File One Hundred and Four: The Besieged Detective Agency

There was not a soul inside.

Hakuba had made sure of that, cautiously venturing himself as she, Akako, waited in the doorway, phone in hand, just in case. She had watched his eyes darting from place to place, intending to inspect any crook and cranny, before disappearing around a corner, while she remained silently still there, paying close attention for any sound that indicated that something was wrong.

"Whoever was here…" she heard his voice instead, while he emerged back to the front. "... it would seem like they left already."

She nodded at that, finally making her way inside as well, and took a good look around. "It's hard to believe that this place was broken into," she commented as she made her way further inside to discover, much to her surprise, an incredibly tidy, organized living-room. "I'd have expected a mess in here."

Hakuba didn't speak for a while. He, instead, remained there, eyes narrowing at the TV still in front of him. "All valuables are still here," he said, approaching the coffee table and passing his finger on top of a laptop that had been forgotten there. "I do not believe this is an ordinary case of robbery."

He lifted his finger to his eyes and examined it closely. "But it was cleaned off," he continued, mostly to himself than to her, Akako assumed. "Maybe somebody got into this computer and cleaned it to get rid of their fingerprints afterwards."

"Somebody wanting to investigate Kuroba-kun, or Hirai-kun," concluded Akako. "But who?"

She didn't get an answer, but Akako didn't bother. Instead, she let her eyes take a last look around before settling on the darkened hallway behind Hakuba's head.

Shamelessly, as if she actually lived there, Akako took the liberty to venture there ─ she might as well do something as Hakuba searched the place to his heart's content, the girl figured out. She paused in front of a random door and curiously peered inside.

"Ah, I see," she said to herself, smirking as she did so. "This must be Kuroba-kun's room."

Evidently it had to be it, judging by the real-size portrait of a magician in the middle of the wall. "Kuroba Toichi, was it?" She brazenly made her way inside, taking another general glance around, before settling her eyes back again on the smiling magician. "The resemblance is quite striking."

And so, she stared at it for a while, until she posed her hand on top of it, giving it a firm push. As she would have expected, nothing happened. "What was I doing?" she thought out loud, with a snort.

"This might not be a robbery, but there is something missing."

She heard Hakuba speaking from the room next to the one she was at, so, tugged by curiosity, the girl headed over there, and peeked out the partly open door. It was the guest room, she noted quickly ─ the one Hirai had been using, if she wasn't mistaken. But, that being the case, she couldn't entirely understand what she was seeing.

Besides the bed, and the usual furniture, everything was empty ─ the desk, the bookshelves, the wardrobe, everything.

"There isn't a single thing about him in this house," said Akako, after taking a moment to appreciate it all. "Did he come by and take them with him?"

"I don't think so," replied Hakuba even though, she could see, he wasn't all that sure anymore. "His belongings aren't all that are gone."

Confused Akako, turned to the detective, and noticed he was crouched over the nightstand. At first, she didn't understand what the odd dust scattered all over the surface was, until she saw the brush in Hakuba's hand. There was something on his other one, that she couldn't see, but had a good idea of what it was.

It was a fingerprint-

"A fingerprint kit?!" Aoko suddenly screamed, interrupting Akako to stare, wild-eyed at the detective standing next to her window. "You carry one of those wherever you go?!"

"You never know when you might need it," Hakuba replied, yet not tearing his eyes apart from the glass ─ or rather, what was behind it.

Aoko didn't need to ask him what he was observing so closely because she already knew. Ever since they both had got there, mostly to tell her what they had been through the other day, Hakuba hadn't let his eyes away from Kaito's house, as if just watching would provide him with the answers he was seeking. But the girl had to wonder if he had succeeded much lately.

"Either way, he said there weren't any of his fingerprints anywhere," Akako continued, crossing her legs. Her face took a severe turn as she continued. "Not even in places where it should, like the desk he had been using, or the door to the room he had been occupying."

"So, did someone wipe them?" Aoko wondered out loud. "Could it be the people that broke into Kaito's house?"

"Or it had been wiped by someone else." Hakuba's eyes narrowed. "Someone that knew they would get there."

Akako mulled over it. "Maybe Hirai-kun predicted this would happen," she said. "So he ran away before they could get him, whoever those people were."

Aoko shook her head. "That isn't possible."

The girl gave her a look. "You seem to be certain about it."

Finally realizing what she had really said, Aoko forced an awkward smile on her face. "Ah, you think so?" Then strained out a laugh upon noticing her friend raising an eyebrow back at her, clearly not buying it. "So, Hakuba-kun," she began, hoping that she could get the attention off herself and into something else. "Do you think Kaito… Hakuba-kun?"

Both girls stared at him oddly, completely confused by the way he had closed the curtains so quickly that they would have missed it if they hadn't been looking at him. For her part, Aoko wanted to ask what had triggered such a reaction, but stopped herself when she took a better look at the detective's face.

"Nakamori-san." She almost jumped when he suddenly said it. "When is your father coming home?"

"Pretty late, I think," she answered, albeit a little hesitantly. "Everything is a mess there with everything that happened with KID, so…"

"I see…"

"Is… there something wrong?"

Hakuba didn't reply right away, just took a deep sigh, and came to sit at the table. He passed a hand through his hair, and Aoko couldn't help but notice that he had gone even paler in a matter of seconds. "I believe it would be best not to get out of this house," he said next. "For a while, at the very least."

Aoko's eyes opened in surprise, while Akako simply frowned, taking into the seriousness of it all. None of them said anything in return, allowing the boy to bring out his phone and type out a quick message.

He checked the photo he had taken one last time before sending it ─ a black Porsche, just the kind Kudo had once told him to be wary of, was still there, glaring menacingly through his phone's screen.

Good. With a click, Yusaku finished the call. This is the last one.

Leaning forward in the table of the small cafeteria he had been occupying for the last half-an-hour, the novelist pressed the bridge of his nose, hoping to contain the incoming headache from revealing itself, but he had reason to believe nothing was stopping it to make things harder for him. He took a moment to breathe deeply, pressed some change onto the table, next to the now empty cup of coffee, and headed back into the hospital.

Everything is back in order now, the man continued to think, running his mind to make sure he had overlooked nothing. Though that Porsche Hakuba-kun saw is worrying by itself.

Even though it was the only natural outcome after what had happened. Kaito KID had shown up, out of the blue, at Touto Tower just to, to their eyes, confront their member. Meaning that the current phantom thief was aware of the truth behind his predecessor's demise.

On the other hand, the previous KID's son has disappeared without a trace, right after KID was shot. Had he been in their position, Yusaku would have also suspected the teenager.

If they confirm he's KID… His friends, his family, everyone he could have shared information with will suffer the same destiny as him.

His wife's curls were the first things he saw after opening the door, whipping around as her head suddenly snapped his way. Her finger went immediately to her mouth, shushing him before he could even breathe too loudly, so he naturally froze in his spot.

That was, until he saw the small form curled right next to his eldest.

"I didn't see him come in," said the man, lowering his voice as he approached them.

"He came here not long after you left." Smiling softly to herself, the woman caressed the little one's cheek. "Headed here straight after school."

Yusaku could predict this would be an everyday sight ─ he had known it, ever since the moment he had seen the small boy upon opening the door yesterday, gaze stuck on the ground, arms rigid at his sides. The only reason he had actually entered the room was Hattori, in fact, who gently pushed him, leading him inside.

Once his eyes had met with the figure prone in the bed, he hadn't looked away. Didn't speak either, or showed any kind of change in his demeanor; simply walked up to him, sat next to him, and held his hand. Just that. Until night fell and Hattori, under the pretense that he needed to fly back to Osaka early the other day, chased him out.

And now, the boy was still squeezing his older brother's hand, even as he slept. To Yusaku, it was a sight he remembered seeing before, a long time ago, only that the roles were reversed ─ one that he had genuinely hoped he wouldn't have to witness again.

"Ran-chan told me he has been having nightmares again," Yukiko explained in a whisper, forehead creasing in obvious concern. "He hasn't told her what they are about, but…"

It went without saying that, after all that happened, they could be about literally anything ─ anything that, most definitely, shouldn't even cross the mind of a child of his age. Yusaku frowned profusely, gazing at his youngest of a moment more, before sighing.

"The Organization is doing a background check on Kaito-kun," he said, and his wife merely lowered his head, as if she, too, had expected that kind of news. "Conan has been in close contact with him."

"If they investigate him, too… It's going to happen again."

"It's possible." Yusaku nodded, frowning profusely. "As long as he stays in Japan, the amount of exposure will continue to increase."

A silence followed, but Yusaku didn't even bother to break it. His eyelids closed gently, shielding his youngest son's sleeping face from sight.

"Isn't it weird? I am supposed to return home with you, yet it feels like I am leaving instead."

But, he still could see the boy and his unrelenting young eyes that pierced right through him. He still could feel his conviction, his powerful will to stay in the place he had grown to love as his true home almost two years ago. Time may have passed yet, Yusaku was certain, those feelings lingered, stronger than ever.

He opened his eyes again and turned to his wife. "We need to take him away from Japan."

There was a heavy sigh from her part, showing that she was as reluctant as he was about this entire thing. "I'll take him to America, and you'll stay here with Shinichi, like we agreed," she said, looking at her two children rather than their father, and pressed her free hand to her oldest's head. "I was hoping that Shin-chan would wake up so that Co-chan could see him before leaving…" She dropped her head ─ and could clearly feel that certain stinging feeling in her eyes. "But-"

Yukiko was stopped from talking when she felt some shifting under her other hand, causing her eyes to flicker away from Shinichi and to the child who, slowly, sat up. "Oh, Co-chan." She quickly wiped her eyes and put on the brightest smile she could manage. "Good morning."

"Good afternoon, you mean," he grumbled, scrubbing his eyes.

"Somebody is moody, I see."

Conan only groaned at his father's comment. Apparently deciding it wasn't worth his energy, the boy promptly hopped off the bed and made a bee-line to the door, confusing both parents.

"You're leaving, Co-chan?" asked Yukiko, curiously.

"Hospital beds are not comfy," he said. "Gonna lie down at home."

The boy offered none other explanation, slowly opening the door and peeking outside. After making sure there was nobody out there to see him getting out of a supposedly unoccupied room, the child silently left ─ entirely missing the sharp look his father sent his way.

Likewise, Yusaku never saw the kid leaning against the door. Closing his eyes, the boy allowed himself a moment to take a deep breath.

His feet against the floor resounded in what would be otherwise an ominous silence. One year. The inside of his mind was a completely different story, however. Seven months.

If he pressed the button to call the elevator a bit harsher than normal, well, he couldn't particularly care about it. In all that time, he showed his face, what, twice? He walked inside when the elevator arrived and calmly waited for it to come down. After so long, only now remembers he's a father?

Barging in so suddenly… He couldn't hide the prominent frown in his features as he stepped out. Saying all that… Again.

And there, he paused, gaze stuck on the ground, reflecting over everything.

Don't give me that nonsense.

"Ah, I knew it!" Conan's head raised sharply at the familiar voice that crossed his ears. "He is here!"

"Conan-kun!"

"Conan, over here!"

It didn't take long for his eyes to see the form of those three children, waving at him with wide smiles on their faces in the waiting lobby, excited at the mere prospect of finding him. The boy paused, letting the surprising sight sink in, before lazily making his way back to them.

"You guys." They didn't wait, however, and rushed ahead to meet him half-way. "What are you all doing here?"

"What are you talking about?" Genta was offended, for some reason Conan couldn't begin to comprehend. "You ditched us earlier today!"

Confused blinking was all the answer he got until something akin to realization seemed to cross his mind. Now that he thought about it, they had a sort of unspoken agreement to walk back home from school together, which, fair enough, he supposed he had broken by not waiting for them and rushing to the hospital telling no one.

So, he settled with a simple apology. "Ah, sorry."

"Now, now, Genta-kun, we already talked about this earlier, didn't we?" Mitsuhiko said, sighing. "That Conan-kun was probably worried about Shinichi-san and just came here without thinking."

Conan gave him a dry look. "Without thinking is a bit-"

"Ai-chan went ahead," interrupted Ayumi. "She told us to come pick you up."

"Yeah, 'So that he doesn't do anything stupid or run into another murder'," Genta added, grinning widely, arms crossed behind his head. "That's what she said, right?"

The other two nodded. Conan, in turn, let out a dry laugh, finding it hard not to hear her voice when imagining that. "I'm grateful for the concern," he said sarcastically, walking right past them. "But I think I can make it back home by myself."

"Ah, but you're not going home yet." At Ayumi's remark, the boy stopped, blinked stupidly, then turned around to see her beaming. "We're playing some games at the Professor's today!"

"Are we?"

"Yes!" The girl nodded, stubbornly. "We haven't hung out together in a long time!"

"That was only a few weeks ago if I remember correctly… And we actually see each other every day at school."

His words were out of his mouth before he could stop them, irremediably reaching her ears. Once they did, the girl's shoulders dropped, all that determination vanishing into nothing but a tired sigh, and a drop of her gaze. Conan observed her for a moment, and was about to say something else, when he was abruptly interrupted.

"Come on, Conan! Just accept it already!"

"Yeah, yeah! Can't you see you're upsetting Ayumi-chan?!"

Conan didn't even need to see them, he knew they were glaring dangerously at his very soul ─ he could feel it. It has been a long while since this last happened.

He sighed tiredly. "Alright, I'll come."

Ayumi brightened up so quickly that even left the boy wondering if she wasn't actually orchestrating all this. "Yay~!" Laughing in joy, the girl suddenly seized Conan's hand and, with no kind of warning, began to drag him with her outside. "Let's go!"

Rather than disappearing, the glares in the back of his neck became even stronger, burning so intensely that Conan actually worried they would leave actual holes on his skull.

Well, if things went like that any longer, the boy was certain something like that was bound to happen.

"I did it! I won!"

"Ah! I was so close!"

"Being close is not enough, Genta-kun. Better luck next time!"

On the other hand, Conan chuckled lightly, looking away from Mitsuhiko's smug grin and to his dancing character on the TV, cheering almost as energetically as the boy was now. Unlike any of them, Conan shook his head and pressed a button on his controller, hoping that he could just head back to the selection screen.

The only reason he's winning… The boy glanced from the corner of his eye to the strawberry blonde girl sitting right beside her, quietly waiting for them to play yet another game of Yaiba Kart Special. Has to be because she quit a few rounds earlier.

Since there was a maximum of four players, she had gracefully offered her place to Ayumi. They had decided they would switch again for someone else, but she had claimed she was fine. Whether it was an act of utter unselfishness, or she was just tired of winning repeatedly, remained a mystery to the young detective.

"You're improving a lot, Conan-kun!" Ayumi exclaimed cheerfully ─ the way Ai covered her mouth, as if holding back her laughter, made her actions much clearer. "Even if you still got last place… But having fun is the most important, right?"

Right. Oh, so fun.

"Yeah, at least he got to complete a lap," said Mitsuhiko, though Conan could see, the tip of his lips quirking up.

"Out of three," completed Genta.

Thus, the two children exploded in laughter, leaving the boy's eyebrow to twitch involuntarily, mouth opening, to add anything in his defense, only to close right thereafter upon realizing there was virtually nothing he could say.

"Don't tease him!" Ayumi was quick to stand up for him. "He's doing his best!"

Her heart was in the right place, Conan supposed, yet her words… Well, she could do better. Genta and Mitsuhiko laughed even harder, prompting the boy to sigh, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"Now, now, guys, it's enough." Ai clapped her hands, silencing everyone. "Let's not bully Conan-kun ─ what he has accomplished so far has been impressive, in a way."

"On my part, I'm not impressed about this, at all…"

"Oh? Did you say anything, Conan-kun?"

"That you're on," said the boy, passing the scientist his controller. "Toilet."

"Ah, yes, so convenient."

Deciding against replying, the boy simply stood up, and walked away, leaving the group to engage in another ground. He stopped at the doorway, pausing for a second, before letting his eyes slide to his friends once more.

Their screams and joyful laugher reached his ears. A tiny smile gently caressed his lips ─ but there was a tint of bitterness, keeping it at bay.

It wasn't until Ai had completed the first lap that he woke from his reflective stupor and finally walked away ─ might as well text Ran-neechan to tell her he was staying the night here, now that he was at it.

When he returned, the boy was surprised to see three heads instead of four right at the corner they had been hanging on at so, tugged by curiosity, he let his eyes roam across the room, until he found her, preparing something in the kitchen.

"Tired of games?" asked Conan, casually approaching her.

"Kojima-kun said he was hungry," she answered, not even raising her head to address him. "So, I decided to prepare something."

Conan walked closer, and peeked from over her shoulder. "Cake?" he inquired, after taking a look at the bowl in front of her, or rather, the ingredients she was mixing.

"Sponge cake."

"The Professor would love it."

"You better not say a word about this to him."

"Understood."

Instead of leaving back to the rest of his friends, the little detective preferred to grab a nearby stool and sit there, but she didn't question it. In silence, he rested his head on his open hand, watching curiously as she worked ─ not missing a single thing, realized the scientist with a bit of amusement. She didn't stop for a moment, even when the boy's eyes opened slightly, when she began to whisk the batter with soft, enveloping movements.

"I see…" he finally said, prompting Ai to stop to blink at him. "Ah, I mean…" Noticing his mistake, he laughed awkwardly. "I have tried to bake one before, but it didn't turn out right," he admitted. "But I guess I mixed it too roughly."

Ai watched him for a moment long enough for Conan to feel a little uncomfortable. "You have to do it like this." Her expression barely changed as she turned back to her bowl, moving a little so that he could see it clearly ─ starting at the surface, ending at the base, the boy made a mental note. "So that the mixture is as aerated as possible."

Conan nodded. "Got it."

"You better." Before he could say anything, the girl slid the bowl to him. "You do that while I preheat the oven."

"Ah, sure."

Obediently, the boy grabbed the whisk she had left and begun doing as he was told. "Didn't see you as the kind that would be into baking," admitted the girl, crouching down next to the oven.

"When your brother can't cook porridge without setting the kitchen on fire, you have to manage on your own," said the boy, smiling amusedly despite what he was saying. "Dad is not better. Mom went out with her friends for a month, and instant ramen doesn't taste all that good." He finished with a shrug. "Got interested after a while."

"You learned on your own?" Conan nodded. "Well, that's remarkable."

"How about you?" the boy asked back.

And immediately regretted it when she, after standing up, stayed quiet for a second. He stopped with his preparation as well, observing something flashing behind those eyes of hers. Finally, he understood what might be crossing his mind, and felt terrible about it.

The only person who could have taught her that…

Conan opened his mouth to speak. "It's okay," she said, as if she could somehow read his thoughts. Ai raised her head ─ he was then shocked to see a small smile crossing her face. "Since those are one of my most precious memories of her."

"Ai-san-"

"Keep mixing."

"R-Right."

Pleased to see the boy hurrying to continue his work, Ai nodded, and sat on a stool herself. "By the way, how's your condition doing?" When he didn't understand, the girl smirked instead. "Your murder magnetism, I mean." Conan huffed irritably, showing that he now got what she was talking about. "There hasn't been a murder in a long time, has it?"

"Yeah, except for that unlucky fellow that dived from Haido Hotel's rooftop yesterday." The boy grumbled. "I went there to get some cake."

Ai looked at him, then at the mixture in his hands, and back to him, so that she could say with a straight face, "Should I be worried?"

"About someone dying today, or about another detective, who also happens to know my name and profession, showing up out of the blue?"

Though Akai-san is still staying next door and meets the criteria.

Ai looked back at him incredulously. "You met someone like that?"

Conan nodded with a sigh, settling the bowl aside so that he could tell her about everything that had transpired the other day, including the crime, the mysterious Sera and his talk with Aoko ─ skipping, of course, the part she spoke about KID, because he felt it was not his place.

Ai, for her part, uttered no word, not even as she placed the batter inside the oven.

"Well, it could be a fan who became interested after learning about it from the papers and such," concluded the girl, after hearing every single detail of the case. "Besides, you were the one who figured out the truth of the case in the end, weren't you?" She shook her head. "So much for being a 'detective'."

"Yeah, but it was odd…"

"Odd? How?"

"Somehow, it felt as if she had gotten it wrong on purpose in order to get me to deduce it."

"Yet, you still risked using the voice-changer close to someone that suspicious."

"What I was supposed to do?! They were going to pin it as murder as it was." Conan huffed irritably. "But I didn't like it. She was so weird…"

"Weird how?" That wasn't Ai's voice.

Startled, the two children spun around, and were shocked to see three pairs of eyes fixed on them, curiously. "How long have you been there for?" asked Ai, with a heavy, tired sigh.

"Since you were talking about the murder," said Ayumi, in all honesty. "We overheard part of it and wanted to hear how it was solved so badly!"

"That detective girl you were talking about, though…" Mitsuhiko thought out loud. "Could that be the high school student Ran-san was with?"

"Ah, right!" Ayumi nodded. "We saw them across the street while we were on our way to the hospital! There was a girl with her."

Conan didn't understand. "Sonoko-neechan?"

"No, another one!" Genta said, then paused, as if remembering something. "Wait, wasn't it a guy?"

"Eh? Was it?"

"Well, if that's on your mind…" Conan didn't miss the pointed look Ai sent his way. "Why don't you call and find out?"

So, the boy did ─ not without rolling his eyes, as he plucked the phone out of his pocket. Even if it was a girl… he thought to himself, calmly waiting for the dialing tone to be over, under the expectant gazes of their friends, who definitely weren't being nearly as patient. What are the odds of her being exactly the detective we met the other day?

It should be like that for anyone, though ─ for ordinary people with a normal amount of luck. I'm often on the other side of the spectrum. Just as the first beep crossed his ears, the realization dropped him at full force. It is going to be her, isn't it?

Since she said it to Ran-neechan and Sonoko-neechan before… Two beeps. That they were going to meet soon.

Three beeps. Oh, no. Four beeps. The prospect of her being actually her is growing exponentially higher by the second… Five beeps. Be a guy.

Six beeps. A guy, please! Seven. A guy…

By the eighth, Conan actually paused to blink at nothing in particular. Hold it there. He brought his eyebrows together in confusion. She still hasn't picked up?

Which was strangely unusual ─ Ran wasn't this slow picking her phone up. For a moment, Conan wondered if she had lost it, but shook it right away, since Ran never misplaced her phone.

He was about to hang up and call Kogoro, or anyone else that might be close to her ─ he even considered Sonoko, but really hoped he didn't have to resort to that ─ when the beeping was cut short.

"Hello?" and Ran's voice ran through.

"Ah, Ran-neechan?" Conan guessed he had been worrying over nothing. "It's me. Did I call at a bad time?"

"I-It's alright! It's just that I was in the restroom."

Her response prompted the boy's smile to drop. He could swear she sounded nervous right now. "Well, it's not a big deal…" But rather than directly inquiring about it, the boy supposed it would be best to go along with ─ and stay on the line long enough to figure out, given that something actually was happening, anyway. "But Genta and the others said you were walking with somebody they didn't know."

Ran paused for a moment, and Conan wondered if she was actually trying to think or there was something else distracting her. "Walking with somebody they didn't know?" she continued after a while. "I guess you mean the one who just transferred today-"

"It was me!"

That seriously took Conan back. Of all things he had expected to hear, Sera's voice was definitely none of them. So she really transferred to her school… He pressed a hand to his forehead and held back a fatigued sigh. Why do we keep attracting these kind of guys to our lives?

"So now you know!" Sera exclaimed cheerfully. "Just enjoy your sleepover tonight!"

Conan was about to add something more, but was immediately silenced when Sera spoke again, "That should do it, right?"

Do what? Is… Is she talking to me?

"Put the phone back on the desk." Conan felt a chill crawling down his neck when it dawned on him that, no, she was definitely not talking to him. "And move back."

There's someone else with them. He tried to focus on the gruff voice, but all he got was that it belonged to a man he had never met before.

"Yeah, yeah…" Sera continued nonchalantly, sounding as if she was walking away from the phone. Did she leave the phone connected on purpose? "Regardless, the request you just spoke of, can you tell it to us again? It was kinda complicated, so I couldn't quite catch it by hearing it once."

"Hey, so was it a guy?" Genta's loud comment almost made Conan jump out of his skin. "Hey, Co-?"

In a flash, Conan put the call on mute with one hand, using the other to shush his friends. Ignoring their puzzled gazes falling on him, the boy kept the phone pressed against his ear, waiting for any sign that somebody had heard anything from his side.

"Geez, very well." Conan let out the breath he didn't know he had been holding in, realizing that they were still on the safe side. "I'll explain it once more, so you'd better listen up."

Apparently, the guy's sister was the deceased bestselling author, Sawaguri Miku, winner of the Naomoto Award while she was still young. Last month she had killed herself by slitting her wrist at Gunma Hot Springs Inn ─ or so the police had said.

Gunma? The boy could see where this was going. And that wasn't good.

"However, I swear it wasn't a suicide!" the man screamed next. "She was killed by one of these three who went to the hot spring with her."

Here? Hey, are the suspects there?

"As for something that might be evidence, I've brought it here! So, I want you to solve it, Great Detective Mouri Kogoro-san, with your brilliant deduction." They were all at the agency, Conan could tell now. "Well, you don't have to worry. Once the culprit is found, I'll kill that bitch and disappear to the other side myself as well!"

He… said what?!

"Although there is a limit to how long I can stay awake. Come tomorrow morning, these bombs will go off!"

There was a thud sound, signaling the beginning of what would be a long, unsettling silence ─ only that it didn't come from the other side of the phone, but rather, the one Conan was that. Yet the boy could care little about it, or the concerned and equally scared gazes that fell on him when he hopped off, so suddenly that he knocked the stool off.

Cold sweat dripped from his forehead, slowly making its way down to his neck, and his breath became a little erratic as the realization fell on him.

Ran-neechan and Occhan were trapped in the agency, with a madman who had strapped bombs to himself. Even if I did solve it, how am I supposed to make sure-?

He struggled to keep his body from shaking, but it was difficult. Anything can happen. The thought crossed his mind before he could stop it. One wrong move and they-

A hand on his shoulder had him jumping, startled. Right beside him was Ai, he was slightly surprised to see her, staring meaningfully at him, close enough to his phone to hear what had happened. She gave him a firm nod, spinning on her heels and heading straight for her computer.

"Haibara-san, what-?" tried Mitsuhiko.

"Someone is trying to blow up the agency with Ran-san and the others."

"EH?!"

And as she began to type away, she explained the rest of the situation. Conan watched them for a while, then, placing a hand on top of his chest, willed himself to breathe.

Thus, now calmer than before, Conan focused back on the call.

Bit by bit, dusk began to fade, allowing night to creep in, silently and steadily, until the entire town was tuckered under its comforting, protective blanket of tranquility. Soon, only the few street lights remained, chasing the shadows away, but doing little to nothing to keep all darkness at bay.

Especially the most ominous shadow that still lingered, lurking outside, just like a depredator, patiently awaiting its time to strike. Hakuba had a pretty good idea of what the prey was.

"It still hasn't left yet, huh?" Akako commented casually, moving the curtains just a sliver to take a quick look. "That suspicious car on the opposite street."

"Please step away from there," said Hakuba, calmly sipping in his tea ─ the fifth today, if Akako hadn't miscounted. "It will be dangerous if they see you watching them."

"Oh, it sounds like you know they are dangerous."

Because he knew, but didn't say it out loud. It was probably evident at this point, however, supposed the detective.

On the other side of the table Hakuba sat at, he heard a relieved sigh. "Dad isn't returning until next morning," Aoko breathed out, all but slumping into her chair. "Since the case with KID is giving him trouble."

Akako gave her a slightly surprised look. "I thought he belonged to the Second Division."

"It's because they're looking into the whereabouts of a thief. An escape plan is also one of the possibilities." Aoko crossed her arms on top of the table, cushioning her head. "That's what Dad says, but…"

The witch said nothing at all, merely deciding to close her eyes and lean against the wall, falling silent once again. Hakuba observed the girl in question for another moment, and did not miss the strange gaze that seemed to take over her usually bright eyes. He doubted she even noticed it.

Maybe she did know, Hakuba considered. He opened his mouth.

"What… in the world?"

Confused, both teenagers gazed back to where Akako stood, appearing unusually surprised about whatever she could see behind the window. At first, Hakuba thought of telling her again to step away from there, but then her eyes flickered to them, then again to the window. As if she couldn't begin to understand what was happening ─ which was, to say the least, weird coming from her, of all people.

So, unable to contain herself any longer, Aoko crossed the room and gently pushed her friend away to take her spot. Like Akako before her, her reaction had been instant ─ her eyes had widened enough to genuinely make Hakuba worry they would bulge out of her head, and her hands had risen to her mouth, in an ineffective attempt to contain a gasp, or a scream, he wasn't sure.

It all happened in a fraction of a second. A blink of an eye later, she had stepped back and taken out running. "Aoko-san!" Before he could even get that out of his throat, the detective was horrified to see that she had just rushed out of her house.

But what in the world could she have seen to make her do something like that? ─ Hakuba walked to the window, and indeed, what he saw there left him gaping at the air, struggling to get a word out, yet failing spectacularly.

He saw Kuroba. The same Kuroba Kaito that had been missing for weeks, making his way home, as if nothing had ever happened.

I see… Finally Hakuba realized, eyes flickering to the girl that hurriedly rushed towards him. The reason she rushed out, without thinking… He frowned, looking back at the Porsche parked in front of the house.

A cold bead of sweat dripped from his chin. From his spot, he could clearly see the girl finally reaching up to the thief. She was screaming at him, and he was laughing nervously back at her, barely reacting to her punching him on the chest, out of frustration, Hakuba supposed.

But also, he saw the Porsche's window lowering just an inch. Something poked out, shining menacingly under the moonlight, and suddenly, Hakuba forgot how to breathe.

He was certain it was a gun ─ pointing right at Aoko's head.

"Could you stop pacing around? You're making me nervous."

At the annoyed comment he received, the boy came to a halt, turning around to blink at the scientist who, sitting behind her computer on the other corner of the room, gave him a stare that conveyed a lot more than he needed to know. He laughed awkwardly, only then realizing his mistake, and approached her.

"Did you get anything else?"

"Apart from what I just told you five minutes ago, nothing."

Conan stepped back with a tired sigh, turning around again. He would have probably gone back to resume his pacing, hadn't it been for the finger hooking in the back of his shirt, almost causing him to lose his balance. "Ponder over it all you want, but sit down."

"Yes, ma'am."

Obediently, and probably fearing what would happen if he didn't do as told, the boy climbed up the stool, where he remained, eyebrows brought together as he racked his head to put the information he had heard and the data Ai had compiled in the net together, hoping to arrange a decent theory in his mind.

The first one to come pester me for an autograph was Elephant. Even though my hair had yet to dry from the bath… that pesky Elephant.

Next to come was Fox. Trying to stir up an argument again, freaking annoying. I've signed my autograph, so what can't she just leave!

Last one was Rat who can't take a hint. I'll make short work of the autograph and shoo her away ASAP.

WTF, she's still here…

Oh, snap, I'm getting sleepy, what should I do?

That was what she had published the night on of the murder, using her brother's ID so that she wouldn't be recognized. From that alone, it would make sense that the Rat was the murderer ─ or, as least, that man at the agency firmly believed so.

Mitsui Tanami, forty-one. Unmarried, and helped a lot at her family's stonemasonry business. Taurus. Type A.

Yuchi Shinobu, thirty-six. Divorced, and has been working at her neighborhood bakery for almost twenty years. Pisces. Type B.

Last, there was Nihei Sumika, thirty-nine. Housewife, and married to a seal craftsman. Leo. Type O.

The internet was riddled with information about those three, yet, at the same time, there was nothing at all ─ nothing he could use to solve this case, anyway.

"Incidentally," the girl began, and felt Conan's gaze falling on her almost instantly. "I also looked up Miku-san's elder brother, Sawaguri-san. Turns out he was the leader of a survival games team ─ the name is Green Cap."

"Like the Green Berets, huh?" the boy groaned, almost dejectedly, and rested his chin on top of the table. "So elaborate."

"Well, considering he brought all three women and the books his sister signed that day to a great detective with none of them knowing a thing," Ai said, still sorting through the information she was finding on the net. "I believe it's fair to say he at least did think through this entire plan."

"The guy has both a gun and bombs strapped to himself ─ that's not elaborate, just plain paranoia speaking."

The girl paused, looked at him, then shrugged, mumbling a quick, "Fair enough," before returning to her computer.

As it was, Conan could really do nothing else. He had already called the police to evacuate everyone at Poirot, directly beneath the agency, so all he could do was to wait ─ he absolutely hated it ─ the line in case anyone said anything that could help them. Only silence met his ears, however, and it was making him extremely anxious ─ not, like, he wanted anything to happen back at the agency, but…

Ai closed her eyes, took a deep breath in and out. "What did I say?" Raising an eyebrow, she glanced at the boy who was peering over her shoulder, nervously taking in everything there was on her screen to see. "Like, not even a minute ago."

"I'm not pacing."

"I said, stop making me nervous. If anything else turns out, I swear I'll tell you, so for the love of-"

"We're back!"

The second it crossed his ears, Conan had hopped off his stool again, "What did you find?" and, leaving Ai alone to press her temples ─ feeling old and exhausted at the tender age of nine ─ he rushed to meet them, even if the group had barely crossed the doorway.

From what Ai had found online earlier that day, it was true that the three women had gone to the hot springs inn where Sawaguri Miku had been found dead, alongside her brother, who had been staying next door. A text saying 'goodbye' had alarmed him so, when he got no response, he had resorted to breaking her window to enter but all he found, enshrouded in steam, the body of his sister ─ wrist slit soaked in the bathtub, yet holding tightly, nevertheless, her room key and phone.

But, the man had heard a sound ─ a crunchy sound near the window just as he found his sister. And when he checked, he couldn't believe what he had seen. Glass fragments on the balcony outside. As to why they were there, when he had broken the window to get in, he had only one logical explanation ─ someone had hidden somewhere in the room, waited until his attention was on the victim and, just, walked out.

Which was, frankly, a valid theory that he would gladly try to prove if, and only if, he had just asked nicely, without bombs involved. Really, was it that hard?

Either way, the inn happened to be the same the owner of Poirot had gone to last month with people from the neighborhood association, therefore the Professor and the rest of his detective club had gone out to find all the members to ask what the three suspects had been doing before and after the incident.

"The lanky woman with the glasses is an extremely polite person," began Mitsuhiko. "We heard that she willingly tidied up after some kids she didn't know spilled shampoo and conditioner all over. "

"The short woman with the overbite loves hot springs!" Ayumi pipped in next. "It seems she went into the hot springs many times a day!"

"The most suspicious is the fat woman!" accused Genta. "She was rushing out of the dead lady's room with a pale face…"

Cupping his chin with a finger, humming to himself as he pondered, Conan allowed himself a second to soak himself in all that sudden information before something occurred to him.

"Was the guy who witnessed that in the room directly opposite from the late Miku-san's?"

"No." Mitsuhiko shook his head. "He was in the room next and next and next to hers on the same side."

Ayumi nodded. "When he was about to leave his room," she added. "He said that woman was running towards him with a scary look, so he immediately shut the door."

Conan hadn't been aware that Genta was holding something until he passed it to him. "We even brought a picture of the commotion that happened after that."

In the photo he was holding, the kid could see the police opening the door of Room 205 ─ from what he could see ─ where he assumed the murder had taken place. Not that he could see how it could be relevant, but evidence was evidence, so he wasn't sure why this wasn't part of an investigation case.

So he asked. "No one told this to the police?"

"Apparently people did, but they were told 'since the scene is a sealed room, that was irrelevant,' by Inspector Yamamura."

So bizarre it was, that Conan wanted to laugh and cry all the same ─ but settled with a tired groan. "Of course," he grumbled. He knew something like that was bound to happen in Gunma ─ all of a sudden, he worried. He worried about the security of all those poor souls that had the pleasure of living at Gunma in such a time, genuinely. "Whoever promoted him to inspector needs to be fired. Immediately."

"Hey! Why is this phone still connected?!"

Midway to his forehead, his hand froze in the air, eyes wide and horrified connecting with his friends' who, judging by the sickly paleness of each and every one of their faces, definitely heard it as well, loud and clear.

"Trying to play smart with me, little bitch…" Slowly, Conan's fearful gaze slid away and towards the phone clutched to his ear. "You've got quite the nerve, huh?!"

The anger, raw desperation in the tone of that man was enough for Conan to fear what sound he would hear next. He could hear the click of the gun, the steps getting closer to, Conan assumed, the owner of the phone ─ and his breath stopped in his lungs.

"You do know what's gonna happen, right?!"

There was no choice ─ Conan's hand slid inside his pocket, and grasped it tightly.

"Conan-kun!" hissed Ai from behind. "What are you doing?"

So Conan turned around, taking into the girl's panicky expression. She was mouthing at him ─ telling him not to do what she knew he was going to do.

But the screams on the other side of the phone made him frown profusely. "Hold on!" It was Sera. "It wasn't her ─ the one who did it-"

Regardless of everything, even if the scientist was ready to whisk the phone away from his hands, or every fiber of his being screaming at him, he shouldn't do it…

Conan didn't break from Ai's intense gaze but, holding the red bowtie to his mouth, his lips moved:

"It was me."

Everything went silent again, both on the other side of the phone, as well as the room he was standing at, clutching his voice changer with all his might, under the surprised looks of his friends and Professor Agasa, who had heard another voice, different from his own.

And, above all, Ai still looked as if she wanted to bite his head off.

"I was the one who made her do it."

Maybe this wasn't such a good idea ─ maybe this wasn't the best plan that had ever crossed his mind.

"I, Kudo Shinichi, did."

Yet, it was the only one he had.

He needs to get away. He needs to get away from here, or else-!

That thought pushed her forward, encouraged her to step away from the safety of her own house to the dangers lurking outside, so that he could tell him ─ tell him to get away.

She didn't know who those people were, or what had Kaito done to get them mad at him, but if she didn't reach him on time, she would never know. So, he forced herself to run even faster, reaching him right as he got to his doorstep.

Kaito appeared surprised to see her, and even a little scared when she, out of pure frustration, punched him hard in the chest. He didn't even react, only opened his eyes wide, for some reason she couldn't entirely comprehend ─ that was, until she felt a strange coldness, tracking down her cheeks as she screamed at him, things she couldn't remember at the moment.

But never, not even once, did she forget about the black car still there, probably witnessing it all. Making sure to place herself in between the Porsche and the guy, she pushed him backwards, towards the door, urging him to open it as soon as possible without saying it out loud in case she was heard.

Please, Kaito, just… Kaito blinked, cluelessly. Just get away!

Even if she couldn't see it, Aoko swore she could feel the gun pointing right at her head.

Certainly, Hakuba did see it. His mouth hanging open, the detective struggled to come up with something, but it was all in vain ─ how could he? No matter what he did, he was a good distance away from his position, and there was no way he could be faster than a bullet.

Whoever was in that car was going to kill Aoko in a matter of seconds. Then, taking advantage of the shock, they would be taking Kuroba down. And after him… The detective scowled, pressing a hand against the glass. Everyone that has ever gotten in contact with him.

Kuroba Kaito ─ the prime suspect of being Kaito KID. Someone so dangerous to him can't be kept alive. He proved it that night at Tanabata.

So, he gritted his teeth, unable to do anything else but helplessly watch it happen in front of him.

Only that no shot was made. The gun drew back inside, and the window was pulled up again.

Hakuba had never been so confused in his entire life.

"Hakuba-kun?" He had to admit he had blinked stupidly when Akako suddenly spoke, staring at her phone as if it was a complex code she couldn't solve. "Mind explaining to me what's going on?"

Right after finishing her sentence, the girl thrust her phone at him, allowing him to see there was a weird article displayed on her screen, bearing a title that had him reading twice, or thrice.

"KAITO KID CONFIRMED DEAD!"

He gave her phone a fourth look before slowly turning to look out the window. Kaito was still there, laughing about something with a clueless Aoko who, more or less as lost as he was, was just gazing dully at the empty spot where once the Porsche had been parked.

What… Aoko frowned. What did just-?

"They left, didn't they?"

Aoko's head turned sharply back at Kaito, confused about what she had heard ─ she could have sworn that, rather than the boy's, it was distinctively female. Probably noticing her reaction, Kaito giggled ─ cutely, Aoko was stunned at her own appreciation ─ and winked ─ freaking winked ─ at her.

So great her shock was that she didn't even try to move from her spot as Kaito ─ or whoever ─ walked past her and entered the house. She blinked once, then twice, before spinning in her heels and attempting to follow.

The door whose lock was broken before was properly locked now.

A/N:

CherryGirl 21-6: Yeah, I saw it, too! And I'm so curious to know what's going to happen there. Really, I'm already getting hyped for this movie and I haven't seen the previous one yet xD

Daises1005118: I wonder… xD