A/N: This case took way too long to finish. It was really hard writing this case, so sorry if it turned out crappy. XD;; Anyways, I hope you enjoy this chapter. It wraps up this case! ^^ Truthfully, I'm very sick of this case…(Laughs) I put recap, since it's been a while since I've updated and I know that sometimes I need to refresh my memory of a certain story. Is that just me? XD
Disclaimer: I do not own Detective Conan or Magic Kaito in any way or form. (or shape!)
Recap:
"After helping a toy manufacturing company, Agasa-hakase received a sum of money, and took Genta, Mitsuhiko, Ayumi, Conan, and I on a treasure hunt. We arrived at the villa where Hakase's uncle lived; however, it's been fifty years since Hakase's uncle died, but Conan found some evidence that suggested someone had been living in the house during that time. Underneath objects such as vases and plates, they've found engraved – very artistic and pretty, mind you – symbols of the moon, stars, and the sun.
The toys that Hakase had prepared earlier for the real kids was found hidden underneath the bed, wrecked, while I got a mysterious text from Akako, asking me to come over to talk as soon as possible. Conan – no, Shinichi – now knows that something secret is going on in this mansion of a house. While I supervised, they searched the villa and discovered nine objects engraved with the secret code; a playing card, a French dictionary, a record, an airplane, a wine glass, a portrait, and lastly, a mechanical doll.
Also, Hakase remembered seeing the same symbols on letters that he looked over for his aunt. The most interesting thing to Conan now is that Hakase showed the letters to a mystery novelist, Conan's dad. With the revelation that the code is written in hiragana, the case begins to unfold!
A mysterious – obviously strange – mail-stealer and the still-hidden code of the sun, moon, and the stars. Let's see how he starts…"
Chapter Twenty Four
"But, how did you know the code was in hiragana?" Mitsuhiko broke the silence, not even noticing Conan and my somewhat manic grins. We probably looked like a pair of weirdo's, smirking at – seemingly – nothing, I thought with bemusement. I turned my smile down several notches before turning to see he was holding the mechanical doll, staring at it as if it held the universes' secrets. Which, with the oddities of everything so far for me in this world, it wasn't too farfetched.
…okay, maybe a little.
Genta and Ayumi were doing the same with the plane and plate – respectively – when Conan walked forward to them to explain. Again. "What are you saying? It's really easy to see when you know where to look." He began and I couldn't help but mentally agree with him. Unless me figuring it out sort of didn't count because I've watched this, seen everything, even if I can't remember at the moment. I shrugged off the notation.
"For example, the black sun… the white sun, the moon and stars, as well as the black moon and stars; the forms change. But the one black sun doesn't change. In hiragana, what's the only character that stands by itself?" He questioned them expectantly and I sweat dropped. This is where my 'almighty' knowledge of the future doesn't come in handy. I don't know Japanese culture, let alone hiragana or kanji or anything else related and nothing would change that. Heck, I wasn't even supposed to speak it fluently yet, but here I was.
Mitsuhiko put a thinking finger up to his lip as he looked up, "The one that stands by itself…," "The only one…?" Genta asked. Ayumi's face suddenly brightened and I grinned at her. She raised her hand as if they were learning a lesson from a teacher. Which, in a way, I guess that was true. "I've got it! It's gotta be 'n', right~?" She smiled widely. "That's right!" Mitsuhiko agreed, "So the black sun stands for 'n'!"
I hid my bafflement as Conan continued explaining what seemed like complex jibber-ish to the others. He wasn't explaining to me, because he thought I understood. Oh, how wrong he was… "The second clue is all the engraved lines have one thing in common…the last three symbols are the same. They certainly have a special meaning." Conan continued, eyes set into a serious glare.
Hakase gasped as he looked closer at the French dictionary, "I see what you mean!"
"Then, we have another clue – the little black and white dots on the right side of some symbols. Even though I don't yet know the meaning of the black dot on the bottom right side, the probability of the black and white dots on the upper right side standing for the hiragana's daku-ten and the handaku-ten is very high." …what the freak're they talking about? I quickly swiveled on my heels and walked a couple steps away from the group to hide my evident confusion and frustration. I was still close enough to hear everyone talking, though, and began to rock on my heels as I bit my lip in concentration. It made some sense, but it didn't help when I didn't know what the heck a daku-ten and handaku-ten were.
"Hey, daku-ten and handaku-ten, what are they?" Genta whispered in his gruff voice. "Didn't we learn this at school?" Mitsuhiko sounded deadpanned and I felt my cheeks flush. Did we? Perhaps I should start paying more attention to class from now on…
"Daku-ten are the symbols that turn 'k', 't', and 's' into 'g', 'd', and 'z'. They're called ten-ten, as well." The freckled boy explained and I listened intently, making note that I actually did recall this. We had learned it last week, but I hadn't paid much attention since I had deemed it as unimportant. My bad… "Handaku-ten are the signs that turn 'h' into 'p', like 'pa', 'pi', 'pu', 'pe', and 'po'." Ayumi finished for him.
"So if we use the hiragana tables, we can find the matching signs for the code. For example, the white moon without a dot, one with a dot, and one with a black dot – we can easily understand that the first one stands for 'h', the second for the 'b' sounds, and the last for the 'p' sounds." Conan smirked. I couldn't see it, but it was practically tangible in the air.
"I see!" Mitsuhiko suddenly cheered, startling me. "We can determine what it stands for, if we use the daku-ten and the handaku-ten!" He realized and I felt a sharp grin spread across my face as it finally clicked. Not completely enough to explain, but it was a somewhat… bizarre experience. Either way, I turned back to face the group, taking in their faces and expressions for a moment before walking closer once again as Conan began another bout of speaking.
"Okay, if we use that as a base, the code written on the glass is…," He trailed, picking up the wine glass to look at the bottom of it. I wandered over to peer over his shoulder once again. There was a black crescent moon, a white star, a full black moon with a black dot in the upper right side, a white crescent moon with a white dot in the upper corner, a black sun, a white sun, and a black half of a full moon – in order, if you read it the Japanese way, instead of the standard American way.
"If we look at the first part, the third sound is 'n' and the forth begins with 'p'… what words do we have like this?" He spoke almost to himself, lost in thought.
The kids began to list things out and I had to hold back a snort of amusement at Ayumi's first word. "Panties (pantei), hairpin (heapin), pelican (perican)…," "Ham bread (hanpan), melon bread (meronpon), curry bread (karepon)…," "Computer (pasokon), Japan (Nippon), ….," Mitsuhiko paused, face dawning with understanding as he spoke out his idea. "Playing card (toranpu)…Card! It stands for playing card!" He almost shouted with excitement.
Ayumi walked over to Conan quickly, taking the wine glass gently from his hands. "That's it! That's got to be what's written!" She cheered, but Conan stopped short in surprise. "But, wait–! …Then that means–!" He turned to his side, bending down to see the candlestick better. "Let's see, the code on the candlestick would mean…," He turned over said object to look at the symbols carved into it. "'Pu' for the first sound, 'ra' for the forth, and the third sound begins with a 'p'…pu…pu…ra…," He dawdled, trying to piece it together. I got it a second before he did, but we ended up announcing it at the same time – much to my exasperation and his confusion.
"P–Propeller!"
"Yeah! The propeller!" Genta agreed, smiling as he looked at said thing. "Wait, wait – if the black moon stands for 'ro', then that means..," Conan was thinking on the code again and I pouted, crossing my arms. There was more to it, I guess, then what we had just announced and I was feeling kind of cheated. Agasa sent me a sympathetic smile – he probably knew how this felt, based that he had dealt with Shinichi when he was way more cockier than he was now. That was sort of a scary thought; he was already cocky as it was – not in a bad way, but it could get kind of annoying – and if he was any more, it'd be, like…well…, he wouldn't be a very appealing person to be around.
"Propeller…ro..ro…ro…Look at (miro)?" There was a short pause. "Look at the propeller (Puropera wo miro)!"
Mitsuhiko and Genta immediately maneuvered the plane to look at the code on the propeller. "There's something written on the plane's propeller." Genta announced, getting an agreement from the freckled boy by his side. "You're right! There's a dot for the daku-ten in the code, so the second sound is 'bu', and the third's is 'ra'." Mitsuhiko stated. Genta began his try at pronouncing the word, "Bu-ra-wo-miru…?" "Bu-ra…a-bu-ra-e…," The two kids of the Detective Boys smiled at their newfound information. "Look at the oil painting!"
And onto the portrait we went, Ayumi leaning down to touch the frame delicately. "That means this portrait, right?" And… "I see! It's all clear now!" Cue Conan's realization. I gave an amused huff, walking to Genta and Mitsuhiko. "Great job, you guys! You just helped crack the code!" I gave them both thumbs up and flash a grin in their direction, which made them light up as if they had just won the lottery. Good – these kids need more recognition; they sometimes help and don't get any praise. I looked back to the shrunken Heisei Holmes to indicate I was done – after the boys had given bashful 'oh, it was no problem's – to see him looking at me bemusedly.
I blinked, confused, before he continued telling us his revelation. "The code is asking us to look at different things in the mansion. It means the code was made up for a special purpose." He grew serious, "In other words, that means it must have been created to hide something. And that thing must be very important!" He flashed us all a smirk. "A–A treasure~!" The kids cheered, eyes aglow with excitement. "Alright, then to get it, we just have to crack the code!" Genta grinned roguishly. "Yay~!" I joined in with their enthusiasm, but I think my motivation seemed a bit dull considering the encouraging smile Agasa sent me. Oh, he was a saint~!
The fact that right after he had leaned down to whisper to Shinichi conspiringly made me stifled a laugh. So, he wasn't quite certain about the treasure. Not that I blamed him. Going to your dead uncle's house and then assuming there's treasure? It would usually – in my world, at least – be but a meager thought forgotten through the process of other things. I let out a sigh and moved out of the way, sitting down on the dusty ground. I put my chin in my palm and watched them continue with their puzzle solving.
I had somehow thought this outing would be amazing. But, truthfully, I wasn't exactly sure how I felt of it; it was interesting, sure, and it was cool to have some 'future-seeing' knowledge, sure, but there was just something that was wearing down… Something…
My eyes fluttered shut as I pouted as I recognized the feeling quelling in my chest; a feeling that wasn't going to be convenient in any way, whatsoever. It would have come eventually, and it had a bit despite me blatantly ignoring it, but now it was a stronger feeling than before (which was probably why I suddenly didn't feel like putting much into the case anymore) – not a surprise, considering this was day 47 ½.
I missed home.
ooOOoo
As I continued my ridiculous brooding – seriously, I shouldn't be like this! Cheer up, already! –, the others had worked on cracking the code. Genta, Mitsuhiko, and Ayumi worked easily on cracking the codes on the plate, dictionary, and mechanical doll and I gave a slight smile at their good work. I blinked as something shuffled near me, sounding like paper, and I turned to look at Conan as he began to write things on the paper in his notebook. It was easy to tell that he was writing down the symbols that they had learned so far and deducing the left ones.
"You know," He began, startling me. His concentration hadn't wavered, making his attempt at conversation seem halfhearted. "You seem less energetic than this morning. What's wrong, Koizumi?" I stared at him blankly for a moment before–"Ahaha! You're worried! Oh, god! That's so weird!" A loud and joyful laugh sprung from my lips and I felt all my home sickness vanish in one go. Seriously, you'd think he wouldn't be worried – it wasn't like I was sad or anything, just a bit bummed out. Well, not anymore, considering he had just unknowingly said the magical words.
He gave me a confused look, opening his mouth to say something, only to be cut off. "What are you writing?" Ayumi asked curiously, sitting behind him now. Conan recovered swiftly, smiling as he turned, showing the paper diagram thingie he just ripped out as he called their attention.
"This is the full translation of the code." He announced and Ayumi took it happily, "Woah, cool!" She gushed and we all crowded around to get a good look at the diagram. It was easy to read and I carefully took in account everything, trying to remember them. Who knows, the code could come in handy sometime, right? "If you look, it's easy to understand that the sun, stars, and moons stand fo U. Then all we have to do is follow the hiragana order to understand it. For example, if you remove one part of the suns and stars, the same with the moons, and you keep removing one after the other, turning clockwise, they will match the hiragana table." He clarified.
"Oh, I see now." Agasa's voice made me flinch in surprise and I turned to see him leaning over much like the other. I flashed him a grin as he glanced to me for a moment before we both went back to watching Conan. He was writing something on another paper, "So if I translate the whole thing, we have something like…," He raised the list for us to see, "This."
It was a list of all the objects, starting with the vase, and going down with arrows to where the objects lead to another with the code inscribed on them. It went from the vase to the candle stand to the propeller to the oil painting to the record to mechanical doll to the wine glass to the card to the dictionary, ending with it on the fireplace. "Ah…,"
"The fireplace~!" "So, the treasure's gotta be there!" We all jogged over after Genta's announcement, said boy and Conan ducking under top of it to get inside. Well, Genta had to duck – Conan kinda just walked into it with no problem. I masked a laugh with a half-hearted cough. I remembered this part, the part that had me laughing the first time I ever watched the case. It had sounded like something I would do to prank someone, so it was easy to recall. "…I don't see anything like treasure."
Of course, Conan was the first to spot something in the fireplace. "There! There's another message!" Ayumi leaned forward, "Really~?" Conan didn't answer, turning outwards from the fireplace. "Ayumi-chan, bring me what I wrote earlier!" Bossy, bossy… "Okay." I refrained from commenting on his demands and instead leaned my back against the side of the fireplace, its smooth texture brushing the back of my neck. Ayumi arrived a second later, brandishing the list. "Here you go, Conan-kun."
He turned away and began to murmur to himself. I didn't pay any attention instead smirking to the smaller girl. "He means 'thank you'." A snicker escaped my mouth when she blinked before nodding slowly; truthfully, I don't think she minded that he was entirely ungrateful, but still. He should say it once in awhile. Common courtesy and all that crap.
"Hey, what's written there?" Genta asked happily and the kids all leaned closer while I looked down at him; his glasses were glinting much like they had at the end of the Library Murder Case. It was still weird to see it actually happening. Cool stuff like that didn't happen naturally in my world, so it was awesome to see it in real-life. "Yes, please tell us." Hah! See, that there's manners! Good job, Mitsuhiko. "Conan-kun~!" Ayumi whined while the professor encouraged, "Tell us."
The answer came to my mind before the Heisei Holmes spoke it quietly. Was I sensing some irony in his tone?
"Plate." The others blinked and grinned silently. "Eh?"
"Look at the plate."
There was another collective 'eh?!' from the others. "Wait, by the plate they mean the plate we already…," The professor trailed in shock. "What a pile of rubbish." Genta was the first to react, turning away sourly as he put his arms behind his head. Ayumi and Mitsuhiko reacted next, standing up. "So, the code was fake, after all." They were all disappointed. "No way…," Even the professor, who straightened with a dull look on his face. "It looks like it was just a lousy joke." Conan finally moved out of his stone-faced state, head moving up and removing the glare from his lenses.
He was thinking to himself, judging by his intense face, and took out the list again, looking at it pensively as he began to walk around the room. The kids and I stared after him for a moment before Hakase gave us an almost apologetic face, smiling helplessly. "It can't be helped. Before the police come, let's clean this place and place the objects where we found them, okay?" I glanced over to Conan one more time as the kids echoed their brooding agreements before shrugging and tossing the good professor a half-smile.
Might as well pass some time and help clean, right?
Right.
ooOOoo
Cleaning was fun for about five seconds before it got tiring. Ayumi was doing the most cleaning, putting away the objects where they first found them and passing Conan several times. As for the aforementioned boy, he was doing his thinking in the middle of the room, sitting on the dusty floor carelessly as he rejected ideas. Mitsuhiko and Genta had retreated somewhere, having put a table back in its place and then disappeared, and I was helping the professor put the oil painting back into place. He kept putting it crooked and with my slight OCD tendencies, I wanted it to, at least, be on straight.
"Hey, Hakase, where was this plane?" Ayumi asked, holding up said plane for our viewing pleasure. The professor looked down, pausing in his adjustments, "Oh, it was near the vase I just put over there." She left and he looked down to me, gesturing to the painting behind him. "Is this okay, Alice-kun?"
I hummed, tilting my head to the side to get a different angle before nodding with a smile. "I guess that'll have to do." I nodded, watching as he sweat dropped for a moment before we both looked over to Conan, who still wasn't helping. I couldn't help but laugh as the professor's face became indignant and he marched over to him, me following along closely. "Hey!" He called, startling Shinichi into looking up at his looming figure. His hands were placed on his hips and I was absently reminded of a scolding mother. "Do something, too! You're staying still in the center of the room, doing nothing…,"
The professor's scolding was ignored blatantly. "Hey, Hakase…Did you say the playing card was in this room, too?" The professor took the bait without any complaint. "Hmm? Yeah, it was there, just under the clock. I took it from there." He pointed to the table/cabinet thingie under the broken clock. There was a silence as the pieces of the puzzle were put together. The dawning understanding was almost palpable in the air and it was evident on his face as his thoughts whizzed by.
He got on his knees, searching the floorboards and I decided to speed things up a bit by adding unnecessary input. "If I were to hide something, I'd put it somewhere up high." The comment was random at its best and I had to choke down the knowing grin that wanted to spring onto my face – that'd be suspicious. Conan glanced up at me, confused. "Huh?" My control slipped a bit, leaving a small grin on my face that I was sure looked a bit evil since it was so strained.
"I said, 'if I were to hide something, I'd put it somewhere up high'. Since people tend to look towards the floor first, not expecting things up high since it's out of reach. Its reverse psychology…," I bit my tongue, freezing mid-explanation. That sounded too smart, darn it! I gave a nervous chuckle, trying to backup to the professor's personal bubble as a comfort haven, only to notice he had left to talk to the kids about something, leaving Conan and I alone.
Realization sparked in his eyes as he looked at me with an unreadable expression. It made me shift uncomfortably before he looked up, glasses flashing ominously as he stared up to the ceiling. Or, more precisely, the small chandelier-esque light on the ceiling. "Hakase, pull me up!" He started abruptly, the professor pausing his conversation with a surprised 'huh?'. "Hurry!" Conan demanded and I stepped back some more, not wanting to get in the way when he was being bossy-mc-boss-pants. I almost face palmed when the professor just agreed, but I managed to not do it.
Hakase leaned down and hoisted the smaller not-child onto his shoulders and then stood, lifting him high into the air. I winced slightly as he came a bit too close to banging his head on the ceiling for comfort; I'd come close to doing that once with my dad, the only difference was that the fan had been on and disturbingly close, which had made me curl up to the back of my dad's head. Conan, however, didn't seem to be unnerved at all. Then again, sometime in the future, he stares down the barrel of a gun and also gets shot, so it wasn't too surprising. He's recklessly brave.
The chandelier was spun slowly, squeaking slightly from misuse, before a rattling noise – almost like gears turning – filled the house softly. We all blinked, looking around for the source. "Eh? What's that noise?" The professor inquired. "Wha…What's happening?" Suddenly a loud bang! rang from above, scaring the heck out of all of us, including me. I put a hand to my speeding heart, rolling my eyes at myself. Should've seen that coming, stupid.
Dust fell from the ceiling in large drifts as we all stared upwards. "On the second floor, it sounds like something fell down." Mitsuhiko said. Conan hopped right off Agasa's shoulders, landing on the floor in an impressive crouch, "Let's see!" He began running for the stairs to get to the second floor, the kids and the professor following him after a second. I blinked before running after, ignoring the urge to look back for insurance as my neck tingled almost painfully.
We followed Conan as he lingered in the hall for a minute before going to a certain room, opening the door, only to stop in the entrance, eyes wide. Genta was the first to arrive at the diminutive detective's side, "What happened, Conan?" We were all able to see through the doorway a second later, and I'm pretty sure we all looked like gaping fish when we spotted the staircase now in the middle of the room. I was a bit surprised as well – it looked a lot more impressive than it had on screen.
"Oh, there's a staircase in the room!" Ayumi gasped. "So, that's what the point was!" His smirk was evident in his tone. "The code was pointing at the chandelier in the middle of the ceiling. In other words, at this secret staircase."
"My uncle loved mechanisms like that…," Agasa's face became deadpanned as he scratched his cheek. "But, really, to do such a thing…," I chuckled, understanding what he was saying. I loved mechanisms like this, too, but I don't actually think I would ever be able to do it; money and all. The real kids ran up to the beginning of the staircase. "Maybe there's still treasure up there!" Genta grinned, pointing up to the attic-like room. "Yeah, something is hidden up there." Conan affirmed.
"Alright, let's hurry!" With that announced, the three rushed up the stairs with Conan, Agasa, and I close behind. However, before I could even put my foot on the first step, I realized that my shoe was untied. I sighed, glared down at it for a moment before crouching down, beginning to it lazily. The others went on without me, but I didn't mind. I heard them talking to each other vaguely upstairs and I smiled down at the string once I completed tying it. There, now it shouldn't come undone again anytime soon.
I was standing when I felt it – someone was freakin' standing behind me! – but I wasn't able to react quick enough as I was scooped up, a hand pressing over my mouth to silent my shout. I squirmed as I was gripped roughly, wincing as a hand tightened on my wrist after I tried to whack the person in the face. That was gonna bruise, darn it. My backwards kicks had no effect, me being in a tiny body and all. I struggled a bit longer before I slumped in the person's arms, deadpanning at the situation I had gotten myself into. Internally, I cursed my shoelace.
You've got to be kidding me…
ooOOoo
Being a hostage was boring, I learned. The man who was holding me didn't talk to me, didn't do anything, really. He was waiting for some type of cue, I think. Either way, it was boring. I'd heard that the kids had already found the skeleton in the attic-like room and absently, I was glad that I'd been caught. At least I didn't have to see a creepy skeleton. A bonus for being a hostage, I suppose. But, really, if we didn't do something soon, I'd die from boredom.
Truthfully, I didn't know if I should feel offended that nobody noticed I was gone or not.
Conan had gone through explaining everything, from the dead old man to the letters to the counterfeiting money part to the broken toys. The man shifted, starting up the stairs quietly and I sighed into his hand as I was moved uncomfortably into a one-armed hold so that his other was free. "Congratulations." The man grumbled and we reached the top as the kids rushed to Conan's side. The man was now holding a gun in his right hand, and I twisted my body to loosen his grip a bit. The kids and Agasa's eyes zeroed in on me with panic and I offered them a one-shouldered shrug as compensation. Hey, I didn't mean to get captured, after all.
"Indeed, I kept an eye on that old man because I knew he was going to find the thing I was looking for. But, when I looked inside the box, there were only toys. Too bad." I glanced at the man's face, taking note of his grin. Why did it seem that all the Detective Conan criminals weren't in their right mind? Right, their murderers… Duh. I rolled my eyes at my stupidity before shifting again. Dangling above the ground wasn't exactly an enjoyable experience.
"I searched this mansion for a long time." The man continued. "I searched it all, but I never thought of a secret hidden room. Thanks, kids." He sneered and I saw as Conan's face grimaced in despise. The shrunken detective leaned down, ready to turn on his power-kick shoe when the loud bang of gunfire shot out. I flinched at the noise – sensitive ears! – as my eyes clenched. I peeked one eye open, seeing that the bullet had embedded itself a bit too close to Conan's leg for comfort. I couldn't help but admire the man's shot despite the situation. He had good aim.
My admiration came up short, though, as his hand moved from my mouth to close around my neck in a chokehold. I sucked in a breath, gripping his arm in my small hands. God, I felt helpless! "Don't move!" The man shouted, squeezing my neck a bit. The kids stared at him fearfully as he continued to point the gun at them and tighten his hold on my neck; soon, I wouldn't be able to breathe anymore. "Unless you want to see someone die!"
"Besides, if you'd used your head, you wouldn't have gotten involved in the first place!" Yeah right. Knowing Shinichi and the Detective Boys, they would have gotten involved anyways. I flashed the group a reassuring smile. I don't think it helped, though, since I was still dangling from the man's arm. Conan stood back up, looking from me to the man with an intense glare. My pocket burned painfully as ideas flashed through my mind.
Subtly, I saw Conan's hand make its way to his pocket and I grinned sharply before it disappeared as I flinched. My trachea was being squashed under the pressure and I couldn't choke down anymore air as the burning in my pocket intensified to something unbearable. I let out a garbled whine, trying to get away from the burn and get my lungs working again. The man stepped up the last two steps, so that he was completely in the secret room now.
"The young lady over there," He began and Ayumi started at the recognition fearfully. A breathless growl rumbled in my chest. "Yeah, you. Grab the plate from the old geezer and give it to me!" He ordered and, again, despite the situation, I found myself wanting to laugh. Old geezer? My shoulders shook with unbidden giggles and I absently wondered if the lack of oxygen was getting to me. Probably.
I watched with glazed eyes as Ayumi walked slowly over to Agasa, who leaned down to hand her the plate with a small 'here you go…'. She took it before turning back and giving me a worried glance, which I countered with a goofy smile, before starting to walk forwards. "There, you're a good girl." He grinned and my head lolled closer downwards carelessly. He sounded like a complete creeper. "Come a little closer," He beckoned, "And I'll give you a nice reward…," The click of his gun made my brain work a little better and my head shot up again to glare at him, to which he ignored despite him tightening his hold again. Guh…That hurts.
Just before Ayumi was about to pass Conan, though, his arm shot out to stop her; it surprised both her and the man holding me, who's grip loosened just the slightest, even though it was still in a chokehold. Black dots were starting to invade my vision and I knew I would pass out soon if this plan took any longer. My nails dug sharply into the man's forearm and I smirked a bit as his eyebrow twitched in pain. He was still looking at Conan, who was starting to look creepy in my eyes. Or was that the lack of oxygen?
Haha, stupid shoelace….
"You brat!" The man reacted to Shinichi's smirk. Whoa, when'd he get so tall? "I'm gonna beat you to a pulp!" Beat to a pulp? Another breathless laugh escaped me – huh, I sound hysterical, not good – at that. Didn't he mean shoot them? "Just wait a second." Conan started, stepping towards the man. "I'll give it to you right away….Okuda Tomoaki-san." Yayy, deduction time~! Finally, I could use some oxygen right about now… Haha, the criminal has the same first name as Araide.
Yes, I was definitely high on lack of oxygen.
"Huh?" The man leaned back in shock, making me swing precariously and I shot him a nasty look for it. Not that he paid any attention to it. "H-How do you know my name?!" Conan was winning this battle; just make the person nervous and they're in the bag. Or should I say jail cell? I was laughing again, but no sound came out due to no more air left in me. Damn. I blinked several times, trying to get the spots to go away. They were getting kind of annoying…
"Well, I asked that man." Conan's voice was dim as he pointed to the skeleton at the desk. The man gasped as he looked over to the skeleton before turning back to Conan. "He can't talk anymore!" The man huffed and Ayumi shuffled a bit closer to Conan. Said boy got an innocent expression on his face as he put his hand to his ear, "Are you sure? If you listen closely, you might hear the voice of his ghost." The man let out an unpleasant laugh and my eyes dropped closed. Bite.
My eyes fluttered open in surprise. It was the voice again – my voice but not. The instinctive voice that Akako told me every supernatural being had. I blinked before smiling faintly. So it was natural. Where'd it been before I got captured, huh? Couldn't it have warned me or something? Jeez, you'd think that a witch's inner voice would be able to do that, but nooo. I rolled my eyes as it spoke once again, bite him. The man brought his gun up again and his chokehold tightened again.
"Brat, there's no such thing as–!" He was cut off by a ghostly sounding voice that was loud and seemed to echo. "Okuda Tomoaki…," It announced and the man's grip loosened significantly. My mouth opened as I sucked in a greedy breath of air, filling my lungs as I panted. Oxygen! Oh, lovely, lovely, oxygen! I'll never take you for granted again~! The kids let out scared sounds and Ayumi ran back to Agasa with a shriek. Having caught my breath – though, I was still taking deep breaths – I shifted quickly as the voice echoed again. The man was obviously having a mental breakdown from fear and so I did what my instinctive voice told me to.
I grinned down at his hand – the one that had been choking me – before bring it up to my mouth and biting down on it viciously. His pained yelp was very satisfying and he dropped me in pain before taking aim at the skeleton as it continued to echo his name. I scurried over to Conan, making it behind him before collapsing to my knees, heaving breath again as I put a protective hand around my throat. I grimaced and spit out some blood that had gotten into my mouth when I had bitten the man.
Four loud gunshots rang out, making all of us besides the true detective flinch. The man ran out of bullets but he kept pulling the trigger, broke out into a cold sweat. I watched as Conan placed the plate onto the ground in front of him, hand beside his shoe. I relaxed, knowing it'd all be over soon. Very soon. The burning in my pocket died out and I sagged in relief.
"Let me keep my promise…," Conan started and his smirk was bordering sinister. "And give this back to you…," His hand turned the dial, the electricity sparking in the darkness of the attic-like room. The man focused on Conan, scared out of his wits. "Catch this!" Conan shouted and then he was kicking it skillfully at the man, which caught right on the man's cheek, knocking him down and out for the count. He landed on the ground with a loud thud and I smirked. Hah, that's what you get!
Conan let out a puff of relief and the kids hurried to our side. "Conan-kun, Koizumi-san! Let's run away!" Ayumi said, clutching her hands to her chest. I blinked at her. She wanted me to run now? I could barely managed to get out of the man's arms without overexerting myself – my body and brain were still oxygen deprived. I'd be slow for a while. "Huh?" Conan seemed just as confused as I did. "Yes, or the ghost might come back!" Mitsuhiko added and I let out a breathy chuckle.
"That was Ku–" Opps. "Edogawa-kun's handy work, you guys." Conan smiled brightly. "She's right. It was only this." He took out his Kamen Yaiba voice changer. The kids brightened considerably. "The Kamen Yaiba voice changer!" They cheered and the Heisei Holmes went onto his explanation, "I recorded my voice when I said his name, slowed and then amplified it." Agasa, who had gone to get the twenty dollar plate again, stood up and asked, "But how did you know this man's name?"
"Oh, that was written in code in the letter on his desk. It said, 'the one who coerced me into this was Okuda Tomoaki'."
"Ah, so that's why he was writing her letters…," The professor trailed in understanding. "He wanted to thank her for letting him stay here." Conan walked over to a painting that was covered and I wandered over to look at it as he drew back the sheet covering it. I smiled once I remembered what was on the picture. "Hey, what happened to your aunt?" He asked. "She died last year. She was seventy six." Agasa replied, "Looks like I'm the last one now…," Conan didn't answer, instead moving the sheet off the picture completely to reveal a beautiful painting of the professor's aunt. She was drawn elegantly and it was, overall, a wonderful portrait.
"Perhaps it was a bit more than that…," I whispered to myself, voice hoarse, with a warm smile. Conan nodded in agreement before turning to look at me, putting the sheet over the picture again. He gave my hand a serious look – it was still covering my neck – before pulling it down gently to assess the damage. He winced slightly at the sight.
"It's already turning yellow, so you'll probably have bruising." He informed me and I frowned. Great, bruises. Just what I needed. "We'll have to get you checked out by a paramedic, though. Just to be sure that nothing is internally damaged." I sighed but nodded, and he gave me a fond smile before heading over to Agasa with a pointed look. Agasa being Agasa, he'd gotten the clue and was already calling the police to tell them to bring a paramedic.
I brushed my hand against my neck absently before heading down the stairs of the secret room with Genta, Mitsuhiko, and Ayumi – all of whom were asking if I was okay. I just nodded with a reassuring grin. My throat hurt too much to talk. Gosh, I hope it doesn't swell. That'd be annoying. We all got comfortable in the room, waiting for Conan and Agasa to also come down, as we waited for the police to finally arrive. They sure could take their sweet time, huh?
I glanced down at my neon blue sneakers, glaring at the shoelaces.
Perhaps my sister was right when she told me I had bad luck…
ooOOoo
The police had finally arrived two hours later and I had been ushered outside by one of the paramedics. He looked awfully familiar and I realized belatedly that he was the one who tended to me after I'd been shrunk. He picked me up and placed me on the hospital bed with a caring smile. "You have a knack for getting in these types of situations, huh?" He joked lightly and I sighed, but gave him a good natured laugh. He was prodded my neck with his fingertips before nodding to himself and taking out one of those things you press against someone's tongue to see the inside of their mouth.
"Say 'ah'." I did as I was told, letting him put the stick into my mouth and watched awkwardly as he peered in, frowning. After a short while, he was done, pulling back and putting the stick thingie away. He grabbed hold my eyelids gently and brought them up so that he could see my eyes properly. Again, he frowned at what he found. I hope it wasn't anything too badly otherwise Kaito wouldn't let me out of the house for a while. And there was no way I was going to miss my meeting with Erise tomorrow. No way!
I'd already called Kaito when we had been waiting for the police and he'd been worried, to say the least. But, after I assured him I was fine for the tenth time, he had calmed down a bit and had just been glad that I hadn't been hurt any other way. The phone call had been nerve-wracking. No one ever wanted to tell someone they'd almost been choked to death, after all.
Once he was done checking my eyes, he leaned back and smiled before starting to wrap my neck up with gauze. I blinked, confused. He seemed to catch it because he said, "Just for insurance." I nodded and waited for him to finish wrapping me up before thanking him once he was done. "No problem." He grinned and picked me up, placing me on the floor again so that I could go back to Agasa. He followed after me when I went to said professor.
Agasa was talking to one of the police officer's, but their conversation ended just as me and the paramedic made it over to them. "She'll be fine. Her throat seems to be swelling a bit, so it might hurt to swallow and talk for a while, but it isn't anything permanent. She should try not to speak too much, though – it could make things worse on her larynx. The bruising will be there for the next few weeks. Her eyes will stay a bit red due to slight hemorrhaging, but it should be okay." He told the professor and I winced. Darn it.
I shrugged a moment later as the paramedic left. Well, could be worse. Agasa smiled down at me, as if reading my thoughts. "It's good that you got away with just that." I nodded in agreement before spotting the bear I'd been looking at earlier in his arms. He grinned, handing it to me carefully. "I thought you might want to keep it. I saw you looking at it earlier, so I asked the police if it'd be okay for you to keep it." My heart lifted and I grinned back at him.
"Thank you~!" I hummed happily, hugging the broken bear to my chest. I'd fix him later when I got to Kaito's house. Well, if Kaito had a sewing kit, that is; though, I was sure that he did, just for the simple fact that he was KID. "You're welcome." The professor replied.
And as everything got wrapped up and our group went back into the car to get back home, I reflected on the day. I got a bear – who I shall name Patch –, we got a criminal arrested (I may or may not have stuck my tongue out at him childishly while passing), no one died, and everyone was technically safe. It might have helped that the whole adventure was fun, too. The sun was already starting to set, causing the world to glow over with hues of red and orange and purple. Overall, I supposed that today wasn't so bad, after all.
ooOOoo
Conan yawned in the front seat, covering it with his hand. Alice, Mitsuhiko, Ayumi, and Genta were asleep in the backseat, oblivious to the world around them. "But, I still don't understand." The professor began. Conan looked over curiously. "Huh?"
"You know, those words your father said. 'For sure, Agasa-hakase, you're a real sunshine!'. And since that time, he keeps calling me 'Professor Sunshine'." Agasa elaborated and Conan deadpanned over at him, "Oh, that. It's just a play on words…," He explained. The professor blinked. "A play on words?" Conan smirked, lifting the chart of the code he had taken with him to show the professor it. The professor glanced over for a second before turning back to the road.
"If you write your name in the code." The smaller answered shortly, getting a 'huh?' from his companion. Agasa glanced back to the chart and looked at the figures that would be used to spell out his name; three white suns were his answer. "See, you only use suns to write it." Conan prompted. Agasa smiled in understanding, "Oh! I see now!" The professor gave an amused laugh. "That's kinda neat!" He continued to laugh, "I am Professor Sunshine!" Agasa announced gleefully with another laugh.
Conan's deadpanned face stayed for a moment longer before he frowned, remembering something. Ignoring the professor's laughing, his face dawned with suspicion and realization before he whipped his head around to stare at Alice's sleeping form. She looked harmless enough, still holding the wrecked bear in her arms as her head lolled against the window frame peacefully. His eyes narrowed, recalling her words as they had entered Agasa's uncle's house for the first time.
How did she…?
Review Replies:
To: kittyfinatic515 – Thanks! Here's the full case. ^^
To: DDmasters (chapter four review) – Thank you so much! o^^o
To: MagicMilkbone – Yeah, they can be a bit stupid at times, huh? XD And yay! Finally, someone else who doesn't get along with younger people, either. I'm surrounded by people who do, so I'm, like, the only person in my family who doesn't get along with kids. And me neither; I just try to keep polite and not seem strange. (which is harder than it seems, for me, lol) And yup! More Akako coming up soon~! Will do~! ^^