Chapter 4

The Truthful Way

Conan approached the front door of Dr. Agasa's house and knocked on the door. Haibara opened it and let him walk in without greeting him. She held out a small red and white capsule and put it in his hand.

"This one should last about twenty hours or so," she said, pushing another into his face. "If you're in an emergency where you can't transform in your current situation, then this capsule should cover for you. It won't last for the same amount of time, but it'll save your secretive butt."

"Thanks, Haibara. I didn't think you would give me one." Conan said.

"I've got your back every once in a while, especially if it involves someone's life, but this won't happen often, so don't ask me to do this all the time. If you want me to make an antidote that cures you, then you can't ask this kind of favour all the time, got it?" Haibara said.

"Yeah, yeah, I got it," Conan said. He paused before heading out the door. "Was Ayumi upset today?"

"Upset is an understatement." Haibara said, crossing her arms.

"I know I was rude, but I couldn't help it. Next time I see her, I'll make it up to her, okay? I know you're angry with me for hurting her, but I can't let Ran's disappearance be swept into the back of everybody's minds." Conan said. Haibara's expression softened.

"Fine, but next time you hurt Yoshida-san like that, I won't let you off easy. She's just a little girl, Kudo-kun; a sweet, innocent soul who was only thinking of you. Give her some credit, would you?"

"I will. I gotta go, I'll talk to you later, okay? I'll keep you posted!" Conan said, running out the door and shoving the capsules into his pocket. Haibara closed the door and sat at her lab desk.

"She's so infatuated with you, Kudo-kun. Surely you can see that, can't you?" Haibara mumbled.

Before going back to the agency, Conan dropped by his parents' house to grab a few changes of clothes. He took the first capsule and felt his bones grow rapidly inside his body. He the burning sensation made him want to faint, but he forced himself to stay awake, as someone was more important. When he finished transforming into his old self, Shinichi looked in the mirror of the bathroom and smiled. He took off his glasses and smiled bigger, for the first time in over twenty-four hours.

Shinichi quickly changed into a shirt and pants and slipped on his jacket. He grabbed a pair of sneakers from the front closet and exited the house with a duffel bag stuffed with his clothes. When he arrived at the detective agency, Shinichi walked up the steps and knocked on the door to Kogoro's office. When Kogoro opened the door, his reaction wasn't what Shinichi expected.

"Hey, brat! I was hoping you'd come to help!" Kogoro said, wrapping his arm around Shinichi's shoulders and closing the door. He invited him to sit down and offered him tea as well.

"Sure, why not?" Shinichi said.

Kogoro came back out of the kitchen a few minutes later and set a tea-tray on the table complete with little cookies, the way Ran had made tea lately. She hadn't served cookies and tea at the same time very much, but recently she had been interested in serving it the English way. Shinichi guessed it had rubbed off on Kogoro, though he didn't drink tea much. He preferred his much-loved beer.

"Oji-san, I would've come out here without you asking me to since Conan told me Ran had gone missing, but why are you asking me? You are a detective yourself, aren't you?" Shinichi asked. Kogoro's forehead wrinkled a little. He closed his eyes and sighed.

"I'm not confident in my skills like you are, Kudo. I was a very…unreliable as a police officer, and now all I do is laze around my office and drink beer. You actually do your job and I just sit back and pretend to be a talented, famous man. It would be hard for me to admit it most times, so this is the only time I'll ever ask you for help. My pride won't allow it any other times." Kogoro explained. Shinichi smiled and nodded.

"I understand that you're not confident in your skills as a detective, Oji-san, but Ran is depending on you," Shinichi said. Kogoro stared down at the floor.

"As a detective…and her father." Shinichi finished.

Kogoro looked up and grinned on one side of his mouth. He held out his hand for Shinichi to shake.

"Then I guess we have work to do, don't we? Ran is waiting for us." He said. Shinichi took his hand and held it firmly, feeling a bit closer to his best friend's father.

Ran sat in her prison with her roped hands and chained feet, feeling the icy chills sink into her lungs through her nostrils. She didn't know if the wind had somehow killed whatever sickness was in her or if it just made it worse to the point where she felt too numb to recognize a flu bug. She watched puffs of cold air run out her mouth and make smoky patterns. Ran found it hard to move her eyes. Her body had already refused hours ago. Regardless of her situation, her adrenaline didn't want to kick in to help. She was tired and her body was slowly giving in.

A sharp ray of sunlight hit the open window. The man who held Ran captive had it open on purpose to make her miserable, and he was doing a good job. This man was really into torturing his victims, which scared Ran to high heaven.

The sunshine killed Ran's already dry and hurtful eyes. She forced them to close, feeling a burning sensation from under her eyelids.

That was when she heard a sound outside. Her captor had been gone for some time, so she figured he'd be back now, but it didn't sound like him. His footsteps were heavy and quick. These footsteps were lighter and slower, almost as if someone were looking at their surroundings.

"This is a nice place…I didn't know this was up here," a man said from outside. Ran forced herself to lift her head towards the window. From behind the broken, wooden parts of the shrine's window, she saw a man in his forties looking around at the trail with trees all around.

"Wow…an abandoned shrine. The skeletal frame is still in good shape," the man said, opening a bag. He took out a professional camera and snapped a couple dozen shots. When he looked towards the window, he paused before taking more photos.

"Is that…a person in there?" he mumbled, looking closer inside. Ran couldn't move or anything. She waited for the man to realize she was trapped inside.

"Hey! Are you…a real person?" he asked, fear in his voice. Ran took the biggest breath she could, to help him see she was alive. The photographer rushed around the shrine to find an opening. He stepped inside and ran around each room until he finally came in the doorway.

"Hey! Are you alright?" he asked, dropping his bag and camera on the floor and cradling the back of her neck. The man took out a pocket knife and reached for her hands to cut the ropes, but she stopped him by shaking her head violently.

"No…! Don't…" she whispered.

"What? Who did this to you? I'll cal the police and they'll help you!" he said.

"No…find…Shinichi Kudo…" she mumbled, forcing out breathy words.

"I will, but I want to help you first! Please, let me call the police." He argued. Ran shook her head again.

"Don't…we'll…be gone…by…the time…he comes…back. Go…! Find Shinichi…Kudo…at Beika…Police Head-d-quart-ers…" she stuttered.

Before the man could protest again, he heard heavy footsteps behind him. He turned around just in time to miss a bullet. He rushed past his head and missed Ran's by a few inches.

The photographer started to stand up, putting her arms up.

"Hey man, you can't do this…let the girl go. She's hurt!" he said. The kidnapper grinned.

Firing another shot, the photographer grabbed his camera bag and rushed out the second doorway behind Ran. He ran down a damaged hallway and around to the opening where he came in. He heard another shot go past him.

A wooden wall beside him exploded, making dusty debris fly into the air. He coughed and kept running. When he finally got to the doorway, he stopped for a split second, seeing another person in the corner of his vision. A woman with long dark brown hair lay on the floor in another room.

Is that another girl he has here?

The man heard another shot fly past him; the bullet hitting the door frame in front of him. He continued to run. The target tripped on a large stone, what looked to be an old Buddha statue with half of its head missing. Stumbling to get back up, he tripped again, barely missing another bullet over his head.

The man finally got to his feet and felt a sharp pain in his arm. A bullet had grazed his tricep, knocking him into the side of tree. He continued on, contemplating what Ran had told him.

"I will bring help for you, I promise! Shinichi Kudo…please help her!" he mumbled, running down the cliff side with his life.

While Kogoro was in his office making arrangements for Shinichi and himself to meet Inspector Megure, Shinichi headed towards the upstairs level of the agency, his home from the past six months or so. It looked so much different when he was bigger.

Shinichi quietly walked to Ran's bedroom, opening the door. He had already looked in her room before, but since he was small, he could've missed something important.

As he reopened her drawers, looked through her notebooks and school textbooks, and searched the floor, Shinichi heard footsteps coming up the stairs. Kogoro opened the front door and spotted Shinichi coming out of Ran's room.

"Any luck?" Kogoro asked.

"No. Her room is clean. Nothing that I can see will help us," Shinichi said. Kogoro made his way to the kitchen, quietly making some coffee.

"You know, Kudo…it wasn't like I was snooping or anything, but in your bag, I saw…Conan's clothing, the exact clothes he was wearing today. I haven't seen him around or had any phone calls since he went to Dr. Agasa's for something. Can you explain that?" Kogoro asked, looking up into Shinichi's shocked face. Shinichi looked it, but he didn't feel surprised. He already knew that Kogoro had suspected him a little.

"You know…about me being Conan, don't you?" Shinichi said. Kogoro carried his coffee mug to the couch and invited Shinichi to sit beside him.

"I'm not angry with you, Kudo, but while you were here, you saw Ran cry many times and did nothing for most of them. I know you didn't see every tear she shed, but did you ever think of telling her the truth?" Kogoro asked.

"I didn't want to sit back and watch, but…if I tell too many people, I'll be putting everyone in danger. If anything happened to Ran, I wouldn't be able to live with myself." Shinichi explained.

"I don't blame you. I wouldn't be able to live with you either," Kogoro joked. Shinichi grinned a little from the side of his mouth.

"Look, Kudo. I realize you had your reasons, and that being Conan was obviously an accident. I'm not going to ask how it happened or what the dangers are, but I am going to tell you one thing…" Kogoro said, sipping his coffee.

"What's that?" Shinichi asked, waiting for him to continue.

"Don't upset my daughter more than you already have. It's not hard only for you to see her crying. It's hard for me too, and her mother. I pray for the times you come back, hoping I'll seem y daughter's naturally growing smile. Every time she smiles when you're not around, it's forced. When you are around, her smile is beautiful and genuine, just like she is," Kogoro explained, smiling. Shinichi nodded slowly, appreciating Kogoro's calm attitude and understanding.

"Don't disappoint me." Kogoro added. Shinichi nodded again, grinning.

"I understand. I will find her. I won't leave her again, because I plan on telling her the truth, regardless of the danger. Whatever danger she faces, I'll be her shield."

"That's all I want," Kogoro said. "You know, you may annoy the freaking hell out of me most of the time, but you're the only one who has my blessing. If you don't be with my daughter, no one will be."

Shinichi stared in Kogoro's calm, yet sad expression for a few moments before smiling.

"Thank you, Oji-san."

The phone in Kogoro's office sent the call to the upper level of the home, ringing on the house phone. Kogoro picked up the receiver.

"Detective Mouri Kogoro," Kogoro answered. He listened for a few minutes, then his eyes widened. "I understand. We'll be right down."

"What?" Shinichi asked when Kogoro hung up.

"We're needed down by the station. A man is asking for you," Kogoro said, getting up and throwing Shinichi a jacket. They trudged down the stairs and called for a taxi, riding down to police headquarters.

"What is it, Inspector?" Kogoro asked, bursting through the doors with Shinichi following behind.

"Kudo-kun! We need you here," Inspector Megure said, taking Shinichi by his back and pushing him down a hall to a conference room.

When he opened the doors, Detectives Sato and Takagi, and Officer Chiba were sitting inside with another man in his forties Shinichi didn't recognize. He had straight black hair to his ears, green eyes, and sharp masculine features. When he looked up and saw Shinichi and Kogoro in the doorway, his face lit up.

"Which one of you is Shinichi Kudo?" he asked.

"I am," Shinichi said, stepping forward. The man's eyes watered.

"Thank God you're here…I don't know if this will mean anything to you or not, but I was up in the mountains hiking and found an abandoned shrine. When I was taking pictures, I saw…a young girl inside." The man explained.

Shinichi's breathing stopped for a few moments. He heaved a breath and stepping closer to the photographer.

"A young girl…?"

"Yes. I didn't catch her name, but she said to come to Beika Police Headquarters and ask for you. She looked to be in high school and had long black hair and blue eyes. Do you know her?" he asked, hopefulness in his eyes.

Shinichi looked down at the floor, everyone staring at the photographer, then Shinichi.

"Ran…" Shinichi mumbled.

Sorry for never updating! I have writer's block regularily and I was a little disorganized, so once I fixed my information for the story, I was okay again. Hope you like it! I wanted to get this chapter up within a couple days of starting it, so I worked hard on it! Enjoy my lovelies ;)

-Geekster