it?" Takagi confirmed. Takuya covered his mouth behind the group and only his shaking shoulders and mirth in his eyes was an indicator of how he found the whole situation amusing. Tsukiko also let out a short and quiet giggle.
"Anyway, could you tell us your deduction, Sera-san? We'll listen and let you know if there are any parts that are wrong…" Conan told the… was gender-confused a good word in this situation? She had no problems but everyone else did. This needed some thinking…
"Tsk, who cares? Just keep watching." Kage smirked, crossing their arms.
"No-gender is right. The term doesn't matter, only the reactions to it." Red Moon grinned. "Do we have any popcorn?"
"Stop, calling me by that name!"
"Nope. So, the popcorn?"
"I don't have. Maybe later today we can get some. Especially if we continue the anime marathon."
"Whooo-ooo!"
"Hmph…"
"Someone's crumpy."
"Shut up both of you. I'm trying to focus." Tsukiko sighed. Why did she had to play referee to these two? Or rather a babysitter… She was going to have one hell of a headache later. She was sure about it.
"…Because the trick I'm going to tell you about will be put in practice for you right here!" The tomboy continued. Tsukiko noted that Hirukawa the culprit seemed a bit nervous and quiet while the other two questioned the choice of place.
"I've said this before…" Sera began. "Teigo-san's jacket and shoes were placed on the roof beforehand in order to make this incident look like a jumper suicide. They were fakes planted there so that we wouldn't figure out the real scene of the crime was actually here in the sixth floor… Hirukawa-san, you did that in order to hide the fact that you used the elevator to fling Teido-san to his death!"
"N-Now just a minute!" The chubby woman in the murderer's company protested.
"When he fell from above Hirukawa-san was inside the car in the parking lot with the two of us!" The man next to the females continued. And then was Hirukawa's turn.
"That's right… So tell me, how I could have controlled the wheelchair and elevator?"
"Sure thing!" Sera smiled. "Just by having pressed buttons on the elevator, you needn't have been there in order to transport Teigo-san in the electric wheelchair from the 2nd floor to the 6th floor and dump him, and then return the wheelchair to the 2nd floor! Of course, you did need to have prepared a long fishing line with several rubber bands attached to one end…"
"Fishing line and rubber bands?"
"Well, why don't we hear it from you then…" Hirukawa smiled confidently. "How one could automatically cause someone to fall to their death. This witchcraft-like trick…"
And Sera began the explanation. She pointed out every step and part in the plan confidently. When doubt was expressed she only told them that they only needed to watch and see how it had happened. Inspector Megure gave an order to Chiba who was ready in the 2nd floor and by the elevator. And the metal box began moving. Tsukiko eyed the closed door with interest as she and Takuya had been the ones setting the trick with Sera(Chiba helped too).
The doors opened and the wheelchair rolled out, heading towards the window of the sixth floor, right above the place of the fallen man. Oh, what a pun…
But right when the chair was a few meters from the window, Tsukiko strode forward. She grabbed the handles of the wheelchair and stopped it's movements.
"Sera-sa~n… Aren't you forgetting something?" The blonde asked innocently. The tomboy blinked before giving out a nervous laugh.
"Forgetting? What have I forgotten? You are the one interrupting the demonstration."
"But you are so close… why didn't you…" Tsukiko muttered.
"Really now… Inspector, do you really trust these kids to take part in investigation?" Hirukawa asked Megure. "They barely even agree with each other so how can you expect them to solve something like this. Especially accuse honourable citizens!"
"Really now, yourself woman." Tsukiko stated before Megure could answer. People definitely were shocked of her impolite way of addressing the older woman. "Sera-san almost got it, just forgot a little detail. I thought it was obvious so I didn't comment at first. Even a person who wasn't here could deduce this case after I called."
"Who did you call?" Takuya asked curiously. The girl had been with him about all the time so when had she been making any calls to any direction?
"Well, I more like requested a call… In any case I talked with Kudou-kun."
"Ku-Kudou-kun?" Megure spluttered. Conan also stared at the girl in shock. Yes, he'd considered making a call as Kudou Shinichi after seeing the plan without the paint cans but had doubted that Sera would've not realized them belonging to the plan. He gave a narrowed eyed glare to the girl who studiously ignored it. Apparently Tsukiko had learnt to know him well. Too well…
"Yes, I told Edogawa-kun to make the call and describe the situation, then I asked his opinion to what I had already deducted and he agreed with me." Tsukiko smiled. "Do you believe me or do I have to make a call?" She was already taking her phone out of her pocket. Megure glanced around a bit. Tsukiko noted that Conan had already slipped behind the corner.
"Alright, make the call."
"Okiya-chan, what is it now?" A sigh was heard from the other side of the line. Damn, he was a good actor.
"Nothing special, Kudou-kun…" Tsukiko shrugged. "They just doubt me. And I haven't even told them what was missing from Sera-san's deduction."
"You haven't even explained why you think something is missing." Sera retorted with a frown.
"Paint cans." Came the reply. Tsukiko gave the phone to Megure and Takagi and went to place the aforementioned cans on the correct points. Meanwhile Conan as Shinichi instructed the two officers to hold the cans in place and Sera took the wheel chair back to the elevator.
"You suppose around here would work, Kudou-kun?" She called.
"Around here? I'm not at the crime scene, so there's no way I could ascertain that…"
"I suppose se, huh! Alright, then I'll set it in motion!" The chair was on the move again.
"That's right, the wheelchair Teigo-san had been placed in after exiting the elevator on the 6th floor, proceeds toward the window."
"And, the paint cans that had been held against the wall by the spilled paint underneath the window…" Sera began with a question in her voice.
"…will catch the wheelchair's footrests and the tips of those footrests will slip underneath those cans. The rear wheels will lift up, the armrests will strike the wall and due to the recoil, the victim will thusly be thrown out the window! Then the culprit, having confirmed the victim's falling death before her own eyes, made up and excuse to go to the roof by saying that she had seen a suspicious human shadow there and thereby brought the elevator down from the 6th floor to the 1st floor…"
"Chiba-kun, set it in motion for me!" Megure gave an order.
"Doing so pulled on the fishing line that had been attached to the front wheels of the wheelchair as the wheelchair made a quick about-face, it headed back toward the elevator…" And so on and so on. Tsukiko zoned out during the explanation. As she knew the cases, they were interesting, a bit creep and horrifying(people died), but looking for clues was fun. It was only when the culprit was exposed that the long explanation began to bore her…
Hirukawa confessed, she told everything. Even the fact that the victim had come up with the ghostly wheelchair trick. It surprised the cops, even Takuya whose eyebrows almost vanished under the hairline. So the case was closed. For real. And while Conan was shooting murderous glares on Tsukiko and suspicious one on Sera, the two girls chatted happily about all sorts of random things. Mostly Sera asked Tsukiko about the places around and if she'd been involved in cases before. Tsukiko… well, she tried to ask about Sera's life in America but not much was said. Apparently the tomboy had taken the mysterious standing with her too that she'd take with Conan, Ran and Sonoko.
Eventually they parted, with Sera winking and telling to see them soon. And so the way home was spent with Sonoko teasing Tsukiko with Ran occasionally joining.
"Hey, do you know what day is it?" When Kage asked the question, Tsukiko blinked. She had a bad feeling about it. Thankfully she wasn't with the other two girls(+Conan) anymore.
"No…?"
"You sent a name to Sanjuu. He's doing the kill today. I need to send that nursery rhyme in three hours."
Tsukiko sighed. Well, it was true. It was that day. The blonde dug out her black phone.
"Fine… I'm going to take a nap. You handle this matter."
"Gladly." The un-gendered teen grinned as Tsukiko fell into a slumber. "Nighty night."
The Weekends editorial office, Beika
The journalist was writing up his latest scoop. He was in hurry. He had to be ready in half an hour. All the others had already left home.
Tap, tap, tap, ta-tap, ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-tap, tap, tap…
The sound of the keyboard echoed in the cubicles. The middle-aged man was so immersed with his writing that he didn't even notice his phone signalling him about a new message. He didn't even notice when a shadow appeared silently behind him and the picked up the phone, opening the message.
"Ring around the roses…
Pockets full of poses…
Ashes, ashes…
We all fall down."
The man's head snapped up but before he could turn around or otherwise react, a thin wire was already wrapped around his neck and was cutting his air supply.
"Konbanwa, Hanajima-san. You are going to die tonight. You and your fellow crows." A male voice spoke behind the journalist. "My name is Sanjuu and I work with Kage."
The journalist, Hanajima, clawed the wire on his neck, drawing blood. But when finding it didn't work he attacked the other man's hands. Only to reach black leather gloves. The wire tightened.
"Trying to be smart? Too bad for you. It'll just prolong your death. As a warning to your associates…"
It took almost a minute but to the poor journalist it felt much, much longer until he died. Yamato released the wire and let the man's dead body slump in his desk chair.
"Maa… And I need to clean up this mess he has created…" The platinum blonde man muttered as he leaned against the desk and began going through the journalist's computer files. "I could just delete these all but… Who knows what we'll find. And police doesn't need any of this information… I'll just take the whole thing with me."
Yamato unhooked the computer from its multiple wires and cords and exited the cubicle with it.
"Hibiki shall go through this one in near future…"
The first school day after all possible excitement dawned. Tsukiko suppressed a yawn as she walked into the class. Once again it was buzzing around. This time it was due two pieces of news. The blonde made her way to her seat near which Mai and Namida were discussing. The newspaper was laid out on… Tsukiko's desk.
"What's going on?" The bespectacled blonde asked in mild irritation.
"Oh, ohayoo, Tsukiko-chan." Mai nodded.
"Ohayoo…" Namida whispered.
"Ohayoo. But you didn't answer to my question."
"Well, there's been another murder…" Mai began.
"Teigo Uesumi? I was there. Your cousin sends his greetings."
"You met Takuya-nii?" The class president blinked.
"Yeah. We were investigating a case at Haido City Hotel. Edogawa-kun was there too."
"Alright… In any case, no. This isn't about it. It's about… well, Hanajima's uncle. He was murdered two days ago at his working place. He was a journalist for a huge gossip magazine and I hear Hanajima was close to him and he is the one who inspired her… well…" Mai trailed off, unsure how to end her sentence because while she didn't want to speak ill of the dead, she definitely didn't like Hanajima. And if her uncle was the one to inspire her…
"To gossip." Namida quipped. "And this case is the reason why she… she is so subdued now. Normally she'd be buzzing about eagerly to find every breadcrumb or the latest gossip."
"And that is?" Tsukiko arched her eyebrows.
"Class 2-B got a new student today." Mai answered with a shrug. "I don't know is it he or she. Usually we would thanks to Hanajima."
"I see. Maybe we'll see them later today. And we can always ask Ran-senpai and Suzuki-senpai."
"Suzuki… Guh."
"C'mon, she isn't that bad." Tsukiko smiled.
"For you maybe…" Mai muttered.
The trio of them were walking, just walking without any specific destination and talking about everything that happened lately. Normal discussion among friends. A few steps ahead of them were Ran and Sonoko but soon enough the five girls adjusted their pace together. Sonoko immediately picked up the topic that had been bugging them all: the new student.
"But Sera-san sure is popular, isn't she!" Ran pointed out.
"She is! She's cheery, sociable, boyish, and cute…" Sonoko agreed. "And on top of that, she's a Jeet Kune Do-using female detective!"
"Detective?" Mai's attention perked up a bit more. "I'd like to meet her then."
"Sera…-san?" Tsukiko muttered as if she didn't know who they were talking about. "Ah, you don't mean-?"
"That's right. The 'guy' you were crushing on!" Sonoko announced.
"I wasn't crushing on them!" The bespectacled blonde protested. "I told you I wouldn't. Besides I noticed the moment we met them that they were a girl."
"Hmm… Since you are such a tomboy too I guess it's understandable…" The rich girl grinned. "And the only thing that goes against her… and Tsukiko-chan too, are those small breasts."
"Well, sorry, eh!" A weight appeared on Ran and Sonoko's shoulders. "For being flat-chested!" Sera grinned. Tsukiko in the other hand raised her hand and slapped the polka-haired brunette on the back of her head.
"My lack of curves doesn't bother me but I still don't like when people point it out."
"Gah, Tsukiko-chan, chill."
Sera smirked at their interaction before lifting a bit the lapels of her school uniform jacket: "Despite my chest being flat, my mum's breasts are pretty huge, so mine should eventually develop, right!"
"I-I guess…" Sonoko muttered.
"Y-Yeah…" Ran agreed.
The junior-class men also had differing reactions. Mai was staring at the new girl bemusedly, Namida was blushing heavily at the subject at hand, and Tsukiko… she was pointedly looking in the other direction and stifling giggles. Sera's outgoingness was definitely something very American. If she actually had spent time in America. The blonde girl remembered seeing conversation on the forums that the female detective could have been in Britain after all… So who knew… maybe she was, maybe she wasn't. The speculation was about her mother's origins and also Amuro's possible British heritage.
"Sera-san, it's great to see you again." Tsukiko smiled to the girl just when the other had finished questioning Conan's whereabouts.
"You too, Tsukiko-chan."
"You know each other?" Mai frowned.
"Uh, yeah… Sera-san was also at the Haido City Hotel solving the case with Edogawa-kun and your cousin. That's where we met for the first time." Tsukiko explained before introducing her friends to the transfer. "Sera-san, these are my classmates Miyoshi Mai-san and Maki Namida-chan."
"Nice to meet you, Sera-san." Mai nodded, while Namida offered a shy smile behind the class president's back.
"Nice to meet you too, Miyoshi-san, Maki-san." Sera smiled brightly.
A/N: Alright, before I go to the replies to your wonderful reviews, I'd like to ask what do you think about Hibiki? I know he's been mentioned only a couple of times but would you like to know more about him? I have written some time ago a few chapters featuring him... Kinda. His story since the beginning. But since I haven't really taken it seriously yet, there's only those chapters.
Oh, and note that the first four chapters of this fic are revamped. I hope they are better now. :)
Oh, and I changed the cover pic. Isn't it cool?
Replies to reviews:
-Zeladious:
:D Here it is again!
-SunnyStormCloud:
I've also been waiting for her. And you know what? She'll be features also in next three chapters too!
-chibianimefan26:
possible pairing? who are you talking about? I really wanna know.
They haven't written anything yet but have mentioned me that they are planning something.
Hmm... tsukiko75014 dot deviantart dot com slash gallery slash 48939375 slash Dream-Or-Not-related-art I hope you find them now.
-GeekyGenius:
Thank you! I'm glad you liked Takuya. :) Sonoko's reaction... well, it wasn't much in this one...
-Lutias'Kokopelli:
(ah, it just feels so good to get reviews. The very first stories that I wrote rarely got any so I'm still stuck in the begging mode...)
This long review you sent me. I don't know how many times I've already read it. It just makes me so happy each time I do. I don't even know how to reply and to which points since I'm on the ninth cloud(isn't that the correct expression?).
I don't really know how logic exactly works in this world. The point of the phone was mostly that Tsukiko could keep up with the plot and get a new phone in general. And since she gets the manga chapters I thought 'why not watching the episodes too?'.
Well, I don't know about Itakura and I'm afraid to use something clearly plot-related for my own plans because I don't want to end up rewriting this because of something important in canon came up. Instead I created that shady sub-division in the Organization that is shut down now.
The dates are from what I managed to deduce from the manga. Akai's death day was clearly stated to be the 13th and Friday. 2008 when the Kir arc was ending had only April and July as appropriate months(plus the scissor-barber case after that and Furinkazan-case was in July). It was hard since Eisuke int he other hand had been missing since winter holiday soo... The Eddy P case and Tsukiko's accident were just an estimation. Yellow Arsonist in the other hand, little Kaito's diary stated it was the 6th October whent he fire took place. Otherwise I guess I don't have any dates...
The link to my gallery is above in chibianimefan26's review reply.
-S:
At the moment I don't need any help but thank you for the offer.
-Guest:
I'm doing my best but this is pretty much an infinity project...
-kujyou12:
... *goes to read chapter 44*
Mai is peeking in Tsukiko's life? I don't think so. Yes, she is curious about Tsukiko but she isn't poking around behind the girl's back. Tsukiko isn't one of her cases, she's Mai's friend.
But thank you anyways for your comment.
-Guest:
Here is the chapter. Sorry, it took longer than two days.
RavenChaser-san? I like that. Thank you. :)