File Eighty-Three: A Vengeful Spirit
It all started with a simple, yet incredibly loud expression of an inoffensive, childish desire...
"I hope tomorrow never comes!"
Such an innocent wish, far from moving Conan to the core, only prompted to give his friend Genta an odd look while privately wondering if he wasn't just blowing up things out of proportion because, being honest, to him he definitely was. Having Hide and Higo, soccer stars and great rivals, absent from the finals and being forced to go to the dentist for a cavity were unsatisfactory, to say the least, to say that was a bit…
"Hey, hey!" It looked like Conan wouldn't have to do anything, since an old man that was just passing by scolded him in his place. "Don't say things like that. Tomorrow is full of hope, right? Especially for you, kids!"
Conan observed the man curiously while he introduced himself as 'a retired old man who happens to be passing by', with a bright smile that stretched from side to side. Huh? The boy tilted his head slightly, barely listening as he rambled about how great tomorrow would be to him. That's strange.
Unaware of what was going through the child's mind, the man showed his lottery tickets, telling everyone with an excited tone that they were going to reveal the winner tomorrow, only for them to wind up scattering away when somebody suddenly collided with him.
That somebody just kept running, the man's bag clutched tightly against his side as he attempted to escape.
Frankly, Conan was more than a bit disappointed when the thief got away, but at the very least the child had gotten the stolen goods back ─ which was arguably better than the soccer ball the criminal got on the back. That, and the tickets that the other Detective Boys had picked up for him, prompted him to invite them all to eat some cake in a nearby shop.
And while Conan would usually be wary of seemingly nice strangers, he accepted right away.
There was something he needed to confirm, after all.
"Will be eating with Aoko and her father tonight.
She said you're free to join us, if you are feeling like it."
Shinichi locked his phone without giving it another glance and placed it back inside his pocket so that he could focus on the scenery in front of him.
Blue stretched far and wide upon his eyes and into the horizon, creeping quietly yet steadily towards the shore, dousing the sand with its gentle touch before retreating and starting over again. Leaning further against the rail, Shinichi's eyes closed slowly, finding a strange comfort in the rhythmic murmur of the waves, and allowed himself to be soothed by the tranquil, beautiful melody that reached his ears, only if just for a mere instant.
Even then, he had to be careful. Because he knew that if he focused for too long, he would begin to hear it ─ a macabre mess of terrified screams and agonizing wailings he definitely didn't want to experience ever again.
"Kudo-kun?" Finally, he opened his eyes to glance over his shoulder, and wasn't alarmed when he saw the languid young guard standing beside him, shifting his weight between his feet in a clearly nervous tick. "You know I'm grateful you helped me with that a few years ago, but..." He was clearly anxious, which admittedly wasn't rare per se, but it only made Shinichi chuckle a bit. "If the boss finds out I'm letting you in here without permission, he's going to get me fired!"
"Ah, don't worry. I won't be here for long..."
"Yeah, but you will return tomorrow, won't you?!"
It wasn't weird for him to jump into that conclusion, given that he had been paying this place a visit now and then for the past year ─ visits that had become rather frequent lately, now that he thought about it. Yet, it wasn't like he was telling the guard that. Instead, he shrugged and strolled around the place.
The guard groaned, watching the teenager promptly crossing the room and stepping up on the empty stage.
It was definitely different from the last time since he had been there ─ repaired and constructed all over again for obvious reasons ─ but he couldn't help the sense of familiarity when he pulled back the curtain, stepping right into the dark backstage.
"Don't interfere!"
Startled by the aggressive voice that boomed in his ears, little Kudo Shinichi staggered backwards and scurried to hide behind a pile of boxes. There was someone there, realized the boy with a bated breath while trying to make himself as small as possible.
"This is my business, not yours, you despicable woman."
Maybe he shouldn't have sneaked out his Mom's sight, but really, he couldn't really help it. His Dad had said that this person was quite the good one at his job, and that his tricks were mostly flawless. It had made him incredibly curious, so of course his thirst for knowledge that prompted him to go investigate what made him this good.
But the man didn't sound like the person he was trying to investigate ─ not even a bit. Did he have an assistant? It would make sense, but…
A cold, female giggle made the little boy freeze, shocked beyond belief at the strange familiarity.
"Don't worry, I won't interfere." He inched forward, doing his absolute best to look. "I'm just here to make sure there are not any loose leads anywhere."
He couldn't see anything ─ frowning to himself, he leaned further.
"And should I remind you?" The malice tainted her tone, sending shivers down Shinichi's spine. "Fail, and you know what will happen."
Wondering what that could mean, Shinichi stood on the tip of his feet, leaning against the boxes to see anything through the darkness. Though, all he managed to do was, to his complete horror, knock one of them over and fall with a loud sound.
"Who's there?!" The man yelled, getting closer to his position.
Shinichi didn't hear the rest, just bolted as fast as humanly possible and back to his Mom, not minding the scolding he got later for disappearing for him.
Chikage laughed all the while, and Kaito was too excited for the show to care for anything else. Strangely, Sharon was incredibly late and yet to appear, but Shinichi didn't think much of it.
A slight narrowing of eyes later, he was waving at the guard and thanking him for everything, again. His polite smile disappeared a fraction of a second later, once he stepped out of the place and was away from every sight.
In his pocket, his phone vibrated again. What now? he thought, irritated, while pulling it out again to see and almost groaned that he had gotten another five text messages.
"You can answer your phone, you know. It's not like it's going to bite you or something…"
"Though Aoko might."
"I'm serious, I don't know if I can keep her from letting herself in order to see what state you're in… And you aren't even here!"
"Next time you plan on skipping school for two entire weeks, you better think of something better than just 'catching a cold'..."
"I'm in a tough spot right now. I wouldn't mind if you lent me a hand with your problems!"
Shaking his head, he shoved his phone back and took a step forward.
But suddenly paused, let a deep breath in, and glanced at the building one last time. His eyes could see a fancy, rebuilt theatre next to the sea, so stunning that would take anyone's breath away.
Yet, in his mind, all Shinichi could see were the flames dancing vigorously, reducing every single thing into ashes, screams echoing in his head to never be unheard again.
When this old man had talked about his granddaughter Yoshimi ─ who he loved a lot, but strangely enough didn't even know her school's name ─ Conan had more or less confirmed his theory. He had told them about her with a broad grin plastered all over his face. Crow feet could be visible around his eyes, his bottom teeth couldn't be seen ─ Conan observed quietly.
Such an expression never made another appearance. Sure, he laughed as he talked with his drinking friend, but the rest… it was just gone.
His theory turned into certainty when he, squinting his eyes ─ lack of reading glasses, the kid supposed ─ scribbled down in his notebook that he was going to drink with his friend at 7 PM.
Not to say that he had no qualms over being spoiled over the recent TV drama whose ending knew because he had read the original novel. As if he knew he would never watch it.
Too bad, because Conan was to make sure he lived long enough to watch it ─ that was exactly what he typed to Ran, apologizing in advance for getting back home late, and explaining to him amazed friends that followed without questioning.
Thus when he saw him, face flushed due to the effects of alcohol, slowly making his way to the train rail, he crept up on him and whispered, just loud enough for him to hear:
"It will hurt."
Startled at the voice, the man halted in his tracks, frozen in place as he watched the train pass by them, like nothing had just happened. Slowly, he turned to glance at his left and saw the child from before, looking back at him with eyes that seemed to pierce through his soul.
"Would you happen to have a life insurance policy with a high premium, sir?" the strange boy questioned suddenly. "Drinking beforehand, so that you could jump in front of a moving train so that nobody would think of suicide. Especially when you had us all as witnesses of how much you anticipated tomorrow, even though you don't really care."
"Don't care?"
"Despite you're going to Osaka to see the Big versus Spirits game..." Ayumi declared, as they all came up from behind. "You didn't know that Hide and Higo-san won't be there!"
"The match starts at 4 PM, but after a mere three hours..." Mitsuhiko jumped in. "You'd return here to drink with your friend. That's really strange! The game lasts two hours, you can't possibly return here from Osaka in just an hour!"
Conan eyed them for a moment. Really, these guys… he sighed, tiredly. Didn't I say I was going to solve this on my own?
"You simply put the lottery tickets we picked up in your bag without counting them," Genta joined as well, walking closer to the group with Haibara at his side.
"It's also weird that you'd want to hear the spoiler about tomorrow's drama," said the girl, smoothly. "It's as though you knew you wouldn't be seeing it tomorrow."
Well, they had more or less said everything ─ Conan sighed again, now that the deduction was given out for him. "Despite everything, you really are a little selfish, aren't you?" he stated, eyes narrowing ever so slightly. "Didn't you think how Yoshimi-san would feel if she found out her surgery was paid for with her grandfather's life?"
He was shocked, beyond a doubt, that he magically knew that his granddaughter was ill, so he explained that, despite treasuring the glasses case she gave them so much, he didn't know her school name, meaning that she wasn't assisting for some reason. Being hospitalized was the most logical answer to that mystery.
At that he confessed what Conan had suspected. That little girl had been hospitalized for six months for a heart disease, and could only be saved with a ridiculously expensive operation that couldn't be paid. To make things worse, he had won the lottery last month, but had lost the winning ticket.
Ayumi, Mitsuhiko and Genta screamed, alarmed by that. Conan gave them a long look, before shrugging and moving closer to the sobbing man. He looked up, confused when the child promptly grabbed the glasses case from his hands and opened it.
"Really, be more careful." The man blinked, confused at the way he smirked, despite the situation in hand. "Next time you plan on killing yourself for money..." His eyes widened when the kid took an innocent ticket from inside and waved it in front of his face. "Look throughout through all your things. You might get a huge surprise."
Quite the surprise, indeed ─ the man beamed, genuinely this time, when his eyes caught sight of the ticket Conan was holding, then laughed in joy when the boy handed it back to him.
"At one point, I was even thinking of robbing a bank! I'm so glad I didn't!" Laughing even louder now, he crouched down in front of the kid and carelessly messed with his hair ─ an action that, evidently, Conan did not appreciate. "No, no, it's not good to do bad things!"
… Hey.
Just like that, the old man left with a radiant, genuine smile while waving at the young detective team, promising to repay his gratitude another time. Such a weird guy, thought Conan, grumbling and attempting to smooth his hair again.
"What an easy-going guy..." commented Genta, to which Conan couldn't help but agree. "To think we encountered a bank robbery a few weeks ago..."
"Yeah..." Mitsuhiko shivered a little. "I couldn't help but shudder at that."
"Oh, yeah!" Ayumi was definitely the least concerned about it, judging by the bright smile she gave Ai. "We saw someone familiar among the bank customers."
Conan was pretty sure there wasn't anyone like that, besides Jodie, of course ─ then again, Ai had seen her after the robbery, so it wouldn't make sense for Ayumi to tell her about it.
"It was the man who was also there during that bus jacking."
Ah, that incident, Conan hummed in thought. If his memory served right, that had been about five months ago, and actually felt like a lot more than just that. So many things have passed since then, he mused, sticking his hands inside his pockets. Though if Ayumi-chan still remembers someone that she saw back then, he must have stood out from other people...
"Ah!" Genta remembered him as well, which made Conan incredibly curious now. "You mean the guy with mean-looking eyes?"
"I saw him too!" Mitsuhiko nodded. "As I recall, his right cheek was burnt."
Conan definitely didn't remember him. "Was there a guy like that?"
Ayumi shook her head. "He didn't have any burns at the time of the bus jacking… But I think he was wearing a knitted hat and a mask."
That innocent sentence would echo in his mind, repeatedly, even long after they had been pronounced. They would follow him home, teasing him, pulling him into a deep thinking trance that he wasn't going to get out of for a long time.
He undoubtedly could recall a guy like that now.
But no. There's no way…
Is there?
"Hey, don't make me repeat myself!"
Startled at the voice, Conan spun around, swearing that he could recognize that voice. True to his suspicions, his eyes met the figure of a blonde woman shouting, rather desperately, at the poor worker of the department store they had found themselves in.
"The one-point mark on the back of this cap is this department store's original design, right?" she continued, motioning to the hat in her hand. "Do you remember the customer who came to buy this?"
The woman denied remembering something to that, and just as Jodie was about to question further, Camel came by, confused about this dilemma. He didn't get to ask about it, because his fellow FBI agent promptly snapped, telling to keep quiet.
"Jodie-sensei!" By the looks of it, Conan hadn't been the only one to spot the unusual pair. Stunned at the unexpected face, Ran instantly ran to them.
"Agent Camel, too?" The kid blinked, surprised. "Why are you here?"
"J-Just to check on something..."
Jodie looked particularly nervous, Conan noted right away. Why, though?
"Jodie-sensei?" Kogoro suddenly said, prompting the woman to flinch. "If I recall, you're the FBI agent who taught English at Ran's high school..."
Also, the FBI agent who Conan joined several times, but he kept that quiet ─ he had promised the brat he would maintain their knowledge of the situation in secret so to keep as little people aware of their involvement as possible.
"Y-Yeah, and this is my partner, Agent Camel." She motioned at Camel, who winced at the sudden attention. "We'll stay in Japan for a while..."
Camel forced a smile. "Be sure to say hello whenever you see us."
With that, they waved at the group and walked away, disappearing from their sight in a matter of a couple seconds. Weird, thought Conan, eyeing the employee Jodie had been talking to for a moment, while Kogoro and Ran exchanged looks.
"Well, they don't seem to have anything to do with the red shirt mystery..."
"Yeah..."
Not adding any further word, the kid tugged on the worker's shirt to gather her attention. "Say, say," he said, purposefully childish, blinking curious eyes up at her. "Did that foreign lady just now talk about anything besides the cap?"
"Yeah," she replied, though still sort of taken aback at that strange woman from before. "She kept on asking me if a man with a burn on his cheek came to buy anything."
Keeping a straight face after the answer he received proved to be an incredibly tough thing to do, especially when his friends' words about seeing a person like that before at the bank robbery still lingered in his mind. Then, Jodie-sensei saw him too… Slowly, his eyebrows were brought together. That man among the hostages at the bank robbery.
"What's with that face?" asked Kogoro, long after the employee had walked away. "Do you know that guy?"
"I'm… not sure."
"Eh?"
"Who would have said it?" The faux graduate student smirked a little, watching the high schooler in front of him closely who, far from amused, huffed slightly while raising a cup to his lips. "That we would be here, sitting in a cafe and drinking coffee like a pair of good friends."
"I prefer the term 'accomplices'," he mumbled, sounding annoyed even though they hadn't been sitting there for a full minute. "Just barely."
The older man chuckled lightly, leaning back against his seat and silently gazing around, with a pleased smile on his lips that the teenager, honestly, couldn't help but groan at. "Don't worry," he finally said, expression unchanging. "I'm aware that, for a friendship to be developed, a mutual liking is required. And, clearly, you can't even stand me, Shinichi-kun."
"What would you know about me?"
"You'd be surprised… For starters, that coffee you're drinking is probably your breakfast, despite it's almost 1 PM."
Shinichi almost choked on his coffee. "How-?"
"Judging by the time you exited that sushi restaurant last night tells me you had a very late dinner," he continued, as if nothing had happened. "The fact that that sushi restaurant was in Beika, of all places, means you had been trying to investigate something there. That, and that you accepted to come meet me so quickly says you're desperate. You aren't getting the clues you want."
Mouth closing shut, the teenage detective held in hidden defiance the stern gaze the young man was giving him, green flashing menacingly from behind half-opened eyelids.
"Since you're rushing despite having escaped the Organization almost a year and a half, you must be running out of time." His eyes closed again, and a polite smile crossed his face once more. "Am I in the mark, Shinichi-kun?"
Shinichi stared for a moment, then his gaze narrowed in a glare, "Yeah," and admitted, having no other choice. "You can't possibly take down an entire Organization in little over six months..." Eyes falling on the cup in his hand, Subaru noticed they had lost their strength. But if I can leave something behind…
So that Shiho-chan can find a cure for herself. So that Conan...
"You're quite the arrogant one," Subaru pointed out, resting his chin over his hand. "To think that a kid can do something like that, alone." Shinichi didn't answer. "Didn't you ask your father for help?"
"And you're quite the hypocrite one." The younger detective let out a humorless chuckle. "Dad doesn't belong to the FBI. He's a civilian."
"A civilian with friends in the Interpol, if I'm not mistaken."
"Yeah, but..." Groaning, he set his gaze back on Okiya, and his interest dimmed. "Hey, hey. When I ran into you last night, you didn't say we were going to talk about me. You said-"
"That there's something interesting you might want to see, yes."
He opened his mouth to say something, but before a word could get out, the sound of the door opening met his ears. "Those..." His eyes widened slightly at the sight of two foreigners walking inside, a blonde woman and a dark-haired man with an unfriendly face that Shinichi had seen from afar once or twice. "Aren't those Agent Jodie and Agent Camel?"
"They are."
"What are they doing here?"
"Keep watching."
Reluctantly, Shinichi did. In silence, he watched as the two agents sat a few tables across from them and quickly ordered something ─ nothing out of the ordinary there. "Hey..." he huffed, cheek leaning against an open palm, yet not letting his eyes drift away from them. "Are you sure you aren't just trying to spy on your ex?"
Subaru did not reply, prompting Shinichi to mumble something under his breath and take his coffee ─ that had most likely have gone cold already ─ again, watching in boredom as Camel stood up and headed to the bathroom, while Jodie walked out the cafe to answer a call, leaving their unfinished tea sitting on the empty table.
Just as the boy was thinking of leaving, claiming that this was a waste of time, he almost choked on his coffee for the second time today. Hey… His eyes widened, horrified, when he saw a man making his way to the restroom. Hey, hey…
Despite the cap he was wearing, or the burn scar that etched the side of his face, Shinichi recognized him ─ Akai Shuichi. But how? He blinked stupidly at the man sitting with him, too shocked to be annoyed at the smug look he was giving him back. He… He's right here!
Then it fell on him. "Bourbon," he whispered, and Subaru nodded. "He's trying to make sure you're dead."
Silence followed that statement, which Shinichi didn't try to break for a full minute in favor of trying to get his breathing back. Once he regained his composure, a focused frown took over and fished out his phone from his pocket.
"What are you doing?" asked Okiya, raising an eyebrow.
"What do you think?" huffed Shinichi, typing furiously on his phone. "I'm telling Conan to stay away if he sees him walking around." He frowned deeply, not looking away from the screen. "If he thinks it's you and goes out his way to talk to him- Hey! What are you doing?!"
Okiya was barely affected by the anger showing on the detective's face, just quietly put the phone he had snatched inside his own pocket. "We can't have that," he said, calmly. "That's basically telling him I'm alive."
"Who cares about that?!" Shinichi could barely contain his tone. "Look, even if he doesn't know about you, Conan is-"
"-still going to get involved, I know. In fact, he already is, and I'm certain Bourbon knows."
"Huh?!"
"Bourbon is a detective," he answered calmly, unlike the teenager in front of him. "And that kid has been there when the Organization tried to assassinate Yasuteru Domon, and at the hospital where Kir was kept under surveillance." Shinichi's face was becoming paler by the second, giving him the impression that he was about to be sick. "Did you know? Two weeks ago there was a robbery at the bank right next to this shopping centre, I saw it on TV."
"Wait, Conan wasn't..."
"He was there." Of course ─ Shinichi wasn't really surprised to hear that. "Talking with Jodie. I also saw him." There was no need to explain who was 'he'. "Considering who he is, I wouldn't be surprised if he figured out that boy is familiarized with the FBI."
A frustrated sigh escaped from Shinichi's throat, and tiredly rubbed his face with his hand, doing his absolute best not to give out under panic. "Rest assured," said Subaru after a moment. "If he wanted to do something to him, he would have done it already."
"Yeah, very reassuring."
"Right now, that kid is like Jodie and the others," continued the agent, not minding the groan he, yet again, received. "No matter how much of a good actor he is, if he doesn't look genuinely surprised, Bourbon will know. And we can't have that, can we?"
All the reply Shinichi gave was a scowl. Subaru shrugged, "Well, we will know soon enough," and said, taking a marker out and grabbing the cup coaster, scribbling something on it ─ whatever the reason. "Heard he is here with Mouri-san and Ran-san for a case."
Conan is here, too? He dimly wondered if his bad luck had greatly increased in his absence ─ it was becoming absurdly disturbing, even to him.
"I wonder..." he mumbled, more to himself than to anyone else. "... if there's a way to keep him from running straight into trouble."
"Probably not," Okiya said then, smirking, added, "He may be young, but he already has the heart of a detective."
The heart of a detective ─ Shinichi knew well enough what that meant, even if he wasn't comfortable with it. Like him, Conan would never cease trying, regardless of the consequence of his actions, until he succeeded. That could prove to be a problem, he sighed.
"Battling the Organization is not a child's play, however." The smirk vanished, and a severe expression took hold ─ an expression that didn't belong to Okiya Subaru, but to Akai Shuichi instead. "If he truly wants to fight in this war, he will have to prove himself to be a capable warrior."
Shinichi stared back to Akai, an unreadable look present in his eyes as he contemplated what he had said until, ever so slowly, his head tilted forward and his eyelids dropped close. "Don't underestimate him, Akai-san."
Despite everything that was said, despite Shinichi despising the thought of Conan being thrown into this, and him knowing that he would do anything in his power to avoid it, the high school detective found himself smirking back.
"He's my little brother, after all."
It seemed to amuse Akai. "Oh?"
"Conan is still a kid, though. Don't let him too close to the fire."
"Aren't you a kid yourself?" Shinichi scoffed at that, turning his head away, while Okiya finally stood up, the cup coaster in his hand. "It was nice having this talk, but I should be taking my leave. I think it might be wise for you to stay here for the time being, however."
"Eh? Why?"
"I saw a sniper on the building opposite this one." The teenager gasped in shock, giving Subaru a crazed look. "While they are around, you should avoid showing your face," he said that with such a pleasant smile that was almost creepy. "You can order something to eat meanwhile. I'll pay it for you when I come back to return your phone, if you want."
"I can pay it myself." He felt his eyebrow twitching. "Just give my phone back."
"Don't worry. I will watch the kid, so just rest here for a moment."
"Hey-!"
Bowing slightly, the man promptly turned around and walked away. Rest here, he says. He gritted his teeth, glaring daggers at the agent that walked to Jodie's empty table, and swiftly shifted her coaster with his ─ to leave a message, Shinichi supposed. That guy...
With no phone, or way out, Shinichi had no other choice but to let his head drop to the table with a sickening sound ─ which he paid no mind to ─ and groan, incredibly frustrated about every single thing.
Everything had taken a turn for the worse the moment a man stepped out, revealing that he was strapped with bombs under his jacket, claiming that someone had done this, urging Kogoro to solve the red shirt mystery as soon as possible.
This mystery being thirteen red long-sleeved shirts sent by the bomber along with torn off receipts, in which the time 12:28 could be seen in each, yet none of the workers could remember someone buying them. Folding along the creases, Conan could sort of understand what the message, written with flag signals, was: 'I saw you burying it'.
Any other day, he would be doing his absolute best to solve the mystery quickly to avoid the bombs exploding… if the bombs were real, that is.
The man had lipstick on the back of his shirt, and he had claimed he got it traveling in a packed train. Seriously, how in the world do you travel in a crowded train with bombs strapped on your body?!
Meaning, the man was actually the bomber. And the sender's identity...
"Thank you, Maruoka-san!"
Seta Mai, the cashier, nodded jerkily as the child closed the door behind him. That, and the fact that she hadn't been surprised when he borrowed her computer to look into a case in the snowy mountains on December 28th confirmed his theory.
Now the hardest part… Letting Kogoro know about all this. Sighing, the boy turned around and stepped into the hallway, thinking about how he was going to get the man to listen…
He froze suddenly.
In between the people, Conan caught sight of something that made his blood freeze in his veins ─ there was a man, hands tucked inside his pockets, and a cap firmly pressed on top of his hair. That's Beika Department Store's original design.
A burn mark decorated the right side of his face, he noted with horror. The guy that Jodie-sensei and the others… His eyes widened. … saw at the robbery.
Without warning, green eyes flickered in his general direction, and he felt his breath hitch in surprise. Yet he didn't move, he just held back that dangerous gaze until it just left him alone.
The man disappeared in the multitude ─ it took Conan a full second to snap out of it and start to run. Head whipping from side to side, his gaze darted to every single spot, searching for that mysterious person.
But just like a ghost, he had simply vanished from sight. Letting his shoulders drop, he decided to head back to the place where Ran and Kogoro were.
That's why Jodie-sensei looked so distraught that time... At that robbery case, she had actually seen him. His mind was elsewhere, however ─ attempting to put the pieces of that complicated puzzle together. But is there a way for Akai-san to have survived?
Jodie-sensei used my phone, probably for fingerprints, which means there was a body. Could that have been faked?
"Shh… Go back to sleep, Conan."
Conan jumped slightly when the memory suddenly struck. That's right… What was Oniichan doing there? He hadn't gotten the chance to ask him ─ there had been too much in his mind for that. He used to fake the deaths of his targets, didn't he?!
Then it was entirely possible. The question remained in the how ─ groaning, Conan placed a finger under his chin, racking his mind to remember as much as possible from that event. That night when they had sent Mizunashi Rena back to the Organization.
It must be here, somewhere, he thought, closing his eyes tightly. Inside my head, the answer should be there!
He recounted the events in his mind. That day, he had been running around, mostly beside Akai the whole time ─ they had even planned Hidemi's return together ─ which made it hard to pinpoint when he could have met with his brother long enough for them to plan a fake death, without him noticing a thing...
Unless… It had been late and had fallen asleep after talking with Eisuke. There… His eyes opened, recalling that he had seen Shinichi carrying him, only to doze back off moments later. There it is! At that moment...
He hadn't woken until the next morning. Did something strange happen after that?
Yeah ─ his mind supplied right away. His phone had rung with a call from his brother, even though he had made sure to turn it off. That bastard turned it on when I was sleeping, huh? A dry chuckle escaped him at the realization. Then Akai-san took it from me. His eyes widened. Using his right hand.
Akai had told him he was ambidextrous, but the kid had observed that he had a preference with his left hand. He had used his left hand for everything else, keeping his right one safely tucked away inside his pocket. Probably Jodie-sensei used my phone for fingerprints after seeing that.
Wait, wait. If those weren't Akai-san fingerprints… Whose were...?
It struck him suddenly ─ Akai hadn't been the only one to hold his phone. The Black Organization spy that killed himself that night… He frowned at the memory. Kusuda Rikumichi.
He picked up my phone, used his right hand, too… I see, that's why Akai-san used his right hand despite being a lefty. If he used glue on his right hand… Then...
Then it is possible.
Except that it didn't make sense. If Oniichan really faked Akai-san's death… Silently, he apologized to Ran for sneaking away when she scolded him. Would he be showing his face around like this?
Shaking his head, he let his eyes stray to the red shirts scattered all over the floor. There's no time for wondering about that… They narrowed slightly when they settled on the bomber. There's yet a case to be solved.
For starters, flag signaling...
"Flag signaling is used where the verbal communication isn't possible, such as on the sea or in the mountains."
Yeah, yeah, that… Huh?
"Since the meaning of the message was 'I saw you burying it', it'd be the mountains rather than the sea." Conan couldn't believe his ears ─ that was definitely Kogoro speaking. "Moreover, the receipts torn unnaturally on the right side suggest snowy mountains and the color red suggests murder." Wait, wait, he realized all that?! "One would disguise a murder on snowy mountains as a disastrous accident, since disasters aren't registered with the unit of minutes, the 12:28 on the receipts was likely referring to December 28th."
Woah, that deduction is actually pretty accurate-
"The above are my deductions. Hurry and complete your investigation so that we may be released."
That… Actually, that made no sense. Conan turned to look at the man, confused by those odd words, only to find him raising his eyebrow at the phone screen. "Hey, Dad..." said Ran before she could say anything. "Don't tell me you were reading the entire time?"
He was ─ Conan realized while looking around. Someone here had sent him a perfect deduction. But who? Frowning, he gave up his search and turned to Kogoro ─ he needed to finish this case as soon as possible.
Something didn't sit right to him here.
"But something is strange..." Conan chirped, innocently, gathering their attention. "If they were all sold on a Sunday at 12:28 in the witness section of this department store… Wouldn't the bomber just wait secretly near that section at that time for them to come?"
"I bet the sender didn't come..." replied Ran, leaning forward slightly. "That's why the bomber knocked out that man in the restroom and strapped on the bombs."
"But that's why it's strange!" he argued. "To strap bombs onto someone, you need to go somewhere to avoid people, right? How do you do that without taking your eyes off the fitness section? He wouldn't be so careless if he was so desperate to find the sender that he'd resort to bombs!"
"I see!" shouted Kogoro, grinning. "He had an accomplice!"
Conan's eyebrow rose at that. Idiot. "What a lousy accomplice then..." He turned to look at the several people around, talking on their phones. "To allow the customers to call."
"You mean he was alone?" questioned the girl, to which the kid nodded. "Then, he probably strapped the bombs to that man long before 12:28 for preparation…"
"No… The bombs were his last resort..." Kogoro said, after thinking about it for a while, glancing at the bag that was right next to him. "The bombs he had left by the exits to this floor, he could easily retrieve them before the explosion… But if he doesn't know whether the sender would come… It'd be too risky. No, it had been strapped before getting here."
"But how?" Conan said, pitching his voice purposely high. "He said he was riding in a very crowded train, right?"
Father and daughter stared at the child in front of him, and the gradually widening smirk he wasn't able to hide any longer, then, ever so slowly, their heads turned until their eyes met with the man strapped in bombs, who was visually sweating right now. Together, they gasped.
"But if it's about snowy mountains… I think I read an article recently..." The criminal flinched when Conan settled his eyes on him. "December 28th, thirteen years ago, Daisaku Maruoka died in an avalanche… Ah! Was he who you buried?"
"N-No-"
"I see, I see… That was pretty smart, Maruoka-san!"
Nobody understood what he meant, until the moment the cashier stepped out from the crowd who the bomber recognized right away, claiming that he had murdered her father. Pretending not to know what she was talking about, he brought out a letter on his jacket, where it clearly stated that Maruoka had kidnapped his son ─ she looked genuinely shocked about it.
But when it was suggested that the truth would be revealed if they checked around the cabin, since the bomber was a novice at mountaineering, he let go and confessed every single thing, thus giving closure to this case, and the one from thirteen years ago.
"I wonder, though," commented Ran, snatching the phone from Kogoro's hand and inspecting it closely. "Who could have sent this?"
Conan had wondered about it, actually. It couldn't have been that person, right?
"Well, maybe they'll show up if I send a 'thank you' reply!"
I doubt it, thought Conan, crossing his arms behind his head. Whoever that was, they don't seem to want to get involved in this…
A ringing sound startled him and turned to the source. Both Ran and Conan watched, in shock, a man in the crowd suddenly picked up his phone from his shirt, and immediately went his way. Their surprise was enormous, however, when he confessed he had sent no text.
"It was probably sent by that guy who picked up my phone..." he said, looking for him with his eyes, yet being unable to find him. "He was wearing a black cap… And his right cheek had a burn mark-"
"Where is that man?!"
He was sort of startled at the kid that had just snapped at him. "He took the escalator when it started moving..." Still, he managed to put together an answer. "I think he probably went downstairs-"
"Conan-kun!"
But Conan paid no mind to Ran's call, just rushed down the escalator, going two at a time and promptly hopping off once he reached the second floor, quickly turning again to descend again when a hand in his shoulder made him gasp and look over his shoulder, a crazed glint present in his eyes.
"Why are you in such a hurry?" He was shocked to see that the person who stopped him was none other but Jodie. "Could it be that you're looking for the same person I am?"
"The same person?" Conan spun around fully. "Then, is it true that Akai-san-?!"
Jodie frowned, nodding slowly. The kid stared, wide eyed, as he let that fact sink ─ it really hadn't been his mind playing tricks on him, yet he couldn't exactly tell if that was a good or a bad thing, actually.
"Seems like this place is really dangerous," commented Camel, coming to a stop right next to her partner. "Just like that message warned."
"Shuu left a message for me," Jodie explained, probably noticing the confusion pinching the kid's face. "While I was away from my seat at the basement cafe, he secretly wrote it on the back of my coaster." Seeing that the child was now following, she turned back to Camel. "So why is it dangerous here? The bombing case is already solved."
"Because I saw it. Near the window of the hotel across the street… There's someone resembling a sniper… And there's a black Porsche 356A parked below."
At the mention of the car which was undoubtedly Gin's, the boy bolted again, Jodie following him close behind. Oh, no… Once reaching the entrance, the child halted, then observed in utter horror the incredibly large number of people pushing themselves to get out of that place, after everything that had happened. This can't be good!
Brazenly getting in the middle of the multitude, Conan swam along the sea of legs, mind running and searching for a way to avoid the unavoidable ─ Akai was there, a few steps ahead, about to get snipped out any second now. If he did that, all these people would be in danger, he realized, gritting his teeth, not even noticing that he had lost Jodie amongst the crowd.
"Gift certificate!" he had no other choice but to scream as long as his little lungs allowed. "They are issuing 10,000 yen worth certificates as an apology!"
Greed was embedded with human's nature, so of course the flow of people stopped to question the child if they had heard right ─ every single person. Naturally, they all started rushing inside, straight to the reception.
Among the commotion, Conan took the chance to slip away and hide behind a corner.
I might have to hide for a while, he thought, letting out a relieved sigh, while watching the angry customers shouting at the poor workers, who had absolutely no idea what that rumor was about. He cringed. They sound mad...
"I see, a gift certificate." Alarmed by the voice, the kid spun around. "I can't say it was a smart method, but in order to remove the customers from harm's way, you had no choice, right?"
Definitely, he didn't expect to see Subaru, of all people, smiling down at him with Kogoro and Ran in tow. "I had some business at Teito Bank next to this department store," he explained, without needing to be asked to. "After I was done there and left, I saw you guys and tried to catch up to greet you, but then I caught up in this case."
Kogoro's eyebrow rose. "Who is this guy?"
"He's Okiya Subaru-san, a graduate student," Ran introduced the young man to her father. "He lost his apartment in a fire and how he's temporarily staying at Shinichi's house."
The older detective seemed to be barely interested in him ─ unlike Conan, who was just staring at him with a newfound, yet completely unfounded interest.
"But what did you mean about Conan-kun removing the customers from harm's way?"
"Ah, it's nothing worth asking." Subaru's smile remained perfectly in place. "Just a trivial story about a pack of stupid wolves who lost their easy prey."
A small frown appeared in Conan's features, apparently puzzled about things that nobody but him could know about.
"But isn't Teito Bank rather far away from where you're living?" questioned Kogoro. "Why do you have an account in such a far place?"
"No, I went to that bank for some other business."
"Other business?" asked the child, with a strange urgency in his voice.
"Well, there was a robbery case in that bank before, right? Someone I once knew happened to appear in the video they showed in the follow-up news report," he explained, easily. "That's why I went there, hoping that he might live around here. Maybe I would've gotten lucky and met him."
Conan fell oddly quietly at those words, staring back at him so intensely that amused Subaru a little, evidenced by the way the tip of his lips quirked upwards. Yet none of them commented on it, and the graduate student nodded and turned back around, heading for the exit.
In response, the child stepped up, "Wait!" and yelled, causing Okiya to turn around to see what he wanted. "Did you find him?"
It took a moment for Subaru to reply. "Actually, I happened to see him on the floor from earlier," he informed him, watching as the boy stiffened up. "Unfortunately, it seems he wasn't who I thought he was, so I didn't talk to him."
His eyes widened gradually, putting on a bewildered expression that Okiya would attribute to that of a person finally seeing after being blind for so long. Without his consent, his lips curved into a delighted smirk while watching the little detective stared right through his soul.
"I have known his face for a very long time. There's no way I could be mistaken."
While being completely unable to understand it, Ran was certain that something was going on between those two. It really didn't take a genius actually, all that was required was to look at the young boy standing beside her.
He didn't even notice he had crouched down next to him, just stood in place with his mouth hanging open with shock ─ it was as if he had seen a ghost, Ran would have said if he didn't know any better.
Okiya didn't seem to mind, just continued walking until he disappeared out of sight, and then Ran frowned ─ there was something that didn't feel right with that guy, since the time he met him in Shinichi's bathroom. He hadn't resisted when she attacked him, which was, to say the least, weird.
Not only that, there was something. Something that she couldn't really pinpoint, but tell her he was dangerous. At first she hadn't given it much importance, since Shinichi wouldn't have given him the keys to his house if he wasn't trustworthy…
But seeing Conan like this...
So, she leaned forward, "Say, Conan-kun," and whispered to him. "Do you think Okiya-san is this Bourbon person?"
Slowly, Conan reacted, shaking his head yet never letting his eyes stray away from the exit where Subaru had just disappeared from.
"He's… just a vengeful spirit." His head tilted slightly, blinking twice. "Probably."
"Huh?"
"... Kudo… Hey, Kudo, are you alright there?"
The hand shaking his shoulder halted his movement when he groaned. Huh? Through barely open eyes, he glanced around the place and slowly straightened up. His barely functioning mind processed that he was still in the cafe where he had talked with Subaru. Had he fallen asleep?
"You were starting to creep me out." Just realizing that he wasn't alone, the teenager slowly blinked at the person beside him. "The waiter there told me you were scaring the customers too… You know you snore, right?"
"... Kuroba?" Kaito didn't understand the increasing bewilderment in Shinichi's face. "Why are you here?"
Kuroba made a face. "You sent me a text."
"Huh?"
His gaze fell on the phone that sat on the table and instantly rushed to grab it. Indeed, someone had used his phone and told Kuroba to pick him up ─ how did he unlock it, anyway? "That bastard..." he mumbled, passing a hand through his hair. "He must have sent it to you, since you had been sending texts non-stop..."
"What was I supposed to do?" Sighing in exasperation, Kaito sat in front of him and promptly stole a cookie. "You have no idea how difficult it is to explain why you seem to be missing all the time. Especially to Hakuba." Shinichi made a non-committal hum in response and went to fetch another one. "Wait, you didn't even finish your coffee?"
"You don't want to drink from it," said the detective, looking rather mad about something. "It's probably drugged."
"Eh?" Kaito blinked, giving the coffee a side look, before shrugging. "I see. That was probably the only way to keep him from recklessly running into danger." Now it was Shinichi's time to look confused. "I heard there was a bombing case recently. Detective Kogoro solved it."
Ah, it did make sense ─ even if it didn't make him less upset about everything. When Conan was involved, his brain usually stopped working. If he caught wind of a bomber around while his little brother was still in here, he must have just rushed out without worrying about being spotted.
"... Should one become infected with these bacteria, rashes and skin irritation can emerge from any part of the body." Shinichi's attention was suddenly caught by the TV at the corner of the cafe. "Transmission is primarily done by droplet contact. Young children are especially susceptible and often exhibit rapid symptom development post-transmission."
"What's this?" asked Kaito, realizing that the detective's attention was primarily focused on the news now. "Is your older brother's alarm going off?"
"Shut it."
"Well, I wouldn't worry much. I have long come into the conclusion that Tantei-kun is practically immune to death."
Everything would be much easier if that was the case. He laughed dryly at the thought. "What's this bacteria, though?"
"Ah, everyone is going nuts over it. Apparently this terrorist group blew up a lab and stole potentially deadly bacteria."
Shinichi's eyebrow rose. "Why would they blow the lab?"
"I don't have a clue either. It doesn't make sense, does it?" Kaito shrugged, standing up. "Probably they want to spread terror around. Blowing things up makes everything flashier."
Privately wondering about it, Shinichi stood up and, after apologizing for the waiter for all the trouble he had caused, left. Silently, the magician and the detective undertook their way home, each buried inside their many, many thoughts.
"They said they were going to release the bacteria in a week if they didn't meet their conditions..." mumbled Kaito, more to himself than anyone else. "Geez, talk about bad timing..."
"Bad timing? Is there anything else happening in a week?"
The thief let a smirk form on his features, confounding the high school detective more than ever before.
A/N:
Gamelover41592: Actually, Ai's "gift" is actually the improved antidote that came with the letter from chapter 81. Sorry if it wasn't clear enough.
CherryGirl 21-6: No, I haven't forgotten either, don't worry. Hope not to disappoint XD
Yeah, that has always confused me, if I'm being honest. I don't know why they colored Elena like that in the latest episodes. Probably to make her more alike to Mary, but it doesn't make much sense… it's weird to keep changing it all the time.
ShinranShipper: Well, that's basically it, actually. It's about the drug.