File Ninety-Seven: Their Most Important Mission

So there's a conference later today, huh?

Conan hummed to himself, eyes lingering on the several mahjong pieces he had drawn all across the paper. Could they have found another body? he wondered, grabbing a red pencil and starting to, absently, paint the circles that were supposed to be of that color ─ whatever the reason. I can't think of anything else.

Not that he could actually try to sneak inside the conference again with Ran actively watching him.

It was annoying, decided the boy, clenching the pencil in his hand. This would be much easier if Occhan just told me, he thought with a loud groan. What's with him, anyway? Saying he wanted me out of the case and everything…

Of course, he had gone out of his way to slip inside a police investigation and met Vermouth on the way, but, truly, he had done worse ─ much worse. And he was certain Kogoro knew, too. This time around, Conan had mostly stayed out, only acting from far away once he recognized Vermouth, who was arguably ─ and ironically ─ the safest member for him to be around.

"So, why don't we strike a deal?"

I thought we were… starting to understand each other, somehow. His eyes closed momentarily, taking a deep breath. For the first time, I really thought we were, for once, on the same page.

And now we're back at the beginning? Conan still couldn't get his head around it. Keeping me away from this case...

All of Conan's movements stopped abruptly. Did something happen overnight? Kogoro must have learned something, the child realized. And whatever it was, it couldn't be good. It had, after all, made the older detective decide that the kid had to stay out of it. Got Ran-neechan to monitor me, too...

Once more, his eyes fell on the mahjong tiles in his notebook. What's going on? he wondered, gaze narrowing at the many possibilities.

So fixated on his newfound dilemma he was, he never noticed that the girl sitting beside him was nowhere to be seen.

"Hmm… That doesn't look like World History to me."

Shinichi almost groaned, but quickly decided against it and continued to write.

The teacher still hadn't arrived, so Shinichi had figured it wouldn't matter if he pondered a little over the clues Ran had told him about. Besides, everyone was studying for the test they were having at their last period, so the silence had been something he had been thankful for.

"Mahjong?" Well, so much for silence, Shinichi noted, but kept on doing his self-imposed work. "Why's that?"

The tip of his pencil snapped ─ Shinichi took a deep breath, struggling not to lose it then and there, before reaching for his pencil sharpener. "Go bother Nakamori or something," he grumbled. "I'm working here."

"I'd say you're not making so much progress, though." Shinichi twitched. "Is that bastard Hakuba doing any better?"

"It appears not," admitted the detective. "Said he's returning this afternoon, since it's clear that inspecting the crime scenes is just a waste of time."

"So he's coming back? Oh, the joy."

"At least he's helping." Shinichi glared. "Unlike others."

Grumbling, Kaito turned back around to lean into his seat, sighing as he did so. Momentarily, he wondered if he should return to studying, or just go pester Aoko like the detective had suggested, but as his hands slid inside his pocket and touched something distinctively cold, so he pulled everything he was carrying out, dropping it all over the table.

Kaito paused, gazing intently at the black feather that lay there, among the spare change scattered all over his desk, and gingerly lifted it to his eyes. This is what Tantei-kun gave me the other time in London, he remembered, studying it for several seconds, before shoving it back inside his pocket. He said he picked it up after a strange man came up to him and disappeared in front of his eyes...

A man… Disappear… That was familiar somehow, reflected the magician, closing his eyes as he tried to recall from where. But got nothing, so he huffed, opening his eyes back again and allowing his head to rest at the palm of his hand.

His gaze then fell on the coins in front of him and paused, eyeing them for a moment before he straightened up.

That's right, he realized, his free hand absently playing with one of them, turning it around as he thought. It happened a long while ago… And flipped it.

It was at my Dad's funeral.

The coin spun in the air.

If Kaito hadn't been confused before, well, he definitely was now. Blinking, he stared down at the little boy that still smiled expectantly at him, little hands stretched forward as he offered him… a coin?

"Conan!" Shinichi gasped, kneeling down in front of him. "What do you think you are doing?"

"Man," he said, pointing somewhere amongst the people. "Made it disappear." He motioned back to the puzzled boy. "Told me to ask him."

Shinichi's eyebrow rose. "Some man told you that Kuroba would teach you how to make that coin disappear?" Conan nodded. "Where did you get that, anyway?"

"Man," Conan repeated.

"Hey, hey, didn't I tell you not to accept anything from strangers?"

The toddler motioned to the coin in his hand. "Not candy."

"Yeah, I guess I told you not to accept 'candy' from strangers, but…"

"Say." Shinichi turned to the girl when she spoke out, eyeing the toddler curiously. "Who is he? Your brother?"

"Well, yeah." He supposed they looked a bit too alike for her to think otherwise. "His name is-"

"Conan," said the boy happily instead, raising two fingers. "I'm two."

"Two? Wait." Aoko blinked a few times, before turning to Shinichi. "Is he, really?"

"He does look a bit older, doesn't he?" He laughed. "Conan is a little ahead in terms of development, so..."

"I see." She recovered quickly enough and smiled at the little kid. "I'm Aoko. Nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you!" he parroted.

Aoko giggled ─ the boy was adorable. "Listen now, Conan-kun…" Her smile faltered. "Kaito can't teach you how to do that."

"Eh?" Conan looked disappointed as he turned back to his brother, as if searching for an answer. "Why?"

"Well, you see…" He wasn't sure how to explain it ─ and by the looks of it, Aoko didn't look any better. "Kuroba hasn't done this in a long time..."

"Why?"

Shinichi cringed. "It makes him a little sad." Looking over his shoulder, he glanced at Kuroba, who still stared at the little boy with an unreadable gaze and continued. "Listen, Conan. The person who taught him how to do that was someone Kuroba loved very much. But he just… had to go somewhere. He-"

"Is dead."

"Well, yeah…" Shinichi sighed. "He doesn't enjoy doing that as much as before anymore, so maybe it will be best if we leave him alone."

The little kid whined a little, but complied little otherwise when his older brother took his hand, "Let's go with Mom and Dad. They must be worried about you," and said, slowly beginning to take him away.

"What the-? Seriously, Kuroba!"

At the annoyed hiss from behind him, Kaito turned around to see that the coin had accidentally, but perfectly, landed on top of the detective's notebook. "My bad," he said with a grin that meant that he was definitely not sorry.

The magician picked the coin back up, not minding that his housemate rolled his eyes at him before continuing to write ─ whatever he was writing. Instead, he turned the coin over in his hand, observing it closely. "Say, Kudo," he began, low enough for nobody else in the classroom to overhear. "Do you remember the day I met Tantei-kun?"

"Yeah." He didn't even look up ─ of course he did. That day had been the first, but also the last, time he had to talk to his little brother about the importance of reading the mood and empathizing with others ─ and not the other way around. "What of it?"

"He said something weird, remember?" Kaito frowned a little. "That a man made a coin disappear and told him to ask me to teach him how to do it."

Shinichi halted for a fraction of a second ─ an action that Kaito definitely didn't miss. "Oh, right, I've forgotten about it," he replied, as if nothing had just happened. "Maybe he was just a colleague of your dad..."

"Maybe… Or, maybe he was Dad."

"Yeah, maybe… Wait."

Kudo had frozen, finally realizing what Kaito had just said and raised his gaze, only just realizing that the magician looked deadly serious. "Kuroba, you don't actually mean that, do you?"

Silence met his sentence, and only a determined, piercing stare met his eyes. Shinichi hesitated, mouth moving soundlessly to produce a word, when something else made him jump, startled, before he realized it was just his phone buzzing. Instantly, the detective went serious and rose from his chair. "Sorry, I need to take this call," he said, before rushing to the door. "Talk to you later."

Before any further word could be said, Shinichi had disappeared, leaving Kaito alone to narrow his eyes at the door and sigh, gazing thoughtfully at the coin resting on top of his palm.

"Hello? Ai-chan?"

"I just saw your message," she replied. "You told me to call you as soon as I could."

"Yeah..."

"What is it?" Ai pressed, a tad exasperated, while she glanced at the rest of the hallway from over her shoulder. "Kobayashi-sensei is going to get here any minute now."

From the other side of the phone, he heard a deep intake of air. "I need you to watch over Conan for me."

Ai stilled for a second, blinking owlishly at her phone. "Watch over Conan-kun?" she whispered incredulously. "Did something happen, Shinichi-san?"

Back at Ekoda, Shinichi frowned deeply, leaning against a wall as he remembered that call he had received last night ─ it had been from that teacher at Conan's old pre-school.

He had been several times there, under the pretense of still being grieving the death of his little brother, meaning that nobody had ever questioned him, and he would find her every time, solemnly standing in the middle of the room with a lost, melancholic look in her eyes.

Of course, every time when she would realize his presence she would turn around, chat for a little with him, before leaving the room. These conversations had been short, at best, but enough for him to realize that this woman was still quite affected by her old student's death, and while it was disheartening and saddening, to say the least, Shinichi had considered that the fact that she still insisted to leave everything the way it was would prove pretty handy ─ not that he had ever found anything useful for his never-ending chase after those crows.

They had exchanged numbers once, and she had promised to call if she ever saw anything unusual. And last night, she had finally done it.

By what she had told him, she had been visiting that room less and less and, while it would make Shinichi happy that she was apparently moving on after such a tragedy, he just couldn't. She had said, too, that she had gone in there again, one last time, and what she had seen had shaken her to the core…

"When I turned around, I couldn't believe it..." Her voice had been trembling, too. "The billboard was… completely empty."

"So the billboard was empty," Ai repeated, failing to see the point. "What does that mean?"

"Remember that Conan grabbed onto one of those papers on the billboard as he was being kidnapped," He didn't miss the way she gasped, finally getting what that meant. "Fingerprints can last over forty years on paper, especially if it has stayed there, untouched, ever since they put it back on."

Ai failed to respond properly, as she had a hard time breathing after that shocking revelation. "It should be okay, for the moment," continued Shinichi while Ai placed a hand over her heart, willing herself to compose herself. "They need something to compare them with, so until they find something..."

The girl took a moment to respond, peeking inside the classroom, where the boy in question was still sitting, so focused on his work that he didn't seem to have noticed her absence. She watched him yawn under his hand, then continue reading.

"Conan-kun said exactly the same thing."

"Huh?"

"I didn't check my phone purely by coincidence. I wanted to contact you, too." She frowned, eyes falling on the figurines at the back of the classroom. "Yesterday, Conan-kun made a clay dolphin in class… Today, its fin has gone missing."

When the detective failed to answer, Ai pressed him. "Should I tell him?"

"No," Shinichi replied after a beat. "Don't say a word to him."

"Are you sure?"

"No need to worry him." Her eyes fell back on the small detective again, who tiredly scrubbed at his eyes, but diligently continued with his work. "Conan is probably on the edge right now as it is," his older brother explained. "In the state he's in now, if he knows that he's in danger, he will probably try to get away from you guys so that you don't get hurt in the crossfire."

Ai wouldn't be surprised if he did that, honestly. "If he's alone, he'll be an easier target for them."

"Exactly." There was a pause while the high schooler thought over his words. "I already asked Ran to come pick him up after school. I'd just skip my classes and go right away, but it would be suspicious to leave just before a test and that's the last thing that we need right now."

Haibara's grip against the phone tightened.

"I know it's probably too much to ask but until Ran or Mouri-san get there..." Shinichi was most certainly frowning right now. "Make sure Conan is never alone."

Taking a deep breath, and closing her eyes, the little girl nodded, even if he couldn't see her. "Leave it to us."

"Thank you, Ai-chan. Call me if anything happens."

And she stood there, even after the call had ended, leaving her alone with the constant beep sounds against her ear, heart threatening to burst out of her chest at the mere thought of them. She shook her head rapidly, attempting to keep all those bad thoughts at bay ─ that wasn't important.

All that was important right now was keeping him safe. Him, the boy who was draped across his notes, exhausted by what Ai assumed to be so many sleepless nights ─ she knew because, either they were working or worrying too hard, she was no stranger to those.

Him, the boy who had always done his absolute best to protect her and all those around him. She had to step up on her game.

So when the rest of their circle of friends finally noticed that he had dozed off, she stopped them from waking him up. Their faces changed dramatically after she, whispering so as not to rouse him, explained the situation to them. All of them, without exception, nodded ─ it was clear in each of their expressions that they were just as determined as she was.

Silently, but unanimously, decided it. They would protect their friend, no matter what it took.

It was the Detective Boys' most important mission, after all.

Not good. Not good. Not good.

The panic that he had successfully contained as he conversed with Ai, so as not to make her even more nervous, had started to settle in, taking over every cell of his body, causing it to tremble at the mere thought of that happening. No, that isn't good either… Sliding down the wall to sit on the ground, Shinichi forced himself to take a deep breath.

Losing control isn't any good either.

In his defense, this was getting out of control, too. When he had gotten the call from Conan's Apple Class teacher before, he had kind of hoped that this was still going to turn out just fine ─ it wasn't like they knew Edogawa Conan was the same child… But this changed everything.

He needed to calm down ─ eyelids sliding close, he willed his body to breathe properly.

It proved to be especially hard, especially when he could see his brother's ghostly pale face while he bled out in his arms four years ago, every single time he closed his eyes.

"Everything alright there?"

Shinichi looked up and his expression dulled at the sight of a certain magician standing right next to him. "Things couldn't go any better," said the detective sarcastically. "Except for the fact that the Organization most likely knows Conan is not dead and is, in fact, my younger brother."

"... You're kidding."

"I wish I was." The teenager groaned. "And I can't risk leaving school unless I want people around to grow suspicious of Hirai Arthur, and everyone around him." He laughed dryly. "My little brother is in danger, and I'm forced to stay here doing a World History test… How ridiculous is that, honestly..."

Kuroba stared for a while, unsure of how to reply, until he grinned ─ an action that had Shinichi eyeing him oddly, wondering if he was really listening to him.

"You forgot to add that your little brother is a resourceful little demon," he stated, lowering to sit down right next to him. "And that he's living with an ex-police member and a karate expert. Those kids that hang around him are rather skillful too when it comes to it... and his little girlfriend is scary, I'll have to admit..."

That stole a chuckle out of the detective. "He would kill you if he heard you saying that."

"Doesn't he already?"

"Point taken."

Throwing back his head to rest at the wall behind him, he allowed a chuckle to escape him. Kuroba was most likely right, Conan would be alright, and here he had been worrying over nothing. That realization helped him breathe a little easier.

"It's a little unusual, though..." He needed a change of topic. "You approaching me, I mean."

Kaito didn't respond, just fixed his gaze forward, grin all gone and replaced by a tight frown.

"You came out here to speak about something else." Shinichi smirked. "Is that the something you have been meaning to ask for so long but didn't feel brave enough?"

Closing his eyes, the magician inhaled deeply, then reached for something inside his pocket and offered it to the detective.

Blinking in confusion, Shinichi studied the object closely. "What's this?"

"A feather."

"You don't say."

"A black feather," Kaito emphasized, as if it actually explained anything. "Tantei-kun found it in London."

"Conan… gave you a feather."

"A black feather."

"Conan gave you a black feather." Shinichi couldn't really see where this conversation was going. "How is that relevant?"

"He met a magician at Saint Bride's Church. That black feather was all that he left before disappearing in front of his eyes."

Certainly, he hadn't expected that, but at least now the detective understood why the color was relevant. It reminded him of a certain magician wearing black, who had challenged Kuroba not that long ago, he reflected, examining the feather once more.

"He introduced himself as his 'older brother', too," said the magician, forcing out a snort. "How weird is that?"

But the detective did not answer to that, even if he had heard him ─ the faint narrowing of his eyes gave it all away. An answer to that never came, however.

Kuroba watched him for a moment until his gaze fell back to the window in front of them. Again, he inhaled deeply. And exhaled.

"Kudo," he called, finally fixating his eyes on him. "Do you believe my dad is alive?"

But, instead of the bewildered stare he had been expecting, Kudo barely reacted. All he did was frown, ever so slightly, still focused on the feather in his hand. Kaito swallowed in an attempt to soothe his dry throat. "Is he?" he pressed again, shoulders tensing up. "Hey!"

Slowly, Shinichi's head shook, making the magician still completely. "I'm not sure." The fact that he didn't deny completely made Kaito's eyes widen dramatically. "There was never a body. And also..."

"Also what?!" Agitated, Kaito rose to his feet. "You were the first to say it before, weren't you?! You said my dad was-"

His voice suddenly left him. Shinichi remained calm as ever, holding his desperate gaze with outstanding ease. "When I was a kid, I happened to overhear two people talking, as you might know. A man and a woman," he said. "Without a doubt, the first one must have been Snake, and the other Vermouth."

"Vermouth?"

"You might have known her back then as Sharon Vineyard, your father's other student besides my mother." Kaito froze. "I don't know if you remember this, but she was really late for the magic show. Knowing what I know now about her identity, I can't think of anybody else."

His gaze dropped to the ground, arms crossed in front of his chest as he reminisced. "Of course, once I joined the Organization, I began to investigate Snake. He was, to say the least, rather sloppy doing his work, so much that he had just barely avoided execution. Naturally, I couldn't believe he could have done such a perfect assassination of such an important target… It had to be her who did the job, instead." He frowned a little. "But I had no proof. I decided to investigate the matter further once the Organization tried to wipe me off the map, so-"

"So you took shelter at my place," concluded Kaito. "Hoping that you could find something else by staying at the place where he once lived."

Shinichi shrugged. "I found nothing, though. I thought it was a lost cause, but..." He lifted the black feather in front of his eyes. "Then Kaito Corbeau showed up, along with your mother, and challenged you. Both of them wanted you to retire… Not to say that it was obvious that Corbeau wasn't acting on his own, and that he had an assistant..."

Giving it a last look, he gave the feather back to the magician, who accepted him ─ it was such a peculiar sight, Shinichi had to admit, seeing his always nimble hands that would always move so gracefully while performing fumbling nervously with the object, but chose not to comment on it.

"That stirred a crazy, highly unlikely idea in my mind. What if all that wasn't more than another big performance? What if all that Kuroba Toichi did was to play with our perceptions and is, in fact, not dead but hiding?" He brought a hand to his chin, not quite noticing the shocked look the teenager was giving him. "I'm not sure how he could've pulled something out like that, but I wouldn't put it behind someone like him… I don't know, since then it has been hard to get it out of my head-"

"Then why didn't you say anything?!" Shinichi's head jerked up, finally noticing the shaking magician in front of him. "If this is true… If all of that is true-"

"And if it's not?" Kaito couldn't answer that. "What would've you done if I told you what I have been suspecting and it turned out that he's actually dead?"

He was right, a part of his mind rationalized and made his hands drop at his sides, staring at the detective without an actual idea of what to say about it. Kudo seemed to realize it, silently standing up and patting him on the shoulder as he passed by him on his way back to the class.

Kaito did not know what he was supposed to make out of this.

Conan picked his head up, eyes flickering around at light speed, searching for Kobayashi-sensei. He found her soon enough, hovering over another student, helping him with his worksheet and sighed in relief over not being found out.

His gaze dropped to his own worksheet and grimaced in return ─ while any other day he would have finished his assignment in record time, this time around he hadn't even gotten to write his name. I feel awful, he thought, passing a hand through his face, wiping away the cold sweat that had collected on his brow.

And he wasn't exaggerating. That brief nap he had before homeroom a couple of hours ago had done nothing but to make everything worse. His head was throbbing now, and his focus was all over the place, making getting through class a torture right now. Even reading was hard when the words blurred together behind his oversized glasses.

With a tired grunt, the boy scrubbed at his eyes, barely able to stop them from drooping down again. That's what you get for not sleeping for… how many nights now? Conan wasn't able to remember, but figured it wasn't important. Though this isn't the first time something like this has happened…

Maybe he had been already tired after London, he concluded, preparing himself to muffle another yawn, when he was stopped in the middle of it.

Something pressed itself against his forehead. "Well, this is odd." Conan was suddenly all too aware of the fact that the girl was blinking at him from close, too close ─ one hand resting on his forehead, the other on her own ─ as she hummed in thought. "I could have sworn you had a fever… Your face is a little red, though."

"I'm fine," he stressed out, making sure to put as much distance between them both as possible ─ Conan was positive that the unnatural warmth on his face could not, by any means, be attributed to any kind of sickness. "I haven't had a lot of sleep lately, that's all."

Ai didn't look nearly as convinced, but returned to her work, stealing slightly concerned looks to his way from time to time, which the boy hardly noticed, far too focused on not knocking his forehead against the wooden desk for anything else. He probably hadn't been doing such outstanding work, he supposed, because next thing he knew his head was snapping up after dropping again.

And Ai had her hand raised. "Sensei," she called, causing Conan to blink a little. Sure enough, their teacher approached them, with a surprised expression that the boy could attribute to her never dreaming of the day that she, or by extension him, would ask for her help.

"Haibara-san, what's wrong?"

"Conan-kun." It wasn't the answer she had been expecting. "He doesn't feel good."

Conan flinched when his teacher's attention suddenly shifted to him, then opened his mouth to explain to her that this was just a misunderstanding and that he was just fine. Kobayashi went serious upon setting her eyes on him, however.

"Let's see..." she whispered, feeling his forehead, and hummed in thought. "You don't have a fever… But Haibara-san is right, you look a little sick."

Again, Conan wanted to protest, yet it seemed he didn't have any say in his own wellbeing. "Haibara-san, would you accompany Conan-kun to the nurse's office for me, please?"

"Yes."

He stared at her for a moment more than necessary, until he sighed, reluctantly complaining and rising from his seat, even if he stumbled ungracefully a little. This is embarrassing, he thought, smiling weakly at Kobayashi in thanks for stabilizing him, and followed the girl outside.

Certainly, their classroom wasn't the closest to the nurse's office, but Conan had never believed they were particularly far from each other ─ until today, that was. As the two children walked side by side, the boy felt as if his head was beginning to snap in half. Not even massaging lightly helped any longer. If anything, it only increased exponentially while he tried to will his body to walk through what seemed to be a full-blown earthquake.

A part of him wondered if this wasn't a bit too much for a simple case of sleep deprivation.

"You look awful." Even Ai's voice sounded so far away.

"Geez, thanks," he whispered.

"Don't mention it." Though her lips had risen upwards in a teasing smirk, her frown remained there as she studied him for a moment, then decided to move closer to him, resting a hand on top of his shoulder to keep him from swaying ─ the fact that he didn't even complain was worrying enough. "I thought you were fine."

"Yeah, I am..." His words were slurring together by now. "This is nothing..."

"Obviously."

"Hey, guys, you think Conan is okay?"

Both Mitsuhiko and Ayumi exchanged looks, before glancing back at the phone the little girl was hiding under her desk. Since Genta was sitting in front of them next to another student that didn't belong to their detective club, he had decided to sneak a message through their group chat. That was strangely smart, thought Mitsuhiko, but didn't comment on it.

"I hope he is…" Ayumi wrote back.

Mitsuhiko pulled out his phone to write a response. "More importantly, what are we going to do?" he typed. "If he's at the nurse's office, we can't watch him, can we?"

Haibara could stay there for so long before being sent back to her class, leaving him all alone with the nurse, which wasn't any good either. From what the girl had told them, those scary people could be disguised as anyone in this school, so leaving him with her could be potentially dangerous.

He began to type again, when another message came through.

"I'll stay here as long as I can, then we will switch." It was from Haibara. "You guys prepare an excuse to get away from class, one by one, until either recess or Kogoro-san comes to pick him up."

Genta turned around slightly to face the others. All three of them nodded, then went back to write their response:

"Okay~!"

"Understood."

"Detective Boys, here we go!"

That should suffice for now. Ai sighed, sliding her phone back into her pocket with a sigh. From what Conan-kun told me before, Kogoro-san's meeting doesn't start until after 4 PM, so he should be at home…

It doesn't take long to go from the agency to this school… We should be able to make it.

"Hmm… It appears you're just fine, Conan-kun." She looked up to the nurse smiling at Conan. "Just rest for today and you should be good to go. Make sure not to stay up late reading next time, alright?"

The boy nodded, thanking the nurse, and slid into the covers. She smiled kindly in return before turning back around, saying that she was going to look for Kogoro's phone number in the school database so that he could sign him out for the day. "Stay with your friend until I return, okay, dear?" she said to the little girl standing in the middle of the room. "I won't be long."

"Okay," she agreed easily ─ it worked just fine with her, anyway.

Once the nurse left, Ai approached the bed where her friend rested, which happened to be the only one occupied right now ─ if that was for the best, or not, she honestly wasn't entirely sure. Half-lidded eyes flickered towards her as she dragged a chair next to him and sat down.

"You'll be fine, but if something seems wrong, call us," she said, motioning to the phone that he had left, beside his glasses, on the nightstand. "I'll have Ayumi-chan and the others keeping watch, though, so you better focus on getting well."

She was about to continue, but was rendered unable to when she noticed the boy silently staring at her, so intensely that it was almost unnerving. "What?" she spat out, already annoyed even if he hadn't pronounced a word.

"Nothing… I just realized something..." He blinked slowly, eyelids weighted down by sleep. "You're always watching my back, aren't you?"

Ai was speechless. It seemed like she must have looked really shocked, because Conan chuckled a little. "Guess Oniichan was right..." he said in a tired whisper. "We are... partners-"

Suddenly, he felt as if his pillow had been taken away from the back of his head and forcefully thrown at his face.

"You idiot." When he pushed it away from sight, he was greatly surprised to see that she was frowning profusely, arms crossed in front of her chest while she looked away, making him unable to see her face clearly from his position, and added in a soft murmur he barely heard. "Don't say such embarrassing things."

Conan blinked again ─ had he said something wrong? He didn't have time to ponder over it any longer, because another bout of drowsiness hit him like a brick. Yawning again, he grabbed the pillow Ai had just flung to him and merely snuggled against it.

"Thank you..." Ai looked back up at his mumbled words. "... Ai..."

His voice trailed down into silence, followed by a soft snoring that indicated that he would not talk any longer. Even several beats after that, the girl barely moved, quietly gazing at the boy, slightly surprised by what he had said moments before dozing off.

He had missed the honorific entirely. Perhaps he had just fallen asleep before he could use it. Either way, it made her smile lightly, strange as it was, even to her.

"Now."

Ayumi had barely read her friend's text before her hand darted upwards, telling the teacher that Conan had forgotten his bag and offered to go to the nurse's office to return it. As expected, Kobayashi had allowed it, so she calmly walked to the door, Conan's school bag held between slightly shaking hands.

The moment she was out of sight, Ayumi broke into a sprint. She got to the medical wing just as Ai was walking away, sharing a knowing look before they separated ways.

"Hello," the nurse greeted as soon as she entered the room.

"Hi." The little girl smiled. "I brought Conan-kun's bag."

"Oh, okay then. He's sleeping over there."

Ayumi thanked her briefly while she, as slowly as humanly possible, approached the bed where Conan was resting, his bag still clutched against her chest. It'll be okay. There was no way it wouldn't. There isn't much time before recess.

I'll stay here as long as I can, she thought, gently setting the bag at Conan's feet. Then Mitsuhiko-kun will say he needs to come to the bathroom, but he's going to sneak inside here instead…

Even in the case that Kogoro took too long to pick him up and didn't get there until after recess, Genta would claim that he had a stomachache ─ Mitsuhiko had said that, considering everything that the boy ate at a daily basis, the teacher wouldn't suspect a thing. Genta had looked absolutely displeased when he said that, but admittedly, it was still true.

She stiffly sat on the seat beside the infirmary bed, hands resting on top of her lap as she gazed down at her friend. It was clear why Ai had basically forced him to come there ─ he didn't look so good. Looking from close, she could see the black rings contrasting against his ghostly pale skin, causing her to wonder how he had gotten like this without her, without any of them, being any the wiser.

Conan-kun is always working so hard. Her fingers curled into tight fists. He's so fearless, too… Diving in all those cases without a thought, to protect everyone...

She bit her lower lip. It must be scary, though… Even to him. After a shake of her head, she settled her gaze back on the boy, and a glint of determination took over her eyes.

This time around, we will protect you, Conan-kun!

"Conan-kun is just a little tired," whispered the nurse, smiling as she approached the girl. "You can come by and visit in recess, but for now it'd be best if you let him rest."

"But!" Ayumi whined. "Can't I stay a little longer?"

"Like I said, there's nothing to worry about-"

"Please~!"

"I'm sorry but-"

A sudden clearing of the throat took their attention away from each other and to the doorway. "Excuse me…" Ayumi could have cried in relief at the face she saw. "I came to… Uh…"

"Ah, Mouri-san!" The nurse exclaimed, stepping away so that he could see the slumbering boy. "You came by pretty quickly."

"Well, I was close by."

Watching the great detective approach the little boy, while the nurse lightly scolded him for not keeping an eye on his young charge's bedtime, filled Ayumi with a low sense of relief, glad that they had made it just fine.

Carefully, he picked him up. Despite the annoyed grunt, along with the muttered complaints about 'the brat' being 'more trouble than he was worth', Ayumi couldn't help but think that there was a rather gentle look in his eyes as he gazed upon him.

Maybe Kogoro was a little fond of Conan, but was too shy to admit it, realized Ayumi with a smile, before offering to bring his school bag over to the agency after school, seeing that the adult was having a hard time doing so.

But as he turned around, the girl blinked twice. Just now, she could have sworn she had seen a shadow, she didn't know of what exactly, passing by his eyes.

Maybe she had just imagined it, Ayumi concluded, watching the man take Conan away.

The moment the bell rang, signaling the end of a school day, Mouri Ran had practically bolted.

She hadn't sprinted away from her seat, so to say, as much as she would have wanted, but had been fast enough to disappear before Sonoko could even say a word to her ─ she would explain that later, along with why she had skipped karate practice, somehow. All that mattered now was getting to Teitan Elementary as quickly as she could.

"Ran, there's something you need to know," Shinichi had given her the news via phone at some point in the morning. "But you have to promise that, whatever you do, you won't panic."

Just by hearing those words, her mind had already started to think of the worst case possible, and she wasn't so far off ─ his next words had made her feel cold enough to shiver and rub her forearms in response.

"Ai-chan told me they have Conan's fingerprints ─ Edogawa Conan's fingerprints." She remembered having to grasp the phone with both hands, because her grip had gone weak at the terrifying revelation. "It's official now. They know about it."

"Don't say that so casually!" she had hissed. "We need to go get him right now! If they get to him-"

"It will be okay for now." Despite the calm tone, Ran could tell there was an unnatural quiver in his voice. "They won't kill him right away. Most likely, they will try to extract as much information from him… He is related to me, the rat who betrayed the Organization and stole data that was important to them… Or so they believe, anyway."

At that moment, Ran had wondered what he had meant with this 'data', but hadn't had the presence of mind to do anything but worry about that little kid. As it was now, she found she didn't care either. She could already see Conan's school around the corner ─ she hastened her pace.

"They will try to abduct him. The easiest and safest way to kidnap a young boy is on his way from school, when adults are not around," Shinichi had said. "But if they see you and the children around, they will wait until the next opportunity arises. They won't risk it with so many witnesses around. I'll get there as soon as I can and handle things from there."

Slowly, Ran had gotten her breathing back to normal, focused on the task that she had been entrusted.

"Be careful, Ran. They can be anywhere."

She felt her breath hitch in surprise when she saw that his little detective group was just walking out of school, but he was missing. Before she knew it, she was basically running their way, suddenly very aware of the familiar bag ─ Conan-kun's bag ─ that Ayumi held close to her chest. Immediately, she began to believe that the worst had already happened while she wasn't there...

But it all went away when Ayumi spotted her, beamed and waved at her. "Ran-oneesan!"

Surely, they wouldn't act this carefree if something had happened to the boy. Especially Ai, who rather than frightened out of her mind, remained rather calm about everything. It really threw her off.

"Oh, hi," she greeted anyway, smiling amicably at the children. "Have you seen Conan-kun?"

"Conan is not here," stated Genta, arms crossed behind his head. "He already left for home."

The horror must have clearly shown on her face, because Ai explained the rest right away. "He wasn't feeling well," she said. "So Kogoro-san came by and signed him out."

She blinked, confused. "Dad did?"

"Yeah!" Ayumi nodded, motioning to the bag she was holding into. "I promised I'd bring his bag after school!"

"Together with his shoes and glasses." Only then did Ran realize Conan's red shoes and glasses on Mitsuhiko's hands. "We all forgot he probably still has the school's uwabaki instead of these."

Ran stared at them, probably for far more than she should have, taking into their smiling faces until she sighed, letting go of all that fear and worry. Taking a deep breath in, she allowed herself to calm down before she copied their expressions.

"Shall we go visit him, then?"

"Yeah~!" the three cheered at the unison, while Ai simply nodded, serenely as always.

She giggled at the sight for a second and, like that, they all undertook their way to the agency. Admittedly, Ran had never felt so light in her life ─ the realization that Conan was just fine, and that her father had taken care of it all had relieved so much that she could have dropped right then and there, feeling all that tension leeching away from her body.

Perhaps things weren't going to be so bad after all. Shinichi would come after that and take care of things. He used to do this a lot, so surely it wouldn't be so different with his own brother. Whatever happened next, wherever Conan went next, it would be okay ─ he would be alive. That was all that mattered.

Seriously, though. Dad could've texted me about this! She huffed, climbing up the stairs leading to the agency, all four children trailing behind her. He really scared me.

He's so going to hear about this!

So she opened the door, ready to chew him off for what he had made her go through.

"Hey, Ran," he greeted casually, from his spot behind his desk, buried under so many papers related to that case. "You're early."

"Of course, I am! I thought-"

The children brushed past her, almost knocking her over in their excitement. They were opening their mouths, ready to chant their greetings all together, when the great detective gave him an odd, and also annoyed, look.

"What are the brats doing here?" he grumbled.

"We brought his things!" Ayumi explained, her smile untouched.

"And we came to see him, too!" added Genta.

"Is Conan-kun any better?" Mitsuhiko inquired.

His reaction wasn't one that Ran, or any of them, would have expected. He just arched an eyebrow, staring at them as if they had grown a second head each.

Noticing this, Ran stilled. A strange feeling was settling in the pit of her stomach, increasing every second that her father stared and said nothing at all.

Until, finally, he spoke:

"Is the brat sick or something?"

Out of nowhere, a shiver overcame him completely.

It truly shook him to the core. So violently and suddenly it was, that he didn't notice his pen slipping from his fingers until the light clattering against the floor filled the silence that reigned over the classroom. All gazes fell on him, naturally, so he apologized quietly, leaning over to retrieve it.

So cold. Once with the pen back in his hand, he rubbed his arms, attempting to regain the warmth his body had abruptly lost. Who left that window… His head snapped towards it, but halted. … open.

All the windows were completely closed. Odd, he reflected with a frown, forcing himself to return to his test. Wonder if I'm coming down with a cold…

Mentally sighing, he willed those thoughts away to at least try to answer one question on the piece of paper in front of him. Several minutes later of reading, but not processing the information, he groaned ─ not out loud, of course. He didn't dare to disturb his already distressed classmates again ─ and promptly gave up. No matter how hard he tried, the same questions would strike his mind repeatedly, rendering his brain useless for anything else.

Did Conan make it okay from school? Is Ran alright? Did they also find out about Shiho-chan?

It wouldn't stop. Neither would that strange, chilly feeling of dread, causing his hair to stand to an end.

And then, the silence was broken once more by a faint buzzing. It took a whole second for Shinichi to realize that everyone was looking ─ glaring ─ at him, thus it had to be coming from his cellphone.

This time, he didn't apologize. He promptly pulled it out from his blazer's pocket.

The strange question fell upon all of them like a bucket of ice water, freezing them on their spot as their weight, ever so slowly, dawned on their equally sluggish minds.

Kogoro, feeling as if he had missed something, only observed their various reactions, unable to explain them at all. Mitsuhiko's eyes had become wide as two plates, while Genta simply gasped, finally grasping the situation they were in. With a dull sound, the bag Ayumi was carrying dropped to the ground, leaving her hands free to place themselves on her mouth, a horrified expression taking over her entire face.

And Ai appeared ill all of a sudden, face palling not unlike a ghost, and bolted out of his office, offering no explanation for her odd behavior. Kogoro straightened up, ready to yell at her, inquiring to know what in the world was with that, when his attention was brought back to his daughter by a loud sound.

"Dad!" Ran had exclaimed, slamming her hands against his desk. "Didn't you just pick Conan-kun up from school?!"

"Like I said, what the hell are you talking about?!"

Seeing his earnest expression, Ran took a step back. The chilly feeling from before came back at full force, making its way through her spine and spreading all over her body until there was nothing but a distressing coldness that would not leave in a long time.

Her father was genuinely not understanding what was going on.

"Conan"

His eyes caught sight of his little brother's name on the screen far earlier than his brain could process it, but he did take notice that the room's temperature had suddenly dropped several degrees, especially when he finally realized what he was seeing.

The phone continued to vibrate in his hand. Shinichi merely sat there, in the middle of the classroom, staring at the screen for who-knows-how much time, but he was certain it was long enough for everyone to feel weirded out about it. Their whispers, which he could barely hear by now, blended into the background, together with his teacher's voice ─ who was most likely ordering him to turn his phone off.

The furious tone he used was more than enough for Shinichi to tell he would be in serious trouble if he didn't do as he was told, but not enough for him to care.

In fact, he barely registered him standing right next to his desk. "Hirai-kun." Or how he was extending his hand towards him. "Give me that phone immediately."

What happened next left the teacher out of words. Before he realized what was going on, the teenager had, without even gracing him with a glance, placed his mostly empty test sheet on top of his open palm and bolted out of the classroom. It had shocked him too much to properly react, and merely stood there, blinking at the empty seat his student had left behind.

"Hirai!" He reacted, however, if only to clumsily grasp the test sheet Kuroba had shoved onto his chest before following the other teenager. "Wait up!"

"H-Hey, you two!" he yelled, but it was too late. They were both gone.

Sighing, the tired teacher gave the two sheets of paper in his hands a last, doubtful scan, before shrugging and returning to his desk. He was too old ─ and severely underpaid ─ for this, he lamented as he dropped on his seat.

He didn't even care if Nakamori rose from her seat, looking more than ready to chase after them both, before she seemed to think better of it, and sat back down with a wary frown adorning her features.

Ai had yet to stop running. Gritting her teeth, she forced herself to climb up the stairs even faster, two at a time, while she prayed, to no god in particular, that all this wasn't more than a misunderstanding.

Don't tell me… Don't tell me you-!

"Conan-kun!" she yelled, at the top of her lungs, bursting the door open. "Conan-kun! Are you here?!"

There was no answer ─ only her ragged breathing filled what would be otherwise an ominous silence. Struggling to get it back in control, her eyes travelled across the living-room, only stopping until she spotted that certain door.

Kogoro's room. That was the only place he could be at.

Wasting no second, the girl crossed the distance between them and swung it open.

"Conan-!"

And stopped.

Everything stopped. Her breath had hitched then, as if she had suddenly forgotten how to do so ─ her lungs had just frozen. Her arms had fallen at each side of her body and were left to hang limply, as if they belonged to a mere rag doll. Even time had seemed to forget it was supposed to keep on moving, standing still enough for her searching gaze to, just, stop, stuck on the neatly folded futon in the corner of the room.

Slowly, her eyes started to widen.

Outside, a lone crow descended from the sky. Eager to rest its tired wings, it gracefully landed on the windowsill, and only then did the faint tick-tock of the wall clock begin to filter through the eerie quietness once more.

Horror took over her every feature, and her legs instinctively took her a step backwards, finally capable of understanding the meaning of what her own two eyes were seeing, or rather, what they were not.

Kudo Conan was not there.

Only the lone crow's sorrowful squeaking remained, echoing in her ears.