A HEALTHY NEW YEAR TO MY LOVELY READERS.
This is the first chapter for 2019 haha god it took me way too long to finish this. It was supposed to be finished yesterday and then the day before yesterday but I struggled with writer's block too much and yeah.
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR ALL OF YOUR REVIEWS! YOU MAKE ME KEEP GOING :)
Chapter 20 Resolution
When Ran opened her eyes, her body felt like lead and her head as if someone was hitting it with a hammer – a constant throb in the background.
"I'm glad to see you awake again, Ojou-san."
Groaning, Ran grabbed her head and tried to sit up, only realizing that her right hand was oddly restrained. Looking up, Ran found Kaitou Kid opposite of her, sitting on a chair, his legs crossed and a blank look on his face. Had she not known who this was supposed to be, she might have panicked. But as things stood, even with her arm chained to the wall, she felt not more than frustration with this idiot's meddling in her affairs.
"Ah pardon me for that but," looking at his watch, Kid tsk-ed disapprovingly, "you already made me late to my own heist. I'd hate to have to postpone the whole thing."
"W-what-" Ran pulled at the chain, the handcuffs that were on her right hand and the pipes on the wall. "Let me go!"
"I have to admit, your disguise is as good as it could be but your acting gave you away. Tell me, what have you been trying to accomplish by ambushing people with guns?"
Ran gritted her teeth in frustration and rattled at the handcuffs but they wouldn't come off no matter how hard she pulled. Maybe she could kick a hole into the wall and rip the pipes out – but then again, she was supposed to be Aoko and Aoko couldn't do something like that.
"Don't worry I'll have someone unchain you after the heist. But right now, I'd rather make sure you stay safe when I cannot have an eye on you."
"Don't be stupid. I can take care of myself just fine."
"Uhuh. Absolutely, Ojou-san. Would you like to tell me where Nakamori-san is instead?"
Now Ran tsk-ed. "And why would the Kaitou Kid want to know?"
Kid grinned his usual smug grin. She wanted to kick it off his face. "Come on now, Mouri-san. Nakamori-san is the beloved daughter of my favorite keibu. Don't you think it would break his heart if something happened to her?"
Ran shook her head. "No wonder she hates you."
Kid put a hand to his heart. "Ow, that hurt." Then he grinned his diabolic grin again. "So?"
Ran rolled her eyes. "So?"
"You didn't answer my question. Where is Nakamori-san? You got her core characteristics down, I give you that. But you need to be more careful in your acting if you want to be convincing all the time."
Ran rolled her eyes again. That guy was insufferable. How Aoko managed to tolerate him was honestly beyond her. Or even remotely accepted or God forbid liked him. Maybe as her friend though he was different. Maybe. She highly doubted the guy she got to know at Aoko's place that one time was his true self. Probably not even close.
"Will you grant me the answer anytime soon, Mouri-san?"
"Uncuff me and I might tell you." She wasn't stupid. If he wanted answers, he needed to try harder.
Kid sighed theatrically. "That won't do, now will it? Well, I'll find Nakamori-san one way or another. Then, what have you been trying to do, ambushing dangerous people?"
"How do you know they had guns? Or that those were dangerous people?"
Kid smiled mysteriously. "It takes a criminal to know one."
Ran frowned. "You know about them."
"Not really."
"But just now-"
"I chose not to cross paths with those people, Mouri-san. The less I know the better. But I can't help but wonder – is it the right thing? Are you affiliated with them? What were you trying to do? You are wearing Nakamori's face, no less. I'd appreciate it if you didn't unnecessarily endanger her. Unlike you, that girl can't protect herself and after watching your haphazard stunt, I have serious doubts you can."
"You're right. The less you know the better." Ran crossed her arms in front of her, as best she could anyway, and turned her head away from him. "Don't you have a heist to attend?"
"I do. But dangerous people are attending too and I'd much rather see you alive and well. Especially wearing that face right now."
"Aoko's just fine."
"Of course, she is. And I'd like to keep it that way, Mouri-san. You should think about repercussions first next time, before you jump into the fray."
"Why are you here, Kid? Handcuffing me to the pipes should be enough to keep me here, right? Then why are you not stealing? You're way past the announced time by now, aren't you?"
Kid leaned onto the chair and looked up to the ceiling, holding something against the light. Gasping, Ran realized with shock written on her face that it was her glasses.
"This is very interesting. Aoko said she got hit by a toxic liquid making her unable to see without dark tainted glasses. And now look here. You're also wearing glasses and your eyes look just fine. And look here, the glasses also have some really interesting features. Where did you get them?"
His look fell down upon her and Ran kept her deep frown. "I don't see how that's any of your business."
"Hmmm? I wonder about that. I think you two are doing something dangerous."
"That's rich coming from you."
Kid chuckled. "But I'm not in way over my head. And I chose this freely."
"And what makes you think we are forced to do it?"
"Mouri-san. Please answer one question. What did you expect to happen once you entered that room?"
Good question, next.
Honestly, Ran didn't expect anything. Rage had overcome her and all she could think about was the anger about them killing Shinichi. Maybe her own incompetency in keeping him safe too. She wanted to fight them. Kill them? If nothing else she expected to kick them into oblivion. Losing was not an option there and so she fully expected to get in, beat them up and then – well, she would have figured it out along the way. Well, he successfully stopped her doing anything stupid and she was not as annoyed as she had anticipated she would be. Weirdly, she was only mildly frustrated that she, again, could do nothing and let them get away. Or even if they were still there, she was chained to the pipes. Even if Kid left now, there was no way for her to get out.
"It would have worked out."
"Please excuse me for being frank with you but that was both naïve and stupid. You don't start a fight with people like them and get away with it alive."
"Sounds like you're speaking from experience, huh."
It shut Kid up pretty quickly, the blank look overtaking whatever expression he might have shown.
"I think you're smart, Mouri-san. I don't dislike you. But if you drag Nakamori into danger then my life will be a lot harder and I'd like to keep that from happening. So, could you please refrain from stunts like before?"
"You know what I find highly interesting? Before, you called Aoko by her first name. Aoko. As if you know her quite well. And this fixation on her? Sounds to me as if you two are closer than you let on. Of course, since she doesn't know you're Kid, am I right? I understand your need to protect her, whoever you are and whatever you are to her, but I think Aoko and I can make our own choices. I don't understand why people expect us to be perfect, never make any mistakes, but for the likes of you it's fine. I am getting sick of these discussions. Why don't you leave for your heist? You wasted enough time, don't you think?"
There was a short moment in which Kid's mask broke and he blanched, momentarily, before he got hold his emotions again. But it was there. She got him. She had her answer. Not that she wanted and did Aoko see it? Ran wasn't sure which was worse, that Aoko's suspicions were as good as confirmed and her knowing or her not knowing.
Sighing, the thief stood up, put the glasses on the table next to him and nodded.
"Well, mademoiselle, it was nice chatting with you but you've kept me away from my heist long enough. I have to take my leave now. Someone will come free you later. Just please don't make too much noise until then."
Ran rolled her eyes. Again. That guy was too much.
"Took you long enough."
Ran froze.
That voice.
Looking up sharply, the girl saw the cape of the thief disappear behind the door he just exited only for Conan to appear in the door. He took just one look at her and then turned to the thief again, probably, since she only saw Conan.
"Where is the key?"
Kid chuckled. "It's safe with Nakamori-keibu. It's better if she doesn't attend my heists anymore."
Conan frowned but said nothing while looking outside the door.
Ran wanted to scream, to rage, to hit something and break it, possibly. Not attend his heists anymore? Was he stupid?! It was for his own damn sake, not that she's been much help so far but that didn't mean that one day he might come to need her help in any way or form. That stupid -!
"Ran."
That was Shinichi with Conan's voice, wasn't it? Was it Shinichi? Was it Conan? She didn't know and her hurting head wasn't helping any.
"He knocked me out. I don't think that's exactly legal. Why aren't you catching him right now?"
Instead of following the thief, he closed the door behind him and walked up to her. "I think we should talk first."
"I thought Aoko said we'd talk tomorrow."
She didn't want to talk to him now. She wasn't prepared. Mentally and physically and she had no arguments and her head hurt from Kid's knockout gas. Really bad conditions for such a heavy theme they needed to talk out.
"There was a change of plan. Your father took on a case and we need to leave early tomorrow. I don't know when we'd be able to talk under those circumstances."
"Those circumstances?"
"The victim is being threatened and needs protection. That's no environment for a heart to heart, now is it?"
Ran pursed her lips. Well, no. It wasn't. Still, this was no good environment either. "What if I don't want to talk to you?"
Hurt crossed his expression and Ran had to bite her tongue. She didn't want to hurt him. She wanted to hurt those people who did this to him, given that this was truly Shinichi. But no matter if he was or was not, neither he nor Conan were supposed to suffer like that. Much less due to her own behavior or words.
"Then I won't push you. But I still think it would be better if we did."
He sat down in front of her, just out of her reach – in fear of something? That she might lash out at him? Stupid boy.
"What do you want to talk about?"
She couldn't keep hurting him. Not like that. She physically couldn't.
Conan smiled softly. "I'm not dead. And I'm sorry for all the lies. And I'm sorry that if things hadn't gone this way, I wouldn't have told you until it was all over. Even now, I cannot tell you details, Ran. Just know that I'm here. I'm alive. I'm fine."
"And yet you're like that."
"Ah, yeah. I am."
"Instead of killing you, they changed you into this?"
Conan faltered a little. "Not exactly." He hesitated and Ran figured he must be fighting with himself over his answer. "They intended to kill me. But the result was something they don't know about. Yet. They absolutely mustn't find out. You understand that, right Ran?"
"The result. You mean you becoming Conan, right?"
"Yes. If they found out, they'd kill me. And everyone around me, Ran."
The girl sighed. She was torn. Was this really, truly Shinichi? He sounded like it, even partly looked the part – at least in his younger years. The picture of those men? It overlapped with what she saw of them.
"They killed the man." There was no need to hide that part of the truth. He was being honest with her, she could return part of it, right? "On New Years. We saw them kill the man. Those very same men we saw on the roller coaster that day in Tropical Land. They saw someone was there watching them, so they hunted us. But I don't think they saw our faces."
Conan visibly exhaled in relief at her words. "That's good. Then they have no reason to go after any of you."
She better did not tell him that they heard their voices, though…
"Which means, now that you know the truth Ran – stop whatever you are doing. Those people belong to an internationally wanted criminal organization even the FBI and CIA are trying to take down. Please promise me not to look for them anymore, Ran."
Internationally wanted? Well, that sounded bad. But not doing anything? Ran didn't understand why they couldn't simply work together. He was still investigating, right? Was he helping the FBI and CIA? Why couldn't she help then? She didn't necessarily need to act when things got tough but they could exchange information, she could help him…
And yet, he still didn't want that. He thought her weak, stupid, whatever his mind came up with. Simply, she was not good enough. Not for such a smart detective like him.
"I- look I- Shini- Cona- I mean-"
"I have to be Edogawa Conan now. If they found out I'm still alive, they'd kill us all instantly. If something happened to you, Ran, I-"
"You can't tell me more about it, can you?" She knew he wouldn't.
"What would you do with that information?"
Surprised, Ran thought about it. Well, if she had more information, she might be able to investigate them more thoroughly and easily. She still needed to get access to the police data but once she did – all she needed was some information to start off of. Once she had more information, she could supply him with it. She could help him do whatever he needed to do in order to become himself again.
Of course, her digging could stir dead things which wasn't desired. Internationally wanted criminal organization. That sounded so bad, so dangerous. It fit with what she saw of those two men both times. Maybe with those she was really way over her head. Maybe she should stop her investigation. Shinichi was alive after all. He was Conan, he got hurt, but he was still alive.
But just giving up like that, after her resolve had been steeled, it felt wrong. She wasn't a quitter. She just needed to be more careful. Maybe put the investigation on hold until they figured out their own case – which she highly doubted had anything to do with that organization at least.
"That case you're working on. What is it about?"
She could tell him. Now. But they knew some factors now. Knew time and place, knew who was targeted. In worst case they just needed to stop things from happening. They needed to find a way in and out, figure out where the bombs might be placed and a plan how to immediately evacuate the building. They didn't have nothing. They could do it.
"It has nothing to do with these men in black."
It could not because they thought Shinichi dead. If they by any chance found out he was alive after all, then maybe. But as Shinichi said, he'd be long dead if that was the case and in that case it couldn't be the same organization. Also, what did they want to kill Nakamori-keibu for? As far as she knew that man couldn't have met them, at least in a working environment.
"That's not what I want to know."
"I could use the information and help you solve your case … Conan-kun. I could tell you about this thing and you could help me solve it. But we've talked about this before. I trust in myself. Things will be alright. You don't need to worry."
"Trust isn't the issue here, Ran."
But trust was the whole issue, wasn't it? Until it became a thing of pride. And then protection measures. Probably something like what he was doing. Shinichi was being targeted so she did everything to keep him as far away as possible. Away from the case, away from the location altogether.
"Fine. Promise me just one thing. When things turn out bad or you are stuck somewhere, don't hesitate to ask me. Alright?"
She – could do that. Yeah. It sounded reasonable enough. But she was sure Shinichi would just try to figure it out on his own, he was that kind of mystery freak. But it was fine. If she wasn't good enough to fool him then he deserved to find out anyway.
"Fine."
Suddenly, the door was opened. "Ugh, are you guys even decent?"
Aoko came in with a hand over her eyes and a grin on her face.
"Are you for real? He's just a child!" Ran yelled, appalled.
"Well, you know. He can change and stuff so – never mind."
Conan rolled his eyes and stood up, annoyed. Their conversation was put to an abrupt end.
"There's no need for you to go down anymore. Otou-san's packing up things anyway. You'd just surprise him and make yourself unbelievable."
Kid stopped right in front of the door to the stairs and turned around slowly to find none other than Nakamori Aoko behind him, leaning on the wall.
"I've taken the liberty of canceling your heist in your name."
"Is that so?"
"Yes. Since you were late anyway and I didn't know how long things would take, I left a note in your stead cancelling the whole thing. I wrote something along the lines that you'll leave a new heist note when you decided on a new time and stuff. Really, that's up to you."
Kid crossed his arms in front of his chest, his hat shadowing his face. Was he angry? Aoko knew that she could easily anger Kaito and this was something that he'd definitely be angry about. But to be honest, she acted in his best interest. Being late for his own heist? Unheard of. That's why she left that note when it was just a few minutes late. He could repeat the heist whenever he so wished. Why she did what she did? No idea. Maybe it had to do with how much he helped her when she felt alone and helpless. Maybe. But maybe it was just her pure heart. Even if he was her sworn nemesis who she hated (but he was possibly Kaito, too). Really, things were way too complicated.
"Aren't you being awfully nice to me, Nakamori-san?"
And she had a feeling things might take a turn for the worse if he had proceeded with the heist. What were those people doing here? Knocking Ran out was the right thing to do, Aoko probably would have done the same thing, despite telling her to do whatever she wanted. But confronting those people head on while they were waiting for backup? That was purely suicidal. The second she saw what was going on? She ran out of the agency and to the heist so that she could beat some sense into that senseless girl.
"I told you I owe you, right? Now you can cross one thing off the list. Besides, I did it for Otou-san too. He needs a break. He has the whole thing prepared and now all he needs to do is wait for the next heist note. He can relax a bit now."
Not that he would. He would probably wonder what happened to Kid again and stress about it.
Sighing, Kid look her in the eyes. "Nakamori-san. I appreciate your effort but what do you think would happen if people saw you? What if people mistook you for me? How would you get out of it? Wouldn't it be just too convenient for the keibu to have his own daughter plan the heists? Have you ever thought about the repercussions of yo-"
"Shut up! You ungrateful bastard! A simple thanks would have been fine."
Harrumphing, Aoko turned around and made her way to Ran. Someone needed to free her after all, without involving her father. That was absolutely unnecessary.
"You should stop thinking you're the only one keeping things in control."
She wasn't dumb, and it hurt that Kaito thought she was. Of course, messing with his business made him angry, she got that, but he didn't need to act as if she was below him. She wasn't.
"Just don't do it again, Ojou-san."
"Yeah, yeah," she mumbled and disappeared behind the corner. There were more pressing matters to take care of. Like – the chat of Kudou and Ran. She sure hoped that Ran didn't just shut down on him and didn't get anything straight between them. It would be such a pain then.
Opening the door without thinking about it, Aoko stepped inside and only then realized what compromising situation she might have stepped into. Slapping her hand over her eyes, she groaned. "Ugh, are you guys even decent?"
Because, yeah, Conan might be nothing but a child, but he had this ability to change forms between a seven-year-old and a seventeen-year-old. Seventeen was old enough for some frick frack.
"Are you for real? He's just a child!" Ran yelled, appalled.
"Well, you know. He can change and stuff so – never mind." Aoko laughed and let her arm fall to her side. Well, yeah, Ran was still chained to the pipes and the boy (all red in the face, how cute) was putting some distance between himself and Ran. Interesting.
"Really? You're impossible!"
Shaking her head, Ran scowled at Aoko and the latter just laughed.
"Alright, alright. Let's get you out of those handcuffs."
"You got the key from Nakamori-keibu?" Conan asked innocently and Aoko grinned mischievously.
"What? You really think I need a key?"
Squatting down to Ran's height, she pulled a hairpin from beneath her shirt and started picking the lock.
"Why am I not surprised?" Conan mumbled dryly.
"What did you expect? My father has been chasing a world class illusionist thief my whole life and my best friend's illusionist abilities could rival those of Kaitou Kid himself. Do you really think I never picked up anything from his various shows?"
Not that Kaito had official shows, but even his private ones, only for her and sometimes for her and their classmates, were enough to make her want to know how he was doing it. And figuring out things made her curious enough to try and see if she could do it too. She wasn't as into magic as Kaito was, but she was curious and didn't want to be left behind.
With a click the metal opened and Ran was freed of her restrains.
"Are you working with the police now, Ran? Or why are you wearing those clothes?"
Grabbing the glasses off the table, she gave them to Ran.
"Well, Nakamori Aoko has a part time job with the police. And I think that's where she needs to return now." Aoko exclaimed while helping Ran to her feet.
"Good. Then, I'll wait outside so you guys can change your clothes again, Ran-neechan."
Watching the door close behind the young boy Aoko sighed.
"How did it go?" Turning to the other girl, she stemmed her hands onto her hips and frowned. "Please, can you be more careful next time?" Because she knew Ran wouldn't be able to look away if she met those people again. All Aoko was asking for was a little more consideration for everyone's health here.
Ran shrugged. "It went fine enough with Conan-kun, I think. And the other thing – it would have been fine. How you can stand that insufferable guy, though, I don't get at all."
"You mean Kid?"
"Who else, huh?"
"Yeah, I don't really know, either."
"But he's definitely worried about you. Demanded to know where you are and to be more considerate when wearing your face – mind you, this is also my face."
"Worried, huh."
"I'm really worried, Mouri-sama."
"Hahaha, as the great detective that I am, you have nothing to worry, young lady. With me at your side, nothing can happen to you."
Ran's father was so different from her own – and yet the same. One was fixated on women and the other on a particular thief. Aoko wondered which one was worse.
Well, if she was here already, she could also enjoy the onsen as this ryokan was renowned for its hot spring.
"I'm going to soak in the onsen, Otou-san."
"A-ah. Wa-wait. I'm coming too. I think a hot bath would calm my nerves," their host and targeted person said, Aoguchi Tsukushi her name.
"Wait, but Aoguchi-chan. I can't protect you if you're in the baths."
Aoguchi linked her arm through Aoko's and smiled coyly. "Oh, I heard your daughter is a black belt in karate and successfully defeated quite some enemies. I'm sure I'll be fine with her."
Hehehe. If I were Ran, yeah. Too bad I'm not, Aoko thought. She couldn't even take her bow with her, making her effectively useless. If these aren't some great preconditions, I don't know what are. Let's hope we don't get attacked.
What were the chances she would be attacked in the onsen of all places, anyway? Well, she'd rather not challenge her luck but then again, she'd figure something out if it came down to it.
"Oi, bouzu, go with them."
It was comical how Aoko's face and Conan's heated simultaneously. "O-Otou-san! You can't be serious!"
After all, this was Kudou fricking Shinichi and she was definitely not bathing with that detective brat. Ran could bath with him as much as she wanted since this seemed to be a somewhat recurring occasion? She'd have to interrogate Ran later. But right now, she needed her father off her feet – and that detective in disguise.
"Y-yeah. I'll go later, occhan." With a placating manner, Conan tried to calm Ran's father and diffuse the situation.
"Anyway, let's go," Aoguchi interfered and pulled Aoko behind her.
At least Conan didn't follow her.
Aoko hurriedly went to her room to change into the bathing gown and then left for the onsen. It was a nice place, overall. It was quiet, and the mountain Fujisan was just around the corner. If this was as good as people called it then she'd be able to see the mountain from the baths. Now, that would be something.
Ran must lead a very eventful life if they got invited to all these different places weekly – even monthly was more than Aoko left town in her whole life. Sure, there was the school trips and the trip to Okinawa with Kaito but that one especially was kind of spoiled since Kaito was so against going in the first place. He and his stupid fish phobia. The great Kaitou Kid – afraid of fish. She wondered what people would say if someone ever found out.
Well, but that was her best kept secret she wasn't going to simply blabber out.
"Ah, Ran-chan. Come in, come in." Aoguchi greeted her when she entered the baths and followed her words suit.
"Oh, that looks like a nasty bruise. Where did you get that?
Aaaaah, yeah. Another blunder. But she could tell Aoguchi anything and that woman would have to believe her – as long as Conan and Ran's father didn't find out about it, she'd be fine. Especially since she seemed to have successfully deceived Conan so far.
"It was during another case just a few days ago. I had to fight five guys at the same time and one of them got a hit in. But don't worry. I'll be able to protect you from anyone."
The damn bruise would take some more time to heal and then disappear. At least it wasn't as black anymore. And swollen. The swelling was going down nicely but then again, not fast enough. Stupid rib, stupid bandits. She'd show them if she ever met them again – come to think of it, she had to ask her father about it. Someone must be looking for them, they caused quite the trouble after all. And all the gun powder – they were quite obviously criminals with bad intentions.
"I see. Now I feel much better."
Aoguchi was a beautiful woman, just reached 26, with long, straight, black hair and an hour glass figure. From what she told them she was a model and her father was the owner of this ryokan. Her life must be a very comfortable one.
Getting into the water, Aoko relaxed her strained muscles. This was honestly the best way of winding down after everything that so far had happened. It was also good for getting the necessary strength to pull through for what was to come. They still had a long way to go.
"Aah, isn't this great. I love soaking in the hot water. And there, if you look this way, you can actually see Fujisan. Isn't the vies amazing?"
Looking in the direction that Aoguchi was showing, Aoko found the mountain, all brightened by the setting sun. It was a marvelous sight.
"Beautiful," she mumbled, fumbling with her glasses so that she could share this special moment with Ran.
"Right? I love this place so much. Whenever I come back from a modeling gig, I always go here first to relax and enjoy the magnificent view."
"What made you become a model?"
"Modeling huh? When I was younger, my older sister got approached by my agent and for a while she had been a model. But she wasn't very good and one day, while I attended one of the shows, my sister got hurt. I jumped in for her and as though it was meant to be a one-time thing, I got actually casted in her stead. I think I have to thank her for being this successful now."
Aoguchi had a wistful look on her face, making Aoko wonder.
"Eh? And what is your sister doing now?" Was her sister maybe angry and wrote those threatening letters?
"She's working here now. She's helping Tou-chan with the work here ever since our mother died. I think her messing up was quite the good thing for this place."
"Do you think your sister is angry with you? That you got her job while she has to work here?"
Aoguchi nodded quickly. "Yes! That must be it! I get to see so many places. All of Japan is my stage but also the whole world. New York, London, Paris. And that's just where it all starts. Being confined here while she could have had all that…"
"Is she not happy here?"
Aoguchi looked towards Aoko and frowned. "Happy? Why would she be happy though? She could have had the world instead."
"But maybe she doesn't need the world. Maybe this is enough? Does she have a boyfriend?"
Would Kaito be like that, too? Would he disappear like his mother? Would he get swallowed by the screaming crowds, the applauses, the stages, the lights. If his night job ever ended would he leave her for the world? Because she – she didn't need the world. She was fine with Tokyo. She was fine with freedom and a life she chose for herself. A life she didn't regret.
"Heh?!" Aoguchi scowled. "As if she'd ever be happy with this when she could have had so much more. When she even got a taste of so much more. Don't tell me you'd be happy to die in this place after having spent your whole life here. Do you not want to see the world? Don't you think the world has much more to offer than this?"
Why that girl became so angry, Aoko didn't understand but while she did want to see the world, she didn't want her life to become anything like that. If Kaito ever asked her to visit him in LA, she would do so without hesitation. But if he asked her to live there with him? If he asked her to travel the world with him? Well, if he asked her, that might be a whole different thing. Her father was living here, her friends were too. It was a life much more suited for her than somewhere she didn't know anyone.
"I think you could work here and still see the world. Some people don't even want to see the world, at all. For some Tokyo is enough already."
"Well, I don't really understand that."
Aoko smiled. "Why don't you ask your sister if she is happy? I'm sure she'll appreciate you asking her."
"Hmpf."
"Well, you should really talk to her, I think. Anyway, this onsen is really nice."
With that Aoko stood up and went outside. Her skin was thoroughly soaked through and the faster those two talked the sooner maybe some grudge could be sorted. If really that sister was behind everything because she was jealous of her little sister's success then they maybe really just needed to talk it out and find solutions. Either way, she'd talk to Ran's father and Conan so that they could keep an eye on that sister.
Walking to the basin, Aoko pulled the towel around her body.
"Ah, watch out! The ground – " in that moment Aoko slipped and fell forward, her heart rate going up instantly, hands reaching out to brace on the basin. Her hands slipped on the basin too and she fell on her forearms, hard. "- is slippery…"
Whoa.
With her head just centimeters above the basin's edge, her knees scraping over the floor and her forearms hurting as if she broke yet another bone and speaking of bones – going at this pace she doubted her ribs would ever heal.
That – was close.
"A-are you okay?"
Water sloshing behind her indicated that Aoguchi was rushing out of it to help her but Aoko's mind was frozen on the single fact that just one bit more, had her knees hit the floor just a bit further away or had she not been able to grab the basin's edge, she would have very well hit her head and subsequently broke her spine. Or shattered her head, but she'd be dead either way.
Soft hands grabbed around her torso and pulled her upright. "Ran-chan!"
The worried voice got her out of her stupor – and maybe the fact that her ribs burned in her upper body – and Aoko let herself be pushed into a sitting position, away from the deadly basin.
"Are you okay? I'm so sorry. I should have told you sooner. This stupid tile is always slippery. I told my father so many times to just change it but apparently he still hasn't."
Shivering in cold even though the blood was circulating quite fast in her body, Aoko couldn't even listen to what Aoguchi was blubbing.
"Ah, oh no. this will bruise pretty badly. And on top of your other injury. Oh no, I'm so sorry."
Aoguchi grabbed both her arms and held them up, inspecting them. Looking up into mirror in front of her, she found herself, sitting on the floor with Aoguchi right next to her. Her face white like a ghost and her expression as if she'd just had a near death experience. And then her gaze fell on her arms, already forming ugly looking black spots.
"You didn't break anything, did you? Oh my god, this is all my fault. If I'd just –" Aoko blocked all her others words successfully out of her head and fixed her gaze only on her arms. Damn. It looked bad. So bad. Moving her fingers to try and see if anything was broken, she felt pain, immense pain, sharp and biting but she could move her fingers either way. Her ribs were still broken and Aoko wondered if anything got reopen. Hopefully not. Otherwise she'd never have healed ribs again.
"-chan. Ran-chan. Ran-chan!"
A shake of her hands got her focus back on the girl next to her and Aoko bit down the groan. Her body hurt. She was so taking a break from Ran's life after this.
"I-I'm fine. I mean, it hurts." Like a bitch she'd have loved to add but she bit her tongue as that wasn't something Ran would mutter and blinked. "But I'll live. Don't worry."
She tried her best smile despite the burning pain and tried to swallow it down. No need to worry their client anymore than she already was. Maybe if she sucked it up, she could mum her and then Ran's father and Conan would never find out. She could bandage her arms just in case and then Ran could do the same, in any case but no one would find out had she any say in it.
"R-really? Are you sure? You are so spaced out. Should we call a doctor? I-I'm calling a doctor now."
The girl stood up and hurried out of the room before Aoko managed to grab her ankle and effectively stopped her from leaving.
Smiling, she shrugged. "See. I'm fine." Getting to her feet slowly and moving her fingers, she demonstrated that she was just fine. "I will feel sore, for sure, but I've had worse ever since I took up martial arts training. Trust me on that. Better we don't worry anyone else and forget this ever happened, ok?"
Aoguchi watched her with suspicion written on her face but then shrugged. "Thank god you're fine. I don't know what I would have done if you got hurt badly."
She would have to get some cooling stickers later, though. For her arms and her poor ribs.
"So, Aoko-chan. Would you like to see some super-duper confidential secret stuff?"
Ran laughed jerkily, not understanding if that was just a joke or a trap. "Uh. If it's some super-duper confidential secret stuff than I'm sure I'm not supposed to see it."
Nagya just laughed. "Yeah but don't worry. What could you possibly do with it anyway, huh? I just find it this interesting and wanted to this experience with someone."
Ran shrugged. She had nothing to lose, well, apart from her job and freedom if anyone found out about it, especially if that was a trap. But she needed to get along with her plan. She still wasn't any closer to get all the rights for her user. All the necessary ones. "Sure. Show me."
"Hehehe. I can see the criminal streak in you."
Shit, was it a trap after all? Sweating, Ran tried to hide her nervousness. Did he know? Did he know about what they were trying to do? He was a victim from the list – or was he? Was he one of them maybe?
In that moment a shiver ran down her back.
Ah, no way. No way would a possible victim be the criminal at the same time.
But the police IDs – no one but someone from inside could know them.
"Come, sit down, sit down."
They were again alone in his office, and Ran wondered where his fellow IT colleagues were. Weren't they supposed to be working? Sitting down, she looked up to the monitor.
If he was the criminal or at least one behind the whole thing, then she needed to keep an eye on him.
He clicked twice on a document and then it opened. For the first ten seconds Ran didn't quite understand what she was seeing. She knew some faces and even more names, but she couldn't quite connect the dots telling her what she was viewing.
"With your father in the force, he should have already received the invitation. Do you know about the upcoming ball, Aoko-chan?"
Ran swallowed.
This was it.
Nodding because she wasn't able to verbally acknowledge him, she stared at the monitor, burning the faces and names into her brain.
"This is the quest list. Since we cannot have offices unmanned, even on just on evening, not everyone will go. Not everyone was invited, either. Still, this list is as complete as it could be. Around 1000 officers and inspectors and super intendants are invited to this thing."
One thousand! Someone was targeting an event with around 1000 officers!
Blasphemy!
"And imagine if the secret police were invited as well."
Another shiver ran down her spine.
Yeah, killing just 1000 police officers was madness, but the secret police too? Thank god that wasn't the case. Otherwise their country would be incredibly vulnerable for a long time. And those few officers who stayed behind? They could never do all the work meant for over 1000 people.
"How do you know about the list?"
Because if it was that confidential, he shouldn't have access to it, either. Why was a file with 1000 faces on his computer? Why was he allowed to know about it?
"Nagaya-san, with all due respect but I think there is a good reason with this list is confidential. Why are you in possession of it?" Not that she complained. This was perfect, the perfect opportunity to get her hands on it. She needed it, she and Aoko both. They needed to go over it, narrow down suspects, victims, have as many of them stay at home without raising suspicion.
One thousand people. They held the lives of one thousand people in their hands and while not all would be killed, all of them would be scarred either way.
Would 1000 people even fit in the Imperial Palace? Was that whole thing big enough for such an event?
Shit.
They needed to their hands on the blueprints. They needed to break in there and Ran hated it, but they had no choice. If they wanted to succeed, they needed to go to such lengths.
"Well. You're in on it now, too."
"Eh?!"
"Joking, I'm just joking." He laughed and leaned back into his chair. "Well, those things run through my table. I need to make sure there is no malware attached or that the right people receive it. Just imagine this list in the wrong hands. I'm responsible for decoding it so no hacker, if they were able to get through the outer defenses, is able to get their hands on this file. That's why this is on my computer."
Well, that did sound plausible and that made him even more suspicious.
His hyper fixation on Aoko. Aoko getting all those messages. Him being the IT person for the whole police force – who said he couldn't hack into other police computers? He had the smarts and the possibilities to pull it off. He was their best bet, they needed to keep an eye on him.
She needed to get that file.
"Why did you show me?"
Nagaya just laughed in mirth. "Because I thought it's interesting. You're right. It's but a stupid list. And what did I tell you about calling me Nagaya huh?"
"Ah, sorry, sorry, Akiro-kun."
"See, that's better, Aoko-chan."
Aoguchi's sister was a smaller girl with dimples when she smiled and an expression of pure happiness whenever she looked at someone. She had short curly dark brown hair which she futilely kept in a bun.
"Oh. You must be one of our guests, right? With the sleeping detective who will find out who si threatening my little sister, right?"
Aoko nodded and smiled fondly. "Yes. My name is Mouri Ran. I'm sorry to intrude but you wouldn't have some cooling stickers at hand?"
She was currently in the kitchen of the place because her arms had swollen quite badly and she needed to cool it a bit. Also the pulsing pain wasn't really going away and while that would disappear over night (she hoped) she wanted to help it along a little bit.
"Oh, where are my manners. My name is Nakayama Zasu. Cooling stickers? Did something happen? Let me check real quick. I'm sure I saw some just recently."
"Yeah, I can be quite clumsy at times and I kind of stumbled over my legs and fell down."
When she showed her arms to the other girl, she gasped in shock. "Oh my, that must hurt quite the deal."
Looking through various drawers, Zasu cheered when she fished something out. "I knew I saw some last time I cleaned up here. Here, let me see your arms again, honey."
Aoko pushed her arms forward and Zasu softly put the stickers over her wounded flesh.
"My, let's hope the swelling will go down quickly. Maybe you should additionally have a doctor take a look at it. Where did you fall again?"
She reminded Aoko somewhat of a doting mother and Aoko couldn't help but feel regret not to remember her own mother. Was she anything like this woman? Aoko didn't know and she probably wouldn't ever find out.
Aoko smiled. "Of course. If the swelling gets worse or the pain gets worse, I'll have a doctor check it. Don't worry. Thanks for the stickers. I should be fine now."
Zasu beamed.
That girl didn't look unhappy at all. Why someone like her would send her sister threatening letters, Aoko didn't know but people were unpredictable like that.
"Ran-neechan! What happened?"
Within a moment, Conan came into view, grabbed her arms to his height and inspected them. The stickers were covering her bruises, but he was Kudou freaking Shinichi. He didn't need to see the whole picture to get it.
"Ah nothing, nothing, Conan-kun. Don't worry about it."
Slowly but firmly she pulled her hands out of his grasp and pushed her sleeves down again. No need for any more people to ask stupid questions. Damn, her disguise was ruined again.
"Ok you two, dinner will be served shortly. Please take your seats."
Zasu dismissed them with a content smile on her lips and got back to the food.
Aoko followed slowly after Conan.
"I can't believe I fell for your little game again. Why am I not even angry anymore? Where's Ran?"
Aoko couldn't help the grin that spread over her face and the small giggle at his expanse.
"Ran's safe being Aoko."
Conan turned around with a frown. "Yeah laugh at me. Anyway, what happened to your arms?"
Shaking her head to rid herself of her mirth, Aoko sighed. "I slipped. When you go to the baths later, make sure to keep away of this one tile which is on the direct way to the basin. Anyway, have you already figured out who is threatening our dear model?"
"Eh, why the sarcasm? Did she tell you something during the bath? And no, there are no leads so far."
"Hmmm, yes actually. She was very talkative. Told me how she took all the glory from her sister and now Zasu-san has to work here. She thinks Zasu-san might be behind the letters. But if you ask me, it doesn't add up. Zasu-san seems too happy for that. Someone who's jealous doesn't smile as much. And I could tell it was an honest smile."
"Her sister, huh?" Conan had his hand beneath his chin in thought. "Well, we're definitely looking for someone with a motif. For now, that leaves us just with Nakayama-san, her husband and their father. And you shouldn't be too gullible. Smiles can deceive."
When they arrived in the dining room, her father and the other two occupants were already seated, waiting for Zasu and the food now.
"Ah, Ran-chan. Ran-chan. Here, come sit next to me."
Aoko exchanged a look with Conan and went to sit next to the famous model. She sat sandwiched between the model and Zasu-san's husband much to Mouri-san's happiness as she didn't take his seat next to the girl he was supposed to protect. Ran told her to smack him if he got out of hand but Aoko had troubles knowing what was already out of hand and what not. Maybe she should ask Shinichi for help later. Or advice. (Though, somehow, she doubted he'd be very helpful.)
"Hello Mouri-san. My name is Nakayama Nako and I am Zasu's husband. Nice to meet the daughter of the renowned detective."
In that moment that she nodded to the man next to her, Conan pushed his way in between the man and herself, much to her bewilderment. Couldn't he simply sit next to Mouri or on the other side of Nakayama? Weird boy.
"Conan-kun." The man laughed merrily. "Quite the protective little boy, isn't he?"
"Ah, nice to meet you too." I guess he is protective. "That's Conan-kun for you." Because really, what did she know about this boy, no man? Apart from the fact that he loved Ran above everything else. But she wasn't Ran and in no real danger, either. Weird.
The dinner went over quite uneventfully.
Apparently, Zusa had married Nako just a year ago and was happy with her husband who used to be a model, too. He wanted to leave the industry as it was too stressful and with his wife in the countryside all the time, they were separated too much. So he canceled his contract and moved here. Now he was helping them out whenever a further hand was needed and learning how to run a ryokan as Zasu would inherit it one day and as her husband he'd subsequently too.
Zasu was really a bubbly, talkative young girl who loved her husband, family and her life overall very much. Aoko was sure no one was able to outwardly fake such a feeling.
"Ne, Ran-chan. I think I'll feel better if you slept in my room. I have the feeling that the criminal will strike tonight and –" Aoguchi suddenly spoke out, grabbing Aoko's hands and clutching them tightly.
Aoko had the feeling, that her life might be in danger instead of Aoguchi's but whatever. She could hardly say no.
"Then I will stay with you, too!" Conan intercepted much to Mouri's chagrin.
"What. Aoguchi-chan, why don't you stay in my room instead? I will protect you with my life."
Aoko frowned. "Most likely not, Otou-san."
"Then that settles it, Ran-chan stays in my room this night."
"And me too." Conan piped in again and while it was weird spending the night with a guy in one room, not that she'd share her bed with him or anything crazy like that, but she felt oddly reassured that he wanted to be there as well. Whatever his reasons might be but for now it was for her best interest.
Pulling him over on her lap, because Ran had told her that she did that now and then (or all the time), she nodded. "Conan-kun can stay with us too. I think he can scare the criminal off, too." Because she was helpless when it came to fighting. Though, how he wanted to fight, she didn't know but she felt better knowing Kudou was there too. At least, her life shouldn't be in danger then, right? Since she was playing at being Ran and Conan was very protective of her, she should be fine.
It was when Nagaya left the room to get her some coffee, Ran had a few minutes to act. He left his computer unguarded, unlocked, pathetically, trusting.
She thought about printing the list but it was at least 1000 pages and even if she printed 4 pages on one, front and back, it was still at least 250 papers and that wasn't possible within a few short minutes. That left her with the only possibility of changing her user rights.
Switching over to his seat, she clicked on the icon for user administration.
Please enter user ID and password
Ran swallowed.
She had been very thorough the last night, going over the footage of him typing in the password. She got it narrowed to just one password but he might have changed it already or maybe here were also some logs in place and she'd be found out immediately.
It didn't matter.
They needed the list.
Maybe if she mailed the list to her own mailing address and then deleted the mail from his side. Would he know?
Still, there was no time for doubting.
Taking out her phone, where she put in the user and password, she typed it into the system asking for it.
You have successfully logged in.
Letting a breath out in relief, Ran hurriedly searched for her user.
She had standard rights.
Shit.
She'd need to change the whole group she was added to.
Shit.
Hearing steps, she hurriedly logged off again and jumped to her seat.
That made things incredibly complicated.
They retreated to their rooms an hour after the dinner. Mouri was happily drinking away and it took a bit power to drag his drunk ass to his room but they managed after a really long walk through the hotel.
Aoguchi went to the bathroom to change and left Conan and Aoko alone in the room.
"How are your arms?
For someone who hated her guts, he was incredibly caring.
"Fine, I guess. My ribs are worse off, I think." That shit was still throbbing like a bitch and Aoko was pretty sure the movement must have broken the healing bones again. She couldn't think of any other explanation as to why it hurt that bad. But since no one else knew about her injury she couldn't just whine about it without having to answer questions.
"Ribs?"
Looking his way, Aoko sighed. "Yeah during one Kid heist I got my ribs broken. It was on Christmas. A few days have passed ever since but I fear those bones aren't healing the way they should. Well, it's not any of your business anyway."
She saw him open his mouth to retort something but closed it again, when the bathroom door opened and out came Aoguchi, panicked.
"Ran-chan! I lost my ring! How could I have lost it? You saw it, right? It's gone!"
Aoko could recount a ring on her finger when they were bathing. It shone in the light of the setting sun, lighting the beautiful orange jewel wrapped up in gold. It was a very intricate design but Aoko couldn't remember it seeing on her hand when she inspected her hurt arms after her fall or even during dinner. She just remembered the orange jewel.
Before she could respond, Aoguchi dragged her out of the room. "Please help me look."
"Tsukushi-neechan, do you remember where might have lost it? A possible time? Maybe when you were drying off after the bath you took it off and left there?"
The true detective that Kudou was, they followed his suggestion and went down to the outward onsen.
But when they opened the door to the baths, the sight was not what they expected.
Aoko swallowed the bile rising in her throat, watching, frozen, the body lying on the floor, with the head elevated on the basin, blood streaming down over it. Her eyes were empty.
Next to her, someone was screaming, before Aoko turned around and sprinted out of the room.
Wow I wanted to finish the case in one chapter but Shinichi needed to talk again and Kid wanted to talk with Ran and things are just too long when it comes to talking XD
FINALLY though we are getting on with the story. Finally some progress with their original case and some trouble on Ran's side and damn, a CORPSE. WHO would have thought? xD
Hope you liked the chapter. Next chapter will be even more progress (unless Shinichi or Kaito mess with it again xD)