File Thirty-Four: The First Three Targets
"Ah! Look, look! Conan-kun and I are a perfect match!"
The three boys sitting a few feet away from her flinched at that, completely startled. They all turned to look at Ayumi, who was standing in front of an old arcade machine. The game was about tarot cards or some of that girly stuff ─ Conan didn't really know, he hadn't paid much attention.
Conan's lip twitched, slightly, as he heard the other two denying the claim ─ Genta was sure the game was broken while Mitsuhiko claimed that fortune-telling was definitely fake. His eyes turned to the screen, noticing that it clearly said 'You and your boyfriend are a complete match!'
Really, when exactly did I become her boyfriend?
She smiled at him, widely, before returning to the game. He couldn't help but sigh when he spotted her putting in the date 'November 13th' in the machine. Hey, hey, don't go finding out other people's fortunes...
"This must be about me and Conan-kun!" she squealed when the words 'A sudden closeness to your special someone!' appeared on screen.
The boy gave it a long look, before a dry chuckle escaped from his lips. Yep, definitely broken, he decided before spotting two people coming their way.
In the distance, he spotted Haibara walking in front of Agasa, who seemed to be apologizing for some reason if the nervous smile on his face was something to go by. She was crossing her arms in front of her chest, probably complaining about something ─ Conan guessed it was the reason they were late in the first place.
In no time, they were standing right in front of them. Only then, the boy noticed the dark bags under the girl's eyes.
"I'm sorry, everyone," Haibara apologized, muffing a yawn under her hand before continuing. "I forgot to set up my alarm," then turned to glare at Agasa. "And it seems like the Professor here slept right through it, as usual."
Agasa let out a strangled laugh, before turning to look at three pairs of unamused looks shot his way. Even the three boys in front of him knew that, hadn't Haibara been there, they would have been waiting for hours to an end.
"A chance for an 'A'?" came Ayumi's curious voice.
They all turned to her, just to realize she was still playing the same game.
"Ayumi-chan," Conan blinked. "Whose birthday did you put in?"
"Shinichi-oniisan's," she replied, with a bright smile. "This fortune-telling was so much fun that I wanted to try it with other people, so..."
"A-Ah," he forced a smile. "Is that so...?"
"Then, why didn't you try me?" Mitsuhiko quickly asked.
"Or me," Genta added.
The girl gave the bespectacled boy a curious glance, not failing to notice the way his expression morphed the moment Ayumi's eyes left him, or the way he seemed to exhaled, as if exhausted, shoulders slumping slightly. He didn't seem to notice the shift himself, though.
"Because this is a love fortune-telling," Ayumi's grin widened. "You guys don't have a girlfriend."
At the sight of the two children deflating, Conan couldn't help but laugh a tiny bit, before turning to glance at Ayumi, who was blinking cluelessly at their attitude. Have some mercy, Ayumi-chan.
"Nevermind, what does 'A' mean?" she asked. "Do you know, Conan-kun?"
"Hmm..." Conan's eyes narrowed, caressing his chin with his finger as he thought. "If it is the letter 'A'... The first thing that comes to my mind is the word 'Ace' from the cards, or even 'first', but..."
It doesn't make any sense.
At his side, Haibara chuckled lightly. This caused his eyebrow to twitch, irritably, completely ignoring the other two struggling to come up with the meaning of it.
"What's so funny?"
"Nothing," she shrugged. "I just find quite intriguing that you can solve multiple locked-room murders so easily yet struggle with the meaning of word that came from a girls' cheap game."
"Well, excuse me for not being a girl," he groaned, watching Agasa excitedly telling his friends that they should get going, followed by a cheer for the three children, before they followed suit. The two of them did the same, only a certain distance away. "By the way, did you know? You aren't supposed to be working so late. Especially when you have just recovered from the wounds Gin inflicted you the other time."
"I know that," the little scientist didn't even bat an eye.
Conan didn't say anything else, knowing he couldn't really tell her not to work as hard when her own life also went with it. But at the same time, he felt this was a bit of his fault. Ever since he had told her that his brother's life was in danger, she had began to work even harder than before. He couldn't help but think that his words had some sort of impact in her.
He still couldn't get around the fact that it had worked.
"So, any other question?"
Conan hummed, crossing his arms behind his head. "Well, yeah. Just something I'm curious about," his mouth curved into a teasing smile. "How come that such a mature and overly clever girl, that was intelligent enough to develop that mysterious drug, had a babysitter?"
She gave him a slight glare. "Caretaker, not babysitter," the girl corrected with a groan and he couldn't help but let his grin grow even wider. "I had several, in fact. I was told that they were there to take care of me and raise me because of my short age, but in reality I think they were there just to monitor me. They would take shifts to stay with me so I would never be alone."
"So you wouldn't escape," his eyes narrowed, his smile long gone after receiving that information. "It must have been really annoying."
"Well," a small smile blossomed on her face. "Not all of them were that bad."
Blinking, confusedly, Conan stopped. He stared at her back while she continued walking, not bothering to wait for him, as he let the words sink in.
"... What?"
The girl did not even pause, causing Conan to let out a low groan, frustrated over the fact he was, once again, unable to understand what was going through the young scientist's mind, before starting to walk as well.
Soon the group arrived to Touto Aeronautic Memorial Museum, and it didn't take them long to realize that the long wait had been worth it. It impressed the three children greatly, grinning widely as they took in every single cool plane they saw and were allowed to walk into.
Conan was enjoying it as well, but he wasn't that amazed since he had already visited the place not that long ago. In fact, it had happened the second month upon arriving in Beika. His brother had taken him, out the blue, one day after school.
His gaze focused on the pamphlet they had given them at the entrance and he couldn't help the nostalgic smile crossing his face when his eyes fell on a certain section.
"The helicopter pilot simulator?" Conan's eyebrow raised at that.
"Yeah, doesn't that sound cool?" Shinichi's grin widened, if possible, causing the child to give him a blank look. "Hey, you could, at least, pretend to be a bit excited, you know."
"I would have, probably, if I were illiterate," he pointed to a certain section on the pamphlet. "It clearly says here that the helicopter simulator is only for fifth graders and up."
"Ah, so that's your problem?" he took the little one's hand and started dragging him forward. "It's okay, it's okay. Nobody is watching anyway."
"... Eh...? H-Hey, wait!"
Indeed, they did it. At first Conan hesitated as he was ushered to sit inside, and he really had his doubts when he rested his hands on the controls. But, eventually, as Shinichi patiently explained how to pilot the virtual helicopter, he began to loosen up. He was getting the hang of it pretty quickly.
When the helicopter suddenly shifted due to a turbulence, Conan let out a startled laugh.
Seeing the child having fun, smiling like he hadn't seen him in a long while, made everything worth for Shinichi. So he laughed, rather loudly, as well.
Upon remembering Shinichi's good-hearted laughter, his own smile faltered. At that time, Conan hadn't been aware of what he knew now. He had absolutely no idea about his brother's true identity.
His grip against the phampelet tightened, crumpling it a tiny bit, but he couldn't bring himself to care. Was it... the ghost of the smile from before was still there, yet it only made him look more miserable. Was all of it... Every single little thing... just big, elaborated lie?
"Hey, hey," Genta's loud voice brought him out his thoughts. "Isn't that Shishido Eimei?"
A man, who was definitely Shishido Eimei, turned around after hearing his name, smiling. He pointed at them with his camera, took a few photos, then grinned while waving his back.
"He's so cool!" Mitsuhiko, Genta and Ayumi commented.
"He's so rude," Haibara pointed out, annoyed, as she walked away from the spot behind Agasa ─ after perfectly playing the role of the shy little girl that was scared from the camera. "I don't remember ever saying that it was okay to take a photo of us."
Conan couldn't help but agree.
That afternoon, Conan came back home just to see Kogoro putting on his necktie, still on his underwear, and Ran holding his coat for him. At the sight of it, the child blinked.
"Weren't we supposed to have dinner with your mother today?" he asked the girl, who nodded. "Then, why is Kogoro-ojisan...?"
An annoyed expression took hold of her face. "He went out to play mahjong around lunchtime," she huffed. "He just got home."
Kogoro groaned, mumbling something along the lines of 'why do I have to meet with that woman', but the kid paid no mind. That was because of the reporter speaking behind the TV that was left turned on, forgotten by both daughter and father. They were interviewing a man called Asahi Katsuyoshi, owner of the entertainment complex Aquacrystal which was set to open soon.
When the TV suddenly went black. He spun around, in surprise, before noticing the stern look Ran was giving his way, causing him to finally realize he was supposed to get ready as well. "I'm going!" he exclaimed, rushing towards the room he shared with Kogoro.
As soon as he got there, he opened the wardrobe and started searching for something nice to put on. Now, now, he sighed, as he kept on looking. He didn't have time for this, and he had to hurry, unless he wanted to be a target for Ran's wrath. Where did I leave shirt?
Moving a coat around, something else appeared in front of him. Peeking from behind the clothes was a small blue box he barely remembered putting in there. One look to the note that was stuck on top of it and his shoulders dropped, memories instantly returning to his mind.
"Happy Birthday, Conan!"
His handwriting, rushed yet clear all the same, was unmistakable.
So was his voice, stuck on the little one's head, repeating the same words over and over again:
"... and I would make them disappear."
A frown made its appearance on his features and he glared down at the innocent gift, as if it was the source of all that anger he had inside him, before he set it away.
He couldn't bear to look at it any longer.
Of course, they didn't get to the restaurant on time.
Right after arriving at the French Restaurant 'La Fleur' they opened the door to find the woman waiting for them, sitting cross legged on the couch in the waiting room.
"Sorry we're late, Mom," Ran rushed ahead to meet her.
"That's okay," Eri smiled. "I'm sure someone was playing mahjong until late anyway."
Kogoro grunted at that, looking away with a very annoyed expression on his face. Ran just blinked, surprised, while Conan let out a chuckle, crossing his arms behind his head.
"Wow, you are sharp, Obasan!" he then turned to the man. "Now I see why you two are married."
"That better not be sarcasm, brat," Kogoro glared.
The daughter couldn't help but let out a nervous laugh, while her mother giggled under her hand. With a smile still on her face, she leaned towards the child.
"Good evening, Conan-kun," she smiled. "Look at you, you have gotten so big."
"G-Good evening," he replied, unsure of what he was supposed to answer to that.
To be fair, he didn't even remember her at all, so he must have been really small last time they saw each other.
Just as he was saying that, a man entered the restaurant together with two other women. Kogoro recognized him as Hiroki Tsuji, an acquaintance of his that happened to be a professional golfer. So, the detective introduced the three of them to him.
Conan swore he would take revenge when he was introduced as 'the freeloader Conan'.
Turned out Tsuji also had his own helicopter which he piloted. He even invited them to fly that Sunday. Everyone was beyond overjoyed at the prospect, until Kogoro declined due to his fear of heights.
Geez, how boring, Conan groaned.
Dinner went great after that.
Sawaki Kohei, a sommelier that had known Kogoro and Eri since they were young, received them and set a wine over the table. At that moment, Ran had started to cheerfully talk about the temperature wines should be served, then claiming that she had read all of it in Nishina Minoru's book.
Some time later, Conan and Ran grinned at each other, noticing the two adults were talking and laughing with each other, in a good mood, while remembering the last time they went to that restaurant fifteen years ago. Apparently, Kogoro had given Eri some Zigoba chocolates that she loved so much.
But, of course, he had to ruin it. From the window, he saw Okano Towako, mistress of a club he frequently went to, with the newscaster Peter Ford. Kogoro got jealous and got Eri mad, in turn.
Then she left, without even having dessert.
It had been a week ever since.
Inspector Megure had been shot with an arrow. Kogoro had gotten the news right when they were on their way to go hiking with Conan's friends ─ except for Haibara, who had declined in order to have some work done on the antidote.
Only when Genta mistakenly read the name on his hospital room as 'Megure Jusan' did Conan realize he had never gotten to hear the inspector's first name. So his name is Megure Juzo, huh?
Luckily Megure turned out to be okay, they were told so by Shiratori once they all arrived. Even so, Conan found it weird they would just randomly shoot a police officer.
"Hey, Inspector," Genta inquired. "You had your gun, right?"
"And they still got away?" Ayumi asked, not getting her head around the fact.
"Why would he have his gun while he was jogging?" Kogoro raised an eyebrow.
"Besides, even if I had it on me, my skill isn't as good as Mouri-kun's over there," Megure pointed out.
"Eh?" Ran blinked. "Dad is good with a gun?"
"I guess everyone has a virtue here and there," Conan sarcastically pointed out.
"What was that about?" the detective glared.
Kogoro's attention was brought away from him, however, when Shiratori continued explaining the case to him. He told them that they had found something odd in the place the crossbow had been fired from.
Conan contemplated the sword figure, wondering where he had seen such a thing before.
Soon however, the group left Megure to rest, after being assured that the inspector would be just fine. It was quiet, however, as both Kogoro and Conan seemed to be in deep thought, wondering what that piece of evidence could mean.
Ran gave her phone a long look, frowning slightly. Shinichi might know something...
But then decided against it. That idiot hadn't called ever since they have last seen each other. She definitely didn't want to talk to him now.
... Really, she didn't.
"Maybe it's for the best," Conan's quiet voice came from her left, noticing the way she was looking at her phone. "It's probably better to leave him alone."
Conan offered her a strained smile, before he walked a bit faster to catch up with his friends. It left Ran extremely confused as to why he was suddenly talking that way about his brother.
At least until they got home.
The answer lied on her feet. There, small and alone inside her father's trash bin was the same blue box she had seen Conan find on their doorstep more than two weeks ago. Gingerly picking it up she noticed the note stuck on it, and her suspicions were confirmed.
That was Shinichi's birthday gift for Conan.
Which the little boy had apparently decided to throw away.
Did those two... get into a fight? she wondered, frowning slightly, as she stared at the unwanted gift on her hands.
Why doesn't Shinichi say anything? Why isn't he answering my calls?
Before she could ask anything about it, she received a call that made her heart skip a beat.
Her mother had been poisoned.
Luckily, her stomach had been cleaned right away, thus saving her from death. The fact that she had been poisoned, however, was something that still greatly concerned everyone.
The criminal had sent her a box of Zigoba, the chocolates she loved and that Kogoro had given her on the first date. At this point, it was evident that the lawyer had carelessly eaten thinking that her husband had sent her to make amends.
There was also a paper flower that Conan was absolutely sure he had seen before.
When Conan declined his friends' offer to play some soccer after class in the park, just so he could head home earlier, they hadn't argued.
None of them had failed to notice that something about Conan was off, even if they hadn't yet realized what it was. He had been acting the same way as always. He would still ace every single test in the wink of an eye yet look incredibly bored at the same time. The sarcastic comments that would often roll off his mouth hadn't stopped, and he still would laugh whenever he found something funny.
Yet, every once in a while, they would notice. Whenever he thought nobody was looking, his gaze would stray away, losing himself inside his many, many thoughts. At time like these, his eyes would show other feelings in a way they would never do otherwise.
This had been going on for almost a month.
So, as they watched the boy slowly walking away, the three children looked at each other and nodded. Then, in perfect synchrony, they turned around to face their other friend.
Haibara sighed.
Not long thereafter, the door to the agency opened and a little boy walked in. "I'm home," he called, only receiving a mumble from the man on the desk, far too focused on the papers in his hands.
Partly it amazed Conan to see Kogoro working this hard, but then he realized it might been because of his wife. Stupid, he shook his head, amused at the thought that he still denied he loved Eri, despite this.
"Welcome home, Conan-kun," Ran smiled, appearing from the doorway. He smiled at her back, before turning to go to his room, when the girl stopped him. "Do you have a minute? There's something I want to talk to you about."
Not only Conan seemed to be curious about that, since Kogoro also seemed to raise his head. Seeing that she had the boy's attention, she showed him something she had hidden behind her back.
At the sight of the blue gift on her hands, Conan sighed loudly. Should have thrown it somewhere else, he realized. Yet, to be fair, he wasn't really thinking clearly through the anger.
Noticing his evident discomfort, Ran's gaze softened. "Did you two have a fight?" she asked, gently, slowly moving closer to him. "Or is it there something else bothering you?"
At the lack of response, Kogoro could only blink even more. What was she even talking about?
"If there's something you want to-"
"Nothing is wrong," he replied, maybe a tad too fast for it to be believable. "It's just that... Shinichi-niichan and I are not in talking terms at the moment," he admitted, inching closer to the door. "But it's okay, really."
"Conan-kun!" Ran's eyebrows were brought together, in concern. "How can that be oka-?"
"I'm going to the Professor's!" he said suddenly, forcing a smile on his face that did not convince anyone. "I left a book there the other day and I want it back."
Kogoro stood up, a frown carved on his features. "Hey, brat!" he called.
But the door closed before any of them could do anything.
Like so, father and daughter exchanged a look before the former, after sighing, sat back on his desk to continue doing his work. Ran just gazed again at the gift, her eyes adopting a slightly sadder glimmer, before silently retreating to her room.
And the boy just skateboarded to Agasa's home, his smile having dropped seconds after leaving the agency. It's okay, he repeated on his mind, over and over. A person like that... It's better to stay away, his little fists clenched. Because that's not the person I have known all my life. That's not my brother...
Overtaken by those negative thoughts that would cause his heart to ache, he closed his eyes tightly shut.
Shinichi's grinning face flashed behind his eyelids.
... Is he?
"Conan?" before he realized it, he had arrived at his destination. He looked up to see Agasa's confused face. "What are you doing here?"
He hesitated for a second, realizing he didn't really have a excuse to be there, until he glanced at the skateboard under his arm.
"I think there's something wrong with this," he offered the gadget to its inventor. "It doesn't seem to be as fast as it was before."
Agasa hummed for a moment. "I'll see what I can do," he said and left to check it out. Conan watched him go, before stumbling to the couch and dropping on it, letting his bag slip from his shoulders to the ground.
Sighing, completely exhausted and drained, the boy brought one of his arms on top of his eyes, taking his time to enjoy the quietness of the room. He stayed there, for god knows how long, hoping that his thoughts would just put themselves in order.
Quite honestly, he didn't really want to deal with his own feelings anymore.
"So, you ran away?"
The female voice prompted the boy to jump out of his skin, instantly sitting up to see Haibara standing right in front of him, a plain look plastered on her face. She still was carrying her bag pack, so he figured she must have just gotten home.
"Care to explain what you mean with that or will you just leave it as one of your many enigmatic comments of yours?" Conan raised an eyebrow.
"You said you were going home, yet you are here. And that is there, too," she motioned at his bag. "Besides, you're sighing like-"
"Okay, I get it," Conan huffed, before letting out a weak chuckle. "I confess, I'm the criminal. Take me to jail right now, Detective Haibara."
"Now I see why you do this all the time. It's quite fun."
As the girl went to put her things away, the boy rolled his eyes and gathered the bag from the floor, in an attempt to distract himself with something, and went to pick up his mystery book. His fingers, however, grasped something entirely different. Pulling his hand out, he realized right away that they were the photos he had stolen from Kogoro's desk the other day.
His eyes focused on the knife and the flower that had been found. He still couldn't tell where they had come from.
"You know is not healthy," Haibara continued once she returned. "Yet you keep doing it."
Conan looked away from the photographs and back at her. "What do you mean?" he questioned, genuinely confused.
"That you keep running away from your own feelings."
His eyes widened for a moment, before he looked away with a scoff. He was about to point out the ridiculousness of her statement just now, when they heard the door window suddenly shattering.
"What's that?!" Agasa suddenly appeared in the living room, Conan's skateboard still on his hands.
The three of them rushed to the door, just to see a rock lying on the entrance, surrounded by several glass shards. Naturally, Agasa grew mad and stomped towards it, hand reaching for the knob.
There was a man in a bike, parked just in front of the house. Conan felt his blood run cold when he saw him pointing what it seemed to be a crossbow towards the way they stood.
"Professor!" he screamed. "Don't open it!"
But he did, and then turned around to give the child a confused look.
Before an arrow was shot to his back. Both children panicked, seeing him falling suddenly, and rushed towards the old man.
The attacker began to drive away.
"Haibara-san!" Conan said, in a hurry, taking the skateboard that the professor had dropped when he had been attacked. "I leave the Professor to you!"
"Eh?! Wait!"
The boy was gone in a flash, chasing after the attacker on his skateboard. Determined not to let him go.
He lost him at some point, however.
When he returned to Agasa's home, the child noticed something lying on the grass. Picking it up and looking at it from close, he finally recognized that sword-like object.
After giving Haibara a quick call, he headed towards the hospital where Agasa had been sent. Not without passing by a store and buying a deck of playing cards.
Kogoro blinked, cluelessly, at the card in he held between his fingers.
He had just arrived a few seconds ago, and he hadn't even put a foot inside the room before a card had been shoved at his face. He had blinked down at the boy's serious face, and swiftly glanced at the two cards on his little hands, before looking back at his.
He raised an eyebrow, wondering what was so special with the Queen of Hearts.
The child then held the King of Spades, before letting them see the photo of the spade that had been found on scene behind it. "Inspector Megure's name is Juzo, right?" he simply pointed out. "Just like you would write 'thirteen', right? Like the King of Spades."
Then, Kogoro's eyes opened widely, before focusing on the card on his hands. "Wait, this flower...!"
Conan nodded. "Yeah, just like the one that Eri-obasan had received," he explained. "Since her maiden name is Kisaki, which happens to mean 'queen' in English. In other words..."
"The Queen of Hearts," Kogoro frowned at the card, before turning to the child. "Then, the Professor..."
"The Jack of Spades," Haibara's calm voice sounded from the other side of the room, eyes narrowing slightly at the sight of the plastic bag with the evidence found in Agasa's yard a few hours ago. "That sword-like object alludes to the knight, right?"
"Exactly," Conan nodded at her, before glancing at the professor. "The Professor's name is Agasa Hiroshi. The character for 'shi' is a combination of ten and one. Therefore, eleven."
"So...the culprit is trying to kill thirteen people, whose numbers correspond to one to thirteen in the descending sequence of the cards?"
"That's right... Thirteen people," Conan's eyes took a solemn glint as he looked at the older man. "All related to you."
Every single person in the room looked at the child, shocked, realizing that he was actually right. Then, Kogoro began to wonder if there was a person that had such a grudge against him to try and kill all those people.
Just then, Megure came in and, after assuring everyone that he would be okay as long as his stitches remained on place, told them that he suspected that a person called Murakami Jo, a lone-wolf card dealer, was the culprit. Apparently he had committed murder ten years ago and had just been released on parole last week. Kogoro wasn't even surprised to hear that Murakami could have a grudge against him ─ as it turned out, he had been the one to arrest him.
"No way!" Ran's eyes widened. "Isn't given that a police detective's job is to arrest suspects?"
Conan did not miss the way Kogoro shifted, uncomfortably. Or the way Shiratori wanted to say something more about what had happened between them, just to be stopped by Megure, for some reason.
An uncomfortable silence settled in.
"So, who is next?" Haibara's voice broke it, instantly, turning to face Kogoro. "There must be someone you know with the number ten in their name."
Kogoro closed his eyes, in deep thought. "Ten, huh? Ten..." he mumbled, before gasping. "Towako-san!"
Of course. Since 'to' meant 'ten' in English.
Like so, they all decided to go to her club to check on her. Just as she was going through the door however, Ran turned around, and smiled to the little girl, who still sat in a chair beside Agasa's bed and kindly offered her to stay the night with them.
Her emotionless expression did not change even after the offer, and she didn't even try to answer. At that, Conan could only let out a dry laugh.
"It's okay, Ran-kun," Agasa replied, a nervous smile on his face. "Ai-kun is a bit too shy to stay in someone else's home."
Shy? Conan's lip twitched upwards. Are we talking about the same girl?
Haibara noticed his look and turned her head away, avoiding his gaze.
"But..." Ran tried.
"Don't worry. I'll try to talk to the staff so she can stay at my room here."
Ran hesitated, before sighing and finally leaving. The little boy gave the silent girl a last, curious, glance before shrugging and continuing their way to the car.
Towako turned out to be just fine, but Megure and Kogoro decided to stay the night just in case something happened to her. Like so, Shiratori was appointed to take the other two home. On their way and finally alone, Ran decided to finally ask what Shiratori had wanted to say before.
His answer caused her blood to freeze.
Ten years ago, while Murakami had been interrogated, little Ran and her mother had come by to give Kogoro a change of clothes, when the criminal tried to escape and held Eri as a hostage.
Kogoro had shot his wife in the leg, even if the bullet had only grazed her.
"Now I remember," Ran's eyes were wide as two plates. "I'd forgotten all about it until now."
"It was something you didn't want to remember, Ran-san," Shiratori explained.
Conan didn't say anything, just took a long look at the girl's distressed face. Something she didn't want to remember, huh? he contemplated her, for a few moments, before looking outside the window. A memory so painful and sad that Ran-neechan can not bear to remember any longer...
Shiratori and Ran continued talking about the case, yet the little boy could not bring himself to pay attention. There was something bothering him. Bugging him at the back of his mind, yet he couldn't hope to grasp it.
It would just go away, just like that.
With a heavy sigh, he leaned his head against the window.
But to think that Occhan actually shoot Eri-obasan when they were together, his eyes closed, deep in thought. What could he been thinking about?
To point a gun towards someone you love and greatly care about...
The muzzle he would see in his dreams from time to time flashed behind his eyelids.
Someone... Someone so important in your life...
Then, he saw the blood again...
So important that you...
... And those icy blue eyes.
Conan shook his head, eyes snapping open, doing his best to concentrate on the people strolling in the sidewalk in the middle of the darkened night. Anything to keep his mind away from those terrifying memories.
Yet, he was unsuccessful.
Come to think of it... His name has the kanji for 'one', doesn't it?
So he pulled out his phone from his pocket.
He stared at it for a moment, hesitation filling his features before he frowned, flipping the device open.
"There's someone out there targeting people that Occhan knows, whose names correspond to a number. So far he has attacked number thirteen, twelve and eleven.
Your name has the number 'one' in it. Just figured you should know so you could watch your back."
Kogoro never returned home that night. As a result, Conan woke up the next morning to the sight of the bed next to him completely empty, devoid of any trace of the drunken detective that would usually be snoring away on top of it.
Like that, Conan got up. Getting himself ready, remaining caught in his own thoughts as he did.
He had been up until late last night thinking about the suspect, Murakami, wondering about his true objectives. Was he really only trying to get revenge against Kogoro or...?
Besides, there was also the fact that he had been in prison until lately, which was weird considering that he had found out about Kogoro's acquaintances and Eri's favourite brand of chocolate.
Just as he was thinking about it, his eyes fell on a picture frame of the professional golfer that also owned an helicopter they had seen before. He could easily read his signature written all over the photograph.
"Tsuji Hiroki"
Tsuji Hiroki... Tsuji... his eyes opened when he realized that there was a radical of ten within the character. Ten!
"Ran-neechan!" he took off running towards her room, startling the girl so badly that she thought she would have a heart attack. "Hiroki-san! It's Tsuji Hiroki-san!"
Once he managed to get the message across, Ran instantly rushed towards the phone to call to Tsuji's house only to get told that he had left for the heliport thirty minutes ago. So, he called her Inspector Megure next.
When she turned to him and told him that they should go too, completely forgetting that they both had school today, Conan couldn't help but blink, cluelessly.
Soon, the taxi pulled up in the heliport and the two got out, rushing to where the three men stood, right in front of Hiroki. When Kogoro noticed them getting closer, he shouted at them.
"Hey, you guys! What do you think you're doing here?!"
"What do you mean?!" Ran argued. "We're also involved. I'm your daughter after all!"
Mouri was left speechless at that while Conan could only stare, a bit confused, wondering what had gotten into her so that she wanted to be so involved in an investigation, this badly.
Meanwhile, Megure tried to convince Hiroki not taking that flight today. But he just smirked, certain that everything was just going to be okay.
"If it worries you so much, why don't you and Mouri-san join me?" he offered.
"Ah well, things that fly..." Kogoro tried to refuse.
Despite all of that, Megure dragged the reluctant and screaming detective inside the helicopter and Ran was forced to see them fly away. Sighing at the thought of being left behind when she so desperately wanted answers she turned to talk to the little boy.
"Conan-kun, we should also..." she trailed off, suddenly realizing she was all alone.
Her gaze went to the helicopter flying away, getting smaller and smaller in the sky.
"It can't be...!"
The helicopter was flying through the sky, rising above the buildings and getting far and far away from the ground. At this point Mouri, pale faced and downright terrified, closed his eyes shut.
"One sheep, two sheep..." he began chanting.
"Is that a chant to keep you from falling?" an innocent voice said suddenly. "Or is it to make you fall asleep instead?"
To their surprise, Conan was childishly smiling at them while sitting in the seat beside the pilot. They both panicked and shouted to him, but he shrugged while exchanging a mischievous smile with Hiroki.
"It can't be helped," Megure sighed. "It's not like we can turn back."
"But if you even make a noise, I'm throwing you out!" Kogoro yelled.
"Sure you don't mean 'throwing up'?"
"Eh, what are you-?"
Mouri's sentence was cut short by a scream tearing away from his throat, as he felt his world tilting all of sudden, so violently that he genuinely thought his heart would explode. Once the helicopter was stabilized, he collapsed into a heap against his seat, exhausted.
Before his hand went to his mouth, so suddenly that caused the inspector beside him to try to inch away from him, scared of what might happen.
Tsuji gave the little boy a thumbs up causing him to grin, widely. I'm really starting to like this guy.
Silence settled between the four in there, so Conan took the opportunity to look around the helicopter. Yet, he didn't find anything suspicious. Everything was perfectly okay, which was honestly weird.
At least, until Hiroki gave out a cry of pain, quickly covering his eyes with his hand. He couldn't open his eyes. They were burning.
Just as the helicopter began to fall down, Conan was suddenly reminded of the eye drops he had seen him putting on earlier.
"Tsuji-san, we're drifting to the left!" the child shouted.
Hiroki blindly tried to fix it, and narrowly avoided crashing against a nearby building. Still, his sight was not improving, and Conan soon realized they just couldn't continue flying like this.
In the distance, he could see Teitan Elementary School.
Without thinking about it twice he unbuckled himself and slid into the pilot's seat. Hiroki violently flinched when a pair of small hands took the control away from his grasp. "We'll try to land at the school ground!" he informed. "So, Tsuji-san, you watch the pedals and the collective."
"You idiot!" Kogoro panicked. "Cut that out! Are you trying to kill us?!"
"We are going to die if we don't do anything. Tsuji-san is in no condition to fly," the child replied, with a serious expression. It didn't seem to comfort either Megure or Kogoro, though. "And considering none of you have any experience in this, I believe I'm the most capable."
"Eh?" Megure and Kogoro blinked.
"Tsuji-san!" he ignored them so he could focus in the matter on hand. "If we keep this up, we'll crash. Help me!"
Hesitantly, Tsuji nodded, probably seeing no other way out. So, Conan's eyes narrowed and decided he was really going to do this. This wouldn't be the craziest thing I've even done in my life, though... I think.
With a frown, he forced himself to remember every single thing he had learn the several times his brother had sneaked him into the pilot simulation site.
"First thing of all, Conan. Pay attention to your altitude and speed here," his brother explained, pointing at the different numbers on the control panel.
"Altitude 300 feet, speed 40 knots," he spoke to him, trying to show as much confidence on his voice as he could. "I'm ready."
Like so, Hiroki pulled the lever down. The helicopter started to go down, and the two men in the backseat began to sweat profusely.
So did Conan's hands. "Altitude 200 feet, speed 30 knots," but he managed to collect himself. He could see the school yard getting closer and closer.
"Now that you have spotted the right place to land, start descending. Slowly."
"10 degrees on the right pedal, please."
"Make sure to keep yourself from drifting. Go straight. Constantly check how far you are from your landing point."
"We're going straight in the schoolyard. Distance 500 meters."
Without taking his eyes out of the place he was going to, he pulled out his badge, quickly telling his friends to evacuate every single soul in the school yard, because he was doing an emergency landing of a helicopter.
It took a second for the information to be processed, but soon he heard his friends screaming. "Everyone, run!" that was Genta's voice. "A helicopter is crashing down!"
Thanks for believing in me that much, Genta.
Putting his badge away, his eyes narrowed. There was absolutely no way he was going to let that happen.
But it seemed as if the helicopter had other ideas, as it started rotating left. "Press the right pedal harder!" he shouted, his grip still firm around the control.
They hit a downdraft, causing the helicopter to crash when it was so close to touching the ground. Fortunately, it wasn't as serious as it could have been.
The four passengers managed to get out of it, unharmed. Even if they had to run away right after they had stood in ground upon noticing the tank leaking. They survived the explosion that followed as well.
Conan sighed, exhausted, watching the flames dancing in front of his eyes. That was so close, he decided, looking around. At least those guys managed to get everyone away and nobody was harmed...
Then, his eyes met with three pairs of surprised and equally terrified gazes, and one of resignation, as its owner shook her head with a light smirk on her face.
The little boy offered his friends a sheepish grin and a wave.
And the three ran straight to him, Haibara following in a calmer pace.
A/N:
Dy: Gin doesn't know yet, because she was covering her hair with a hoodie. And, yeah, I'm definitely writing that episode in the future. There are a few other chapters I want to cover before that, though...
ajjr12: Honestly, I don't know XD Sounds like a could idea, so I guess it could happen in the future.