"Blah, blah, blah"- English

"Blah, blah, blah"- stated language

"Blah, blah, blah"- Japanese (It's pretty much inferred that the language everyone is speaking here is Japanese)

There is a reason that I have these up now because different languages will be peppered here and there for the rest of this fanfic. I have some knowledge of Japanese and another language that won't appear until later.

Chapter 15: Kogoro's Deductions; Vermouth's Set Up

It was a long distance but he wasn't in the mood to take a taxi. It took about an hour to reach his detective agency. Saying hello to the lovely owner of the coffee shop that his agency sat on top of, he entered the door and then walked up a flight of stairs to it. He wasn't surprised that the four kids were here, especially the male duo. It was six now and as of this moment, he wanted to sit in his wonderful chair and watch nothing but Yoko Oniko reruns on his TV. Luckily his chair was unoccupied. Unluckily his TV was not.

Ran and the Osakan's girlfriend were watching TV, while the Osaka brat and the freeloading brat were playing Shogi. They stopped what they were doing and glanced his way when he entered.

"Otousan!" cried his daughter, Ran, sternly. "Where have you been?" The chastising had an added effect when she had her hands on her hips. It was the reminder that she was acting like his separated wife, Eri. He suppressed a poorly hidden groan… and heard the chuckling of the male duo. He glared their way and they rightfully went back to their game, but not without giving small grins. His eyes twitched. He noticed that the freeloading brat had more pieces than the Osakan brat.

Kogoro Mouri sat heavily down on his office chair. He needed a smoke … and a beer, plus he wasn't in the mood to answer any questions.

"Ran, can you get me a beer, please?" he muttered. Ran, stunned, nodded and went to the kitchen.

"Oi, occhan, are you alright?" asked the Osakan brat, Heiji-kun. The male duo had worried looks on their faces. He glanced at the freeloader brat, Conan-kun. Ever since the boy stared living with him, Kogoro ended up having a lot of cases piling up at his doorstep and solving them. Secretly, he thought the boy was a lucky charm; good or bad luck was debatable. During the cases, he mostly brought the brat along. But he was always annoyed by the kid butting into investigations, and saying stupid childish stuff... that somehow helps solves the case. He had to admit, the kid was smart, not that it made a difference in the fact that he was a freeloader.

With a sigh, he took out his wallet and cigarette pack, taking out a cigarette and placing them on the table. Then, like vultures, the freeloader and Osakan grabbed them.

"Oi!" Kogoro suddenly cried. He tried but failed to get his precious belongings back. He still wasn't in a full mood to get up from his chair. He frowned somewhat as the duo was checking every nook and cranny of his beloved wallet. They better not steal my money or there'll be hell to pay!

"Heiji!" cried the Osakan's girlfriend. "What are you doing?" She smacked him across the head. He gave a small growl, but continued until…

"Found it, K-Conan-kun!" Heiji-kun slowly dug into a section and took out some sort of black dot. Kogoro immediately rose from his beloved chair, curiosity overriding his usual laziness. He took a seat next to Hattori-kun and took mental note at the similar expression on the male duo's faces, dark looks that screamed 'fury and rage'.

"Ran-neechan, Kazuha-neechan, can you please check your pockets?" Conan-kun said in an unnaturally deep voice that had a degree of command in it. What's wrong with these two? Then realization hit him, his eyes widening. The girls checked their pockets, and then shook their heads. Kogoro breathed a quiet sigh of relief. Good! He didn't do that to them. This means….

"What's going on, Conan-kun, Hattori-kun?" asked Ran as she gave Kogoro his beer. "You look as though something bad had happened.… Did you see…?" Both girls suppressed shudders. "Ghosts?"

"There's no such thing as ghosts!" The Osakan brat snapped, a little harsher than normal.

"No, Ran-neechan," said Conan-kun, who had found his child voice but still had that dark tone. "It's because—"

"You two saw 'L'."

The male duo whipped their heads in Kogoro's direction. Kogoro calmly opened his beer and lit his cigarette. "That man whom we met earlier was him."

"WHAT!!!" the girls cried. "You mean Lupin-san?"

He nodded. He picked up the black dot from Hattori-kun's hand and stared at it closely. This, the ex-police-officer-turned-detective thought, was a well made listening device. Possibly has a speaker in it, too. He was surprised that he was in his detective mode already. Maybe it was because of the circumstance, who knows. Glancing at it some more he noted that…

"It's dead." With that, he crushed it between his fingers. It was surprisingly fragile. "It's some sort of listening device." The detective duo's eyes were bulging even further.

"Ojisan," began Conan-kun slowly. "How did you know all this?"

Kogoro really didn't want to say anything. But he opened his mouth and now he has to tell them what happened. It's time for the Great Detective Mouri hour! He tried to hide his inner grin and confidence. He outwardly sighed, giving the appearance of someone getting ready of stating his deductions. His mouth twitched at the male duo, which had their skeptical eyebrows raised.

"I went to the police station after learning about the ICPO inspector working there." He paused as he noticed the brat glaring at the Osakan, who smiled weakly back. "As it turns out the person was an old associate of Megure-keibu and I, Zenigata-keibu."

Ran's eyes brightened. "I remember, Otousan. Years ago, he used to work in the Tokyo district and both of your precincts sometimes worked together on some cases, along with Shin'ichi's dad. Shin'ichi and I met him a couple of times." Kogoro was vaguely aware of the stunned look on the brat's face and raised eyebrow of the Osakan turned the brat's way. "You said that he signed up for the ICPO because he was chasing an international criminal."

Kogoro nodded. "Lupin-san is that criminal." Gasps came from the girls; impressed smiles came from the boys. "That man's full name is Lupin the Third—."

"HE'S THAT GUY???" the Osakan's girlfriend cried; Ran looked just as shocked. Kogoro frowned. "Everyone at school always talk about him, almost as much as Kid!"

Ran nodded. "There's even a Lupin the Third fanclub!" She chuckled somewhat. "You should see the yelling battles on who is better between them and the Kid fanclub, with Sonoko leading the charge." Conan-kun's mouth twitched, while Heiji-kun grinned.

Kogoro coughed. The kids stared at him. "Sumimasen, Otousan," said Ran. "Continue."

"Lupin came in disguised as Takegi-keiji but Zenigata-keibu was able to find him… but he got away."

"Of course! He always uses tricks to get out of those situations, like Kid!" The girlfriend quieted from Kogoro's glare.

"As it also turned out, Kiyone-chan was Lupin-san in disguise." He glanced at the annoying male duo. He may not like the fact that they were annoying, and cocky, and belittling his greatness, but he has to admit, he may actually need to ask for their help for the party on Saturday. "You probably already figured that out." Heiji-kun nodded.

"What about the three with Lupin-san, Ojisan?" asked Conan-kun. Was it just him or is that freeloader quizzing him. …Nope, just his imagination. The kid ain't that smart.

Kogoro smiled. "They are wanted criminals and his nakama." The girls nodded in understanding.

"That makes sense, when Kiyone-chan didn't understand what we were talking about," said Ran.

"So Mouri-han, the person who helped Lupin-san and shot that thug was one of those three? Probably that gun guy… Jigen-san?" asked the girlfriend. He nodded.

"Demo, Otousan, how did Lupin-san took your items and slipped capsules in our pockets?" Kogoro's mouth twitched. He was stuck; even his greatness couldn't figure that out. He then heard sighs from the boys.

"Ran-neechan, it wasn't really a magic trick so much as it was just fast hands," Conan-kun remarked.

"Yeah. Since he's a' experienced thief, it was just simple pick pocketing and a degree of speed. He took Occhan's watch and tie when he walked past Lupin-san to our seats, my hat and wallet when he was hiding behind me and Conan-kun's watch and bowtie when he was up close ta him. When he stopped your kick and when he walked past Kazuha to hide behind me was when he slipped the capsul—" Heiji-kun's and Conan-kun's eyes opened in dawning. "Kazuha, where are those flowers?!" the Osakan cried.

A stunned Kazuha-chan answered, "We threw most of them away when we came back here."

"Where did you place the rest?" cried Conan-kun. It then clicked to Kogoro. If those devices were on us then…

"Ran, tell us!" Kogoro cried in alarm. Ran pointed to a flower pot on the bookshelf that held a small handful of flowers. The three rushed to the pot with Conan-kun jumping to grab it first. The kid scanned each flowers with Kogoro and Heiji-kun following.

"Nothing, Ojisan," the kid said. "He probably didn't want to involve Ran-neechan and Kazuha-neechan. It's only between him and the three of us."

Kogoro stared at the kid for a moment. He was going to comment on how the brat was involved but decided against it. He'll figure that out himself. Instead, he asked, "How did you meet him?" The male duo frowned slightly and looked away a little. A vein popped on his head. Look, you brats, I had to talk so it's your turn. Flinching from Kogoro's angry face, Heiji-kun coughed.

"He was watching us from somewhere when we were going to Hakase's place. We figured out about the devices in my wallet and his watch. Lupin-san then talked to us via Hakase's computer. He only stated that he just wanted to test us and that's it."

"I see." Kogoro nodded. He took the pot from the boy's hands and placed it back on the shelf. I'm going against Kaitou Kid and Lupin the Third. Kogoro sat in office chair carrying his beer and puffing on his cigarette. The kids ended up talking between themselves; the male duo leaving his office to go upstairs. Right now he didn't care. This time, the Great Detective Kogoro Mouri will –

"YOKO-CHAN!!!!!!" His favorite singer's televison show was on. He made sure that the TV was near him and the volume was high enough so he could see and hear Yoko Oniko in all her glory.

A woman sat in a café drinking coffee. Dressed in all black, including sunglasses, it completely contrasted with her long platinum blond hair. Smiling to herself, she was reading the newspaper. The police was in a panic because of an unknown thief and Kaitou Kid. She chuckled. Then her phone rang.

"Hello?" she answered in perfect English.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't an old friend." Her face paled. It can't be! How did—?

"What are you doing here? How did you get this number? I thought you'd—"

"Died? I'm surprised you think that." He chuckled, switching to English. "Only They thought I died. You knew I survived… since you knew who I am… and was the one who sent them on me."

The woman chuckled herself. "So you came all this way from your self-imposed exile for what… revenge?"

"No, no, no. I don't have such a one track mind. I came to see if she's alright."

The woman smiled. "Her? I see. Did you find her?"

"After learning about what happened to her sister, I had to rush here as fast as I could." His voice turned glacial. "They're chasing her. And knowing you, you probably know where she is… and who she is being protected by. I'm quite interested in why you haven't killed them yet."

"I don't want to harm Cool Guy, my Silver Bullet."

"You don't say! So you know who he is, too." She heard his voice behind her and quickly turned to see him. The man smiled as he closed his cellphone. He then said quietly, in her voice, "A secret makes a woman, woman, right? You've always say that as your motto. Yet at the same time, Secrets are the most beautiful and deadliest creatures in the world." He leaned forward and whispered in her ear, "That's how I got into this mess involving you, right?"

She flinched and tried to hit him with her elbow. He dodged it and grabbed her arm. He gave an emotionless chuckle. "I can't do much because of that person's hounds running about. I will have to expose myself, yet I do wonder… will you tell that person?"

"Champagne…" she breathed. She was never taken advantaged of like this. But she knew that she still had the upper hand. She quickly tried to grab her phone to call that person's number, but found to her shock that her phone was already in his hands.

"Trying to call that person, Vermouth?" He closed her phone. "There's no need." He gave it back to her. "You'll receive a text message from that person in a bit." He let go of her arm and left, waving.

Her phone began to vibrate and she calmly flipped it open to see said text.

'Vermouth

Someone has hacked into all of our files and databases. Although everything is fine, you need to find the culprit and get rid of him….'

"I understand," she muttered. The boss usually told Vermouth first the mission before telling the other operatives, because she was the Boss's favorite. Also because of this, she had a great degree of free reign on how to go about it. She closed her phone and rose from her seat, paying for her coffee. There were very few people in the café and her and Champagne's conversation was low. If anyone saw, they would have that it was just an arguing couple.

She already knew who that person was. But she won't do anything yet. Vermouth wanted to see how Champagne will go about this herself before she took action. They were more or less a match in mind games, which was why he quickly also became that person's favorite. And which was partially why she had to get rid of him.

"Champagne," she muttered as she took out 'L's' flyer from her purse. "Lupin…" She smiled.

A) Sumimasen - sorry

B) Demo -but

C) Flashbacks and midnight conversations between former members of the BO. Stay tuned!