File One Hundred and Seventeen: The Ominous Mark of Death
"So, you're saying…" Conan began. "That the victim, the same one that we saw getting buried, which almost had us burned alive, happened to be the same woman you went looking for at Gunma in the first place?"
"Basically, yeah."
A gaze as dull as unnerving was stuck on Shinichi's face for the most part of the following minute. Eventually, the boy broke eye contact to hop off his seat, taking his empty porcelain cup with him, and made his way to the kitchen ─ the one in their actual home, that was.
When Shinichi walked in, the kid had already moved a chair to the counter and stuck his head inside the cabinet.
"It won't be pretty if you end up suffering from caffeine overdose," Shinichi pointed out, crossing his arms over his chest and leaning against the doorframe, mildly amused.
"Give me a break." His voice echoed from inside. "This is my only grip on reality right now."
"That's… concerning." Shinichi eyed him, pausing briefly, before raising his eyebrows. "Come on, Conan, you had enough. I'll tell Ran."
"You won't."
Well, that had been quick.
"Won't I?"
Conan pulled his head out, just to give him a plain glance. "If I had too much coffee today, that's because you let me have it."
Mouth opening and closing soundlessly, Shinichi could not help but be a little glad that his brother's attention had been grasped away by his search for more stacks of coffee inside the cabinet. "Say, Oniichan?" called Conan, forehead creasing. "You didn't put them somewhere else, did you?"
"No?" A pause. "Wait, you used all of them up?!"
"Hey, it was just one cup!" he argued. "Or two… Okay, three."
"A caffeine addict at eight years old. Fantastic."
"I'm not an addict. I just take the opportunity when nobody's around to nag me about it."
"Sounds an awful lot like withdrawal syndrome to me, you know."
Seeing that the glare he shot at him was ineffective, the little kid had no other option but to roll his eyes and reluctantly get down from the chair, to stomp his way back to the kitchen, grumbling to himself all the way.
His older brother chuckled at the sight. Well, if that's his greatest concern, then it's fine, thought Shinichi. After that incident at Gunma yesterday…
The smile faded. And the memories that have been bothering him lately.
The first thing Conan had done after getting back to Tokyo had been, apart from leaving his shoes to Agasa for a much-needed fix and his watch so that he could replace the anesthetic needle he had misfired the previous day, claiming he was walking him, Shinichi, back home. It was obvious that there were reasons that went beyond a genuine concern for his well-being ─ because, well, he literally lived next door ─ but the older brother knew better than to point it out, and simply nodded along.
Soon, he had understood that all the kid had wanted was to talk. And, oh boy, the teru-teru-bozu stuff had given him goosebumps…
Strangely enough, that isn't the most disturbing thing I've learned lately. That had worried Conan too, but he hadn't yet been able to conjure a plausible explanation either. The text I received ─ that looks exactly like the one telling me about Shiho-chan, all that long ago…
The sender definitely knew what was going on with the kids, or he wouldn't have been able to warn me. As pointless as it had been. But was not aware that my phone was out of battery.
His hand rose to his chin, stroking it lightly. Conan and the others would have noticed if there was someone else with them. Considering the sender had clearly wanted to help, they would've gotten out of their hiding place to do something. If they were listening to their conversation, somehow…
If one of the kids' phones had been bugged, maybe…
"Oh, good morning, Akai-san!"
Shinichi, whose feet had begun moving without him being fully aware of it, stopped right upon reaching the living room, noticing the figure that, just like him, had just walked in, nodding back at the smiling little boy in front of him. His gaze rose, fixating on Shinichi next.
Who barely even reacted.
"Good morning, Shinichi-kun" said Akai, casually.
Conan glanced over to his brother, curious by the small bit of a twitch on his frame. His head tilted, as if he could somehow see better like that. Oniichan doesn't like Akai-san? He had never noticed. Doesn't seem to be the same for Akai-san, since he could see no shift in his behavior that indicated so. Unless he was good at hiding it, that was.
"Just so you know…" There was an unfriendly edge in Shinichi's voice that confirmed everything Conan had been suspecting. "We're out of coffee."
He sent Conan a look. It was ignored.
"Oh, I see." Akai was apparently not bothered. Calmly he made his way to the kitchen ─ to make himself some tea? Conan was just guessing there. "Could you let Yukiko-san know, Shinichi-kun?"
With a muttered grumble, the teenager brought out his phone.
Conan watched his brother for a second, visually lost. "She's here?" he inquired. "In Japan, I mean."
"More like, she never left," answered Shinichi as he typed. "I saw a note earlier when we walked in. She said she's at the store and wouldn't take long, but…"
The kid nodded at the quick explanation, yet not looking any less stunned than before. Shinichi paid no mind to it, sending the rest of the message. Just as he was about to put it down, however, he felt it buzz in his hand.
"Huh? It's from Ran."
"Ran-neechan? I thought she went out with Sonoko-neechan and Sera-san to pick some books at school." Conan was curious. "Say, say, what did she send?"
A long text, for sure. Shinichi's eyes squinted at the long block of text that met his eyes.
"I just encountered a murder scene.
The bloody character written at the scene is exactly the same as the one you showed me from ten years ago.
Sera-san and Sonoko said they wanted to see the picture… We're going to your house to look for it. No problem, right? I vaguely know where it is."
There was a tug on the arm holding the phone. "Let me see," he requested, curiously looking up at him, and Shinichi gave in, lowering it so that his brother could read.
Then consequently gasp. "Sera-san's coming to our house?!"
Inside the kitchen and away from their sight, Akai's cup stopped right as it grazed his lips.
"Relax," Shinichi soothed. "I'll just say I'm sending you to fetch it instead."
Though he wasn't particularly looking forward to encountering the detective again, Conan still sighed in relief. At least, she wouldn't be roaming around his house that way.
"The case of the bloody character, huh?" mumbled Shinichi to himself as soon as he typed the text down. "That must be the one Dad ignored ten years ago…"
Conan blinked curiously. "He ignored it?"
In response, his older brother nodded. "I was there, you know," he said, all but throwing the phone back to the table as he talked. Conan could sense a certain pitch in his voice that told him his brother was somehow still irritated a decade after the fact. "He just took a glance at the body, then at the kanji for 'death' written in blood, and just walked away. The murderer 'will never appear again,' that's what he said."
The little boy, unlike him, took his time to ponder over it. And now they just pop in again, randomly?
No matter how hard he mulled over it, it still made little sense to him. He skipped ahead and out of the room, earning a confused glance from his brother's way.
"I'm going to fetch the files for that case!" His shouts resounded through the halls, long after he had already left. "I want to take a quick look before bringing them to Ran-neechan and the others!"
"Sure!" yelled Shinichi after him, poking his head outside. "But do you even know where they are?"
No response. Shinichi shook his head. Of course he's excited to crack it. Either to figure out why their father had said that so many years ago, or to prove him wrong ─ which was less likely, naturally. Well, to be honest, I want to take another look at it, too…
The case Dad ignored ten years ago.
"Are you sure you sent that correctly?"
Shinichi looked up to see Akai, leaning over the window, carefully so he couldn't be seen.
"Yeah," replied the teen. "Why?"
"Maybe you'd like to take a look for yourself."
At first, he didn't understand. Shinichi stood still for a second, as if he could piece it out together just by staring, until he finally decided to step up to see for himself. His eyes snapped open, absolutely horrified by what they were seeing.
Ran was there, fidgeting, hands moving around restlessly ─ as if she was trying, with all her might, to stop what was surely going to happen. Sonoko was waving her off with a small, teasing smile ─ Shinichi decided he did not want to know where that came from.
Then, there was Sera's face-splitting grin ─ it bode no good for anyone, he thought.
True to his suspicions, she promptly opened the gate to his house.
Too focused on the newfound panic that gripped his entire self, Shinichi barely noticed Akai stepping away, and calmly making his way somewhere else.
"Where are you going?"
"I'm going to get changed," he said, as if it was supposed to be obvious ─ which, thinking about it calmly, it probably should have been. "It's only natural that Okiya Subaru-san is still home, isn't it?"
"Yeah, but…" Shinichi scratched the back of his head. "Why aren't you, uh, panicking or something? Even if just a little…"
"Losing our composure will only complicate things further, you should know that well." Shinichi tensed at that, a rather serious look talking over his gaze while Akai turned around to leave. "Besides…"
He made a small pause. "There's something I'm rather curious about."
Not leaving room for further questions, the FBI agent disappeared from his sight.
Maybe he should have asked where those files were, grumbled Conan in the privacy of his own mind. He craned his neck, standing on the tip of his feet, right on the last step of the stairs, hoping that he would see anything but the sea of books he used to love so much in the past, but now was starting to hate a little too much to be considered healthy.
Is this the thing? he wondered, his attention fixed on the big box tucked in between the shelves. Well, one way to find out…
Though, in retrospect, he should really have asked his brother for help. H-Heavy, he thought, his small arms barely able to hold in the weight. Good, I think I've got this…
But, the problem now is… How do I get down?
That was another thing that he should have thought about before. But took a deep breath nonetheless, bracing himself from what was to come. Carefully, he lowered one of his feet, blindly ─ because it was impossible to see anything carrying a box bigger than himself ─ looking for the step below.
"Hey, Conan-kun!"
A small scream escaped him at the feel of his feet slipping, but caught himself on time. Box held tightly against his chest, Conan stayed there for a second, both feet firm against the step, trying to breathe out. "Conan-kun?" came that voice again, but unlike the first time, it barely even spook him. "Are you okay?"
Even though he, again, could see nothing with the box in the way, it was easy to recognize Ran from the tone alone. Why, though? he couldn't help but wonder. I thought Oniichan told her not to come…
Wait. The box almost slipped at the thought. Is Sera-san-?!
"That looks heavy." Yes. It was Sera. "Want some help there, Conan-kun-?"
"No!" His response came much quicker than it should have. So he masked it with a childish laugh. "I'm fine, thank you!"
Though it was obvious that he was most definitely not, to Ran's eyes, anyway. "Why don't you two go make ourselves some tea?" she suggested. "We'll be there right away."
Moments later, the other two were gone, and Conan was sighing in pure relief, all but doubling over the box that was now safely placed on the floor.
"Geez, Shinichi should've known better." Ran was huffing, practically fuming. "What would have happened if we hadn't come?"
"Why are you here?" asked Conan, breaking her out of her rant. "I thought Oniichan told you not to come."
"I tried." A sigh escaped her lips. "But Sonoko was adamant ─ she was sure Shinichi was keeping something he didn't want me to see close to the files and wanted to catch him red-handed…"
Conan blinked owlishly. "Something like what?"
Ran looked at him, staring for a second, before smiling. "Now, you don't need to know, Conan-kun."
The boy felt absolutely lost at that moment ─ and incredibly curious at the same time.
"By the time I got your brother's text, we were already in front of your house, which made things much harder." Ran continued, disregarding everything else. "Sera-san was especially eager to meet Subaru-san, too."
That stole yet another groan out of him. He settled with a grumbled, "Of course she does," and promptly opened the box to inspect its contents. Ran crouched down next to him, observing as he dug for the desired files, saying not a single word.
At least, until he pulled it out, a big grin spreading all over his face.
"Should I be careful around Subaru-san?"
That made it disappear completely, allowing confusion to, once more, sink in. "Huh?"
When he turned to her, Conan found Ran frowning.
"You used to be so uncomfortable around him in the past, remember?" she said. "That was because there was something that didn't exactly fit, right?"
Conan visually hesitated, which cost him an opportunity to speak up.
"Sera-san met him just now, too. They… kind of stared at each other for a long time, saying nothing."
Sera-san and Akai-san? The little boy had to admit that was something he hadn't expected to hear today. Did she recognize him somehow?
No, no way. Conan mentally shook his head. She hasn't even met Akai-san before…
Or has she?
Perhaps he had been silent for too long, Conan later reasoned, since Ran was shaking her head, a hand resting against her cheek.
"Or maybe I'm thinking too much," she said, forcing a laugh out. "But, you know, even after we left looking for you, Sera-san had this look on her face…"
"Like what?"
"It's the same as Shinichi," she confessed. "Whenever I see Shinichi putting on that face, I immediately know something is not right."
Just as fast as it had come, the smile faded. A beat after the words had reached the little boy's ears, his lips had pressed against each other in a thin line, and his gaze had sharpened, narrowed in a way Ran had seen so many times before. That was it, observed Ran ─ the same look she had been talking about.
So, she took a good look around. Assuring herself that they were all alone, she lowered closer to the boy and whispered, "Is he dangerous?"
To her surprise, the boy shook his head right away. "You don't have to worry about him," he reassured her. "Subaru-san is an ally."
He gave her not a chance to fully process his words before he rose back to his feet, the desired envelope secured against his chest. "Shall we go?" he chirped, already making his way downstairs. "Sera-san and Sonoko-neechan must be waiting…"
And I don't trust Sera-san to roam around here unsupervised.
He could only hope his brother had gotten to hide somewhere, away from the sharp eyes of the female detective.
"Magazines, I'm telling you! Magazines! Every month, he lets Ran clean his house, but he doesn't let her look for a measly picture? That's so suspicious!"
Sera half-listened to her classmate, ranting and rambling about what she thought was the mystery behind Kudo Shinichi's secretive behavior. Sonoko was adamant, that far she could tell, that it was such an embarrassing one that he was probably praying right now so that Ran didn't find out.
Though she could not believe the reason was such an ordinary, harmless one like that one, Sera had to admit Sonoko was right. Why would he have any problems letting Ran in, when it hadn't been like that before?
If there's something different from the other times, then it should be me, reasoned Sera. Ran-kun mentioned me in the text she sent, after all.
Which meant that Kudo Shinichi did not want her in his house, likely because he was aware she was a detective. There's something he's hiding. Her eyes narrowed. Something that should remain buried inside the walls of this house.
The question remained, however ─ what was it?
A young man barged in her mind, staring back at her cluelessly through squinted eyes, a toothbrush hanging from his mouth. Okiya Subaru. That was the name of the person she had met seconds ago. Just an ordinary guy at first glance. Then, why?
What was that odd sense of familiarity that struck her the moment their eyes met?
Her feet stopped moving on their own. "Sera-san?" called Sonoko when she noticed she wasn't following.
But she didn't answer, at least not right away. Instead, the young detective shifted, standing in front of a door Sonoko would have missed otherwise. Eyes narrowed, she shuffled closer, until her ear was placed against the wooden surface. And waited.
Her hand rested on the doorknob. She turned it.
But the door wouldn't budge.
All the while, Sonoko could only watch, cluelessly.
A sigh later, the detective had stepped away, her grin dispelling the serious frown that had once reigned over her face. "I must have imagined it," she said.
"Imagined what?"
"I thought I heard someone inside," Sera said, then continued, waving her classmate's visible concern off with a casual shrug. "But it's impossible after all. Subaru-san, who we met earlier, is the only one living here, and he was just brushing his teeth. We didn't spend much time at the study, so him getting here first is unlikely."
More than reassuring her, it only succeeded in making Sonoko pale considerably. "What if it's a bulgar?!" she all but shouted, covering her mouth with her hand,
"No way, no way." Sera said, laughing a little. "We're on the second floor. The bulgar would have to climb up to get in through the window. Now, considering where this room is, the window would have to be the one facing directly to the street. It'd be risky, and they would be seen by anyone passing by."
Sonoko blinked. "Ah."
"They could've also sneaked in from any other way, but…" She tried to turn the doorknob, but nothing happened. "It's locked."
Followed by that, the girl gave the door a long, scrutinizing look before grinning. "That is, unless Subaru-san has been hiding a criminal here all this time!"
"Don't joke about that!" Sonoko huffed, ready to walk away.
"But isn't it weird?" She was stopped by Sera's mutter. "For someone to lock a door if there was nothing to hide?"
"Ah, no. That's just the brat's room."
When Sera's head snapped her way, eyes wide in surprise over her words, Sonoko flinched. "Shinichi-kun's younger brother, I mean," she said, then quickly added. "He died a few years ago, so I suppose he didn't want Subaru-san messing around with that room. That's his only memory of him, you know."
"Oh, I see…"
Sonoko did not utter a single word after that, all but skipping ahead, hoping to get to the kitchen as soon as possible. I almost forgot he was pronounced dead that long ago. For whatever reason.
The girl shivered. Thinking about that gave her the chills.
It wasn't until he heard the second set of footsteps walking away that Shinichi allowed himself to breathe out, exhausted, his back sliding down from the other side of the door he was pressing against of, fearing that it would get kicked open or something.
Though, thinking about it, had anyone done that, it would have hurt like hell…
He definitely should have thought of it better.
I was saved, somehow. His eyes dropped to the keys laying on top of his palm. Luckily, I always have Conan's room key with me all the time, so I could lock myself in here…
Hand closing around it, Shinichi moved away from the door and further inside the room. Sera almost got me there. He had been on the verge of an anxiety attack, honestly, fearful of even taking a breath and being found out. She heard about Kudo Conan's existence, too…
Though, to be fair, even if Sonoko had not opened her mouth, Sera would've found out anyway ─ if she hadn't already. The news of Conan's supposed death in a traffic accident had been everywhere at the time, thanks to his parents being celebrities.
And speaking of Sonoko… His eyebrow began to twitch entirely on its own. What magazines was she talking about?!
With another lengthy sigh, Shinichi all but dropped to Conan's bed, passing a hand to his face. Staying there with those girls breaking havoc in his house was definitely not good for his health. But he needed to endure it.
I have no other choice but to hide here until they're gone. He dug through his pocket, hoping to fish out his phone. I'll text Conan real quick. Maybe he can tell me how things are out there…
But, to his horror, he found that there was absolutely nothing inside his pocket.
His phone was gone.
There was barely anything to do at the police department.
Such was the case of Detective Takagi, currently sitting at his desk, quietly typing on his personal computer his report ─ mostly, because barely anything had happened today, besides the case Ran and her friends had encountered just that morning. The one with the man in the vending machine, and the strange 'death' character written in blood.
Megure had disregarded it as a murder, and thus it was not in his hands anymore but in the third division's instead. Apparently, the fact that the body lacked a wallet was enough for the inspector to conclude it was just a robbery case.
He did not feel like inquiring any further.
Stretching himself, Takagi glanced around. Unlike him, it seemed like most of his coworkers were extremely busy. They were not paying him any attention ─ now, that was not uncommon, but it came with unexpected advantages for himself. Such as none of them noticing him taking the folder tucked under a pile of the other files he had been checking on, placing it right on top, and opening it.
The unfriendly stare of the blonde man in the photo would probably have had him flinching, had he been alive and in front of him.
Masuyama Yuji.
Cause of death: Heart failure due to bullet injury.
Instead of that, a frown took over while he carefully examined its contents. He was shot twice, he realized, upon further reading. The first one on the chest, narrowly missing any vital points. But the second, inflicted from the backside, reached his heart so he died in the act…
The position he had been found at indicated he had been curling into himself when the fatal shot was made. Was he protecting something?
He turned over the page, and paused, his eyes scanning over the photograph, portraying the victim's forearm, before finally focusing on that certain, circular shaped mark clear in sight. A human bite mark.
While the reason had yet to be explained, it was evident that it had been inflicted by a young child.
Or maybe he was protecting someone else?
And that someone was…
"With my hands like this, I'll just get Detective Takagi killed too…"
The loud ringing of a phone had him scrambling to cover his many files, spooked out of his mind. It was his, he later realized when the annoyed glances of his highly overworked coworkers drilled into his head. With a strained laugh, he picked it up.
He was not surprised when it was Ran whose voice he heard.
"Oh, the corpse from this morning?" he replied when asked. "I believe he lived nearby, and his name was Takaichi Isao-san…"
It definitely has to be someone inside the Organization…
That being said, no matter how many hours ─ which he didn't know exactly, because for some reason Conan did not bother to put a clock in there ─ he had been lying there, gaze stuck in the pristine white ceiling of his younger brother's room, on top of his bed, he was nowhere close to figuring out the mystery. If it was the same person who warned me about Shiho-chan, he reasoned. Then they couldn't have known otherwise she was in danger.
Yet, that left him out of options, clearly. It couldn't have been Vermouth. As much as he wouldn't have discarded her so easily for wanting to help Conan out for the most recent incident, with the first, it was so unlikely that it physically hurt. For some reason or another, the woman wanted to straight out murder Shiho.
Akai-san wasn't either. Rye had been found out a long way before by that point. And he wouldn't have gone out of his way to buy a burner phone so he wouldn't be tracked ─ because, yeah, he had checked the first time. Making sure the mystery person had done the same the second time was a pending task, but he figured there wouldn't be any surprises there.
Hidemi-san? It was unlikely. He didn't remember Kir and Sherry meeting at any point ─ in fact, it was probable that Hidemi only knew about her existence after she defected.
And… that was about it. There were a few organization members in his mind, but it would be absurd even considering them ─ like, what, Gin? Yeah, so that he could punch a bullet in her head, maybe. Vodka, Chianti and Korn are a definite 'no', too… Uh, Calvados? Ah, right. Akai-san mentioned he died…
There's also Bourbon. At the mere thought of that name, his eyebrows inched together, head shaking from side to side, vigorously. But someone like him wouldn't be it. I can't figure out a single motive.
And that guy never makes a move without one.
He heard a knock.
His heart skipped a beat. The knocking persisted, paying no regard to it. Who's out there? he thought, not daring to move a single finger, fearing that even the shifting of the sheets against his body would be noticed.
A bead of cold sweat slipped from his forehead, landing perfectly on Conan's pillow. The door was locked, the key safe in the nightstand, so he should be fine. Unless anybody decided to throw the door down, but it couldn't be it, right? Like, unless it was Ran. He could hardly think of a reason for her to do so.
And Sera doesn't know any martial arts. His thoughts skidded to a halt. Wait, does she?
Okay, maybe he should ask Conan… If he survived this, that was.
The knocking continued, on and on and on, until eventually, Shinichi blinked, the tension washed away by the realization of a certain rhythm he had absolutely missed amidst his panic. He listened to it for a while, let out a small chuckle, blindly throwing his hand over the nightstand to fetch the keys.
After unlocking it, the teenager pulled the door open. "Get out of my room," he said, a smirk present on his face. "That's what you were trying to say, right?"
An identical smile met his gaze. "Your morse skills are still as great as ever," said the little boy, promptly walking past him and inside the room.
Rolling his eyes, Shinichi closed the door, locking it again for good measure. "Shouldn't have told you to learn morse code."
He turned around, watching the kid sit atop of the bed, his feet swinging back and forth in the air, and approached him. Conan's hand suddenly thrusted forward, towards him, and it took him a second to note the phone he was passing him.
"You forgot this in the living room," he said, with a bored tone, then continued when Shinichi hastily recovered it. "Luckily Akai-san collected it before Sera-san could see it, and secretly passed it to me."
Gotta hand it to him, he's such a lifesaver. Shinichi gave his phone a long look, before his gaze went back to his brother. "I assume those three are still out there."
Annoyance seized Conan's expression. "Sera-san's probably not leaving until she figures the case out," he said, then turned to his own phone, looking for something as he continued. "And they were right, for the record. It certainly looks similar."
A notification showed on Shinichi's phone. Upon opening it, he noted that Conan had sent him several pictures ─ he had snapped some photos of his father's files, and luckily he was willing to share, alongside the one Ran had taken of today's crime scene for him.
Sure enough, the bloody 'death' character was the same. "There's no doubt ─ it's the same murderer," Shinichi said. "The photos of the ten-year-old case have never been posted, so I'm sure about it."
That being said, ten years ago, I'm sure Dad said the opposite. A tight frown appeared on his features. What's going on?
Wasn't the murderer never going to appear again, Dad?
"That's the funny part."
Shinichi immediately focused back on his little brother. "We called Detective Takagi, you know," the boy continued. "The case was classified as robbery."
It took a moment for his words to really sink in. "A robbery?!" he shouted, eyes growing big as two plates. Conan nodded calmly. "But how?"
"Detective Takagi did not have a single clue," he replied. "Inspector Megure had barely glimpsed at the bloody character and declared it a robbery. Apparently, they didn't find a wallet on the victim, either." Conan's gaze settled back at the front, forehead creased in utter confusion, as if struggling to come to terms with what he had found out. "The cause of death was a variceal rupture prompted by cirrhosis."
"Just like ten years ago…" At the clueless glance Conan sent him, Shinichi clarified. "Ah, I don't mean cirrhosis. It was apparently not a murder, but an accident."
"But he did not write the character, right?" Conan leaned forward, as if to stand up, but never did so. "Since, even though his palm and fingers had blood on them, the fingertip was all clean. Someone had to have been there before the blood dried!"
That was what he had thought before, too, remembered Shinichi ─ he had also fallen into a rant for hours to an end at Ran back in the day, unable to get his head around what his father had said. How is it not a murder?!
Conan had also snapped some pictures of the in-depth details that came with the mysterious picture. Preschool principal, Kooriyama Takefumi, had died in that case ten years ago, victim to shock damage to the heart ─ he had been carrying a fishbowl when he tripped on a stone step. A broken piece of it had pierced his chest, killing him on the spot.
A preschooler had found him, Nishimura Ryosuke, the five-year-old son of a local priest. As the teachers were worrying about where the principal had gone, the boy had stated he had seen him lying on the ground at the park, and found them there.
Hand raising to his chin, Shinichi read out loud, "The boy was nervous at first and didn't say anything, but after the boy ate some of the candy he had been holding, he began to talk." Humming, Shinichi closed his eyes, trying to recall if he had seen him there. He believed there was a little boy there, younger than he was, nervously shifting in his spot.
His father had crouched in front of him at some point. Whispered something at him, too.
But what?
"There was a dog he had secretly been taking care of, along with some other kids." Not understanding why his brother had stopped so suddenly, Conan had taken over. "He went to check up on it, but found the principal laying there. Figured he was dead, so he gathered some flowers from the park and left them as an offering."
Sure enough, there were flowers in the picture. Scattered around, observed Shinichi. Maybe the culprit did it?
But, apparently, there was no bloody character when the boy found him. Did the culprit hide until the boy left and went back to write it?
I mean, maybe…
Shinichi groaned, loud enough for his brother to raise an eyebrow.
Finally deciding he did not care enough to ask, Conan shrugged, and turned to his phone, gazing over the photo Ran had passed him from the scene of the crime. "No flowers in this one," he said. "But there's a cigarette. A bloody one."
"Blood?" That took Shinichi off guard. "But you said it was cirrhosis, didn't you?"
"There was blood coming out of his mouth," answered Conan. "Sera-san thinks his varices had ruptured and vomited blood…"
Not a sight he would've wanted to see, but really, he supposed he had seen much worse over the years. Deep in thought, Shinichi came to sit beside his little brother, elbows resting over his knees while he reflected over everything he had learned, and as little as he remembered.
In perfect harmony, both brothers hummed.
And would have remained like that, sitting in silence while trying to conjure a feasible explanation of everything so far, hadn't it been by the faint buzzing breaking through. Conan peered over to look at Shinichi's screen, and was surprised he was at the sight of the words 'Mouri Ran' right in plain sight.
So it seemed to be the case for Shinichi, who sat frozen in place, staring at his phone. In fact, he would've probably let it be, hadn't it been for the child that elbowed him, lightly yet more than enough to pull him back to his senses.
"Ah, Shinichi?" rang Ran's voice as soon as he picked it up. "It's Ran."
He was tempted to say that, yeah, he knew ─ her name had popped up on his screen. Who else would it have been? ─ but stopped himself in the nick of time.
"Is… it a good time to call?"
Because she sounded incredibly hesitant somehow.
"Yeah, what is it?" He felt some movement beside him as he answered, and a faint tickling on his cheek made him realize it had been his little brother who, prompted by curiosity, had shuffled as close as possible to snoop in. "If it's about that case you told me about, Conan just texted me that the police want to process it as a theft."
"I see…" There was a brief period of silence. "In that case, I'd like to bring something else up."
Like his brother, Conan blinked at what his ears had caught. Allowing a focused frown to settle in, Conan closed his eyes and listened carefully ─ there was someone talking to Ran, too. What are they saying?
Ran was hesitating.
Shinichi, clueless about everything, tried to press her further.
And Conan finally realized who his voice belonged to. It was Sonoko, hushed whispers coming out of her mouth that sounded an awful lot to, Conan struggled to make sense of it, suki? Conan blinked. Suki? As in, 'I like you'? His hand flew to his mouth to smother out a gasp when, suddenly, everything made sense. Is Ran-neechan-?!
"What is it?" Predictably, Shinichi noticed none of it. "This other thing?"
Sonoko's 'I like you, I like you' chant continued in the background.
"S-Su… Su…"
Conan's eyes widened, excitement surging through him as he waited for it to finally happen.
"SUBARU-SAN SAID-!"
The chanting was cut short.
And for some reason that Shinichi could not behind to comprehend, his little brother had dropped down into his bed, fetching the pillow right beside him and pressed it against his face ─ as if he was either muffling a frustrated groan or, alternatively, trying to smother himself with it. Now, topped with the confusion from before, increased tenfold, he was starting to worry.
"Subaru-san said that you reminded him of the shinobi Kirigakure Saizo!" Ran said, words rushed, stumbling with each other in their hurry. "That's what he said."
"Kirigakure Saizo?" Shinichi repeated.
Wide and blinking, a flash of blue peeked out from under the pillow.
Kirigakure Saizo? Shinichi noticed none of that, however, far too focused on his own thoughts for anything else. One of the Sanada Ten Braves, right?
A fictional ninja from the Iga Province who served under the warlord Sanada Yukimura according to the legend, reasoned Conan, his gaze squinting at a random spot in his ceiling.
Hold on… Sanada Yukimura… Shinichi closed his eyes as he thought. Sanada Fortress…
Sanada cords… Conan's forehead scrunched up. Sanada's clan…
Abruptly, all movement ceased, breath halting when realization came. Sanada?! they screamed in their minds.
The young boy shot up in a sitting position, locking eyes with his older brother for a brief moment, "I've got it!" before the latter focused back on the phone and the puzzled Ran on the other side of the line. "The mystery of the case!"
Paying no mind to it, the child hopped back onto the ground.
"Right now, head to the scene from this morning!" he shouted at the phone, rushed with urgency.
"Huh?!" Ran could barely get a word in. "Wait, Shinichi!"
"If my deduction is correct, then it should match-!"
He paused abruptly, confused to see that Conan was not sitting beside him anymore ─ when had he gotten up, anyway? ─ but standing close to the door. His eyes caught sight of the key he had been keeping over the nightstand. And that would be fine, really, as it wasn't like he could keep the boy in there forever, or Ran would ask questions…
But it made him halt. Conan's eyebrows were knitted together, and his gaze fixated on his form, even though he had already unlocked it.
Hesitantly, Shinichi stood up.
"You stay here," Conan declared immediately.
The next second, he had rushed outside and, by the time Shinichi had finally reacted enough to make a run for it, he found the door, now forcefully closed, right on his face.
His eyebrow twitched back to life, his hands flying back to the doorknob.
"Conan!" His brother had been quick, and had likely already locked, seeing that he couldn't make it budge, no matter how hard he tried. "Hey, come back here, you little runt!" No response, but he was certain that the boy was still there, lingering in the hallways with that serious look of his. So he banged loudly. "Come on, Conan! Open up!"
"So what?" Shinichi stopped. Annoyance, and a bit of exhaustion, was clear on Conan's tone. "So that you show up in front of everyone like the reckless idiot you are?"
Shinichi opened his mouth, ready to defend himself, but nothing came out. Conan waited anyway.
"They won't see me," he said. "So, would you-?"
There was even more silence. Then a sigh.
Followed by the sound of footsteps heading away, leaving him alone to, forehead resting against the door, let out a rather loud groan, coming straight from the confines of his throat.
"You can't be thinking of getting a beer. You're still a little brat!"
His gaze dulled upon making contact with Sonoko, where it lingered for a full second, before it returned to Ran, not bothering to answer that stupid question.
"So, Ran-neechan." He smiled at her. "I need to borrow some coins."
"Hey, brat!" Sonoko was definitely not happy. "You can't just ignore me like-"
"Six of them, if you don't mind."
"Are you deaf?!"
Conan sent her a look. "Sadly, no," he stated, his tone bored and detached. "You'll make it happen some day if you carry on screeching like that, though."
Her mouth opened in a muted, offended gasp. Ran gently pushed her back in case she replied, sliding in between them with a stiff smile. "Here, Conan-kun," she said, pulling some coins out of her wallet. "Will these work?"
"Yup," he chirped, bright eyed unlike before, hands cupping the coins she was passing him. "Thank you, Ran-neechan!"
He thought he heard Sonoko grumbling in the background, but did not pay much attention. Instead, he crouched down next to the ominous kanji and let them fall.
"See, Shinichi-niichan was right!" After lining them up accordingly, he turned to Sera, grinning. "It matches perfectly!"
Indeed, it was a perfect match. Both Ran and Sonoko gasped at the realization.
Sera, on the other hand, observed it for a little longer in thoughtful silence. "I see," she muttered. "The coins fell, and the blood poured in them, just like this."
"But what about the long skinny gap?" Sonoko was nowhere convinced. "Are you trying to say the blood didn't cover that?"
Conan raised his eyebrow. "You mean you didn't see the bloody cigarette?"
She stared at him for a whole second, before her gaze slid to the blood mark on the ground, squinting slightly. "Ah!" It all went away abruptly, her hand rising to her mouth, unable to stifle a gasp.
And thus, it became evident that it was not a murder. That night, the man had gone out to buy a beer when cirrhosis had struck, much more violently than ever before. He had dropped his things as he fell, and the cough arrived not long thereafter, his blood splattering over the change, the cigarette and wallet, giving birth to the same ominous character that had the media crazy over back in the day.
"Somebody must've come by and taken his wallet, moving everything about," finished Sera. "That's why only the bloody kanji was left."
Guess this confirms that Inspector Megure has been right all along ─ it was a robbery case. Conan's gaze lingered on the kanji-shaped, blood splatter that had troubled everyone this much ─ really, what were the chances that something like this would be formed, twice, at that? To steal from a dead guy, though…
It takes a lot of guts to do that, to put it in one way. He cringed at the thought. What a bastard…
Or bastards ─ he couldn't be sure.
"So that's how it is!" He looked away, just to meet Sera's toothy grin. "You figured it out pretty nicely!"
Conan eyed her for a beat. "That was Shinichi-niichan…" He mumbled but, honestly? At this point, he was doubting his words would matter to her. "He said it was crystal clear after what Subaru-san said."
When neither Ran nor Sonoko seemed to understand, he graced them with a brief explanation. "Kirigakure Saizo was part of the Sanada Ten Braves," he said, holding out six fingers. "The Sanada flag has six coins on it."
"So the death from ten years ago… A-Are you saying that's a theft, too?!"
His eyebrows rose high above his hairline the moment Sonoko's words reached his ears. "No?" it came out as a question. "I'm pretty sure they would've added it to the file if there was a missing wallet…"
Sonoko thought over the words before yet another gasp escaped her. "So the case from ten years ago was a murder?"
This time, Conan did not bother explaining to her. But the flat gaze lingered.
"No, that case, too, had to do with six coins," at his refusal, Sera had to take over. "Little Nishimura Ryosuke, the first person to find the body, placed them alongside the flowers ─ the toll fee for crossing the river Styx."
Thus, the detective proceeded to tell the girls what the boy had already figured out. That the preschooler from ten years ago had done what his religious parents told him was the norm ─ leave six coins for that poor departing soul, so that he wouldn't be dragged to hell. But, being an ordinary five-year-old, he did not have such a thing, so he had to improvise.
Thus, hidden by flowers and the victim's hand, he had left six of his favorite candy drops. Blood had come underneath the palm, and the infamous kanji had formed ─ the long skinny gap caused by the principal's thumb.
Come to think of it, it could be considered a theft, thought Conan, chuckling to himself, his attention dropping back to the dried blood pool. Since the dog he had been taking care of gobbled the 'offering' up, making the evidence disappear...
Now, ten years later, yet another thief has popped up. His reflection on the vending machine frowned, the smile long gone from his lips. Taking the coins, and the only piece of evidence available with them…
Conan paused. Or did they? With that thought, he kneeled down, hoping a look from close would make a difference. There's nothing like a perfect crime. He, above anyone, knew that fact well. There has to be something, anything they didn't notice…
Cheek against the cold pavement, Conan's eyes stared into the darkness under the vending machine, and blinked. Just now, they had spotted something twinkling unnaturally. He hurried, fumbling with his pockets to retrieve the handkerchief he always kept inside.
Sonoko crossed her arms over her chest, huffing. "It's a shame," she said, soon after Sera had finished her deduction. "We went through this entire investigation without finding out who the thief was…"
"True. But we will find out soon."
Confused, the three girls looked over at the boy who was sitting on the floor, close to the spot where the body had been this morning. A bright grin lit his face up and held his hand up. "This should do the trick, right, Sera-san?" A more careful look revealed, much to the girls' shock, that the boy was holding out a ten yen coin. "The culprit's blood is on the underside."
Sera studied it for a beat before a smirk rose to her face. "If this is a coin that slipped from the culprit's hand…" she said. "A fingerprint analysis might turn up a criminal record."
Her gaze shifted from the coin, and settled on the little boy, grinning in silent victory.
Unlike any other times, though Conan would find it weird later on, the child did not try to scramble away. He giggled lightly, elated that this case would see its end, as it should have a long while ago.
"Assault." It all went away. The voice was rough, and distinctly male ─ unlike any other he had heard before. "Infliction of bodily injury. Blackmail."
Sera's carefree smile dropped the next second. Conan only got to see a flash of narrowing green eyes before she spun on her feet.
"Add the three of us, and you got our criminal record."
From his spot in the ground, there was so much the child could see, with Sera standing in front of him, shielding him from their recent company's sight, but peeking around her legs he got a glimpse of Ran ─ her darkening gaze, her body swiftly sliding in a fighting position, ready to strike. Sonoko had let out a small scream, her feet instinctively taking her backwards, all but hiding behind her friend while seeking protection.
"Add 'theft' to that, and you got four."
Slowly ─ and far too conscious that, with the other ones at the Professor's for repairs, he was wearing an ordinary pair of shoes this time around ─ Conan rose back to his feet; the coin bundled in his handkerchief, secured around his fingers.
It tightened when he made eye contact with the leader of the gang ─ three men, Conan's brain quickly jotted down.
"Hey, kid, think you could return that?" the man sneered. Conan could not help but flinch back, his forehead creasing in a vain attempt to appear calm. "It's just a ten yen coin, after all."
"Just ten, y'know?" the other added.
And the third calmly approached, his attention suddenly grasped by Sera, who hadn't moved from her spot in front of the boy. "After that," he began. "The three of us could have some fun!"
His approach shifted ─ fist high in the air, he ran up to the girl. Predictably ─ for Conan anyway, since it obviously wasn't so for any of the thugs ─ it never made contact, but instead, Sera's hand gripped his wrist. The man barely had the time to reason that his punch had been deviated when the pain struck his face and fell backwards.
A tooth landed right at Conan's feet. He stared at it for a beat.
And his face contorted in a grimace.
Ouch.
But there were another two left, so Conan's head rose back up. The second one went after Sera, but Ran's leg came forward. Now, he did not get to see the hit that was sure to ensue, eyes shifting back and forth, seeking to find the third one before it was too late.
He found him right away, and his eyes widened in horror.
His hand, previously tucked inside his pocket, started to poke out, and a certain silver glint caught his eye.
Far too worried about her friend, Sonoko continued to stare at the fight. Unaware of the man slowly creeping up on her.
Or the hand hovering over her shoulder.
Sonoko bit back a cry at the feeling of something whizzing past her head, but when the annoyed groan sounded up from close, she couldn't help herself. She spun around, stumbling backwards in fright.
There was a knife on the ground and spotted a deflated soccer ball somewhere in the background. The thug was dangerously close to her ─ it made her shiver, unable to figure out when he had snuck up on her.
Yet, before her brain could fully process what had just transpired, a growl had escaped the depths of the man's throat, his eyes darkening as they settled on the small form a few feet away from him, clutching the coin against his chest like dear life.
"You little-!"
The jump his body unconsciously gave seemed to jerk him back to action, darting away before the thug could finish cursing at him. Sonoko barely got to see him turning around a corner and disappearing into the darkness when she was hustled out of the way, inevitably sending her stumbling against the wall.
When she raised her head again, they both were all gone.
"R-Ran!" She managed to let out a scream, frantically pointing in the direction she had last seen the boy. "The brat-!"
Eyes sliding away from the criminal she had knocked out and to her panicking friend, Ran paled ─ not failing to notice that the little boy was nowhere in sight.
He seriously needed to stop doing that before it became a habit.
That being, obviously, being caught in a wild chase for meddling in others' affairs, running for his life before the criminal made him pay for being a nuisance to their ulterior motives. Murder or robbery, it didn't matter ─ what awaited him in case of being captured was certainly not good.
It'll be fine. He didn't know if it was certainty, or just himself trying to keep his morale high against the loud curses and warnings all the same that continued to echo in his ears from uncomfortably close. As long as I have the coin with me, I'll be the sole focus. Sonoko-neechan and the others will be safe.
For a slight moment, the man stopped yelling ─ it was a wonder if it was because he had finally lost him, or rather, because the thug finally realized that, with a stubborn kid like that, everything he said would be worthless in the end. Conan would bet on the latter.
In the newfound silence, only his own ragged breathing crossed his ears.
I'll run to the closest police station. It was so dark he could barely watch where he was going, but he did not let it discourage him. It can't be too far, can it?
For a scary second, he felt himself trip on uneven pavement, but he caught himself just fine, with no lasting effects besides a skipped beat of his frenzy heart.
Yeah, I'll just do that. His chaser's footsteps were firm and loud, and he had the impression that they sounded much closer than before, but did not feel inclined to peer over his shoulder to confirm his suspicions. There, I'll show the police the evidence I'm carrying, then call Ran-neechan so that she can stop worrying. And pick me up, obviously.
He made a sharp turn.
And then it'll be over. Everything will be-
And halted.
… fine.
Despite the urgency to get away, the adrenaline leaving his limbs trembling and every single cell of his body screaming at him to get to safety, none of it happened. His eyes were fixated right ahead of himself, widening with every single second that passed by, in which the thug chasing him was nearing closer to him.
Amid the darkness, Conan made out a wall. A dead end. His grip on the coin slacked for a moment, but he regained it just before it could clatter into the ground. You've got to be kidding me…
He needed to leave this place now. The thought had his body moving backwards, fueled entirely by his still-existent survival instincts.
"Just you wait, you little punk!"
Their paths would surely cross if he dared to head back to where he had come from, if the loudness of his voice was something he could rely on. Teeth gritted, the boy haltingly spun on his heels, slowly backing up, venturing inside the darkest shadows, and did not stop again until his back had made contact with the wall.
Maybe he could use it to his advantage. If he could stay there, silent in the deepest corner of that abandoned, darkened alley, he wouldn't be seen.
So, when the silhouette of an adult appeared in front of his eyes, his own hand clamped his mouth shut ─ air freezing on his lungs, fearful to make a single sound.
There, huddled against the wall, Conan waited for him to leave.
Until a cold snigger caressed his ears.
"Look, I don't wanna hurt you." It was at that moment that it fell on the boy ─ there seriously was no way out. "Let's make a deal. You come out like a good little boy and I'll let you go."
Conan's forehead scrunched up in a frown.
"Let me go to heaven, I assume?" the boy said, curtly. I already saw his face.
Someone like him would not let a witness roam freely around… Especially when they're a defenseless little boy cornered in an alley…
His future did not look all that bright.
I'm so stupid.
"You're such a clever one, kid," the thug chuckled. "Too clever for your own good."
The thug took a step forward, and Conan braced himself ─ could he escape somewhere? Perhaps he could make a run for it, running past him when he was distracted and leaving for a more populated area… Which would be a feasible choice, clearly, had there been anything but himself to capture his attention.
I'm… really done for, aren't I?
"Excuse me, sir…"
Both Conan and the thug halted, freezing in their spots as a figure, unidentifiable at first, walked right into sight and stopped, looking over to the alley they were at. "I'm afraid I lost my way here." As the figure came into the dim moonlight, and the sharp glint that chocolate contacts could not conceal was registered by his brain, Conan's eyes gradually grew in size.
"Do you happen to know…" His head rose sharply, and that certain smirk popped up into existence. "Where can I find a police station?"
Conan's mouth hung open in a muted gasp. Oniichan? He scrubbed at his eyes, and the vision did not disappear. Wait, he's really here.
The thug scanned him from over his shoulder for an entire second. "Oh, yeah?" He turned fully around. The smug tone told Conan that he had, understandably, believed none of what he had been told. "I can tell you where the hospital is… Or the morgue."
But Shinichi did not seem any affected, amused even. "For a low-life criminal, your death threats could use some work."
Soon, the smug smile turned into a full-blown scowl. Not bothering for any further words, the criminal started to run ─ towards his brother, Conan was horrified to realize, instead of himself, like it had originally been supposed to be.
His mouth opened fully, hand stretching forward. Run, the word was just in the tip of his tongue, ready to be thrusted back into the world in a vain attempt to get him from engaging in a fight he could clearly not win.
But, just as if a switch was turned on, Shinichi's gaze took a much more gelid, deadly turn.
A foot moved slightly ahead. His hands curled into fists, raising a little above eye level.
What the-?
The next second, the thug was doubling over, hands nursing over the spot where he had been hit ─ somewhere along his abdomen, Conan noted ─ briefly before collapsing into a heap beside Shinichi's feet, leaving the child to wonder what he had just witnessed.
Such was the shock that, for a while, his eyes did not leave the fallen man ─ peering over his brother's shoulders as he came up at him, crouched in front of him, and shook him by the shoulders.
"-I'm serious, Conan!" At that point, and only then, Conan realized he had been talking to him. "Would it kill you not to try to get yourself killed for just one day?! Just one!"
Conan's gaze shifted to him. "You might want to rephrase that."
Shinichi seemed to be on the verge of either strangling him or himself. He couldn't be sure.
Again, his attention was gathered by the man on the floor and blinked.
"Since when did you know boxing?"
"Eh?"
"As far as martial skills are concerned, I knew you learned a bit of karate from watching Ran-neechan…" He turned back to his brother, eyebrows knitted in confusion. "But that just now was boxing."
Conan was sure he saw something akin to a shadow passing by his brother's eyes.
Eventually, however, a small smile came forward. "When you're in a place like the one I'd been for so long…" he said. "You end up learning a thing or two."
Offering no further word, he stood back up. "Let's get out of this place," he said, capturing Conan's little hand into his, all but dragging him away.
All the child could do in turn was nod, faintly as the action ended up being, stepping together out of the shadows. He didn't think of asking how he had gotten out of the room he had locked him inside of, or why he had yet to show his displeasure over it ─ no, none of that crossed his mind. Instead, it focused on the fingers locked tightly around his hand ─ the grip had tightened all of a sudden ─ or his face, where only the ghost of a smile lingered ─ replaced by an odd grimace that Conan could not figure out the motive of.
A frown pinched Conan's face. "Say-"
"Conan-kun!"
Even if he hadn't found the tone incredibly familiar, the figure that crossed his field of vision definitely would be recognized everywhere. A teenage girl was standing a few feet away, the tips of her hair whipping across the air while her head frantically moved from side to side, until she eventually spotted him there, and immediately ran towards him. Conan could only force out a nervous smile as the girl, predictably, dropped to her knees in front of him, checking for any sign of injury.
"You don't have to worry about anything." It wasn't him who tried to reassure her, but his older brother who, standing beside him, watched the scene, visually entertained. "The criminal has been taken care of."
Ran looked up at him, and her eyes opened ─ as if only now she had realized he had been there all along.
"For now, anyway," said Conan, giving the dark alley they had just walked out of a last glance over his shoulder, before starting to walk. "I'll call the police before he wakes up."
"Yeah." Shinichi nodded. "Good idea."
And adding nothing else, the kid plucked his phone up, only just beginning to make his way back to where he had come from.
For a moment, Shinichi hesitated. Sera had to be still there, most definitely, and after everything, he wasn't all that sure if meeting was a good idea.
Maybe I should walk away while I still can…
Though the idea posed a slight problem.
His gaze slid towards the person who stood at his side. Ran is here. The urge to sigh was prominent, but he kept it all in. If I do that, won't that be suspicious?
Ran had been staring at him for a while, come to think of it. Damn it, was I gawking for too long? He quickly averted his gaze, scratching the back of his head as if nothing had happened. At this rate, my cover won't last long…
But hers remained, and a frown slowly began to crawl into her face. Shinichi inwardly winced, making some excuse of going after Conan ─ or something like that, his brain wasn't working exceptionally well at that moment ─ and took a step ahead.
Fingers latched onto his arm. It took a monumental amount of willpower not to yelp at the notion and, instead, put on the most neutral expression as he turned to face her. The sight that met his eyes, however, almost made everything crumble into pieces.
Her gaze, once sharp and determined, had smoothed down, fixated now on her own feet. Despite the darkness, Shinichi could clearly see the faint rosy shade her cheeks had acquired. He blinked stupidly.
That intensified when, with a frustrated huff, Ran suddenly pulled something from her pocket, and presented it right in front of his eyes.
"A ring?" he mumbled in shock.
"You have heard about it from the children, haven't you?" Ran said, moving it even closer to his face, showing that he had to take it. Hesitating, he eventually did. "About the Bell Tree Express they're riding tomorrow."
Was it tomorrow? Shinichi truly had not a clue, but inspected the object either way. He turned it from side to side, paying attention to the train carving, the same he had seen in the ring Genta had dropped just the other day. "Yeah, I've heard about it…"
"This is an extra one Sonoko has been trying to dispose of. We had another friend coming along, but she couldn't make it," continued Ran, the tips of her lips curving a little. "She said it'd be okay if I gave it to someone else."
Shinichi gave the ring another last look. "Thanks," he muttered.
With one last, faint smile, Ran walked past him, and only then did he dare to look up. He saw her hair waving along her back, bouncing lightly with every step she gave, and heard the small giggle that escaped her lips upon noticing the bored gaze Conan was sending her from a good distance away.
His hand rose to his face, fingers brushing lightly against his cheek.
Nobody was around to notice the frown that attacked his features.
A/N:
Well, my plan was to cover this case briefly and start on the Mystery Train Arc in the second half of the chapter, but it clearly did not happen. Next chapter it is then, I guess xD
Speaking of which, I'm not entirely sure I'll get the next one ready in two weeks. I could be mistaken, but wanted to let you know, just in case.
CherryGirl 21-6: Yeah, that's right. There's still a few things I want to squeeze in August, so it might take a while… Sorry.
And yeah, I saw Ai's picture, too, and she's so pretty! She's my female favorite character too, so I know where you're coming from xD As for male ones, it's a bit difficult… I've starting to like Rei a lot lately (that's probably because all the focus is on him right now, though) but I'm going to go for Kaito here.
F.C. Meyer: I've heard about it, but I haven't been able to catch up yet. But yeah, if he's not Karasuma, I don't know. He has to be related to it all somehow.
Well, about Shinichi and Ai… kinda? It's not someone close to them, I mean. I don't want to be too specific about it, you know.