Chapter 12
Disclaimer: I don't own Detective Conan or Magic Kaito!
Thought / Dream / Event from the past
[Voice from the past]
"Dialogue"
On Screen
Option Button
=Phone Call or Through Earphone=
Written
Emphasis
※Notification / Unread Mail/Report※
Dangerous tone / Magic Incantation / Sound Effect
The Fourteenth Target
"Ayumi…" Conan began to say upon hearing the little girl checking out his fortune in romance, "Don't tell me you still have a crush on me?".
"Well, even if you already have a Fiance, but it's not a guarantee that you will end up marrying him, right?" Ayumi replied with a pout, "If Ayumi could make Conan-kun to fall in love with Ayumi, then Ayumi is sure that Conan-kun's parents would be alright in breaking the engagement, especially if Conan-kun wanted it to happen too".
"I don't think that would happen though." Conan muttered to himself when he felt the glares from Genta and Mitsuhiko. Still, A huh? I wonder if Kaito would give me a surprise kiss later? He added silently in his mind.
It was Saturday, a week after Eri, Aoko, and Nakamori-keibu received their Codenames. Normally, Conan would be training with everyone else, but the kids wanted to spend time together. Since it would be strange if Conan refused without a good reason, he had to miss that day's training. Agasa-hakase had to miss the training too, since the Hakase was their escort that day.
They were waiting for the Hakase to arrive when Ayumi decided to try the tarot game, which led to the current situation.
"Why?" Ayumi demanded with a pout, pulling Conan out of his thought, "Are Conan-kun's parents that cruel?".
"No, they're very understanding and wouldn't mind it if it would make me happy." Conan said gently with a smile, "Just, my relationship with my Fiance is quite close, Ayumi, and I'm really sorry for this, but I'm not interested in pursuing a relationship with you. You're like my Imouto (Little Sister), Ayumi-chan".
"I see." Ayumi looked down to her feet in disappointment.
Conan walked over and patted her head, making her looked up at him curiously. "Don't worry, you're an adorable and charming girl, so I'm sure there are other boys out there who likes you." He said with a warm smile.
Ayumi cheered up at that and nodded, "Yeah." She said in agreement. Although she was still disappointed - because Conan was so cool and kind - but Conan was right, there were many boys in the world, and surely she would meet another boy who would attract her interest in the future.
"Of course…" Conan glanced at Genta and Mitsuhiko - who were clearly watching and listening to their conversation - before narrowing his eyes, "Those boys would have to prove themselves to be good for you first if they want to go out with my Imouto-" He looked back at Ayumi before she could follow where his eyes were looking at, thus she didn't see the sight of Genta and Mitsuhiko sweating bullets at the subtle threat, "-and they have to really like you, instead of just want to go out with you merely because your face is cute".
"Is that bad?" Ayumi tilted her head sideways curiously, "If the boy want to be with Ayumi because Ayumi has a cute face?".
"I guess you will understand it yourself better in the future…" Conan mused mostly to himself, before shrugging. "You see, Ayumi, if a boy say that he likes you just because you looks cute, then it's only your look that he likes." He explained slowly, to ensure that the girl would understand him, "Because if that is the case, then the boy wouldn't really know anything about you - like what kind of girl you are, what is your hobby, what kind of shared interest he has with you, and so on".
Ayumi pursed her lips thoughtfully, before she looked enlightened. "Oh, it's like you buy a story book just because it has a nice cover, and you don't really care what is written inside!" She exclaimed with a smile, "Is it like that, Conan-kun?".
"Yup." Conan nodded his head at her and smiling proudly, she really was a smart girl, "Just like that".
"Yeah, Ayumi wouldn't like it." Ayumi nodded her head as well, "It's not nice, being treated like that".
"That's right." Conan said in agreement, "So, if you get attracted to another boy - or maybe a girl - in the future, make sure you know what kind of person they are, and they also know what kind of person you are, then - and only then - that you can think of pursuing a relationship with them".
"Um! Wakatta (Understood)." Ayumi smiled widely then, "Conan-kun is so mature to know stuff like that, is that because you already have a Fiance?".
Conan blinked and thought about it. "Not really." He decided out loud, "My maturity came from seeing too many dark side of humanity…" He sighed before smiling gently at the little girl in front of him, "In a way, I like it that you don't have to be as mature as me just yet, because that means that you still have your innocence intact." He patted her head again, "You can be mature when you grew up, so while you're still a child now, have fun as much as you can. Okay?".
Ayumi stared at Conan before frowning. "Conan-kun…" She began to say, but she didn't know how to continue, didn't know what to say when she realized that when Conan smiled, she sometimes could see that it didn't reach his eyes.
Conan realized his mistake and shook his head, pulling himself out of his melancholic state, before grabbing Ayumi's cheeks and pulled at them lightly - making her blinked in surprise. "Smile." He said firmly with a smile on his own face, "Maybe it's too late for me and I have became too mature to find happiness easily, but that doesn't mean that I'm not happy. So don't worry about me, okay?".
Slowly, Ayumi smiled again and nodded her head in agreement. "But if something makes Conan-kun unhappy, Ayumi wouldn't mind listening." She told him cheerfully, "Ayumi doesn't know if she could help, but Ayumi's Okaa-san often said that talking about something makes it better".
Conan chuckled and just nodded, even though he didn't think that he would ever do that, since he had both Ran and Kaito for it - just like how he would always be there when they needed to talk about something.
Agasa-hakase then arrived not long after that, apologizing because he had overslept, before they all went to Touto Aeronautic Memorial Museum just like what they had planned. The kids were amazed by the many types of planes available, and they took many photos with Hakase's help.
"They said there's a Helicopter pilot simulator here." Genta said excitedly.
"That's sound fun!" Mitsuhiko said with a grin, and Ayumi cheerfully agreed.
"That's too bad." Conan said out loud for their sake, making a show of reading the pamphlet, "It says here that the Helicopter simulator is only for 5th graders and up".
The kids loudly proclaimed their disappointment there, so the Hakase wanted to tell them a story instead to lift their spirit up. Genta, Mitsuhiko, and Ayumi didn't want the Hakase to tell the story, since they believed it would be a long story again, so Mitsuhiko cut him off and gave them a quiz instead.
Conan gave Genta and Ayumi a hint, but he still ended up being the one to correctly answer - as usual.
XXXXX
"Eh? No Capture the Flag today?" Aoko asked in surprise after hearing the announcement that Ran made at Lunch.
"Yeah." Ran confirmed with a nod after swallowing her food, "The Trio Ducklings are holding Conan and Agasa-hakase hostages for the day, Hattori-kun still haven't even opened the Spy App that Shinichi installed in his phone secretly yet, the four other Counters are still out of the country gathering information, and Okaa-san and I are going to have Dinner with Otou-san at 7 tonight. That left only the five of you, and you can't play Capture the Flag with only 5 people, so Shinichi gave the permission to cancel the Capture the Flag for today".
"That doesn't mean that your training finished early though." Kaito added before the others could even open their mouths, "Instead of Capture the Flag, there's going to be a Scavenger Race".
"Scavenger Race?" All of them, including Ran, asked in confusion.
Kaito grinned his Kid grin. "I have hidden clues in many different places all over Ekoda." He revealed smugly, "So the four of you will form two teams." He gestured to Ginzo, Aoko, Akako, and Jii, "The two teams will race each other to find the final clue and solve it first, the winner will receive All You Can Eat coupons from Shinichi at the prize, which you can use at any Cafe or Restaurant of your own choosing".
"Why from Shinichi and not from you?" Ran asked with a sweat drop.
"Because Shinichi was the one who come up with the idea, I just provided the clues and hid them." Kaito answered right away.
Ran pouted. "How unfair." She whined halfheartedly, "I want the coupons too".
"My Birthday is at Saturday this year, and I have planned to monopolize Shinichi for that day." Kaito told her cheerfully, "Shinichi had agreed that the Capture the Flag will be exchanged with Scavenger Race instead, so you can have a go then".
"What about the party?" Aoko was the one pouting now, "Aoko had planned to hold a party for your Birthday".
"Oh, don't worry." Kaito reassured her, "The final clue would lead to the place where the party that I have prepared would be hold, so we can have the party as soon as all of you arrive. There's also a time limit, so whoever couldn't solve the riddles knew when to give up and just call me to get the location".
"Okay, Aoko is alright with that plan." Aoko nodded her head in approval.
"Alright, Lunch time is over!" Ran clapped her hands once she saw that Lunch time was almost up and everyone had finished with their food, "Let's clean this up and begin with the Division Training".
So, they did just that.
XXXXX
"Why~?!" Ran whined into her palms, having covered her face in frustration, "It started fine too, so why?" She lowered her hands so she could stare into Conan's eyes, who was sitting across from her in the Living Room - her Father had gone drinking as soon as her Mother was gone, so he was still out cold in his room. "Why, Conan-kun?" She asked sadly.
She was talking about the Dinner that they have just had the previous night. Her parents were getting along so well that Ran thought that they would agree to live together once again, but then her Father made a fuss about a woman called Towako, and everything was over - her Mother went home - just like that.
"Well…" Conan - because they didn't know who would end up hearing, with them being in the Agency - said in thought, "Maybe it would help to know what caused them to separate in the first place? Unless the root is uprooted, the problem would never over - there's always going to be something else come up and causing trouble again".
Ran thinned her lips. "But how to find out?" She asked helplessly, "Neither Okaa-san nor Otou-san would answer if I just asked".
Conan shrugged helplessly as well, "I guess we would just have to be patient and tried to ask around." He said after awhile, "Maybe one of their friends would know. Not my parents though, since both of our parents rarely talk to each other after your parents separated, and they were also busy with works to meet up in the first place".
Ran sighed in defeat. "I guess." She muttered in low spirit.
XXXXX
"Hyaaah!"
Aoko cried out as she jumped and sent a kick to Ran - who caught Aoko's leg while in the middle of whirling around, then followed the movement by throwing Aoko away from her using the advantage of Aoko being already in the air.
"Aaah!" Aoko yelped when she tried to land on her feet, but lost her balance due to the fact that she was wearing an Inline Skate, and fell down instead. "Moo." She grumbled as she rubbed her sore behind, "Why do we have to fight while using the Inline Skate?".
It was Saturday yet again, a week after the disaster of a Dinner that Ran was still annoyed about. They have done the warm up and had breakfast, as well as the Martial Arts Training, so it was time for the Sparring now. Instead of Sparring on the grassy ground though, they were now Sparring on asphalt floor while wearing their Inline Skates.
"Because Agasa-hakase had gotten a crazy idea after watching the anime Air Gear*." Shinichi - who was watching them Sparring - answered as he glanced sideways at the Hakase, who looked sheepish, "He found the Air Trek amazing and tried to make it himself with Jii-chan's help, thinking that if those anime characters could do those amazing stunts using Air Trek, then maybe we could too. It too them a week, but they succeed in creating 2 pairs for adult and 1 for a kid. They also managed to make them to be able to be transformed into normal Super Power shoes, and now Hakase wanted us to try using them to fight." He then sighed and looked at Aoko, who had paused her Sparring with Ran to listen to the explanation, "I think it would be dangerous to fight while using the Air Trek right away, even though I have tried the Air Trek by going around Beika and have found them as amazing at the anime made it up to be - just without the ability to use the Infinity Atmosphere like the Leviathan's Fang, and other craziness like that-" Here he broke off, muttering to the side something the long the likes of 'Honestly, a normal human destroying a freaking building with a power that came from a mere kick? Too crazy even for me.', before continuing, "-so I suggest to try to fight using normal Inline Skate first".
(*AN: I don't own Air Gear. I actually found Air Gear amazing, but I'm lost as soon as the Infinity Atmosphere theory came out.)
"Maybe I should have a go with Ran instead." Kaito said as he stood up, already wearing his own Inline Skate, "I have used a turbo speed Roller Blade for a Heist once before".
"Go ahead." Aoko answered as she stood up and rolled over to where everyone else was, then sitting down to watch.
Kaito and Ran took a fighting stance, then with a snap of Shinichi's fingers, they lunged forward and began to fight. Although, they were only at it for a total of 10 seconds before pausing.
"We can fight, but I guess normal Inline Skate is just too slow compared to running with your feet." Ran observed as she considered her Inline Skate, then exchanging a glance that was followed with an exchange of nod with Kaito, she looked at Hakase, "Where are the Air Treks? We're going to try fighting using them now".
Agasa-hakase handed them the Air Treks and they changed their Inline Skates with the Air Treks - or AT like how the anime called them, then they tried the ATs first. After they got the hang of using the ATs, they immediately began to attack each other.
Needless to say, the people who watched the match were amazed, and sometimes worried too - since the speed was so fast that they almost collided with trees and other stuffs sometimes. The match ended in a tie when Ran and Kaito both tripped the other up. As soon as the match ended, everyone congratulated the Hakase and Jii, with the teens more enthusiastic than Eri and Ginzo.
Unfortunately, their cheerful moment ended when Ran and Conan received two separate calls from Satou and Takagi, but containing the same message … Megure-keibu had just been shot - not by gun, but by an arrow for a Crossbow. So they all headed for the Police Hospital - but Jii, Aoko and Akako were only going with them to keep them company, since they didn't really know the man.
"Do you find anything in the investigation?" Ran asked Shiratori, who blinked at being questioned by a teenager and hesitated to answer.
"Just tell her, Shiratori-kun." Megure told him with a wry smile, "You will often find her and Conan-kun at crime scenes, and they always help us during investigation, so it's alright to tell her".
Shiratori nodded in answer, before turning to face Ran. "We investigated the location we believed the crossbow was fired from…" He began to say before showing something to them, "This is found at the location, and we believe the culprit purposefully left this behind".
Conan frowned seeing that.
"What is it, Conan-kun?" Kaito - always attentive about his Husband - asked as soon as he saw the frown.
"I feel as though I have seen that sword before." Conan answered, gesturing to the sword made from cardboard that was inside the evidence bag.
"Really, Conan-kun?" Megure asked him seriously.
"Yes." Conan nodded his head as he answered, "But I can't remember where".
"That's too bad." Shiratori sighed in disappointment.
"Please tell us immediately if you remembered, Conan-kun." Megure requested as he looked at the frowning boy, who silently nodded his head in answer.
XXXXX
The next morning, their training was interrupted again. Eri - who had a job that she needed to do as soon as possible, thus wasn't with them that morning - had been poisoned.
"This isn't a coincidence." Ran huffed as she sat down on the chair in Eri's room, "Someone is clearly targeting you, both of you and Megure-keibu".
"I agree." Conan said as he came in with Kaito, Aoko, and Kogoro, the others having gone already - either back to their own home, or to work.
"Is there a proof for it?" Eri asked curiously, her voice soft due to her still recovering.
"You collapsed as soon as you ate the chocolate, right?" Conan asked for confirmation, earning a nod from Eri, "Do you remember seeing the white paper flower being slipped into the ribbon?".
Eri blinked. "Now that you mentioned it, yes, I remember." She said thoughtfully.
"I feels like I have seen the flower too, somewhere, but I can't remember where." Conan sighed in frustration.
"Don't worry, I'm sure you will remember soon." Kaito tried to cheer him up.
Ran exhaled softly, before frowning at her Mother. "That aside, Okaa-san." She began in a disapproving tone, "You're normally a careful person, so why would you eat a chocolate that you got that had no sender on it?".
"Well, sorry." Eri frowned herself, displeased with her own carelessness, before glancing at Kogoro - who stood awkwardly beside her bed, "Your Father and I got into another fight remember? And we had just talked about Zigoba that night too. So I thought that it was from your Father, wanting to apologize".
Kogoro's eyebrow twitched. "You know, if it's me, I would just give your the chocolate in person." He grumbled in response.
"As if you haven't secretly given me Zigoba before." Eri retorted with a scowl, "Remember when you tried to court me? You were so embarrassed that you decided to leave a Zigoba in my desk's drawer, without giving anything to show that it was from you. If it wasn't for Yukiko who saw you did it, I wouldn't know that it was from you at all".
Kogoro sweat dropped and looked away then, couldn't say anything to defend himself.
"Anyway, Okaa-san." Ran said, gaining their attention, "Please don't do this anymore".
"I promise." Eri promised with a smile, taking Ran's hand with her own right hand.
XXXXX
Just as Shinichi feared, the attack didn't stop with just Megure and Eri, another person whom he knew had been attacked, right in front of his eyes at that.
"Hakase!" Shinichi called out in worry as he knelt down beside where the Hakase had face planted on the ground, the crossbow's arrow had hit him on his butt.
"I'm fine." Agasa-hakase said through gritted teeth, "After him, Shinichi!".
"But…" Shinichi protested weakly, worried for someone who was already like his own Uncle.
"After him, Shinichi!" Agasa insisted urgently when he heard the culprit getting away, "Don't let him get away!".
"Alright!" Shinichi said firmly as he ran out of the Hakase's house, his skateboard conveniently in his hands - having just finished being repaired by the Hakase, and immediately gave chase to the culprit.
For a moment, he lost sight of the culprit due to him having a late start, but with the Trio Duckling's help - which he contacted using the Shounen Tantei Dan's Detective Badge - he managed to catch up with the culprit. But Fate seemed like not in the mood to help him, for the reckless culprit had used the crossing bridge for pedestrians to cross the street using his bike, almost making an elder woman fell down the stair - which she would if Conan wasn't fast enough to catch her - which made Conan to lose sight of the culprit again.
Disappointed, Conan returned to the Hakase's house to see if he had been taken to the Hospital yet, when he saw it. The strangely shaped paper that jogged his memory, making him remember just where the hell he had seen the sword, flower, and the thing in his hand before.
XXXXX
"Trumps?" Kogoro asked in confusion when he heard it.
"Yeah." Conan nodded as he pulled out his own deck of Trump cards, quickly picking up the King, Queen, and Jack of Spades. Then, he continued with the explanation that he was in the middle of giving to Kogoro, Ran, Shiratori-keibu, and the Hakase who was lying on his stomach on the Beika Hospital bed.
"But why Trumps?" Ran asked thoughtfully as she stared at the Queen card in her hand, "And why Spades in particular?".
"Because Spades means Death, Ran-neechan." Conan explained to her, making her and the others to look at him, "Heart symbolize Love, Club is for Happiness, and Diamond is for Wealth. The only question is why our Culprit decides to use the Trump Cards in particular?".
No one knew the answer yet, so the room was filled with silence, before Kogoro decided to break it. "Still, this means that our Culprit is planning to kill 13 people whose names correspond to the number 1 to 13, in the descending sequence of the cards?" He wondered out loud..
"And all of them are the people whom Kogoro-ojisan, Ran-neechan, and I know." Conan said as he cupped his right elbow with his left hand, with his right thumb and index finger cupped his chin - his Thinking Pose as Kaito called it, "Another question is, who among us is being targeted? Clearly whoever did this want their target to suffer by targeting the people who are close to us first, one by one, like tightening the rope around our neck".
"I believe I have the answer for that." Megure-keibu said as he entered the room.
"Keibu, are you alright to be here?" Ran asked in worry, "Your wound is still…".
"Don't worry, it's stitched and it holds strong, so I will be fine." Megure reassured her, before addressing everyone in the room seriously, "Back to what I said, I suspect the culprit is Murakami Jou".
"Murakami Jou." Kogoro repeated seriously, "So the target is me".
"Who is he?" Shiratori asked Megure.
"He was a lone-wolf card dealer who committed a murder 10 years ago, and was just released on parole a week ago." Megure informed him, showing the photo of Murakami in the middle of dealing cards to them.
"But why would he targets Otou-san?" Ran asked as she looked between the Inspector and her Father.
"Because I was the one who arrested him, back when I was still a Police Officer." Kogoro told her with a sigh.
"Ah, I remember that case." Shiratori said in realization, before Megure glared at him.
"Enough of that case." Megure ordered firmly, before looking at Kogoro. "Mouri-kun." Megure began seriously, "Can you think up of anyone with the number 10 in their name? They would most likely become the next victim".
After a few seconds of thinking, Kogoro remembered with a gasp. "Towako-san!" He exclaimed with wide eyes.
So, he and Megure-keibu left to find Towako, while Shiratori gave Ran and Conan a ride back to the Agency - after they have made sure that Towako was safe.
"Nee, Shiratori-keibu." Ran began cautiously, "What were you about to say? About the Murakami case".
"Well, I guess you will find out if you ask around, so I will tell you." Shiratori decided after a second, before proceeding to do just that, telling them the history between Murakami and Kogoro.
When she heard it, some pieces of the memory returned to her. "I remember now." She said with a frown, "Otou-san shot the pistol even though Okaa-san was being held hostage, it grazed Okaa-san's thigh and made her collapse, then he shot again to hit the man." Her frown deepened, "Why can't I remember it until now?".
"You probably repressed the memory unconsciously, because it was traumatic for you." Shiratori responded quietly.
"Why would he shoot though?" Ran bit her lower lip, "Why would he still shoot when Okaa-san was held hostage?".
"I guess he was confident in his marksmanship." Shiratori voiced out his opinion, "Believing that he could shoot Murakami alone".
Soon after that, they arrived at the Agency, and Shiratori left after he made sure they have entered the Agency safely.
"What about you, Shinichi?" Ran asked in low spirit as they were having a late Dinner together, "If it's you, would you shoot?".
"I don't know, it would depend on the situation." Shinichi answered with a sigh, "If the situation is pressing enough, where the hostage would die if an action isn't taken right away, I would shoot. Because, even if it would harm the hostage slightly, at lease they would still be alive".
Ran looked at him in surprise. "Even if the hostage is Kaito?" She asked with a frown, "Would you still shoot? Knowing that you could hurt him?".
"Especially if it's Kaito." Shinichi said firmly as his eyes darkened in anger, remembering a certain event from the past, "Because I will do anything for him, and as much as it pains me to do so, I would hurt him if it's necessary to get him away from certain death. I have done it in the past, and I will do it again, as long as I can save Kaito's life by doing so".
"Wait, you have?" Ran asked incredulously, "When? And what happened?".
Shinichi shook his head. "Sorry, I don't want to talk about it." He said softly, before returning to eating his Dinner.
Ran sighed and did the same.
"Still…" Shinichi said again after awhile, "Kogoro-ojisan might have shot Oba-san, but it's still only a small part of the picture, some part of the truth. Rather than worrying about it, just asked him when you get the chance, why he still shot the pistol".
Ran blinked her eyes, staring at Shinichi, before nodding with a small smile. "I guess you're right." She decided out loud, "Let's finish our Dinner and sleep then. Kaito and Aoko will come tomorrow, right?".
"Yeah." Shinichi confirmed with a smile, "Let's give it our best, so we can finish this case as soon as possible." He offered a fist to her.
"Yes, let's." Ran replied as she bumped her own fist with his.
XXXXX
"You have that Look again." Kaito said as he observed his 17 turned 7 years old Husband, gaining Ran's and Aoko's attention and making them stopped preparing Breakfast, "The look that said that something is bothering you".
"It's about the case, there are some points that confuses me after I thought about it." Shinichi revealed absently as he juggled his football, "Why would Murakami leaves clues that certainly pointing towards him? Is it to challenge Oji-san and the Polices? Also, how in the world Murakami know who are Oji-san's acquaintances that well, when he was in prison for the past decade and only released a week ago? He even know Oba-san's favorite brand of chocolate".
"Now that you mentioned it, it is rather strange." Ran muttered as she returned her attention to her cooking, "How high is the chance of the culprit being someone else, and they did all those to place the blame on Murakami Jou?".
"I don't know, but there definitely some chance that it being the case." Shinichi replied thoughtfully.
"If that is the case…" Aoko began as she prepared the rice bowls with the rice in it, "Who might the real culprit be?".
"We wouldn't know until we investigate further, Aoko." Kaito said as he turned around to look at her, but something caught his attention. "Wait…" He stared at the name on the photo, "Shinichi, I think Kogoro-ojisan is mistaken about the target number 10".
"What?" Shinichi stopped juggling his ball and looked at Kaito, before following where his gaze headed, only to widen his eyes.
"Damn it!"
XXXXX
Tsuji Hiroki - the pro golfer who was friend with Kogoro, and had the number 10 in the Tsuji character of his name - had planned on piloting his Helicopter that day, and he didn't want to cancel his flight that day. So Megure decided to go with him in the Helicopter, dragging Kogoro with him, while Kaito and Conan sneaked into the seat beside the Pilot's - Conan on Kaito's laps.
On the other hand, Shiratori had gone with Ran and Aoko to Touto Heliport, in the case that Murakami had planned to ambush Tsuji there.
"One sheep, two sheep…" Kogoro chanted with his eyes closed tightly.
"Is that a chant to keep you from falling?" Conan asked him curiously, more teasing than anything though.
"Co- Conan-kun?!" Megure cried out in surprise, while Kogoro just looked startled, "What are you doing here?!".
"Helping to protect him, of course." Conan replied as he gestured to Tsuji Hiroki with his head, "Kaito-niichan is here too".
"Hi." Kaito grinned at them, "I'm here as a spare Pilot, just in case an emergency happened".
"Emergency?" Kogoro squeaked in fear, sweating heavily.
"Do you know how to Pilot a Helicopter then?" Tsuji asked the boy curiously.
"Yes, along with a private plane." Kaito answered with a grin.
"I'm sure nothing will happen." Tsuji said with a smirk, "As that Officer said, this Murakami guy probably is waiting for us at the Touto Heliport, and they would be ready for him there, so we will be fine".
"I wouldn't be so sure about it." Conan said with narrowed eyes, "What if the culprit knew of the Police involvement, and decided to wait to ambush you at your home?".
"Then I guess the Polices will have to accompany me home." Tsuji replied easily.
The flight then went smoothly, at least at first, because turned out that they were really lucky that Kaito was there with them. Something happened that caused Tsuji to be blinded by the light, making him unable to open his eyes.
"Rise up!" Kaito ordered as he removed his seat belt, "We need to switch place!".
Tsuji grunting in agreement as he forced himself to move the Helicopter up without opening his eyes.
"Conan-kun, keep us steady while we switch!" Kaito continued firmly.
"Ryoukai!" Conan said as he took the steer and kept it steady with one hand, while the other to keep him steady as he used his feet to keep the pedals in place.
Meanwhile, Kaito removed Tsuji's seat belt and pulled him out of the Pilot seat and onto his previous one, put on the seat belt, before taking the Pilot seat and took over the steering from Conan - who immediately went to Tsuji's side.
"Is there somewhere we can land?" Kaito asked as he slowly lowering the Helicopter, calmer now that they weren't in a risk of crashing.
Conan looked around the ground, before finding the perfect spot. "Teitan Elementary School." He told Kaito as he pulled out his Tantei Badge - shorter term for Shounen Tantei Dan's Detective Badge - before immediately told Genta to clear the school yard. So Genta cried out that there was a Helicopter going to crash to clear out the field, and Conan muttered to himself that they weren't going to crash, all the while calling the Ambulance over to the Teitan Elementary School.
Why Genta and the other kids were at School while Conan not? Simple, he skipped the school to focus on the case. Ran, Aoko, and Kaito did the same, hence why Kaito was with them now instead of at Ekoda High School. Not a good thing to do, but saving lives took priority for them, and it also helped that they were smart and could understand the lessons easily, or their - Kaito's, Aoko's, and Ran's - school lives would be suffering.
Soon after that, Kaito safely landed the Helicopter and Megure immediately helped Tsuji out, while Kogoro dry heaved to the side from the scare just now. Conan though, he pulled out one of his scarf - a dark colored one - before tying it around Tsuji's eyes, so it would block the light from the man's eyes.
"Is it better, Tsuji-san?" Conan asked softly as they waited for the Ambulance to arrive.
"Yes, thank you, Boya." Tsuji replied with a relieved sigh, "Thank you to you too … Kaito-san, right? You saved us".
"You're welcome." Kaito replied as he flopped down to sit beside Conan, "But what caused the blind?".
"I think it's the eye drop, I saw you use it earlier." Conan mused as he pulled the said eye drop out of Tsuji's pocket, "Do you always use the eye drop, Tsuji-san?".
"Yes, before I drive a Car or a Helicopter." Tsuji confirmed as he rubbed his temple, "I never got blinded before though, so someone obviously swap it with something else".
"I will have it examined then." Megure said as he took the eye drop from Conan's gloved hand - he only noticed the glove then - into his own hand that was also gloved, "Can you think of a time the swapping could be done?".
Tsuji made a thoughtful noise. "The only time that I think is possible is earlier today." He told the Inspector, "I drove my Car out of the garage, pausing to use my eye drop, but then I heard the glass breaking. I checked it out, leaving my eye drop in the car. When I saw that it was because someone had thrown a rock through the window, I thought that it was a kid playing a prank, so I told my housekeeper to clean it up and left".
"A rock huh, the same with what happened to Hakase." Conan said with a scowl.
The Ambulance arrived then, and Tsuji was taken to the hospital. Later on, they received the report of what the eye drop had been changed with, along with the news that Shiratori had found a 10 of Spade while investigating.
The next person was number 9, but Kogoro couldn't think of one, he could think of who the number 8 was though, and that person was Sawaki Kouhei the Sommelier. Thus, they - Megure, Shiratori, and Kogoro, along with Ran, Conan, Kaito, and Aoko who insisted on coming along - headed for Sawaki's place.
After a short talk about Wines, Megure asked for Sawaki's schedule, and upon hearing Asahi Katsuyoshi's name, they realized who number 9 was - even though Kogoro only had had a contact with the man once, and it was to find the man's missing Cat - so they decided to meet Asahi at the Aquacrystal together with Sawaki, to protect the both of them together.
"Are you going to be alright?" Conan whispered to Kaito in worry - so the others wouldn't hear him, while.
"I will be." Kaito promised with a grin, also whispering, "As long as I'm with you".
Conan lightly kicked Kaito's leg. "Be serious." He scolded Kaito with a hiss, earning a pout from the Magician.
"I am serious." Kaito retorted seriously, "If I'm with you, I can just focusing on you instead of those fi- finny things".
"Fine." Conan relented with a sigh, "Keep close to me then".
"Of course." Kaito promised with a smile.
XXXXX
Upon arriving at Aquacrystal, they met with a few other people - Osanai Nana, Shishido Eimei, Peter Ford, and Nishina - and all of them had number in their names. Due to the short time though, they decided to get into the Aquacrystal first before the situation was explained to the newcomers.
(Kaito was tense the whole time, and he gripped Conan's hand tightly, anchoring himself with the feeling of Conan's hand in his to keep his fear at bay. Conan squeezed his hand back reassuringly.)
Ran and Conan stayed with the others as Megure explained about the situation, so that they wouldn't miss any information. Meanwhile, Kaito and Aoko left to scout the building - well, Kaito did the scouting, while Aoko learned by watching what he was doing and listening to his explanation - along with Shiratori and Kogoro. Of course, the teens and Conan turned on their Earphones, so that they could still communicate with each other and be ready to send back up as soon as possible if needed.
A long time had passed since then though, and Asahi didn't show up yet. Peter Ford then found a note from Asahi that was addressed for Sawaki, saying that Asahi might be late, so he could take a Wine from the Wine Cellar. Everyone ended up going to the Wine Cellar, either because they were curious about the place or to provide protection.
That was when the trouble started.
The M-18 shelf where Sawaki was told to pick up the Wine was booby trapped, and the man would have been hit by the arrow if Conan hadn't warned him. Due to the situation that was clearly dangerous, everyone agreed to leave the place first, but not only that the entrance was closed, Nana's scream let them to discover Asahi's dead body floating in the water outside the glass.
What was worse? The entrance couldn't be opened, Megure found out that they didn't have mobile's signal there, Kogoro tried the land line and found that it had been cut, as well as the fact that there was cement blocking the emergency exit. To sum it up, they were trapped with no way out, and Kogoro got blamed for what was happening because it was him that Murakami was targeting.
"Why must I be attacked by a man whose name I didn't even know?" Nana demanded when Shishido said that she would be the next target.
Conan then reminded that something was bothering her earlier, which led to Megure told her to speak up and let them to decide whether it mattered or not to the case. Kogoro suggested that they thought up a way to escape because he agreed with Nana that it didn't matter to the case, but Conan decided to remember it anyway - for he never knew when it would ended up being an important key to the case.
So everyone split up to find another exit, with Nana being told to stay put because she was the target this time, and Kogoro told Ran to stay put as well. Ran agreed because she - along with Conan, Kaito, and Aoko - wanted to protect Nana. After awhile of nothing happened though, Conan put his can of orange juice down on the floor and was about to leave to search around too, when the light gone out. They noticed the luminous paint on Nana's nails due to the darkness, but Nana had ran away screaming a second later, and before they could give chase, they heard her pained scream before silence descended onto the room again.
That alone told Conan, Ran, and Kaito that Nana had either died, or unconscious due to being in too much pain.
Conan's eyes narrowed when he heard a can being kicked, and he had a good guess that it was his orange juice can. Considering that he and his friends were in the room from the start, Nana was lying on the floor in front of him - he could see her figure - and the can was being kicked when whoever it was was running away from instead of into the room, then it must be the culprit who kicked it.
Whoever re-entered the room with orange juice stain on their pants was the culprit, Conan just needed to figure out the Why now, as well as got the evidence.
Just as Conan finished thinking that, the light came back on. Aoko screamed upon seeing Nana's corpse with a knife stabbed into her back, and everyone else who left to find another exit ran back in - each of them looked shocked upon seeing the state Nana was in, but murderers normally quite good in acting shocked.
Conan's eyes immediately went down and observed the pants of the people, and soon found the one with wet stain on one of their feet. He couldn't help but stare at the person in question, surprised to see who the culprit was actually.
Sawaki Kouhei, but why? Conan frowned, wondering if he was wrong somehow.
While Conan was busy staring through Sawaki as he thought, Megure wondered out loud how Murakami could tell where Nana was.
"Luminous paint." Kaito answered him, "I saw her nails glowed in the dark earlier".
"Her fake nail came off." Ran observed out loud as she looked at the floor around Nana, trying to find the said fake nail.
"Fake nail?" Megure asked for explanation.
"It's nor her real nail." Ran informed him, "Colorful painted nails are glued onto her real nails for fun, makes it easier when you want to change the color and pattern." She soon spot the nail and picked it up with a handkerchief, before offering it to Megure, "I don't know how helpful it would be, but something must have happened between her and the murderer for it to come off".
"Well, I will just keep this for now then." Megure said as he put the wrapped up nail into his pocket.
Kaito blinked as he saw something was off and pulled the neck of Nana's shirt down slightly, thinning his lips upon seeing the print of someone's left hand on her body. He released her shirt and stood up, looking around for Conan for a bit, before going over to where Conan was staring blankly up at Sawaki - making the man looked at Conan with unnerved expression.
"Conan-kun?" He called out, making Conan blinked and looked back at him, so he motioned for Conan to come to him - which the boy did right away. As soon as the Detective was a meter away, Kaito knelt down, before whispering the latest findings - about the nail and the hand print - to the boy.
"That means that the culprit is right handed, but Murakami was …" Conan muttered as he tried to remember, before widening his eyes upon remembering, "Left handed!" He hissed, locking eyes with Kaito, "We got it wrong all this time, it's not Murakami".
"You seemed to already have an idea of who the real culprit is though." Kaito whispered as he glanced at Sawaki, who was now conversing with Kogoro about planning to quit his job.
"I still need more information though…" Conan exhaled softly, before he blinked, "Wait, maybe…" He looked down on his shoes, before nodding his head, "Help me with something".
So, Kaito followed Conan into the kitchen and helped him preparing the trap for the culprit - after hearing Conan's suspicion, before returning to the room where everyone else was. Kogoro scolded them for running off on their own, but they just cheekily said that their names didn't have number so they were safe.
They served the water for everyone, and then narrowing their eyes when the culprit got trapped and not even knowing about it. Only the evidence left. A minute of looking around discreetly later, they found their evidence, but then an explosion happened, causing another black out. Just as the emergency light was on, another explosion happened, destroying the glass walls this time, and the next thing they know, the water rushed in and hit them.
"Kaito-niichan!" Conan cried out as he resurfaced from the water, looking around for his Husband. Kaito came up to the surface a second later, causing Conan to breath out in relief. "You okay?" He asked in worry.
"Yeah." Kaito replied breathlessly, "The explosion chase those finny things away, so I'm fine".
"Good." Conan smiled at him, before looking around to check if everyone had resurfaced.
Frowning when he didn't see Ran anywhere, Conan grabbed an empty water bottle that was conveniently floating near him, covered its mouth, before diving back into the water. It was a good thing that he listened to his instinct, because as soon as he dove, he could see Ran got trapped under the car and had just ran out of air.
Acting quickly, Conan pressed the mouth of the bottle onto Ran's lips and uncovered it, letting the bubble of air entering her mouth that way. He smiled in relief when he saw Ran reopened her eyes, then gestured to the bottle so Ran would understand to keep it on her lips, before moving to help her to get out from under the car.
Unfortunately, he made a miscalculation and got his foot stuck on the spot where the car's front wheel was.
Meanwhile, Kaito frowned when Conan took a long time underwater, and upon realizing that Ran hadn't resurfaced yet, he knew that Ran was in trouble and Conan was helping her. So, Kaito told Aoko to hold on before diving back down. It took him a few second to locate them, and widened his eyes when he saw that the two of them got stuck under the car.
Conan tried to hold his breath longer while trying to unstuck his leg, but sadly, children's lung capacity was way smaller than that of teenagers, and he soon lost the battle. Just when he thought that he was a goner, Kaito appeared in his vision and a pair of lips pressed against his own, and immediately realized that Kaito was literally sharing his breath with him.
Once Kaito got enough air into Conan's mouth, he pulled back and made a calm down motion to him, and quickly helped Conan to unstuck his leg. Conan didn't waste any time to remove his suspenders and locked one end onto the car, then swam to a nearby pillar. Correctly guessing Conan's intention, Kaito helped Conan to lock the other end, and then Conan pushed the button to shorten the suspenders - the force was enough to lift the car up and released Ran.
Kogoro - who finally felt that something was off and dove back down - helped Ran to get back to the surface, with Kaito and Conan following them up. Ran coughed up and panted for breath, finally releasing the bottle since she didn't need it anymore.
"Are you alright, Ran?" Kogoro asked in worry.
"Yeah, I'm fine." Ran said a bit breathlessly, before smiling at Conan and Kaito, "Thanks, you two".
"You're welcome." The two boys replied together with smiles of their own, relieved that Ran was alright.
"Guys!" Aoko gasped as she pointed to somewhere near them, "Those cards!".
They looked at where Aoko was pointing and saw the Spade cards from 6 to 2.
"Damn! So he want to kill all of us at once." Shishido cursed in anger, "Who is he kidding?".
"Well, let's ruin his plan and get out of here then." Kaito said with a smirk, "Now that the glass had shattered, we can just swim out and into the sea".
"It's impossible, I can't swim!" Nishina cried out in despair.
"Don't whine!" Shishido scolded him, "I will help you get out from here!".
"Can you hold your breath once more, Ran?" Kogoro asked his Daughter, who while a bit weakened, but no longer breathless.
"Yes, but I feel weak." Ran replied softly, "I don't think I can swim on my own".
"Don't worry, I will help you." Kogoro reassured her with an encouraging smile, making Ran smiled back at him.
With that decided, they each took a breath and dove down. Conan took the time to gather the cards and pocketed them, before diving down and followed everyone out, while holding hand with Kaito - who had waited for him - just in case there were some fish down there.
Fortunately, there were none.
Unfortunately, Nishina still swallowed some water and was in a dire need of CPR.
Even more unfortunately? Sawaki offered to do it.
"Wait, Shiratori-keibu, you do the CPR!" Kaito cut in, looking at the younger Inspector seriously.
"Eh?" Shiratori looked at him in surprise.
"Just hurry up and do it!" Kaito snapped at him, while glaring at Sawaki.
Shiratori decided to not question it anymore and did the CPR to Nishina, but Megure did. So, taking that as their cue, Conan and Kaito took turns at their Deduction Show to explain that it wasn't Murakami who had done all of this, but someone else instead - and that someone was Sawaki. The evidence then showed, proving that Sawaki was indeed the culprit, followed by enraged confession by the man himself.
Conan might have guessed that Sawaki planned to explode the bombs that he had planted beforehand, but Kaito reacted faster by snatching the trigger before Sawaki could push the button. Unfortunately, Sawaki reacted rather quickly and held the weakened Ran hostage, and demanded them to not move or he would kill her.
Scowling, Conan picked Shiratori's pocket and took the young Inspector's gin, before aiming it at Sawaki and Ran's direction, surprising most of them. Ran, Aoko, Kaito, Megure, and Kogoro not included - since they knew that Conan was Naito Shin Nisei. Kaito and Aoko could guessed Conan's intention for using a real gun instead of his MCG, so they got ready to knock Sawaki out.
Meanwhile, Kogoro - having done the same thing in the past - could also guessed Conan's intention, but he couldn't help but being worried. If Conan missed, Ran could be gravely harmed, and the fact that Conan was only 7 worried him even more - surely a 7 years old couldn't aim that well?
Before he could stop Conan though, Conan already fired the gun and grazed Ran's thigh with the bullet. The burning pain from the injury was enough to make Ran losing her strength to stand up on her own - mostly due to her being already weakened, since she would be able to still stand if she was in her perfect condition - thus causing her to become a dead weight to Sawaki.
Using Sawaki's distraction when he tried to keep Ran stood back up, Aoko pulled out her Whip and grabbed Sawaki's leg with it, then she pulled with all her strength. This caused Sawaki to fall on his back, losing his knife in the process. At the same time as Aoko swinging her Whip to Sawaki, Kaito had rushed forward, so he was at Sawaki's side as soon as he had fallen to the floor. Not wasting any time, Kaito threw a smoke bomb while pulling out his Super Duct Tape (SDT) at the same time, covering the area with thick light blue smoke. By the time the smoke had disappeared, his SDT was nowhere to be seen, and Sawaki had been completely immobilized - his arms, legs, hands, and torso were tied together using the SDT - as well as having his mouth duct taped to shut him up.
Aoko - who had re-wrapped her Whip around her thigh under her skirt sometime during the explosion of smoke - picked up the pocket knife with a handkerchief before handing it over to Megure-keibu, who accepted it with a blink of his eyes. He silently wondered if Aoko and Kaito were Vigilante Detectives in training, for those two were fast in taking down a criminal - he wouldn't be really surprised if they were.
Shiratori and the other people - Shishido, Peter Ford, and Nishina - could only gape and stared in disbelief. A kid firing a gun? A girl taking down a criminal with a Whip? And a boy who tied the said criminal in a flash, using duct tape no less? Yeah, they were shocked speechless.
"Ran!" Kogoro called out as he ran over to where his Daughter had fallen, only to notice that Conan was already by her side, cleaning her wound with an alcohol that he had pulled from a First Aid kit that he had pulled out from who know where. "Are you alright, Ran?" He asked as he took over treating her slight injury.
"I'm fine, Otou-san." Ran answered with a smile, realizing that her Father had shot her Mother was to save her, "Just tired".
"That's good." Kogoro replied with a smile of his own.
XXXXX
Later on, after Ran and Nishina were taken by the ambulance that Megure had called - just to make sure that they were really alright, the others had been taken to TMPD Headquarters to get their statement taken, and filling in the Paperwork. While they were filling the Paperwork, Shiratori decided that it was a good time to scold Conan.
"That was dangerous, Conan-kun." Shiratori looked at Conan sternly, "Stealing my pistol and fired it like that. What if you hit Ran at a fatal spot?".
"You don't have to worry about that, Shiratori-keibu." Kaito replied nonchalantly without looking at the man, "After all, Conan is a Crack Shot 7 years old".
"Crack Shot 7 years old?!" Kogoro, Megure, and Shiratori exclaimed in shock, staring at Conan in disbelief, while Shishido and Peter Ford could only blinked their eyes uncomprehendingly at them - their mind having shut down due to the shock.
"Moo, Nii-chan!" Conan complained at Kaito with a pout, "Why would you tell them that?".
"Well, it is the truth." Kaito replied with a shrug.
"Are you really that good?" Megure asked Conan curiously, "I know that you can shoot a gun, considering that Card Gun that you have, but to be a Crack Shot when you're this young?".
"Well, my Tou-san is just that crazy." Conan admitted sheepishly, "He thought that it's a good thing to teach me stuffs like that, and I have to admit that those skills had helped me greatly".
"Stuffs like that?" Shiratori repeated in confusion.
"Oh you know, like firing a gun, driving a motor boat and bike, hang gliding, and Fencing to name a few." Conan informed them matter-of-factly with a shrug, ignoring the fact that he had just driven the remaining three men - Shiratori, Kogoro, and Megure - completely speechless.
What kind of person was Conan's Father?
That was the only thing that filled their minds.
On the other hand, Kaito and Aoko just smirked in amusement while continuing to fill their Paperwork.
Line~Line~Line
9k plus words?! Oh dear, I just realized that this Chapter is a long one.
Oh well, what do you think? Review Please ^ ^
Your Review will always makes me happy! (Unless it's a Flaming Review)
Fragments of Imagination