A/N: Whoo! The beginning of another case – and so soon! 8O I should really be working on Mage&Magician, but I'm horrible when it comes to that story… XD;;; Oh well. Enjoy? ^^
Disclaimer: I do not own Detective Conan or Magic Kaito in any way or form. (or shape!)
Chapter Thirty One
It was Thursday when I received a letter.
"Hey, Akako-neesan…," I droned, slumped on her couch like a useless piece of furniture, upside down. My legs dangled off the edge of the backing and I could feel the blood rushing to my head from its position. I was currently in Midori's form, for I had merely felt like being myself for a while. I sort of knew why Shinichi was so desperate to get his body back now. After a while, the small body felt cramped and you could feel yourself falling into step, even if you knew that wasn't a good idea.
Akako glanced down at me from her spot in the doorway, amused with my antics. She'd been surprised when I had stopped by – surprising enough, the first time we'd met, she'd been 'expecting me', after all – and when asked, I had honestly informed her that I was bored. The school week had been draining and I hadn't been able to sleep in for, like, forever. My sleeping pattern was becoming normal. The thought alone sent a chill down my spine.
"What is it, Midori?" She questioned, raising an eyebrow, and her creepy butler appeared from the other doorway to the living room.
"Is there anything to doooo….?" I dragged, knowing that it annoyed her by the way her lip twitched slightly. I blinked as the butler appeared before me, leering down despite his still-nervous demeanor around me. I swear, it wasn't like I was some type of monster – the way he acted was strange. My eyes narrowed before he began to speak, "Midori-sama, I think you will be pleased to see that you have gotten a response from the contest you entered last weekend." A letter was offered from his sharp-nailed fingers.
The contest I entered…he couldn't mean–!
I jolted up out of my position, fumbling a bit as I bent closer to my legs which were still extended. The sudden movement made me dizzy, blood rushing downwards now. Ignoring my disorientation, I snatched the letter, flashing the butler a quick grin that made him take a step back. "Thanks!" I said quickly, looking down to investigate the letter that I was now holding. Indeed, 'Watanabe Midori' was scrawled in the middle, along with Akako's address underneath. After careful consideration, I had decided to be safe and use the last name 'Watanabe'. Since Kaito obviously didn't know about my secret identity, I had used Akako's mailbox – she'd been pretty lenient with my use of her house and personal effects.
Except some certain rooms that I was forbidden to enter. Knowing that I was forbidden to enter the room, truthfully, I didn't even feel like pondering on what she had in the room – dead bodies, hostages? – and I didn't really care to know. Some things were better left unknown, as the saying goes.
My eyes darted up to the upper left corner and, sure enough, the kanji was loud and clear – Kanaya Hiroyuki, the one who had hosted the contest. I sucked in a breath, wondering if the world had somehow turned upside down when I had blinked. There was just no way that this was happening. Right? Right.
Slowly, I grabbed the letter opener being offered to me by the butler and started to open the letter. The paper ripped just as slowly, the sound giving me a foreboding feeling. When it was opened, I fingered the opening, before taking out one paper. Only one. It had to be a notice telling me that I didn't make it, right? Would they do that? My mind couldn't think of any other logical reason, other than me actually getting in and that thought was ludicrous itself.
The paper crinkled as I unfolded it and I quickly scanned the contents. Releasing a sigh, I dropped the letter onto the floor, feeling drained. A frown played on my lips as I let myself fall once more, the blood once again rushing upwards. Discarded, the letter lay on the floor next to Kin, who had accompanied me. I was beginning to think that I'd never get him to leave me side. School had been hard enough, and I swear I could see him sometimes, wandering around the schoolyard, making me jumpy that someone would notice him.
He gazed at the letter before glancing back up at me as Akako walked closer. Surprisingly enough, Kin wasn't a brat to Akako or the creepy butler. Maybe it had to do with their supernatural creepiness. Who knows. "You didn't make it, I'm guessing?" The red-haired witch asked, though it was more of a statement. My frown grew and I could feel a headache coming on because of the way I was sitting.
"What gave you that idea?"
She smirked, crossing her arms as she took a seat next to my prone form. "You let out a sigh and now you're brooding. It's as clear as day, dear." I ignored her jeer, dangling my arms downwards to scratch under Kin's chin, smiling ironically when he leaned into the touch. "Actually, I'm not brooding because I didn't get in." I informed her, making her gain a confused look. Kin let out a purr, "The reason I'm brooding is because I made it. This shouldn't be possible. It's absurd. I don't even know that much about Sherlock Holmes. I had done it on a whim and I didn't actually want to make it. There'll be two detectives in the vicinity. Talk about flaunting 'hey, figure out my identity' much." I ranted.
Akako gave a trill laugh, enjoying my scowl. "Well, you do seem to have the most interesting luck, don't you? I'm sure everything will be fine."
Somehow, I didn't really feel reassured by her. My gaze slid back down to Kin, who was giving me an upside down expression of content as I continued to pet him. "You know," I began, feeling cheated. "Why do I feel like your good luck, the one you're supposedly giving me, is a very twisted good luck?" I received an innocent look in return.
Because, really. How else would I make it into something I had entered, even though I had changed my mind about wanting to go?
ooOOoo
Friday, the day that they would be picking us up, had come all too soon. The day seemed to fly far faster than usual and while I could see Conan was practically buzzing with excitement in his chair, I couldn't have been anymore his opposite – halfheartedly answering questions and feeling incredibly like someone had just spiked my drink with a highly potent poison. My sour mood must have been evident, since even the Detective Boys didn't try to pester me today into going to play soccer once more at the park (we'd been playing it all week and I'm sure my legs had gained a lot more muscle since).
Before I knew it, school was over and I was already in my room, packing things for the trip. Kaito was fretting behind me, scooping up various unneeded items out of nervous gesture.
"Alice-chan, are you sure you want to go on a trip with your Akako-neesan?" He'd been reduced to a blubbering mess, trying to get me to stay. "Don't you want to stay with your Kaito-niichan and go hang out with Aoko-neechan? We can go to Tropical Land again and we'll even go on the spinny ride that you liked so much again even though I got motion sickness from it, and I'll make sure that you get a seat in the shade when we eat at that picnic place again – I know how much you liked their fries and burgers – and then we can go get some lemonade and I'll give you a piggyback ride to the park and we can stay until dark and catch fireflies…" It was about there that I tuned him out.
Really, he had trust issues when it came to Akako. Well, not that I could blame him – she had tried to kill him before, after all – but still. I wasn't even going to be with her really, anyways, so his panic was wasted.
"I'm sure I want to go, Kaito-niichan." I cut him off as he took a breath, getting ready to continue his offerings. The bag full of my things – my adult clothes had been pretty hard to sneak in – zipped shut, sounding final. "Akako-neesan will take care of me, promise!" Childishly, I made an 'X' across my heart and gave him a smile. He practically melted, sliding down onto the floor and pulling me into a hug. I rolled my eyes but leaned into his warmth – living with Kaito, you got used to the constant affection. Seriously, he showed it even more than my real mom! His child would definitely be mother-henned in the future.
"B-But, Alice-chan~!" He wailed dramatically, squishing me to his chest. "If you go with Akako, I may never see you again~! Who knows what she'll do to you!"
Suddenly, another voice broke the moment. "Kuroba-kun, I'm surprised. I thought you trusted me a bit more than that." Akako's smooth voice crooned, and I could practically hear the smirk in her voice. Kaito broke the hug quickly, whipping around the face the witch. "A-Akako! How'd you get in here?" Ah, there was the underlying suspicion again.
The beauty took in my room, noting the bag ready on my bed, before answering, "The door was unlocked." Yeah right, I internally countered. I had locked it when I had gotten home today.
Kaito blinked before putting on his pokerface again. "Are you here to pick up Alice-chan?" He stood, shouldering my bag as he walked past her and started downstairs. I hurried to follow, Akako close behind. "Yes, I did. Alice has been looking forward to this trip, so I hope you don't mind me stealing her for bit." 'Stealing her for bit'. What a wonderful way to gain trust, Akako…
We arrived downstairs and I was surprised that Kaito didn't comment on her choice of words. He showed us to the front door and handed Akako the bag full of things. "Here you go, that's her stuff. Make sure she eats three meals a day – you have to force her to eat breakfast, otherwise she won't unless she's in a compliant mood – and make sure she doesn't stay in the bath too long, which she tends to do. Don't lose her bear, or she'll be devastated. Patch will be still here, but make sure that you don't lose the other." He instructed and Akako sent me an amused look when he wasn't paying attention. With my cheeks flushed, I grumbled under my breath, bidding Kaito goodbye before dragging Akako to the car that was at the curb. The sky was dim already.
I could see the creepy butler was the driver. My brow twitched as he looked somewhat…awkward in the driver's seat. Why do I get the feeling he didn't have his license?
Both Akako and I got into the car easily and I waved to Kaito as the car pulled from the curb – sloppily, mind you – and then started to drive away. As soon as we turned the corner, I swear I could've heard Kaito's voice yell out distantly 'no, wait! I changed my mind!'.
Despite the whole upcoming Holmes Freak situation, I couldn't help but let laughter bubbled to the surface. Really, Kaito was too protective.
ooOOoo
The butler pulled the car to the curb, allowing me to slide out of it, already in Midori's form. I had changed in the car, the butler not even daring to look back after I had given him an intense glower, threatening to kill him if he looked. Though, I wouldn't have gone through with the threat either way. Still. I didn't want some freaky butler who was a demon watching me change. Guh. Just…Just no.
The point of my pickup was somewhat far from Beika and Ekoda, and I wasn't exactly sure where we were when I got off. By now, the sky was dark, filled with stars that were barely visible through the thick clouds rolling in. "Well, I guess I'll see you on Sunday." I muttered awkwardly to Akako, who had her window open, before I shuffled back from the car to wait on the curb of the road. With the sound of gravel moving, Akako gave me a curt nod and smirk as the car moved away, soon disappearing into the darkness of the surrounding area.
The chirping of crickets was my company in the dark. It was oddly peaceful, just standing there alone in the serenity of silence. It was almost enough to make me forget that I'd be going to the Holmes Freak murder case, where two people were killed and another was assaulted; the thought made my stomach churn nervously and I began to rock on my heels, suddenly feeling restless. Kin, who had accompanied me, looped around my legs for comfort.
I flinched as a car rounded the bend, the spotlights blinding me momentarily. It stopped in front of me, and I tried to peer into the windows, but they were blacked-out. Well, that was…reassuring… What if it wasn't the pickup car?
Shifting my stance and planting my feet on the ground, I readied my fist at my sides, clenching them till the knuckles were white. Before I could decide to fight or flee, the window rolled down. A round, jolly, face with a mustache and a deerstalker upon his head was revealed and I relaxed, my stance dropping considerable. "Ah, sorry, sorry. Did I scare you?" He chuckled. "You are Watanabe Midori, I presume?" Now that I look at it, the front window of the car was advertising that it was for the Holmes tour. I must have been too frightened to notice. My bad…
"A-Ah, yeah." I quickly stuttered out, fixing my backpack, which had slide a bit from my shoulder earlier. Remembering Kin, who was still hissing at the car, I picked him up swiftly, glad that he seemed content enough with the action to stop being rude to the host of the tour. "A-Are animals allowed? I have no one to leave him with and so…," I trailed, giving him a sheepish grin. The man gave another laugh, "Oh, yes, of course! Animals are allowed."
Relieved, I sighed and I heard a click as he unlocked the doors. "You can sit in the back next to the teen in the baseball cap." He instructed and I nodded, opening the door and getting into said seat. I clicked the door shut once more and there was a short moment before the driver set off once more. There were several other people in the van with me, but I skillfully kept my head down and continued to stare out the window. Feeling claustrophobic wasn't one of my ideas for this ride and the feeling had already come on; there was too many people talking and I had the worst luck ever, after all, since I'm sitting right next to…
"Oi, are ya alright?" I flinched at the questioned directed at me in a highly familiar accent. Swallowing, I ripped my eyes from the window to regard the teen next to me. He was taller than me by a couple inches, even when sitting, and his tanned skin almost looked black in the shadows, a hat brimming his eyes and making him look somewhat sinister. "I-I'm fine. Just a bit nervous. It's my first time travelling alone." Kin bit my finger in retaliation to my apparent ignorance to his companionship, but I ignored him in favor of staring at the Osakan teen. It was strange to see him in real life; the other time I'd met him had been when I'd been disoriented from shrinking.
He gave me a grin in return, "It's alright, there's a first time for everything and you do seem pretty young." Careful, Heiji, the young comment could come off as rude to some, I chuckled internally as he continued, "About fourteen or fifteen, right?" There was a cocky edge to his voice that made me crack a smirk, all worries disappearing.
"Nah, I'm only thirteen." I shrugged carelessly, pulling my hat a bit lower to shield my amused eyes. My mouth spread into a wide, Cheshire, grin. "Name's Watanabe Midori. Nice to meet you, Hattori Heiji, famed detective of the west." My grin sharpened just a fraction as he smiled at my recognition of is title, looking happy.
"Nice to meet you, too, Midori-han."
Nice to meet you, indeed. For the second time, that is.
ooOOoo
We arrived at the inn, Mycroft, sooner than I expected. After Heiji and I had introduced ourselves, we had chatted about various things, mostly consisting of Osaka, since Heiji loved his region and we supposedly shared it – I didn't know if I should think of my Osaka-ben as a curse or a gift; after all, the two of us were friends now, despite Kin's displeasure with the whole situation. I climbed out of the car, the scent and sound of the sea assaulting my senses immediately, Heiji close behind. The others had already made it into the building, leaving just the two of us. My eyes widened underneath the brim of my hat in astonishment.
"Wow…It's huge." I whistled, surprised. It had definitely looked smaller in the anime and manga. Shouldering my backpack up a bit higher on my shoulder, I flashed a grin to Heiji as he voiced his agreements. "Well, I'm gonna go put my stuff in my room." He informed me, gesturing to his bag before heading into the building. I blinked at his retreating form before smiling to myself, letting Kin once again get on my shoulder. Before I could even begin to make my way into the house, though, a second car pulled up.
The doors clicked open and people immediately spilled out to go inside the house, not wasting time to check out the scenery. The flood of people cleared and before I knew it, I spotted Kogoro walking to the door, bowing to a woman from my car as she wandered out of the house. Their car had been parked in front of the one I'd been in, so they didn't take notice of my presence. Ran and Conan paused to look in awe at the house, just like I had. "Wah! It's amazing!" Ran gushed, "Conan! Come on, quickly!" She called, heading to follow her father inside.
Conan was beginning to follow before a hand caught his wrist, the hand bringing said wrist closer to examine his palm. Unsurprisingly, I couldn't hear them from here, but I could tell what she said unnerved him greatly before he hurried to dash after Ran. If I remember correctly, the woman was a medium and had told Conan that his secret might be figured out or something like that. Once they had made it inside the house, I sauntered from my 'hiding' place and was about to get to the door, but much like Conan, before I could, a pudgy hand grabbed my wrist.
My head whipped around to regard the woman carefully. Her beady eyes were staring intensely at my face, instead of my palm. "Er…C-Can I help you?" Her eyes were slightly unnerving, seeming to rip away all my lies. Finally, she opened her mouth to talk, "You're two in one, aren't you?" I raised a brow at the cryptic question. What was she going on about? "Your presence itself is overwhelming and draws in others." Her gaze flickered to Kin on my shoulder, who bared his teeth in return. "You might already be attracting more."
"…Um, what are you…?" Her brows rose in astonishment, as if in shock about something. "Could it be that you don't…? Oh dear, that's dangerous!" She released me as she took a step back and I just continued to give her a blank, confused, expression. "Sorry, dear, disregard what I said." She seemed nervous now and as I was about to ask her what the heck she was talking about, she hurried back into the house, leaving me alone. The sound of waves crashing along the cliff edge was the only sound for a while before I sighed and walked to the house.
Well, that was weird.
ooOOoo
After I had dumped my things in my room, I had gathered in the main room with everyone else, per instruction. I hung in the corner of the room, observing the other participants. I avoided Conan's detection pretty well, since he was too excited about the whole affair to both with being suspicious of anyone.
"Hello, everyone!" The owner, still clad in his Sherlock Holmes attire, said joyously. "Welcome to my vacation inn, Mycroft. I'm the organizer of this tour, Kanaya. All of you have been carefully selected by me as devout 'Sherlockians'." One of the participants, clad in a business suit and a disapproving face, spoke up, crossing his arms moodily. "What do you mean, 'carefully selected'? I noticed there's an amateur in our midst who doesn't know the first thing about Holmes." He glanced back to Kogoro.
The medium (fortune-teller?) woman from before looked at the man, "Oh? Is there really such a person here?" I suppressed a snort as they continued talking about the 'scandalous' participant. "Over there, that man with the mustache." Another man told her, gesturing to Kogoro, who now had a brooding expression. "I can see I'm not wanted. I'm going home!" Kogoro announced sourly, turning to do just as he had said. The owner was quick to try to stop him, "W-Wait a minute, Mouri-san!"
"This man is not just anyone; he's a famous detective whose work is on par with Holmes'…," He tried to explain for the disgruntled detective.
"Mouri Kogoro-san, right?" All gazes switched to a man with curly, brown hair, hands in his pockets as he stood next to, who I'm assuming (and knowing, since I could remember her), his girlfriend. "I know who he is. I've seen you many times on TV and in the papers." The brown-haired guy continued, making Kogoro smirk. His smugness wasn't long lasting, though, as the talking went on, "I'm sure you have a keen mind, but you're nothing in comparison to Sherlock Holmes." His tone made my brow twitch. He was very arrogant.
"I agree. If you were to actually match wits with him, he'd hang you out dry." His girlfriend obviously wasn't any better. Kin's tail tickled my cheek as it flicked in amusement and a laugh escaped my throat, earning me a glare from the seething Kogoro, and I tried to gain face by masking it as a cough. "Who do these guys think they are?" He growled. Conan offered some – not well received – compensation to the angry Mouri. "It's Holmes you're up against; it can't be helped." Yeah…Not the best way to ease him.
"Shut up! As if I would lose to a fictitious character!" He yelled in response. As if on cue, all the other participants – minus Boyfriend and Girlfriend – turned their heads to glare at him. Ran and Kogoro were a bit put off by their stares, but Kogoro recovered gracefully, smacking Conan on the head. "This is all your fault! You applied for this tour!" "Conan-kun!"
To say their faces did a 180 was an understatement. "Conan?" The rushed to the small boy, crowding him as Ran was pushed to the side, disregarded completely. As they all started to compliment his name, I wandered closer to the two off on the side, Ran and Kogoro, eavesdropping on their conversation as I took my sweet time to get to their side.
"I guess I didn't have to worry, after all." Ran began, confusing her father. "Well, Conan is normally unusually cool and not very child-like. I feel relieved to see him smiling so innocently." The beauty's face was doting as she gazed at Conan, who was still chatting with his fellow Sherlockians. "But to say he likes Holmes, it's just like him." "'Him'?" Kogoro questioned. "Yeah, him. The sly, show-off, deductive maniac, Holmes freak who sings off…,"
A new voice cut in as Heiji opened the door, his Osaka-ben filtering through the conversation. "Although he sings off-key, he's a great soccer player, and he beat me in the last case and ran off. You mean Kudou Shinichi, right?" The dark-skinned teen pulled his hat up with a friendly smile. "Hattori-kun!" Ran gasped, "Are you a Holmes fan, too?"
I stepped in before he could answer, slinging an arm around his shoulder – with a bit of difficulty due to his taller height – and gave the surprised girl a grin. Heiji slumped under my weight and he blinked at me before just going with it. In the car, we had gotten pretty well-acquainted with each other, after all. "No, no! This guy only came 'cause he thought that his detective counterpart, Kudou Shinichi, would be here." My voice lowered in a conspiring hush as I looked up at Ran through my lashes; she was taller than me. "'Sides, this guy likes Ellery Queen better."
I laughed a bit, finally retracting my arm from Heiji's shoulders. "Don't tell anyone, though, or Heiji-han will be glare at like your father." Ran nodded, still surprised by both Heiji and I's entry upon their conversation. During the trip, I had been granted the right to call him his first name since he used mine, and had decided to use the same honorific he used for me. It definitely made me sound more Osakan than usual, but it made me kind of happy at the same time.
Just as I was about to introduce myself, and Kin, who had taken shelter, once again, inside my sweater, clapping interrupted everyone's mingling. We all turned to the owner as he started talking, his helped beside him holding a book, "Well, everyone, it's late, so I'm sure you would like to turn in. Breakfast is at 9:00, lunch at 1:00, and dinner at 8:00. And then after dinner, as it has been customary every year, everyone will take a challenging deductive reasoning quiz. And if you get a perfect score on this quiz, believe it or not," His gloved hand presented an old book, words faded on the brown cover, but still legible. "I will award this first edition of the book, A Study in Scarlet, which introduced Sherlock Holmes into this world."
Almost all of the participants here leaned forward in excitement, but I bit my lip. Nobody would be getting the book, since the owner would be killed tonight. The thought made me a bit nauseous and I swallowed thickly. If I changed anything, the plot would change and Heiji may never figure out Conan is Shinichi. Then what? The course of events in the future would shift dramatically. There was nothing I could do. I had to let him be killed…
"However!" The owner, oblivious to future events, held his hand up. "I will need to see proof that you really are a devout reader of Sherlock Holmes." That seemed to put a damper on things for the others. "Proof?" Girlfriend asked. The question wasn't answered as the owner continued, his helper starting to pass out large packs of paper stapled together. "What the maid is passing out to you now is a one-thousand-question Sherlock Holmes quiz. "O-One thousand questions?!"
The owner seemed very pleased with himself as I took the large packet with a nervous smile of thanks, "Also, the deadline to hand in the quiz is dinnertime tomorrow. And those who answer, at least, 990 correct will be allowed to participate in the deductive reasoning quiz." The maid had finished passing out the quizzes – Heiji had taken his begrudgingly – and was beginning to go around with a tray. "And to prevent cheating, I would like you to turn in your mobile phones and any Sherlock Holmes-related books."
The medium woman gave out her book and cellphone with a sad face and the woman who looked pretty apathetic handed in her cellphone as the maid continued on. "Hiding them won't do any good. I have security cameras and bugs placed in various places within the house." The owner lifted up what looked like a walky-talky. "If I catch any of you cheating, I'll have you leave the premises immediately." The maid reached me and I waved my hand, telling her quietly, "I don't have a cellphone or any books with me."
She nodded, taking my lie for truth, since the owner was just scaring us with words of cameras and bugs. I knew they were all fake and if I gave her my cellphone, it would end up broken. Akako had bothered to give me the phone, so if I got it broken due to my carelessness, I'd feel pretty bad about it. Plus, I don't think Akako would do well with the news. Yeah, no, thank you…
The maid moved on to the rest as Kogoro spoke up, absently handing his quiz to Conan. "Hey, do I have to take this quiz, too?" He sounded irritated with just the notion. "Oh, no, you're a special guest. If I may, I'd like to ask you to lead the discussion later." The owner answer before looking down at Conan as the shrunken detective asked, "Ne, if I answer 990 questions correctly, will I be allowed to participate in the detective quiz, too?" He had that 'I'm a cute little kid' smile on his face, but I think that was his real expression. It was an endearing sight and I sighed to myself in disappointment quickly, trying to get Kin to stop scratching my collarbone and come out of my sweater if he was going to be a brat.
The owner looked down at Conan in surprise, voice a 'huh?' before, "Uh…Yeah."
"Well, then." Once again, the plump man in the Holmes outfit clapped his hands. "We should all turn in for today." All of us nodded and I began to lazily make my way to my bedroom with the others. Heiji bid me goodnight, along with Ran, who still didn't know my name, and I bid them it to before opening the door to my, relatively small, room.
Unzipping and taking off my jacket, I carried Kin over to the bed, collapsing onto it with another sigh. Toeing of my sneakers, letting them fall with a dull thud, and then taking off my hat were the only things I did before closing my eyes. Kin curled up against my neck, the ends of his silky fur tickling me as his rough tongue licked my cheek comfortingly.
"Goodnight, Kin-chan… Tomorrow is when everything goes downhill." I muttered, feeling sick again at the thought. Reaching over, I pulled the string on the lamp, letting darkness surround the two of us.
Review Replies:
To: Iriss-sama – Oh, wow! We're, like, across the world from each other. XD It was about midnight when I posted that. (Laughs) Okay, let's say I'm fast, too. XD I look forward to when the invention is complete~! (Grins) And she got in – I couldn't resisted the thought of Heiji figuring out Shinichi. And more problems are fun~! (Agrees wholeheartedly and high fives) And thank you! 8D I will~! ^^ (Gathers Luck and Creates Lucky Gem) XDD
To: Kudo Shinichi Tanteisan – Thank you! 8D And yeah, poor Kin-chan. XDDD I couldn't resist it. (Laughs) (Grins as snowflakes fall and eats cyber cookie) Thank you, E-chan!
To: MagicMilkbone – (Laughs) Yeah, it was a pretty fast update, huh? XD (don't worry 'bout it, I'd don't check my email frequently either. XD) And Alice has helped Agasa make quite a few inventions so far, which will be introduced soon in the story. And yeah, Kin likes the name 'Kin' better, I guess. XD And yes! Jack came from watching Rise of the Guardians too much, lol! I'm not even sure how many times I had watched it in theaters, but I know it was more than ten times.;;; I like the movie too much. (Snickers) And yup! They're good luck there (apparently; that's what Wikipedia said when I researched black cats a while ago). That's cool. ^^ You should; learning about your culture is fun and can make for some good, fun, references. (or maybe that's just my information-nut speaking. XD)
To: SuperPaperPokemon (chapter 21 & 22 review) – Ah, I knew that would confuse some people. XD I had been careless and didn't put that beforehand.;; And it's okay! ^^ Thank you for your reviews! 8D
-I've chosen "opening themes" of sorts for this story. They will be said at the beginning of chapter one, but since that was quite a while ago, I'm informing you here, since most won't notice that something changed on the first chapter. I'll tell you them here, too, since it's easier than just going back to the first chapter. XD
Revolver opening themes;
Girigiri Chop & RUN. Both by B'z.
You can find English subbed versions of them on youtube, uploaded by weeklyBz. Thank you for reading! ^^
"Next Conan's Hint: Blanket!"