Chapter Thirty-One
"My theory is that is you look confident you can pull off anything - even if you have no clue what you're doing."
-Jessica Alba
Conan looked around the extensive western garden as the children played hide-and-seek.
It was a lovely garden, with blooming roses and lilies. Someone had even set up a pavilion in the middle. Nothing seemed out of place though, which bothered the little detective.
If someone was being stalked, then you'd assume that there would be clues. And seeing as there weren't any, Conan had to rule out any outside suspects. Someone on the inside was causing all of this anxiety.
"Kana-sama!" a maid called.
"I brought some snacks for Kana-sama's friends!" the maid rolled a food cart heaped with sweets towards the pavilion.
"Snacks?" Genta popped out of his hiding place behind a rose bush.
"Genta-kun!" Ayumi scolded, appearing behind Conan.
"What?" the large boy frowned.
"We were playing hide-and-seek and you made us lose!"
Genta pouted and stomped off towards the pavilion. "'S'not my fault."
"Ayumi-chan!" Kana ran up to the other girl followed by Mitsuhiko.
As the kids made their way to the pavilion, Conan decided to talk to the maid.
"Ne, have you seen anything weird going on around Kana-chan?" he asked.
"Hm? Not really. Kana-sama has a very strict schedule that the master makes sure to follow," the woman explained.
No one saw anything suspicious? That made it even more likely it wasn't someone on the outside.
"But I did see a black car parked near the front gate as Kana-sama walked home one time. It was very strange so I asked the master what I should do."
A black car outside the gate? That suggested someone on the outside...
"Thank you, Onee-chan!" Conan smiled before running off to the other kids.
"So you've seen people following you?" Mitsuhiko asked as he munched on a strawberry tart.
"Un. They always wear hats so I can't see their faces," Kana replied.
"How about after we finish eating we go take a look around the neighborhood?" Ayumi suggested, finishing off a cupcake.
Natsuki and Heiji read the note from the piano.
"I've already set it all up. Tell me when you're ready and we'll pick up the girl," Natsuki read aloud.
"A mysterious note that was suspiciously placed in a piano where no one would know..." Heiji mumbled.
"Unless they played it," Natsuki added.
"Yeah. But the main question is who put it there?" the Osakan rubbed the back of his head.
Conan followed the kids around the mansion, feeling quite put out.
So far, after an hour of searching, they still hadn't found any clues besides a small ripped piece of paper that said, "Kana" on it. The little detective was beginning to think that maybe this was all just the result of an overactive imagination.
They passed by the door to Kana's grandfather's study and Conan heard voices inside.
He stopped to peek through the crack in the door.
"Yes, yes. Note? I haven't checked. Everything is ready? Good. I'll dispose of it later. ...yes, now. No, don't hurt her. It's just to scare her."
Conan's eyes widened.
"An inconspicuous vehicle would work best. Don't forget to get rid of the plate."
The old man hung up and walked towards the door. Conan ran as fast as he could to find the kids.
He ran around the mansion, calling their names before running outside just in time to see them being pushed into a van by some men in masks.
"Conan-kun!" Ayumi yelled, trying to get away.
The girls seemed to be unharmed, but the boys were unconscious.
"Shit! There was one more!" one of the kidnappers swore.
"Hurry up!"
Conan readied his stun-gun watch but the kidnappers had already loaded all of the kids in the car and the last kidnapper was already shutting his door.
Before they could drive off however, the shrunken detective ran up to the van and placed one of his tracking stickers on the bumper.
"Dammit," Conan swore.
Natsuki and Heiji were perusing the kitchen when an out of breath Conan appeared in the doorway.
"Ku- Conan? What's up, man?" Heiji asked.
"The kids! They've been kidnapped!" Conan yelled.
"What?" Natsuki and Heiji shouted.
"A van, out in front! I put a tracker on it, but it won't last forever!" Conan coughed out the last couple of words.
"Natsuki! Get some water!" Heiji commanded.
Natsuki spun around before spotting a pitcher filled with liquid.
Assuming it was water, he grabbed a glass and filled it to the brim before handing it to the child.
Conan took a large gulp before making a face.
"This isn't water! It's alcohol!"
Natsuki paled. "Oh god, I'm so sorry!"
As Natsuki went to get another glass and fill it with actual water, Conan groaned.
"Hey, Kudou, you ok?" Heiji asked.
Another groan followed by the sound of falling onto the ground.
Conan had collapsed and was holding his chest.
"Kudou!" Heiji yelled.
A pain-filled cry wrenched itself from Conan's throat.
Natsuki watched as Conan grew and grew until he was Kudou Shinichi.
"Oh my god," Natsuki heard himself say.
"Kudou!" Heiji yelled.
"I can hear you just fine, shut up," Shinichi growled, sitting up.
"Ah..." Natsuki stuttered.
"Crap, forgot about him," Heiji muttered.
"Are you ok?!" Natsuki demanded.
"Ah, I'm fine. Could use some clothes, though," Shinichi grinned.
"Right. Let me take care of that," Natsuki awkwardly walked out of the kitchen.
"Have you told him?" Heiji asked.
Shinichi nodded.
"Oh."
A change of clothes later, Shinichi emerged from the bathroom wearing a butler's suit.
"Sorry about the clothes... that was all they had," Natsuki apologized.
"At least it isn't a dress," Shinichi sighed as he pulled on the white gloves.
"Are either of you going to explain why he knows?" Heiji pointed to Natsuki.
"Later. Right now, we've got 4 kids to rescue," Shinichi looked down at his Conan glasses and turned on the tracker.
A little yellow dot pulsed on the right.
"Gotcha."
Hey! SO I managed to finish this chapter in an hour and HO MY GOD. I barely managed to get past the 1000 word mark. (That's my quota for every chapter). I had just remembered I needed to write a chapter since I was playing Animal Crossing HHD last night and went to bed around 2 (though that wasn't because of the game. It was cause I was watching Lawrence of Arabia). Also, I read AoNoAo. That fucked my shit up. Hard. There was so much nope and then yas but then more nope. Also, can I just say how much I love K-Cross? They're the best. Eternal Kid is great but shit if I have mixed feelings on 2/3 of their work. And if any of you have NO idea what I'm talking about, I'm talking about Detective Conan doujinshis. If you are a terrible fujoshi like I am, and you are a hardcore KaiShin shipper, then you can find them at My Reading Manga (also some HeiShin and HakuKai but who cares about those, amirite? But no, those're good too just type in Conan in the search bar and you should find 'em) Anyway I'll stop rambling and get on with the next chapter announcement. (ALSO, 3 CHAPTER ARC HELL YEAH)
NEXT CHAPTER: SOME EXPLAINING TO DO
DFTBA GUYS! :D
alsoifoundoutthatMagicKaitou1412gotcharactersongsand