File Twenty-Five: A Deadly Game of Hide and Seek
"If I could, in this world, grasp your love..." Conan mentally cringed as he listened the two kids sitting at his left in the car, and Genta that sat in the front, singing ─ shouting ─ at the top of their lungs. "Watching the dancing lights, I shall not forget... Aa-ah! The mystery is getting solved!"
At that point, the child physically winced. There was a giggle at his right, and he didn't need to actually look to know that Haibara was giving him one of her amused and teasing smirks.
"I doubt you can do better than them," she told him, softly. "I have been told your singing abilities are similar to those of a cat being run over by a truck, at best."
His eyebrow twitched at that. "That's oddly specific, if you ask me."
"Well, Yoshida-san only said you sing pretty bad," she shrugged. "With that, and the way her face twisted at the memory, I could only imagine," Haibara gave the annoyed boy a pointed look. "I think you gave the poor girl some sort of PTSD."
"It's not my fault I was born with my father's genes," he crossed his arms in front of his chest. "And my brother sings even worse than I do."
"He sure does," she nodded, massaging her temples as if she was recalling a tragic scene she had been in. "But the fact that your brother sings poorly doesn't make you sing like an angel either, Kudo-kun."
Conan paused. And blinked.
"You have heard him sing," it wasn't a question. "Haibara-san, where did you-?"
"Didn't I already tell you?" she interrupted him. "I'm not telling you anything about your brother until you figure that out."
His eyes narrowed and fixed back to the road in front of him. "... Singani..." he mumbled.
"Singani?" the boy flinched when he heard the female voice coming from his left question him. "What does that mean?"
"What's that?" Genta asked from the front seat. "Is it tasty?"
"N-No..." Conan tried to say.
"Many adults say it is, but I don't think any of us would like it," Haibara butted in. "Well, it's not like it matters, because you need to be over twenty to drink it."
Hey, hey... the child with glasses glared at her, and she returned it with a smug smile.
"... Alcohol... Sherry..." Mitsuhiko's eyes widened dramatically. "Sherry was also named after alcohol! Could it be that the members of that dangerous organization have alcohol-themed codenames?! Is Singani a member?!"
He cursed Mitsuhiko's sharp mind under his breath.
"Eh?!" both Genta and Ayumi exclaimed.
"Maybe," Conan sighed, not seeing another way out. "I'm still trying to figure that out."
"Why didn't you say anything?!"
"You're always doing everything in your own!"
The boy simply turned his gaze to the professor, who smiled awkwardly as he quietly drove, doing his best not to get involved in the conversation. Evidently, it looked like Agasa wasn't going to save him this time around.
"Seriously, when was the last time you told us anything about that?" Genta complained. "Wasn't your brother's case the reason we formed our club?"
"You said you wanted to find my missing brother and I have already met him a few times," he pointed out. "So that's pretty much a case closed, isn't it?"
"But you still don't know where he is, right?" Ayumi argued.
Conan clicked his mouth shut, realizing she was actually right about that. Mitsuhiko, on the other hand, seemed to be in deep thought.
"Speaking of Sherry, isn't it weird?" he spoke. "It had been a long while since she saw you, but nothing happened after that."
Haibara turned to look through the window. The boy couldn't help but glance at her for a second before replying.
"Yeah, that's a bit strange," he nodded. "That happened around December and it's mid-October already, so..."
"Ah, that long?" Ayumi was surprised. "I can't believe it's October already... I haven't even planned my birthday yet..."
"But, Ayumi-chan... Your birthday is in March..."
Conan was glad for the random change of topic. His relief was short lived, however, since Agasa looked at him from the rear mirror. "Now that I think about it, Conan," the boy blinked. "Isn't your birthday close by?"
He tried to hide his internal flinching when four pairs of curious eyes suddenly fixed on him. "It's not that close, actually..." he tried off.
"When is it?" Ayumi asked.
"... November 13th."
"Eh?!" Genta exclaimed.
"That's a bit over two weeks from now!" Mitsuhiko pointed out.
"Why didn't you say anything, Conan-kun?" Ayumi frowned at him.
"Because it's not that big of a deal," Conan shrugged. "It's just a normal day, really."
"It's not!" she argued. "It's the day you were born, Conan-kun. And that, alone, is a big deal!"
They stared at each other for a while, until Conan sighed and crossed his arms behind his head, letting his gaze stray to the ceiling and doing his best to ignore Ayumi, who was grinning, triumphantly.
"Do you really dislike being the center of attention that much?" Haibara teased him.
"Shut it."
It was another mundane day for Kato Momoka ever since her lover left her. Today, she didn't have to work and was free to do whatever she wanted. Maybe she could watch some TV, read a book or two, cook something...
But why was she now, sitting in the middle of the living room, pressing her phone against her ear, letting her tears roll down her face?
"You know, once I'm free to go, I will pass by your house, is that alright?"
Hearing all those voice messages she had forgotten to erase, she couldn't help but press her hand against her face, sobbing. His voice, sweet and kind as she remembered only made her heart ache.
"Everything will be okay, I promise."
"Tanaka-san?" somebody had called him. She blinked at the voice of a young man, she hadn't realized he was there before. "Inspector Nakamori is calling for you. You need to give your statement."
Then she remembered that day was the one Watanabe Satoshi had died on the fire. It had been a wreck, and her lover had to stay overnight because he had been nearby when it had happened.
After that, she didn't see him again, for four long months until he appeared again on her doorway with a bouquet of roses. At that time, she hadn't even asked him why he had left, just smiled and kissed him passionately.
The next day, he had disappeared without a trace again, before appearing once more a month later. This had became an habit up until a few weeks after his death. She had screamed at him, telling him that she felt so lonely.
And he had promised he would never leave her alone again. True to his word, he had stayed in her city.
Until he had left her for good this time.
Now, Momoka couldn't stop wondering what had happened. At that time, she had thought that her lover was just shaken because his superior's death, who he admired a lot. That he hadn't had the courage to stay in the same city he had died.
But now...
Come to think of it, she pondered, where had she been at the time of Watanabe's death?
Ah, that was right. Eating on a restaurant a few blocks away... with Tanaka...
... Wait, what?
"Hey!" Conan called, standing up with his arms full of firewood. "I think we have enough. Let's go back already!"
"Yeah!" both Ayumi and Genta pumped their arms in the air.
"Wait, everyone!" Mitsuhiko called. "Come here for a second. I found something interesting!"
The three kids went instantly to the way his voice had been heard and it wasn't long until they found him in front of some sort of limestone cavern. More specifically, the boy was kneeling in front of a message engraved in a rock.
"Take your steps towards the path of the dragon
and you shall be showered by the light of happiness."
Which, of course, stood right beside an ordinary Danger! Do not enter! sign. It seemed none of his friends cared enough about that, since they were all focused on the more interesting one.
"Light of happiness?" Genta wondered.
"It means a light full of joy!" Mitsuhiko told him.
"Could that mean..." Ayumi gasped, and the other two joined her and exclaimed together. "A treasure?"
Conan honestly how did they seemed to always reach that sort of conclusion, yet he paid no mind to that. He just stared at the To character that was drawn over the message, and wondered. "What does 'To' stand for...?" he mumbled.
"To... Tokujyou unagi rice...?" Genta pondered.
"Topaz?" Mitsuhiko did the same.
"Tunnel...?" Ayumi tilted her head, questiongly.
"Tokugawa's hidden treasure," Conan said, with a smirk, before turning back to his friends. "Just kidding..."
Then he realized he was all alone. It didn't take him long to figure out where they went, so he instantly stood up and ran up to the entrance. Sure enough, three beams of light were shining in the middle of the darkness.
He wished he had just stayed silent. But of course he had to say that...
"Hey, hey, you guys!" he yelled.
"Come on!" Ayumi brushed him off. "Just for a little while!"
For a couple of seconds, the boy just watched them go deeper and deeper into darkness, and let out a long sigh. It's never just a little while, he lamented and, with a last glance at the very threatening warning sign from before, he decided to just go with them.
If they were going to get into trouble, he figured he might as well be there to help, just in case.
Had he known what dangers lurked deeper in that darkness, the young Kudo would've insisted harder and drag all of his friends in the safety of the sunlight outside.
But as things were now, the four friends were oblivious to those dangers so they went deeper and deeper inside the cave, their watches lighting up their path as they continued walking. At some point, Mitsuhiko spotted a light in the distance.
"Someone's there," he noted.
"Maybe someone else found the treasure first," Ayumi commented.
"Are you serious?" that thought made Genta angry.
So the children were forced to watch him roll up his sleeve and stomp towards the light, ignoring the way Conan called his name, in a feeble attempt to stop him from causing trouble.
Genta disappeared around the corner, only to return not a second later. His face looked much different than a few moments before ─ pale, sweating, terrified ─ and it only made his friends wonder about such an abrupt change.
"A corpse..." he managed to croak.
Mitsuhiko and Ayumi exchanged fearful glances, while Conan frowned deeply, mentally cursing his ever-present corpse magnetism ─ he blamed his brother.
But Genta had failed to tell them about the living people he had seen carrying the body away. One of appeared in front of them in an instant, cursing loudly. Conan quickly noticed him pulling something from his jacket. A gun?! his eyes opened, widely.
Without thinking about it twice ─ because there was absolutely no time for stuff like that ─ he tackled his friends, who merely stood there, frozen in fear, and pushed them aside.
Pain flared into his stomach, but at the moment he couldn't think much of it. Like that, the little boy gritted his teeth and settled behind the rock, pulling his friends with him, and clamping a hand over a sobbing Ayumi.
So, the four children stayed hidden, just as if they were playing a deadly game of hide and seek.
"What's going on?" both of the man's partners made their appearance.
"Kids!" the man with the gun exclaimed, looking as if he was in the verge of freaking out. "We were seen by kids!"
"Hey, hey..." the one who seemed to be the leader sighed. "Their parents aren't with them, are they?"
"No, just four kids..."
"Damnit, how unlucky," the third one cursed. "When we robbed the bank, our companion's face was seen."
"We thought that killing and hiding him here would get rid of any leads. But kids now?"
Conan frowned as he listened, knowing well what could happen to them if they found them now. So, he struggled to keep his raspy breathing under control, soft enough so they wouldn't know where they were.
"In any case, go find the kids," the leader ordered, pulling out something that reflected the little light inside the dark cave, which Conan identified as a handgun right away. "We're going to make them sleep for all eternity in this dark cavern. After placing a hole in their heads, that is."
His friends' eyes went wide, in horror, but at least refrained themselves from gasping. Conan remained quiet throughout it all and watched them going back to the entrance. Only when he made sure they weren't around, he pulled his detective badge out.
"Haibara-san, can you hear me?" he hurriedly called. "Haibara-san! Give me a reply! Haibara-san!"
Yet she wouldn't reply. With a groan, he slumped against the rock and cursed inside his head over and over.
Then, he began feeling faint, and the spot that had been hurting before felt as if it was in fire. Hesitantly, he moved the hand that was pressing against it and took a look.
He wished he hadn't. His hand, clothes, everything was stained with his blood. Even Ayumi's back had gotten red without her noticing.
Okay, this can't be good.
His friends had started discussing with each other, but he felt himself having trouble focusing in their words. Gasping as if he had been running for hours, the boy closed his eyes shut, struggling to compose himself.
"I bet Conan-kun will think of a bright idea for us!" he did catch Ayumi reassuring the other two boys. "Right, Conan... kun...?"
The way the girl had trailed off and the other two gasped told Conan that they had all seen the sorry state he was currently in. Because of that, he clenched his wound with his already bloody hand and managed to crack his eyes open.
"C-Conan-kun," Ayumi's eyes were watering.
"What's with all that blood?" Mitsuhiko paled.
"Did the bullet that guy just fired hit you?" Genta asked, concerned.
Had he been in a different circumstance, Conan would probably have sarcastically pointed out the obviousness of the situation and the stupidity of their questions, but he chose not to say anything and slid his hand inside his pocket, looking for something.
"Conan-kun, if we don't run soon, those bad people are going to come back!" Ayumi said, doing her best to hold back her tears.
"W-Wait," he managed. "Sooner or later, the Professor and Haibara-san will come to this cavern... We need to let them know that this place is dangerous... or else..."
"But what can we do?" Genta asked.
"This," he finally pulled several transmitters and put them on a shocked Mitsuhiko's hand. "I don't have... time to explain. Do as I say!"
Like so, Conan guided both boys as he tried to catch his breath, leaning tiredly against the rock, a worried Ayumi at her side. Once they managed to get the message across ─ the number 110 ─ Conan set his glasses on the ground, earning three confused looks from his friends.
They didn't get to ask, though. Their confusion turned into panic at the realization that the wounded boy was standing up, with difficulty.
"Conan-kun!" Mitsuhiko was the first to react, rushing to him as the Conan struggled to keep himself upright. "What do you think you're doing?"
"We need to go, now," he breathed out, glancing towards the way they had came in. "If those men catch up with us..."
"But Conan-kun, your wound..." Ayumi tried to reason.
"Acting so tough," Genta scoffed, before turning around, his back facing his injured friend. "Come on, I'll carry you."
But the boy did not move, just chose to look away with a frown on his face. For a moment, the three looked at him, cluelessly, wondering why he was doing that.
"If those criminals start chasing us, my weight on you will make it more difficult for you to escape, Genta," Conan explained. "That's why..."
His friends got angry, for some reason, as they listened to those words.
"Do you really think I would leave you behind?" Genta sounded offended. Conan did not reply.
"We would never do that!" Ayumi argued. "Would you leave us behind to save yourself, Conan-kun?"
"I would," he replied, a serious look crossing his face. "If my life was in danger, I would..."
None of Conan's friends said anything, and the boy closed his eyes so he couldn't see their hurt expressions. He had, after all, said he would betray them if given the chance.
So, he waited for them to leave.
He didn't expect Mitsuhiko talking, though.
"You are a liar," he simply said, taking Conan off guard. "If that was the case, you wouldn't have gotten hurt in the first place," the fact that the boy didn't even look at him, told Mitsuhiko he was right. It took a little longer for the other two to understand, but they grinned widely when they did. "That's because, Conan-kun, you got shot while trying to protect us."
A look of determination crossed Ayumi's face. "So that's how it is, Conan-kun," she said, crossing her arms. "I'm not moving from here until you climb up Genta-kun's back."
"None of us is," added Mitsuhiko, and Genta nodded.
Giving them another last, hesitant look, Conan silently nodded and settled in Genta's back, not wanting them to waste more time than they already had.
"Are you okay, Conan-kun?" asked Mitsuhiko, after a long time walking, concern filling his voice.
"Y-Yeah," Conan tried to reassure him. "My wound isn't bleeding that much now."
Both boys gave their friend a long, suspicious look, and he sighed having figured out that they had seen through his lie. Ayumi, on the other hand, was walking a few feet ahead, head down and eerily quiet. "Ayumi-chan?" he called, concerned. "Are you okay?"
The girl paused for a moment. "It's not fair," she mumbled, and none of her friends understood it at first, until she spun around, tears rolling down her face. "Why is that you get hurt and still you get to worry about us, when we can't worry about you in turn? How is that fair, Conan-kun?"
Conan silently looked at her, not finding the words to say in a situation like this. In a way, she was technically right, but...
She frowned a bit, then looked back to the path ahead. "Besides, it's my fault," she admitted, as they continued walking. "I said a little while wouldn't matter. If we never entered this cave, Conan-kun wouldn't be like this..."
"No, it's not your fault, Ayumi-chan!" Mitsuhiko stopped her. "It all started because I found this kind of place!"
"Idiot, I'm the one to blame!" Genta shouted. "I got excited and then saw the bad guys doing their thing."
"... And I didn't stop any of you, even if I thought this was a bad idea," Conan said, weakly, causing them to look at him. "This is our fault, but the self-blame game will get us nowhere. All we can do is try to get out of this so can have that barbeque, together."
They all looked at each other and nodded, with tiny smiles adorning their faces.
"You're so silly, Conan-kun," Ayumi let out a watery laugh, as she viciously wiped her tears away. "You can't have a barbeque with that wound."
"Try me," he jokingly said, with a chuckle.
"Conan is right!" Genta argued. "There's no way we're not getting that barbeque after everything we went through!"
"Seriously, Genta-kun," Mitsuhiko sighed.
With a relieved smile on his face, Conan let his head rest against Genta's shoulder, feeling overly exhausted. Despite how awful he currently felt, the boy was glad that his friends were talking, very softly, but in good spirits. If we want to get out of here, we need to keep this positive mindset.
At some point the path splitted in two and Conan decided to throw Genta's watch, turned up and neatly closed, in the path they had chosen. If those men had committed a robbery, he figured that at least one of them had half a brain, and would instantly think they were tricked.
He hoped they weren't smart enough to figure his trick, though.
Conan also hoped they were going in the right direction. Throughout that time inside the cavern, he found himself feeling worse and worse. He was sweating heavily, yet at the same time he felt cold. Very cold. His head also pounded so badly that he was having trouble focusing in what happened around.
Severe blood loss, he kept his eyes open with difficulty as he listed his symptoms. I need to hold on a little longer, his gaze fell on his friends and frowned. For them...
Ayumi suddenly let out a gasp, causing Conan to look up to see they were currently walking beside a source of water. "There are fish here!" she pointed out.
"Hey, do those fish have eyes?" he asked.
"Yes, they do," Mitsuhiko instantly informed him. "I believe they're trout."
"What, do we get to eat them?" Genta exclaimed.
Hadn't Conan currently been riding on his back, Genta would have noticed the way his friend let out a resigned, but amused smile. "Fool," he said, with a chuckle. "If there are fish with eyes in a cavern like this, then they came here from a nearby river... S-So, if we go against the flow of water..."
"We could get outside!" they all three exclaimed.
"Exactly," he nodded weakly. "So, let's hurry up..."
... because I don't know how much longer I can endure this.
So they did, and Conan held on with what little strength he had left.
Eventually, the group reached what it seemed to be the source of the water, falling down from the top of the cave. The three children whined, seeing their only chance to escape vanishing into the thin air, at least until Conan pointed out the roots on the ceiling ─ the ground was near, and so had to be the exit.
"But I don't see an exit anywhere," Mitsuhiko said.
"Ah!" Ayumi noticed something. "There's something there!"
"It's an egg!" Genta noted.
Conan looked over his friend's shoulder, confused, and found out they were actually right. There was an egg shaped rock sitting on top of a boulder, which made him wonder. There was no way that could've been formed by the forces of nature, no. A living, human being had put it in there, for some reason.
But why?
The path in front of them was splitted into five. It couldn't just be a coincidence.
"Look!" Mitsuhiko exclaimed. "There are some words engraved on it!"
So, he read them:
"Those who are lost in the dark
take your steps towards the path of the dragon.
then you shall be showered by the light of happiness."
The light... of happiness...
He didn't get to think about it any further, because Ayumi suddenly shrieked and then they were surrounded by a swarm of bats. Conan winced, as his friends screamed, so loudly that he wouldn't be surprised if those men had heard as well.
"Don't move!" he yelled and, with all his might, threw his detective badge a few feet away.
As he had expected, they went towards the small sound immediately. And his friends awed when he explained that bats were sensible to small moving objects because they ate little bugs and insects.
Yet, they didn't notice the way his breathing had quickened. That swift movement had left the boy winded, gasping for air, and his wound screaming in pain. He wouldn't have surprised he had opened it even more by doing that.
But he didn't say anything. He merely told his friends that bats lived within a three-thousand meter radius of a cave entrance and that seemed to work. They all smiled, cheerfully, hope rising in their chests once more.
Even if his sight was beginning to blur.
"Keywords are... 'To'... path of the dragon... egg..." he mumbled while in thought, willing himself to think faster.
Then, it hit him. His eyes opened, wide. Just then, the rest of the group had decided to try all five paths in order.
"... You only need to enter one..." he said, so softly that they almost didn't hear. Yet, the way they stopped walking let him know he had their attention. "T-The engraved words 'those who are lost in the dark' means people who are lost in this cave... 'The light of happiness'... is the light coming from the exit. That means the rock... at the entrance and on that boulder shows the way out..."
His gaze flickered, but he managed to stay awake only by his willpower.
"The exit, the path of the dragon is..." he struggled, but managed to raise his arm, his index finger stretching so he could point. "...T-That path is..."
Before it dropped unceremoniously against Genta's shoulder. Shocked, and confused, they all looked over their friend. His entire body had gone limp in the bigger boy's back, and blood was covering Conan's entire backside, dripping into the ground.
The fact that the young detective had passed out from his injury, and that they now could hear footsteps coming closer, rapidly so, sent the three children into a panicked state.
"...our.. cha... Le.. go...!"
Strange noises filtered through Conan's ears, but his slow mind didn't seem to be able to understand what they were saying. The voices were muffled, rushed with urgency, yet he still couldn't tell what was happening.
Then something beneath him started moving, breathing heavily as he shook him from side to side. It hurt his abdomen, a lot, but he couldn't complain even if he wanted to. His entire body felt heavy, cold, and sweat was uncomfortably collecting on his brow. His mouth wouldn't move and nothing would come out of it even when he tried to speak. Just remained there, partly open, as the air he so desperately needed went in and out.
A loud noise ran through his ears and the next thing his dull senses registered was that he was falling down, besides a groan under him. That hurt, too, a lot. But his limbs felt like lead, so he just lied there, motionlessly.
That noise... it sounded like...
By the time he recognized what was that 'bang' sound, he felt himself raised into the air and something that he guessed was an arm around his neck keeping him still, pressing his body against someone's chest. A strange coldness pressed against his temple and the person behind him started to say something, loudly so, that he couldn't decipher.
That feeling however... It was like he had lived through this before.
"... I'll punch a hole through this kid's head!"
Then, on the middle of the darkness, he saw him. Cold, murderous eyes, and a gun pointing at his face. And, unlike other times when he would probably feel scared, the child fell confused. He could clearly feel the gun on his temple... Then, how...?
A strong light shone through his eyelids, making the image he had been seeing vanish.
"This is the police!" he heard someone saying. "You're completely surrounded!"
... The police...?
The memories of everything that had happened in the last few hours filled his head. The robbers, the gunshot, the path of the dragon...
He tried to open his eyes, but the brightness was too much for him to handle. Everyone, he panicked. Are they alright?
"Fools! Can't you see this?" he heard the robber that was most likely holding him hostage saying, as he pressed his weapon further against Conan's head. "If you don't want to see this kid in pieces, open up the road!"
Despite how bad he was feeling, Conan found the strength to smirk. "... You fool," he said, between gasps. "It's already checkmate for you."
Managing to crack one eye open, the child looked at the robber, who turned to him, annoyed and equally surprised. So, the kid used all strength he had left to flip the lid on his watch open, then point at the criminal.
"So stop..." he shot the needle at him. "... struggling."
As expected the robber fell into the ground, completely unconscious, letting the little boy free to just drop beside him, exhausted. Hands were then all over him, turning over, and voices filled the room, speaking urgently.
He didn't even try to move a muscle as they raised him and settled him into a stretcher, except for, maybe, his eyes. Conan forced them open one last time.
His blue orbs met with Haibara's serious ones, before settling on Ayumi's, who was standing at her side while staring at him, undoubtedly worried. Straining his ears, he managed to faintly hear Genta and Mitsuhiko's voice, explaining the situation to the police and Professor Agasa.
... They are safe...
That was all the little boy needed to know, so he smiled at his friends briefly, before finally drifting off.
A/N:
SapphireRuby24: No, the reason for Haibara disliking Ran is not because she's jealous since, as you just said, doesn't make much sense in this story.
ajjr12: For your first question I have already thought something for Mary, but I can't say anything about it, so sorry about that! About your second question, the BO plot will come soon after the Desperate Revival Arc. And, yeah, I already knew that in canon only half a year had passed, but it's a personal desire of mine to have time pass as realistically as possible.
Dy: Miyano Akemi was just 25 in this story. I thought it would best if I just let that unchanged, even if the age gap between the sisters is bigger now. And about Sera, at the moment I think it will best if I write as Ran's age, but I might change my mind before she is introduced, hahaha!