File Sixty-Six: The Sister That Never Came Back

Conan felt relief washing over him the moment the doctor waved them goodbye and Ran closed the door behind them.

"Now, it wasn't that bad, was it, Conan-kun?" the girl smiled down at him.

He huffed, annoyed, causing her to giggle due to her amusement.

When Araide had heard everything that had happened to him the time Conan went to pick the kitten up for Haibara, he had been a tad worried. But when he had been told by Ran that the boy had passed out and hadn't woken up until roughly fifteen minutes later, Araide had instantly rushed to check on him, stating that staying out for so long was absolutely not normal.

Since he hadn't found anything wrong, and the kid kept insisting he was okay, he had been forced to let go. Not without telling Ran that it would be advisable to have another doctor see him first thing in the morning, just to be on the safe side.

Conan had been very vocal when letting her know that he didn't want to go and that he was fine.

Which wasn't a lie, yet he couldn't just tell everyone he had been sedated with his own tranquilizer dart... That would be hard to explain ─ not to say, highly embarrassing.

Anyway, the doctor had assured them he was perfectly fine ─ obviously ─ so he figured things would be okay for the moment.

"A brat will always be a brat," groaned Sonoko. "Making so much of a fuss for nothing..."

Sonoko was with them as well, much in her ─ and his ─ displeasure. She had been supposed to hang out with Ran that day, but her friend had declined it in order to take Conan to a doctor ─ her father would be out the entire day, so he wouldn't be able to do it instead.

So, in order not to disappoint her any further, Ran had suggested going to go do something fun after, and Sonoko had accepted, even if she didn't particularly enjoy the kid's company ─ a feeling that was mutual, in fact.

It was getting close to midday and they were getting hungry, therefore Ran suggested that they could go to a good hamburger shop that had opened nearby.

"Well," Sonoko suddenly said. "Why not invite him to come along?"

"Who?"

"That clumsy boy over there."

To say that Conan was beyond shocked at the sight of Hondou Eisuke there, photo in hand, frantically asking a poor doctor about something was the understatement of the year.

... Though, to say that Conan was absolutely not surprised at the sight of him backing up upon seeing them there, colliding with an unlucky fellow in a wheelchair might as well be the understatement of the century.

"Why are you two here?" Eisuke asked when they rushed to him, asking him if he was okay.

"... It's a bit of a long story," laughed Ran nervously.

Long story indeed ─ Conan still couldn't get around the idea of that much happening in a single plane trip, but it made him wonder if he had gathered even more bad luck by sticking close with this guy.

Hesitantly ─ as if he would be struck by lightning, again, if he so much stood near to him ─ he moved closer to the group. At that moment, he noticed the photograph Eisuke had been holding before, and frowned slightly at the person in there.

It was a younger Mizunashi Rena, smiling at the camera.

As I feared, this guy figured out she might have been taken to a hospital, he continued staring at it. And now, he's looking for her.

A hand crossed his line of view ─ Sonoko was picking the picture up. "Isn't this Mizunashi Rena?" the Suzuki heiress blinked, and Ran nodded, questioning the same thing as well.

"Ah, no, actually..." Eisuke got up from the floor instantly. "That's my sister."

Conan's eyes darted to the boy, instantly.

"Your sister?" Ran was surprised.

"No way!" and Sonoko couldn't believe it. "You're that announcer's brother?!"

"N-No. Even though they look alike, they're different people. Their names are different, too."

Apparently, she had left home ten years ago and he hadn't heard from her ever since. Because she had always wanted to be a nurse, Eisuke had latched in that only clue and had started looking for her in hospitals.

"Also, my sister saved me many times in hospitals. No matter what, I'll never forget."

"Saved you?" Ran asked.

"When I was young, besides being clumsy I was sick a lot. Every time, my sister would carry me to the hospital," there was a soft smile on his face as he reminisced those easier, happier days. "Whenever I was bleeding from my injuries, she would say 'God gave you this blood type that you can share with anyone, so treasure it always'. But in the end, it was my sister who always gave me her blood."

Eisuke then told them he had been involved in an accident, and that she had given him a lot of her blood. "Every time my heart beats I can feel it," gently, he placed a hand on his own chest. "My sister's kindness."

That had been the last time he had seen her. After he had been discharged, she had disappeared without a trace.

"I don't know why she left. But with all my heart, I want to see her again and thank her. She's the reason I'm still alive."

His desire to see her sister once again sounded genuine in the child's ears. Far too sincere, too pure for him to say a word, to question him further, to do anything else but to stare at him, a thoughtful look behind his glasses.

"But you know, that's just like us," mistaking the startled look he gave her, after being pulled off his thoughts so violently, as confusion, she continued. "Remember, I gave you a lot of my blood that one time."

More than once, he realized upon remembering that his mother had said she had donated her blood when he was shot the first time, when his brother had been injured thus rendered unable to do so.

Ran smiled. "Can you feel my kindness?"

He gave him a jerky nod, not quite expecting that.

Because he did, actually, smiling a bit to himself once he was out of sight. He might not remember the first time, but he certainly wouldn't forget the sight of her upon waking up the next morning, fast asleep for giving him too much.

Well, his brother had done the best he could, comforting him the best he could at night, even if he wouldn't show his face at the time, even when Conan had chased him through the hospital.

Yeah, he had been desperate to see him one more time. From the moment he had disappeared, he had searched, chasen him, done his best and beyond to know what had happened. To find him.

And when he had nowhere to look, no clue left whatsoever to keep searching...

"It's okay if you want to cry," he remembered Ayumi's sweet voice from that time, that seemed to be an eternity ago, when his friends had asked him if something had happened to Shinichi and he had broken in tears, for the first time.

His mind went back to that time at the bridge, when he had witnessed Eisuke crying. Probably feeling frustrated upon the realization that the case in hand had absolutely nothing to do with Mizunashi Rena.

Now, had Conan said he couldn't draw a parallel between both situations, he would have been blatantly lying.

"But still," Sonoko asked Eisuke. "How can you be so sure Mizunashi Rena and your sister aren't the same person?"

"Well, she just can't be..."

To Conan, everything would have made so much sense if she was actually his sister, but there was a reason Eisuke was so sure. He was certain she wasn't her.

If Mizunashi Rena and Eisuke's sister weren't the same person, all that was left was that Kir had killed her, then undergone plastic surgery so she would resemble her. Why would she do that? his best guess was that it was all related to Eisuke's father and The Company.

... But it wouldn't explain why Rena had cried at the sight of a young little boy, that resembled 'her younger brother.' Unless she was just pretending ─ why would she?

Conan sighed, exhausted, forcing himself to just stop ─ his brain would explode if he kept going over the many, many possibilities.

"What?" said Kogoro in a shocked whisper. "Anno's phone number was changed? That shouldn't be! He just called me for a mahjong earlier."

"But when I called, it wasn't him. Did he say he was moving?"

Kogoro withheld a sigh ─ this was definitely not the time to talk, and why did she want to talk about that crazy Mizunashi Rena's fanboy all of sudden? It made no sense.

"Dad?"

"A-Ah, right. Why don't you go to his mother's house and ask? It's close to where you are," he said, quickly. "I'll send you the address to your phone, I can't talk right now."

Ran paused, confused. "I thought you went to the race rack," she whispered, low enough so nobody but her father would hear. "It's too quiet there. Where are you, Dad?"

"I..." Kogoro sighed. "I'll tell you later, okay?"

"... Be careful," hesitant, she said to him.

Assuring her he would be alright one last time, Kogoro hung up and walked closer to Megure. "How is it going?" he asked the inspector, who was staring intently at the screen of his computer.

"Look at this, Mouri-kun. This man over here."

He leaned closer and what he saw caused his eyes to widen slightly. Kogoro watched a man, dressed all in black, walk towards the counter. The poor worker, assuming he was going to do a check in, looked up, radiant. For some reason, the worker seemed to grow pale, her kind smile dissolving into a terrified expression.

The man passed through, just like that.

"This was caught on camera at the airport where you guys were the other day," the inspector explained. "When questioned about it, that worker kept quiet until she couldn't hold it any longer. She confessed that this man threatened her with a gun under his coat, and said that if she didn't let him through without telling anyone, his men would kill her family."

"But she looked scared just by looking at him."

"That's because she recognized him. He's quite famous," with that, he set aside some files until he found the one he was looking for. Kogoro was met with the sight of a man with a horseshoe mustache and a cold glare looking at the camera. "He's an international-known jewel thief that goes by the name of Jackal."

"Jackal," he repeated, as if in an afterthought. "Not alcohol-related, huh?"

"Huh?" Megure was confused. "What does it have to do with that?"

"The other time I was drinking, it came to me... That the word 'Jin' that the brat mentioned sounded a lot like 'Gin'," Kogoro explained, causing the other man to gasp. "Considering that other person was 'Singani', it would totally fit with the theme..." sighing heavily, Kogoro passed a hand through his hair. "But to have someone called 'Jackal'..."

"Don't need to get ahead of ourselves, Mouri-kun," shaking his head, Megure closed the computer and looked at him in the eye. "We don't even know if Jackal has something to do with that case. Most likely, Conan-kun just ended up as an unlucky hostage that was in the wrong place, at the wrong time."

... That wouldn't be surprising, actually.

Even if that seemed to be the most likely explanation, the Great Detective gazed out the window with a frown deeply carved in his features, unable to understand that weird feeling in his gut that insisted that something simply didn't fit.

The reason why Eisuke had been so adamant of Mizunashi Rena being a different person than her sister came out into the light later that day when talking with Anno, Kogoro's friend and the newscaster's biggest fan ─ after, of course, saving his mother from a case of fraud that Conan certainly had no intention of encountering.

Though he had said that there was absolutely no way the person in Eisuke's photo was other than Rena, he had shown them a video. There they saw the girl in question, looking evidently much younger, covering the news of a big incident that left several injured people behind.

At some point a nurse in the background started shouting, asking if there was someone with AB blood type. Rena left her spot instantly in order to help.

"Actually, back when during the coverage, she injured her arm seriously enough to warrant stitches," Anno commented, a smile plastered all over his face. "She fainted after they drew her blood, and in the end she needed a transfusion herself. It's a cute ending, isn't it?"

If she needed a transfusion, Conan frowned, watching the next video, where Rena was reassuring her viewers that she had recovered completely. That takes the possibility of her lying about her blood type out...

Turning to glance at Eisuke, he noticed he was looking down at his lap, hands curling into fists. He said that his sister had said that his blood was the type 'that can be shared with everyone'. Type O.

The type that he could give to anyone. But even if she lied about it, she couldn't have received a transfusion from an AB type.

Now he could see it ─ Mizunashi Rena and Hondou Eisuke's sister could not be the same.

Also, he could understand that the reason he was so desperate to find her ─ the young boy glanced towards his general direction again and saw he was seething with rage ─ was not because she was his sister, but because she looked exactly like her. He might as well be wondering what they might have done to her...

If this guy somehow finds out where Mizunashi Rena is... He slowly looked away, pretending he didn't see anything. It could turn out badly. Really, really badly.

Mostly because Conan knew how he would have acted, had he been in his spot.

That was why he kept quiet and decided to give Jodie a call later that evening, where he reassured him that they had it all covered. That he wouldn't find her, even if he ended up in that same hospital.

It didn't quite put his mind at rest, though.

"What's this?"

"I feel like a context is what's lacking here..."

"This... This thing you sent to my phone."

"Oh. That's a photograph."

The incredibly frustrated groan from the other side of the line didn't even make the kid bat an eye, as he continued making his way through the halls of his school. He could even imagine him passing a hand through his hair, visually exasperated just by having to deal with his younger brother.

Well, Conan would be lying if he said he wouldn't enjoy messing with his brother from time to time ─ the way his lips tugged upwards, slightly, was proof enough of that.

"Hondou Eisuke, Ran-neechan's new classmate," he briefly waved at his group of friends while getting inside his class. "They get along pretty well."

"Why is that guy...?"

"Naked? Only his shirt was missing, though, even if you can't see it in that photo," Conan set his backpack on top of his desk. "He was soaked to the bone, so he went to change."

"And why are you showing this to me?"

"Well, when the butler said that Ran-neechan and that guy were heading to the bathroom together, Occhan's face acquired a very scary expression," he stated, shrugging. "I don't know why he was like that, but I secretly snatched a photo, hoping you would have the same reaction."

Shinichi was silent for a moment, until he chuckled for some reason. Conan blinked, unable to see what he had found so funny, yet annoyed at his reaction anyway.

"Do you seriously not understand why Occhan was mad?"

"... Should I really try to understand how his mind works?"

He laughed again. "Sometimes I forget you're just a kid."

From a distance away, Haibara focused her attention away from the daily talk about Kamen Yaiba her friends were having just so she could take a brief glance at the boy, partly amused, partly confused at the sight of him plopping down in his seat with a childish pout on his face ─ she highly doubted he had noticed it himself.

With a shug and an amused smile, she looked back at Ayumi, as she gushed about something she had no idea about.

"You didn't answer my question, though," said Shinichi, after deciding he had teased his brother long enough. "Why send that to me?"

"Just giving you an incentive."

"Huh?"

"Frankly speaking, I'd rather see Ran-neechan dating you than that guy."

"Huh?!"

"Seriously, she could even get harmed if she hangs around him that much."

"Oh, is it because he has terrible luck?" he questioned, causing Conan to give the phone an odd look. "Well, I wouldn't say we, you and I, are particularly lucky either."

The little boy seemed shocked into silence about something, causing the older detective to pause. "Conan, is everything-?"

"How did you know?" then, the kid finally asked. "How did you know he has terrible luck?"

"Well, for starters, Ran told me about him over the phone," Conan's shoulders dropped at that answer, wondering why he hadn't thought of that before. "Besides, that scar on his chest..."

"Scar?"

"Yeah, looks like he got multiple needle injections. Must have been in the hospital a lot."

Before he could be surprised at the fact he had overlooked, he heard something on the other side that caused him to pause, blinking owlishly back at the phone and frowning a little when Shinichi inhaled sharply, whatever the reason.

"Was that the sound of a bell?" quietly, the sharp child asked.

"... Yes?"

"... Are you close to a school?"

"A-Ah, yeah," he sounded incredibly nervous. "Can't talk right now, I'll call you back."

The call was finished right after that, abruptly so, causing the young boy to stare at the screen of his phone for a minute more than strictly necessary, eyes narrowing behind thick glasses. He really sounded like he would be late... for school? Is he attending school?

... For real?

He couldn't, for the life of him, figure out why would someone in hiding actually be doing something as mundane as actually attending school. Having finished middle school already, Shinichi had graduated from compulsory education.

What is he thinking, seriously?

"So," he was brought out his thoughts by the strawberry blonde taking the seat right next to him. "How did it go?"

"What?"

"You know," she rolled her eyes. "Are Mizunashi Rena and that Hondou Eisuke actually related?"

"They have different blood types," he stated even if he sounded a tad unsure about his own thoughts. "We confirmed it yesterday when we looked at his child health records."

"Then they are not siblings?"

"... Probably not."

"Probably?"

Before she could ask anything else, their teacher came inside the classroom, causing their conversation to come into a halt. His doubts, however, wouldn't stop roaming, dancing along his thoughts until the moment he arrived back home after a long day of school.

He had a bad feeling, a very bad feeling indeed.

And it only got more prominent, as he arrived at the agency. He was welcomed with Okino Yoko's soft singing voice from Kogoro's TV, who barely said anything, eyes still fixed on the screen.

"Yoko-chan's singing voice is like little birds chirping," the older man said to himself, smiling widely.

As if it was a signal, the crows that sat on the windowsill started squeaking, as if singing along with Yoko's sweet voice. That really gives out a bad feeling, he shivered a bit, plopping down on the sofa. There, he took out his phone and immediately he searched for the photo that he had sent to his brother.

Indeed, there was a scar. He wondered what that meant.

"Oh, Conan!" Agasa was greatly surprised to see the spectacled boy standing in his doorway. "Is something wrong?"

"Hey, hey," Conan sighed, as he made his way inside the house. "You make it sound as if I only come here when something is wrong..."

"Which is true," he almost flinched at the female voice coming from behind the professor. "Especially considering you're here, alone, without the company of Ayumi-chan and the others."

His expression dulled upon fixing his gaze on the girl. "Hello to you as well, Ai-san," he pronounced, sarcastically, before he focused on the small cat she was holding in her arms.

Far too fixated in the animal, he completely missed the dumbfounded look Agasa gave him. When did he start calling Ai-kun...? he blinked twice, or maybe thrice, the old man wasn't completely sure.

With a small smile, he stretched his hand to caress the kitten's head, but found himself touching the air. "What's that about?" he didn't need to know the reason why Ai had just moved the small creature away from him to be annoyed.

"I'm not letting you put your nasty hands on Irene-chan. I just groomed her."

Conan stared, blankly. "You named her Irene," it wasn't a question.

"Do you have a problem with that?"

"Oh, I don't know... Maybe the fact that names taken from any literary work were not allowed?"

"Were not allowed for you to suggest."

Hey, hey...

"Besides, there's a beauty in that name," she looked at the cat and smiled gently. "Irene Adler, the only woman that has ever bested that extremely intelligent, but also incredibly arrogant detective-jerk. It's perfect," she then nuzzled against the kitten. "Right, Irene-chan?"

As the scientist cuddled with the cat, who mewed happily at the attention she was receiving, Conan couldn't help but stare at the unusually cutesy girly way the strawberry blonde was acting.

Her eyes fell on him, plain and bored all at once, and he couldn't help but flinch. "What are you looking at?"

"A-Ah," he was visually flustered, making the scientist raise an eyebrow. "I didn't expect you to act like a..."

"What?"

"You know... A girl."

Her eyebrow rose, her look clearing stating something along the lines of 'do I look like a boy to you?'.

"A-Anyway," so, the boy hurried to speak before she could say anything in return. "I need to make a call, I'll explain later."

"Is..." came the professor's voice, hesitant. "... this about Hondou Eisuke?"

Conan turned to look at the professor, frowning, with all seriousness that was so much different than a few minutes ago. "Ran-neechan said he hasn't been showing for school," he explained to them. "She said he had found a member of his father's company at Haido Central Hospital."

The professor gasped and Haibara's eyes narrowed in understanding, so he took it as a sign that he had gotten his point across. Without any further ado, he pulled his phone out and made a call.

Not that long thereafter Jodie had arrived and confirmed that, indeed, his father, Ethan Hondou, had been a spy for the CIA who came to Japan, got married, and went into hiding. What he was looking for, however, seemed to be confidential. Despite this, they had a clear idea of what it could be.

So, Conan had been sure that Eisuke was safe, and that due to his father's request he had been protected by the CIA, therefore causing his sudden disappearance. "Unfortunately, that's not the case," but Jodie had spoken up when he suggested it. "That boy's father, Ethan Hondou, died four years ago."

Apparently, a homeless person had seen it happening. Mizunashi Rena had been crouching next to his collapsed body and other two men were entering ─ by their description alone, Conan could safely assume they were Gin and Vodka ─ and she had explained how he had killed him ─ bit into his wrist, stole his gun and fired.

Frankly speaking Conan didn't know how he had gotten Jodie to let him come along, but he had convinced her with the excuse that many CIA members would be there and that he could be useful since they didn't know his face ─ complete with an innocent smile.

But it was when they were on their way to the hospital that he had realized that Eisuke couldn't have known his father's partners, since he didn't go with him at that Okonomiyaki place. He didn't see anyone... Then what was that clue...?

"What is it?" Jodie asked, concerned, when he noticed him frowning, deep in thought.

Wordlessly, he dialed Ran's number and asked her about it. She said that he had found someone punching in his father's business colleague's mail address, and when he had asked how he knew that, his blood had gone cold at the answer.

"The push tones closely resembled a melody... A children's song."

"... A children song...?" Conan said, his voice barely above a whisper. "Say, Ran-neechan... Could that song be, by any chance... Nanatsu no Ko?"

There was a moment where Ran had gone silent as well. "Conan-kun," then, with a very accusing tone, she added. "How did you know that?"

"... Will stay the night at the Professor's. See you."

"Co-!"

She didn't get to finish that sentence before he hung up on her. Jodie's frown deepened, taking in the pale expression of the child sitting beside her, as he let his hand fall into his lap, phone in hand. Slowly, he turned around to face her and pronounced one single sentence:

"They are in that hospital."

After talking with the nurse that Eisuke had asked about Rena, they found out that someone ─ who she hadn't been able to see because she had dropped her contacts ─ had asked her the same exact thing, and were able to reduce the suspects down to those that had been hospitalized in the four days between the 18th and 21th of April.

"What's left to concern us is the whereabouts of that Eisuke boy," Jodie then said.

Conan simply hummed. I thought I would find him here, desperately looking for her in these hallways, while deeply in thought, the boy sat on top of the empty bed of the hospital room they had borrowed so they could talk this over. But if he isn't there, what is he doing? He doesn't seem to have found her yet.

Though, it will be a matter of time until...

Upon the feeling of being watched, the child blinked, jerked off his own mind, to glance curiously. Sure enough, he met with a pair of very dangerous eyes, settled on his being for a moment more than necessarily. Not even caring that he had been caught staring, Akai Shuichi's eyes narrowed slightly before closing.

That guy is still as scary as ever, Conan shifted uncomfortably. Even though he was now aware that he wasn't a member of the Organization, but the FBI's, that was out to kill them all, he couldn't help but feel a bit wary. He hadn't gotten used to him being an ally yet.

He couldn't get over the impression that he was related to them, some way or another.

"Well, as an FBI agent, I say it's more convenient if he stays gone," he said, after a while. "Having the son of a NOC hanging about would present various obstacles."

For some reason, that made Conan to perk up. "NOC?" he wondered, outloud.

"Non-official cover, NOC for short," explained Jodie, patiently. "It's used for secret agents that appear as civilians and infiltrate other countries for assignments," the agent then smiled at the child. "You know many things, could this be your first time hearing it?"

"No, I have, but... That word... It bothers me a little."

For the second time today, Akai seemed to study the young boy before shrugging. "If that boy is getting close enough to know their boss' email address..." his eyes narrowed slightly, upon making contact with the kid's big ones. "... those guys have no reason to leave him alone."

Conan broke eye contact, his gaze falling on his lap, as if contemplating his words.

"You might say," Akai turned around, facing the door. "You shouldn't even bother about the survival of that NOC's son-"

"Of course I should."

Not quite expecting that kind of reply, the man spun back around only to meet with a pair of unfaltering blue eyes staring back at him. "It's a life we're talking about," the young boy frowned deeply, his gaze becoming so intense all of sudden that Akai thought it could pierce right through him. "We can't just stand back and relax when someone out there could be dying... It's..." he paused, then added as if an afterthought. "It's not right."

Akai didn't say anything, just contemplated the child in front of him.

Even though it obviously made him uncomfortable, he still held his gaze. That gaze that would make everyone cower, to stand back because it felt like they were in danger... This young boy held it with a fierce, determined one of his own, not looking away even once.

In fact it was Akai who broke eye-contact, turning back around with a snicker before leaving the room.

At that response, Conan felt his eyebrow twitching. Jodie, who had been watching their interaction all along, could only laugh ─ then apologize due to the angry glare the kid had just given her.

"Hey, Kir. You aren't..."

Knock, knock.

"... this, right?"

Conan frowned, still immersed in his own thoughts, as he stepped out the washroom and closed the door behind his back.

Back then, did Vermouth suspect something was off? he couldn't help but wonder. Mizunashi Rena... was she a NOC?

No, it doesn't make any sense. She wouldn't have pretended to be the daughter of a CIA agent otherwise... While walking through the halls, he placed a hand under his chin. And even if she was, she wouldn't have killed her father.

... Unless she didn't, and was all fake.

Shaking his head from side to side, Conan forced the ridiculous idea out of his mind. She's an AB type, Hondou Eisuke an O type, he reasoned. Since the story of the blood transfusion seems to be true, there's absolutely no way Mizunashi Rena is her.

"Boy!" he stopped in his tracks, however, at the sight of the nurse from before heading his way. "I finally found what you were looking for!"

"Did you remember something about that man?" Conan was curious.

"No, no. I remembered something about the boy with the round glasses. His name is Eisuke, isn't it?"

"... Y-Yeah."

"I knew it! He's the boy who had surgery that time!"

"Ah," he let his shoulders drop, disillusioned at the certainly not new, useless piece of information. "He did get into a bad accident..."

The nurse shook her head, which caused Conan to stare back at her, curiously. "That boy, Eisuke-kun... had leukemia."

That stole a startled gasp out of him, wide eyes fixed on the nurse that continued talking, yet not quite listening to any of that, not seeing anything.

"Yeah, looks like he got multiple needle injections. Must have been in the hospital a lot."

Because just then, all pieces from the puzzle he had been trying to solve for so long clicked into place.

Even if the director had confirmed for them that Mizunashi Rena was still in a comatose state, Conan couldn't be entirely convinced. All he had done was to stimulate a pain response by pressing on her toe ─ which, admittedly, would have done the trick, had she been an ordinary person.

But then he would remember that Ai had told him a long time ago that Gin had trained her in, among other things, pain tolerance so not to let any secret out in case of torture ─ Conan, to this day, would still grimace at the thought.

So, a member of the Organization trained in such a thing wouldn't be that much of an implausible idea.

"Well, then," Conan decided to speak up. He needed to test his theory. "Why not try the good idea I've come up with?"

"Eh?" Jodie and James blinked.

"I'll tell everyone about it after we leave here and go to another room," he rushed to the door. "If two foreigners and someone with such a mean look in his eyes were seen leaving this room at the same time... That would be memorable and rumors would spread."

More than offended, the 'mean-eyed guy' seemed amused instead. Without a word, he left the room, followed by Jodie and James.

"You too," the kid turned to the agent on the lookout.

"Eh, me?"

Conan raised an eyebrow. "Unless Mizunashi Rena-san suddenly awakens from her coma so she can walk out this room with me..." he questioned, hands on his pockets. "... you better come."

"Y-Yes."

Somewhat shaken at the sudden change of demeanor that child had, the agent made his way out and Conan closed the door behind him. "Oh!" not even taking three steps away, he went back into Rena's room. "I forgot something!"

Curious about his actions, Akai observed the boy, who opened the door just a bit, so he could peak through. His innocent smile had long vanished, replaced by a very sharp look behind his thick glasses.

"Well?" Jodie asked. "Did you find it?"

"Ah, no," he laughed nervously. "I was wrong, sorry!"

The ex-English teacher merely blinked, confused about this little boy's actions, and watched him walk towards the agent that was on lookout, standing right in front of him. The child's face went blank all of sudden.

"What are you doing here?" with a plain voice, the kid asked.

"Eh?"

"If that announcer lady woke up suddenly, it would be really bad," he crossed his arms in front of his chest. "Really, you're an FBI agent and you don't know that?"

"... But-"

"Just go."

"Y-Yes."

While the other two watched the agent that had just been bullied into going back to his post by an eight year-old ─ having left it in the first place because of the same child ─ Akai couldn't let his gaze stray away from the young boy.

Before long, he let a smirk make an appearance on his features.

Interesting.

"Eh? You will question the three of them yourself? Alone?"

Nodding at the ex-English teacher, Conan continued explaining. "Well, I can't let them know the FBI is here, can I?" he smiled. "And I'm a child. Most people would lower their guard so I figured we could use that to our advantage."

"It's true they probably won't realize you're such a clever boy," James conceded. "But we can't rely on just your judgment to decide which one is their colleague."

"Never said that. I'll just question them, you draw out your conclusions," he motioned to his jacket. "If we hide a camera here, it would be just like you were there the entire time, right?"

They seemed to consider it, as they looked at each other.

"As much as I'd love to receive directions from you, it would be bad to have any radio waves interfering with the medical equipment."

Not to say he preferred to question them their own way. He had quite a few unconventional, and potentially embarrassing, ideas of how to discover their identity without them being none the wiser about it.

"Hey, boy," Akai broke the silence that had followed thereafter. "Are you truly ready? If you do this, whether you like it or not, your face will become known to them as a dog that helped the FBI."

The childish grin turned into a more subtle, but more genuine, one.

"Afterwards, don't think the resulting sparks will stop at you."

Shrugging, the child placed his hands inside his pockets. "That won't happen," he stated, with outstanding certainty. "I believe in you all," he turned to give the rest of the shocked FBI agents a look. "You're the FBI," then, he smirked. "You'll do your absolute best to capture the bad guy and never let him go, right?"

For a moment, nobody said anything, just stared at the young little boy that was risking so much, but that also was trusting them with his life.

"We'll do it," then James Black stepped up. "We won't let anyone harm you, Conan-kun."

The same boyish smile came back upon hearing that answer.

"We have a deal then."

"Ready? If you're caught-"

"-I should shout and Sensei will come rescue me," he completed easily, checking on the camera attached to the collar of his jacket. "I understood that the first ten times, Jodie-sensei."

Jodie sighed, heavily, looking hesitant to bring a child into FBI business, yet understanding that his collaboration was absolutely necessary. "Listen, Conan-kun-"

"Oh? Aren't you that kid from Mouri's place?" everyone in sight jumped at the external voice.

Instantly the kid turned around, blinking at the unknown teenager standing right in front of him, forehead bandaged and everything, wondering where he had seen that person before.

"Wow, now that I look at you, Tashiro and Hidaka were right, you are like a mini Kudo!"

That was when he realized he had seen him, briefly, when he had tried to investigate the hauntings in Teitan High School ─ if he wasn't mistaken, he was Ran's classmate, which would mean that he was also Shinichi's classmate.

"Hey, you know them?"

A look towards the spot he was pointing at made the kid sigh, a blank expression taking over his face as he looked at the FBI agents he had come with, huddling together around the corner.

... Are they really secret agents of the FBI?

"N-No, I don't!" he hoped it sounded more convincing to that guy than how it did in his ears. "I came to visit a friend. I just asked them because I got lost," he laughed nervously, then added before a question could be asked. "What happened to your head?"

"Ah, this? I hit my head during club practice and fainted."

... How exactly do you do that? Conan wasn't impressed.

"I see," the child looked from side to side. "By the way, did you happen to see Eisuke-niichan? I think he's been in this hospital, but..."

"Well," he seemed to think about it. "I haven't seen Hondou... I was admitted four days ago."

The child hummed, in response.

"If you mean Aizawa Eisuke from the soccer club, then yes. He came to visit shortly thereafter."

That caused Conan's eyes to widen for less than a second, before he nodded with a broad, childish smile. Waving goodbye at him, he watched him retreat back to his room, and let a frown take over.

That sentence, right now, was all he needed to be certain.

Hondou Eisuke is definitely here.

A/N:

Dy: Yeah, it's a bit confusing. But I thought about it this way...

Considering their birthdays (May 4th and November 13th) they have an age difference of 9 years and a half.

In chapter 1 Conan is about to start elementary school and Shinichi is about to start high school (Conan is 6, Shinichi is 15). They live together until December, when Conan is 7 and Shinichi 16, before Shinichi disappears. Then Shinichi turns 17 in May, Conan turns 8 in November.

This chapter takes place around late April, which makes Conan 8, and Shinichi 17 (soon-to-be 18). Since children from ages 8-9 are in third grade elementary school and students aged 17-18 are in third grade high school, I thought it would make sense (if I didn't get my math wrong, that is XD). This is seriously different from canon, but I thought it would fit with this fic. Sorry for the confusion I generated!