File Fourteen: My Name is Edogawa Conan

The case had been resolved when the wife admitted the crime. Now, Conan hadn't actually been there when Kogoro cornered her with that trap, but he knew for a fact that they had convinced her to lie about how she had actually killed her husband, if the looks she sent to Hikaru were something to go by.

And he understood why she had done it. If Hikaru learned that, even if by complete accident, she had been the one to take his life away, she wouldn't be able to handle it.

"Sorry for keeping you so long."

Conan glared at Kogoro when he had accidentally pushed him a bit, in an attempt to take a better view of what it looked like a confession scene between the young doctor and the high school girl. Tomoaki was scratching the back of his head, awkwardly, while Ran kept her hands clenched together in front of her.

"I want you to tell your father something for me," Tomoaki said to her, eyes focusing on the floor.

Kogoro blinked confusedly, before turning to the boy, and that alone puzzled him even more. There was shock written all over his little face, and the detective couldn't really understand why he had reacted like that.

Suddenly, all those romantic movies Ran had forced on him popped on his young mind. A confession like this... Usually, they lead to another scene at the end of the film.

The bride and the groom, kissing under the sunset as their family clapped. Laughter. Happiness. Tears of joy... Marriage?!

When it hit him Conan let out a shocked gasp, and Kogoro flinched at that. The two heads turned their way and the males that had been spying on them could only smile, awkwardly.

Until she began to yell, angrily, at them for stalking her. It had taken the three of them ─ including Tomoaki ─ about twenty minutes to get the girl to somewhat calm down, enough for them to explain themselves.

"I'm sorry, Ran-neechan," Conan apologized, his head down. "I told Kogoro-ojisan this wasn't a good idea, but he wouldn't listen."

"E-Eh? Me?" Kogoro winced under his daughter glare, before turning to the kid. "You brat! Tell them it isn't true."

Conan would've chuckled at the sight of his overly panicked look, but kept it in, attempting to keep himself in character. Ran's raisen eyebrow told him, however, that Ran wasn't quite buying it.

But he was saved, when Tomoaki frowned and stepped ahead. "Say, Conan-kun," he kneeled in front of him. "Did you fall again?"

Only then did Ran notice that Conan's legs and knees where all scrapped. Seeing the little boy shrug, notchantly, and her father scorning at him for some reason, she smiled. But it wasn't a nice and sweet kind of smile she would often give people, but a rather sinister, terrifying one.

"Dad, did you give Conan-kun some trouble again?"

"N-No! The brat fell on his own, I swear!"

When he realized her anger was currently directed at Kogoro, exclusively, Conan could've sighed in relief. It wasn't the case, because he was lead to the check up room.

The child was unusually quiet as he was told to sit down while the doctor collected his stuff. He returned right away, with a kind smile on his face, as he set his things beside him.

"This will hurt a bit," and it did. The doctor wasn't surprised to see the boy hissing a bit, as he rubbed the alcohol on the scratches. "You're quite a mischievous young man, aren't you?"

Throughout it all, the kid said nothing and watched silently as the older man treated his cuts. Tomoaki didn't say anything of it, brushing his attitude as shyness, or probably that he was scared of Ran reprimanding him.

"You should be more careful," the doctor continued. "You don't want to worry Ran-san, do you?"

Conan looked at him at that, with a frown, then looked away, like he was about to say something to him, but decided not to.

"What is it?" Tomoaki asked the child. "You can ask me whatever you want."

The kid seemed to hesitate, but gazed into his eyes. Taking a deep breath, he opened his mouth.

"Araide-sensei, what are your intentions with Ran-neechan?"

Tomoaki certainly didn't expect that question to be asked. "Huh?"

He didn't expect the kid to scoff at him, either. "You were going to ask that, right?" he accused him, eyes narrowing. "You were going to ask Kogoro-ojisan for Ran-neechan's hand in marriage, weren't you?."

When Tomoaki paused bandaging his leg, Conan honestly believed he had hit the mark. That was it, at least when the young doctor began to laugh under his hand, as if he was attempting to stop himself.

Hey, hey, Conan's eyebrow began twitching. What's so funny?

"You got it all wrong," finally he explained, with an amused smile. "I definitely wasn't going to ask her hand in marriage."

"Then you..."

"I actually wanted Ran-san to tell her father I was sorry because I had been rude with him before," he explained, with such a patience that one would only have with a child. "And that I would be happy to help him if he needs anything."

Conan just stared at the doctor, blankly, even when the door opened and Ran entered the room, after seemingly having ended her discussion ─ scolding ─ with her father. She sat beside Conan, who was still staring, and glanced at his injuries.

"Is everything okay?" Ran asked facing Tomoaki.

"Yes, it's just a couple of scratches," the doctor informed her as he finished bandaging his legs.

The kid was glad the doctor hadn't said anything about marriage, or his own theories about marriage proposal. Even so, he noticed Ran shifting uncomfortably on her seat.

"I'm sorry to say this at a time like this but... if it's okay with you..." both males looked at her, confused. "Could I borrow that handmade sweater for a while?"

Even if he now understood why had she acted like that, he couldn't understand the reason. At least, until Tomoaki smiled, took off his sweater and gave it to her before going to get a jacket to put over his white shirt.

Conan glanced at Ran, who in turn was looking over the patterns on the sweater, and chuckled lightly, before taking his phone out and typing:

"What I meant is that you need to talk to Ran-neechan, not your little brother.

I'm not your therapist, stupid."

Ran received a call not long thereafter and they talked for hours on end.

A week after that, she left a beautiful hand-knitted blue sweater at his house, right on top of the bed.

It disappeared a few days later without a trace and Conan wasn't a bit surprised about it. Mostly because he had been the one who texted him about the gift.

Too bad his brother had been too sneaky to be caught in the act.

Nearly a month passed uneventfully, a case then and there, but nothing related with the mysterious organization, and April was nearing already, bringing forward another school year in a few days.

Conan sighed, letting his gaze fall into his feet as kicked a pebble, watching it roll on the path he was currently walking, before doing it once more. With a slight flinch, the kid remembered how angry Ran had been the other day. Her voice while she talked with his brother was so loud that Conan was sure that Azusa from Poirot had heard it as well.

He wouldn't have been surprised if Hattori Heiji had also heard from all the way to Osaka.

"You can't be serious, Shinichi! You can't just drop school!"

That had taken him by surprise, yet at the same time, he figured he should have expected such an outcome. At the time, he had just shook his head and burrowed his face back to a book, preferring to pretend he hadn't heard that in the first place.

Which failed terribly, because it wouldn't leave his head just like that.

He had kept in contact with Shinichi, calling each other once in a while, but had yet to say anything about the situation he was in. Conan figured that wasn't going to happen anytime soon.

Speaking of which, his birthday is in a little more than month, he noted. I bet he's going to forget about it, again, this year.

He had no clue, however, what should he get for him. Hell, he didn't even know if he should get him something on the first place, since he didn't even know where he was or if he was planning to visit anytime soon.

The boy stopped for a moment in front of a bookshop, and wondered if his brother would actually enjoy Detective Samonji.

It's still too early, he was about to leave, when a sign caught his attention.

With the purchase of any mystery book you can participate in a contest for this year's Sherlock Holmes Freak's Tour!

... Maybe I should just get this over with...

Kogoro leaned against his seat, feeling slightly annoyed.

"Ah, A Study in Scarlet... That's the historic novel in which Sherlock Holmes makes his first appearance!"

"I personally love The Red-Headed League."

"Me! Me! Me!" the famous detective jumped suddenly when the usually quiet child raised his hand, wearing a grin big enough to split his little face. "Mine's The Sign of Four."

Unlike Kogoro, the rest of the people who were in the van with them were greatly pleased with his statement.

"Oh! That work is world-renowned!"

"You can read kanji?"

Even though he shook his head, his happy expression did not waver. "I read all of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's works in English."

"So you read them in their original language?"

"That's impressive, little boy!"

His unusual, yet in common between the passengers, interest for mystery novels, and his overall high intelligence and cuteness, completely enchanted the group. Kogoro watched, with an eyebrow raised, as he talked and laughed with a bunch of adults that simply seemed to love him.

"Which story is your favourite?" his expression fell when he realized he had been asked a question.

"H-Hmmm... Let's see... How about And Then They Wanted None...?"

It's And Then There Were None, and certainly not a work from Arthur Conan Doyle, Conan grimaced, feeling embarrassed at the fact that he was with him. Can't he even get the name right?

Things went sullen after that, and Kogoro couldn't help but try to shrink away from sight, wishing to simply disappear from that stupid tour. Ran sweatdropped, laughing awkwardly at the situation.

Soon they arrived at the inn, and a man disguised in detective clothes welcomed them inside, before introducing himself as Kanaya. There were another group of people already, waiting for them inside.

To say that Kogoro wasn't feeling as happy as his little charge was an understanding. Specially when the entire group was whispering about him, telling each other about his absolutely embarrassing display of ignorance about Doyle's work.

"This man is not just anyone," Kanaya tried to calm them down. "He's a famous detective whose work is on par with Holmes'."

"Mouri Kogoro-san, right? I know who he is," the one with glasses, Toganou Kento, said, unimpressed. "You're very good, but you're nothing in comparison to Sherlock Holmes."

"I agree," his girlfriend, Ooki Ayako, nodded. "If you were to actually match wits with him, he'd hang you out to dry."

"... Who do these guys think they are...?!" Kogoro growled, irritated.

"Technically, they are right," Conan replied, without giving much thought.

Which probed to be a very unwise move when he received a blow in the middle of his head, causing Ran to worry and begin to fuss over him.

"Conan-kun!"

"... Conan?!"

The next thing Ran knew was that she was pushed away from her spot, and that Conan was suddenly surrounded by a group of Holmes' fanatics with big smiles on his face.

"Your name is Conan?"

"Is that true?"

Seemingly not liking that sudden attention, the child blushed a bit, but gave out a insecure nod. "My brother was a fan of Holmes even before I was born, so..."

Sometimes, he blamed Shinichi for choosing such a weird and unusual name for him, and wished he had gotten another, simpler one. While he loved those mystery novels, he believed that the the attention and the weird glances he received every time his name was said was not worth it.

Yet, another more logical part of his mind told him that it was not right to blame him. Shinichi had been only ten at the time, and it was his parents who should've known better than to let him name his newborn brother.

But I am younger than he was back then, he sighed, mentally. Even I know not to screw someone's life with a name.

"It's a wonderful name!" they all shouted.

Conan blinked a bit then let his shoulders drop. Of course these people would love a name like that. In spite himself, however, he found himself smiling a bit at their appreciation.

Ran also smiled, genuinely relieved to see the mature boy acting like the child he was supposed to be. She was glad Conan had dragged them to that place, even if her father wasn't.

Yet, at the sight of that innocent, childish smile she couldn't help but be reminded of someone else. Someone she longed to see again.

"He's just like him," she commented more to herself than to anyone else.

"Who?" her father was confused.

"You know, him," she stressed out. "The sly, show-off deductive maniac, Holmes freak who sings off-"

"Although he sings off-key he's a great soccer player..." Conan looked away from the group at the sound of a new voice that was speaking in kansai dialect. "... and he beat me in the last case and ran off somewhere. You mean Kudo Shinichi, right?"

Honestly, Conan couldn't decide whether he felt amazed at the amount of information he had about his brother or utterly creeped out because he knew that much in the first place.

"Hattori-kun!" Ran was stunned. "Are you a Holmes fan too?"

"No, no," he waved his hand. "I figured that if I came to this tour, I'd be able to run into Kudo."

Congratulations, Oniichan, you have your first fanboy, the child thought sarcastically. And he looks like the stalker type.

"Besides, I prefer Ellery Queen to Conan Doyle-" several angry glares made the teen freeze for a moment. "-but I guess Doyle is still the best."

Only when the glares vanished, replaced by pleased smiles, did the teenager breathe again. Conan wanted to laugh at him, but Kanaya spoke up, and began to present their time table.

"After dinner, as it has become customary every year, everyone will take a challenging deductive reasoning quiz," the maid came forward, with a thick book that picked Conan's interest. "And if you get a perfect score on this quiz, believe or not, I will award this first edition of the book A Study in Scarlet, which introduced Sherlock Holmes into this world."

It wouldn't be for free, however. He explained that they were only allowed to participate in the next event if they got at least nine hundred and ninety correct questions out of a one-thousand Sherlock Holmes' quiz.

By morning, the child could say that he had aced the quiz. He believed he had gotten almost all questions right ─ except, probably, for one concerning the Dancing Men that was downright impossible ─ and excitedly waited for the owner of the pension to grade it.

He never showed up, however. Yet, he waited alongside a few others that actually decided to stay.

It was later than three in the morning when he finally appeared, sitting in a car and driving off a cliff. Heiji and Conan were the first ones to react, jumping off the window and running towards him, but the car sped up.

A blanket covering the dashboard. A weird sound that definitely wasn't the engine. Those were the only things the young boy noticed before the car fell, exploding into pieces when it hit the ground.

Once they were all together, Kogoro claimed it was a suicide. Thankfully, however, they were surrounded by Holmes' fans, so everyone else agreed that it had been a murder.

What was that, anyway? That weird noise, Conan dropped onto his knees and started inspecting the tire marks. It could be the air conditioning, but it's completely dry. Then, what-?

He was brought out from his thoughts when he felt pain on his head, and soon realized he had bumped his head against Heiji's. He was about to loudly complain about that brat getting in the way, when he realized.

That had actually happened before.

Conan felt a bit uncomfortable under the teenage detective's gaze, but said nothing. He had absolutely no idea of what was going through his mind.

Not long thereafter, Ayako claimed to know the true culprit with an arrogant smile on her face, only to say she had been mistaken a few minutes later.

She would stop breathing not long thereafter, burnt to death inside a car.

There was a blackout and Fujisawa was attacked with an ice pick, and would have gotten killed if Heiji hadn't pushed him away from harm as fast as he did. When the lights turned back on, they noticed the window had been smashed.

Kogoro and everyone else, except for the detective of the west and Conan, believed the owner wasn't actually dead and was killing people off.

"Damn it, why did the owner come after me?" Fujisawa groaned, as he cradled his injured arm. "And to think I helped him publish his book."

"Book?" Kogoro was confused.

"It's a Sherlock Holmes book he published at his own expense. The title was The Scorn of Irene Adler."

The kid could've sworn he saw a very intense, angry, look pass by Togano's face before it went away, almost as if it hadn't been there in the first place.

Conan pondered about that single, apparently trivial, piece of information while Kogoro stepped closer to the broken window, seemingly ready to chase whatever criminal hanging around outside, when Heiji stopped him.

"Take a good look at the chair," he pointed out. "It's oddly positioned because it's been squeezed into a small space. This is proof that the culprit hurriedly pushed it in after breaking the window."

"Oh, he's right!" Conan exclaimed, eyes big and curious, as he kneeled closer to the chair. "There are glass fragments embedded in it! The culprit must have used this chair."

Conan failed to notice, however, the way the teenage detective's eyes narrowed, fixed on his small form. He then turned back to Kogoro, and his mind focused again on the case.

As it turned out, the blackout had been planned beforehand, as the plug had been tampered with so it would cause a short circuit when plugged in. Mouri was quick to accuse Kawatsu, since he was the only one without an alibi.

"You're right about that much," Heiji nodded, after the older detective had finished talking. "But something doesn't seem to fit. Right, kid?"

Conan nodded, absentmindedly.

"Unlike the first and second cases, when Fujisawa-san was attacked, the culprit was careless and left clues," his hand went to his chin as he thought out loud. "It could be that he had not originally planned for the third case."

It was only at that moment that he realized that everyone was staring into his soul, confused. He tried to laugh it off, awkwardly, while Ran came closer and apologized.

"He likes to play detective," she said.

That's not just playing detective, that's full-fledged deductive reasoning, Heiji's suspicions were brought out to light once more, not letting his eyes stray away from the mysterious child. His body and voice are completely different, but it's as if he was Kudo, his eyes opened, widely. Last time I saw Kudo, the kid wasn't around... Could he...?

A chill ran down Conan's back suddenly, leaving him shivering. Slowly, he turned around to see the Detective of the West staring at him, with such an analytical gaze that left the child confused and lost. What's wrong with that guy? he wondered, raising an eyebrow at him and turning around, doing his best to ignore the teen.

Heiji only looked away from him when he started to explain rigor mortis to the group, and the child sighed, relieved, when he felt the detective's attention momentarily drifting away from him.

Yet the irritation he felt about the fact that this case was going nowhere ─ Kogoro had just accused Toda, claiming that she had hypnotized the victim into committing suicide ─ was surpassing his ephemeral relief. So, he decided to take a risk.

And walked closer to Heiji.

"Hey, hey," his sugar coated voice ran through the teen's ears. "What happens to the body's rigor mortis if the temperature is raised? If that's the case, it's easy to solve, right?"

The boy looked at the child for a moment, before shrugging. "I'm stupid, so I have no idea what you're talking about."

His smile faltered, and his eyebrow twitched in irritation. "You do know," knowing that his innocent child act would get him nowhere with that guy, he accused him. "Aren't you supposed to be, like, a very famous detective?"

Well, Kogoro was famous too yet he didn't seem to realize the trick, but he guessed it didn't count...

"So, do you know, kid?" Heiji smirked at him.

Conan glared at him for a moment, before sighing heavily and starting to walk away, prompting Hattori to give him a curious look.

"Whatever, I'm going to the toilet."

"Then I'm going, too."

"Umm, never heard of privacy?"

"We don't know who the killer is, so you never know when the he is going to strike next, do you?"

"You do."

"And it seems like you do as well, right?"

Conan gave Heiji a very annoyed look. "I'm going to tell Ran-neechan that you're bothering me," he said, with a plain voice.

"And why should I be concerned?"

"She knows karate."

A wide-eyed Heiji instantly let go, full aware of the implications of that simple fact, causing the kid to stuck his tongue at him, in a very childish way, and taking off running.

Once he made sure that the hallways were Heiji-free, he started looking for that door.

The owner's room wasn't hard to find. It wasn't locked, either, since they had forced it open a few hours ago to check for clues they didn't find. Yet, he did manage to find the decisive piece of evidence.

He smirked a bit, as he took the papers on his hands and went back to the room. By that time Heiji had already began his deduction, and judging the horror on Togano's face, he had figured out the killer correctly.

"If that's the case, then show me your proof," the man said, with a smirk on his face. "If you are so sure, you must have some kind of proof, right?"

"Ah-le-le? This is weird," the eyes fell on Conan, who was standing next to Heiji, looking at the papers on his hands, an innocent expression on his features. "This is yours, right, Mister? You forgot to put your name on it."

The man flinched. "No, it's not."

"How can be you sure about that?" the child then smiled sweetly. "Why don't you check it out?"

"But, little boy, a nameless quiz could belong to anyone-"

"Question one: is Holmes right-handed or left handed?"

"What are you doing?"

"I'm just checking your answers. That way we can know if it's yours, right?" the boy replied, a sugary tone on his voice. "Then, question two: what is Dr. Watson's wife's name?"

"That isn't necessary, kid. The owner won't grade them so..."

"Just answer," Heiji's glare shut the suspect up, instantly.

"Well... How about..." the young boy hummed to himself as he went through the pages. "Ah! This one will do. Question two hundred and forty-one: what was the content of the message Holmes wrote using the Dancing Men?"

"Ah, that question. I remember it well," cold sweat was collecting on his brow. "The answer was: 'Come here at once!'"

The way the child smiled, devilishly, made the man falter. He didn't realize where he had messed up, until he heard the others whispering with each other. There was no such a question at all.

"Sorry, I read it wrong, but isn't it strange you would forget that question in particular? It was really hard!" the child continued. "And here I was worried that you couldn't answer a single question, considering you are a big fan of Holmes-san, but it turns out you didn't even look at it. That's a relief!"

"W-Wait..."

"But to think that you knew it would be pointless to do the quiz before anyone else... You are amazing, Togano-san! Just like Holmes-san!"

Realizing his error, the suspect went as white as the papers on Conan's hand. The Detective of the West stepped up, sharp eyes looking at him as he finished his deduction.

Togano then confessed killing the owner and trying to murder Fujisawa, all because he despised the book they wrote together, The Scorn of Irene Adler. He said that Irene would never mock Sherlock.

I don't think I will ever understand what could cause a human kill another, Conan thought, contemplating the killer, who had fallen into his knees, crying his eyes off. Yet, killing someone because of a badly written fanfiction?

Technically, it wasn't fanfiction, his mind supplied, but he shrugged it off, and looked up at Heiji, who had just turned around. His sharp eyes met with his and it made the child wonder what was all of that about.

At least, until Hattori spoke.

"You're Kudo, right?"

Conan froze for a moment, eyes wide as he wondered. How did he figure it out? he thought about anything that could've given his real identity away, but he couldn't find anything. How did he figure out that my last name is not Edogawa?!

Luckily, everyone's attention was focused on the killer.

"W-What are you talking about?" he panicked a bit because, even if his parents wouldn't tell him, there must be another important reason behind having his name changed, more than the unwanted fame. "My name is Edogawa Conan. Edogawa."

Heiji kneeled in front of him, so he could stare into his eyes at his level.

"Stop playing games!" he accused, pressing his index finger against his tiny chest. "Your body is small and your voice is different, but your way of reasoning and expressing yourself are unmistakably that of Kudo Shinichi!"

... Excuse me?

Blinking twice, Conan's shoulders dropped and all the tension he had been feeling before disappeared with that single sentence. Heiji noticed the change, which only puzzled him, and stared into those eyes that used to be scared and surprised.

The child just gave him a plain, bored look, as if he wondered whether the Detective of the West was serious or merely joking around.

"Seriously, what are you even talking about?" the cute little kid act was completely gone at this point. "In case you didn't notice, I am a kid."

"Oh, I see," he said, unconvinced. Then stood up, turning to Ran with a big smile on his face. "Hey, listen. I've got a real interesting story. You know what?"

Conan was startled when he felt hands sliding under his armpits and his feet leaving the ground. Suddenly was face to face to a blinking Ran.

Hey, hey, he can't be serious, can he?

"You said you didn't know where Kudo is, right?" that sentence was enough for Conan to realize that, yes, he was serious about this. "I bet you're dying to know where he is. Do you want to know?"

"Sure, I'm curious, but..." she glanced at the sweatdropping child for a moment, before turning back to the detective. "What does Conan-kun have to do with it?"

Heiji smirked and Conan calmly waited for it.

"Because that Kudo Shinichi..." he raised him higher and closer to the clueless girl, his smile widening, if possible. "... is right here!"

...

...

...

The silence was deafening.

Heiji blinked. He had expected the girl to be shocked, but this was different. So much different than any reaction he had seen after telling someone a shocking and awesome deduction. Ran's eyebrows were brought together and her lips were twitching upwards, an awkward smile adorning her features.

She had even taken a step back.

"Don't joke like that, Hattori-kun," Ran let out a strangled laugh.

"I'm not joking! This kid is Kudo!" he tried to make her see reason, yet only managed to get her to take another step away from him. "Can't you see it? Kudo must have shrunk or something!"

Then, in a desperate attempt to convince the girl, he looked back at Conan. He was about to point out how distressed he looked, definitely after getting discovered, but he found something completely different.

There was not reaction at all from the little boy, besides the way his left eyebrow raised far above his hairline.

It was at that moment that the teenage detective realized there might actually be a tiny little flaw in his deduction.

A/N:

Gamelover41592: Sonoko will eventually appear, but it might take a while for her to properly show up.

SapphireRuby24: It would be really funny if she did, lol. Still, I don't think it would make sense considering Ran has known Conan ever since he was born... I hope you liked this anyway!