File One Hundred and Fifteen: Those Who Saw Everything
Teru-teru-bozu, teru bozu…
Conan's breathing hitched, and all other thought instantly evaporated from his mind. Beads of cold sweat came forward just as rapidly as the trembling of his muscles ─ as if preparing themselves to jump at whatever depredator was around, or run away if it was too powerful. Conan knew, however, that it was just his body's way of reacting to the overwhelming anxiety that song, officially stuck on his mind for years to come for sure, provoked on him. That he should calm down, because the reason behind all that was not there, with him.
But it was hard. Even behind his scrunched shut lids, the boy could not stop looking at that certain gelid smile.
"Toryanse, toryanse…"
Everything dispelled with a few bewildered blinks. Glancing towards his right, Conan found where that was coming from, but it did not serve any explanation. Because, why would Hattori, of all people, be singing, glancing around the mostly empty streets as if Conan was not there?
"Which path is the narrow pathway?" he continued, then glanced down at the kid, who inwardly winced. He stared at him like he was expecting something. "Please allow me to go through."
Followed by a moment of silence, Conan's eyes closed, gently this time around, his little hands gripping his bag handles like dear life. "This… is the narrow pathway of the Tenjin shrine…" came out in a feeble murmur. "Please allow me to go through."
A pleased smile caressed Hattori's lips, nodding his head at the little boy. Uttering no more words, the western detective pressed a hand to the back of the child's head, coaxing into walking.
"Heiji! What're you doin' all the way over there?!" Kazuha's annoyed tone sipped through her yells, coming from the other side of the street. "The light already changed, you moron!"
Heiji sighed audibly. "She's so loud, huh?" he muttered towards Conan, flashing him a small grin. Any other day, he would have probably pointed out the obvious ─ that Hattori was not, by any means, the one to complain about such a thing ─ but, as it was now, he only raised his head to the front. Kazuha and Ran were waiting on the other side, the former tapping her foot impatiently while the other tried to appease her, and the green traffic lights that beckoned them to walk over.
So they did. With every step he gave, the kid found himself breathing a little easier, relaxing at the realization that the melody that sounded in his ears did not quite resemble the other one anymore. It's just 'Toryanse', he affirmed again in his mind, hoping that it would sink in easier. Just a song they put on so children are sure it's safe to cross.
Not the teru-teru-bozu one.
Hattori's hand remained there. Surprising enough, even to himself, Conan did not flick it away, but rather, closed his eyes for what might have felt the tenth time that morning, and started humming along to the tune filling the air, mostly to soothe his own nerves than anything else. If Hattori found it highly unpleasant to his ears, he tactfully made no comment about it.
This isn't good, Conan thought. I'm about to lose my mind here.
What he had remembered last night had yet to leave him peace, but, although those moving hands still could not be identified, he had at least gotten to deduce what they had been saying all along.
The teru-teru-bozu is crying, the person had said. And the fact that the boss had said it to Vermouth only, behind Rum, so that he doesn't know a thing, means it was about him.
A crying teru-teru-bozu was a defective one. There could only be one destiny awaiting it.
Get its head snipped off. His grip on his bag handles tightened, if possible. Execution.
The boss had told Vermouth that Rum was of no use anymore. That he had to be discarded.
On one hand, it would explain why the woman had gotten away so easily with killing the boss' right hand. But on the other…
The melody stopped abruptly, jerking him off his internal musings. Just like Hattori's, his head shot up, only for his gaze to meet with the green light from before. It was blinking now, meaning that it was only a matter of seconds until it turned into an angry red.
It fell on Conan that they were still in the middle of the street.
"Let's hurry!" he shouted over his shoulder, picking up his pace at a small sprint to the other side. For Hattori, it took a little longer, but when it did, he hurried after the boy.
His hand stretched forward to Conan. "Hey, watch your-" He cringed. "… step."
A groan was all the response he had been able, or willing, to grace him with. Way to start the morning. With that in mind, the boy heaved himself up from the pavement, just enough to glare at his feet, as if they were to be blamed for his current, embarrassing predicament. Tripping on the sidewalk because you took too long to cross the street.
It's going to be a wonderful day. I can feel it.
"Geez, you have to be more careful, Conan-kun." Ran had been quick to drop at his side for her usual cession of fussing, checking for any injuries. "Are you hurt?"
If she was this worried now, Conan almost feared to find out how she would react when her father gave her the news. He hadn't been able to tell her about his newest discoveries, mostly because Kazuha was always around, but he had more-or-less forced to relay it to both Hattori and Kogoro ─ it would've been a losing cause denying it, even if he tried, since he had accidentally woken them up from yet another nightmare of his own.
Even the old man had been beyond shocked.
Shaking his head, Conan got back into his own feet, smiling at the girl in hopes that she would just leave him alone.
I'll find out soon, I guess. Since he's probably going to tell her once she gets back home. Without further ado, the four started to walk again. She's not the only one I have yet to tell, though.
Fingers absently playing with the phone inside his pocket, Conan could not help the tinge of worry that surfaced again. They barely had gotten the chance to talk the other day, meaning he had not gotten the details, but it did not make it any less alarming, nevertheless. About Watanabe Satoshi, the witness that his older brother had hid from the Organization before, and the fact that someone had been stalking him for a while now.
I tried to call him this morning, but he wasn't answering…
I hope he's okay.
On the promise that they would visit again soon, the couple from Osaka eventually bid goodbye, flashing equally bright grins on both their faces before continuing their way to the airport, not wanting to lose their flight back home. Conan waved back, right until the moment they couldn't see him anymore.
"Well," said Ran, facing the little boy. "Shall we go?"
Normally he would've been fine walking to Agasa's house on his own, and certainly that had been how it had been supposed to be, until a call had modified their plans altogether. Even now, about an hour after the fact, he was still groaning just by remembering that buzzing next to his ear, waking up from his sleep minutes before his alarm would go off. His annoyance had only increased when he had eventually made out, through bleary eyes, the name 'Haibara Ai' on the screen.
By the looks of it, she hadn't even been bothered to utter a single, ordinary 'good morning'.
"Let me talk to Ran-san," she had requested right away, her voice lacking a single tinge of drowsiness. Maybe that was what had irritated him the most.
"Eh?" That had been all he had managed.
Silence was everything he had received. It had been enough for him to realize it was hopeless, sigh and stand up, going around ─ stomping ─ Hattori's futon to reach the door. A lone eye had cracked open, glowering from under the covers. Conan glared back ─ why was this his fault, anyway?
Ran's reaction had not been so unfriendly, as the girl had already been awake and was already sitting in the living-room, accompanied by Kazuha. Offering no explanation, he had passed her the phone, leaving her to stare cluelessly at it while he, yawning, undertook his way to the bathroom.
"Will Occhan be okay with it?" asked Conan. "I thought he doesn't like cats."
Well, it was likely that the man just wasn't a fan of his wife's Russian Blue wandering about his agency, and who that reminded him of. Not that he was particularly eager to share those thoughts with Ran.
"He's a grown man ─ he can handle it," Ran replied, waving his concerns off. "I'm the one who's going to take care of Irene-chan while Ai-chan's out, not him."
Shrugging, Conan decided that was a fair point, and started walking once more alongside the girl. Agasa's house was just around the corner, and still he couldn't get the surge of excitement pumping along his veins.
At least, there's something for sure…
He sighed, allowing his gaze to rise towards the sky.
Ran-neechan's teru-teru-bozu isn't getting its head snipped off today.
"What's with you guys, anyway? Seriously," grumbled Conan, barely fifteen minutes after he had settled on the back of Agasa's Beetle for a two-hour-long trip to Gunma, of all places, he wasn't particularly looking forward to. "Going camping out of the blue…"
"For your information," began Genta, a scowl taking hold of his face. "We've been planning this for a long time!"
Conan blinked in response. "You have?"
"Yeah!" Ayumi nodded. "We were supposed to go at the beginning of summer…"
"But we fell out of contact after that," said Mitsuhiko. "With you, I mean, Conan-kun."
Give me a break, he thought, but did not say. My life has been kind of a wreck lately, you know.
"If you think about it that way," Ai started. "Our plans wouldn't have been thwarted if someone hadn't gotten himself kidnapped to begin with."
"It's not my fault!" Conan argued, then paused, coming to the sudden realization that it probably had this time around. But still…
The smirk the scientist gave out made him roll his eyes.
"Anyway, why'd you come too, back then?" Conan inquired. He had been wondering that for a while. "You could've left that kind of dangerous stuff to Mom, the Professor and Subaru-san."
"Subaru-san himself asked me to come along," she answered. "Besides, I couldn't stay still and do nothing."
Those words froze his mind upon contact, prompting the boy to turn and stare at her, a clueless look in his eye. Eventually, it dimmed enough for shock to take over, eyes widening until they were in full capacity.
"If I stayed home, I could've missed a chance to see you dying in agony."
He stayed like that for a fraction of a second, before annoyance replaced shock.
"Ah, is that so?"
Professor Agasa momentarily let his gaze stray away from the road to the child in question, reflected in the rearview mirror. Just now, he could have sworn he noticed a certain tinge of disappointment in the boy's voice.
"But this is kind of unusual for you," Conan commented, turning to glance out of the window, as if bored.
"What is it?"
"Isn't the first time you've called him 'Subaru-san'?" Ai paused, surely not expecting such an inquiry. "Did you finally get used to him?"
And it took her even longer for her to put on a plausible response together, so that it even made Conan's head tilt slightly, confused about her reaction, or lack thereof.
"Don't make that face." But it was not easy, especially when those words continued to echo in her mind. "I won't let them get away."
"Ai-san?" She blinked back to reality at Conan's slightly worried call. "Are you okay? You kinda spaced out there."
"I'm fine," she replied, calmly, like nothing had just occurred. "I think I'm just a little under the weather."
Conan did not buy it, if the way his eyes narrowed slightly at her was something to go by. But she did not mind, not really, ignoring it in favor of looking back to the front.
"Don't make that face." His words repeated in her mind again, causing her hands to clench around the bag she carried over her lap. "I'll protect her with my own life."
Because the voice she could still hear did not belong to Okiya Subaru.
Moroboshi Dai. She bit her lip at the memory. My sister's boyfriend who betrayed the Organization.
"Ah, I almost forgot!" By the time she acknowledged Ayumi talking, there was an arm crossing her field of vision. "Here. This one's yours, Conan-kun."
The boy sitting at her other side blinked at the ring he was being passed for a beat, before finally accepting it, if not to give it another scrutinizing look up from close. "Mystery Train Pass Ring?" he read, then finally opened his eyes wide, as if it had only sunk in now. "Hey, is this-?"
"Yes, it's your pass ring to the Bell Tree Express we're riding on in a few days!" explained Mitsuhiko. "It arrived at the Professor's this morning."
Conan could not help but blink, staring at his friend for a little longer, before allowing his gaze to drop back to the ring he was holding. He seemed to analyze it with his eyes for another second, and let a tiny smile squeeze through.
Genta turned to look over his shoulder, meeting eyes with both Mitsuhiko and Ayumi. Conan did not notice them grinning at each other, as if privately celebrating a small victory.
"Someone is excited, I see," commented Ai, startling the boy. Just as they had planned it.
Because they had arranged it all a long time ago, in a last desperate attempt to cheer their mystery-fanatic friend. Well, we bought it before Shinichi-san woke up. Him being upset was quite natural, considering everything.
"Well, not that I can see what the fuss is about," she continued with a shrug. "It's just a steam train that looks like the Orient Express."
"It's not about the train, it's about the mystery," replied Conan, audibly tickled off. "Every year, the passengers are given a quiz to solve. I heard they're difficult to solve."
Ai rolled her eyes, her next mumbled words drowned by her own snort, "Mystery freak."
It did not mean he did not catch it. His glare was rendered ineffective, though.
"Ah, speaking of mystery!" Ayumi pipped in, suddenly. "There's one we were supposed to discuss once we got together!" Clueless silence met her statement, which visually agitated her ─ it was mostly directed to Mitsuhiko and Genta, noted Conan. "Come on, guys! You know, that thing."
Whatever that thing was, it made the two boys gasp upon remembering, and a pout showed in Mitsuhiko's face only. Confused, Conan watched as his friend sighed, his head turned to look over the window, appearing strangely dispirited for some reason that escaped him completely.
"You're right!" exclaimed Genta. He did not look upset like the other boy, at least. "We forgot about that thing!"
Conan raised an eyebrow. "Mind telling me what that thing is?"
Hearing them talking about that thing so casually, as if it was supposed to be common knowledge, irritated him a little, he had to admit. It did not help that the two heads, belonging to Ayumi and Genta, turned to him, as if surprised about what had just left his lips.
"What?" Genta spoke first. "You don't know?"
"Ah! Conan-kun's brother was shot, remember?" Ayumi explained. "We barely got to him to talk to him after class, come to think of it…"
Ai crossed her arms over her chest. "There's no need to make such a big deal about it," said the girl, her usual bored tone sliding from her tongue. "It is just someone leaving letters on my locker."
Conan froze. "Wha-?"
"Love letters," clarified Ayumi.
"L-Love letters?!"
He knew he had yelled it when even Mitsuhiko looked at him.
"My," said Ai, her eyebrows already rising. Her tone had a certain edge that told him she did not like what she was hearing. "You sound surprised."
"Ah, no…" He extended his hands in front of him, head shaking from side to side. "It's just like… You don't seem like the kind that would get-"
Her glare effectively silenced him.
"Ai-chan is pretty!" Naturally, Ayumi would always stand up for her friend. "Of course she would get loads of them!"
"But they never left a name, did they?" interjected Mitsuhiko. "Is there even a way to know who it is?"
"I wonder…" Ai muttered.
"You don't seem interested," observed Conan.
"Well, that's obvious." Ayumi giggled. "Since there already is someone who Ai-chan likes!"
Finally, a feeling seemed to take hold of her expression ─ that of pure shock at hearing those words her friend had just uttered, so casually at that. The lack of protest from any of the people in the car made her suspicions even stronger.
That hadn't been the first time they had talked about it.
"We… kind of have been talking about it, back in the day." Conan was generous enough to answer her unspoken, yet evident, question.
And proceeded to look away, head resting against a fist, while his gaze wandered over to the cars passing by them in the middle of the highway. It's barely a mystery anymore. He kept his thoughts to himself. It's common knowledge that Ai-san likes someone else.
Whoever is leaving letters on her locker doesn't really stand a chance.
Curious about his sudden quietness, the girl stole a swift glance towards the boy. It only confused her further, noticing his eyes narrowing so marginally that she would've missed it altogether, hadn't she been paying attention.
That's because the person whom Ai-san likes-
It all went away with a muttered, "Eh?" His arm dropped back to his lap and his neck twisted, looking out for something that they had likely passed by. "Professor, stop the car!"
"Eh-?!"
"Quickly!"
Though he did not entirely understand, the professor trusted the young boy to move closer to the sidewalk. The yellow Beetle had barely stopped when Conan threw the door open, taking off running, paying no regard to the startled gasps and shouting coming from the inside.
Not allowing anything to stop him, he disregarded them completely, even zooming past the people strolling the opposite way, in favor of reaching his destiny. It didn't take him long, probably because Agasa had not taken too long stopping the car, and before long, the certain figure he had spotted from his window met his eyes in the distance.
He hastened his pace.
Be it because of the nearby people whispering about it, or because he had registered his figure from the corner of his eye, Conan's target turned over to his direction, puzzled at first, then spooked enough to jump back, just barely avoiding running into the bus stop sign he stood in front of.
Granted, the sight of an elementary school student dashing his way, a glare fixated on him and only him, had to be quite the one to witness.
"Conan?" he muttered through his shock at the boy that had stopped right in front of him, slightly winded. "What are you doing here?"
He appeared offended at his question. "That's what I'm asking, you idiot," he grumbled. "Were you planning to leave for Ekoda without saying anything?" Before the other could get a single word in, Conan added. "Why do you have a phone, anyway, if you're not planning on using it? I've been calling you all morning, you know!"
Shinichi, currently in his usual Hirai Arthur attire, smiled awkwardly. "Sorry, I've been a little busy." He glanced around, making sure they were alone, before leaning over to whisper. "Watanabe-sensei wanted to talk to me earlier today. He's restless, you know."
That he could imagine. "You're heading to his place, then?" That was the only logical conclusion, given that he could get to Teitan High School by foot just fine from where they were now ─ why would he take a bus otherwise?
"No, I just did that." It made the boy wonder exactly how early his brother had gotten up for him having it handled at eight in the morning, if he wasn't mistaken ─ or, alternatively, why everyone was not having any issues getting up at ungodly hours, even for trivialities such as camping. "And, no. I'm not leaving for Ekoda. I'm going a little further than that."
Conan stared expectantly, so it didn't give Shinichi much choice.
"It's Gunma, actually," he answered. The little boy perked up at that. "There's something I… What's with that look?"
"Ah, well. Actually-"
"That's where we are headed!"
Startled by the sudden shout, both brothers spun around, and were shocked by the group of children, grinning at them so widely as if their faces would split in half. Behind them were Agasa, who laughed awkwardly, and Ai, standing emotionlessly still as usual.
"We're going camping at Gunma," explained Mitsuhiko. "Such a strange coincidence…"
Conan, for his part, sighed, only now letting the fact that they had followed him there sink in.
"Say, say!" Ayumi was bouncing slightly on her feet. "You could join us, Shinichi-oniisan!"
"E-Eh?"
"You heard her, Tantei-niichan!" exclaimed Genta. "But don't eat too much!"
"B-But-!"
It was almost funny, realized Conan, to see his brother fumbling with his own words, dragged by the three children back to the yellow car, while the rest observed them, making no attempt to rescue him ─ did that even count as a kidnapping, anyway?
He wondered, too, if those guys seriously realized his older brother had a reason to go to Gunma, that likely left no time for camping. Not that it really mattered, he soon realized, shrugging while he started his way back to the Beetle. He could ask all about it once they got there.
I doubt he would want to talk to them about it, thought Conan. From there, he could see the group all but pushing the teenager inside ─ would there be enough space left for all of them? I've told them about the Organization, sure, but he's likely more reluctant to tell a bunch of kids about everything.
Like, they don't even know that Hirai… He stopped right on his tracks, blinking at plain air, contemplating something on his mind, before his eyes widened, struck by the sudden realization that Ayumi had called him Shinichi-oniisan, of all things.
They know?!
"Eh? So Conan-kun went camping?" smiled Amuro, settling a coffee in front of Kogoro. "Sounds fun."
Ran nodded, smiling as well, if lightly. "He said he was going to a campsite in Gunma today."
Kogoro huffed, all but downing the coffee in one large gulp. "It's a wonder he doesn't get tired of camping once a month…"
For Ran, it was really a wonder if it was accurate, but decided not to correct him. At the very least, I hope he's having fun. Even though he didn't appear all that enthusiastic that morning, it was given that the boy enjoyed his friends' company, even though he was still a bit reluctant to admit it. She giggled at the thought.
Though, after what her father had told her about him after she came back, his odd behavior made much sense.
He better be enjoying himself, she thought, her smile dropping a little. After everything he's been through, the poor thing…
A cup of coffee was set in front of her, snapping her back to reality. She was about to thank Amuro for his service when she stopped.
"Say, Amuro-san," she called, overwhelmed by curiosity. "What are you listening to?"
He smiled right away, knowing she was referring to the single earphone he had tucked inside his ear. "A horror podcast." She didn't miss the way she flinched. "I've been interested in ghost stories lately." He pulled out the other one and offered it to her. "Would you want to listen as well?"
She shook her head, far too pale to be considered healthy, and let out a good-hearted laugh.
It ceased from being the moment he turned away. The smile was gone as well ─ dissolved into nothing as soon as his expression was out of sight. Yet, that didn't mean he didn't keep an ear out on the father and daughter sitting together at the table at the corner of the small café, or that he missed how her phone had begun ringing.
"Sera-san?" A pause. "I told you that Conan-kun was going camping… Yeah, in Professor Agasa's Beetle. It's yellow. But why are you asking me that?"
A smirk took hold of his face, his finger posing over his earphone.
"Amuro-san?" asked Azusa, eyebrow raising in confusion. "What are you smiling about?"
"Ah, no, it's this podcast… It's the most interesting thing I've ever heard."
Camping, huh?
A long, exhausted sigh escaped his lips before he knew it was coming. He dropped his head where he crouched over a rather heavy bag Ai had asked ─ read: demanded ─ him to carry from Agasa's Beetle to the campsite, unable to believe what kind of situation he had inadvertently walked into.
His eyes shot back up when a small figure paused right beside him, peering down at him from over his glasses. "No luck with the stalker yet?" his little brother questioned, completely unprompted by anything but his own curiosity, Shinichi was willing to bet.
"No. Watanabe-sensei did not see his face," answered Shinichi as he got up and dusted himself off. "So it's hard to tell who it is."
"He didn't?" Conan raised an eyebrow. "I thought he had an excellent sight."
Shinichi was moments away from asking how he knew that, but ultimately decided it was not worth it. "He could tell the stalker was a young man, but besides that, he saw nothing. He was actively hiding his face," he added. "Well, that confirms that him running into him so many times a day is not a coincidence and he's really tailing him."
"Why Gunma, though?"
"Remember when I told you the stalker logged into Watanabe-sensei's account from his laptop in his office?" Conan nodded. "It appears that he made a web search without logging out."
Shinichi's expression became dramatically more severe all of a sudden. "It was a woman's name," he said to the boy. "Someone that should, by all means, be dead."
By the way he acted alone, the young boy could guess what all that meant. "Is she another of those witnesses you hid?" he asked, just in case.
"Yeah…" Shinichi commented, plucking his phone off his pocket, typing on the screen with a rather irritated expression. "She hasn't been answering her phone, so I'm worried."
"Hey, you two!" Both brothers looked up at the call, only that it had been Ai who was calling, arms crossed over her chest, and eyebrows raised far above her hairline. "Stop lazing around and help us set up the tent."
Conan's lip twitched. We're discussing some important stuff here, you know, he thought, but kept it to himself. There's still so much I got to tell him, too…
If a frown had brought his brows together, Shinichi definitely did not see it, probably because he started walking first, meaning that his older brother did not get a glimpse of his face. About what I remembered from that time… His fists clenched, but they were concealed inside his pockets. When the boss ordered Vermouth to execute Rum.
"I was on my way to meet her," Shinichi resumed the conversation from where he had left it, walking past him and to the rest of the group. "Before your friends dragged me into their camping trip, that is."
That had Conan laughing awkwardly. "Sorry about that."
He, too, started to walk as well, smiling apologetically at his friends when they complained about his lack of discipline ─ or whatever. It was a wonder to him, however, if any of them noticed that his mind wasn't really there.
Four years ago, Ai-san, then 'Hirota Hana' from Sakura Class, was abducted from the same daycare I attended, he recapitulated, hoping that it would help make sense of the scattered memories he had been recovering throughout the past year or so. I was one year younger, so I was in Apple Class instead.
He had been curious, and had suspected her teacher as the culprit, even going as far as to incriminate him one day in front of everyone. Miura-sensei, Sakura Class' teacher. He recalled him as a man with an effeminate appearance, always keeping his right eye concealed by his absurdly long, raven black hair. To his surprise, he would find out he hadn't been wrong many years later, when he was revealed about his true identity. The boss' right-hand man, Rum.
Little had he known at the time that Rum had never been working alone. That the Apple Class' teacher, his sensei, the kind-hearted individual and mystery enthusiast Conan had grown attached to, was the same unscrupulous woman who went by the name of Vermouth.
His trust had been betrayed, and Conan, who had figured out where Ai had been hiding all along, had told her everything, leading him to be kidnapped as well.
She had a change of heart later on, for motives that Conan was not entirely sure about, and had hidden him inside a duffle bag. There, he had been witness to an unsettling conversation.
Unsettling, not because of what they were saying, but because of what they were not. The boss had stood behind Rum, signing to Vermouth it was time to get rid of him. That was the reason Vermouth would shoot him dead later while he was incarcerated. As per the boss' orders.
Why, though? Conan's involvement had only been known to Vermouth and Rum only at that point. Nobody was linking him to Ai-san's kidnapping either…
Maybe because she actually ran away and hid somewhere else?
Besides, as much as it would explain how Vermouth had gotten away with killing the boss' right-hand man, he could not explain why he sought his brother's help, pressuring him to join the Organization. To destroy it? He had once assumed that, but with her, he couldn't be certain.
"Just like you…" His gaze narrowed ever so slightly upon recalling the words she had once uttered. "There's somebody I wish to bring back."
It was no good ─ it still made no sense whatsoever.
My head hurts.
"Wait a moment." He blinked back to reality. So deeply immersed in his thoughts he had been, he had not noticed Mitsuhiko standing next to him until the moment he spoke. "If Shinichi-san is staying with us, don't we have to buy more food?"
You realize that only now?
"More like he has to buy food. Period." At the clueless blink from the Professor's side, Ai replied with a blank gaze of her own. "You didn't bring the bag I specifically told you not to forget last night, did you?"
Agasa froze at her words then, under the other four gazes that settled on him, expecting an answer, he laughed nervously. Everyone sighed in unison, fully aware of what that meant.
"Professor!" the children scolded, all at the same time.
It had him dropping his head in shame. Shinichi, being a mere spectator of it all, shook his head.
"It's alright," he tried to appease the kids, probably feeling bad for the professor, noted Conan. "I saw a store nearby."
He faced Agasa, whose eyes sparkled with gratefulness, and promptly ignored all of it. "Why don't I and the Professor go?" Shinichi suggested instead. "You kids can start preparing the rest."
"We won't be long," added Agasa.
Conan watched them go with mild-interest, and promptly shrugged. He should be alright, he thought, turning back to the tent he was supposed to be setting up with Mitsuhiko. As long as he stays out of trouble.
He can manage that much, right?
She isn't here….
Of course she wasn't ─ Shinichi seriously considered there was something seriously wrong with his brain today. Because, sure, he had settled her in Gunma many years back, where she had been leading a happy life working as a nursery teacher somewhere in that prefecture, but what exactly was there for him to consider that she might happen to be in a random campsite store?
Hanging up with a bunch of third graders had seriously degraded his reasoning capabilities, he supposed. Then again, Conan did so all the time ─ it would be even stupider to say the same for him. That brat is impressive, truly.
"Those kids…" He plucked out a random bag of rice from the shelves and glared at it, as if it was the sole cause of his current predicament. "Why did they bring me here?"
His eyes narrowed, straining his mind to think of a single reason ─ there had to be an ulterior motive that Shinichi was overseeing.
"I wouldn't think much of it," said Agasa, a small, amused smile barely hidden by his thick mustache. "Those kids are pretty straightforward ─ if they said they wanted you to join, that's just it."
"Yeah, I get that." Shinichi's eyebrow rose. "But… why?"
He wasn't Ran ─ always a smile on her face, caring and friendly with children. He was awful when it came to them. In fact, the number of children he could get along with could be counted with one hand and he was struggling to think of anyone else besides Conan or Ai. But that would be cheating, really, as those two hardly counted as ordinary ones.
"They're probably just curious," said Agasa, chuckling. "Since Conan talks a lot about you."
Shinichi looked over at the professor, his eyes opening slightly for a single second, before they went back to normal, as if letting the fact sink in. He said nothing else about it, focusing on the rice instead. "Better buy some more," he muttered, more to himself than anyone else, and reached to take another one. Conan once mentioned that Genta-kun always whines that there isn't enough…
And I definitely don't want to deal with that.
Agasa appeared slightly surprised, then calmed down with a bark of laughter, which Shinichi caught, but said nothing about ─ even if he did grace him with an odd look of his own.
Seems Shinichi isn't the only one Conan keeps talking about.
"Oh?" Shinichi's head snapped up when he heard it. "Aren't you the one from the other time?"
And so, the teenager turned around. He was barely able to hold in a startled gasp, spotting that certain mischievous grin ─ including the little fang poking out that made her stand out even more.
"Sera-san?" he called, struggling to appear as composed as possible. "What are you doing here?"
"Pure coincidence!" she exclaimed, her grin growing even bigger than before. "I was thinking I'd check out the hydrangeas in Gunma, so I was passing by on my bike when I realized I was hungry, came in here and ran into you!"
"Ah, is that so…"
"I heard from Ran-chan that Conan-kun was here camping with his friends," she said, her eyes roaming around the entire place, as if she would magically find his little brother hiding behind the shelves or something ─ which, on a second thought, it wouldn't be so far-fetched, considering that his girl seemed to especially unnerve the kid. "Are they with you?"
"They stayed back at the campsite," replied Agasa. It seemed like Sera had forgotten about his existence altogether, given the confused blinking that came next. "They were setting up the tents."
For his part, Shinichi eyed the shopping basket the girl was holding. "You seem to be buying quite a lot," he observed, hoping that it would help divert the conversation away from Conan, at least for a moment.
"It's today's lunch and dinner, plus tomorrow's breakfast." Her bright grin, however, told him he had failed horribly. "Since you guys didn't bring anything for me, right?"
Shinichi stared blankly at her, then allowed his head to drop. She's trying to crash the kids' camping trip, he lamented, being unable to do anything but watch her approaching the cashier, humming happily to himself.
Conan's gonna be thrilled.
"DANGER ─ SNAKES!"
It was a nice sign, Conan observed with mild interest. Bright, flashy, they had painted a snake, too, baring its fangs to show how deadly dangerous it could be. Nicely done, he decided, and got the job done.
Well, almost.
Because they were still there, in that very same place they were warned not to be, carrying enough firewood to burn an entire church to the ground, then make some marshmallows with the remaining branches.
But he was far beyond the point of getting mad, really. More like, at that stage where he passively wondered if their friends actually knew how to read.
"Hey, Genta-kun!" At least he hadn't had to be the one calling out for Genta straying away, as Ayumi had taken care of the role. "We've already gathered enough firewood, so let's go back to the tents!"
"Okay!" he shouted back and, for a moment, Conan felt glad he was listening for once. But then, the boy stopped before taking a step towards them. "Hey, guys! Check this out over here! I can hear somebody digging a hole!"
Through the surprise, they managed to keep quiet, at least enough to confirm that, indeed, there was that certain noise of a shovel digging into the ground.
"Ah, there is!" Mitsuhiko exclaimed.
Ayumi beamed. "Could it be a buried treasure?"
"Or a dead body," Conan joked in a much lower voice.
Though the look that Ai, the only one who seemed to receive the message, gave him the impression it did not amuse her as much.
"We won't know until we take a look!"
Maybe he should have been a little louder, Conan later reflected when Genta, excited at the prospect of some mystery and fun, took off running, followed by Ayumi and Mitsuhiko. The other two were a little slower, but eventually caught up with them.
But when they did, they found their friends weren't running anymore, and neither were they smiling in excitement. The three were just standing there, as if frozen in time and, Conan noted after further inspection, pale, like ghosts.
Slowly, Conan's eyes shifted to the front.
First, he saw the woman. Tucked inside a sleeping bag, eyes wide open yet unsettlingly dull.
A man, holding a shovel and looking straight at them, panic splattered all over his face as he, just, stared at them ─ those five, unlucky young children who saw everything.
"RUN!"
Ai's scream set his mind back in motion, and so it seemed to be the case with the others as well. With a terrified scream, the group of children scurried away, eager to get out of there as fast as possible. Unfortunately, it seemed to wake the man out of his stupor, too, enough to make him drop his shovel.
And thus, a cat-and-mouse chase through the forest began.
The man was hot on their trails, Conan was horrified to realize upon taking a glance over his shoulder. He gritted his teeth, looking back to the front, where Haibara ran, Ayumi's wrist held in a death grip, pressing a phone against her ear.
"Shinichi-san-!" It was interrupted by her own groan.
Her call isn't getting through.
The man was not stopping. In fact, he was getting dangerously closer, thanks to his much longer legs and better stamina. Mitsuhiko let out a gasp, noticing this, and tried, in vain, to hasten his pace.
Just as he was believing that his stress levels were reaching dangerous points, Mitsuhiko felt a spike of panic when the boy running right next to him suddenly disappeared from his peripheral vision. Behind him he found Conan, standing his ground, sharp and fearless blue eyes fixed on the man running right towards him with a crazed expression that, honestly, made Mitsuhiko shudder. He watched his friend raising his arm, aiming at the murderer with his watch, and could not help but smile. Since he knew that, once he made the shot, they would be safe.
But, in a stroke of terrible luck, the target, just, tripped on a random branch lying around. He stumbled forward, yet regained his footing right away, determined not to give up.
The needle had pierced through the air, whizzing past the man's head, who did not seem to notice a thing. Conan's arm dropped slightly, the eyes widening at the realization that his target was not stopping.
Had it not been for Mitsuhiko, who seized his arm and pulled him back to running, Conan wouldn't have reacted, really. Once then, he regained his composure, at least enough to curse out loud.
"Let me go, Mitsuhiko!" cried Conan, lightly tugging against his friend's hold. "If I use my shoes and belt-"
"Are you crazy?!" Genta yelled in Mitsuhiko's place. "If it fails again, he'll catch you!"
"I know but-"
But Mitsuhiko never let go.
Conan groaned and promptly gave up, focusing on running even faster instead.
For all Shinichi had been dreading his little brother's reaction, and subsequent annoyance and potential anger over him bringing that certain female detective he did not seem to like much, the teenager found none of it when they got back to the campsite. In fact, they found nothing, besides the perfectly set tents they had been entrusted with.
"There's nobody around," voiced Sera. "Maybe they went to gather firewood?"
That was likely, considered Shinichi, setting down the bags he had been carrying. Oh, well. He dug through his pocket for his phone. Guess I'll try calling Conan.
But he did not get to. Perfect, he groaned. The battery's flat.
With all that had been happening around him lately, charging his phone had not been on his mind. And now, he supposed he had no option but to deal with the consequences.
"If your battery's dead," began Sera, startling him badly. "How about using my smartphone? You want to call Conan-kun, right? Or maybe that girl… 'Ai-chan', was it?"
The way she had said that last part honestly rubbed him the wrong way. "It's okay," he declined, with a polite smile. "There's still the Professor's mobile-"
"About that…" Agasa said from where he crouched, half of his body inside of the tent. "I'm trying to call with the phone I had in my backpack, but it's not connecting."
Shinichi crossed his arms over his chest. "Maybe the signal's bad around here…"
"Should we try looking for them, then?" Sera suggested. "They should be somewhere they can find firewood."
The brilliant grin on her face truly put Shinichi off ─ this girl was a little too enthusiastic about looking for presumably lost children in a forest.
They should be safe now.
At least enough to recover their breath before they inevitably had to run for their lives again, or maybe that was Conan being too optimistic about it. But as it was, it wasn't as if they were given much of a choice, with Ayumi suddenly tripping, then complaining that she couldn't go on any longer. We won't make it too far if we're not in top condition, thought Conan, momentarily looking around the old cabin they had secluded themselves in, before turning to his friends again. Mitsuhiko and Genta were locking the door tightly, while Ai was checking on Ayumi. We should rest while we still can.
Though it was a weird cabin, noted the boy, shining his flashlight at the window, completely nailed shut. Maybe whoever lived here was too paranoid about break-ins? Conan tilted his head. No, that doesn't make sense. The door was unlocked, after all.
"Hey, Ai-chan," he heard Ayumi say. "You still can't reach Shinichi-oniisan?"
"No, it seems there's no reception at all here," she answered. "Anyway, it looks like somebody was here before us."
She was right, noted Conan, watching the pair of backpacks ─ one pink and small whereas the other was black and big ─ Ai was referring to.
Mitsuhiko was checking for any other entrances, so Conan, after making sure that there was no way anyone would pry open those windows, went to follow his lead. Before he reached him, the freckled boy, who had just disappeared behind the already opened door to the other room, let out a small scream.
That, followed by the thud that resounded, made Conan conclude he had fallen.
"Are you alright, Mitsuhiko?" he called, hurrying his way.
"I'm fine." He found him sitting on the floor upon entering, an embarrassed smile on his face as he glanced at his friend from over his shoulder. "The floor was just wet."
"Geez, be more careful," he reprimanded him lightly, looking over the puddle the boy had slipped with. "What are we going to do with you if you injure yourself-?"
It wasn't water, or any substance alike, as Conan had first assumed.
The puddle was a deep red.
Blood? His mind inquired just before his eyes could process the big, bloodied axe stabbed on the wooden floor.
He must have frozen mid-sentence, he later realized, because everyone else was suddenly peeking inside the room from over his shoulder, horrified at the sight of what met their eyes, or rather, what that implied.
It finally sank in at the same time that it did for Mitsuhiko, who let out a terrified shriek while backing up.
"D-Don't tell me that woman was killed here!" shouted Genta.
Conan eventually calmed down, at least enough for a focused frown to take place. "It seems that way," he said, crouching next to the axe and sticking a finger on the blood, so that he could look at it more closely. "It's started to dry already, but it's still wet around the center of the puddle … I'd say she was killed maybe three… No, four or five hours-"
"Nevermind that," interrupted Ai before he could think of continuing. "If that's true, the killer will almost certainly return to this blood-soaked crime scene."
The other three did not take long to scream, starting to panic. She remained calm, however, locking eyes with the other boy, who nodded, standing back up again.
"Let's go," he said, hurrying to the door, the rest of his friends right on his heels.
Before he could place his hand on it, however, a loud hitting sound had him whisking it away, as if it had burnt his skin upon contact. But it was worse, much worse.
There was someone on the other side banging on their door.
"S-So the guy from before really did come back!" stuttered Genta, clearly scared out of his mind.
"Shouldn't we try calling out to them?" suggested Mitsuhiko, though, from the strain on his smile, Conan could tell he couldn't believe whatever alternate explanation he was trying to convince himself about. "It could just be someone who came across the cabin by chance-"
As if to prove him wrong, the banging became several times more violent.
"Make no mistake," Conan heard Ai say. "On the other side of this door is the murderer who was burying the corpse earlier."
Knowing that too well, the boy lowered to turn the dial on his shoes, then turned back to the door. Hand sliding to his belt, he frowned, preparing himself for the worst.
He wasn't about to let his friends get hurt.
Not without a fight, anyway.
Against all odds, or his better judgment, Shinichi did end up running across the witness he had been looking for.
And truly, he could initially not believe what his eyes were seeing. It couldn't have been more than half an hour of him calling for his brother, Ai, or whoever was there to answer to his calls that Sera had pointed at something in the distance.
It was strange seeing police officers that far up in the mountain, that was for sure, but a sleeping bag with said witness' body inside? That was terrifying.
Mostly from imagining who might have killed her.
Someone got to her first, thought Shinichi, gritting his teeth. Was it an Organization member?
"Hey!" called Sera. "What happened?"
"We got a report a while ago," replied one of the policemen. "So we came to investigate and found this corpse."
"What sort of report?"
"Somebody saying they were chased by a man who was burying a dead woman near a 'Danger ─ Snakes' sign."
"It was a girl's voice," said the other police officer.
That has to be Ai-chan. Shinichi felt his hand curl inside his pocket, clenching the Mystery Train Pass Ring he had just found lying on the ground. Those kids are in trouble.
All he could do, however, was hope that this man chasing them did not belong to them.
And wait, of course, for the inspector to show up. His reasoning had been that he would've gotten lost, had he tried searching for them on his own, and that trying to find the killer would be much faster. But what he didn't expect, however, was that it would take him around another hour and a half to do so.
When he saw the inspector, Shinichi immediately remembered his little brother complaining for hours to an end about a certain useless police detective that had miraculously been promoted to inspector. In Gunma.
And, really, now he understood it all. The guy appeared to be a full-fledged idiot.
Now he was getting worried. Not only because the Gunma police who, again, had promoted this guy to inspector were in charge of the children's search, but also because he couldn't reach either Conan or Ai.
Finally he gave up, for the time being anyway, and stuffed the Professor's phone inside his pocket.
"Judging from the state of post-mortem lividity and rigor mortis, it's been around five to six hours since she was killed…" affirmed Sera, once he crouched down next to her to have a closer look. She turned the body around, just enough for both of them to see a huge gash crossing her back, from right to left. "It looks like she was hacked by some sort of axe."
"It wasn't an instant death," observed Shinichi.
Sera nodded, since she, too, could see where that assumption had come from. Inside the sleeping bag there were marks, indicating that she had moved her bloodied hands shortly before she passed away. They rested over her chest, he noted, but her fingers were permanently fixed in a rather odd position, which the killer must have missed completely since they had been hidden inside the sleeping bag.
Inspector Yamamura pondered over their words for a moment, before halting. "Who are you?!" he then yelled at the top of his lungs.
Shinichi looked over at him, and said nothing. "Hey," said Yamamura, annoyance lacing his voice. "What's with that look?"
A sigh was all he got. Yamamura's eyebrow twitched.
"I'm a detective, Masumi Sera," replied Sera, a grin on her face, nevertheless. "And he's Hirai Arthur-kun. We're friends of Conan-kun's."
"I don't care if you're a detective or not… But you make it hard for us if you go around touching the corpse like that!"
You're making it hard for yourself just by existing. Shinichi bit his tongue. Be grateful that we didn't touch it before you arrived.
Not because they didn't try to, anyway. The Gunma police were good at something, Shinichi guessed, to keep their hands away from the scene ─ that, and he had been too busy trying to contact Conan than anything else.
"Well, whose body is it?" asked Yamamura to one of his subordinates.
Who shook his head and replied, "She didn't have any ID with her."
Good luck trying to find one, thought Shinichi, his attention back to the body lying in front of her. Though her hair is still dyed blonde like we had agreed a long while back, her colored contact lenses and pretty much everything else are gone.
Even if she had an ID, he doubted they would identify her as its owner. Because the woman in the photo would not be the same as the one in front of them.
At least, she got to be her true self in the end. His eyes gently closed, head lowering solemnly. Up to the last moments of her life, she was herself.
"She's probably a nursery teacher." He opened them again, just to see Sera's hand reaching to her knee shocks, tugging them down to reveal bruises on her kneecaps. "Nursery teachers often get on their knees to try and be at eye level with kids."
Although it inevitably shocked Yamamura, Agasa and everyone else all the same, Shinichi barely moved from his spot. For a long time, all he did was contemplate the dead woman.
Sharp dark eyes met with her vibrant green ones.
"You're truly impressive, Sera-san," Shinichi said, gazes still locked. "To think you could figure she was a teacher even before looking under her socks."
Sera's expression did not change at all.
"It's almost like you already knew." His eyes narrowed. "You knew she was a nursery teacher beforehand."
"Oh, it would seem…" Her lips curved into a smirk. "You're considering the possibility I'm her killer."
He did not answer, but did hear Agasa stiffing up right behind him. For a moment, nobody dared to do anything but to watch the two teenagers immersed in a conformation that lacked any spoken words.
It was Shinichi who moved first, to grace the girl with a pleasant smile. "What are you saying?" he said with a laugh. "I'm no detective, but I still know better than to accuse anyone without proper proof or motive."
Sera broke into a blinding grin. "Right?" She laughed as well. "I was just joking. No need to be so tense!"
Yamamura blinked, turning to glance at Agasa, who just shrugged. He could've sworn they both had been at each other's throats just seconds ago.
"I knew she was one when I turned around to check on the wound," Sera said, turning her around for the other teenager to see. "See, her hair's straight, but the sides are oddly fluffy."
"Eh?" He leaned forward, faking tremendous interest. "You're right… But, hey, what does that even mean?"
"Nothing by itself, but look here ─ the back of her neck is tanned all the way up to her hairline, even though her hair's long," Sera continued. "That proves that her hair was tied on both sides, and went outside like that."
"Oh!" Shinichi exclaimed, sitting back. "She looks about thirty years old. For her to have such a childish hairstyle, she'd likely be a nursery teacher who goes outside to play, walk and take trips with children, right?"
"Correct! You'd make a good detective Hirai-kun."
"No way! I'm just a mystery enthusiast…"
As the two teenagers laughed carelessly, Agasa could not help but shiver.
Do your best, Shinichi, he thought, with a shake of his head. You need to solve this case quickly.
Not only for the sake of his brother and friends, he reflected, giving the female detective one last glance, before turning to the inspector again.
For all that Conan had been prepared to fight for his life and his friends', the time to strike never actually came. In fact, the banging stopped not soon thereafter, and the door remained closed for Conan to glare at, hand still on his belt, waiting for an assault when they least expected it.
And it went on like that for about two hours.
"Maybe he gave up and ran away?" suggested Ayumi, though that might as well been wishful thinking.
"Then should we look outside to check?" Mitsuhiko said, walking closer to the door.
Conan's hand retired from his belt for the first time in hours, latching onto Mitsuhiko's arm.
"No way!" Ai explained his thinking before he got the chance to say a single word. "He might expect us to think that and be waiting outside to ambush us!"
"But if it's just a quick peek…" argued Genta.
"I don't think-" Conan began, then halted with a horrified gasp. "You idiot, what do you think you're doing?!"
Really, he had gotten his eyes off him one second, and he was already at the door, undoing the lock, which, admittedly, was probably the only thing keeping them safe at the moment. Conan did not think of it twice and released Mitsuhiko, so that he could be free to rush to Genta.
"I told you, it's just a little-!"
But Conan didn't try to reason. What he did try was to pry his friends' hands from the door.
"Get off me!"
"You get off the door!"
"It's been two hours-"
"You're gonna get us-"
"-since the last time! There's no way the killer-"
"-killed if you don't-"
Their shouting contest was cut short when they felt the door opening, a direct result of their struggle. Yet, unlike the sight of either the forest surroundings or the murderer's bloodthirsty scorn, none of that met the blinking eyes of the confused little detective.
The door had opened only a sliver, and refused to move any further. Both his and Genta's gaze slid upwards, until they were met with the sight of a chain and a lock keeping it right in place.
No way.
"We're in trouble!" Genta screamed, on the verge of crying out of panic. "It's been chained in ─ we can't get out!"
"What?!" yelled Mitsuhiko and Ayumi, right at the same time.
Gritting his teeth, Conan took a few steps back, until he was right beside Ai who, seemingly frozen by shock, had yet to utter a single word. He didn't quite notice the unnatural paleness of her skin, or the way she seemed to be sweating bullets, despite the fact that her body was trembling.
At least until he heard her gasp. He turned to her, ready to ask what was wrong ─ beside, well, the obvious ─ but stopped, finally taking into everything.
Her hands grasped her forearms, fingers digging into her own skin.
"This smell…"
That had Conan's eyes widening in alarm. "An Organization member?!" His eyes darted across the place ─ they were alone in that old cabin, that was for sure. Is there someone hiding? Or maybe outside-?
To add to his confusion, she shook her head. And shuddered.
"Something is burning."
A/N:
CherryGirl 21-6: Yeah, I had actually decided to update early, since I felt like the chapter was ready and everything. It won't be the case, as you might have seen by now. Saturday is the day I'm giving the finishing touches to it, so it's impossible for me :(
Ah, and thanks for letting me know about the last chapter's mistake! It's fixed now :)
F.C. Meyer: I'm a woman, actually. And yeah, I kind of got that urge too xD