--------------Chapter 16: The Sudden Threat--------------

"She's right in here," the nurse said as they opened up the door to the room. Kazuha was sitting on the bed. She turned and looked at Ran.

"Ran-chan!" Quickly, without thinking, Kazuha jumped from her bed. She wrapped her arms around Ran's neck, bringing her towards her face. "Neh, I missed you!"

Ran tried to keep balance, but then fell to the floor. "K-Kazuha, doesn't your leg hurt?"

She stared at Ran, confused. Glancing down at her leg, she quickly got to her bed. "Uh, forgot about that," she embarrassingly laughed. Looking over Ran's shoulder, she could only see Heiji. "Oi, where's Kudou at?" she asked, raising a brow.

Ran rubbed the back of her head, giving a smile, "Oh, he had to go." She rolled her eyes. Kazuha leaned back, putting her arms behind her head. "Ah, I see..." She looked at Heiji, "Y'know, since I'm injured, you're going to have to take care of me like a big brother." She gave him a cheerful grin and sat up, "Oh, that's right, Ran…come here." She moved her hand back and forth, towards her ear. Ran came. "Did you loose your first kiss while Kudou was here?"

Ran pulled her cheeks. "Now why would you get a idea like that?…" she asked, giving a glare with a fake smile.

Kazuha pulled her cheeks as well, "B-Because."

Ran jumped up. "Oh, that's right! When you were trying to give me a kiss that one night, you were just joking so you can go sneak out and find my Dad!"

Kazuha gave a chuckle, "Heh, I guess." She rolled her eyes with a shrug.

Ran pulled her right cheek, "Riiight?"

Kazuha waved her arms in the air, "Oi, Oi, Oi! Right! Right!"

Heiji stepped up to the bed. "Hey, what's going on here, girls?" he asked, looking closely at the two of them. Conan peered at them oddly, raising an eyebrow, but saying nothing.

Snapping her cheek back, Ran turned, facing Heiji and Conan, "We were just talking about Kazuha's behavior the other night, it was all just a play."

She looked down at Kazuha, who was nervously laughing, "Y-Yeah," Kazuha replied.

"Was it, now?" questioned Heiji, bending over the bed and towards Kazuha. "Then what was the point of that? Does somebody in this room have feelings for Ran?"

"B-But!" started Conan, suddenly remembering that Heiji wasn't talking to him, He looked up to Ran, "Uhh... What happened, Ran-neechan?"

Kazuha pulled Heiji's nose, "Listen here, Ran may be one of my really good friends, but that doesn't mean I have feelings for a teenage girl."

Ran sat down beside the bed, "Like I said, a play." She looked down at Conan. "Oh, uh, it's a long story, Conan," she said, rubbing the back of her head.

Heiji stepped back next to Conan, both of them with identical neutral faces. "Yeah, a play..." they simultaneously muttered.

"So.. You're feeling all right, Kazuha-neechan? Does it hurt at all?" Conan looked up brightly.

Kazuha shot up out of her bed and began to walk around like a military soldier, she stopped, looking at Conan. "Guess not!" she smiled.

"Oh, that's great," smiled Heiji warmly, as she bounded around the room. "Do you think you can come home yet?"

Ran put her hair up in a pony tail again, beginning to unpeel an apple with a knife. She shrugged, handing Kazuha a piece. "Kazuha's doctor said she should be out later today. They just need to re-bandage her wound."

Kazuha grabbed the apple piece happily, shoving it in her mouth. She smiled, grabbing another piece and looking up at Heiji. "It's just what Ran-chan said," she said, with a mouth full of apple.

Conan walked over to the window and looked outside. "Wow! At least you have a nice view. You can see the Professor's house from here!"

Heiji glanced at the window, then walked over. "Hey yeah, you're right." He turned around to Kazuha. "You haven't been spying on anyone while here, have you?" he asked jokingly.

Kazuha jumped out bed. She gulped down her last piece of apple and cleared her throat, then ran over beside Heiji. "A-Actually, if you say spying.." Kazuha pointed down to an old man who sat on a park bench feeding pigeons."That man has been there since 8 o'clock this morning, and...-" she pointed towards an old woman walking around a fountain, "she's been there for a while now. Maybe she's looking for him? I hope I'm not that way when I get older..." She laughed softly. Sitting back down, she grabbed another apple piece and ate it.

Heiji and Conan leaned closer to the window, observing the elderly pair. The woman was wandering around, as if lost, while the man did the same repeated motions over and again.

"Wow, since 8?" repeated Heiji. He looked down at his watch, "It's almost noon now..." The two returned to peering out the window. "Do you think they're okay? They must be freezing."

Conan turned around to Ran. "Hey Ran-neechan? Do you think we should go see if they need any help?"

Kazuha giggled, "Oh, I'm sure they're fine." She looked up at the clock, "They should be stopping, right, about... now." She pointed over to the window. She was right, the old woman was already walking down the sidewalk, and the old man had already left.

Ran handed her another piece of apple, "Wow Kazuha, you were right.." She looked over her, raising a brow. "But you've only been here not even 24 hours, how would've you known they were going to stop right at noon?" Kazuha shrugged, poking Ran's nose,

"Instincts.." she winked.

Heiji raised an eyebrow, stepping over to her. "'Instincts'? Come on, now. You really think we'd fall for a claim like that? You must know those people, or you've seen them before. Let's go, spit it out." He glared at her, leaning in toward her face.

Kazuha shot a look back, getting closer into his face. She shrugged, shoving his face away with her hand, "I saw them last night, too." Kazuha walked into the bathroom. "I'm sure they're fine though.." she yelled out from the other side of the door. She came out in a change of a yellow sundress. She grabbed her bow that was on the bed, wrapping it in her hair in a pony tail."I'm just ready to get out here," she chuckled.

Conan smiled, remembering a news forecast recently that said this day would get warmer. He and Heiji walked over to the door. "So you just need to meet up with your doctor, then we can get out of here, right?" asked Heiji, stepping out the door and into the sterile hallway.

Putting her hands on her hips, Kazuha rose a brow. "Whoa, you want to get out of here that quickly?" She sighed, sitting in the wheel chair, "Yup. That's what I need to do."

Ran threw the core of the, used-to-be apple in the trash bin. She walked up behind Kazuha, putting her hands on the handle bars of the wheelchair, "I'm sure it won't be any problem for the boys to leave us for a bit. They do need a break from the last four days," she said, smiling down at Kazuha. She looked over at Conan, tilting her head. "Right, Conan-kun?"

Conan blinked, "R-Right." He glanced up at Heiji as the girls walked on. "So, we go off on our own then?" he asked.

"I guess so," responded Heiji, starting off toward the door. "Do you think we should go see the Professor and make sure that Nagi fellow is still being good? I really don't see how you can still trust him."

Conan shook his head slowly, "No, it's not a matter of trust. I guess I still have to talk with him, though." He peered ahead, seriously.

Resting her elbow on the arm rest of the wheelchair, she put her cheek in the palm of her hand. "Oi, Ran..."

Ran continued to walk, pushing the wheelchair, "Hm?"

Kazuha looked over her shoulder up at her, "Whatever happened to Shinichi? I mean, I know I already asked you-" before she could finish, she had noticed the expression on Ran's face turned from happiness, to sadness. Although, she couldn't really tell from Ran lowering her head. Kazuha cleared her throat, "Ah, h-how about after this, we go get some frozen yogurt, and head home?"

Ran looked at Kazuha, knowing she was trying to change the subject. She simply smiled, with a nod. Soon after getting the frozen yogurt, she and Kazuha had already arrived at the apartment. Opening the door, "I'm home!" Ran yelled out. Kazuha walked slowly in behind her, noticing Ran's Dad was sleeping at his desk.

Kazuha nudged her in the arm, "Then how about we go somewhere else?" Ran shrugged, "Sure."They both walked out the door and down the sidewalk.

The boys walked up to the Professor's house and rang the door bell. Professor Agasa opened the door. "Ah, it's you again. Come on in."

The boys stepped in. "Hey, Professor?" started Conan. "Can we speak to Nagi?"

Agasa nodded, "Sure, he's right down here." He led them down a hallway and up to a closed door.

Heiji knocked on it. "Hello? Umm.." he glanced at Conan, who urged him on. "Uhh.. Can we talk to you for a bit?" A water kettle suddenly started screeching in the kitchen, causing the Professor to turn around to take care of it.

Slowly opening the door, Nagi looked at them both. He slammed it shut again quickly. "G-Go away!" he yelled out. He pressed against the door, keeping his weight on it, he whispered quietly to them, running his fingers down the door. "Is...M-Ms. Mouri-san with you?" he asked, slowly opening it again.

"No, she's not," sighed Heiji, looking down at Conan again.

"Look," started Conan, "I know what happened yesterday. You were saved from going to jail, so now we need to work out some sort of agreement... And trust me," His eyes narrowed, staring at the door, "You wouldn't like the alternatives."

Nagi's eyes widened. He cleared his throat, opening the door wider, "R-Right, please come in."

Heiji and Conan stepped into the room. "Okay," Conan looked up at him. "You have three choices. 1- You go off causing trouble again, and we report you to the police. 2- You go off causing trouble again, and we leave you alone to be found and probably killed by the Black Org. Or 3- You cooperate with us and hopefully, everyone ends up alive and safe in the end. Take your pick." Heiji widened his eyes at Conan, not expecting a plot of blackmail.

Nagi cleared his throat, "W-Why are you doing this to me?" He slammed the door behind him, "It's simple. I'll follow your choices IF you bring me Mouri-san." He grinned, "I promiss I'll cooperate with you."

"THIS ISN'T A DEAL, NAGI!" Conan shouted, surprisingly angry out of nowhere. "We aren't making some exchange. We can easily just throw you out and let you try and survive on your own. We're the ones being kind enough to give you a chance. It's either you listen to US, or.. Well, one of the other choices I just mentioned. Imprisonment, death, or listening to us. It's up to you." He glared at him, beyond the door, sharply.

Nagi was speechless. For a older man like himself, he was being yelled at and threatened by a little boy. He blinked, sighing. He looked at the ground, "Yes, of course. My apologies, I would have to choose choice 3."

Conan nodded, "That's better." Heiji simply blinked at him. "So here's what's happening," Conan continued, "that girl in this house, Haibara Ai.. Do you know her?"

Nagi nodded."Y-Yeah." He slowly opened the door again.

"She'll be keeping an eye on you for me. She's surprisingly observant, so don't try and pull any fast crap on her, okay? If you do anything at all suspicious, we'll know about it." Conan paused for a moment, calming down. "And what we need from you..." He looked into Nagi's eyes, "is to know... How you got involved with them."

Nagi looked away. He understood what Conan was asking him, it was just hard to register it back to him in his own words. "It's hard to say," he muttered. "But your friend Ran is in danger," he hissed, opening the door wider, "Just take my word for it and leave... Please."

Conan and Heiji watched him. "Ran?" Conan repeated. "What's happening with her?"

Nagi cleared his throat, "She doesn't have much longer..-" He looked down at them, "Just get out, please!" He pushed them out, shutting the door behind them.

Heiji and Conan stood in the hallway, looking at each other. "Do you think we should take him seriously?" asked Heiji.

"I don't know.." Conan glared back at the door. "Even when he's fully aware of the consequences, he continues to be so rude... But he seems to truly want to live, so he's probably being serious." He glanced up. "Let's go find Ran and Kazuha anyway. They're probably getting something to eat around now, or they're at home."

"Good idea," nodded Heiji as they left the house, onto the streets. The weather was, indeed, warming up, as the snow on the sidewalks had begun melting into puddles.

--------------End Chapter 16--------------