A/N: Goodness, this chapter is huge. Lol. Enjoy reading? ^^
Disclaimer: I do not own Detective Conan or Magic Kaito in any way or form.
Chapter Fifteen
"Hey, inspector! Did something happen?" Conan crowed up at the plump man in the brown-ish coat and hat, voice cheerful but somewhat breathless. Can't blame him, we just ran down a lot of freakin' flights of stairs, man. I huffed for breath, small shoulders moving up and down with the effort. Megure-keibu looked down at Conan for a split second before the kancho decided that he should pretend he was worried, or something.
He leaned forward a bit, hands out as his face became a bit concerned. "Did something happen to him?" I had to admit, he was a pretty good actor, if it wasn't for the fact that his face just screamed 'creepy stalker with homicidal tendencies!'. Megure-keibu turned back to the kancho, eyes closed seriously, "Actually, Tamada-san has been missing since the night before last." The inspector opened his eyes to give the object of his informing a hard, serious, glare. Gosh, if looks could kill…
The head gave a shocked gasp. "What? T-That can't be!" I resisted the urge to roll my eyes at the man. Bastard. The inspector seemed to ignore his outburst, though; immediately getting down to business. I absently saw Conan making a face distinctly Shinichi, focusing on the case and the case alone. A killer focus that, if aimed directly at you, could take down a whole organization that would usually not be affected by anything else headed their way. Just like a silver bullet to a werewolf; you try to kill it with normal bullets and nothing happens, but then you use a silver bullet, and it's dead. No wonder Vermouth uses that nickname for him, I thought, bemused, a smirk sneaking onto my lips.
"I heard he was working late with you on the night in question." Megure-keibu stated and I watched in amusement as the kancho reeled back a bit, sweat drop still on his cheek, as he stuttered out his answer. "Uh…Yes." I blinked as I heard the sound of boxes being lifted in the background and turned to look as the police began to search through the boxes. My attention was easily drawn away, though, as the man began talking again.
"However, I went home before Tamada, so I can't be sure what happened after that." Uh huh. Conan was second to notice that the police were searching through the boxes. "Hey, why are you inspecting the library's storeroom?" He questioned, pointing in the direction of said room, and I looked back at the other kids to notice them smiling to themselves. Really – an amused smile bloomed on my face – they enjoy this too much.
The inspector looked back at Conan, serious eyes now off for the moment, as Conan continued, "He might have been kidnapped by someone on his way home." The inspector gave an annoyed look at the shrunken teen. "We're doing it just in case." He shifted, seriousness coming back into his gaze. "Tamada-san was very methodical and always called his wife from the library before he went home. But, he didn't do this the night before last. In other words, he was either taken by someone while he was still here or he's still in this library." The inspector explained, and I noticed he used the word 'was'. He thought the poor man was already dead. Not that he was wrong, but…
He continued, as if reading my thoughts, "And if he's still here, there's a high possibility that he's already been killed." The look on the inspector's face when he said that was enough for me to step back a bit, unnerved by the steely eyes. Damn it, too many people in Detective Conan have killer glares.
I heard the kids gasp from the statement, watching as their faces paled and they looked frightened; seems like they finally realized the gravity of this case. However, when I looked back at Conan, he only looked more serious than ever. An amused sound hummed in my throat, but nobody noticed, all too focused on the case. It figures. He's headstrong; sometimes too headstrong for his own good. Like with Gin and Vodka. That encounter had gone well, I thought sardonically.
An officer walked up to the inspector – was that Takagi? – informing him of his latest finds. "Inspector, we've checked all the areas people don't visit. There was no trace of him." The inspector made a thoughtful noise, hand coming up to cup his chin in the classic 'thinking-pose'. "So, it looks like he's not in this library, after all." He immediately bounced back, hand coming down, directing to his men, "Alright, we're done here!" He turned and gave the head a salute. "Please excuse the interruption." The kancho seemed too surprised to say anything else other than another one of his slightly nervous stutters.
"Uh…I-It was nothing." The inspector and the rest of the police officers turned and left, walking away from the murderer; he watched them leave with his wide eyes. I found it ironically hilarious, snickers caught in my throat and apparently getting the attention of the creep himself. He spared me a momentary glance, freezing for a moment in – what? Fear, shock, surprise? – as he noticed my confident smirk, before looking back to the officers leaving.
Conan watched them leave, too, before he put his hand to his chin, much like the inspector just had. Looks like the game was on.
ooOOoo
It was a small locker in the boys' bathroom. A really, really small locker in the boys' bathroom. "I'll hide in here until everyone's gone." Conan stated, pulling open the metal door. He turned to give the rest of us a smile, "You guys can go home." The detective boys didn't seem to hear him – or they didn't want to – as Conan was herded in, Ayumi pulling me along with her, not that I minded, I had been planning on staying anyways, and all of us shoved together into the locker. Conan ended up on the bottom with Ayumi, Mitsuhiko, and I standing somewhat comfortably – if not just a bit squeezed together; with that damn broom (mop?) in the back stabbing my back – as Genta was on the top; tipping precariously as he held himself up.
"Oi, you guys –" Conan complained in the almost-darkness, only to be silenced as Genta's grip slipped, making Ayumi fall forward and land on Conan. The impact would have been much rougher, had I not snatched Ayumi's arm to keep her from falling completely.
"Are you alright?" I asked softly, concerned as the girl stood back up completely. My hand let go of the grip on her arm and she shot me a wide smile. "Hm~! Thank you, Koizumi-san." I shook my head with a smile, indicating I didn't mind, before looking down at Conan with a smirk he must have found annoying, if his deadpanned face was anything to go by.
"And you, Edogawa-kun? You are pretty short…," I trailed, mock concern dripping from my tone; though, he was the only one who caught on to it. He huffed, insulted that his height had just been teased. By someone younger than him, no less, probably. I had to keep myself from letting out a KID grin – it rubs off on you once you hang around Kaito for a while; eventually you get your own personalized version – as he replied tersely, "I'm fine." He looked like he wanted to say more on the subject but decided against it as he talked to Genta.
"Oi, be careful, Genta." He scolded lightly, but there was no heat in it, only fond exasperation. Genta shifted, strengthening his grip, and offended said, "I know, Conan!" We all hushed him as we heard the door open. Someone obviously had to use the bathroom. This was going to be a long stay in Locker-Land…
ooOOoo
It was dark when we finally all got out of that wretched locker. Genta peeked out, before declaring the coast was clear. Ayumi, Genta, Mitsuhiko, and I were the first to leave the bathroom, Conan following close behind. I stretched sorely, my muscles pulling in my shoulder as I rolled it. I flinched. Damn broom.
Conan gave us all a deadpanned face – most likely thinking something about us – before Ayumi piped up happily, "What're we gonna do now, Conan-kun?" Conan turned away from her in a cool way. "We're gonna find that body." The kids all looked surprised and I raised a brow at his cool attitude. "Huh? But, the police said they didn't find it." Mitsuhiko said in obvious confusion. Conan turned his head a bit to regard us with one cerulean eye.
"Something smells fishy about this library." I smirked at him and agreed, "Yeah; this place reeks of it." He seemed surprised, eyes widening before they went back to normal. The kids just looked surprised before Genta began sniffing the air, asking, "It smells?" Mitsuhiko gave his friend a deadpanned face, a disbelieving noise escaping his throat.
We all started in horrified surprise as the elevator started, the numbers on the top lighting up with the glowing yellow of the light bulbs. We all stared at the elevator for a moment in horror, watching as the light changed to a different number, the noise of the machinery rumbling faintly.
"Hide!" Conan ordered sharply and we all huddled back into the bathroom; Genta and Mitsuhiko going to hide on one side and Conan, Ayumi, and I hiding on the other side. Ayumi had a death grip on Conan's sleeve. The elevator dinged and Conan peered around the side of the wall to see who it was. Though I couldn't see him from my angle, I could practically sense the head of the library walking out of the elevator, shadows over his face, making him look menacing. Conan shifted forward a bit, pulling free from Ayumi's grasp surprisingly enough, and getting a better view of the psycho that was stalking the building so late at night.
I heard a click and a few moments after, Conan walked out of the hiding spot, heading towards the glass doors that lead to the kid's section of books, all of us following him. He sidled up near the door before peeking in, the rest of us doing the same thing as well. The man was leaning down on his knees, picking up a book similar to the one Shinichi had grabbed earlier. He was grinning evilly to himself, an ugly look that I wanted to wipe off his face.
He let out an amused noise before he began talking, "Tamada was a fool! I wouldn't have had to kill him if he didn't look inside these!" He sounded too smug about killing Tamada. I didn't like it. As everyone else gaped with gasps, a low growl rumbled in my chest, an almost animalistic sound. The man heaved the box of books onto the top of the cabinet thing.
"Police will always be police. They left without finding anything." The look he was giving the box of books was freaky; wide eyes, shadows on his face, and a smile not too sane. "They had no clue that Tamada is 'sleeping' in this library!" He started chuckling quietly before he broke out into full maniacal laughter. The sound made me want to laugh with him, but I held it in for the sake of everyone. Not that it would matter in a few minutes, anyways, but oh well.
I looked over to Conan, his face deathly serious, eyes glittering faintly as he glared at the man, mouth open in a small 'o'. He seemed to be thinking to himself. Suddenly, his eyes narrowed and I had the sneaking suspicion that was when he was probably thinking, 'But where in the world is the body?' His eyes widened as the creep took out one book and ripped of the shrink-wrap off of the book, still grinning. The head took out the book before placing it on the top of the cabinet. He started to do it once again when Genta's voice shattered the silence and I winced. This was it…
"It's so dark. I can't see anything!" He whined, moving forward, pushing Ayumi forward a bit with his weight. Her hand came out instinctively to stop herself from hitting the glass face first and we all made sounds of shock horror as the door opened a bit, creaking and making the man turn his head towards the door in shock. "Who's there?!" I could hear his yell even as we all hurried to get away.
We all ended up in the bathroom once more and I internally groaned. When in doubt, always go to the bathroom, I guess. The thought was sarcastic, a deadpanned look on my face as the man exited the room he was in and called, "Is someone there?" before beginning to search around the stairs.
Conan was peeking out from the entrance again but stiffened as the man began to head in our direction. All of us shrunk back against the wall, shivering a bit, before we rushed inside and hid in a stall. I could feel it as he peeked his head into the bathroom, making my heart freeze as he stared into the room. His presence was thick, making it suffocating to breath as we all huddled with each other in the near corner of the stall. He walked into the bathroom farther, footsteps echoing.
His hand gripped the knob and then he opened the door harshly and my wide eyes stared as the door ended up only a centimeter away from our faces. Any farther and he would have hit us for sure. "Aha!" He cried before he closed the door slowly, seeing that no one was there. I could only imagine all of our faces; we probably looked hilarious. Scared out of our wits, wide eyed, and trying to be one with the wall. We all were shaking visible, breaking into a cold sweat from the close call. I was the first to relax as I heard the man exit the bathroom, his presence disappearing with him as he went farther away.
It was strange; usually I couldn't sense people at all, but I depended on my ears, since I have pretty good hearing, but this was…different. Even if I hadn't heard him, I would have felt him. The pressure in my gut, seeming to eat it away and rot in my stomach; an unpleasant feeling. A shiver riding up my spine as he got closer and closer, taking my breath, and the world getting colder and colder with each step. I wonder if this was how Haibara felt when the black organization was near? I shook my head, drawing the attention of the others, as I pushed my thoughts to the back of my mind.
"…That was too close for comfort…," My voice was soft, a whisper, but didn't hold the quiver that threatened to come out from that pressure I had felt earlier. Conan relaxed after I broke the silence and nodded. "Yeah…We should stay here for a while, just in case." He intoned, just as softly, as he gave us all a comforting look. Ayumi's grip on my arm softened and I felt Genta and Mitsuhiko relax behind me, sensing it, not seeing or hearing it. Weird… Was I getting hyper sensitive to these things or were my senses just heightened because of the adrenaline rush singing in my veins? Probably the latter of the two.
We waited for a while, the only sound our breathing. I jumped when something buzzed in my pocket. The others looked to me when I shoved my hand into my jeans and produced my black cell phone. I'm so glad I put that on vibrate, I thought with a half-hearted sigh. I opened it, making sure the light didn't face the exit of the bathroom and blinked as I realized I had missed a call. It was Kaito. Shoot. Did I forget to tell him I would be out late with friends today? My mind recapped earlier this morning and I realized, yes, I had forgotten.
I clicked some buttons on the phone, not even bothering to listen to Kaito's message as I went to the texting part of the phone. Truthfully, I sucked at texting. Utterly and horridly sucked at it, but I couldn't exactly call him back up and speak out loud to him. My small fingers fumbled to write the message and I felt accomplished when I finally hit send.
'Sorry, forgot to tell you I would be with friends until late tonight. Will be home later. Don't worry. Sorry again. – Alice. ' That should work for now, until I got home. Goodness, I hope I don't get grounded…That would suck…
I snapped the phone shut quietly before shoving it back into its pocket. My brown-eyed gaze was brought to the kids and Conan and I absently wonder why they weren't contacted by their parents/guardians. Oh well. Maybe they had told their parents they were going somewhere with their friends and the parents and Ran decided that meant they would be out kind of late. Who knows? Well, they do, obviously, my mind retorted and I bit back a grin. Very true, brain. "Who was that?" Conan asked curiously, voice low.
I blinked and looked over to him with a sweet smile. "It was just my older brother. He was wondering where I am." I explained and Conan nodded in understanding. It seemed we had waited long enough because Conan opened the door slowly and soundlessly before we all herded out to wander to the wall we had huddled against before. "Hey, Conan, I'm hungry and wanna eat an eel bowl…," Genta complained, still quietly, as he rubbed his stomach with both hands on his green shirt.
Conan shushed him, one hand coming to make the 'keep quiet' gesture with his finger and the other going to cover Genta's mouth as the taller stopped talking in surprise. Once he knew Genta wasn't going to say anything more, he peeked around the edge once more. We all crept forward and started peeking over the edge with him, seeing the kancho entered the elevator and it close. I relaxed immediately afterwards with a relieved sigh. Conan led us all out of the bathroom once more and to the kid's corner again.
He hopped onto the counter of the cabinet easily before standing on the top and beginning to look through the books in the box that the head had been messing with. "Huh? They're empty." Conan commented when he took out one of the books covers. Mitsuhiko spoke up next in answer, "He probably put them in his bag and took them home." Conan turned to him.
"That's not possible." He stated before tipping the box over so we all could see inside and making all the book cases spill out of it. "Look at how many cases there are! All these wouldn't have fit in his bag." He shifted and placed his arm on the top of the box's side before leaning his chin against it. "The ones he couldn't fit into his bag…," He trailed, sharp blue eyes scanning the book shelves. "He hid somewhere in this room." He jumped down athletically from the top, hands shoving in his pockets once more.
"It would appear we need to find those books before we find that body." The kids started in excitement and happiness, hand coming up in fists of determination at their chests. "Alright, guys. This looks like a job for the Detective Boys!" Ayumi cheered before she turned to me, "And our new member, Koizumi Alice!" My face blanked. Eh? The kids cheered, they obviously had discussed this at one point since no one was objecting, and Conan looked surprised before mumbling out, "Uh…Yeah." His face suddenly changed to one with a smirk and sharp eyes once more. His left hand gestured to the bookshelf behind him. "Let's start with this bookcase. We'll split into two groups and check out the books on both sides.
"Okay!" We all cheered, a feeling of warmth settling in my chest. Whether it was happiness or comfort in knowing I was accepted, I don't know, but I was really happy all of a sudden. "Genta and Ayumi-chan, you'll be together, and Mitsuhiko, Koizumi-san, and I will be a group." I blinked. Why was I in his group? Hm…
Even though it was uneven, we all nodded our affirmatives and separated. Conan, Mitsuhiko, and I headed directly towards the bookshelf to get down to business while Ayumi and Genta wandered off in the other direction. In the direction of the light switch, my mind supplied me and I had to bit my tongue to keep from telling them not to. After all, I couldn't mess with the course of events. If I did, who knows what might happen, right? At least, this way, I knew that the events would lead up to the man's arrest and end with no one getting killed. If I changed that, something horrible could happen…
Suddenly, the room was filled with bright light and my eyes shut against the harshness, long adjusted to the dark. Conan turned swiftly to see Ayumi standing on a chair, Genta supporting it. "S-Stupid! Don't turn on the light!" He shouted, panicking. Genta shot Conan a glare for yelling at Ayumi while Ayumi defended her actions with a trembling, "But it was dark…," My eyes reopened and I blinked several times consecutively before I turned to watch Conan hurry to the two kids.
"What would happen if he saw it?" He asked, referring to the head of the library as Ayumi hopped off the chair. Genta spoke up, "Don't worry! He's probably long gone." He said as Conan took Ayumi's place on the chair, arm lifting to the light switch. The lights were turned off once more and my eyes were quick to dilate again. The back of my neck pricked as I realized the creep was probably staring up at the window about right now. After turning off the light, Conan went over to the window to check outside.
"If that's true, it would be okay, but…," He trailed, staring out the window and coming up negative for any lurking kanchos. He let out a breath he had been holding and his face deadpanned with relief. Relief for nothing, really, I thought with a hint of an exasperated smile. I was tired. I wanted to just go home and call it a day.
ooOOoo
Mitsuhiko and I placed another stack of books onto the table Conan was sitting one and I groaned internally. This wasn't getting us anywhere, but I couldn't exactly point that out. It'd just make Shinichi suspicious as to why I knew that, though I think he's already suspicious of me. Even just a bit. You'd think he would put me together with Ayumi and Genta since I seem pretty smart and he and Mitsuhiko were already in a team together. But, no, I was with him. Which means he's watching me… That thought alone put me on edge even worse than the creepazoid.
Conan was flipping through books with a bored expression. Well, at least I wasn't the only one suffering. "Did you find any strange books?" Mitsuhiko questioned Conan. "Nope, not at all." He droned back and Mitsuhiko turned to look at the bookcase behind him. "It looks like they're not in this bookcase…," He sounded disappointed. "We took out almost all the books." Conan looked over his shoulder, surprised to see the rows and rows of books still on the other side of it. Or so he thought it was the other side.
"Huh? You guys over there haven't taken out a single book!" He said, irritated as he put the book he had been looking through down and went to go check on Genta and Ayumi. "Oi, Genta!" I heard him call and Ayumi replied to him in kind, "Oh, Conan-kun."
"What the heck were you guys doing?" Genta grouched from the other side and I stared at the rows of books with a smirk, "We've taken out all the ones on this side!" Mitsuhiko gravitated to the other side, but I stayed where I was and heard Conan make a curious noise. "That's strange! We did, too!" He said and was probably reaching for a book as I saw one get removed. "W-what's with these books? There's no binding!" I came over to their side, watching as Ayumi came closer in interest, voicing her surprise, as Genta got up and took a whole crap load of books off the shelf. "Hey, all the books here are like that!" He informed.
"No binding, huh…?" Conan nodded at what I said, still looking at the book in his hand. "I see!" He started. "It's not that these books were put in their case backwards…they didn't have a binding to begin with!" He guessed accurately. Mitsuhiko looked confused again. "Huh? What does that mean?" He asked, leaning closer to Conan. I cut Conan off before he could talk again.
"It means that the kancho made three rows of books to put those in the middle. By doing that, even if someone took out a book, they wouldn't notice because they would think that it was just the book from the other side, not knowing it was a middle row." I explained and Conan picked up where I left off, shooting me a glance before he continued, "This is the children's corner, too. Since it's only kids who take out the books, all the more reason to put them there. The reason the books were lined up so messily was because when a book is put back, it pushes the middle book and causes the book on the other side to stick out."
"But, why would he do that?" Ayumi piped from her spot. Conan was quick to answer. "The fact that these strange books are made overseas and brought into this country...," He trailed, turning the book on its side and beginning to pry it open. "…means that inside there are handguns…," The book opened with the sound of Velcro opening, and a small package was seen inside. "…or drugs!"
Genta snapped open another book. "This one has some, too!" Ayumi opened another one. "Here, too!" Mitsuhiko opened his own book. He looked from the insides back to Conan. "In other words, he's been smuggling drugs, right?" Conan looked up to him. "Yeah. He hid the drugs here, and he has been selling them little by little. Tamada-san probably found these books on accident and was killed so he couldn't tell anyone else. He was killed by Tsugawa-kancho!" At this exclamation, the kids grew horrified and I fought back a shiver as I felt my arms become covered with goosebumps under my sweater's sleeves. Well, looks like we finally did that, now all Conan and the others had to find was – I swallowed thickly – the corpse…
ooOOoo
We had gone to a different part of the building, where some payphones were located. While everyone crowded around the phone, Conan hopping up onto a stool, I glanced around the darkness surrounding us and I swear I saw someone's shadow vanish behind a wall. I bit my lip to keep from making a noise that indicated I saw something and turned back to look at Conan with the others as he began talking.
"Hey, that's strange! It's not connecting." He informed – really, he shouldn't be so surprised, it will happen a lot more in the future – and he put the phone back in its receiver as Mitsuhiko spoke up. "Is it broken?" The once-teen turned to look at him and us. "Yeah. Our only choice is to go to the police ourselves." His tone was calm and collected and it put me at ease slightly, knowing that everything was going to be fine – duh! I knew that already, but I'm paranoid – and that he would make sure that the creep was caught.
"Hey, let's find the body while we're at it!" Genta suggested, excited, and I internally face palmed. Let's don't, but say we did….
The two kids seemed to find this idea wonderful. Figures. "Yeah, that's a good idea. We'll get double the credit!" Mitsuhiko agreed. Ayumi lifted her hand cheerfully, "Agreed!" I watched as Conan sighed to himself before an ironic smile came onto his face. It wasn't too hard to guess that he was thinking his catchphrase, "Oi, oi…,"
We all left the payphones, heading off in a different direction as the kid's continued talking, chattering as if they weren't looking for a dead body. I walked next to Shinichi, probably having the same expression on my face and same pose, though my hands were in my sweater pockets – which was a bright orange color; courtesy of Kaito who thought the color looked nice on me. I glanced over to him for moment, taking in the details of his face. He was just how I had expected him to be. And now that I can see them in real-life, Kaito and he actually look pretty different, though if you didn't look close enough, you would mistake them super easily.
Kaito's face was more…boyish, I guess, while Shinichi's face was more smooth and composed, not holding the rugged quality Kaito's had, nor the childish light in his eyes – a major difference from the excitable and mischievous, somewhat secretive, air Kaito constantly had around him, while Shinichi had an air of secrets and seriousness, though, he had his moments when it would fade to something more his age. Shinichi's eyes were also a blue so deep it was like drowning when you looked into them, while Kaito's eyes were a mix of a unique lilac and a dark indigo, creating an almost violet shade of blue. The lines of their faces were different, too, but it would be easier to compare if I saw Shinichi in his older form. A small smile adorned my lips and I turned my gaze back forward, beginning to listen to the kids' talking once more.
"If we find that body, we'll get all the credit again!" Genta said, chuckling a bit in happiness. "This is exciting!" Ayumi hummed, just as happy as Genta was. A moment after she said that, I had to stop mid-step as that horrible pressure began eating in my stomach again, but I continued walking with determination, willing myself not to look back. Conan and the others weren't supposed to know about him yet. We continued to walk for a while before Ayumi stopped, kneeling down.
"My shoelace got untied." She told us, beginning to retie it. The others continued walking but I hesitated for a moment. "It's so dark that they're hard to tie." My heart beat wildly and I refrained myself from, once again, wanting to tell her something like…I dunno, 'don't tie your shoe! Run, darn it, run!'. But, I couldn't. Too bad. There was an ominous silence before Conan peeked his head over the edge, and I walked back over to Ayumi. Conan broke the butterflies creeping in my stomach unpleasantly.
"Ayumi-chan, what do you think you're doing?" He asked, tone sharp and somewhat scolding. Ayumi made a slight sad face, "But, my shoelace…," He completely moved back into the hall she was in and I walked over, removing her hands gently so I could tie her shoe tighter than she had been doing it. "That's because you wear such annoying shoes." He grouched and I rolled my eyes at him as Ayumi replied, finally standing up and thanking me briefly, "That's so mean! These are my favorite shoes!" She pouted before we ran to get to his side.
"Don't worry about him, Yoshida-san." I sent her a warm smile, ignoring Conan's annoyed face. "He just doesn't appreciate the finer things in life." I chuckled as we turned around the corner and headed towards Genta and Mitsuhiko. Sue me, I was babying her. But, she was just so cute! And, really, Shinichi shouldn't be blaming her for her shoe untying. It isn't like everyone can have super awesome kick-enhancing sneakers from the professor. Also, I was trying to ignore the feeling burning in my chest and gut. He was there, following us, and I could tell.
ooOOoo
We had stupidly started to search through bookcases, taking out books by the dozen until we were all panting and tired. Though, I was perfectly fine, it's not like books would make me tired. I took karate, so if this made me tired, my sensei would be very unimpressed. Hmm…Speaking of sensei, I wonder if he knows if I went missing… Knowing him, he'd still try to make my sister come to karate group classes, even if it was more to relieve her stress more than anything. Besides, I'm sure they were back in our state by now, searching there instead of Kansas. Who knows? I certainly don't.
"It's not like anyone would actually hide a body in a bookcase…," Conan said, and by his tone, I could tell he was berating himself internally for even thinking of it. Mitsuhiko looked at Conan. "But the police said they searched the places that people don't go." He said from his spot where he was sitting by Conan. "There's nowhere else to look." Genta's voice grumbled. I looked over to Ayumi as she came up behind the books, lively as ever. My lips twitched, wanting to smirk. Go, girl power.
"Hey, hey, there are some strange bookcases in the back." She told, hand pointing behind her, from where she had come from. The others turned their heads to look at her, "Huh?" We all were lead over to the 'strange bookcases' she had mentioned and when we got there, she pointed at them with a wide smile. "Look! They have weird handles on them!" She exclaimed and Mitsuhiko made a sound as he recognized them. "Oh! Those are movable bookshelves." He informed. Genta looked down at him curiously. "Movable?"
"Yes." Mitsuhiko said, running forward to the cases before climbing onto one of them and making it to the top, where he could reach the handles. He began spinning it as he explained. "When you turn this handle…," He trailed, continuing to spin until he saw fit. "See!" He turned to give us all a grin, the bookcase now moved a bit.
"Wow!" Ayumi cheered and Genta and she ran forward to try, too. Conan's face became serious in a second, but I paid him no mind as I continued to watch the kids playing with the bookshelves. Ayumi was giggling and making the bookshelf go back and forth over and over again. It…looked kind of fun. I shuffled, my hands clenching in my pockets as I tried not to go over and try myself. Resist, resist… I willed myself.
"This is so fun~!" Ayumi laughed, still moving back and forth and I felt a grin pull at my face. I definitely have to try that one day; I don't really care if I'm really thirteen, I can have fun, too. Conan looked up as he noticed Genta having trouble moving his. "What's wrong, Genta?" He questioned. Genta continued to try and move the bookcase. "The handle is so heavy that it won't move!" He replied, voice strained as he continued to try to move it. Conan made a taken aback face. Then, he rushed forward.
He took hold of the case, beginning to try and push it so it would move. He turned to look at the rest of us. "Mitsuhiko, Ayumi-chan, Koizumi-san! Help me move it!" I hurried to his side, not wasting anytime and flinching silently as I saw Ayumi jump off the bookcase quite carelessly, but land fine. These kids are going to give me a heart attack one day…
The other two rushed forward, too, voicing their okay. We all began to pull, Conan counting helpfully. "One, two, three…, go!" We all pulled, hands pulling at the case powerfully and I felt my muscles flex under my sweater as I put more power into it. It felt good to use them to full extent after not using them for a week and four days, including today. I paused briefly in my pulling before starting again. Had it really been that long since I've been here in this world? A tiny, helpless, smile adorned my lips. Time keeps slipping away faster, it seems…
My mind focused on the task at hand when the bookshelf began moving, slowly yet surely. We all stopped when it was far enough, letting out tired breaths. Conan was quick to look into the space we had created and his face became shocked; eyes wide and mouth open. "Huh? There's nothing here." He walked further in, looking around. "The books don't seem different from the other ones…," He trailed before turning back and heading out of the tiny space.
"That means the reason it didn't move is…," He started, making it out of the tiny space and staring up at the one on the bookshelf with an annoyed face. "Genta, you're too heavy!" He scolded in irritation and I chuckled as Genta's face flushed. "H-Hey! Watch what you're saying!" He roared at Conan before hopping off the bookcase easily. Ayumi came up to him with a smile.
"Genta-kun, you're too fat! How much do you weigh?" She asked, completely having no shame as she questioned the poor kid. Genta looked over to her, cheeks still red as he answered, "F-Forty kilograms." Mitsuhiko was the next to speak up, smiling all the same. "That's exactly double my weight!" He teased and I nearly shook my head. Poor Genta. My eyes were drawn to Conan as his eyes closed, as if willing himself patience, and then reopened with realization. There we go. He got it.
"I'm fifteen kilograms!" Ayumi announced, "You have to go on a diet!" Genta flinched back, "S-Shut up!" Conan was still having his moment of insight, eyes glittering with thoughts and intelligence. He suddenly snapped out of his inner thoughts, announcing with a stricken face, "I figured out where the body is!" After that was said, the kids somewhat startled, he ran off and we followed him rapidly. "H-hey, Conan! W-Wait a minute!" Genta called as we all began running up the stairs behind the shrunken detective. A chill up my spine had me running faster.
ooOOoo
"Hey, Conan! Where are you?" Genta called loudly, making his words echo in the silence of the library. While running up the stairs, we had lost him somewhere along the way, and despite knowing that he would come back soon, him not being there made me nervous. The darkness seemed to think it was funny playing with my eyes as I swear I saw the man looking at us from somewhere, though I knew he wasn't since that feeling wasn't there in the pit of my stomach; not burning in my chest like hot coals trying to burn me alive. My phone buzzed again in my pocket, but I didn't bother doing anything about it this time.
"Conan-kun, answer me!" Ayumi seemed worried, too. Mitsuhiko and I looked behind us as steps sounded on the stairs and down came a shadow that looked boomingly big before it turned into the familiar, small stature of Shinichi. He immerged from the shadows with a smile, and Ayumi sighed in relief, "Oh, Conan-kun." She quickly reverted back to worried, a pout on her face as her hand fisted in front of her. "Where did you go?"
"The upper machine room for a minute." He informed, still smiling. Now, we all were only separated by the elevator. "Was the body in there?" Genta asked.
"No, I went there so we could manually open the elevator doors." He told us, walking forward and taking his hands out of his pockets. With ease, he began to open them, revealing the darkness beyond it as he said, "The body is probably…," He completely opened the doors before looking down, where the elevator would be. "…down here." I could practically hear the theme music they usually played there sound in the back of my mind, but I pushed it away as I came forward with the kids to look and see.
"Is it really in here?" Genta questioned looking down in the deep depths, only for Conan to answer, "Yeah." Conan went on his tiptoes and clicked the up arrow before turning to us with a serious gaze. "The evidence is the 'over capacity' buzzer that went off when we got on this elevator today." The kids looked up at him with noises of confusion, "But the buzzer obviously went off because there were eight of us on, nine before Koizumi-san got off."
"Stupid! We're only kids." He chided. "All five of us can't be over 100 kilograms. That's the same as one-and-a-half adults. Adding the weight of the four other adults and what they were carrying, if the buzzer were to go off, then there was one adult's weight missing." He paused and we all moved in front of the elevator, watching it come up. Ayumi was once again holding onto Conan's shoulder.
"That's right. There was an adult on this elevator from the beginning." He stated, and the first thing I saw come from the shadowy depths of the elevator line was a hand. "Undetected by everyone, the body is…," The kids gasped in horror as the body appeared and I felt my face pale considerably, a small whine leaving my throat. "…on the roof!" The kids continued their stifled noises, and my heart rate increased, my eyebrows furrowing sadly. The poor guy; he'd done nothing wrong, but was killed, anyways. Conan kept a straight face, as always, as he glared down at the body, Ayumi now hiding behind him slightly and still watching the body rise in terror.
Conan stepped closer, Ayumi not following, and he looked down at the body. I could tell the dead man's face was twisted in fear; eyes wide and unseeing, mouth frozen in an immortal yell. "Looking at the body, after he was strangled, he was probably pushed and landed on the elevator roof." Conan figured while the kids and I took a small step back as the body continued to rise and rise; letting us see more of the corpse. Conan turned to us, and I watched with wide eyes, freezing, as the very top of a head came into view as Conan stated, "This was all done by Tsugawa-kancho."
"Alright, let's all get the police!" He ordered and the kid's finally noticed the head, faces turning even more horrified, mouths gaping open and eyes wide with complete fear. That feeling was back again in my chest and my stomach; though, much, much, stronger than before and something burned on my hip. I absently wondered what was burning it, but it wasn't the time to worry about that right now. Conan made a curious face. "Huh? What's wrong?" Completely oblivious to what's behind you, seriously, I grumbled internally before all sane thoughts escaped my mind as the man kept coming up.
God, he looks fuckin' scary. Much more scarier in real life than in the anime, not to mention he looked monstrously tall standing there, the light bouncing off his face and creating menacing shadows. All four of us pointed behind him.
"Ah…Ah…," Genta stutter, unable to say a thing. "Tsu…Tsu…," Ayumi couldn't get the name out. "Kan…Kan…," Mitsuhiko couldn't get the title out of his mouth, either. My mouth stayed shut, though my face probably looked ashen white, my eyes focused on the man behind the protagonist of this series. Conan blinked, asking, "Atsukan?" before turning around to look at the elevator. Not long after, his face became filled with horror, too, a short gasp escaping his open mouth.
He looked up at the man with the rest of us, as kancho stared down at us with unforgiving eyes, a deep frown on his wrinkled face. Soon enough, the elevator stopped moving and we all stood there, frozen, before the head put a smile on his face, eyes closing pleasantly. The creep was still going to pretend to not be murderous, and it just made him ten times more creepier. That smile put me on edge, the burning on my hip becoming almost unbearable as the feeling exploded through my whole body, making it shiver with the anticipation of running full speed away. I broke into a cold sweat.
"What are you little children doing here so late?" His tone was sweet – almost mocking. He came forward out of the elevator, extending his hand as we all backed away one step as he moved forward one step. "Alright, come here. Let's all go home together." Ha, fat chance, creepazoid! He moved a bit closer, one arm still behind his back. "Come on." We all looked to Conan as he began to whisper to us.
"Everyone do exactly as I say!" His tone was dead serious and I watched Ayumi's grip on him loosen a bit, everyone giving him their full attention. My mind was working full speed, different scenarios and escape routes flying all about, getting approved and disapproved with lightning speed, but I focused on Conan's plan. After all, we were supposed to escape because of him, and I couldn't change that plot line. Still, my mind ran out of survival instinct. He turned and began whispering to us, though I was still watching the man, my heart seizing as he came a bit closer.
"What are you all talking about? We're all going home together." He said loudly, but I and everyone else still heard Shinichi's plan with perfect clarity. We all calmed somewhat when we got wind of the plan. This guy was a sicko; he'd even kill little kids! Aren't people supposed to be more compassionate than that?! Did he have no heart?! My mind supplied me with an unpleasant answer, 'why wouldn't he kill you guys? If someone were to get in your way, if you were like him, you'd definitely kill them; kids or not. Don't deny it, you know it's true.' Ugh, stupid brain…
Conan turned to him sharply when he was done telling us his plan, a smirk on his lips and eyes set into a laser glare. He let out an amused, smug sound. "Don't underestimate us kids, kancho-san!" Shinichi's tone was enough to have the head of the library flinch back, asking, "What?"
Conan walked forward, shooting us a meaningful glance before turning his gaze to the opposite direction of the stairs, walking confidently with his hands in his pocket as the head and we watched him go. "The game is over!" He told the creep, pausing in his stride. A drop of sweat trickled down my face as the man took a step towards Conan, hand out like he wanted to grab him. The kids and I began to subtly make our way to the elevator, sidling closer carefully. "The trick with the bookcase and the hidden drugs," Conan's face turned somewhat to pierce the man with his blue eyed gaze. "You killed Tamada-san because he saw them!" He accused, voice harsh, and the kancho's face turned up as he stared at Conan, startled by the cold, brittle tone in what appeared to be a child's voice.
"Who…Who are you?!" The head's upper half of his body suddenly surged forward as he yelled the last part. Conan turned, immediately getting in a somewhat defensive stand, face hard, before he stood normally – if not stiffly. "I'm Edogawa Conan, a detective!" It was said fiercely. A smile twitched at my lips as he said that, despite the life-threatening situation; I'd just heard his catchphrase in real life. How cool was that? The kids and I stepped closer to the elevator some more, finally making it inside, seeing as the head was completely focused on Conan. The burning on my hip lessened a bit, though it still was there and the feeling wasn't as strong as before, not filling my whole body anymore.
"D-Detective?" Tsugawa stuttered out, shocked, as Genta pressed a button for a different floor. The man was quick to notice the noise of the elevator, though, and turned to look at us as the elevator lowered. The feeling and burn came back full force, making me wince as I had the feeling it was actually burning my skin. I watched as Conan let out an almost battle cry, running forward to the man. Kancho focused on Conan once more, raising the weapon he had been hiding and getting ready to strike. "You're not getting away!" He yelled before swinging at Conan. That's all I saw before I was too short to see anything more, but I knew he had slid under it and into the elevator, only to be caught in Genta's arms. Like a princess.
My heart rate slowed and I gave a sigh of relief as the burn cooled over, disappearing all together with the feeling as we weren't in immediate danger anymore. "And he slides into home safe!" Mitsuhiko dramatisized, crouching slightly and letting his arms do a baseball gesture. "We did it!" Ayumi cheered, jumping up and down with one arm rising in victory. I felt myself relax completely in the face of such childish acts and I let out a grin, chuckling a bit hysterically. Even though this was scary as hell, it was such an adrenaline rush!
Conan was finally let down from Genta's arms, smiling at all of us as we cheered and laughed in victory before he got back down to business. Surprisingly enough, the elevator didn't take long to ding and we got off of it, and I noted that we had only went down one floor. Oh, so that's why they weren't at the place the kancho thought they would be. As we exited after opening the doors, Genta clicked the button for a floor two below us. He'd probably been told by Conan to do that, judging by the thumbs up he sent the shrunken Heisei Holmes' way and the grin he got in return.
We were quick to decide on a room, the room with the glass doors that we had been in the before. The one with the moving shelves and everything. Conan turned to us, "We should make a trap." He gave a smirk and we all listened closely to his plan before we got started on our barricade/trap. I went to pile chairs and tables in front of the door, as much as I could since there weren't many of them, before I went to help the others move the shelves in a way that I loved to do. Dominos were always fun, after all.
ooOOoo
It was only a short while after we had finished setting up did we begin to hear his shouts on our floor, making the uncomfortable feeling come back, but, by now, I was used to it. The burning wasn't there, so that was good.
"Hey! Where are you, little kids?" He called, voice echoing. I almost snorted. As if we were going to answer to him. "I'm sorry about before! I won't hurt you, so come on out!" Surrrreeee….
I heard the squeak of the door opening, making me and the kids nervous. His footsteps rang in the silence as he moved forward and into the room, easily sidestepping everything that he thought was a 'barricade'. He fell for it. I saw Conan smirk a distinctly Shinichi smirk. He got closer and closer before he finally stopped, probably looking at the books under the bookcase. "Now!" Conan ordered swiftly and we all knocked into the bookcase, making it fall over with a loud thud. All the books tumbling out as it hit the next bookcase.
We all looked over to him, switching our position quickly into a sitting, almost apologetic pose as we all rubbed the back of our heads, chuckling nervously, before we got off when the bookcase came down some more as it fell deeper. We went to go up against the wall, turning quickly to face our adversary. Both Conan and I stood in the front, one arm shooting out – though Conan was using his right and I was using my left – to protect Ayumi as Genta and Mitsuhiko stood in the back. Both of us, the APTX 4869 survivors, were on the defensive, faces glaring and the other hand in a fist.
The kancho turned to us after watching another bookcase tumble and chuckled evilly. "That's the best you little kids can do, isn't it?" He said condescendingly, but it wasn't like Akako's type at all. Sure, Akako was annoying with her condescending-ness and was creepy in her own right, but the way this man said that made me want to sink my teeth into the nearest part of his body I could reach. But, I held myself back, watching as he stepped forward slowly.
"Don't worry. None of you will be lonely." He cooed sickingly sweet, and I felt a growl growing in my throat again as he came closer. Protect what's yours, a voice trailed into my mind, the voice possessive, and filled with malice, and most definitely mine, even though I wasn't thinking that. I blinked, stunned. What the hell? I shook my head and focused on the problem at hand, leaning back with the others as the man continued, "That's because I'm gonna do away with all of you at the same time!" He leaned closer, showing us his disgusting smile at close range before leaning back, getting ready to strike…
The bookshelf behind him suddenly thudded, falling forward as the crowbar the creep held above his head hit the shelf. He turned to look, startled, only to yell as the books and case toppled forward, smashing him underneath it. We waited a moment, making sure he was really stuck, before we all relaxed immensely – the feeling leaving my chest and disappearing like it was never there – and we all cheered, "We did it!" We raised one hand each in celebration, elated grins on our faces.
"It worked great!" We all enthused, looking at our bookcase domino trap. A warm feeling settled in my chest as we all rode out our adrenaline for a bit before I took out my cell phone, walking over and placing it in Conan's hands. "Here, to call the police." Conan looked at the phone as if he had forgotten I had one – which he probably did, since he tried to use the broken payphone – before flashing me a smile. "Thanks." I shoved my hands into my sweater's pocket.
"No problem; you're the one I should be thanking. You did save our lives, after all. But I won't." He gave me a curious look, already dialing the number for the cops. "Why not?" He questioned, waiting for my answer before he clicked the talk button.
"Because then there would be no point to it." He blinked, confused by my words before I walked off, leaving him there, and going to chat with Ayumi as he talked with the police.
ooOOoo
The police arrived soon after, getting the bookcase off of Tsugawa-kancho and escorting him to a patrol car in cuffs. They also recovered Tamada's body and all the drugs that the creep had been smuggling. We were all congratulated and praised for our 'braveness and sharp wit' before we all began to head back home after everything was taken care of. We were walking home in the dark when another conversation broke out.
"That was so exciting!" Ayumi piped up. Everyone seemed to be in a good mood, even Conan had a small smile on his face as he walked in a casual pose of coolness. "I thought we were goners!" Mitsuhiko added, though his tone was happy, too. Genta was the next to speak up, "Stupid! Justice always wins in the end!" He grinned, tone also happy. A soft smile covered my face. It would be nice if that was always true, but I didn't say anything, just enjoying the kids' chatting.
Ayumi turned to Conan, "Let's do this again, Conan-kun!" He looked surprised, arms dropping from the back of his head as he opened his eyes to look at Ayumi. "Our detective club!" She said, one hand up as she expanded on what she meant.
"When we all get together, we can solve any case!" Mitsuhiko added with a smile. Genta clenched his fists near his chest in determination. "Alright, let's do our best next time, too!" He stated, enthusiastic at the thought of doing something good next time, too. "Okay!" We all chorused, ignoring Conan's somewhat blank face, pumping our fists in the air with glee. Suddenly, Conan smiled, head coming down and glasses reflecting light from who knows where – and woah, if it didn't look awesome! – before running up ahead. We all turned to watch him, Ayumi extending a hand as she asked, "C-Conan-kun?"
When he thought he was far enough, he turned to us, arm in the air. "See ya!" He called, false smile on his face, before running off and blending in with the darkness. We all stood there in silence for a moment as we watched him go before Ayumi spoke up, voice worried and sad. "I get the feeling he's going somewhere far away…," Genta agreed with a soft, "Yeah."
I smiled, turning to look at them all. "Don't worry about it. He'll be back." They blinked at my positive tone before I, too, dashed away, bidding my own 'see ya!'. After all, I was probably already in major trouble for being out this late. Grounding here I come…
-Annnnnddd, done. XD lol. This took freakin' long to write and there's probably a lot of grammar errors, but no fear, I'll fix them in due time! Bye-bye and thanks for reading~!
-Edit: Lots of grammar issues, but they've been fixed. Huzzah~! 8D