File One Hundred and Five: The Elephant, The Fox and The Rat
"I, Kudo Shinichi, did."
And, just like a spell cast upon all of them, the chaos subsided, and the screams were cut short, allowing the silence to rise through. Everything was forgotten, breathing, even time itself, seemed to forget it was supposed to keep moving and, just, stayed still.
Ran's eyes slowly shifted from Sawaguri Isao's enraged glare to the phone in his hands, and unconsciously let them widen. All because of the voice, that voice she had longed to hear for what it seemed to be an eternity to her.
A collective, startled gasp set everything back in motion.
"I thought it'd be best if I could also hear the details of the case, so that I'd be able to answer your request."
And, just as hope began to fill her whole, it died out altogether.
That's not him, she realized. That's just Conan-kun using his voice.
"Unless you have any objections against my involvement?"
"No." Isao smirked. "With a famous high school detective coming aboard, I'm all the more assured."
So, the girl stood there, perfectly still in her spot, listening as Conan, impersonating his older brother, told the man that, if he wanted his help, he would need Kogoro to send pictures of all evidence that had been brought to the Professor's computer.
Her father had also appeared dumbfounded after hearing Shinichi, but snapped out of him right away ─ probably drawing the same conclusions she had ─ and proceeded to do as he was told.
"You should also send along pictures of the three books Miku-san autographed."
Conan continued to talk, loud and clear after Isao had put him on speaker, denoting an impressive amount of confidence with every word that, hadn't she known that Shinichi was still, well, like that, it would have probably fooled her, too.
He was doing his best to save them, the girl had no doubt about it.
But it must be hard, right, Conan-kun? Ran pressed her lips together, stopping herself from saying anything that would throw the boy's plan out of the window. She couldn't begin to understand how the kid must be feeling now, having to pretend to be his older brother when he was in such a condition.
"Judging from the monitor here, the page appears to be distorted only in Nihei-san's autographed copy," Conan pointed out. "Does it actually look that way?"
Kogoro held up the book for Isao to see. "Yeah, only the autographed page is wrinkled… as if it were once then dried!" Something akin to realization dawned on the man, twirling around and pointing at the poor woman in question. "Don't tell me, it's you?!"
"Please, refrain from jumping to conclusions." Ran could clearly hear the annoyance coating Conan's ─ or rather, Shinichi's ─ voice. "Had it gotten wet then, the entire book would be wrinkled. Now, is that the case?"
"N-No…"
"Next, about Yuchi-san's autographed book… And no, before you say anything, I'm not singling anyone out as the murderer. Presumption of innocence is a thing, you know."
"Y-Yeah…"
"What? I can't hear you."
"Yes!"
Kogoro raised an eyebrow at the phone laying atop his desk.
"Then, as I was saying…" Conan continued. "It looks like a brand new copy without finger marks and creases. Is it really a first edition?"
The older detective's expression barely shifted, opening the book in question and showing it to Isao again. "Yeah, it says here it was from the first printing."
Yuchi grew nervous ─ probably even more so after witnessing what had happened last time, someone appeared that suspicious to the guy with the gun. "I-It's because I made sure to keep it safe!" she stuttered out. "Given it's a precious signed copy."
Fortunately for her, the detective on the phone changed the attention back from her to the last book. "It's a bit torn, isn't it?" he observed.
"It is. I see the tear mark."
"That's because…" Mitsui was pale as she spoke. "After Miku-san had finished autographing my book, she was being mean and wouldn't give it back to me!"
Back at the Professor's house, the child paused. But the woman kept on talking, telling everyone how the victim wouldn't stop bullying her, just as when she didn't let her use her toilet even when she had upset her stomach, or how she deliberately lied to her about having taken a bath in her room even though she'd just come back from the large baths. Mitsui claimed she knew this because she had put on her slippers by accident, and noticed they were soaking wet and warm.
Only that Nihei didn't find them like that when she had lined the victims' slippers herself. Thus, an argument about whether or not Mitsui had oily skin had arisen and Conan, who would most definitely had hung up hadn't the current circumstances being, well, like that, was forced to listen to everything.
He held back a sigh, pressing his temples, waiting for it to stop.
"What a noisy bunch of old women… Cheeping and chirping like a bunch of lil' birds!" Apparently, there was something out there he could agree on with that psychopath, Conan mused. "Well, I must admit I've also been called annoying by my sister. She gave me the weird nickname of Bushwarbler."
Who cares? Conan rolled his eyes, but then his head rose sharply, almost by its own accord. Thinking about it calmly… His gaze fell ahead, blinked a few times at space, and a gasp escaped from his throat.
Actually, I think I do.
"There it is." The child turned to the scientist, who lazily rested her head against her palm, contemplating him almost boringly. "You figured it out."
"Eh?" Conan blinked stupidly. "How come you know that?" He was genuinely worried ─ telepathy doesn't exist… Does it?
Ayumi giggled at her other side. "It's pretty obvious," she said, nodding energetically. "You always have this big smile when you solve a case!"
"Yeah…" Genta added, noticeably less enthusiastic than the girl before him. "It's pretty annoying."
Mildly offended, Conan turned his head away.
Mitsuhiko, unlike the other two, shifted uncomfortably. "But, what are you going to do, Conan-kun?" The boy gave him a look, to which the freckled child frowned. "If you tell him who the culprit is, he's going to commit murder-suicide, isn't he?"
The little detective failed to answer, yet the confusion painting his expression disappeared completely to mirror his friend's. "That's… actually a good question," Conan mumbled, mostly to himself than to anybody else.
From the corner of his eye, Conan noticed the three kids turning to each other to share a concerned look, yet he pretended not to notice. Instead, he allowed his eyes to close, drawing in a deep breath to soothe his nerves, forcing himself to chase away anything that could cloud his reasoning abilities.
If I let him know about the culprit, they will both die. But if I don't, everyone will die.
There was no doubt that he didn't want Occhan and Ran to die there ─ no, he couldn't allow it. So, logically speaking, the only option he had left was to just tell him so that the damage could be reduced.
If those people were to die because of his deductions…
Kogoro's firm, unrelenting gaze flashed on the kid's mind.
"You're no murderer, kid."
Conan shook his head, violently ─ there had to be a third option. And if there isn't… His eyes snapped open, again, falling on the scientist's computer who, calmly as if nothing was transpiring, continued looking through the photos Kogoro had sent, hoping that something would occur to her. I'll have to create one.
Because that's what you would do, am I wrong, Oniichan?
"Wait," the boy suddenly said. "Ai-san, could you show me the last picture?"
"What, this one?" asked the girl, genuinely confused, turning the computer to him, allowing him to see better.
The kid gazed at the books for several seconds, blankly at first, "The Death God's Funeral Procession…" but then, the scientist could see, something sparked into life.
"That's what it says."
Conan's smile surfaced again. "Got it."
Ai, and the others in the room by extension, looked as if they wanted to ask, but didn't because it was obvious they wouldn't get an answer even if he explained it. The boy paid no mind, and turned back to the phone, raising the bowtie to his mouth again to, hopefully, end this for once and for all.
But he did not get to, "That phone's been connected for quite a long time…" because Sera's voice rang across his ears before he could utter a single word. "Shouldn't we connect it to the AC adapter?"
"You're right…" Isao didn't seem to have thought of it before.
"If I recall, it's in the drawer of Kogoro-san's desk, right?"
Is it? Conan raised an eyebrow, not quite remembering it being there, or telling Sera, of all people, where it was. No, wait, it's inside the cabinet. Maybe she had gotten confused, realized Conan. Maybe I should tell them-
"Huh, are you sure you don't want to do it yourself?" Sera spoke again. "If Kogoro-san has a weapon or something hidden in that drawer, he could counterattack, you know?"
Okay, now it made no sense. Conan gave the phone an odd look, finding it bizarre that a hostage would warn their captor about such a thing. It's almost as if she wants… His confused expression smoothed out. … to draw him close to the window…
And his eyes widened.
Surely, the room's temperature had dropped a few degrees, because Conan felt cold. He remembered lying to the police about him contacting Kogoro, who had told him he would deal with Isao since, had he known the police was aware, he might do something rash.
But, even if the police hadn't tried to talk him down yet, they still were there. Including the Snipping Support Unit.
She… isn't trying to do that, isn't she?!
She was, realized Conan with a shuddering breath, slowly hopping off his seat again. There, rooted in his spot, the child waited, trembling ever so slightly in place. I should say something… He could hear the culprit's steps, going around Kogoro's desk. Say something… A drawer was opened, meaning that the guy was probably inches away from the window now.
Anything…
But his throat had closed by itself. Unable to get a word out, Conan's eyes scrunched shut, waiting for the inevitable sound of the bullet piercing through the man's head.
Yet, all he got was the one belonging to curtains, closing rapidly.
"What the hell are you doing?!" Isao was yelling. "You wanna die?!"
"It's chilly tonight, so I think it's best to close the curtains." That was Ran, Conan noted, letting out a shaky breath. "Also, the AC adapter is inside the cabinet. I'll go get it for you."
Honestly, the child wasn't entirely sure if he was supposed to be relieved that a death had been avoided, or worried that now the man was out of sight, meaning that it would be hard to act if things went amiss. But he wasn't surprised, not really. Since it is Ran-neechan who we're talking about. She'd hate it if somebody were to die in front of her.
"Now, Kudo Shinichi!" the man, more alive than ever, yelled at him. "I've sent everything you need for your deduction! Who killed my little sister?!"
It was for the best, decided Conan, eyes sharpening.
"If you still don't know, then I've got no choice! Hate to do it, but I'll blow this agency to smithereens!"
Nobody is dying tonight.
"If you just let me talk, I'd tell you…"
"Tell me what?"
"The identity of the 'Rat', maybe?"
"I see… Thanks for your time, Inspector Megure."
With a soft click, Sato closed the door to her superior's office and stepped away. Yet, instead of leaving right away, she stood there, contemplating the door with a suspicious glint in her eyes.
She had heard the news about Kaito KID's death a few hours ago, and yet, she wasn't convinced in the slightest. Mostly because she only learned about it from the news, even though she was supposed to be a police member herself.
But that was far from the weirdest. As much as he had confirmed it when she came by to ask, Megure appeared reluctant to say another word about it. He had kept his lips stubbornly pressed, but she wasn't going to give up there.
That was, until he frowned, settling a severe gaze upon her form.
"Need not to know."
What he said had shocked her into silence, and left her no other choice but to duck her head and walk out without insisting any further. She knew, after all, that it would be pointless to do so.
Why? That was the question she could not answer, no matter how hard she tried. Why is Kaito KID's death classified information?
"Sato-san?" She finally turned around to see Takagi standing in front of her, eyebrows raised in evident confusion. "Is there something wrong?"
The woman said nothing, just stared at him long enough to make the clueless detective flinch away. Then, without uttering a single word, brushed right past him and speed-walked away. "S-Sato-san?"
She frowned, but didn't stop moving. "I can't find Superintendent Matsumoto either," Sato mumbled, mostly to herself than anything.
"Maybe it's because of that rumor?" Takagi followed clumsily. "They say they're going to promote him soon-"
He got to a stop just in time, barely avoiding colliding against the woman who, out of the blue, had frozen in her tracks. Not that she seemed to notice such a thing had almost happened, of course, since she was too busy staring at that empty space in the air, contemplating something in her mind.
Why did they promote him now? She cupped her chin, humming to herself. There was no remarkable feat lately on his accord ─ more so, he was kidnapped recently. And hasn't shown himself around lately either.
From what I have heard, he hadn't gotten to see his kidnapper either… A dead-end, huh?
Her head rose when a recent memory struck her abruptly. "Mouri-san," she whispered absently. "He knew something was off."
"Um, Sato-san…"
But he was in a delicate situation right now, or so she had heard. Maybe she should pass by next week, once everything settled down, and search for answers herself.
Besides, tomorrow wouldn't be any good either, she realized. Since tomorrow is the day-
"Sato-san?"
Sato jumped slightly, then turned to blink at the detective that stood beside her. "Takagi-kun, you're still there?" she asked, leaving the man to slump with a heavy sigh.
"You're acting weird, Sato-san," he said, straightening up. He observed her for a little and, sure enough, a frown took over his features. "Is it related to what you said at the bridge the other day?"
She couldn't even deny it. "Something fishy is going on," she declared. "All that happened at Tanabata… There has to be something more to it." It was followed by her crossing her arms over her chest. "And Mouri-san knows more that he lets on."
Takagi's eyes widened. "M-Mouri-san?"
"He was aware of the impostor posing as the Superintendent, but still went along with him." She continued. "Chiba-kun said Conan-kun was at Touto Tower back then, too…"
"But that's who Conan-kun is, right?" Takagi tried to reason with a weak chuckle. "When there's a big case, he's always there-"
"And isn't that strange by itself?" The man paused when she talked back. "I've been watching him for a while, too, and…"
"What?"
She turned to look at him, frowning profusely as she did so. "Don't you think Conan-kun is widely different from other children?" she asked. "And didn't you think that when something of this magnitude is happening, he's always there… Almost as if he's actively taking part of them."
Takagi watched her for a whole second. "Aren't you overthinking this?" he finally said. "I mean, yes, Conan-kun is always running into trouble, but isn't all that just plain bad luck?" She turned her gaze away from him, but he continued regardless. "He's just a clever little boy, but nothing out of the ordinary…"
Sato said nothing, just seemed to think over his words, before sighing heavily. She didn't so much as give him another glance, and just walked away, leaving Takagi to blink, wondering if he had said something wrong.
First came the Elephant. Since the victim had just come from the bath, her body should've been hot and humid, too, concluded Conan. Therefore, the one with the autographed page wrinkled had to be her, Nihei Sumika.
She had noticed her slippers were neither wet nor warm, meaning that she hadn't gone to the large baths, but had taken a bath in her room instead. "A valid question would be ─ why were the slippers accidentally worn by Mitsui-san as she was leaving Miku-san's room soaking wet and warm?" asked Conan, using his brother's voice. As expected, he got no answer. "That's easy to answer, actually. They were Yuchi-san's."
The woman had arrived shortly after taking a bath, and inadvertently wore Miku's slippers on her way out, leaving her own behind to be worn by Mitsui.
Meaning, Fox had to be Yuchi Shinobu. Leaving the Rat to be…
"I see, so it was you?!" Isao screamed, startling Conan badly even if he knew it wasn't aimed at him. "The freaking rat who killed my sister?!"
"What the… You're only basing that decision off some slippers?!"
"Well, that, and Miku-san's nickname scheme based on colors," he replied, without giving it much thought. "Just as Isao-san is 'Bushwarbler', resembling olive-green, taken from the name of the survival games he serves the leader of, Green Cap, that's the case with everyone else. Golden brown, the fox color, for the bread Yuchi-san bakes at her workplace… Ivory color, the color of the seals Nihei-san's husband carves… And the grayish color, the same of the stones Mitsu-san family stone masonry business deals with-"
The deranged cackle that followed cut Conan short before he could finish his thought process, leaving him to stand there, skin crawling as he listened to the man going on and on, laughing with all his will, until there was nothing but an empty, breathless giggle.
"As expected from the high school detective, Kudo Shinichi!" That brought him back, definitely. "The dirty rat who freaking killed my sister and made it look like a suicide… Mitsui Tanami, he's made it clear you were the one!"
"Umm… no," Conan interjected quietly. "I didn't."
Conan could hear the staring everyone was giving the phone right now and, even though it was stupid because they weren't currently seeing him, the boy instinctively took a step back at the sudden attention he knew he was receiving.
"But didn't you just…?" Isao said, undoubtedly confused.
"No. So, if you would please lower that thing I know you're pointing at that poor woman's face, I'll be incredibly grateful."
There were no more screams, so the kid supposed it would be safe to assume he did as he was told ─ good. "Remind me, how did the murder escape, according to you?" Conan continued. "Waited until you were busy with your sister and walked out of the balcony by the window you had broken, correct?"
"Yeah." Conan could tell the man was nodding now. "Then the culprit went into my room next door, and just walked out-"
"Repeat that, please."
Isao hesitated before repeating, in a lower voice. "She went into my room, and just walked out."
"There. That's where you're wrong."
"What are you talking about?!" Isao was growing anxious by the second. "Of course she did! I was in my sister's room. Since when I first went to knock on her door, I ended up raising hell. A lot of bystanders were already there at that point ─ it would've been easy to mix in that crowd!"
"It would, definitely," Conan answered right away. "But that would be weird, too, you know. Because I heard there was a guest three doors down who saw Mitsui-san coming out of your sister's room with a book in hand. I'm sure you have heard of it, too."
"He must have mistaken it-!"
This guy is stubborn, thought Conan, with a frown, before continuing. "Not a chance," he interrupted him, having no wish to stretch this any longer. "As soon as he saw her running across in a big rush, he immediately shut the door. In such a position and angle, considering he only saw her for, like, a split second… He wouldn't have been able to distinguish at all which room she had come from-"
"In that case-"
"Unless, he saw your sister's door wide open and spotted the room number affixed to the door!" The quiet gasp on the other side told Conan that the man could see where all this deduction was coming. "But it was closed when you came by, wasn't it? And none other than your sister could've closed it. Meaning, she was alive when Mitsui-san left ─ which would be pretty much impossible, I would say, if Mitsui-san murdered her-"
"Then who was it?! Who was the culprit that killed my sister?!"
Conan paused. He could feel the distress clearly in this man's voice ─ the raw desperation that was likely cursing through his blood, burning in each inch of his body with the need to know who had killed his dear sister. Even if the kid wished he could say otherwise, he felt like he could actually understand what this man was going through.
No matter how irrevocably insane or sick that could sound like, Conan could, in a way, empathize with this man.
All this sorrow. All this anger… I think I get it.
But… He clutched his bowtie. That doesn't make it right.
There are boundaries that should never be crossed. Conan took a deep breath. You can't trade a life for another.
Especially if you get people caught in the crossfire. That's absolutely unacceptable.
"Say," Conan began. "Have you read your sister's debut work before?"
He licked his lips anxiously, praying this would somehow work.
"No, I'm not much of a reader."
Conan silently cheered.
"So, um… Are you sure you haven't read it?"
The silent response, added to the confused looks he was surely receiving, made Conan cringe, mentally admonishing himself for such a suspicious reaction.
You're self-assured, cocky, Great High School Detective, Kudo Shinichi! What's with that weak response?!
That wouldn't be any good either, he shook his head with a deep breath. You're so close. You can do this. Conan breathed out, hoping to summon his latent acting skills he had inherited from his mother. It's not that hard. You've pretended to be Ai-san before, isn't that much difficult?
Though, deep inside himself, he knew. He knew that posing as his brother was probably the most arduous task he could have put on himself.
"The title is The Death God's Funeral Procession," Shinichi's voice came out much smoother than before. "The main character was a police detective who was desperately pursuing the shadow of a serial killing fiend."
Especially when he could see him, every time he heard his voice. Unconsciously hoping it wasn't Conan himself speaking, but rather…
"One day, the detective was visited by a Death God at his bedside, who told him 'You won't ever be able to catch him in your lifetime'."
Come on!
"It was only natural… Since that detective had been the serial killer who unconsciously wandered the streets night after night and committed the crimes."
Just a little more!
"The detective, upon realizing this fact, became tormented by his conscience and took his own life following the Death God's lead."
"Hey, you're not saying…"
Conan lowered his tone, making sure to sound as afflicted as possible. "That night, your sister laid her hands upon her Death God's Funeral Procession for the first time in ages in order to autograph it…" Isao was carefully listening to every word he was saying, which the kid took as a good sign. "If she uncontrollably put herself in the place of the main character she created… And saw a hallucinated image of the Death God in her room…"
He was almost there.
"You can imagine what your sister might have done afterwards, right?"
What followed was a period of silence, in which Conan waited with bated breath, looking out carefully for whatever reaction this man could have. Before long, however, he could hear a stifled breath, as realization sunk in Isao's mind, followed by a heart wrenching, despaired scream that had torn apart from the man's throat.
But as soon as it began, it was cut short.
If his heart actually leaped out of his chest at that moment, the little detective wasn't sure he would have noticed it ─ there were a lot of sounds, screams, that Conan worried to know what they were about, until he finally understood that Sera was crying out to 'breach the area'.
"Secured!"
That one single word took far longer to be registered than it was to reach his ears, but sure enough, he felt his legs giving in, falling to his knees as the overwhelming relief washed over him in waves.
"Conan-kun!" There was a collective gasp, to which he waved his hand, insisting that he was fine.
Raising his head, everyone was staring at him worriedly. "It's okay," he whispered, with a big smile, sitting cross-legged on his spot on the floor.
Even Irene, the cat, had woken up from her nap and approached them, curious about what they were being so nosy about. Conan chuckled, amusedly, placing a hand atop of her head.
"It's more than okay, actually."
Because he could hear the police. They were taking this man away, unharmed, alive. The others were just as fine, too.
So, Conan couldn't be more happy about the recent turn of events.
"But that was so cool!" exclaimed Mitsuhiko, as the other two nodded.
"You did an excellent job there," Agasa praised with a smile. "Hadn't I been able to see you, I'd believe you were Shinichi!"
Conan wasn't sure of how to feel about that.
"But, I must admit it was quite the surprise," commented Ai. "That this useless inspector from Gunma you complain about all the time was right all along."
"Well, actually…"
Her eyes darted back at him, confused at his answer and, soon enough, the rest of his friends, the professor ─ and even the cat, he swore ─ were staring at him hard enough to hurt. He laughed awkwardly, opening his mouth to explain.
When he was unsurprisingly interrupted.
"You really had me going there, Kudo-kun!" Sera's voice had him fumbling with his bowtie again. "I almost thought you were going to name the culprit and have that bomber man kill her."
Conan was mildly offended by that remark. Hey, I'm not that heartless. That was, until he remembered they weren't talking about him. Well, Oniichan is not.
"Well, I can understand if you figured out it was a suicide, but since I've never read Sawaguri Miku's debut work, I wouldn't be able to solve it!"
"Yeah… Me neither."
There were gasps of surprise coming from both sides when he said that. It was getting a little annoying, thought Conan with a small groan.
"What?" the child continued, realizing that they would not say another word until he explained everything ─ so tiring, lamented the boy. "You can't actually expect me to say that Yuchi-san murdered Miku-san, in front of him."
Silence again ─ Conan's head raised and saw his four friends blinking in surprise at him. Ah, right, he silently realized. I skipped the entire deduction.
Kogoro was spluttering in the background, probably trying to piece together the mystery with his rapidly overheating brain.
Conan's expression dulled instantly.
"Check her book," he said plainly. "There should be a nasty bloodstain deeper in the pages."
There was a towel with a strange blood mark in the photo I saw before. After all this, he didn't feel like explaining it. Miku-san was grasping something, but to my knowledge, they never found such a thing.
Yet, considering that Yuchi's book was neatly aligned, unlike the other two, the boy was convinced that he had found it. Fill the edge with sandpaper, replace the bloody cover with a new one, and done. You have a brand new book.
Mostly.
"But…" Conan didn't resist the urge to roll his eyes when he heard Kogoro's voice. "How the hell-?"
The boy took a deep breath in and out. "Look," he had no qualms in interrupting the older detective. "There are two competent detectives there." Though in his case, the kid couldn't help but feel like calling him that was a bit of a stretch. "I don't feel like spelling everything out for you ─ it's late, I'm dead tired and I haven't even had dinner yet. So do me a favor and figure it out for yourself."
"Wha-? Hey, listen to me, you little-!"
"Bye."
And just like that, the disconnect tone echoed in the silence that had settled in.
Ran blinked at the phone for several seconds until she finally woke up from her stupor and crossed her room to fetch her phone. With those three ladies standing behind her ─ especially the one shaking in the middle, whose ghostly pale face let her guess the kid was actually right about his deductions ─ she might as well call the police, even if they had left, like, not even five minutes ago.
Maybe she should consider putting the police number on the speed dial, she thought with a tired sigh. She raised her head again, and paused at the sight of her father breathing in and out, in such a way that actually creeped her out.
Then, he leaped to take her phone. She snatched it back just in time.
"Give me that!" he was yelling. "I'll teach that brat-!"
"Yeah, right! You solve the case first!" she shouted back. "You're a detective, aren't you?"
"Obviously, but-!"
"Then you solve it! See, easy!"
Despite the commotion, Sera didn't notice a thing. All she did was stare at the clock on the wall, blinking in utter bewilderment.
It's only five past ten.
"You're aware you still have to tell us all about the case, aren't you?"
Conan's head perked up at the words, instantly spotting the little scientist standing in front of him, arms crossed in front of her chest. "Don't give me that look," she said, crouching right next to where he sat on the floor, gently plucking Irene and gathering her into her arms. "After following that case so relentlessly, you can't expect us to not be curious about how it ends."
At both her sides, the other three kids nodded their heads, empathically. It made Conan sigh again.
"She's the Fox, the one who broke into an argument with Miku-san and wouldn't leave," the boy said matter-of-factly, as he rose back to his feet. "Then the Rat, or Mitsui-san, came by." He gave his friends a pointed look. "Why do you think she didn't let her use the restroom even though she really needed it?"
Ai's eyes grew marginally wider while realization finally dawned on her. As for the other three, they exchanged a confused look.
"Wasn't she just bullying her?" Genta questioned.
Mitsuhiko was the next one to understand, pausing, contemplating his friend's words for a second, before a shocked gasp escaped him. "Sawaguri Miku-san didn't want her to go in there," he finally realized. "Because Yuchi-san had hid in there!"
Conan's shrug was all he needed to know he was right.
"Ah!" Ayumi exclaimed, surprised. "Then, she must have mistaken her slippers with Miku-san's, and that's why Mitsui-san felt as if they were warm and wet!"
"Bingo," said Conan, expressionlessly, clapping lightly. "Congrats, you get it."
"But why?" Genta brought his eyebrows together in confusion. "Why would she kill her? I thought they were friends."
The bespectacled boy's hands froze in the air, blinking owlishly at his friend in surprise over that realization that it was actually a legit question. "They weren't friends?"
Conan felt Ai's pointed look. "Are you asking or stating it?"
"I mean, they couldn't be."
"You don't need to be a detective to know that." Ai rolled her eyes. "But to convict somebody for murder, you do need a motive."
"Which they can find about for themselves," the kid grumbled, crossing his arms behind his head. "There is a detective there besides Occhan. She can-"
"A detective, you say?"
The horror in the features of the little girl in front of him registered a second earlier than the deep, distinctively male voice that had everyone turn to the source, right behind him. Conan's forehead creased in confusion.
Just as he was about to move, a certain pressure on his back, and a pair of limbs trapping his at his sides, impeded him from doing so. This time around, he recognized it all without even needing to turn.
But stole an exhausted sigh from him nonetheless.
"What are you doing here, Mom?" The giggle told him he was right. "Weren't you with-?"
"Yusaku is taking care of it," she said. "Since there was something else I needed to do."
Conan was certainly curious about it, but did not dare to ask.
"I was outside watering the plants…" At the male voice, again, Conan freed himself from his mother's embrace to see the young man ─ Okiya Subaru, Conan was surprised to see ─ standing right next to Agasa, who had undoubtedly opened the door for them with none of the kids realizing. "When I smelled something burning. So Yukiko-san and I decided to come by to check if everything was alright."
Conan stared at him in utter confusion. Burning? He paused, noting that there actually was a scent like that impregnating the air. What could-? Then, suddenly, his eyes flew open. "Ah!" he shouted next, sprinting towards the kitchen. "I completely forgot about it!"
Clueless about what it could be, Ayumi, Genta and Mitsuhiko followed him with his gaze, until he reached the oven, and suddenly realized ─ with a loud, unanimous shout of "The cake!" ─ what was going on. They rushed right after him, crowding around to see, in their dismay, the blackened thing the little boy was currently glowering at.
"Woah, it is awful." Conan twitched when his mother pipped from over his shoulder. "I suppose it could use some work…"
His glare went easily ignored. But his friends reacted, but instead of saying anything to Yukiko, they merely pivoted on their feet and focused straight on the professor, "Professor!" who obviously flinched at the sudden attention.
"You could've said something!" shouted Genta.
"Yeah!" Ayumi vocally agreed. "Conan-kun and Ai-chan worked so hard on it and now it's ruined!"
"E-Eh?" Agasa then laughed awkwardly. "You didn't say anything either-"
"We were busy with the case!" argued Mitsuhiko. "And you're the adult here!"
Conan couldn't help but laugh dryly at that. With all of this, I completely forgot about it. He gracefully allowed his mother to take the 'cake' from his hands and sighed audibly. And the same could be said about her, I suppose.
He turned to where the scientist in question was, and sure enough, he found her, rooted in the same spot she had been before, clutching Irene against her chest. Her eyes were still stuck on the man in front of her.
Then all of a sudden, she moved, if only to take a step backwards when Subaru took one forward. Subaru's hand reached forward, and Ai tensed visibly. Conan stood up, ready to go up to her and try to solve the clear misunderstanding, when everything stopped.
Hand on top of the cat's head, Subaru smiled. "You shouldn't squeeze her this hard," he said. "You're hurting her, even if you don't mean to."
Ai blinked in utter confusion, then nodded jerkily. Allowing Irene to jump down and meow happily at the smiling man. The girl still didn't seem to be able to get her head around what was happening.
"It's such a shame…" Genta's pouting brought Conan back to the other group. "I really wanted to eat some cake…"
"Then, I have an idea!" Yukiko smiled brightly. "Why don't we bake one tomorrow?"
"We?"
"It's more fun that way, isn't it?" Even though Conan could see his friends copying her expression, he couldn't bring himself to do anything but frown. "Then, I think it's decided-"
"No, it's not." Everyone stopped when the boy said that. "Since we already have plans for tomorrow."
Even Ai, despite her current situation, cracked her head to stare at him. Conan kept a straight face, holding Yukiko's disbelieving gaze, unfazed.
"You do?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.
"We do." They didn't, actually ─ hence, the bewildered looks he continued to receive. "Professor Agasa's taking us to Tropical Land."
Agasa pointed at himself, "You are," and Conan hissed, before he had any chance to argue. Seeing that the glare that followed worked perfectly, the boy struck his hands inside his pocket and, nonchalantly, walked right past his mother.
His friends were exchanging confused looks with each other, yet, luckily, nobody said a thing. Conan supposed that meant he had some explaining to do ─ and, really, he wasn't looking forward to it, but figured it would be better…
Better than giving her the chance to be alone with him, and talk.
"Wait, little boy," Subaru said, before he could even reach the door. "Where are you going?"
"Bed," he replied, curtly.
"But Co-chan, you haven't eaten yet, have you?" Yukiko stated, frowning at his youngest. "Come here, you can head back to bed after dinner."
"But-"
"No buts, come here." She motioned the boy to come, keeping her hands firmly placed on her hips. "And wait here like a good boy while I and Subaru-san prepare something for everyone."
The boy paused, blinked owlishly, allowing his gaze to shift to the man in question. Akai-san knows how to cook? He stared for a whole second, eyes narrowing in obvious suspicion. He doesn't look like the kind-
But rather than fazed, Subaru looked almost amused at his expression.
"In exchange, I wouldn't mind hearing about that case you solved just now."
His polite smile twisted, morphing into a strange smirk.
"Especially about that female detective you were talking about before, if you don't mind."
Conan nodded slowly, unable to figure out where this sudden interest had come from.
"Good morning, Conan-kun. Oh, and good morning to you, guys, too."
As his friends loudly replied, smiles on each one of their faces, Conan paused, blinking at the girl in front of her for a while, "Good morning, Ran-neechan…" until he found his words again. "Sonoko-neechan too, I guess…"
Sonoko gasped. "You guess?!"
But he ignored her. "What are you doing here?" The boy turned around, giving the Professor's house one last look, before resuming walking. "You usually take the other route to school."
That had obviously changed when his brother had gone missing almost two years ago, and had been like that ever since, except, of course, that rare circumstance Shinichi had returned last October. The boy hadn't asked why, but had quite a good idea.
He gave his house ─ his real house, that was ─ a swift glance, and looked away almost as soon as his eyes had made contact with it.
"I wanted to thank you," she said, prompting him to blink back at her. "For what you did yesterday." She smiled brightly at the young boy. "Hadn't it been for you, we'd probably be done for."
Conan, unsure of how he was supposed to reply to that, nodded jerkily, shifting his attention back ahead. Only then did he realize his friends, and Sonoko by extension, were walking a little ahead of them, leaving the two to talk alone about it. Conan had to wonder if Ai, who had given him a brief look over her shoulder, had anything to do with it.
"It must have been difficult for you, right?" Ran's smile had dropped a little, the boy didn't fail to notice.
But he barely glanced at her. "It was nothing," was all he said.
"I see."
Even if she saw his shoulders tensing, she figured it would be better not to press him. "Anyway, I wanted to talk to you before school," the girl said next. "I'll be studying with Sonoko for our midterms tomorrow, so I'll likely get back home late tonight…"
"Ah, okay then."
And fell back quiet again. Ran was absolutely sure he noticed her frown, but chose to ignore it completely. Here we go again, she thought somberly, reluctantly settling her gaze back ahead. "But you know, Conan-kun…" Her hands clutched her bag. "If you want to talk about anything-"
"I know," he cut her off, still refusing to look at her. "I really appreciate it, Ran-neechan-"
"But?"
This time, he did turn to her, if only to say, "There's not a 'but'."
Ran was certain there was something else underneath his words, or that forceful gaze he was undoubtedly fighting to maintain. She left it at that, biting her lip to stop herself from asking anything else, knowing well that this wasn't the place or time to do such a thing.
He tore it away, however, and settled into something right behind her, and whatever had been there disappeared, to be substituted by sheer curiosity.
"Ran-neechan, isn't that person…?"
She turned away, just in time to see that there was somebody waving at her, from the other side of the street. Her broad, fang-toothed grin alone would be recognizable enough, anywhere.
"Sera-san?" said Ran, in surprise, watching the girl in question crossing the street.
The other four children also turned around, blinking in utter shock at the figure making their way to them. Unlike any of them, Conan barely batted an eye, calmly walking over to Sonoko.
Wordlessly, he extended his hand to her.
Sonoko took a step back, out of reflex more than anything. "What do you want?"
"I saw a skirt," he said, unmoving.
Ran didn't understand at first, until she saw her best friend groan, loudly, and grumbling to herself as she dug through her bag. A light chuckle escaped her as Sonoko reluctantly placed some bills on top of his palm, which the boy counted, stepping away from her.
"What… is he doing?" she heard Sera ask beside her.
She just shrugged, not wanting to explain to her it was a bet ─ about her, of all things.
Contented, the boy shoved it all in his pocket and turned around to face the female detective. "Yo!" Sera raised her hand with a bright smile. "Conan-kun, thanks for the other time!"
Conan awkwardly raised his hand, too, forcing a smile on his face ─ which was more like a grimace, instead.
"I don't think you should thank him," the scientist joined in, tone even. "Since it was Shinichi-san who did all that work, right?"
He flinched at the sharp glance Ai gave him afterwards and managed a jerky nod.
"What?!" Sonoko exclaimed, bamboozled. "Hey, Ran! You didn't mention Shinichi-kun when you told me that!"
Ran laughed nervously. "I forgot to tell you that…"
"Geez, Ran…" Sonoko's shoulders deflated with a heavy sigh. "You can't forget something like that!"
Conan believed he should say anything, but currently, he couldn't think of anything. Ai definitely noticed it, judging by the haughty look she gave him again, before turning to the group of older girls.
"Shinichi-san had gone back to his house for some files." Ai latched her hands behind her back, turning around to keep walking. "I suppose you were fortunate that he happened to stop at the Professor's house so that he could help."
Nice save, thought Conan.
But, it wouldn't be enough ─ Sonoko still seemed incredibly annoyed. "He could've at least shown his face, I say!"
Sera pondered over it for a moment. "Perhaps there was a reason he couldn't show his face…" Followed by it, her eyes dropped to the bespectacled boy, who flinched upon the sudden attention. It made him wonder why she kept intent on doing such a thing ─ frankly, it was getting on his nerves, too. "Well, thanks to what just happened, I really get it!"
"What?" Conan was almost afraid of asking, but did it either way.
"That Conan-kun and Kudo-kun are on super good terms with each other."
Honestly, the boy hoped he hadn't winced as violently as he thought he did, "N-Not quite," or that his voice hadn't trembled as much as he heard it. "Shinichi-niichan just happened to be there, and I passed him the phone."
"Ah, is that so?"
The slight narrowing of her eyes, however, didn't make her seem like she had been completely convinced ─ of course she wasn't, thought Conan, since he had just made it obvious, just by his body language alone. And Sera here was a detective, evidently she would pick those things up.
If he kept on talking, he would keep messing up, the kid supposed. So, giving the detective another look over his shoulder, he pivoted on his feet and rushed up to join Ai, who had gone ahead a bit ago. His friends, slowly coming out of their shock from the conversation, soon did the same.
Sera never got her eyes away from the child.
Neither did Ran.
A/N:
CherryGirl 21-6: No worries, I actually watched it! I have to say that, while it's not my favorite, I actually enjoyed it a lot. Especially Ai ─ loved that we got to see a lot of her!
F.C. Meyer: Actually, no, I didn't. Honestly, I thought I was going to drop it in a matter of months… But it ended up lasting almost two years now, somehow.
And, no, Irene is still there as you might have seen. I just forgot to mention her xD
Tung Tran: No, I think not.