File Seventy-Seven: Good Person? Bad Person?
"Hey, Ran…" Sonoko complained to her friend, who simply looked back at her with a questioning look. "Why do we have to waste our day away cleaning Shinichi-kun's house? It's Golden Week, you know!"
Ran offered her an apologetic smile and opened her mouth to say something. "You don't have to." But, of course, a certain young voice beat her to it. "Actually, I'd be most grateful if you went back home."
"Rejecting my help, eh, little runt?" When Sonoko's glare was set on the child who was actually mirroring her expression, Ran couldn't help but sigh tiredly, holding a hand to her face. "Why don't you clean it by yourself then, huh? It's your house, too, after all."
"I would." She didn't expect that answer coming out of his lips right away. "But Ran-neechan doesn't let me to."
The girl blinked at the boy, before turning to Ran. "He insisted on doing it alone," she said, with a small smile. "Kept telling me that 'it was not my responsibility' and all that stuff, too."
Sonoko snorted at that. "Well, at least he has some sense of responsibility, unlike his brother." Then, she turned to give the boy, who was still glaring, a teasing smirk. "Though, to think that you can clean such a large house all by yourself is almost cute."
"I can."
"Hey, you are still a growing brat. Don't push yourself too hard, or you might remain a midget forever."
Once more, Ran let out a heavy sigh, internally wondered who out of the two was actually the younger one. But did not comment on it, just stood in front of the gates of the Kudo residence and set off to look for the keys inside her pocket. Huh? She blinked, then frowned upon the realization that suddenly struck her. "It's unlocked."
The quarrel she had been hearing behind her came into a stop. Conan's eyes narrowed, prompting crossing the gates without thinking twice. The two girls exchanged a look, before following the child who, instead of heading to the front door, went around the house.
He stood in front of the electricity meter and frowned. "There is someone here," he informed the other two, before rushing to check the water.
Ran clearly worried. "Are you sure about it, Conan-kun?"
"Positive." He nodded, closing the water meter box. "The water and electricity meter had all changed from the last time I was here."
Sonoko made a face. You actually check that every time you leave home?
She snapped out of it the moment Ran ran back to the entrance, the kid following close. Nervously, she joined them inside and watched as they carefully examined their surroundings, like they were expecting someone to jump at them.
Conan was the first to run ahead, opening every single door and searching for the mysterious occupant. Last time, it had just been Mom and Oniichan, he thought, making his way upstairs. Could he have come back without warning?
At least, it hoped it was him. Just in case, he kept his hand on top of his tranquilizer watch.
Suddenly, he stopped in his tracks. There you are. He had heard something coming from inside the bathroom so, ever so carefully, shuffled closer to the door. Be it Oniichan, or a burglar… The lid of his watch flipped open, and his hand reached for the handle. I got you now!
Of all sights that could have met his eyes the moment he threw the door open, this was definitely not what he was expecting.
What...?
Slowly he backed off, shrinking a bit under the confused stare Okiya Subaru was giving him, standing there in front of the mirror with a toothbrush in his mouth.
"Conan-kun, is something wrong?"
Ran came running to his side, but he didn't even look at her. She gave him a look, not understanding the reason behind his pale face until she glanced inside the bathroom. Then, her gaze took a dangerous glint and gently pushed the shocked kid behind her.
"Conan-kun, stand back."
"Ran-neechan, wait-!"
With no further warning, she kicked him straight to the face, prompting the child to wince, watching as he fell back. That had to hurt. He grimaced as the graduate student rubbed his face.
"Heh, serves you right!" Sonoko walked forward, sneering at the fallen man. "Ran, hurry and call the police!"
But Ran didn't react. She just stood there, shocked for some reason her friend couldn't understand. He didn't resist. Who is this person?
"Okiya-san?" Both girls blinked at the boy, who was staring at the intruder with an equally confused face. "What are you doing here?"
"You know him?!" Sonoko exclaimed, completely astonished.
"Yeah, his apartment burned down a few days ago," he replied, turning to Ran. "Remember that arsonist case I ran into when I went to visit Sugiura Kaito? He was there."
"Ah, right." Ran remembered right away. "But why is he here?"
"Shinichi-kun invited me here." All three of them spun around to stare at the young man, who was now standing in front of them. "Since I didn't have a place to live, he offered this in exchange for me protecting the house."
Conan blinked, then blinked again. What?!
"S-Shinichi-kun did?!" Sonoko gasped. "Why would he...?"
Ran stared at the guy, wide eyed, for a moment before her gaze dropped to glance at Conan, only to stop in her spot. "Where's Conan-kun?"
"Huh?"
By the time that the girls confused exchanged looks, Conan had already brought his phone against his ear. The dialing tone echoed in his ears, making him frown, feeling strangely impatient as he glanced at the doorway he had just walked out from.
Finally, the call connected. "What were you thinking?!" he hissed, not even giving the other the time to say a word. "Did you forget you're supposed to be dead, you idiot?!"
"Hey, hey, Conan. Calm down..." Shinichi tried to appease his little brother, yet all that earned from it was a low growl. "You're not making any sense."
"How is that I'm the one not making sense?!" Then continued in a lower voice, making sure that it couldn't be heard from inside the bathroom. "You got Okiya Subaru inside our house, remember?"
The way the teen drew a sharp breath prompted Conan to pause, confused at first, until his eyes widened, gradually. Could it be… His gaze slowly shifted to the room where that certain person was talking with Ran and Sonoko. … that Oniichan didn't…?
"Right. I forgot to tell you about it."
Jumping slightly, he focused on the phone again, silent with shock for a few seconds, "Huh?" before his eyebrow rose, annoyance lacing his tone. "You... forgot."
"I was going to call to let you know, but I guess it slipped from my mind." His laugh crossed his ears, prompting his eyebrow to twitch. "Subaru-san lost his house in a fire a few days ago. He's the son of one of Dad's friends, so he asked me to let him live here for a while until he gets another place to live."
"... Is that so?"
"Yeah, sorry for not telling you earlier." Conan scoffed, showing that he wasn't all that happy. "I heard he's a big Sherlock Holmes' fan. I'm pretty sure you will get along with him."
The boy didn't reply, just frowned slightly and turned to give the door a last, suspicious look. "So, how has everything been?" He didn't look away, even when Shinichi spoke to him. "You haven't been hiding in somebody's trunk again, have you?"
Despite the clear teasing in those words, Conan did not laugh, nor did he shoot something back to him either. "Say." Instead of that, he whispered to the phone. "Have you heard about someone named 'Bourbon' before?"
It took Shinichi off guard, apparently. "Where did you hear that name?"
"I told you before, right? I helped the FBI get Kir back into the Organization," his eyes teared away from the bathroom and to the floor. "She said that they activated a member called Bourbon, and the FBI believes they sent that member after Sherry." Shinichi listened attentively to his words, before humming softly. "Should I be worried?"
"That's… hard to say." Conan blinked at the unusual answer. "I have seen Bourbon a couple of times and… well. He's quite… unpredictable. Similar to Vermouth, so to say."
Conan groaned ─ another member like Vermouth is something they did not need at the moment. "So, Bourbon is a 'he'."
"Probably… If the face I saw was the true one, that is." Then he let out a snort. "Sorry, I'm not being of much help, am I?"
"Not really." He nodded, without so much of a moment of hesitation from his part. "That means… You don't know what he looks like."
"Sounds like you have someone in mind."
"Yeah." Conan's frown deepened, if possible. "And you let him in."
"It's alright."
"Oh? It would sound like you know him well."
"Ah, no. Not really."
"How do you know that, then?"
Conan swore he could hear his brother smiling.
"There's no way a Holmes fan could be a bad person."
An extended period of time followed, which actually made the older detective feel a little apprehensive, and could even feel Conan's blank stare piercing through the phone to reach his soul. Then there was an exhausted sigh.
Followed by the sound of the call being disconnected. Shinichi winced, before removing the phone from his ear to gaze at the screen for a few seconds.
"Why don't you just tell him?" Kuroba spoke up from behind suddenly, startling the detective, badly. "The person who's living in your house is someone whose death you had to fake, right? So why-?"
"If it was up to me, I'd tell him right away." Shinichi groaned, placing his phone back inside his pocket. "But that person didn't want to."
"This isn't something a kid should be involved into." Okiya Subaru's eyes opened, letting Shinichi see that cold, but also intense gaze that was undoubtedly Akai's. "No matter how smart, a kid is still a kid, and should stay as far as possible. They just get in the way."
"Even so." Kaito's eyebrow raised in confusion. "We're talking about Tantei-kun here, I'm pretty sure he's capable of keeping his mouth shut."
"That isn't something I can decide." Shinichi shrugged, directing his attention to the little notebook he had been holding before that sudden call. "It's his life, so I have to respect his decision. Even if I don't like it."
Kuroba gave him a long look, before sighing and leaving to do something else. Shinichi looked at the place he had been standing at previously, then sighed again, looking at Conan's little notebook. I forgot to give this back to him last time we met. His mind had been somewhere else, so he figured it was not a surprise it slipped from his mind. And I forgot to tell him I have it here when he just called…
It wasn't like he could call now. Maybe he should wait a little longer, just to be safe, he decided.
It's weird, though… His eyes narrowed slightly in thought, hand raising to caress his chin. Not knowing this isn't going to stop Conan from getting involved. I'm pretty sure Akai-san realized this already...
What is he trying, really?
It was frustrating, to say the least. Even after he had promised himself that he would be more honest with Conan from now on, this happened. Either way, he had no choice ─ he might not like Akai that much, but he knew that he had a good reason for this... or at least hoped he did.
He hoped it was worth the soccer ball in the face he was definitely going to receive when that little detective figured it out.
When. Because there was no doubt in his mind that it would happen.
Really, what's with that guy? Inviting a guy we don't know at our house. Conan huffed, while he walked through the halls of his home. And what with all that Holmes' fan nonsense? Good person, my foot!
No matter what he said, there was something about that guy that, to Conan, screamed 'danger', and he was inside his house. That also meant, of course, that he couldn't even go to his own home, or room, without worrying about that person figuring out something he shouldn't have…
Oh, no.
He froze in his spot, eyes widening in horror as a thought crossed his mind, clouding everything else. This is bad! Panicking, the kid took off running, as fast as he could, until he skidded to a stop right in front of a certain door. His hand instantly stretched and grabbed onto the doorknob.
Conan could have sighed in relief when he realized that it was locked.
"Sorry, but I can't let you in there." When he felt himself being raised in the air, picked up from under his armpits, he couldn't help but let out a startled shriek. "This room is out of bounds."
"O-Okiya-san?" Conan stared, unblinking, at the man in question, I didn't hear him coming...
"That's the owner's youngest son's bedroom." The kid hoped he didn't twitch as violently as he thought. "He passed away a few years ago."
His gaze didn't leave Okiya, even after he had settled him back into the ground.
"It seems like his family didn't want to put his things away, so they left everything as it was before his accident," regardless of how badly Conan was sweating right now, the graduate student continued. "Shinichi-kun locked the door so that nobody could enter. 'He would haunt me if I let somebody touch his things,' he said."
Well, he isn't wrong about that...
"Ah, really?" Conan forced a tight smile, deciding that a change of topic was required. Like right now. "Say, where did Ran-neechan and Sonoko-neechan go?"
"They are in the bathroom," he answered, stepping away from the door ─ an action that Conan was infinitely grateful for. "Both were extremely uncomfortable when I mentioned that I wanted to go to that Welcome Burger place you were before. Especially Sonoko-san."
"Must be worried about that garlic sandwich," he sighed, before continuing in an annoyed mumble. "I told her it would stink."
"Is that true?" Subaru headed back from the way he had come from, and the kid followed. "Well, I didn't smell anything. They kept their distance from me after all."
"Oh? How did you know then?" Conan blinked, then added without thinking. "Did you notice the oil in Sonoko-neechan's fingers?"
Subaru gave him a curious look at that, to which he flinched and avoided his gaze. I said that without thinking...
"Yeah," then he answered, as if he hadn't noticed a thing. "And Ran-san had a bit of salt sticking to her mouth."
In response, the boy only hummed, refusing to add anything, and entering the library after him. An uncomfortable silence followed, with Subaru wandering around the room, his gaze scanning the many, many books.
All the while Conan just stood there, a frown deeply carved in his features as he scrutinized the young man. Far from noticing ─ or caring, really ─ Subaru continued doing… whatever he was doing.
Finally, after what it seemed like forever, the two girls came in, awkward smiles on her faces as they exchanged glances with each other. Then, under the curious looks of both males, Sonoko brought something out of the handbag she was carrying. By the looks of it, that was probably an airplane.
She handed it to Subaru, claiming that she had found it in the garden of her house. "I'd like to know the reason that annoying prankster has for spreading these around, whoever they are," that was all she explained to him.
Ah, wasn't it on the news? The airplane prankster from a few days ago… He hadn't had the chance to look at one of those up from close. Wait, there's a pattern on it...
But being so small proved to be a problem when he struggled to see what it looked like. If I only… Huffing, irritably, the kid stood on the tip of his toes. If only Okiya-san was a bit shorter...
"Hey." He felt himself being grabbed from the back of his shirt and placed back further away from them. "I asked Subaru-san, not a certain pint-sized detective-wanna-be."
Conan didn't need to say anything, just a raised eyebrow proved to be effective to the short-haired girl standing in front of him. "Sorry for that, Conan-kun." Ran, who was right beside her, kneeled down with an apologetic smile. "We're having him compete against Shinichi to see who solves this case first."
His expression did not change at all. Really?
"I see..." At the same time that Subaru spoke up, Ran's phone beeped with a new text message. "This is a very interesting code."
"Eh?!" Sonoko was shocked. "Does that mean you've already figured it out?"
As the other girl opened the message she had received, the kid peered over to see as well.
"Most likely, the meaning of this paper is an SOS."
Both the girl and the kid gasped when they read what was written on Ran's screen:
"That paper plane is an SOS!
─ Shinichi.
P.S. Moreover, they might already be at risk!"
"And what's more, the circumstances are such that immediate attention is required."
Those words confused the three by a whole lot, not quite understanding where they had gotten that conclusion ─ and at the same time, on top of that. That was until Conan snapped out of it and rushed to Okiya.
Wordlessly ─ and with a highly disturbing smile, to him at least ─ he passed the kid on the paper plane who immediately unfolded it. I knew it. His eyes narrowed a bit, noticing that whoever this 'prankster' was, they had written a certain pattern on a newspaper page.
". . . ─ ─ ─ . . ."
"Morse code," he pronounced, passing the code back to the graduate student.
"Oh?" Subaru sounded interested. "You know morse code, boy."
"I just know how 'SOS' is written." Conan shook his head. "I heard they can be pretty useful in an emergency. Never got to learn the rest."
Of course he does. Sonoko sighed, eyes stuck on the child. Just like that unnerving know-it-all of his brother…
"Now that I think of it, wasn't that employee complaining about having to clean up a paper plane caught on the sign at Welcome Burger?" Conan pointed out, before anything else could be said or done. "There must be another one with a different pattern somewhere, or nobody would be able to tell where that person is at right now."
Nodding at him, the two girls took out running. Conan hurried to catch up with them.
There was no way he would stay in a house all alone with that guy.
Of all sights that Kuroba Kaito would have expected to witness upon arriving back home after a quick trip to the supermarket, that wasn't exactly what he had in mind.
That being a high school detective sitting at the table, with several paper planes on top of it ─ and a few under, having been knocked off but passing unnoticed.
"Wait!" Shinichi screamed on the phone, standing up from his chair all of a sudden. "There's a chance that the culprit had an accomplice!"
"But didn't you say the probability was almost zero?" Ran answered, not even a bit of hesitation sipping on her tone. "If it was you, you'd rush into the room to help right away! Tell me, Shinichi! Tell me how!"
The detective bit his lip, seeing what she meant, but fearing what would happen if he opened his mouth.
"The escape ladder!" Really, he shouldn't have been that surprised when he heard Conan's voice in the background. "They are required by law to install them. We can reach him from above from the apartment just above!"
"Wait, Ran!" Shinichi's eyes widened in horror. "Is that Conan with you?!"
When she made an affirmative sound, the high school barely restrained his urge to bang his head against the table. "Don't worry, Shinichi." It was almost bizarre that she was the one running straight into danger, yet she was also the one comforting him. "I'll keep him safe."
Of course. That kid is worse than both of us together… He restrained a sigh. On a second thought, maybe it is better if he comes along instead of letting him wander around at a moment of crisis… Who knew what he would do if alone.
"Ran-!"
Confused about what was happening, Kuroba could only stare at the detective, cursing at his phone ─ she had just hung up on him, was his best guess. It sounded like something was going amiss, but he knew better than to ask.
Well, I guess that kind of thing is common, right? So he shrugged, and crossed the room, watching the teenager quickly dialing a number, eyebrows creased in worry and panic all the same. He's going to die by a cardiac arrest before he turns eighteen, at this rate. And he couldn't blame the poison he was forced to ingest in this one.
He was calling the police now. Ranting, more likely, to whoever was the poor soul that had picked up the phone and listened to his needs. It was a rare sight, the magician decided, to see the cool-headed Meitantei this agitated.
And this messy, too. Those paper planes were everywhere, he realized with a shook of his head, crouching down to pick them up. Might as well do something until he calms down a little...
Huh? There was something beneath one of them. What is this?
Blinking, he raised the small notebook in front of his eyes.
"Ah." Conan answered the phone, with a rather plain tone. "Still alive, huh?"
"... What?"
The kid held back a laugh, exchanging a look with Sonoko and walking away, leaving her to tease Ran as much as she pleased. "A little birdie told me you got very, very upset," he continued, lips curving into a mischievous smile. "To the point of ranting to the entire police." Even when it could have been explained in a few words. I believe it's safe to assume that you almost gave yourself a heart attack."
"That's natural. I am your brother." Shinichi huffed in response. "Worrying is kind of in the job's description."
Conan hummed, thinking over those words for a second. "Though you sounded beyond terrified before, and you didn't know I was there yet."
"H-How did you know that?"
"I heard it. You have a pretty loud voice when you're scared." His brother didn't offer any reply, to which he grinned wider. "So is it also in the job's description?"
"... What job?"
"Why, husband's duties, I mean."
"You, too?!" Shinichi groaned, probably louder than intended. "Geez… Sonoko is a bad influence on you."
The kid laughed a bit louder, glancing briefly towards the girls' direction, noticing that Ran's face was as red as a tomato, and her best friend was grinning more or less than he was right now. She raised her gaze to meet his and raised his thumb with a snicker.
It was almost curious how people could get along, even if momentarily, when joining for the same cause, Conan wondered for a moment, then shrugged, turning back to the phone.
His brother had said nothing after that. He could have chuckled, but decided that it was enough for today ─ he could continue this later.
"Though you really outdid yourself, Oniichan," the kid commented, and the teen made a questioning sound. "You solved that paper plane mystery quite quickly."
"Ah, no, it wasn't that hard." Even if it wasn't truly his intention, the child couldn't help but feel a bit annoyed at how he had worded it. "You could've solved it yourself with a little more time."
"Probably not." Conan shrugged. "We had to go back to our house to ask Okiya-san because we couldn't figure out the second pattern."
Shinichi seemed to think about it for a moment. "Maybe you should get to learn morse code," then he commented, as a passing thought. "It's really not that difficult, and it could prove useful if you get into trouble."
"Hey, hey, what do you mean with that?"
"Sorry. I meant when. It will be useful when you get into trouble."
Because that was bound to happen, both brothers knew the fact very well. Though the child may not like to admit it, his older brother was right ─ even if he knew how to get the SOS message across, it would be utterly useless if he couldn't tell anyone where he was.
Besides, it would prove to be a very interesting new thing to learn.
So, with a grumble that lacked any actual anger, he ended the call and gazed at the phone, a small smile caressing his face.
Likewise, the teenage detective pulled the phone away from his ear and stared at the screen for a second more than needed. Seriously. He sighed, despite the way his lips curved upwards. Those two are going to be the death of me.
Though he might be a bit right ─ it was entirely possible that he was panicking at the time he contacted the police. I honestly don't remember what I said then. My tension flared up. He put the phone away, shaking his head from side to side. I only had a single thought in my head…
I couldn't let that tomboyish rescue member and that courageous little brat die.
At least everything was in order right now. He stood up, glaring at the several papers scattered around that he had to clean now. Damn, it's all over the floor, too. Then he spotted something that he didn't expect to see and blinked.
Before his confused gaze morphed into a blank stare. "What are you doing?"
The magician barely glanced at him, before turning his attention to the notebook. "You dropped this." He motioned at the object in his hands. "Is this Tantei-kun's?"
"Yeah, and I doubt he would appreciate it if you kept looking through it."
Kaito didn't seem to care, just flipping some pages before making a face. Shinichi sighed, crossing the room to whisk it away from his hands.
"What's all of this?" He turned his attention to a page full of letters that Kuroba saw no sense of. "This doesn't make any sense..." Raising an eyebrow, the thief turned the notebook, staring at it from upside-down. "No matter how you look at it."
"Then why are you looking at it." The object in question was yanked away from his reach. "This isn't something that you should stick your nose in, Kuroba."
"Being strangely protective from your brother's things..." Right where he was, on his spot on the floor, Kaito sat cross-legged. "Or is it related… with a certain raven-black syndicate?"
"Doesn't make it your business, either way."
Kuroba then turned to give him a long, cryptic stare ─ which Shinichi held with a firm one of his own ─ before he shrugged, standing up. "Funny for you to say that." The detective watched him lean over and pick the plastic bags he had dropped right after arriving from the supermarket. "Considering that you know why I'm doing what I'm doing."
Kudo looked as if he wanted to ask, yet kept perfectly still and silent. Noticing this, Kaito couldn't help but smirk. "I want to put whoever killed my dad behind bars," he said, while walking right past him. "And I won't rest until I do."
The teen then disappeared behind the kitchen's door, leaving Shinichi to gape, shocked, for a few seconds. Of course, you realized that already. He sighed, letting his shoulders drop tiredly, before he snorted. Guess Hirai Arthur is going to stay at Ekoda a little longer, huh?
Now, the problem is… He turned to Conan's notebook. When am I going to return… His eyes opened widely. … this…?
For what it seemed like hours, the detective just stood there, frozen in time and wide eyes stuck on a certain page in that little notebook.
"Why are you here?"
Conan, who was playing with the little cat, looked up to see Ai standing in front of him, arms crossed in front of her chest and clearly expecting an answer. "What?" He raised an eyebrow, his hand still resting on top of the kitten's head. "Can't I just come to visit?"
"You never do." Her expression didn't waver. "Unless something important is happening." She didn't miss the way he flinched, slightly. "So, what's your reason today?"
"Well..."
"Well?"
The way he purposely avoided his face, and directed to the little kitten that had just hopped off his lap to drink some water, made her worry. "Conan-kun..." she breathed out, slowly sitting on the couch, beside the boy, when she realized what might be going on. "Does that have anything to do with Bourbon?"
"I don't know yet."
"What do you mean you don't?"
Ai was growing extremely impatient by now, and honestly Conan didn't blame her, but didn't look back at her. Instead, he watched the Professor suddenly crossing the room to answer the door ─ the bell had rung a few moments ago, but both children had ignored it.
He raised his gaze and looked right to her eyes. "Oniichan got somebody into my house."
She blinked, then. "He did what-?!"
"As stupid as that sounds, yeah. He did."
"Then… Then who-?!"
"Eh?" Agasa suddenly blinked, bringing the attention from the other two. "Who are you?"
"I came to introduce myself." They both froze at the voice they could recognize. "My name is Okiya Subaru. I just moved close, so I thought of getting to know my neighbors."
Without waiting for an invitation, the graduate student made his way inside. "Oh?" His eyes fell on Conan, who stood up right away, and the girl that remained quietly still on the couch. "Conan-kun, I didn't expect you to see you here. And isn't that little girl-?"
"Ah, Okiya-san!" the boy exclaimed, purposely interrupting him. "You need to leave right now."
"Why is that?" Okiya questioned, prompting the kid to falter.
"W-Well..." Even so, he forced a smile. "Remember what I told you before? The cat-"
Just before he could finish his sentence, they heard a 'meow', and instantly he felt his face falling upon the realization that the same 'unfriendly cat' was rubbing her face against Okiya's leg.
"Oh, hi there, little one." He stayed silently still, watching as the graduate student crouched in front of the kitten. His hand scratched the back of her ears, to which she purred, contented.
"Ah-le-le? That's weird..." Conan chirped, with a sickly sweet tone. "She's usually quite hostile around new people. How do you do it?"
If he pretended to be surprised about that friendly behavior, he might get a chance to not be discovered lying about what he had said earlier.
"There isn't a trick to it." He smiled, gazing at the kitten who meowed happily at him. "Animals are pretty perceptive. If you approach them calmly and with an open heart, they will see..." Conan frowned slightly. "... that you don't have ill intentions."
Even after he had stood back up, turning to the professor, the child didn't stop staring at him ─ wishing that he, somehow, could see what his true intentions were. He said nothing, just watched Ai cross the room, now that he had given her his back, and gingerly picking Irene up.
Followed by it, she hid behind Professor Agasa, clutching the animal tightly against her chest, like a frightened child. Which, at that moment, she was.
"Whoa~!"
"Amazing!"
"We caught a bunch!"
Indeed, they had ─ like the rest of his friends, Conan couldn't really look away from the buckets full of fish, amazed by the sight. "You even got sea bream again," the kid commented, giving Genta a surprised look. "Again." He had caught sea bream, which was extremely rare and expensive, last time they had gone fishing in that pier.
"Maybe… Actually, I was trying to get eel, but I missed it."
The surprise dimmed after hearing that. Does this guy have eel for brain cells or something? He let out a dry, forced laugh.
"At least it's peaceful," whispered the little, enigmatic girl standing beside him. "Hopefully, this isn't the calm before the storm."
"Glad we have you to lift the mood, Ai-san." The kid rolled his eyes and fixated them on her. She barely shrugged, not glancing back at him. "With everything that has happened around us, I doubt this peace is going to last long, though..."
"With that Organization looming over us, peace is not an option," she smirked, despite what she had said. "Especially if that member they call 'Bourbon' decides to strike."
In response, the child gave her a serious, long look, before he nodded. Absently, he noticed that there was a boat gradually inching closer to their location from the horizon, and realized that might be Professor Agasa coming to pick them up.
"How about Okiya Subaru?" he asked out of the blue. "Did you see him after that other time?"
Ai shook her head. "I haven't seen him, but…" She crossed her arms, clearly looking uncomfortable at whatever though had just crossed her mind. "To have someone like that live right next door is a bit… unsettling."
He could easily imagine that. "Geez, that guy..." By the way he huffed, irritated, the small scientist could tell who he was talking about with no trouble at all. "Making everything even more complicated than it already is..."
The girl looked as if she was about to comment on something, when her eyes went wide, staring at something ahead. Wondering what had shaken her so much, the boy turned to look, and couldn't help the gasp that escaped from his lips.
Because there, instead of the Professor, there was someone else standing in that boat.
Okiya… Subaru?!
Frozen with shock, the boy watched as the graduate student climbed down and explained to the rest of the children, who were also clearly apprehensive but curious as well, that the professor had some trouble with one of his inventions and couldn't come and pick them up. So, he had offered himself to do it instead.
"Now that I think of it… the professor did seem to get along with him pretty well the other day." Conan recalled that, at that time, the two had spent hours talking after Okiya had mentioned that he was studying engineering. "Didn't you tell him he…?"
"There was nothing to tell him," she replied firmly, even from her spot behind him ─ she was clearly hiding, but whether or not it was a conscious action remained a mystery to the boy. "Even if I initially sensed something from him, it just went away."
"What?" His eyebrows rose. "Did it malfunction or something?"
"... Did you just call me defective?"
"Ah, no-!"
"My, my, what's keeping you?" Ejiri Futoshi, the fisherman that had been watching over them until now, suddenly spoke up, prompting both kids to flinch. "You guys need to get on, too."
So, with a quick nod, the two of them hurried to join their friends on the boat. Just before reaching it, Ai couldn't help but glance at the cryptic graduate student. He was smiling, she noted, and his eyes hidden by the light hitting on the lenses. Unconsciously, she frowned, finding incredibly hard to look away.
But she did when she tripped, losing her balance and causing her to tip towards the sea water beneath. She screamed, and her friends as well.
Before she knew it, she had stopped falling. "We can't have that." A pair of hands were on her waist, effortlessly keeping her away from the cold water. "Keep an eye out."
Haibara could do nothing but stare at a smiling Okiya, and slowly nod at him.
"What happened to that person?"
"Is she asleep?"
"... More like dead."
"Eh?!"
Wordlessly, Conan removed his fingers from the deceased woman and carefully observed her. Dehydration, he concluded, taking note of her tense skin. Her lips were dry, too ─ at that moment, he took notice that she was wearing lipstick… Even if the regulator that lied right next to a tank was completely clean. This is… He frowned. Intentional murder.
Ikkaku Rock was the perfect place to leave someone to die, Conan realized. Ships were known to sink around there, so nobody would even dare to come close ─ except them, of course. They had supposed to go back home, but his friends had insisted that they wanted to come ─ children were loved by this 'Ikkaku dragon', so the adults didn't really complain, even if Conan did.
He didn't need to say anything about calling the police because Subaru beat him to it, telling them everything as if he had just read his mind ─ which was rather creepy, in Conan's opinion. Either way, Inspector Yokomizo didn't take long to appear in order to begin his investigation.
Of course, he came into the same conclusion that the child came to earlier, but he wasn't that happy when the children told them they had 'already heard everything you said from Conan-kun before you got here.'
"Don't tell me you already knew there was a body here before you landed?"
Conan's answer comprised a plain stare piercing through his soul. What am I, a psychic?
"This boy thought someone may be here after we arrived," seeing that he was unwilling to deal with him, Subaru spoke for the kid. "There was a fin stuck in the rocks on the opposite side of here."
"There was something written on the rock next to the fin, wasn't there?" Mitsuhiko added.
Ayumi nodded. "They were fish names!"
"There were four of them." Genta held up four fingers. "Saba, koi, tai and hirame, right?"
Which meant 'mackerel', 'carp', 'sea bream' and 'flounder' ─ Conan wondered if that related, somehow, with the culprit, all the while staring at the wristwatch he had found on the island. Clearly, it belonged to the victim, and she had used it to carve her dying message.
There was also the fact that the letters H and A were engraved in the back of it, along with 'Akamine Angel─' and 'Club', with something in between scratched off.
When a group of young guys, who were acquainted with her, arrived on the island, they got that her name was Akamine Hikari, and that she had disappeared three days ago.
Oto, Aosato and Kaita ─ those were the three suspects in Conan's mind. Since last time something like that had happened resulted in the victim lashing out at them for making so much of a fuss, they had just decided to wait, not knowing that they would find her like that.
"That woman was always swimming off on her own," Oto commented. "She always said she wanted to be alone with the sea. Due to that, she ended up being taken by the current half a year ago..."
"Yeah." Kaita's head dropped slightly. "If that hadn't happened, Yoshiro likely wouldn't have died..."
"Stop, don't mention Yoshiro!" Aosato scolded him lightly. "That's unrelated."
Conan had the feeling that it was related, somehow, but didn't comment on it ─ he didn't have any proof of that, either way. Instead of that, he listened carefully as the inspector questioned them.
Kaita had an eyepatch because Aosato had punched him for suggesting that the victim was probably staying at some other guy's house and they should just let her be. Oto had a face mask because he had a cold ─ Akamine had forced him to go diving with her despite not feeling well. Aosato had a band aid under his lip because of acne ─ had been surfing on the web and supposedly bursted it open while leaning on it.
He still couldn't make anything out of it ─ the kid huffed irritably at that.
"Hey, hey..." Kaita glanced at his watch. "How much longer must we stay here?"
"You're right..." mumbled Aosato. "The day's already growing dark."
Kaita contemplated his watch for a few more seconds, until he deflated with a tired sigh, his arm falling limply at his side. Once he did that, however, he found himself staring back at that strange kid, whose eyes glimmered curiously.
"That watch you are wearing is exactly like Akamine Hikari-san's." He blinked once in response, before nodding. "Is it custom-made?"
"Y-Yeah." The intensity of his gaze made him a little uncomfortable. "She said that, as a diving team, we should have a common link between us."
"Akamine Angelfish Club," Aosato added. "That's the name she selected."
Surely, the man didn't expect to receive a gasp from the child, along with a wide-eyed stare. "Are you sure about that?" And he didn't anticipate those words, either. Even so, he nodded, dumbly. "Then… You are rather stupid, aren't you?"
"... Eh?"
"Because you just told us you killed her." The man in question went white pale when the child offered him an almost wicked smirk. "Next time you should be more careful with what you say, Aosato Shuuhei-san."
This time, not only the culprit gasped, but everyone in vicinity did. He didn't let that bother him, just kept his gaze on the trembling criminal, even as his friends surrounded them, demanding to know how he had solved the case this time.
"Fish." It was Subaru, however, the first to step out and clarify everything. "Try writing the words she carved in kanji, then cancel out the kanji for 'fish'."
It read Aosato Shuuhei ─ everyone gasped again when they finally got it. That guy… He turned to look at the graduate student who was smiling back at them, kindly, and frowned slightly. As expected from him.
"I-Idiots!" Aosato flinched back when his partners' shocked eyes fell on him. "Don't take him so seriously! With just this little riddle theory… Am I really going to be called the culprit?"
"Then prove me wrong!" Conan stepped ahead, away from his group, and stood in front of the criminal, an innocent smile caressing his face. "If you didn't do it, I'm sure you have nothing to hide beneath that band aid, do you?"
Shuuhei winced, prompting the inspector to cross the distance between them and roughly take the bandage off. As the child had expected, a lipstick mark was revealed for everyone to see.
"So you switched the regulator. Probably by severing her regulator pipe with a knife." Conan continued, purposely ignoring the hateful glare he was receiving from the murderer. "In order to create the appearance of trouble with an air leak, you then brought her here, to Ikkaku Rock and left, promising that you'd come back to her. Little did she know then that you would return..." His eyes narrowed. "But to replace the damaged regulator and check that she had given out her last breath."
The kid could see that he was getting mad now, shaking with contained anger as he listened to everything he had to say.
"When you used her regulator on your way back to the ship, her lipstick got on you," but he continued, hands sliding inside his pockets. "Why did you kill her? Revenge?" Shuuhei's eyes widened, telling him he had hit the nail on the head. "Oh, so revenge it is. Say, does it have something to do with that Yoshiro guy you mentioned before?"
"... Stop..."
"You said before that if it wasn't for her, he wouldn't have died."
"... Stop it."
Conan's eyelids slid close, shielding him away from the sight of the man, whose teeth were clenching together. "Must have a close friend of yours, huh? For you to have resorted to murder… Such a slow and agonizing death at that."
"Shut up..."
You are… quite cruel despite how you look, huh?"
"SHUT UP!"
Instantly the boy's eyes snapped open, realizing a second too late that he had probably talked more than strictly necessary. He didn't even have the time to react ─ in a heartbeat he had been swept off the ground and, instead of looking at the criminal, he found himself staring back, confusedly, at the horror-stricken faces of his friends.
A cold, sharp feeling made him freeze on that man's arms, stiffening up as he screamed to the rest ─ far too loudly for his ears' comfort ─ that they had to stay away, or else...
The knife dug into his neck, but not tightly enough to pierce his skin. It sufficed, however, for Conan to draw in a quivering breath, cold sweat making his way down his temple. I… His eyes closed tightly, painfully aware by the fact that he had left his tranquilizer watch in the boat, and that he was wearing boots instead of shoes. I need to...
"Let's play a fun little game, shall we?"
I need to get away from here, now!
"Zero point twelve percent." That calm and strangely eerie voice made him snap back into reality. "That's the probability an offender's flight will end in success."
Ai looked incredibly frightened from her spot behind Mitsuhiko, Conan faintly noticed. Subaru was slowly walking closer to the two, so calmly that it was almost unsettling to him. "That gives us one every one-hundred." And continued like that, step by step, shortening the distance between them. "But, of those that fall under the devil's influence, many grow tired of leading a false life and living in fear." The way the last rays of sun reflected on his glasses made it impossible for Conan to see his eyes. "If we exclude those that eventually surrender to the police and those that opt for suicide… The amount that does successfully escape amounts to nearly zero."
The arm that was holding him in the air was uncomfortably sweaty, and he could hear him struggling to come up with something to say. "Are you prepared..." Involuntarily, the criminal removed the knife from Conan's neck, raising in front of him with a shaky hand. "... to endure the loneliness and pressure as a result of your actions?"
Something of those words woke Aosato from his stupor, causing him to scream, completely out of it, and lunging to attack the graduate student. But he didn't get to.
Okiya moved quickly, so quickly that Conan didn't realize what had happened. The knife was knocked off his grasp in a swift movement, "There, you're safe now," and then he was in front of him, smiling friendly as he set him back into the ground. "Try not to provoke criminals from now on, okay?"
The boy was too dumbfounded to articulate a proper 'thank you'. Just stood there, staring at the young man with an almost crazed look, watching as he stood up and turned to the criminal.
His friends were beyond happy to see him safe. The inspector was holding the criminal by his shirt, looking more than ready to escort him to the police station. Yet Conan didn't move.
Just now… He took a step away from the graduate student, unable to get out of his mind what he had just seen. There was… something. Something that he was hiding under that fake kindness. Something dark, dangerous…
He backed off once more.
Something black, Conan would say.
Then he turned back around and gazed right at his eyes. It was uncomfortable, and almost as if he was intruding into his very soul ─ he did not like being there.
He stepped back once more. Instantly, whatever Conan had just seen vanished and transformed into something entirely different.
"Conan-kun!" Subaru was alarmed. "Watch-!"
Not that he got to wonder what that was all about, because he soon felt it ─ the lack of ground over his foot. With a startled yelp, he lost his balance and fell backwards.
The water was freezing, Conan noted right away.
He should have brought a change of clothes, Conan lamented in his head while bringing the blanket which the fisherman had brought for him, closer to his body, to regain some lost warmth.
"Just endure it a little longer, Conan-kun," said Ayumi, smiling compassionately at the trembling boy in front of him. "The Professor has some change of clothes for you at the shore."
Conan didn't find in himself the will to answer, just huffed, irritated by this entire ordeal.
"That was dangerous, though, Conan-kun." Mitsuhiko admonished him, causing him to merely look away.
"Tsuburaya-kun is right," Ai agreed, crossing her arms in front of her chest. "You can't just scold a criminal like that."
"I know that..." Conan glared, half-heartedly at her, but she wasn't even looking at him. "But… it doesn't matter how much you hate a person… Having her stay on an island until she died is a bit… inhumane."
A non-committal hum was all he received as an answer. Curious about what had seemed to gather her attention that much, all the other children turned to glance towards the way she seemed to stare at, and found themselves observing Okiya Subaru, leaning against the rails and gazing at the ocean a healthy distance away.
Deeply immersed in her thoughts, the scientist frowned.
"Haibara-san?" Mitsuhiko spoke up first, hesitantly. "Did something happen?"
She didn't say anything instantly. "I felt it." But when she decided to speak, it startled the four kids. "Right then, I felt that scent belonging to the Organization."
"Then?!" Genta's eyes were wide like two plates. "Is he-?!"
"Shh!" The freckled boy slapped a hand over his mouth and hissed at him. "Keep it quiet, Genta-kun!"
At the muffled apology, Conan couldn't help but sigh, setting his gaze back on the graduate student in question, his face adopting the same expression the scientist was wearing right now. Okiya must have good senses, he realized the moment he turned to look at him, as if he could feel he was being watched.
His head snapped back to another direction right away.
"Does that mean..." Ayumi whispered to her female friend. "... that Okiya-san is a bad person?"
Ai didn't know how to answer, by the looks of it. Noticing that, the other girl frowned and promptly stood up.
"I… I don't think he's a bad person," and stated, with an outstanding amount of certainty coloring her voice.
"What?" To say that Conan was confused was more than clear at this point. "Are we talking about the same person?"
He was clearly dangerous by first sight, and Ai had felt he was from the Black Organization ─ he couldn't understand how she could have gotten into such an unusual conclusion.
"But he helped Ai-chan earlier," she tried to defend her posture. "And he saved you from that criminal, Conan-kun. Would a bad person do that?"
"Well, yeah. If he was trying to convince us otherwise..."
"Then..." Ayumi didn't give up right there. "Why would Shinichi-oniisan let him into your house if he didn't know he was a good person?"
That… She actually had a good point there. Conan's hand found his way to his chin, and then the kids realized that their conversation had ended right there ─ he wasn't going to get out of his own thoughts for a long time.
Or so they thought, because a loud sound suddenly made him jump in his spot. Groaning, annoyed, he turned to the bag with their things beside them and pulled out his phone.
Annoyance turned into confusion the moment he glanced at the name on screen. Regardless, he answered and pressed the device right next to his ear.
"This better be important, Hattori."
A/N:
CherryGirl 21-6: Well, for the longest time, that was what I thought that's going to happen at the end, or at least something of that sort. Or maybe Gosho-sensei will end up surprising us with a completely different finale? Only time will tell, I guess.
XxThe-Crest-Of-AnubisxX: Yeah, that's basically it.