SailorStar9: With Chapter 147 uploaded, I present Chapter 148 of this fic. (Sighs) Guys and girls, is it too hard for you to leave a review, instead of just putting this fic up on your favorited list and story alerts?

Disclaimers: I do not own Sailor Moon or Detective Conan, I only own this plotline and the pairing.

Pairing: Established!Furuya Rei/Mizuno Ami

Chapter 148: Welcome to Bocchan Restaurant, Part One


Sometime later...

The Detective Boys were running past a bench on a side road when Ayumi spotted a gravely injured cat underneath said bench.

"It's really hurt." Genta remarked, Haibara was consoling the sobbing Ayumi. "Did it get hit by a car?"

"It doesn't seem like it." Conan took a look at the cat's injuries. "There aren't any signs that it has been hit by a car. Someone probably hit or kicked it." using a handkerchief, he plucked out the pink thread tangled in the cat's claw. "This might serve as a clue to finding the culprit." he added, plucking out a second yellow strand.


At Bocchan Restaurant...

"Bocchan Restaurant?" Conan blinked, the Detective Boys were led by the police cars to the restaurant doors.

"You kids again?" Mouri snorted.

"That man's shirt is pink and yellow." Mitsuhiko pointed out, spotting the stabbed Koga Ushio, aka Uranari floating in the restaurant's pond.

"The victim is Bocchan Restaurant's employee Koga Ushio-san, thirty-six years old." Takagi reported. "The weapon hasn't been found, but is most likely a kitchen knife-like blade. The body is abandoned in Sanshiro Lake. According to Mizuno-san, he was killed last night around midnight. This morning, according to Bocchan Restaurant manager, Akazawa Zenichi-san, whose home is located here at the restaurant, discovered the body."

"Who could have killed Uranari." Akazawa muttered.

"It's possible that cat happened to be here at the crime scene last night." Conan reasoned. "Since their crime was witnessed, they intended to silence him."

"Regarding the criminal profile, since the murder occurred within the restaurant late at night, it's hard to imagine that it was committed by an outsider." Takagi continued.

"So, it's likely that the murder was committed by someone who works in the Bocchan Restaurant." Megure noted.

"Inspector Megure," Chiba came in. "All the employees have arrived for work."

"That's our uniform." Akazawa supplied when the entire restaurant's employees walked in.

"Uranari's been killed." one of the 'bodyguards' commented.

"What evildoer could do such a thing?" Shima Rokusuke, aka Bocchan, lamented. "The sun may forgive them, but I will not."

"How marvelous." Kiyohara Uni, aka Kiyo, sobbed. "Bocchan's sense of justice is this old Kiyo's pride and joy."

"Now you've done it, you dastardly Red Shirt." Hotta Izumi, aka Arashi Yama, fumed. "All to get at Madonna."

"Please, Arashi Yama-san." Toyama Chiaki, aka Madonna, chided. "You make it seem like I'm the reason for this."

"I'll never do anything as senseless as kill someone." Akazawa Zenichi, aka Red Shirt, refuted.

"Indeed." Yoshikawa Kozo, aka Nodaiko, concurred. "You suspect the president? What a fool."

"Nodaiko, stay out of this." Hotta snapped.

"Let's not cast suspicion on each other." Tanuma Toyoo, aka Tanuki, stepped in.

"You're always afraid to rock the boat, Tanuki." Hotta retorted.

"Bocchan Restaurant recreates the world inside a novel, doesn't it?" Conan asked Akazawa.

"I'm impressed you noticed, boy." Akazawa gushed. "That's our selling point."

"A novel?" Genta and Ayumi echoed.

"You haven't heard of 'Bocchan'?" Mitsuhiko chided. "'Bocchan' is a famous novel written during the Meiji Era by Natsume Soseki. The protagonist Bocchan leaves his old maidservant, Kiyo-san in Tokyo to begin teaching in a school in Shikoku. His students played pranks on him, like putting grasshoppers on his bed. The principal Tanuki is irresponsible. Meanwhile, he learns that his colleague Uranari-kun's fiancée, Madonna-san, has been taken from him by the head teacher, Red Shirt. The righteous Bocchan is unable to forgive them, so he and his colleague, Yama Arashi-san, beat up Red Shirt and his obsequious sidekick, Nodaiko-san. It's a very satisfying story."

"You're lucky, onee-san." Ayumi told Toyama. "You get to wear such pretty clothes while bringing customers their food."

"That's not my only job." Toyama replied.


A while later...

"You think I did it?" Akazawa barked.

"We received testimony." Megure revealed. "You and the victim, Uranari-san, or Koga Ushio, were romantic rivals. You fought over Toyama Chiaki-san, who plays Madonna."

"And you live on restaurant grounds." Takagi added. "It's possible you invited your romantic rival over last night."

"Impossible." Akazawa argued. "He was responsible for all of your reception staff. What kind of manager would murder the backbone of his business?"

"One thing may have led to another." Mouri spoke. "You invited Uranari-san over and asked him to leave Madonna-san alone. But he wouldn't listen, so without thinking, you stabbed him."

"Why would I have been holding a knife, then?" Akazawa countered.

"To threaten him." Mouri declared. "After all, Red Shirt is a dastardly fellow who will do anything to get his way."

"Please don't confuse the novel with reality." Akazawa chided. "If you think I did it, I'd like to see some evidence."

"The victim Uranari had a terrible reputation?" Megure echoed after Chiba reported in.

"Are you sure you're not mistaken?" Mouri chided. "Uranari is a kind-hearted and good man."

"In the novel." Chiba reminded. "Apparently Mizuno-san was right when she said the real persons are very likely to be quite different from the characters they play. For example, the dastardly Red Shirt, is a good-natured man who cares for his employees. Bocchan is actually a twisted man with no sense of justice. Yama Arashi is a delicate cry-baby. Madonna seems plain, but she wrestled as a student. Uranari was incredibly strict and he often yelled at his subordinates as the head receptionist. Naturally, everyone working in the customer service strongly disliked him."

"Inspector, that means the culprit is one of the good guys in the novel." Mouri decided. "Either Bocchan or Yama Arashi."

"Stop thinking about the novel already." Megure sighed.

"They did have old scores to settle." Chiba voiced.

"We'll have to question the reception staff, too." Takagi added.

"Summon them." Megure ordered.


Afterwards...

"Now, you think my reception staff did it?" Akazawa twitched.

"They have motive as well." Mouri informed. "Just like you."

"We haven't been able to verify last night's alibis for Shima-san who plays Bocchan." Megure declared. "Hotta-san who plays Yama Arashi, and Yoshikawa-san who plays Nodaiko; you three are the only ones."

"Have an alibi is a bigger miracle." Shima retorted.

"It was midnight." Hotta reminded.

"We're suspects because of that?" Yoshikawa scoffed. "Unbelievable."

"We'll have to question you later." Megure stated. "We appreciate your cooperation."

"We received testimony that those three without alibis hated Uranari." Chiba supplied.


The next day...

A startled Kiyohara found Akazawa hanging from a branch beside the restaurant's pool.

"'I offer my own death as an apology to the man I killed.'" Megure read the suicide note written on the stone plaque near the pool.

"Inspector, this is found on the alter of Red Shirt's home." Takagi ran in with Chiba in tow, a blood-stained knife was bagged as evidence.

"That's probably the weapon used in Uranari's murder." Megure noted. "After killing his romantic rival, Uranari, he realized he couldn't escape his guilt, so he took his own life."

"You don't seem satisfied." Haibara noticed Conan's pondering expression.

"If he really did it, then why leave the weapon on the alter?" Conan questioned.

"Maybe he disposed it initially, but once he decided to kill himself, he left it there by way of apology." Mitsuhiko suggested.

"Then, why didn't he write his noted on a piece of paper?" Conan asked.

"Because their handwriting would give it away." Haibara replied.

"You mean to say Red Shirt's death wasn't a suicide?" Mitsuhiko exclaimed.

"I'm saying it's possible that it was faked." Conan corrected. "They knocked him out and hanged him by the neck. Then, they fabricated a suicide note and placed the murder weapon on the alter to frame Red Shirt for the murder of Uranari-san. If that's true, they must have left some evidence. It's damp?" he blinked, climbing up the tree and noticed the area around the branch the rope was tied to was wet. "There are drops of water on the leaves of the branch beneath it. His hair and clothes are also wet."

"He just got out of the bath." Mouri retorted.

"We still don't know the suicide note was faked." Conan reminded the Detective Boys.


Back on the side walk where they found the injured cat...

"You found the cat here, right?" Conan returned to the bench after the veterinarian confirmed the cat had two broken legs.

"He was meowing under there." Ayumi pointed.

"Bocchan Restaurant is pretty far from here." Conan related. "A cat with two broken legs couldn't have traveled that distance. That cat was attacked not at Bocchan Restaurant, but near here."

"Edogawa-kun." Haibara called out, the Detective Boys were at a playground nearby to search for more clues.

"It's a bloodstain." Conan noticed the blood splutter. "That cat's fur is stuck on it." he also spotted a wooden stick nearby. "The crime actually took place here two nights ago."


SailorStar9: Any OOC-ness is regretted. *Sighs* Don't you just hate plot bunnies sometimes? Read and review.