File One Hundred and Fourteen: Swaying in the Night Breeze

Clearly, it had been the victim, Wakamatsu Ikurou, the one who had murdered his father one month ago at his villa in Karuizawa.

As shocking as the initial revelation would be, there was absolutely no other way he could see it, as the word 'son' discovered by Inspector Yamato and the rest scattered all over the bathroom left little room for any further speculation. All that meant, naturally, that he had to kiss his previous theory goodbye and finally accept that Ikurou's killer had not committed double-homicide, but rather, was actively doing everything in their power so that someone would figure out the trick to the disappearing letters.

Calling Hattori to the president's family home in Osaka to show the trick to him had been a desperate attempt to get him to see the truth. Of course, that wouldn't have made sense had it been Ikurou, the president's murderer.

What neither Hattori nor Conan could explain yet was why the wife had tried to hide that the tiles in the bathroom were the same as the villa, but, for some reason, she was trying to work against the culprit's cause.

And there's also the thing Yonehara-san said, thought Conan, watching Hattori approach Takagi, whispering the news to him. The president's mental state…

That's the most disturbing thing, I think.

Because nobody that genuinely wished they could have a son like Hattori Heiji could be right in the head ─ but it was besides the point, he guessed. The thing was, according to Yonehara, that he would keep on saying things like 'Why, as far as my son is so concerned, is he so inept?'

Anyone would see what was implied in that sentence.

The president had at least one daughter. No matter how hard Yonehara had tried to deny it afterwards.

"Eh?!"

"Shh!" At the loud reaction from the police detective, Hattori tried to shush him immediately. "You're so loud!"

"The culprit who murdered the president…" The poor guy was too stunned to even apologize properly. "Was his son, Ikurou-san?!"

Seeing that, Conan chimed in, "Keep it a secret."

"A secret?" Sato's neck craned in his direction so quickly that he had almost worried she would snap her neck. "You're saying that Conan-kun has one?"

Slowly, Takagi nodded. His hands, curled into fists atop the table they both shared, clenched tighter. His eyes roamed around the small café they currently were at to confirm that nobody was out there to overhear their conversation, and continued.

"He's hiding something," Takagi finally said. "I'm sure about it."

Sato took her sweet time scrutinizing him with her gaze. "You said he was just an ordinary clever little boy."

"I know I did." He sighed. "But after that bombing case…"

The female detective stilled at the mention of that certain case. It was one that surely would stick in her mind forever, to remind her every single day without fail that she almost lost Takagi at the hands of the same person who also took her beloved Matsuda away.

In fact, the only reason Takagi was still breathing was the same boy their current conversation revolved around. Conan had not been as stupid as that self-sacrificing idiot in front of her, however. He had never planned to die, only to trick the bomber so that they could get to the other bomb, and had defused the one with them, too.

After everything, Sato could sort of tell why Takagi had gotten over the impression that the kid's intelligence was just a little over average.

"He was truly impressive back then," conceded Sato. "For a child of his age, to keep a level head in such a critical situation…"

To her surprise, Takagi shook his head. "It was like that at the beginning," he said. "I don't know why, but at some point, he freaked out."

"He freaked out?"

"He panicked, saying stuff like he didn't want to get me 'killed too'."

Though the shock was strong, the focused frown still rose to her face. "That must be about the Tanabata incident." It would make sense, since they both happened exactly at the same place. "Which would explain why he was so defensive when I asked him about it."

Takagi fell silent after her statement, but the fact that he didn't show any disagreement worked just as well to her.

"The cause of Touto Tower's attack must be linked to Conan-kun, to some extent," she theorized out loud. "And because of that, he feels responsible for one or both casualties on that night."

"No way…"

Undoubtedly, he didn't like what he had heard any more than she did, but it wasn't like they could just deny the possibility to themselves and go on with their day. As much as it was uncomfortable to hear, the possibility was there ─ it could be dangerous for everyone; the boy included.

Especially if her hunch turned out to be true.

"As he was panicking in the tower…" Takagi began. "He said something else."

"What did he say?"

"Do you remember that Kudo Yusaku-san showed up and spoke to us?" Sato nodded. "Conan-kun… He called him 'Dad'."

She all but shot up from her seat. "What?!" It could've been a shout alright, but it was whispered, minding the few customers that were still there, unaware of their current turmoil. "His father is Kudo Yusaku-san? Doesn't that mean that he's Kudo-kun's-?"

"He's adopted," Takagi clarified. "Conan-kun said that his biological father was Kudo-san's distant relative. Both of Conan-kun's parents passed away in an accident. Kudo-san's youngest son had also died recently, so he took him in…"

Once more, the woman fell silent, but Takagi could easily see the gears turning inside her brain. She leaned further into the table, and the man instinctively flinched back, wondering if Sato, currently sitting on the opposite side, noticed she had been physically closer than they would be comfortable with.

The seriousness in her gaze as she looked up told him, however, that there were more important things in her mind at the moment.

"Takagi-kun."

"Yes?"

"Look into the civilian Masuyama Yuji-san, the other victim besides Kaito KID at the attack," she said, her voice firm, not unlike the tone she would use when work was involved. "And try to figure out what relation he had with either Kaito KID or Conan-kun."

"I understand." Eyebrows drawing together in a serious frown, Takagi nodded. "What are you going to do, Sato-san?"

Clearly, it was not like her to sit around and do nothing while he did his part.

"I'm going to investigate Conan-kun's biological parents," she said. "If my hunch is right and there are people we aren't aware of lurking around… And if Conan-kun is somehow related to it all…"

Takagi's lips pressed together in a thin line.

"Maybe their deaths weren't a mere accident."

"Detective Takagi? Detective Takagi!"

The detective in question blinked back into reality, just to meet a pair of big, confused eyes peering up at him, and laughed nervously.

"Sorry, I spaced out for a moment," he said, scratching the back of his head. "I was in a stakeout until late the other night, so I guess I'm a little tired."

Both Hattori and Conan exchanged looks, which told the police detective his words hadn't been entirely believed. "So, like you were saying, Conan-kun," he added, trying to dissuade the situation he alone had put himself in. "I'm… supposed to keep this quiet?"

"Yeah," the boy replied with a nod. "Everyone thinks the president's and Ikurou-san's murder cases the same person who held a grudge against both of them was the culprit, right?"

"It's possible that the culprit of this case had a different motive than the one from the president's case," Hattori said. "They may have a grudge against whoever murdered the president."

"So, Detective Takagi, ask everyone on the sly!" The boy broke into a childish, big grin. "Specifically, whether there was anyone who really loved the president."

Takagi hummed for a little, not entirely convinced about it all, nor seeing where all of this was coming from. Yet, a part of him knew, no matter how much he thought over it, experience told him that this little boy always found a way to convince him to do anything. Mostly, because Conan proved to be right at the end, every single time.

Conan was a genius. There was no doubt about it. A detective of his own right, despite what his age and appearance would tell.

Thinking about it, it makes sense he's Kudo-kun and Kudo-san's relative. Even if he was a distant one. Now that I look at him, they're a little too similar…

The Kudos' bloodline was a curious ─ and equally terrifying ─ thing, decided Takagi.

All the while, Conan's head tilted, privately wondering why he was being stared at.

Or, alternately, why did he keep being stared at. Like, all the time.

"EH?! KUDO-KUN DID?!"

It was no surprise to him that, following the direction of the shout, Conan would find Kazuha standing up from her seat, a flustered Ran beside her, waving her hands in a fruitless attempt to get her to quiet down. Though not because of her friend's attempts, the girl eventually lowered her volume, basically because of the stares that had naturally fallen upon her.

Although Conan had his suspicions, he never really found out what the girls were exactly gossiping about. It had to be about his brother's valiant confession at London, that was for sure, judging by the violent reaction, but if that was really it, he couldn't explain what came next.

Heiji flinched and slowly turned around. He immediately went back to stare at the front, trembling all the while, wondering what he had done and why in the world Kazuha was glaring so fiercely that he worried he would catch fire.

Conan promptly gave up trying to understand.

Teenage romance is weird, he concluded. Not any weirder than this case, though.

Sighing to himself, he allowed his eyes to roam across the room one last time, hoping that he would discover a clue there, displayed in plain sight for the untrained eye to see, but nope. Like the other ten times he had done it today, nothing ever arose.

"Inspector," Shiina suddenly called Megure. "There is no point in doing this any further, is there?"

"That's right," nodded Fujinami. "The question isn't where everyone was standing at the time of the incident. It's how that idiot son was made to take the poisoned baumkuchen piece between the two, right?"

Conan had no other choice but agreed, as much as he didn't voice it out loud.

Ikurou-san's cake piece was the only one poisoned. The boy was recapitulating the events in his mind, just in case he had overlooked something. There was a half-melted capsule in a teacup, which allegedly was what carried the poison. Dropping it into the black tea means no fingerprints, therefore no evidence…

"If that mystery isn't solved, no matter how much you conduct this on-the-site inspection-"

"No. This isn't an on-the-site inspection, but a voluntarily conducted on-the-spot investigation," said Satake, promptly interrupting Shiina. "For an on-the-site inspection, you would need to have a court-issued warrant in hand and present it to us before commencing. So that you could make us take in the meaning of it."

Conan's head shot up, as if struck by lightning. 'Have in hand before commencing'? Her words resonated within him, and his head quickly turned to Hattori, eyes wide like two plates. 'Make someone take in'?

When the other detective locked eyes with him, he understood his situation was not any different from his. At the same time, both let out a muted gasp, getting to the same conclusion, moments before moving.

"Inspector!" Conan heard Hattori say, but did not get to see him since he was busy running out of the room. "I'm borrowing the housekeeper again!"

Meanwhile, Conan had already stepped into the hallway, looking around until he found the person he had been looking for, staring at him oddly ─ probably having been distracted from his work by his abrupt appearance.

"Tome-san!" The forensic might have gasped in surprise, he wasn't so sure. "Come with me for a moment!"

Before he could say anything about it, Tome found himself dragged away by a little boy whose grip on the hem of his shirt was so strong that it was ridiculous. At some point, managed to steal a look over his shoulder and spotted the housekeeper. She was being pushed forward by that high school detective, who was gripping her shoulders, not unlike the kid there ─ he must have been teaching him.

That being said, it would appear they hadn't been half wrong on their deductions.

It wasn't long thereafter that Tome found himself staring in awe at the doorknob from the victim's room. Surprisingly enough, just like the pair had suspected, it turned out that there actually were remains of powdered poison sprinkled all over it.

"But why would poison be in a place like this?" wondered Yonehara out loud.

"Ikurou-san didn't happen to choose the poisoned piece of baumkuchen out of the two," explained Hattori. "Before he took it, the poison was already in his hand."

There was no need for Conan to point out the next, since it was just the most logical conclusion anyone would reach with that bit of information. For Ikurou, who was unknowingly carrying poison in his hands, it didn't matter which baumkuchen slice he chose, he would die either way.

But what wasn't so obvious was who had put it there. As Conan mused over it, he turned over to Tome, and was therefore surprised to find out he had no need to raise his head to properly address him. The man was crouching, carefully scanning the floor they stood on.

"Say, is there poison on the floor too?" asked the boy.

"Yeah. In between the boards."

"Could it be that there's about a ten-centimeter hollow in that powdered poison?"

His words had left his throat before he could fully process them, and the forensic was now blinking at him, surprise written all over his face.

"I was just guessing!" He let out a giggle, hands latching behind his back, rolling back and forth on his feet. "I was wrong? That's too bad!"

"N-No," stuttered Tome, still flabbergasted. "There's an open gap about that large in the poison found in between the boards..."

So that's it. Conan's eyes narrowed. With this…

"But how did you know?"

"I didn't! Like I said, I was guessing."

"You guessed…"

"Obviously! I'm just a kid, after all!"

And with that, the kid spun back on his feet and skipped ahead, back to the living room, Hattori following close behind.

With this, as to who applied the poison…

We'll finally find out who's behind all of this!

Evidently, he had jinxed it.

All that conviction that the case was going to be solved in a matter of minutes after this? The slight sensation of excitement over realizing that not a single one of the sippers belonging to the people stuck in the living room had remains of poison, meaning that the wife had to be the killer?

Gone. Vanished. Evaporated like morning dew under the scorching sun of a summer day.

And all that remained was a stiff corpse, currently lying in the study as a mark of what might have been a locked-room case. He would have called it an 'impossible' murder, but he had seen too much for it to be an applicable term any longer.

Evidently, the police had dubbed it as suicide, and were eager to call it a day. But…

"Say, Conan." Hattori had yet to flip his baseball hat around, for what that was worth. "Are you thinking the mistress was the culprit, too?"

"I was convinced that was the case," admitted the boy. "Until we entered the study where the mistress died."

Because, yeah, the third victim he had encountered had to be the freaking wife, his prime suspect. Death by cyanide, too, with the only difference that she hadn't tried to steal a piece of cake, but rather, had tried to look at something in the Japanese dictionary found right beside her on the ground, along with its case, opened on to the 'wa' entry.

Now, she had been proficient in Kanji reading, and there were no remarkably hard ones on the documents she had been working on, so everyone had found it weird that she would need such a thing, it appeared.

Poison had been found hidden in the dictionary, and on her slippers, too. That, and the letter she had entrusted to her secretary in case something happened to her ─ in which she detailed how she had covered for her stepson's crime ─ had made the police reach a certain consensus. That of a guilt-driven mother ingesting the cyanide she had used to end her son's life ─ a tragic result coming from several never-ending days of fearing he would silence her instead.

If he looked at the narrative from a certain angle, he supposed it could make sense, but…

"Me too." At least, Hattori had the same impression. "I can't imagine someone who was preparing to commit suicide would do things like ask for the tea to be refilled, or apply eye drops."

That had been bothering him, too. Her desk hadn't been empty as a few items had been left there, right beside her computer, tying the suspects to this case in one way or another. A partially sipped black tea brought by Yonehara, the fountain pen Shiina had lent her, the contract Satake had asked her to sign and stamp, and the eyedrops Fujinami had given her ─ there was no doubt that one of them contained the answer to the mystery between hands.

"Plus, she already started on signing the contract," Conan continued. "And the fountain pen was left uncapped as well…"

In response, Hattori nodded. "It's almost as if, right in the middle of her signing the papers, a ghost-like someone had entered unnoticed and utilized poison to kill the mistress."

Any other day, the boy would have snorted, claiming that it was downright impossible for such a thing to happen. But what did he know? There was so much their mortal eyes could perceive.

"Like the one who sent that strange letter to you." The moon was just barely peeking out from the clouds in the night sky, relentlessly drifting further, closer, hiding its beautiful light from the rest of the world. "Someone whose distorted existence cannot be seen directly."

Thus, uttering no further word, a groan escaped the confines of the little boy's throat. Spinning on his heels to head back inside, he ran a hand through his hair.

"All four suspects were in the on-the-spot investigation," he muttered, feet moving rapidly as they carried him through the halls, completely lost in thought, forcing Hattori to hasten his own pace to catch up with him. "Can someone murder another in an entirely different room?"

"That's right," commented Hattori. "Besides, those slippers with poison… If someone wanted to place the blame on the mistress, they would've had to switch those at some point."

"You can't just switch them!" argued the boy. "At least not without being stared at for being remarkably suspicious, or mentally unwell."

But just as he was saying that, something right in front of him made him blink, shocked.

"Yeah." Hattori dropped his head dejectedly. "You can't, right?"

"You can."

The older detective paused for a moment to make sure he hadn't misheard anything. "Eh?" He raised an eyebrow. "You were the one-"

He halted, however, when the child's hand moved, his index finger stretching to point at something ahead of him. That, and the look of utter shock painting his entire expression, made Hattori turn and look, just to be a victim to it, too.

"Why are these slippers here?!" He was decidedly far louder than him, in any case.

Ran, who had seemed to be guarding said slippers for no apparent reason, motioned to the door next to her. "They're Kazuha-chan's," she explained. "Since there are slippers inside for the restroom use, you'd normally leave yours outside."

Conan continued to stare at the slippers, eyes wide and inspecting every cranny of them before they slowly rose to the bathroom's door. Until, of course, it opened, allowing Kazuha's head to peek from inside, complaining about them all gathering in front of it.

Hattori grabbed her shoulders, struck by the sudden memory that she had gone to the restroom at the beginning, right when they got there. To which Ran replied they had, and that there had been a line back then, because she had to go in too.

"Say," Conan suddenly said. "Did the mistress use the bathroom, too?"

To his surprise, Kazuha shook her head. "The one who was in the restroom ahead of us was Ikurou-san," she said. "He headed immediately to the living room after he came out."

"Asking us, 'I heard Director Shiina's voice, so does that mean he brought the baumkuchen'?" added Ran.

"Is that for real?" inquired Hattori.

"Yeah. While wiping his hands…"

"In an exultant voice."

Meaning, the poison was a fake, evidently. Back to square one, huh? Conan sighed one last time, folding his arms behind his neck. He pursed his lips ─ because, no, he absolutely did not pout ─ a bored gaze sliding away from the girls and to the window.

Gradually, the clouds were drifting away, finally allowing the moon to cast its beautiful light on them.

It made him snort. If only it was this easy, he thought. Imagine getting the truth to shine through merely by waiting for the clouds to go away.

If only… His hands dropped at his sides. The moon…

Half a moon was presented in front of his eyes. Half-moon. They became wide with the revelation that had just shaken his mind. An optical illusion, just like the Crazy Diamonds…

The boy did not think any further, seizing an unsuspecting Hattori's sleeve, promptly dragging him while he ran through the hallways. "Wha-?" Stumbling, the older detective did his best to keep up, but it proved surprisingly hard. "Hey, what's gotten into you?!"

"I need to show you something!"

"That much I can tell!" argued Hattori. "I wonder if ya can tell I can walk perfectly on my own, too!"

The kid did not seem to find worth giving him an answer, or he wouldn't have just quickened his pace, opening the door to the living room and, paying no regard to the forensics they passed by, making his ─ their ─ way inside. He went directly to the table where the two pieces of baumkuchen ─ a new one bought by Takagi to make sure the cake pieces were equally cut ─ to stand on the tip of his feet, his head just barely making it to its height.

Though confused, Hattori grabbed the tray and lowered it to the boy, so that he could look at them better. Indeed, for a while, the boy observed them.

Before he smirked. Hattori's raised eyebrow dropped back again as soon as the kid's hand grabbed one of the two pieces, rearranging them so that one stood a little above the other in the tray.

"Jastrow illusion." Finally, Conan spoke, noting how the detective in front of him had his mouth slightly agape, definitely coming to the same realization he had. "Isn't that right?"

Hattori slowly nodded, taking into what his eyes were watching for a little longer, before settling the tray back to its original place.

"That means his piece was poisoned from the beginning," he observed. "So it was 'an eye for an eye', huh?"

"An illusion, just like the one used to hide the president's dying message," Conan said, nodding. "Could the culprit have used another kind of optical illusion to kill the mistress?"

"There's only one way to find that out, isn't it?" In two long strides, Hattori had reached the door. "Detective Takagi's at the study. Let's see what he's got."

Admittedly, for Conan it definitely took more than two steps, but effectively reached the doorway, following the older detective close.

"Ah-le? What's this?" Conan pitched his voice purposely higher, so that it sounded incredibly annoying, even to his ears. "I think you messed everything up, Detective Takagi!"

As every single gaze in the room automatically fell on him, Takagi rushed to join him where he stood, peering over the table to observe the lone pair of baumkuchen pieces that were left on top of it.

"I messed up?" Takagi asked, sounding worried. Conan assumed he feared they had to do everything all over again and, frankly, he thought it to be a legitimate reason to be concerned.

"Yeah! Inspector Megure said that every piece had to be identical to each other."

"But… they are."

"They are not!"

Takagi stared at him, like he was insane ─ which he couldn't exactly deny ─ long enough for the boy's innocent, surprised gaze to transform into a bored, dull one. He motioned with his head to the side, and only then Takagi realized what he should've been paying attention to.

"They…" Takagi breathed out, taking into the two pieces of baumkuchen. "They are not."

Megure gasped and immediately pushed his way past Conan to look at it with his own two eyes, missing completely how a pleased smile had come to pose itself on the boy's face.

"Hey, Takagi!" Takagi flinched when he was addressed. "I told you-!"

"And he did," said Hattori before the other could even try to defend himself. "Exactly as he was told."

Both the detective and the Inspector stared at him, thoroughly lost.

"What do you mean?" grumbled Kogoro. "It's plainly obvious that the one further away is bigger!"

"Oh, yeah? If that's so, why don't you try to stack them up to check?"

Eager to prove him wrong, the man did as he was told, an annoyed scowl written all over his face that was soon overpowered by shock. The pieces were exactly the same size only that, as Hattori later explained, his brain automatically compared the length of the closest adjacent parts, which in this case was the inner radius of one of the fan-shaped baumkuchen pieces with the outer radius of the other one.

He only half-listened to it all, to be honest, partly because he already knew all that. But also because he was paying attention to the suspects themselves who, with an oolong tea bottle in hand, could not help but awe at the detective giving out his deduction ─ even the culprit, he was sure.

"Then Satake-san asked her to sign and stamp the contract while she was waiting," Takagi had told them not that long ago. "And Shiina-san lent her his bronze fountain pen."

"Bronze?" Conan had parroted in surprise.

Out of all four suspects, the kid's eyes zeroed on the secretary, Satake Yoshimi. Unlike any of them, she was holding both the bottle and its cap with her right hand.

"Yeah. It seems he received it from the president in celebration of thirty years of service."

The phone had started buzzing inside his pocket, but did nothing about it ─ nothing besides mentally groaning at the fact that his friends could not keep quiet, for one second, naturally.

"I think he said the other employees were presented with wristwatches, also made of bronze."

"Oh! Sparkly~!"

It was the absurdly sugary voice that caught the woman's attention first, then came the very alarming feeling of little hands tugging her sleeve up, leaving the bronze watch she had tried to hide so badly in plain view, for everyone to gape at.

"Ah-le-le?" He didn't stop there, nor did he let go of her wrist, either. If anything, his grip had strengthened. "It's only sparkly in one spot… Ah, could it be this is the redox reaction thingy Heiji-niichan told me about?"

She didn't know how she was supposed to react when the boy looked up at her, beaming brightly. "The water from when you washed your hands must have reacted…" And maybe she was seeing things, but she could've sworn the innocent smile had taken a strangely cocky, not-so-innocent turn. "With the cyanide."

"C-Cyanide?" she stuttered. "What are you-?"

His cute behavior was back in the blink of an eye, turning to the older detective, like an excited child hoping to be praised for a well-done job. "Right, Heiji-niichan?"

The detective nodded, if only because he felt pressured to, rather than due to his own conviction. What's that kid doing? he thought, a twitchy smile on his face. Arbitrarily changing the flow of my deduction…

In spite of the nefarious nature of the accusations thrown at her, the secretary tried to put on a smile, her hand now free to rest over her knee as she bent closer to the kid. "But boy, even if I poisoned the baumkuchen piece…" It moved, if only to pretend she was sprinkling some imaginary kind of dust in front of his eyes. "The cyanide wouldn't get into my watch, would it?"

"I agree." Conan nodded. "But I meant when you poisoned the mistress."

She turned white as a ghost, but Conan merely giggled, and skipped back towards Hattori who gave him a long look, before continuing ─ the smirk was completely gone from his face now, for some reason Conan did not find himself interested in knowing. Though, he suspected it had to be that this 'deduction show' had most likely not followed the schedule the western detective had wanted.

Conan shrugged. It was quicker this way.

"Wakamatsu-san suffered from the Gestaltzerfall phenomenon," Hattori explained. "You, Satake-san, made her look at a considerable number of font designs."

"A total of fifty patterns," Conan chimed. "Varying in size, color and style, yet with the words 'wakoudo no sake' in all of them."

Meaning 'alcohol for the young' in English, but that for itself wasn't relevant. Which was, however, was the kanji for 'waka', that both her last name and the word 'young' shared.

"There are 'character neurons' in your brain. It's said that continuously seeing the same character over and over will tire those character neurons out, causing their functionality to decline," Hattori explained. "Basically, even a character you know super well, you'll become confused and start wondering, 'Was it written like this?' That's called the Gestaltzerfall phenomenon."

"I see!" Takagi exclaimed suddenly. "So she then asked the mistress to sign the contract…"

Unable to recall how to write the kanji in her own name, she had taken the Japanese dictionary from the shelf and touched the 'wa' index where the poison had been applied. Conan did not find it hard to imagine how she had brought it to her mouth, as he had been victim to that habit once in the past ─ that of moistening the tip of one finger, licking her thumb in her case, to turn the pages. Conan shuddered, finding it unsettling that not only he could be drugged, but also killed over such an apparently harmless action.

Ai-san and Ran-neechan were right all along, even if they had never imagined that such a thing would happen. I'm definitely keeping my hands off my mouth when I read, from now on…

Seeing there was no feasible way of keeping up her act any longer, Satake was forced to confess. That she was the late president's daughter from his first marriage, who had applied as his secretary, moved by an intense desire for revenge for leaving her mother. Yet, the plan had been promptly abandoned as she softened up to him, realizing, really, that the man wasn't all that bad, just emotionally clumsy and forgetful.

That day at Karuizawa, everything was supposed to change. The president had been planning to announce that she was his daughter. And evidently things had changed, but not for the right reasons.

The desire for revenge had surfaced, stronger than ever before, along with a thirst for blood that would never subside unless the man who killed her beloved father and the woman who covered for him paid for their misdeeds.

"However, calling Hattori-kun here was a failure." She finished her story with a grim smile. "Even though I had intended to mislead you, you were a cut above."

Conan tried not to flinch away when she settled her gaze on him.

"No… Perhaps I should say 'you guys' instead?"

Either way, an answer was never deemed necessary, since she was taken away by the police not long thereafter. Conan watched her go, calmly walking beside the police officers escorting her, offering no resistance whatsoever.

With the last criminal he faced earlier today, who had all but tried to attack him, it was quite the contrast.

Well, I guess that's it, he decided, nodding to himself and spinning on his heels, more than eager to leave this place. No more illusions for today.

Just a calm evening, hopefully reading in peace-

His phone started buzzing.

It was from his detective club alright, but rather than a simple ─ or multiple ─ messages on their chat group, it was a video call. There was a mixture of a groan and a sigh coming up his throat, he wasn't sure.

Why me?

But picked it up either way.

"What do you guys want?" Conan made sure his annoyance showed through the screen. "I told you I was busy, didn't I?"

"But we were so worried!" Ayumi's head came closer to the camera in her impatience, so now her face was barely on frame anymore. Conan omitted any comment about it.

"It's your fault, Conan-kun!" added Mitsuhiko, though a little calmer than the other two. "You weren't answering our messages anymore."

"Yeah, that's right!" Genta nodded vehemently. "We thought you'd gotten yourself kidnapped again or something!"

His eyebrow was trembling now. "I told you I'd ignore you."

But managed to compose himself either way, if only by pressing the bridge of his nose, trying to stave off a headache. He looked back at the screen, however, when that certain female giggle crossed his ears ─ and inevitably made everything worse, just by that.

"Tough case?" asked Ai, to which he nodded. "How many?"

Conan gave her a questioning look. The rest of his friends had the same expression, which at least made him feel a little better that he wasn't alone in this.

"How many victims, I mean."

Once he understood what she meant, the child scoffed. "What makes you think-?"

"Two victims," Hattori said, loudly enough to be heard by the others ─ how long has he been snooping in my conversation, anyway? "Or three, if ya count the one we came to investigate."

There was a collective exclamation of surprise that had the kid giving his friends an unfriendly stare. "No need to pretend," he said. "None of you are actually surprised."

The three kids grinned sheepishly at that, confirming their bespectacled friend's suspicions.

"As expected from Conan-kun!" Mitsuhiko exclaimed, which definitely did not help his case, decided Conan. "Such amazing observation a-"

But all of a sudden, the boy disappeared from sight, leaving all children to look at each other ─ and Hattori, by addition, who had paused to glance at the small detective, confused by the sudden halt of the kid's voice.

"He hung up," he heard Ai said, her voice cool and calm as always. "Or maybe he just ran out of battery."

"Ah, that's right!" exclaimed Ayumi. "Mitsuhiko-kun said that his phone's battery has been draining quicker, remember?"

Actually, no, Conan definitely didn't. Though he hadn't been hanging out with them a lot after Tanabata and his brother's subsequent hospitalization so, if something like that had ever popped up, then he had probably missed it altogether.

"Why doesn't he just change it?" wondered Genta. "How long has he been having that thing, anyway?"

"Then there's no helping it," interjected Conan before anyone else. "It's not nice to keep talking while Mitsuhiko is not here, so why don't we leave it for later?"

Ai's eyebrow raised. "Are you going to pick it up later?"

"Of course!" he said, almost offended that they ─ because the other two's faces said that they agreed with every single word ─ thought he would be this rude. "It's just that I'm expecting a call right now, so-"

"A call?" Conan barely kept himself from sighing ─ now if Hattori would stop chiming into my conversations… "Is it Ku-?"

His words were cut short, but not only because of the boy's glare sent at him, but the shushing sound that came from both Conan and the other two children on his screen ─ sans the little scientist, who only stared at him, as if trying to deduce if she would find anything even if she were to cut open that thick skull of his. So yeah, he kind of got the point.

From behind him, he could hear Ran and Kazuha talking to each other, so it wasn't hard to deduce that they were not far away from them, probably going to step out outside the house like he, and the little boy, had just done.

Conan turned around, phone still in hand, and gave him a look. Okay, I get it, Hattori thought, smiling awkwardly. I'ma moron. Happy?

He might have been seeing things, but Hattori swore that the kid smirked.

"Hey, Conan-kun." At Ayumi's call, the child's attention went back to the phone. "That person behind you-"

Hands resting on his shoulders made him jump, spinning on his heels immediately just to see a figure taking a few steps backwards. His hands tore away from the kid at the movement, and were left to raise in front of the person, in a silent sign meaning no harm.

"Hey, hey, what's with you?" he said, eyebrows raising far above his hairline. "It's just me."

Conan breathed out, taking into Hirai's face for a moment before he stilled. "It's your fault for coming up at me like that," he grumbled. "You scared me."

Hattori, on the other hand, merely smiled at the sight of his rival. "Hey, Ku-'' Two glares were sent his way. "H-Hirai. I didn't expect you to be here."

"Yeah, me neither," admitted the young boy. "You said you were going to call."

"I did. You weren't picking up."

He did? the boy wondered briefly, but then turned to the phone, or rather, at his friends that remained on the video call, far too silent to be deemed normal. Both Genta and Ayumi grinned sheepishly, probably realizing they had been caught snooping on their conversation, while Ai simply smirked. Conan made sure they saw him glaring at them, before wordlessly ending the call.

Certainly, he had felt the phone buzzing nonstop in his pocket, but had attributed it to his friends spamming his inbox. If his brother had called then, he had likely mistaken it with them. He groaned at the thought.

"Well, I remembered you guys were investigating that odd murder case," continued Shinichi, grinning. "So, since I was passing by, I thought I'd check how things were going."

A smirk broke through Hattori's lips. "Too bad," he said then, flipping his baseball hat around, added, "Because this kid and I just solved it."

"Eh?" uttered Shinichi, disappointed. "That's a shame…"

"Don't worry, because we'll tell you everything about it," Conan chimed in, before the western detective could say a word. "Only after you tell us why Watanabe-sensei wanted to talk with you so badly."

If the face that his brother made afterwards wasn't a hint good enough, the almost imperceptible bow of his head, or the shoulders that tensed ever so slightly, definitely convinced him that, whatever were the news he had received, they weren't any good.

Hattori watched them both, stricken with curiosity. "Watanabe-sensei?" he asked, turning to the little boy. "Isn't that the guy ya asked me to look into a while back?"

Noting the pointed look sent his way, Conan smiled sheepishly at his older brother.

Before he could add anything else in his defense, or claim that, really, it wasn't like the bigger detective had given him much choice, he was suddenly lifted from an external force, grabbing him by the middle.

And above him was none other than Ran. Again?! he cried internally.

He stopped himself from doing so externally at the sound of his brother's surprised yelp. Her free arm had latched onto his, and it genuinely looked like he would combust from the sudden closeness right then and there, to the child's eyes, anyway.

"Do you have a second?" she asked, yet did not wait for an answer.

The girl promptly turned around to where Kazuha was standing and nodded in determination. She waited until her friend raised her two fingers, forming a timid 'V' shape, before dragging both brothers away.

It wasn't until they were just a few steps outside of the Wakamatsu residence that she was content with releasing them, if only to push them past the gates and away from sight. Even then, Ran was not kind enough to offer any kind of explanation.

All she did was peek her head out the gate, smiling at whatever was occurring back inside. Conan blinked twice at the scene, and approached her, stared some more, then turned to the place they had previously been at.

A blushing Kazuha stood in front of Hattori.

"Ah, I get it," said Conan. "Kazuha-neechan is going to propose, right?"

Shinichi walked closer, giving the pair a puzzled look. "Is she?" It was clear in his voice he had his doubts. "What makes you think that?"

"Well, Ran-neechan told her earlier that, in London-"

A hand clamped his mouth shut.

"Kazuha-chan was frustrated," said Ran, through gritted teeth, releasing him once she made sure he wasn't opening his mouth again. "Just a little."

Her other hand was gripping his shoulder. It hurt.

"Frustrated from waiting for him to look at her…" Conan could feel cold sweat dripping from his forehead, even though he seemed to be a mere spectator of it all. "For that detective freak to get a hint for once in his life and understand her feelings without her needing to explain every single thing…"

Shinichi blinked, cluelessly.

"Ah," was all he said.

Both Conan and Ran gave him a blank stare before they sighed in unison. It tickled him off, but because he didn't know any better, he let it pass.

Shaking his head, Conan turned to look at the couple again, hoping that he would see some development from that side. Hattori's face was struck by surprise. Kazuha's eyes closed, and her blush became fiercer than ever before. Conan inched forward, waiting for what was inevitably going to happen.

But Hattori did the unthinkable. He, just, freaking ran away from her, darting right past him and leaving him wondering what in the world had just happened.

And for some reason, he was now beside his brother instead, whispering something to him while he elbowed him. That, the face-splitting grin Hattori possessed, together with the slightly flushed face of Shinichi, gave Conan a pretty good idea of what he was whispering to him.

That stole a dry laugh out of him. I feel a little bad for- He paused. Kazuha had not moved yet. Don't tell me…

Kazuha's face scrunched. She felt as if her cheeks were on fire.

"T-The truth is…" Her heart was beating like crazy. "The truth is, I also… Since a long time ago…"

Yet, it had to be done. Taking a deep breath, her head tilted forward, and yelled it, with everything she had.

"I LIKE YA VERY MUCH!"

"That… was moving. I guess."

The voice was high-pitched and cute, much different from what she had expected to hear. Kazuha blinked back to reality, opening her eyes to find out there was nothing in front of him. That was, until they went down and spotted the little boy standing right in front of her.

There was a sympathetic smile on his face. Her face paled as realization sank in.

"He didn't hear a word," he informed. "Better luck next time?"

A groan was all the answer he received. Conan was not surprised.

"I felt your passion from over there," said Ran, wearing a similar expression. "If you try again-"

"Don't bother, Ran-chan." A sigh. "Thanks."

Conan could only laugh nervously at the scene. At least, until he felt his phone buzzing again. This time, he was the one to sigh. "What do they want now?" he muttered under his breath.

"You've been messaging them for quite a long while," observed Ran, smiling good-naturedly.

He gave her a non-committal hum. "They suddenly decided we're going out camping tomorrow," commented Conan, glaring at the few messages he had yet to read on his phone before turning to the girl. "Is that okay?"

"I don't think there's a problem," said Ran. "I'll help you pack your things when we get back home."

"Ah, no, I can do it on my own. Thanks."

"But wait," Kazuha suddenly said. "I thought it was going to rain all day tomorrow."

"Eh?" Ran's reaction was widely stronger than the boy's. "Is that true?"

"Yeah. I checked out the weather forecast before coming to Tokyo…"

Conan tried to look disappointed, but really, he did not think he was too successful.

It might have shown, though, when he spotted Ran's bright smile, but arguably not for the right reasons.

"I've got it covered," she claimed.

Now he was getting a tad worried.

Later, he found out he had been getting all worried over nothing. They had barely stepped inside the Agency and Ran had dived into his room, surfacing back up moments later with something on her hands, presenting it to everyone.

Hattori observed it with mild interest while Kazuha awed, charmed by how cute that was. Kogoro, predictably, couldn't care less about it.

Conan, for his part, looked at it, not exactly knowing how to feel over the fact that Ran somehow thought this could work.

The ghost-like talisman stared back, the marked, drawn smirk permanently fixed on his face. It reminded him of a certain somebody, but he could not put his finger on who exactly.

"This teru-teru-bozu always granted nice weather for Shinichi's important soccer games," commented Ran.

Only then did he notice the number '10', not unlike that of a soccer shirt affixed to its back, and snorted.

I get it now.

"Oh, Ran-chan!" Kazuha teased her friend. "You're making me blush!"

"I-I mean, the rain would be bad for the parents too." In her rush to hide her oh-so-obvious embarrassment, she rushed to hang it outside the window.. "So tomorrow will definitely be sunny, Conan-kun!"

Do make tomorrow a sunny day.

Conan felt his entire self halt.

Ran's lips continued to move, too focused on Kazuha to notice a thing, yet not a single sound reached the child's ears. He breathed out, softly but squeaky, and that chill began to crawl up his spine, sliding into neck, embracing his throat like a familiar yet undesired presence.

Teru-teru-bozu, teru bozu… A melody, a long-forgotten children song. Do make tomorrow a sunny day.

Like the sky in a dream sometime…

Distantly, he noted Ran glancing at the watch, and rushing to the kitchen. If he tried, he could've read on her lips the words 'late' or 'dinner', but as it was, he could only note Kazuha standing, too, presumably intending to help.

If it's sunny, I'll give you a golden bell.

He rose to his feet, too. But, unlike the girl, he didn't seek to help her.

Teru-teru-bozu, teru bozu. Do make tomorrow a sunny day. Lethargically, as if in a trance, the boy walked up to the window, contemplating the small, smiley doll gently swaying in the night breeze. If you make my wish come true, we'll drink lots of sweet sake…

"Brat?" He got to hear Kogoro calling for him. "What're you doing?"

Which didn't mean he paid any mind. This feeling… It's the same. He frowned. The same that I felt right then when Yonehara-san was telling us about the dying message.

The same feeling, too, whenever I remember-

A cold, distorted laugh resounded. He shivered involuntarily.

"Hey, Conan." It was Hattori this time. "Are you-?"

Closing his eyes, he struggled to focus, forcing his mind to remember something ─ anything.

Alphabet ─ that was the word that struck me the most. Maybe it has to do with alphabet letters?

And finally, he made out a face. Not the one he was so desperately trying to remember, no, that one still refused to come to him. In front of that person, there was another, facing Vermouth, saying things he could not recall, but guessed they were not relevant.

Because he recognized his long hair, covering half of his face thus hiding his right eye away from sight.

Rum.

And, the person behind him was smiling ─ such a smile made his chill several times worse. And those hands… They were moving.

Vermouth did the same. He briefly remembered her doing the same, too, about a month back. Martha's Vineyard Sign Language. There's no way I can tell…

But if it's spelling… The alphabet letters were basically the same, or so he had found out not long after his talk with his parents, eager to find something more that could reactivate his memory. Maybe…

His gaze was back at the talisman hanging outside. Teru-teru-bozu is a foreign word. So it made sense that, in sign language, it would have to be spelled in a conversation. Could it be?

He raised his trembling little hand in front of him and formed a fist, his thumb tucked in between the middle and index finger.

'T'...

Next thing he knew, he was opening it again. Then, four fingers bent down to meet his thumb, pressing against its side.

'E'...

Crossing his index finger over his middle, he found yet another letter.

'R'…

And by untangling them, too, allowing both fingers to move upwards, together.

'U'…

Little Conan's curious gaze did not leave the hand, which seemed to move almost too quickly for his eyes to recognize them. But the person paused, for a moment far too short to be attributed to anything else, but maybe the start of what was assumed to be a word.

The movements repeated, meaning the first set of letters repeated twice.

Standing in front of that person, the one-eyed, scary man remained oblivious to it all.

Maybe it was a message only for Sensei to receive?

Renewed with determination, his frown deepened. All fingers sans his thumb extended, which he folded them across his palm.

'B'…

They curled again, the tips of his fingers and thumb pressed together to make a certain shape.

'O'…

This time, his index finger moved, as if to draw a shape, not unlike that of a thunderbolt, in the air.

'Z'…

And then, it stood still, pressing against the middle one that had just unfolded, allowing the child to see yet another letter that he had made before.

'U'.

"Conan," Kogoro said from very close. Distantly, he noticed his hands resting over his shoulders. "What's wrong?"

There was this distinctive tone of concern that would have had him teasing the old man for the rest of the night, had the situation been any different.

Hattori's face also appeared in front of him. He paid no mind.

Teru-teru-bozu, teru bozu... That sound started to cloud his senses again. Do make tomorrow a sunny day…

The hands rose to their face, two fingers pressing against their cheekbones. A gelid smile became wider as they slid down.

His own eyes opened dramatically, and his breathing promptly stopped.

But if it's cloudy and I find you crying…

"Conan?" Hattori called, softer this time. "Are you alright?"

But Conan did not answer. Slowly, his head rose to meet the teru-teru-bozu one last time, and, for the longest time, he just observed it.

Back and forth it swayed, smiling sweetly back at him.

Then I shall snip your head off.

A/N:

It's been a while since the last update, and, honestly, I kind of missed doing it... But I'm going back to the usual once every two weeks pace until further notice :)

F.C. Meyer: Yeah, same here. Though, in my case, considering what happened the last time, I'm not too hopeful… And, of course, I'm already hyped for movie 26 xD I mean, a movie that's likely centered in Sherry and the BO? Sounds like it'll be a good one.