The phone stayed in one whole piece, luckily landing on the carpet. The muffled voice chuckled to itself. Mitsuhiko brought up the courage to reach down and pick it up again. He placed it softly against his ear. "Who is this?" his voice shook under the cover of calm that Conan had shown him how to keep.
The voice chuckled once again, not directly answering his question. "I have a good acquaintance with your little sweetheart, my dear boy. Your friends are not what you think; they are just acting towards you and everyone around you." He stopped for a deep breath which crackled with static through the bad reception. "We have been watching you and your friends."
Sweat was now dropping from the part of Mitsuhiko's hair down, soaking into his shirt. His eyes couldn't focus on any object in the room right now, shortly after he'd look at something, it'd turn into a blur of colors. The color drained out of his face and his eyes lost all luster. "Why are you doing this to me? What have I done wrong?" he mustered out of his trembling lips.
The voice at the other end of the phone paused for a second; most likely thinking what he could fault innocent Mitsuhiko on. When he opened his mouth the reception crackled again, there were short breaths. It sounded like laughter. "Choose your friends wisely, or else you'll have to make another decision." Segments of long beeps followed after his last comment. He had hung up without another word to freighted Mitsuhiko.
The muscles in his legs gave out, his knees now pushed up against the carpet, the phone slid out of his hands once more. Nor an eye blink or a breath came from him. He was a statue, with tears starting to pool up in eyes.
***
The following day after the mysterious phone call, Mitsuhiko had forced himself to go into school. This phone call was not to bother him, he was a detective. However, his shell that formed over his little secret temporarily shattered when he was alone with Conan at recess.
"Conan," his tone was a deadly. "I received a phone call last night. Someone was watching us at the amusement park." His hands clenched together like he had the night before, clenching the phone in anticipation and anxiety over what the stalker was bargaining. They shook like a hurricane or as if he were strangling someone's throat in rage. Mitsuhiko was falling apart at the seams.
"Mitsuhiko, why didn't you say something to me earlier, I could've done something to protect you!" His voice turned harsh with guilt. "What was his voice like? What did he say?" He pressed.
Mitsuhiko backed away a few steps. "I don't know! Hazy and kind of harsh, his connection was bad or he was muffling his own voice." He stepped forward again, closer to Conan. "I think he knows a bit about you and Haibara." He leant closer into his face. "He said 'Your friends are not what you think; they are just acting towards you and everyone around you.' He also seems to be a lot more familiar with Haibara." Mitsuhiko shed some of his fear and picked up a little more curiosity. "What does he mean by that?"
It didn't take long for Conan's thought process to kick in. "Mitsuhiko," his tone rose up into a alarming voice. "What did you do? Who did you get in contact with?" He paused only a little to catch his breath. "Just...run. I don't care about where to, just somewhere safe!" He swung his hand to the side. "You're not safe anymore." He bit his lip. "Where's Haibara?"
"But I didn't tell you about what else he said…" Mitushiko's words whizzed over and past Conan's head.
Conan dashed across the schoolyard over to Haibara. From as far Mitsuhiko was, he could only see their bodies, motions, and expressions. Sound was too scarce to hear from his distance. Haibara crossed her arms and she placed her body weight on one leg, swinging her hip to the opposite side. It wasn't until Conan leaned closer and raised a hand to cover his mouth that all carefree drained clean from her face. Her eyes widened and she started to breathe a lot faster.
Mitsuhiko just watched the horror flush into her face, like a person transforming into a werewolf. His feet were cemented to the floor, just like last night. His eyes widened into a colorless circle. "What have I done? What have I just done?" Words flew back and forth through his mind faster than he could react to anything. They were bumping and colliding into each other, clouding up his thoughts with fears. It was black ink leaking into white paint. It melted into it, changing the color from a pure white into a hazed grey.
The day was not a normal day anymore. School work flew over their heads. Conan, Haibara, Mitsuhiko weren't the same. All f their thoughts had been clouded with black ink. Conan and Haibara had a better clue as to what the situation was around this time, Mitsuhiko's head spun around and around, waiting for the right thoughts and facts to link together and form something that made sense.
"Run…just run." That one comment had been sticking out in his mind. "Why do I have to run, and from who?" Questions barraged inside of him. "What does Conan know that I don't?" was the only logical explanation for his odd behavior he showed previously.
***
At the end of school, the kids burst out like they usually did. Conan and Haibara had not been part of the group. They stuck around the campus and kept shifting their eyes back and forth, Haibara now sporting a cap that covered her eyes and most of her face. Mitsuhiko ran up to them as soon as he could to catch up with them before they bolted off. Conan, knowing that he would rather be caught instead of Haibara, turned the corner to go on ahead, making sure it was safe. He ran up to Haibara, grabbing her by the shoulders. Her hair stood up and the cap flew off of her head and onto the ground. Her air flipped into an unnatural position and she turned rapidly to face Mitsuhiko, her hand lifting up, ready to grab the person behind her.
"Haibara, it's just me. Calm down, I'm not here to hurt you. I just need to talk with you." He caught her arm in mid air, his tone down to seriousness. "Just what is going on here?"
"Mitsuhiko, I can't say, except that you should get out o-"
"The man on the phone said another thing to me that I didn't tell Conan." He placed one hand on each shoulder and shook her to her senses. "He said that I'd have to choose my friends wisely or else I'd have to make a decision. Do you think it'd be between you and Conan? Do they need any of you? Answer me now!" He shook her harder.
She cocked her head away from his gaze. "Yes, most likely, but please, I'll do anything to make you avoid any questions." She leaned into his cheek and gave a perk before picking up her dropped cap, donning it and dashing off after Conan.
Red flowered on his cheek as he pressed his hand against it. "I can't just let these two handle this by themselves. I must do something to help!" The promise marched through his head as solid and steel.
***
The following night, Mitsuhiko dressed into his night clothes and sat beside the phone, waiting for the mysterious man to call again. As he suspected, the phone rang throughout the silent house. He was quite lucky that his parents were fast asleep, preparing for another day at work. He picked it up with the stirring feeling he had last night.
"Y-yes?" He not so childishly responded. "What is it."
"Heh, heh. Little boy, you are quite loyal when it comes to waiting by the phone, however." His static filled voice dropped. "You still refuse to give up those two traitors. We will take action unless you get one of them up to me."
"His commands changed since last night. He is also saying 'me' instead of 'we' and 'us'" Mitsuhiko analyzed. "I can't comply with your commands. They have nothing to do with me." He tried to bluff.
"Well, too bad for you." His voice became less muffled. "For you are now my leverage against the bullet." He hung up once again.
Mitsuhiko was almost more afraid this time. The threats were now aimed at himself. H recollected all of what he had said. "Leverage against the bullet?" his voice faded inside his head. "This can't be happening. This can't be real." He convinced himself.
***
"I'm running low on cigarettes again." Long haired main complained as he shook any that might've held themselves in the carton. "I guess I'll have to…go outside and meet the leverage?"
"Oh Gin, you won't stop until you win will you?" a woman said with an accent.
"I won't quit until I have either one of them, we can't lose once either of them are in our hands."