A/N: This chapter took illeagally long to write. Especially considering I'm on a holiday right now. I honestly expected to write more during this week in general. But I had housework to do... Blagh. But here it is. I bet you've been waiting for this eagerly ever since... well, last chapter. This one goes a bit to Tsukiko's thoughts about the current situation too. And what James Black is thinking. I bet you want to know how he sits into situation considering the events of Movie 18 and Scarlet Arc. Well, here this is! Go and read! Plus review. :)
Chapter 53.
"Really!? You know who the killer is, Shinichi-niichan!?" Tsukiko looked up from her plate of wok'd noodles with vegetables. Conan was cheerfully taking to the phone and Heiji was obviously freaking out. The blonde snorted and returned to eating the delicious dish while Ran attempted to get on the phone with her loved one. Kami, that blush… Can't you even think about your boyfriend without becoming red like a tomato?
"And? What did Kudou-kun have to say?" Sera asked the detective kid.
"Ah, well… All three of those suspects said that they were born and raised in Tokyo, but actually one of them was hiding the fact that they were from the Kansai region." Conan told them. "And that person is the culprit, is what he said!"
"Oh! As expected from Kudou-kun!" Megure noted, pleased.
"Now hold on just one second!" Heiji butted in angrily. "You're a Tokyoite, aren't you!? How the heck would you know anything about Kansai!?"
"Ah, you know… It wasn't me… Shinichi-niichan was the one that said that! Besides he said it was like Tsukiko-neechan said…"
"It isn't about what the culprit is but what he isn't." Tsukiko stated, finishing her plate. "At least that's what I said earlier. That means the culprit made some flaws in their act. Flaws that Tokyoite can see." She wiped her mouth to a napkin and got up. "What's Kudou-kun's plan then?"
"Ah, that's right! Shinichi-niichan said to ask this family restaurant to make a certain thing!" Conan told Megure and Takagi. "He said something like, as soon as they drink it, we'll know immediately if they're from the Kansai region. It sounds like it's some sort of magical food!"
The dish was served. Everyone had a cup full of miso soup in front of them. Tsukiko gazed down into the depths of the liquefied salt. Well, it basically was it. It was so full of salt it almost was… liquefied salt.
"Drink it all down in one gulp, okay?" Conan instructed.
"Here we go…" Tsukiko muttered, tilting her head to drink to soup. She did try to down it all, just because, but couldn't. While the girl liked salty things over sweet things and she knew her taste was accustomed to saltier foods than a normal person's… this soup was way too salty. "Bleargh…"
"Spicyy! what the heck is with this miso soup!?" Heiji exclaimed.
"For real! I knew Tokyo food flavorful, but…" Kazuha complained. "This is just too spicy! How much salt did they put in this!?"
"It's just as they said… It's so spicy I can't drink another drop…" The suspect, the culprit, the murderer AKA Amakasu Tooru, stated. And the three Osakans, two nice and one idiotic bad guy, were met with dumbfounded looks from the Tokyoites.
"What you guys don't think it's spicy?" Heiji frowned.
"No… While it certainly seems like too much salt was added I wouldn't call it spicy, but rather…" Kogoro grumbled.
"Shoppai(salty), right?" Conan smiled.
"Shoppai?" Heiji repeated incredulously.
"People from Tokyo call dishes like curry, or mapo tofu which are prepared using spices 'karai'(spicy), but dishes that are salted would be called 'shoppai'…" Tsukiko explained. "It's the same with other languages too: English has spicy and salty, French has épicé and salé… Apparently rest of the Japanese population is morons." That remark got her elbowed by Sera, thought the tomboy was also smiling.
"Ahem." Conan coughed. "In any case that is why Amakasu-san, who used 'spicy' to describe both the miso soup and the shio ramen, is from the Kansai region!"
"Whaaaat!? Is that for real!?" The detective of West had… completely dumbfounded look on his face.
"So then, you wouldn't say seawater is 'karai'?" Kazuha was asking Ran.
"We'd say it's salty, or 'shoppai' I guess?" The Karate champion smiled.
"T-That's just… I just said the wrong word, is all!" Amakasu began trying to wriggle out of the situation. "I actually was going to say it was salty, but hearing that Osaka guy and girl talk, I just went along with is, sa…"
"See, that's it right there, adding 'sa' to the end there…" Conan was immediately pointing out.
"Didn't you just say it yourself earlier!? That's your normal Tokyo Lingo right there!"
"People from Tokyo don't say 'Tokyo Lingo'!" The detective kid chirped. "Wouldn't the only people who say that be from Kansai region?" Then he turned to look at Megure and Takagi. "We don't say that, do we?"
"Ah, yeah…"
"Well… This is the first time I've heard that appending 'sa' at the end of your speech was something people from Tokyo did…" Takagi said.
"M-Me too… We use it often in phrases like 'ano sa' or 'dakara sa', but I just figured it was normal casual speech…" Ran added.
"However, most people from Kansai do add 'sa' to the end of what they're saying…" Conan smiled. The accused then began pointing fingers at the other suspect who had called a plate of fruits 'mizukashi'. But he was stomped by saying it was old Edo, meaning that the other suspect(whose name Tsukiko didn't know) was truly an born-and-raised Tokyoite. And then happened the scene worth of facepalming: Conan began speaking with Kansai-ben. Poorly executed one at that. Needless to say that it was painful to both watch and hear. Tsukiko could practically see both Kage and Red Moon covering their ears and keeping their eyes closed. But it was more of a feeling anyways…
But then Heiji lost his temper, though it was nothing compared to Amakasu Tooru's explosion. Conan proceeded in telling the man more of the obvious evidence(such as the hand towel and the man's handedness) before gloating.
"- and all of that is what Shinichi-niichan told me over the phone!"
Case closed. Thankfully at last. Tsukiko noted that Camel was leaving the restaurant towards James Black's car.
"Say, do you know that guy?"
"Huh?" The blonde's eye brows rose up and hid underneath her black cap. Sera was looking at her with a slight tilt of head.
"That FBI guy, do you him?" The tomboy repeated. "You made your displeasure of his presence clear several times."
"I don't want to…" Tsukiko sighed, stuffing her hands into the pockets of her jeans. "Due some circumstances I've become familiar with the FBI but I rather not divulge into that much. And Agent Camel… Let's say that he screwed up and I'm not pleased with it. I wasn't back then and I still haven't forgiven him for that." She shrugged. "Now if you excuse me, I have a ride waiting."
"Alright. Just don't forget tomorrow!" Sera grinned.
"As if I could." The blonde mock-shuddered and headed for the door.
"My, that sure was quick, Camel…" Jodie was stating to the huge American just when Tsukiko approached the car. "The case has been solved?"
"Yes… Turns out that the culprit was a man who poisoned to death a company president somewhere to get at some money…" Camel explained. "And because his friend seemed ready to reveal his crime, he called that friend to the restroom and silenced him. It seems that's what the truth turned out to be…"
"And? What's with this picture message you sent… this child?"
"It seems that person is a high school student who came to the crime scene with Conan-kun and the others. Any recognition, Jodie-san? For me, I get the feeling that I've met that person somewhere before…"
"Dunno…" The ex-English teacher muttered. "James, any recognition?"
"No, I don't recall having ever seen that girl…" The boss of the other two stated, leaving Jodie obviously shocked.
"Exactly! I thought she was a boy, but she turned out to be a girl…" Camel said in astonishment. "Huh? How'd you figure that out, that she was a girl?"
"Guess it's the wisdom that comes with age?"
"Eh? You are still mulling over Sera-san?" Tsukiko stated directly behind Camel, having sneaked up on him and now startling him. The man jumped but the blonde girl didn't even bat an eyelid.
"S-Sera…-san?" Jodie repeated. "You know her?"
"Uh-huh. She transterred on Ran-senpai's class about a week ago. You remember the Hotel murder that I told you about? She's the high school detective I mentioned, Sera Masumi-san. Back then I didn't know her full name though. But I did know that she was actually a girl." Tsukiko told the woman before walking around the car and going to sit on the seat behind Black. After a while Camel took the seat behind Jodie and the car left the restaurant relatively quickly.
"Say, Tsukiko-chan, why didn't you tell me you knew this Sera Masumi -girl?" Jodie asked after a while.
"You didn't ask. You only asked why Camel would've sent the pic for you." Tsukiko stated like it was the most obvious thing in the world. Jodie shot her a glare while Black chuckled. Camel glanced awkwardly between the two females and decided not to say anything.
"It was the second block, right?" Black decided to intervene.
"Yeah, I'm going to-…" The girl's cell phone rang. She dug it out of her pocket and glanced at the caller's ID. "And now he calls…"
"Who?" The only female agent asked but Tsukiko had already answered to the call.
"Hello? Nii-san? …You are at the store? …And now you realize you gave me the wrong list! …Yes, I have it…right here." The girl fished a piece of folded paper from her pocket and opened it. "Do you want me to read it for you?" She scowled.
The agents exchanged glances as Tsukiko listed things written on that grocery shopping list.
"You know this means another anime marathon, right?" She stated at the end when she crumbled the paper and put it into the ashtray of the car which resided between the front seats.
"Anime marathon?" Jodie repeated once the call was over.
"Yeah, I blackmail him." Tsukiko grinned. "Nii-san is so fun to tease. Speaking of which I'll be staying at his place for a night. And tomorrow I have something coming up with Suzuki-senpai, Mai-san and Sera-san. I don't know what it is though…"
The ride took a few more minutes towards Beika. From there Tsukiko instructed Black to a slightly different route than directly to the second block. After a while she was able to spot a familiar back walking on the sidewalk with two grocery bags on his hands.
"So he had memorized the list after all…" The girl muttered. "Could you stop here, Black-san? I'll walk the rest."
"Sure, Tsukiko-kun."
"Thanks again!"
The girl left the car and skipped to the fair-haired man with glasses. She tapped on his shoulder and seemed to say something to him. The man smiled and replied with something that resulted the girl punching him in the arm but then to take one of the bags.
"So that's Tsukiko-chan's brother…" Jodie mused when the car resumed its journey. The siblings walked on, occasionally exchanging words, teasing, a laughter from Tsukiko and a smirk from the man, Subaru. "I met him once…"
"You did?" Black questioned.
"Yes, he…" The woman's thoughts shifted on Scar-Akai who she still thought to be real one and about whom she hadn't said a word to Black. "Nevermind… It was just a brief meeting."
"But if he is her brother why wasn't he contacted when she was at the hospital?" Camel asked.
"According to Tsukiko-chan, he had only recently moved and changed his phone number so, the hospital staff couldn't get in touch with him. And he didn't know either that she had been in an accident." The woman answered. Black listened silently his agents talking but didn't comment. Up until know he hadn't known that the girl knew about the real fate of Akai's. After all the 'Silver Bullet' hadn't informed him about it back at the hospital. The American was aware of the name and the face the other had chosen but hadn't really connected them to the girl. Maybe he should talk with the girl some time and find out how much she exactly knew…
Black had to admit though… it was interesting to see how the two interacted with each other. It all seemed to be genuine. Maybe Tsukiko was a good chance for Akai to open up a bit. Although with Sera Masumi in town, the things might become a bit more complicated.
The two Okiya siblings were occupying the sofa of the Kudou library and watching, once again, Detective Conan. It was amazing how it captured one's attention. Tsukiko was honestly surprised how Subaru hadn't yet told her he couldn't handle any more of the episodes.
"He probably enjoys solving the mysteries on his own…" She mused. "And he wants to be up-to-date with what has been going on prior his arrival to Japan. After all it isn't like Conan is actually telling him anything unless he needs man-power or extra brain." The blonde scowled. The detective kid was sometimes too self-assured. He didn't accept anyone's help and believed he could do everything by himself. He was keeping secrets from everyone except Agasa… Yeah, the old man was probably the only one who knew enough to honestly keep up with the boy. Haibara was pushed to the sidelines ever since the showdown on Halloween. Though the girl herself had also closed up. Heiji only appeared time to time. Mostly to poke information Conan couldn't get. FBI was staying clear(including Akai/Subaru). And the bespectacled kid's parents? Well, they were across the sea. While it was true that Yukiko stopped by every week… (Tsukiko rather not thought about the travelling expensies) She didn't really know much, Yusaku only what he heard from his wife. Yep, Conan was being a prat.
"It was about the time you came to that conclusion…" Kage muttered.
"Yeah, the kid is cute but his attitude needs improving." Red Moon nodded(mentally).
"I've always known it, just preferred to ignore it. And hope he'd improve…" Tsukiko sighed, once again vexed when the other two agreed on something... and ganged up on her. She honestly couldn't say which was more annoying. The duo of alter egos fighting or agreeing. But now wasn't the time to mull over it.
"Hey, Subaru-nii… I can't wait for the next few episodes… It's the Arcade, Mysterious Passenger and Panda Car ones. We get to laugh at the horrible art quite soon!"
A/N: And this is done! \o/ I'll try to get the next chapter started soon so you can have it some time on the next week. Meanwhile you will get though the next chapiteer of Lari's story. I bet you won't expect the twist I'll throw in right in the beginning. *evil grin* But that's about it. It's time for...
Review Replies:
-Zeladious:
That's... an interesting suggestion.
Thank you. :D It's alright though. If you have any fanart about this fic, I'm glad to see it anyways.
-BallerinaGin4Evr:
Still getting used to your nick...
As you can see, they did. And Jodie did recognize him. But of course she didn't make the connection with Akai. Besides Tsukiko did mention to Jodie that she had been at the Department Store with her brother so she won't think about it much until Scarlet Arc.
Don't worry, I'll try to keep this on-going. There's so many cases that I can't wait to write.
-kujyou12:
I will, thank you. :D