Chapter Thirty
I finished a class so here's a chapter in advance! :D
"We know what we are, but know not what we may be."
-William Shakespeare
"Your friends want to meet me?" Natsuki repeated.
Conan nodded. "Yeah. Don't worry, they're just some kids that follow me around because they like solving mysteries."
"Oh."
Natsuki sat in his little apartment, listening to the silence on the other end of the phone.
"I guess I can go along..." he said.
"Great. We'll meet at my house and then we'll go see them. Is next Saturday ok?"
"Yeah. That's fine," Natsuki smiled.
Hanging up, he took a little while to happily squeal internally.
"I can meet them!"
Saturday had arrived and Natsuki was standing in front of the four grade schoolers that made up the rest of the Shounen-tanteidan.
"You're Natsuki-oniisan?" Ayumi asked.
Natsuki nodded. "That's right."
"You look more like an onee-san!" she laughed.
I can't deny that. Natsuki laughed.
"I can't really help if I look like a girl, you know?" he asked, ruffling her hair.
"Un! Sorry!" Ayumi giggled.
"You really do look like a girl," Genta pouted.
Natsuki shrugged.
"Are you cross-dressing, Tsukino-san?" Mitsuhiko asked.
"No, I'm not. I'm really, biologically male," Natsuki shrugged.
Mitsuhiko pursed his lips but said nothing else.
"Anyway, what were you saying about Kana-chan?" Conan asked, butting in.
"Oh! Right! Her house is nearby, so we should go see!" Mitsuhiko ran off, followed by Ayumi and Genta.
"Kana...chan?" Natsuki repeated.
"Sorry. I lied. We're on a case that a girl in our class brought to us. Someone's been following her. We needed to bring someone that doesn't look easy to kidnap," Conan explained.
"Oh."
The house where Kana lived wasn't a house.
It was a veritable mansion in the Western style. With servants, butlers, even maids. In terms of staff, the Kudo mansion couldn't even compare. Kana met them at the door and let them inside.
She was a little girl with cropped brown hair and her long bangs covered most of her eyes.*
Of course, upon arriving and entering the house, they ran into a familiar tanned face.
"Heiji-niisan!"
The tanned boy turned towards the 4 kids plus one teen.
"Ruri! How's it going? Did you get a haircut? You look different somehow..." the Osakan greeted, walking up to Natsuki and grasping his hands.
"His name isn't Ruri! It's Natsuki-oniisan!" Ayumi huffed.
"Eh? Not... Ruri? Onii-san?" the detective repeated.
Natsuki gently pulled his hands away and coughed lightly.
"Nice to meet you. My name's Tsukino Natsuki. Male," he smiled.
Heiji took a few steps back. And then a few more, before grabbing Conan's hand and running off to a corner.
"How is that not Ruri? What's going on here, Kudo?" Heiji hissed.
Conan sighed. Just as he was about to explain, there was a loud bang as a pair of double doors sung outward.
"Kana!" a harsh voice yelled.
The little girl jumped.
"What are you doing?" an old man descended from the upper floor.
"M-My friends..." she mumbled.
"We came to play with Kana-chan!" Ayumi chirped.
"Then what is HE doing here?" the old man pointed at Natsuki with his cane.
"He's with me, sir," Heiji walked up to Natsuki and draped an arm around his shoulders.
The old man tightened his grip on his cane. "Kana, go take your friends to play somewhere else. Your ojii-chan needs to attend to some business."
He patted Kana's head lightly.
"Play along," Heiji whispered to Natsuki.
Nodding slightly, Natsuki shrugged Heiji's arm off.
"As you know, my granddaughter has told me that there has been someone following her. At first, I shrugged it off, but a few days ago, I noticed a shadow in our garden where Kana was playing."
Natsuki glanced around the room they were in.
It was obviously made for parties. A big crystal chandelier loomed several meters ahead.
In the Northern area of the room was a large grand piano.
As the grandfather rambled on, Natsuki went over to inspect the piano.
It was well kept - free of dust and polished until it was practically a mirror.
Natsuki hit the C-note and a clear sound flowed out from the piano.
Well-tuned as well, Natsuki noted.
Feeling an urge to play, Natsuki sat on the leather stool in front of the piano.
Without meaning to, his hands flowed across the piano and out came a song he knew very well.
Feeling his heart swell he began to sing.
"Saving a light abandoned, tearing away from lies and doubt
You'll find the truth still holding tight, in the hand of the night"
The old man and Heiji turned to watch Natsuki play.
x
"Dusk air feeding into shadow play, dancing bold and glides away
Waiting and debating, will I ever see the secret you've been holding back?
Climbing the walls you make and calling your name, but you keep them all away
Hiding all the ways you wanna yell and scream, why couldn't you just lean on me?"
x
"Winding up and down, a heart I'll never know
Stealing your gazing eyes, pass the lies, and see the real me
Brave but lying, scared and crying
When did I ever lose track?
'Cause the one thing I believed in left me long ago"
x
"So say the world's getting tricked by shadows, say that I'm only full of lies
Hear when I say "just take my hand", trust me you can
You'll never see me running, no, nothing scares me anymore
Don't look away, you'll be alright, leave your worries behind"
x
"Echoing a story or fated to be, see this is our destiny?
Wait a little longer and I'll let you see the secret I've been holding back
Growing even darker with every day, can't you see what's on the way?
All your rosey memories are red and sweet, but prick you til you start to bleed"
x
"Wanting to protect you from the world I know
Taking a stand again, let it end, and break this destiny
Fight til I'm blue, I'm beside you
Know that I'll never give up
'Cause the one thing I believed in left without a trace"
x
"So say the world's being turned against you, say that there's no one on your side
Hear when I say "you're not alone", grab tomorrow
You'll never see me running, no, nothing shakes me anymore
Scenarios stuck on rewind, I'll be ready to fight"
x
"Say that they're all against you, say that there's no one on your side
Hear when I say "just take my hand", trust me you can
You'll always be my side, now that I know what's true, I'll fight
Through every scene and every life, with these hands of the night"
x
"Say that we know the answer, say that we've heard it all our lives
You'll never see me running, no, nothing scares me anymore
I'll be ready to fight"
"Wow Natsuki!" Heiji clapped. "I didn't know you could play!"
"I'm going to go check on Kana," the old man walked off.
"Heiji-san," Natsuki whispered, pulling the detective in.
"The D-note wasn't clear. It was muted and I wasn't using the damper pedal," he pointed to the piano.
Without another thought, Heiji was attempting to open the piano.
Taped onto the wire for the D-note, was a piece of paper.
*the girl looks like the one in the 43rd ending (Koi Ni Koishite)
Cliffhangers, how I love you~ Anyway, how was that? Heiji and Natsuki have discovered the first clue to unraveling this time's mystery! Since this week was productive, I decided to get a chapter done.
Also, I'm fairly certain this little arc will come to 3 parts. I hope. I keep saying that, but they always end a chapter later! XD
A little more background for Janet. When her parents were still alive, she took piano lessons. She didn't keep them up after about age 7, but she played on occasion if she found a song she liked.
ANYway, next time, we'll be seeing things from Conan's point of inspection, because he found something too!
Also, who can guess the song I used?
NEXT TIME: CLUES?
DFTBA GUYS! :)