A/N: Also known as the "Distinguished Family's Consecutive Accidental Death Case", but that was too freakin' long to put as the chapter name, so I went with the English name. XDD Sorry for the long wait on this one – the next update should be sooner! Hope you enjoy! ^^ Also, I'd like to know – do you guys want me to start putting the episode number of the case the chapters on in the beginning note?
Disclaimer: I do not own Detective Conan or Magic Kaito in any way or form.
Chapter Fifty Six
"Oi, Midori-han! There ya are!"
My eyes, which had been glued to gigantic mansion in front of me, dragged over to the familiar voice, my mouth still gaping in awe. Heiji was standing near the entrance of the large gate that was protecting that almost-castle, waving his arm in the air to gain my attention. With one more glance to the house I now knew I was about to enter, I began to head over to the dark-skinned Osakan, forcing my mouth shut as I forced my eyes to go back to their regular size.
"Uh, hey, H-Heiji-han." I greeted awkwardly, my hands deep in the pockets of my plaid shorts. Despite it nearing the end of January, it was still decently cold, so I had coupled it with a pair of star designed leggings to go underneath, so that my legs didn't freeze off or anything. "This is an…," I trailed for the right word. "–extravagant place." Not quite the word I'd been looking for, but whatever. It worked.
He let out a loud laugh, giving me a pat on the back that had me stumbling forward a bit as I reached his side. "Isn't it? My old man sure knows some interesting people!" With a chuckle, he began to direct me inside the building, where we then proceeded to follow a butler into the large estate. Lush green grass was everywhere as we followed him through the yard – if it could be called that; it was more like a field – and finally through large doors into the building.
"Wow, that's a lot of police…," I muttered under my breath, tensing and feeling my skin begin to crawl uncomfortably in the close proximity of so many people morally lawful. Police officers were practically in every corner of the grandiose mansion, hanging around chatting with each other about different things. I spotted a familiar face within the crowd, a quite intimidating one, just as Heiji slung an arm around my neck, pulling me closer in an almost-chokehold. He grinned in my face, "Makes you kind of nervous, doesn't it?"
I blinked in a bit of confusion, offering an awkward smile back, put off by the sudden physical contact, my hand grasping his forearm that was looped around my neck on instinct. "What does?" I chuckled, not quite getting where he was going with this conversation. I relaxed a bit as he loosened his hold a bit. "Nothing." His smile bothered me – it reminded me too much of my own. "Anyway, I'll have 'ta introduce you to my dad later, since he's busy." He said, beginning to head in the opposite direction of the group of officers to a different room.
"Ah, okay…,"
My eyes wandered around the household as he led, putting my blind trust in him making sure I didn't run into a wall of something. It wasn't my type of place, but it certainly was impressive, with ceilings far overhead, with chandeliers and fancy paintings lining the hallways. Truthfully, I think I preferred the Koizumi mansion over this one. I paused in my thoughts before snorting to myself. Maybe I've finally lost my beans, if I'm favoring that creepy estate over this one. Though, it didn't actually creep me out anymore, so…
I snapped back to attention as we entered, what appeared to be, some kind of den. The room's color was mostly differing shades of brown, from the shining wooden flooring to the shelves carved into the walls, and there were luxurious-looking couches in the middle of the room with a coffee table in between them, on top of a white rug. The room was completely empty, save books and magazines stacked neatly on the table and the various trinkets on the shelves.
"They said we could wait here while waiting for Kudou." He grinned, releasing me to take a seat on one of the couches and I followed his lead, collapsing on the one closest to me with a grin, feeling more at ease now that the police officers now were effectively cut off from me with a door.
"About Kudou – you invited his whole entourage, right?" I questioned with a snicker, grabbing a magazine and beginning to flip through it absently. My mind was focused on the question, though, since it was a matter of having to face Conan again after the whole 'I'm-not-Midori-but-actually-Jester-in-disguise' mishap. I'd dodged a bullet there, but had probably only made a few more problems for myself.
Like, despite not being Midori (apparently) and having no idea what he was talking about – what 'poison', right? – and being Jester in disguise and that's why 'Midori' kept 'flirting' with him, how come Jester knew some Koizumi's? Because, apparently, she was distantly related to them…but I'd revealed that information before I had told him I was Jester, so that would mean that I had still been 'playing' Midori's character and giving away information like that would have to be spot-on on the 'actual' Midori's family history. But, despite saying that Midori was distantly related to the Koizumi's, who are inevitably related to Koizumi Alice, it was pretty evident that Ayala and Noboru were consciously helping out Jester because of the small conversations held between us all and the fact that if a little kid passed out in someone's shop while other people were there, there would have been a commotion unless said other people knew that their 'customer' was the one who put him to sleep.
So, in short, I'd accidently connected all three of my identities with the surname 'Koizumi'.
Thinking about it made me want to shove my head into the nearest wall and never stop until I passed out or gave myself brain damage.
Heiji answered, though, stopping my internal groans of distress. "Yup! All three are probably on their way here right now!" He smiled joyfully, his foot starting to tap the ground in a fidgety type of excitement. I held in a fond laugh, mentally thinking that his actions reminded me of a puppy waiting for its owner to come back home. I closed the magazine filled with clothes models and dropped it back into its pile in favor of crossing my legs and leaning back into the plush cushions of the couch.
"Probably?" I laughed, my hands fiddling with the edges of my shorts as I raised a brow at him. "You're not sure?"
"I had my old man recommend Mouri-han to the owner of this house, so I'm not exactly sure when he's going to get here. He doesn't actually know we're here yet!" He grinned, looking thoroughly pleased with his plan to screw one over on the detective of the east by randomly popping up. I grinned back, amused at his idea as I scoured my mind for today's case. Rich house, Heiji and his dad, robbery…
I brightened as it came to me in a flash of knowledge. That case with the guy getting impaled on the fence! I could remember this case clearly in my mind, as well as the culprit, and I felt a sense of accomplishment settle in my chest. At least I knew what to expect today. It's much better than being caught unaware and messing something up – or getting attacked myself, like in the Holmes case. The space below my shoulder on my arm ached slightly at the reminder of the faint scar that I'd earned that day. Shifting with a grimace, I shook away the feeling.
Yeah, no thanks.
I blinked as a warm palm came in contact with my forehead, pushing up under my bangs. I flinched at Heiji's face as it came into view, closer than I remembered, mouth curled into a rare frown. "You alright? You suddenly went pale…,"
Snorting in amusement, I brushed his hand away carelessly with a grin. "I'm fine – just thinking~!" He pulled away with a raised brow, his mouth smoothing out of the concerned frown it had been. He retreated to his couch, taking a seat on it again. I was quick to switch the subject. "So, about today's case – what's it really about? You only told me it's probably a regular burglary case or something."
"Ah, that? The truth is that the chairman said he heard a strange noise last night. Ah, the chairman is the person who owns this place, by the way." He quickly tacked on, realizing that I didn't know anybody here and had just been shown to this room by him when I arrived. "Anyway, he said it was the sound of someone running around quietly in the hallway in the middle of night, and the sound of objects colliding over and over again. It's probably a burglar casing the place, so we increased security and came over here." He explained with a quirk of a smile on his face.
I hummed, nodding in thought and carefully didn't voice my thoughts on their increased security. It seemed a bit much, if they thought it was just a thief checking out the place, if you ask me. This chairman dude must have been a helluva important person. Or keeping some pretty important things, I mused and my eyes flicked up to the ceiling, narrowing the slightest as I bit my lip in thought. Perhaps there was a private gem collection here. I'd have to check the place out.
"So, Midori-han." I snapped to attention at the serious note in his voice and I looked down to see him giving me an equally serious stare, almost overpowered by the curious sparkle in it. Shoot, I knew I shouldn't have come.
I offered a small, thin, smile as my hands tangled nervously into each other, which didn't go by unnoticed by the detective in the room. Curse nervous habits. "Yeah?"
"There's actually a reason I called you over. There's something I want to discuss with you." He leaned forward and rested his elbows on his knees, eyes searching my, without a doubt, wide and panicked ones. Damn it. I think I was starting to understand why Ayala hates detectives, except this was for a slightly different reason. And there wasn't any way for me to completely despise them, either – I was too soft. Without much choice, I let him go on.
"I did some research and…the results were a bit…odd." He stated and he said it in such a way that had my brows furring together in confusion. "Ya see, Midori-han, it's like ya don't even exist."
…Huh?
"Err…," What the heck am I supposed to say to that? "…I assure you, I do exist." I felt like laughing, but that would make the situation even more awkward. His green-blue eyes were staring at me like I was an interesting specimen, but it wasn't cold like a scientist's, but rather just insanely curious. I swear, sometimes people are more curious than they should be. He let out a small laugh at my unsure quip, though, and I relaxed the slightest. It was much better being interrogated by Heiji than by Conan. Heaven knows that Shinichi scares that crap out of me while in 'detective-mode'.
"I don't mean ta' say that you don't exist, but it's like you don't. You were obviously involved in, at least, three cases – the one where we met, the one with your friend, and the one you mentioned happened where you met Kudou. But, you don't have any police records and everyone who gets involved in a case has to have a file on them, in case they need to be contacted at a later time. Yours doesn't exist, though. It's like 'Watanabe Midori' doesn't exist." His eyes narrowed a bit, "And it's impossible for everyone to simply forget you were ever there."
I opened my mouth to retort – why the hell had he been looking for my police files? – but he cut me off to continue his deduction. "Not to mention the fact that you don't have a birth certificate. When a baby is born, the city where they were born keeps their file on hand. You said you were born in Osaka, and if you had been, the most likely place you would've lived would've been Hirakata-shi, since that's where I came across you just after you had been shrunken. But there was no file on someone named 'Watanabe Midori' that was around your age with the same features. You could've been lying about your age, but I really doubt that you were, since there wasn't any hesitation when you corrected me the first time we met and there was no real reason for you to lie about something as insignificant as that, unless you had planned to fool me from the start. That's impossible, though, since you shouldn't have known I was going to the Holmes case, so that leads me to another dead end."
He kind of sounded like he was ranting now and my heart just kept getting higher and higher in my throat – I feel like hiding under a rock! "I also checked the cities around Hirakata-shi and there was nothing. Another strange thing I noted was the lack of remembrance of your impromptu meeting with the paramedics and officers after you were shrunken. When I mentioned it to Otaki-han the other day, he couldn't recall you at all and when I went to check the officials that supposedly took you in to find you a new place to stay, they couldn't remember you, either. Once again, you had no file."
Despite my current anxiety attack I was having that was sweeping away all the air from my lungs, I couldn't help but be a bit confused myself. I know I had met with the police on several occasions, in both forms, so the lack of files and memories was strange. I could clearly remember being interviewed for cases and running away from that lady in heels and yet they somehow couldn't recall me? It sent a wicked chill down my spine and Heiji just continued on, as if he wasn't unraveling my life by its fragile seams. Note to self: avoid Hattori Heiji while Jester. He'd inevitably throw that identity down the proverbial rabbit-hole, as well, since he seemed to be doing a great job at that so far.
"It would make sense if you had simply told me a false name and that's why I couldn't find your birth records, but I know you used that name for police investigations and the officials at social services wouldn't have just disregarded you so much that they wouldn't even have your file. It's like they were erased or…brainwashed, or something." He sounded a bit frustrated and let out a small groan/sigh as he ruffled his hair with a hand, making it stick up in ever which direction.
He offered me a helpless smile. "As much as it kills me to say this, Midori-han, I can't figure out anything. The only thing I can decide is that, in theory, you're a runaway who hides her paper trail like a professional assassin, who was born in a foreign country, which explains the lack of birth records." I snorted at that, swallowing thickly to get rid of the rock lodged in my throat and regain my composure. He hadn't figured it out. He realized there was something horribly wrong – something I didn't understand, either; why didn't I have files? – but he hadn't figured it out. That's all that mattered.
My heart rate plummeted as did my jittery nervousness, leaving me slightly dizzy, and I felt myself give a shaky sigh, trembling fingers releasing the tight grip they'd had on each other, nail indents on the back of my hands, red from the abuse. Oops.
I mustered up a faint smirk-ish grin, brows pulling up as if in apology – a silent apology that wasn't sincere in the least. Sorry, Heiji – I'm not giving you this one. My proverbial mask felt like it snapped right back into place and my usual over-dramatics came back in the blink of an eye, false confidence overflowing. The grin pulled wider, probably more, in a certain sense, 'unpleasant' – shit-eating, that's what it felt like. My gosh, I feel like Orihara Izaya, leaning back to rest my elbows on the back of the couch and tilt my head to look at him in a provoking way.
"Sorry to disappoint you, Heiji-han, but that can't be further from the truth. I'm not an assassin and I'm not a runaway, either~! Though, you were right about being born in a foreign country~" I snickered, amused, "In fact, that's all I'll give you. It's a mystery you have to solve by yourself, otherwise there's no meaning~!" I felt kind of bad, but the last time I told the truth, I was brushed off and it, truthfully, had hurt a bit.
He grinned, serious demeanor vanished like it had never been there – something that was so likable about Heiji. "That's what I plan to do, Midori-han!" He let out a laugh, "I'll figure ya out way before Kudou, you'll see!" I held in a laugh – way before Kudou? Was this some private competition only one person knew existed? Still, it was odd that he hadn't decided to take this to the police. He probably trusted me, then. Plus, he had no complete proof, either.
I blinked, turning to the door as it opened, revealing the intimidating Hattori Heizo. I quickly stood and bowed in greeting. "Ah, er, I'm Watanabe Midori. It's nice to meet you, sir." I stared at his shoes for a while before straightening and offering friendly grin, hand twitching as I held back my handshake that I felt compelled to do. Stupid foreign blood…
Heiji laughed at my politeness, "'Sup, dad? Are the others here?" He brightened at the last question and I had to be impressed with him not being intimidated at all by his father. Though Heizo didn't tower over me as much as Spider did – the arachnid freak was freakishly tall –, there was still the feeling of being small next to him. It probably had something to do with his overwhelming presence. Then again, if Heiji was afraid of his dad, I think that'd be even stranger, considering that Heiji really didn't care about what others thought of him.
His dad continued to stare at us through squinted, glaring, eyes before he nodded, beckoning us along from the room with a hand. "They're in the chairman's room right now." Heiji let out a small cheer, quickly following after and I couldn't do much but follow after, feeling a bit of whiplash from going from a serious situation to one of casual case solving.
I laughed silently to myself behind the two. I don't think I'd ever get used to this.
ooOOoo
I, for one, hadn't taken Hattori Heizo for the dramatic type of person – but as we waited outside the room for a while, waiting, I had the feeling that he hadn't just entered the room conveniently on time in the episode, rather had planned it out. Maybe he just didn't want to randomly barge in?
"Anyway, who's the old friend that recommended me?" Kogoro's voice was slightly muffled since the door was closed, but the exasperation in his gruff voice was very apparent. My grin threatened to split my face in half when Heiji's dad began to open the door before the sentence was even fully completed. Perfect timing.
He strode into the room, back as straight as his face – the man had the pokerface of Kaitou KID, I swear. How could he not be laughing at his dramatics?! "It's me." He announced deeply and Heiji and I waited patiently as he stayed in the doorframe, awaiting our own cues, apparently. Both of us were giving each other goofy smiles, looking forward to Conan's reactions. He had the best expressions when it came to things like this~!
Kogoro's voice sounded again, "Who are you?"
An unfamiliar voice answered in Heizo's stead and I took a shot in the dark, guessing it was most likely the important chairman everyone was doting on. The voice of a man that would be missing any precious gems I might find in this place. My grin sharpened the slightest. "He's the old friend I was talking about. He's the Osaka Prefecture Police Headquarters Chief, Hattori Heizo-kun." If that wasn't the most impressive introduction ever, I didn't know what was.
I heard Ran give a small gasp and Kogoro splutter in shock. "O-Osaka Prefecture Police Headquarters Chief?!" Ran's splutter came right after, "It's the man who comes on TV whenever there's a big case in Osaka!"
And, on cue, after impressing everyone with his father, Heiji popped up from over Heizo's shoulder, lifting a hand in greeting, a cheery smile on his face. "Yo, Kudou! How've you been?" There was another small commotion and I swear I heard Ran give a small yelp of surprise, but Kogoro was once again the one who spluttered out his title, "H-Hattori Heiji?!"
"What does he mean by 'Kudou'…?" Ran muttered in confusion and despite not being able to see Conan's face, I knew it was probably hilariously pale. I know the feeling, bud. I couldn't help releasing an amused snort, however, when Conan's voice let out a serious of shouts – the dude seriously doesn't know how to play it safe, did he? Well, not like I did, either, but I didn't start randomly yelling. People would probably think I was crazy if I did that.
I heard Conan's sneakers grow closer and I spotted the edges of them in front of Heiji as he bent down slightly, hands in his pockets, to hear what Shinichi wanted to say. He was only greeted with a furious 'shhh!', though, and that's all he needed to know. "What? They still don't know?" Heiji made it sound like that was ludicrous and impossible, voice hushed. Which, with how bad Shinichi was at lying, it wasn't too far-fetched, yet he somehow managed.
At Conan's quiet hiss of, "Of course not, ba'arou!", Ran decided to ask her inevitable question. "Hey, you just said Kudou…does that mean…?"
Despite not liking to dash Ran's hopes, I took that as my cue to step in, peeking over the edge of Heiji's shoulder much like he had with his father, except my smile was replaced with a full-blown Cheshire grin and instead of my hand up in greeting, my pointer finger was the only one sticking out in a mater-of-a-fact way. "Ah, that? He meant to say '*kurou'! You know, like, thanks for taking the trouble to come out here~! He's got a bit of a slippery mouth." In a completely different way than I was insinuated and I think Heiji knew, since he sent me a sheepish look, rubbing the back of head.
At my unexpected entrance, there was once again a burst of noise. "M-Midori-chan!" Ran gasped, looking thoroughly surprised, her previous question flying right out of her mind. Out of sight, out of mind. Distractions were beautiful like that~! Glancing at Conan's face, his eyes were wide with shock and his mouth was dropped open a bit. Pftt~ his face. I wanted to say something, but refrained.
"The other Osakan brat is here, too?" Kogoro grumbled, sounding incredulous and I was amused by his lack of creativity, since I knew he called Heiji 'the brat from Osaka' or 'Osakan brat' – I guess I was just 'the other brat from Osaka' or 'other Osakan brat' from now on. I stifled a laugh, my fingers uncurling to give them all a friendly, nonchalant, wave. "What's up~? Haven't seen you guys in a while, eh?"
Ran face brightened and we both closed the distance between us, so that we were at a reasonable conversation distance and I was no longer blocking entrance to the room. Heiji and the recovered Conan headed further into the room as well, so as to not block the door, and Heizo had already moved closer into the room when I hadn't been noticing – he apparently also had secret ninja skills. An image of stoic Hattori Heizo in a ninja outfit appeared in my brain unbidden and I quickly brought my hand to my mouth to bite the fabric of my sleeve, which was sagging around over my hand since it was a bit too big, to smother my laughter.
Ran gave a small giggle, lavender-ish eyes sparkling and somewhat popping out with the burgundy and creamy white color of her dress. "It has been a while. I see you're still as lively as ever." She gave her angel smile, the one that was completely genuine, eyes closing for a brief moment and long lashes brushed her cheeks before her eyes opened once more. "Your cat isn't with you this time around?" Her eyes were on my shoulder in a searching look, no doubt looking for my brat of a cat perched on my shoulder like he owned the world.
"Nope, not this time." I chuckled, "I thought it would be rude to bring an animal to a stranger's house." I explained, ignoring with great bemusement Heiji's murmur of 'thank goodness for that' with a brooding look on his face, rubbing his hand absently. Did I accidently make him slightly felinophobic, perhaps? The thought was amusing to think about. Hattori Heiji – afraid of interacting with cats, with a secret ninja as a father. Pftt…
My deviant thoughts that kept warping my images of the Hattori family were cut off when two more people entered the room, an opened face brunette in a lavender shirt and a women with wavy hair pulled away from her scowling face, wearing a maroon dress underneath a pale blue sweater resting over her shoulders (which was interesting color coordination, but then again, I was the one wearing star-printed leggings). "Ara, you have guests, father." The one in the lavender shirt commented as they entered, a smile lighting her face. Smiley, it is, then.
"Well, well, it's not only guests…," Scowly drawled, her eyes resting on another girl in the room that I had failed to acknowledge before, one with short light brown hair. "…but that sly female fox is here, too." Scowly crossed her arms in displeasure as the lighter haired brunette turned to blink up at her from where she'd been paying attention to whatever was written on the papers she was holding. Despite looking kind of fragile, I knew exactly the role she played in this case. But we'll call her Green Suit, since her whole outfit consisted of differing versions of the color, all the way from her jacket to her pumps.
"I hear you've been staying overnight these past few days. What are you planning, exactly?" She accused, lip upturning and the air in the room grew kind of tense at the sudden confrontation. Geez, didn't this women have any sense of politeness? There were guests here, yet she still called Green Suit out on this type of thing when she could just do it at a later time that would be politer to the company in her presence. It was pretty obvious to tell that she was a spoiled rich kid who thought she owned the world.
Smiley frowned slightly, turning to give her a placating look, "Now, now, onee-sama…,"
The chairman, a plump man who had a Mario mustache, gave her a hard stare from his bed. "Nobuko, as you can see, I can't move around. She comes to report the company's business status."
Giving a snide smile, Scowly lifted her nose in the air with a look of smug satisfaction, like she'd just caught them red-handed or something. I could already tell that I didn't like her very much. Her personality was a bit…well, ya know. "A fax machine is sufficient enough for that."
The chairman heaved a long sigh, probably used to this verbal abuse from his daughter, slumping as he gave up trying to make her see his view of things. It was easy to tell this probably happened a lot with them. "Well, there are many other things…,"
Ignoring her father's words, she turned to look at where Kogoro, Heiji, and Heizo were standing together. "Who might you gentlemen be?" Was that a flirty tone or is that just my imagination? It didn't help that she was completely disregarding Ran and I's existence. I was pleasantly pleased to see the guy's didn't like her attitude, either, eyes narrowed the slightest and Kogoro didn't even bother hiding his glare as he replied, "I'm a detective."
That seemed to shock both Scowly and Smiley as they blinked with wide eyes. "A-A detective?" With a hand over her mouth, Smiley continued, "Why would such a person be here?"
Green Suit looked down at the papers she was holding. "The chairman has called on him to find his first love…," She started to explained and while Smiley looked at her, waiting for the rest of her answer, the look on Scowly's face grew unpleasant once more and she walked past her sister, then with a swiftness that made everyone in the room flinch, the sound of flesh hitting flesh sounded throughout the room, Green Suit's papers flying into the air as she toppled over by the force, catching herself on the chairman's bed.
"I wasn't asking you!" The older sister of the chairman's family shouted at poor Green Suit, who was holding her reddened cheek in pain as the chairman let out a startled, "Oi, oi…," Wow, some parenting. That's all he had to say when his daughter slaps some poor person in front of company? And while everyone looked startled at her behavior, all I could do was narrow my gaze in distaste – she has a bad personality.
My point was proven even further as the witch went on as Green Suit grabbed a pen from the chairman's lap in a hurry, clutching it close like a lifeline, forgetting the pain in her cheek. "You still have that dirty fountain pen? I don't care if it's a memento of your father or not, but it gives me the creeps." She sneered, looking down at the women with eyes glazed over with unshed tears. My heart ached for her despite knowing her role and I couldn't help but speak up, because I have a big mouth, successfully cutting into the script.
"I'm not sure if you're aware–" I began in a lilting, carefree tone with a shark's grin and condescending eyes focused on her, conveying my true emotions. She glanced over to me with a raised brow with her own condescending look. " –but slapping someone is considered assault." I gave a side look to Heizo, who was still as straight faced as ever. I ignored Ran's concerned look directed towards me – I was going to speak my mind if it killed me! "And considering that this man is the chief of police in Osaka and that there's two other detectives in this room, it would probably be best to leave before we decide that being the chairman's daughter isn't enough to get you out of trouble. In fact, I may think of pressing charges myself~" I hummed, getting a kick out of her face as she took in my words, face draining of color and her eyes widening a bit despite keeping her glare.
"Hmph. As if a child like you would know anything about laws." She sniffed, once again turning her nose to the air as she crossed her arms again. Ohhh, I know a lot more than you do, you–!
Before I could say anything, though, Heiji backed me up. "She's actually right. Slapping someone, no matter the reason, is considered assault and battery. You could very well be arrested for it." He said it with a serious enough face for her to take him seriously, though – unlike my belittling grin. I couldn't help it! Anyone who hits someone for something other than self-defense deserved to get her own 'I'm better than you' butt served back to her/him on a silver platter.
With no reply, she frowned and huffed before heading out the door, her sister following her nervously. Heiji sent a grin my way and I rolled my eyes playfully. Yes, I know, you saved me from being called a child any further, thank you, Heiji-sama.
"Geez!" The chairman exclaimed, "I'm sorry about that, Hyuuga-kun. She still hasn't found anyone, so she's irritable." He tried to apologize, but I, personally, didn't find her reason for being irritable valid enough to slap someone. Putting her pen back into her breast pocket, she closed her eyes in resignation. "Yes, I understand." He turned his attention to us, "And I'm sorry for my daughter making such a spectacle. Sometimes, she doesn't know when to back down."
I offered a small, sheepish grin. "I'm also sorry for speaking out so suddenly like that. It was rude of me." Rude, but I had no regrets.
"No, no, it's fine. It's about time someone put her in her place." He commented with a jolly smile and I relaxed. Good, I wasn't about to get in trouble and kicked out of this house. That would've been embarrassing and degrading on so many levels. Green Suit checked her watch before announcing, "Well, I'm going back to the office."
"Wait, Hyuuga-kun. I plan to make my announcement to everyone, but if you're just pitying my son…," He trailed off.
She turned to smile at him, "I don't pity him." She assured, "It's fate that we would be together. We've been bound by the bonds of flame for a long time." With that said, she flashed another smile and walked out of the door, closing it behind her.
Conan's face was bit uneasy.
ooOOoo
"Ah, so you both we're in the same Kendo club!" Kogoro surmised, a smile on his face as he continued to listen to the past adventures of Heizo and the chairman when they were younger.
"Yes, he used to strike me with an ogre's strength back then." Heizo elaborated with a small laugh hiding behind his voice and calm face. The chairman shifted to face the chief of police, "By the way, Heizo, about that matter…,"He trailed and Heiji's dad leaned in a bit closer in seriousness. "Yes, I've had the guards check on that and–" His sentence was cut off by the click of the door and everyone's attention turned to see who it was, only to be greeted with the sight of a man covered in bandages with a beanie pulled over to cover his hair.
Despite expecting it, I still couldn't help the startled flinch. He seriously looks creepy like that, especially standing beside the door, where it looked almost like he was peeking out at you. Creepy…
"W-Who's that?!" Heiji yelped, turning his body towards the man, just in case he was about to be attacked or something. The chairman smiled from his bed, as if he was used to such reactions to his son. "That's my son, Hideomi."
"Huh…?"
Hideomi bowed his head politely in greeting and I think he was smiling – it was hard to tell with all the bandages. "When he was in high school, his face was badly burned in an accident. He's been that way ever since. With the current state of cosmetic surgery, he could be fully healed, but he doesn't want it." He explained in a somewhat sadden tone. I could tell that it was kind of a sensitive subject for him, since he probably had wanted his son to be healed completely. If my child had been burned, I would've, too, I suppose.
A new person walked in from behind Hideomi, someone with brown curly hair and a suit. "Well, thanks to that accident, you finally found a happy end, right," The man's tone was mocking and he moved closer to pat a hand on the chairman's son's shoulder, "Hideomi~?"
The smile – well, the invisible smile – that had been on his face previously had disappeared once the new person in the room had entered and as he finished his sentence, he sent a chilling glare over his shoulder at the other, a small, threatening, noise sounding in his throat. Yikes.
Brushing Suit Man's hand off his shoulder, he quickly turned and stormed out of the room silently, obviously confusing Suit Man, who called after him, "H-Hey! Hideomi, hang on! What are you so mad about?" A short laugh followed right after. What was with this family and people with bad personalities?
Heading further into the room, Suit Man went to the chairman's bedside, holding onto a small wrapped box. "Father, happy birthday." He offered the box to the chairman, who brightened and took it gratefully. "Oh, thank you." As he was handing the box over to the chairman, though, he suddenly leaned in close to the poor old man's face with a slimy smirk. "I would be delighted if you would give me the chairmanship in return…," Yup. Bad personality – really bad personality. At the chairman's surprised gasp, Suit Man leaned out of his personal space and gave a loud laugh.
Walking away, he pleaded his 'innocence', hands waving in surrender, "I'm just kidding!" He walked out of the room at the same time Heizo looked down at his watch. "I'll be heading back to Osaka soon." He announced in his deep voice, making the chairman's brows furrow in disappointment. "Huh? Weren't you going to celebrate my birthday with us tonight?" He tacked on, "There's that other matter, as well."
"Don't worry." Heizo soothed, going up to Heiji and patting his head in that dotingly fatherly way, his face still straight (Kaitou KID, I swear…) as Heiji gave him a heat-free glare, "I'll leave him in my stead." He pushed Heiji's head forward a bit, so that he was almost in a bow. I stifled a snicker at the deadpanned look on the teenage Osakan's face as his father continued, "He's still a pup, but he has a sharp mind." Heiji was pushed a bit lower. "I'm sure him and his friend will be good helpers to Mouri-tantei." I blinked. Oh? Now I'm involved in that?
He released his son's head so that Heiji could stand up properly again and I swear I saw a hint of a smile hidden beneath his mustache before he bid his farewells, leaving.
ooOOoo
The confetti fell out of the cracker-popper-things with a symphony of loud pops, falling to litter the ground of the chairman's bedroom. It was already late, darkness engulfing the sky outside and I was getting a bit fidgeting – even wishing for things to start rolling on, despite knowing that someone was going to get killed. But, seriously, we'd been standing here, just listening to the chairman ramble about his 'days of youth' and then the small birthday party being held for him started and I still had yet to do anything fun. I really should've turned down Heiji's offer to come here…
"Congratulations, father!"
"Congratulations, master."
Whoops, had I missed him blowing out the candles? I focused on the cake on his lap and realized that, yes, I had missed it. My eyes darted to the chairman as he began to speak – again… – and I shoved my hands in the pockets of my shorts with a soundless sigh. How much longer is this…? I didn't feel like staying any longer in this place with both Scowly and Suit Man. It was hard to believe that Suit Man was married to Smiley instead of Scowly – I personally think they would be two peas in a pod – but I guess, like they say, opposites attract. Or…he'd married Smiley for the money.
"Actually, there's an announcement I wanted to make to all of you." He gave a proud, close-eyed, smile. "My son, Hideomi, and Hyuuga Miyuki-san are engaged." He extended a hand to present Green Suit to us, who was giving a small smile. Smiley, standing right across from Miyuki with the bed between them, clasped her hands in delight, looking like she was already planning the wedding internally. The butler standing next to Smiley also seemed happy with the turn of events, "Is that true, master?"
He nodded, "Yes, and I've had her stay over, so she can become accustomed to this house." Despite knowing that it wouldn't end prettily, I still found myself a bit happy for them. Weird emotions, I chuckled internally as Smiley commented, "Ah, so that's why~!"
My glance strayed over to Scowly, who looked like she was having an internal mental breakdown as she began to walk away from her father's bedside, looking somewhat resigned – in a brooding way. "Oh? Nobuko-ojou-sama, where are you going?" The butler questioned, also noticing her departure. She passed me by on her way out and I pointedly looked away from her angry face. If there was anything I didn't want, it was to feel bad about her (even slightly), since then I would regret my earlier actions towards her. Yeah, no thanks.
Suit Man stepped closer to the butler with another one of his slimy smiles. "Leave her alone. After all, she's the only single left." The door shut with a little more force than necessary at his comment.
"By the way, I don't see Hideomi around." The chairman noted after looking around the room from the bandaged man. "He's probably just shy." Suit Man concluded, "I'll go and get him." With that, he left the room as well. At least that's both unpleasant companies gone, I mused, turning my attention back to the food that had been carted in earlier by the butler.
With another sigh and glance at the clock that was ticking away too slowly, I grasped my fork and took a lethargic bite out of the slice of fruitcake on my plate.
ooOOoo
After what seemed like eternity and a week, I finally heard Conan's voice trying to whisper behind me as I sipped at some fruity drink that the butler had gotten for me after I told him to just get whatever was sweet. And it was indeed sweet~! It was like a pineapple-y heaven~!
"Oi, Hattori, hurry up and tell me what's going on." The shrunken detective of the east insisted and I smiled into my cup. He was really lucky that Ran and Kogoro were so distracted by having a conversation with Miyuki to not hear him – his whispering sucks.
"About what?" There was the quiet rustle of clothing and I curiously glanced over my shoulder discretely to see that Heiji had crouched down to be nearer to Conan's height.
"You must know, right? The real reason we're staying over tonight. Not to mention why she's here." He hissed under his breath and I rolled my eyes. Why was I referred to with such a scandalous tone? Geez, you'd think I had knocked him out or something with the way he seemed to regard my presence. I mean, I had, as Jester (twice, in fact), but the thought of him knowing that was so blood-chilling that I didn't even dwell on it.
Heiji let out a small, smug, laugh. "No special reason. I wanted to see both of you, so I called you guys." His tone was so damn smug that I had to hold in a laugh. It seemed like all Heiji and I lived for was to bother poor Shinichi and enjoy it! Conan let out a small growled word that I couldn't discern and I unintentionally shifted when I heard his watch click open, moving a bit further away from them. Those needles hurt! Heiji only laughed, though, "I'm kidding! The truth is–!"
He was cut off by the ringing of the phone, which the butler immediately set out to pick up, striding over and grasping it before it could reach its third ring. He brought the phone to his left cheek. "Hello?"
After a brief moment, he replied, turning towards the chairman. "The master's…already asleep." He informed the person on the other end as Smiley put a finger to her lips in the universal sign of 'shhh' for a brief moment. "And we're all preparing to retire for the night." He added on, glancing at all of us. I did have to admit, I was getting a bit tired, but I hadn't planned on staying here for the night at first. In fact, I still had to text poor Kaito and tell him that I would be spending the night at Akako's house, since I obviously wasn't going to be able to go home soon.
There was another pause before I jumped as a loud yell came from the other side of the phone, loud enough for the rest of us to hear throughout the whole room. The butler winced away before hurrying to put the phone to his mouth once more with panicked look, "Mi-Mitsuaki-sama!"
The phone was snatched away from the butler by Kogoro, who had dashed across the room to get to the phone. "What's the matter? Where are you now?!" He shouted. There was another pause before another loud scream ripped through the speaker. I winced at the volume, bringing a hand protectively to my ear as I placed my cup to my lips once more. It was too darn late for this.
Kogoro hurried out to the balcony through the glass doors, quickly followed by Conan and Heiji and Green Suit. Without any regard for his personal safety, I watched as Kogoro leaned over the edge of the balcony's gate, trying to see into the below room, it seemed. Placing my glass down, I couldn't help but hurry over and grab the back of his shirt in worry as he balanced over the edge precariously. It made me worry that, even though it hadn't happened in the anime/manga, he would fall over to his death.
"Hey! Are you okay?!" He shouted down, not noticing me as he and Conan, who was at his side, peering through the rails, kept looking down. "Mitsuaki-san! What's going on?!"
Everyone snapped to attention as a dark figure walked out onto the balcony, no doubt hoping it was Suit Man. The face turned towards us, wrapped in bandages, only visible from the natural lighting coming from the moon and the small light provided from the light's in the room we'd been in and we all flinched – me included – at the sight that stared back up at us. Wrapped fully in bandages and a beanie hat, the only things glimmering were the cold glaring eyes and the knife gripped between his teeth. It looked a lot scarier than the anime had drawn it and I felt a shiver go down my spine.
"Hideomi-san!"
With a swiftness that had been reeling backwards and letting go of his shirt, Kogoro twirled on his heel and ran back into the room, followed by the detective-duo, who were then quickly followed by the butler and Smiley. "We have to stop him!"
I glanced over to Green Suit, who was sinking to her knees beside me on the balcony and muttering things to herself, before heading back into the room and grabbing my juice again. I knew how this went and I didn't really feel like seeing a body impaled on a fence, thank you very much. I smirked to myself, taking another sip of pineapple-y goodness. It was about time something happened – I was about to die of boredom! Alone in the room, save for the sleeping man and Green Suit on the balcony, I whispered to myself while heading to the phone to call the police.
"And the Raining Men syndrome strikes again~"
Review Replies:
To: Kid Next Door – (Laughs) Here's another chapter! I hope you like it! ^^
To: Iriss-sama – Ah, I hate when that happens. Usually the updating thing is quite good with giving you the mail update, but sometimes it just…sucks. (Shrugs) I think it was soon. XDD Me too~! I love talking to others in comments and such! ^^ OH, RP, huh? That sounds fun~! ^^ I'm glad you still like the chapters, filler or not! 8DD Yeah, they're pretty distinctive, since they're important later on (sorta). XDDD Thank you, I'm glad you think so! ^^ I usually feel like my characters are all really similar to each other, orz. XD Here's the next chapter~! 8DD And yup! XDD Murders always happen around Conan, lol. I have lots of plans for Midori and Erise coming up soon-ish, so look forward to that! 8DDD (Laughs) Ramblings alright! I ramble, as well. XD (Gathers Luck) Thank you, Ri-chan~!
To: MiniMiao – Thank you! ^^ Yeah, he tends to do that. (Nods) That way, when his moment comes to shine, he completely and utterly verbally demolishes his adversary, lol. (Poor Midori, when that time comes) Hmmm, I'm not sure why it does that, either. (Curious) (Laughs) Writing Takashi is quite fun! XDD Yup! He also gave me an excuse to put some small facts about Midori/Alice that isn't really important knowledge. XD Ahhh, me too! When I thought she died, it was like…, "What?! No!" XDD I was so relieved and glad at the very end. XDDD I've yet to watch either of those two, but I plan on watching Anohana eventually (when my heart is ready for heartbreak). XD (Eats Cyber Cookies) Thank you, MiniMiao~! ^^
To: kittyfinatic515 – I'm sorry for the wait! (Bows) Time flew really fast, lol. I kept saying, "I still have time" and then before I knew it, it was already almost the end of March… (Sheepish Grin) I blame the weather. XDD (shameless blaming game) But, here's the update! Hopefully the next one will be out sooner (it should be). ^^
To: HitsuSesshyFan – You were right about the trap part, though it wasn't exactly a trap. XD More like a deduction laid out to be corrected, lol. I'm not saying there won't be any other traps in this case, though, so… (Shrugs innocently) XDD Thank you! I'm glad you enjoy it! ^^
To: Kudo Shinichi Tanteisan – (Laughs) I'm just psychic like that~! (Wiggles Fingers) Don't worry. XD I forgot that Heiji had said it would be a robbery case, too, until I re-watched the episode to make sure I didn't screw anything up. XDD Really? Awesome! ^^ I'm not sure exactly what cadets is (as my knowledge of the world works fails, orz…) but it still sounds cool and I think I have a general idea of what it is. Maybe. Though, I may be completely wrong. XDD (Grins as snowflakes fall and eats cyber cookie) Thank you, E-chan!
To: DDmasters – (Laughs) Here's another update! ^^ (Gathers cyber cookies) Thank you~
To: chibianimefan26 – Thank you! I'm glad you like it! ^^ (Laughs) Me too! Writing Heiji-Conan-Midori interactions are always amusing for me. There should be more interaction between the trio in the next chapter. XD Here's the update! ^^ As for any OC/SI stories, I personally really enjoy 'Dream or not' by MoonRaven95 and 'Into the World of Detective Conan' by Chelseaj500, which also has a sequel called 'Into the World of Detective Conan: Part 2'. 'A Different World' by Kudo Shinichi Tanteisan is off to a good start, as well. ^^ Those are the only ones I can remember at the moment, but if I remember another, I'll send you a message. ^^
To: SuperPaperPokemon (chapter 20, 41, and 50) – I hope you don't mind me answering them all together. XD The reason for the differing heights between Midori and Erise is because Midori was planned to be tall for her age since the beginning, her height being 5'6 (which is also why she's physically three, yet can pass as a 6-7 year old). However, in the profile I got for Erise from Iriss-sama, it says that she's 5'3, which is a relatively normal height for a sixteen year old (I think…I'm not sure). I can see why there'd be some confusion there, so sorry for that. XD Ah, that would be helpful! Thank you for the tip! I'll now label any original cases with 'O'. ^^ Sorry for that, as well, lol. Thank you, I'm glad you liked it! ^^ That arc was fun to write, as well! 8DD Thank you, I'll try! ^^
Note(s):
Kurou: 'Kurou' means 'troubles'.
Note End.
I know this is getting to be a pretty big ending note, but I just want to inform you that I'm looking for OC's for another story of mine I'll be working on soon. It's going to be a SI (An 'into that world' fic) for the game Fire Emblem: Awakening and I'll be taking OC submissions for it and will choose a few other people to put in the story. If any of you are interested, please send me a personal message and I'll send you the form that you can fill out with all your character's information! Thank you for reading! ^^
"Next Conan's Hint: Fountain Pen!"