--------------Chapter 4: The Mysterious Man--------------

Night was beginning to fall as the group approached the Mouri household again. Conan looked up to the dark windows, wondering where the normally-drunken wannabe-detective could be. As much as he bothered him, Conan knew that potentially having Kogoro in the grips of the Black Organization could only lead to more trouble. But they're always so elusive. If only there was some sort of trace they could follow...

Conan's eyes immediately flipped open. "The man on the roof!" he thought. He stopped walking and looked behind him, to the taxi that was approaching. "Taxi!" he called out, causing it to pull up to him.

"H-Hey, what are you do-?" Heiji started to ask, but Conan interrupted.

"Get in! Hurry! We may not have time!" The two climbed into the back seat.

Ran turned around, hearing Conan. "Conan!" She ran to the taxi, looking in the window. "Where are you going?" she said, as Kazuha looked over her shoulder.

Conan wondered for a moment if it would be safe to leave the girls home alone in such a condition. He opened the door, "Ran, Kazuha, go over to Agasa Hakase's house, and STAY THERE. Do not leave!" He slammed the door shut again, telling the taxi driver to head towards the hospital.

Kazuha fakely chuckled. "A kid, telling us what to do."

Ran looked at Kazuha, "He's right. We need to hurry over there." Kazuha shrugged, giving a nod. They ran over to Agasa's. It began to rain, and Ran was breathing heavily as her wound started to hurt her. As soon as they made it to the house, Ran knocked on the door, Kazuha was behind her.

The door opened, and in the doorway stood a young blonde girl. She blinked, unsure of who the girl behind Ran was. She noticed the rain suddenly get harder. "Ah, come in," Ai said, stepping back to let them in.

Ran walked in. Kazuha took a glance at the girl and gave a smile. Ran looked around, "Is Doctor Agasa here?" She looked back down at Ai.

"Yeah, he's downstairs," she replied, before going over to the couch and picking up a book. Without looking at the girls, she continued, "You can go see him if you want."

Across town, Heiji and Conan endured the bumpy ride of the taxi. "What happened? What did you notice?" asked Heiji.

"The man," Conan whispered in response, so that the driver would not get suspicious, "The man that was on the roof that Gin wanted Ran to kill. He came to the hospital too. I doubt he's still there, but they should have gathered information about him..." He stared into the road ahead, concentrating.

Ran sat down, wringing her hair out with a towel. "I'm worried about Conan," she said, looking up at Kazuha, who was standing up and looking outside.

"Yeah.." She replied.

"What do you think they're up to?" Ran asked, curiously. Kazuha shrugged.

Ai glanced up for a moment. "I thought you wanted to see the professor?... So why are you here?"

"Conan wanted us to be here." Ran said while keeping her eyes glued to the window with Kazuha. Ran sat back down, "Should I go and look for them?"

Kazuha shook her head. "No, I guess we just better stay put here."

Ran looked over at Ai, "If the professor is busy, we'll just leave him be until he finds out for himself that we're here."

"Suit yourself," replied Ai, closing the book and standing up. She put it onto a shelf before heading downstairs on her own.

Ran watched Ai close the door. She felt that she should call Conan, but decided not to. Kazuha sat down as Ran got back up. "When do you think they'll be home?" Kazuha whispered, looking down at her feet.

"Don't know," Ran said, looking outside.

The taxi continued along, the hospital appearing down the road.

"You're right. But since their attempt at his death failed one time, they would obviously try again." Heiji added, now looking forward too.

"Yeah..." said Conan, "That's why we have to act now. The longer we wait, the higher the chances are that they already got to him..." The taxi pulled over, and the boys got out.

They ran through the hospital door and up to the lobby desk. The lady behind it smiled sweetly, "I'm sorry boys, but visiting hours are over."

"That's okay, we just need information," said Heiji.

"There was a man here the other day, but he wasn't majorly hurt. He was just getting checked out," Conan panted, "But we don't know his name."

The lady looked to them. "I-I'm sorry, but I need more specific information. Many people come here from accidents and such simply to be checked out."

"He was threatened and nearly killed with a sword!" Conan shouted out, "He was found on a rooftop along with a stabbed girl nearby!"

"Oh!" The woman's eyes opened up, "Yes, yes, I do remember him." She searched through some files before pulling out a card with his name. "It says he went home that day. Do you need to contact him?"

"Yes!" the boys simultaneously yelled. The woman took a piece of scrap paper and wrote a phone number and address down on it.

"Here you go," she handed it to them, smiling.

"Thank you miss!" Conan replied, before the two ran back out into the rain, hailing another taxi.

They hopped in, and before they knew it, they were at the man's house. As they exited, they looked up to the building. It was in an older part of the city, where neighbors' houses nearly touched each other, and yards were unheard of. It was two stories high with a flat roof. The lights weren't on, so they stood there staring at it, wondering if anybody was even home.

Back in the Beika district, Agasa Hiroshi was heading upstairs. He stepped into the living room and saw the girls near the window. "Ran-kun, Kazuha-chan, what brings you here? Ai says you just arrived."

Ran turned around, "Doctor Agasa." she walked towards him. "Conan wanted us to stay here, while him and Heiji go do something." She put her pointer finger against her cheek. "But I'm clueless as to what it was..."

Kazuha stood up. "Same for me."

"Well, uh," the professor began, knowing that if Shinichi told them to come here, it would have to be for a good reason. "Why don't you girls relax for a bit? Sit down, put on the TV. Do you want anything to drink?"

Kazuha raised up her arm, still standing over by the window. "I would, please!"

Ran walked over to Kazuha, "You could've said 'no' and just been polite." She insisted.

Kazuha rose a brow, "Whaaat? I'm just thirsty."

Across town, a man looked out his window, noticing a taxi. He quickly pulled the curtains down and ran into his kitchen. "It's them.. the Black Organization." He quickly washed his face off. "Maybe that girl is with them," he thought, then growing a smile. "Yeah, yeah that must be it!"

Heiji stepped up to the door and knocked. "Hello? Is anybody home?" Conan walked up next to him and waited.

He slowly opened up the door, with a smile. "Is she with you?" he asked, looking at both of them. They could hear his hand shake on the door knob as he held it open. "Well, is she!?" he demanded.

The boys jumped, surprised. "I-Is WHO with us?" asked Heiji.

"The girl, who saved me by stabbing herself." He looked away smiling. "I liked her.." he chuckled softly. "That doesn't answer my question! Where is she?!"

Conan slid in front of Heiji. "She's in a safe place and doing fine... Don't worry. But right now we have more pressing matters. We need to talk to you."

"She's safe.." he sighed. "I want to see her." He opened the door. " What is it that you want to talk about?"

"Can we come inside?" asked Conan, a stern look about him.

Looking down at the little one, he grew a small smile. "You act more like an adult than someone your age, young man." He sat down in his arm chair. "Uh, what was it that you young men wanted to talk about?"

Conan sat on a couch and made a fake smile, "Yeah, many people say that."

Heiji sat beside him, across from the man, "But your life is in danger... and it's only a matter of time before those guys try and kill you again..." he looked over to Conan, who continued,

"And this time, they probably won't fail." His face darkened.

The man grew a frightened expression."F-Fail?" he stuttered. He quickly got up out of his seat, "She'll save me! The girl from the other night!" He nodded to himself as if he believed it. He looked down at Conan and pointed to him, "You were there that night! You were!" He fell to his knees looking at him, "Where is she, boy?.." he asked calmly.

"Sh-she's..." he looked up to Heiji for help, but he was just as unsure of what to say as Conan was. "She's.. She's at home. She's still recovering, though, so she won't be doing anything too heroic for a while. But what we need..." He looked straight into the man's eyes, "Is to know where the Black Organization is right now... Do you know?"

He cleared his throat. "The Organization." He fell back against his chair. "N-No. I'm terribly sorry." He lowered his head. "I'm just terrified." He crossed his arms over his chest. "Especially after what they did to that detective."

Both Conan and Heiji sat up hearing that. "Detective?" they asked simultaneously, before looking at each other, surprised.

The man covered his face."There was a detective, they killed.-slaughtered!" Streaks of tears came down his rosy cheeks. "I don't want to die.." He grabbed ahold of Conan's sleeve. "I don't want to die like that man!"

Conan looked up to Heiji, slightly worried. Heiji continued, "Unfortunately, it seems that once you start a deal with these people, you can never stop... But, what about the detective? Who was it?"

"Mouri," he almost yelled as he replied. "I only know of his last name." He looked at them both from the ground. "Please, I just want to go with you."

The two froze still, shocked. Conan grabbed the man's shirt by the shoulders, "Are you sure it's him?! Did you see it yourself?! Is he really..." the word caught in his throat for a moment, "...dead?

He nodded. "You, you know of this man?" He looked at them both.

"A-Actually..." Conan gulped, "He's the father of the girl that saved you..."

The man widened his eyes. "No, it can't be..." he whispered to himself. He got up, shocked. "W-wow." he looked at Conan. "May I go see her?"

The two looked to each other again. "Well, you're already in enough danger from them," whispered Heiji.

"But they've already seen Ran's face and home. If they were going to target her, they wouldn't need to have more reasons," Conan replied, seriously. After a moment of thought, they looked back to the man. "Okay. But first we'll need to make sure the coast is clear." Conan hopped down from the couch, turned on his night-vision, and peered out the window at the street.

Heiji looked to the man nervously, "Don't worry, he knows what he's doing.. heh." He said, putting his arm behind his back.

"Okay, coast is clear," said Conan, turning around to them. "Take only the few things most important to you. If we carry many bags, it will draw attention. But make sure you take what you really need, because you may never return to this place again."

He nodded, taking a look around, he was suprised. Nothing. There was nothing in his home that he wanted. He just wanted to see that girl who saved his life. He sighed, turning back around to them. "No," he said.

"No?" repeated Heiji. "Are you sure? You can never come back.."

He nodded, "I'm sure I'll - Um, maybe some clothes would help." He gave a fake smile, and grabbed a suit case full of clothes. "Okay, let's go."

The three walked out the door into the brisk night. "By the way," asked Conan, while Heiji flagged down a cab, "What's your name?"

"My name is Nagi. Nagi Botan." He said as he hopped into the cab.

--------------End Chapter 4--------------