File Ninety-Six: The Dolphin's Fin
There was something about that woman that Kaito didn't like.
He wasn't sure what exactly had made him reach that conclusion ─ in fact, he barely knew anything about her. She used to be one of her father's students, and if his memory didn't fail him, they had met around twice now. Unlike his other student, who had continued to visit from time to time, bringing along her self-proclaimed detective son, that woman had just vanished.
Until today, of course. It was almost unsettling how her expression barely shifted as she went back to her feet and turned around, silently blending into the crowd.
But Kaito paid no attention to it, just made his way to the place where she had been, or rather, where the white lily she had left in front of the stone that had been engraved with… No, he couldn't bear to read that name.
His body had never been found. According to the police, the explosion had most likely thrown him to the vicious sea waters, and the storm that followed the accident had made it impossible to locate it any longer. For three long years, they had searched for him, but eventually concluded that, most likely, his body had been eaten by a wild, hungry animal shortly after.
Actually, the only reason the investigation had been stretched for so long was because of that man on the corner, who was trying to comfort his father's previous student, Yukiko. His mother had said that he had been a good friend of his dad so that he had done his absolute hardest to find him.
Sometimes, Kaito wondered if he shouldn't have tried harder.
It wasn't until much later that he realized Aoko was clinging to him, hard enough to hurt, but not enough for him to dislike it. But he didn't hug back, just stood there, emptily watching the cold stone in front of him. Beside them both, he realized, was Kudo Shinichi, standing awkwardly as if he didn't know what he was supposed to do ─ he didn't blame him, honestly.
In fact, even Kaito had no idea what to do next.
There was a tug on his pants. That had Aoko stepping away from him, and the boy glancing down to see a very young boy staring up curiously at him, before his face broke into a bright grin.
In a blink of an eye, however, he found that he wasn't there anymore, but right in front of his house. Naturally, he stared for a bit, until he sighed deeply, head hanging down while he stepped inside.
Not good. Those memories, that he had thought long forgotten by now, were surfacing again. He didn't like it. Maybe I'm just tired…
Deep down, he knew. He knew all this wasn't because of ordinary exhaustion, but pushed it all away to approach the door.
Unceremoniously, Kaito opened it and closed it behind him, using his feet. Without bothering to greet the detective in the middle of the living room, he brushed right past him and headed to the kitchen, setting the plastic bags he had been carrying on top of the table.
"Alright, I'll leave it to you. Thank you."
Curiosity tugged at him, prompting him to peek through the doorway, just to see Shinichi letting his phone drop back on the couch, with a heavy sigh.
"Who was that?" Kaito questioned. "Your girlfriend?"
Shinichi grimaced. "Don't even joke about that."
"Ah, Tantei-kun, then."
"More like Hakuba."
"Ah, Hakuba, right…" Satisfied, he turned around to get back into his business, until he halted. "WHAT?! That Hakuba?!"
"Yeah?" Shinichi raised an eyebrow. "That bastard Hakuba, Tantei-san, whatever you want to call him… That one."
Kuroba's bewilderment was evident on his face, but he paid no mind to it. "It seems there's a big-scale murder case that the Organization is interested in," he explained. "I'd investigate myself, but Ran is right ─ this isn't the moment to bring attention to myself. Considering it's not strange for Hakuba to miss school from time to time, I thought-"
"Are you even listening to yourself?!" the magician screamed, moving his hands around in panic. "This is freaking Hakuba. Let him too close and he will-"
"He already knows." Kaito's eyes widened. "He pressured me into telling him everything. Don't worry, though. I didn't say a word about you being KID." Shinichi shrugged. "For all that's worth, anyway..."
Those words were left hanging in the air, leaving the silence free to reign in the room. Not for long though, "Well," since Shinichi broke it soon enough, hands sliding inside his pockets as he moved to retire from the livingroom and back to his borrowed bedroom. "You would have known if you hadn't been actively avoiding me ever since I returned from Tokyo."
"What?" Kaito looked genuinely confused ─ it would have easily fooled Shinichi, hadn't he known he was a master of deception. "Where did you get that impression, Meitantei?"
A shrug was all the response he gave him before turning back around. "Maybe we aren't all that different."
"Oh, yeah?" Kaito snorted. "You're a detective. I'm a thief. If you haven't noticed yet, we're basically the antithesis of each other."
Despite it all, the thief's gaze had yet to leave his housemate. Expectantly, curiously, he continued to observe him ─ watching him pause, standing there while humming to himself with that enigmatic smirk it absolutely irked him most of the time, even if he wouldn't say it out loud.
"We're both cowards."
And that seemed to be all the answers he was willing to give him. Kaito wanted to ask more, but remained otherwise silent, watching as the detective offered a pointed look, before retiring for good.
Kaito didn't move, didn't speak ─ merely stood there, left with all those questions he had no answer for yet.
Perhaps he was a coward.
Shinichi was woken up at an ungodly hour into the night by his phone buzzing right next to his ear, where he had left it after texting back and forth with Ran about the details of the case until very late. Groaning, he buried his face against the pillow, willing it to shut up with his mind ─ surprise, surprise, it didn't happen.
It wasn't until a couple of seconds later that his sleepy brain understood that, if someone was calling this late and not giving up, it either had to be urgent, or someone calling from overseas ─ his parents were his first guess if that was the case. Whichever it was, it was absolutely necessary to pick up ─ he wasn't risking having his parents flying back here on a whim if it was to be from them.
Blearily, he opened one eye to glare at the display, but once he caught sight of the name, he felt the last bit of sleep rushing away from him. Worried that something had happened, he picked it up.
"Conan?" he said, voice full of fear from imagining what could make him call at ─ he checked the clock on the wall ─ three in the morning. "What's wrong?"
There was no response, so he tried again. "Conan?"
But again, nobody replied. Frowning, Shinichi sat on his bed, listening closely to the other side of the phone. There, he could make out muffled, yet agitated breathing. "Hold on," he said, ready to stand up. "I'm coming to you right now."
"W-Wait." He stopped at the soft, panicky voice of his little brother. "Just wait," he repeated with a weak chuckle. "You're going to wake everybody."
Now, Shinichi was officially lost.
"Don't be so surprised. It's 3 AM, of course they are sleeping."
Shinichi paused. "And shouldn't you?"
"Yeah, but I forgot to call Apollo, so I decided to do it now before it was too late in London." There was a forced laugh after that. "Sorry for waking you up."
The teenage detective opened his mouth, ready to spell out the clear contradiction in his story ─ Ran had said the other day, giggling as she did so, that Conan was back in his room talking with the friend he had made overseas ─ yet stopped suddenly.
Conan wasn't saying anything. It was as if he was hoping he wouldn't prod any further.
So he just frowned, shooting the phone a concerned glance, before smiling, hoping that his tone wouldn't show how worried he actually was.
"You didn't," he said. "That case has been keeping me awake all night."
"So it has been giving you trouble too, huh?"
"Yeah, I've been reading the book you gave me on my birthday so that I can get my mind off it, but it's still so hard."
"What? Don't tell me you haven't finished it yet!"
"Well, I've been busy, and it is a long book..." Shinichi laughed awkwardly. "I suppose you have read it already."
"More like, I'm re-reading it. And I was right, it was a good book," Conan said, proudly. "Just wait until you reach the part where-"
"Hey, knock it off!"
Although the child had clearly tried to spoil him, rather than fuming, Shinichi found himself holding back a sigh of relief by the natural laugh that reached his ears. Not minding if his lips began to form a small smile of his own, the detective reached over his nightstand and, making as little sound as he could, shuffled through the drawers, searching for a certain something.
"Say, Conan, are you in your room?"
"Eh? No, why?"
"Go back to bed ─ there's something I want to do." When his fingers grasped what he had been looking for, the older brother smiled to himself. "Just for the old times' sake. Hope you don't mind it's not a Holmes' one."
Albeit it took a while, soon the sounds of footsteps filled the air, letting Shinichi know the boy had complied. Patiently, he waited, eyes fixed on the book, Shinmei Kaori's Line-Up in the Dead of Night, that rested on his lap and only when Kogoro's loud snoring reached his ears, together with the unmistakable sound of covers shifting as the child slipped inside, he opened it.
And began to read out loud.
It was closer to four when his head rose to check the clock, slightly surprised to see that so much time had passed already. His voice ceased from speaking, so that he could listen to the now much calmer, steady breathing on the other side, and couldn't help the tender smile that escaped him right after that.
"Goodnight, Conan," he said, even if nobody was out there to listen, and finally hung up.
Just like any of the other nights, Gin had paid his dreams yet another unpleasant visit. But, unlike any of the other times, perhaps fuelled by him seeing that Porsche at day, this one had been rather intense. Sneering, rejoicing over the dread the young boy wasn't able to hide as raised his gun to those that the child held close to his heart.
First had been Ran and Kogoro, then Agasa and all his friends ─ he didn't think he would ever be able to shake off either the cold bout of laughter that escaped Gin as he finished the traitor Sherry off.
He hadn't been able to do anything, held at gunpoint by Vodka ─ so he just watched it all develop in front of his eyes. And then, just as he wasn't able to bear with any of this anymore, Gin's sick grin had widened.
"Long time no see… Singani."
And true to those words, his brother had been standing there, offering a warm, yet bitter smile to him.
There was the sound of a gun going off, and then, he had been back in his room, wheezing as if he had run a mile. What he had done next hadn't been a fully conscious action ─ he had bolted out of bed, phone in hand, and sat at Kogoro's desk.
His brother's voice had reached his ears before he had entirely realized what he was doing, but he had found that he couldn't be bothered either. Just hearing him had been enough evidence ─ proof enough that he hadn't been shot by Gin and was, in fact, alive.
It had been his warm, caring voice, too, that chased all those terrifying nightmares away, allowing him to fall into a restful, peaceful slumber.
Too bad his awakening hadn't been nearly as peaceful. Falling asleep with his phone close to his ear also meant that it would remain there until morning, when his alarm for school would go off.
Thus, Conan had almost gone deaf first thing in the morning ─ at least he was fully awake now.
Such a glorious morning, he had thought, as he dragged himself to the bathroom. Great way to face a new day.
It would have been better if he could figure something out of that strange case, but even after thinking almost the entire day, he hadn't been able to shed any light on it. If his friends noticed he had been out of it the entire time, they had yet to comment on anything.
Except for one girl by the name of Haibara Ai. She had asked about it right after recess, so he hadn't been able to lie his way out of it. I suppose it'd be better if I just told her, he had decided then. It's Gin who we are talking about ─ leaving her in the dark about this could be potentially dangerous.
So he did. Naturally, after he relayed the entire thing to her, she had gone sickly pale. He almost felt bad for frightening her, but it wasn't like he had another choice.
They said ignorance was a bliss, but in this case, ignorance could mean leaving yourself unguarded and vulnerable, leading to an eventual death ─ it didn't sound much like 'a bliss' to Conan.
"The case is a mess, too. I'm still trying to figure out the message, and what the mahjong tiles mean, but I'm not getting any luck," he continued, even if the girl had yet to say another word. "Apparently, Oniichan asked Hakuba to go check the crime scenes but, so far, it seems he has made little progress..."
"Hakuba?" Ai asked curiously. "Like that arrogant detective from Ekoda?"
"Yeah, that one. It appears that he cornered my brother and forced him to spit out everything."
"Huh, what a scary guy."
"Agreed."
Having finished with everything he had to say, Conan went back to work on his clay figurine. Like him, Ai's eyes had fallen back on her clay cat, and her hands began to move again, silent all the while.
Though it was truly a wonder what she could be thinking about, Conan wisely chose not to inquire about it. Instead, he stole a brief glance towards her general direction, by the corner of his eye, before focusing back on his work ─ grimacing at the strange, shapeless mass on top of his desk that was supposed to be a dolphin but, resembled a mutated, starving shark just a little more.
"That's odd," Ai said seriously, so Conan's eyes shifted back to her. "I thought Kobayashi-sensei said we were supposed to make an animal, not… whatever that is."
The boy stared at her for a whole second, before his gaze darkened dramatically. "Hey."
"Sorry, my bad. Now that I look at it, it somewhat resembles an animal... " The tips of her lips twitched upwards. "... resulting from an experimental cloning process that went wrong. Really wrong, that is."
"It's a dolphin. A dolphin." He gave her a last glare and returned to his clay dolphin. "A normal one, at that."
Okay, now that he looked at it now, he figured she wasn't half wrong ─ not that he was going to admit it so easily. Huffing to himself, but unwilling to give up on it just yet, removed the shapeless appendage ─ that evidently was a dolphin's fin ─ so that he could do it again from the beginning, and right this time.
Ai watched him struggle with a slightly inquisitive look. "Considering you were at Dartmoor recently, I thought you'd make a feral hound," she pointed out. "But you chose a dolphin?"
"Hey, dolphins are cool!" he argued, putting the new ─ and marginally better ─ fin back in place. "They are extremely intelligent ─ did you know they even call each other different names?"
"Yeah, and that they murder other animals just for fun," completed she, smiling amusedly at that unexpected fascination with those aquatic mammals. Conan glared lightly, but she didn't care much. "Well, they are cute, too."
"Yeah, that's what they say..." commented Conan, with an awkward laugh. "But I have never seen any, apart from photos obviously."
"Me neither," admitted the girl. "They don't live in Japanese waters, they just merely pass along the coast. To see one, you'd most likely have to travel somewhere else, like Hong Kong, or Hawaii..."
"Would you like to?" Ai blinked, confused at the grin he gave her. "I made my brother promise we'd go to Hawaii after everything is over." Not waiting for her to react, he looked away from her and back to the dolphin. "We can both go watch the dolphins together, if you want."
Ai had the strongest suspicion that the boy hadn't entirely grasped what those words really meant, judging by the bright grin that crossed his face as he worked. So she looked away, faint pink dusting her cheeks as she realized that, strangely enough, she didn't mind all that much.
"Amazing, Mitsuhiko-kun!" Before she could even reply, their attention was gathered by the girl sitting in front of them. "So good!"
Well, she was right, Conan had to admit, watching Mitsuhiko's clay rhinoceros beetle. Even Ayumi's bunny looked rather cute, actually… Discreetly, he tried to cover his dolphin with his arm. He flinched when Ai's look fell on him, and her smirk made another appearance, but tried not to pretend nothing had happened.
"Yeah." Mitsuhiko laughed, embarrassed by the attention he was receiving. "I'm pretty good at things like this."
"But some people are so cruel!" commented Genta as he turned around. "Putting tape on beetles like that..."
"You mean Orihime-san, right?" Ayumi's gaze dropped to her desk, dejectedly. "I wonder who did it..."
"It really is..." Then Mitsuhiko looked up and blinked. "Say, Genta-kun, the thing you're making… is that a snake?"
Genta didn't look nearly as happy, grabbing his clay figure and shoving it to him. "You can't tell? It's-"
"It's an eel," said Conan, with a plain tone.
"See?" Genta grinned. "Even Conan gets it!"
At the implications of his words, Conan glared hatefully. "It wasn't hard to guess," he replied with a huff, cheek resting on his hand as he turned to glance at the small wish tree at the front of their classroom. "Didn't you write 'I want to eat lots of eel' on your Tanabata wish card?"
Suddenly, Conan's eyes went wide, but none of the others noticed, having gone back into their business not long after that. "Tanabata is tomorrow," he whispered, soft enough for Ai to hear, and frown in response.
Tanabata Kyo. He glared at the innocent clay dolphin in front of him, as if it was to be blamed for everything happening around him. What's that supposed to mean?
That question followed him for the rest of the day, clouding any other thought in his mind and chasing it away in order to ponder over that dying message even more. It was a wonder how Kobayashi didn't notice he hadn't heard a word she said during any of the other classes, too immersed in his own little world for anything else.
Now, Conan certainly did not mean to head back home solely on his own, but when he had woken up from his stupor, caused by a constant buzzing in his pocket, he found himself walking alone. Sighing, he took it out just to find out it was Genta, tickled off, he assumed by the several messages he continued to send, asking on behalf of everyone something along the lines of 'what the hell was wrong with you, leaving so suddenly without us!'
Groaning, he tried to explain that he hadn't meant it, that he had done it without realizing, but it didn't suffice ─ he was in for a long explanation once they met again.
But he didn't have the time to continue doing it, because something else had caught his attention. His gaze rose to Beika Mall's parking lot, and widened when he saw cars ─ and the familiar faces, such as Takagi's or Megure's ─ making their way inside.
Evidently, he had to see what was happening there.
The police sure had been quick to act, observed Conan. By the time he had gotten inside, they had scattered all over the mall, discreetly monitoring their target. Is she the suspect? he wondered, watching the young woman peering down from the seventh floor, from a safe distance away. Or just somebody related to them?
"Ah!" Suddenly, she yelled, waving her hand at someone. "Minoru!"
Conan figured that was the answer he needed. The police members tensed up and the man that had just entered the mall, Minoru, he presumed, waved back at her before getting to the escalator. They would have apprehended him right then and there, but a group of kids, unaware of the danger they could possibly be at, crossed right in front of him and rode first.
So, they had been forced to wait until they left, which didn't happen until the seventh floor, where the woman rushed to him and hugged him tightly.
Unfortunately, that also happened to be the floor Yamamura was keeping watch. He rushed in first, badge in hand, then tripped. The badge skidded across the floor until it was right in front of the suspect.
It was at times like this that Conan wondered if Yamamura was the most incompetent member of the police force or, rather, whoever believed it would be a terrific idea to promote him to inspector.
Predictably, the culprit had reacted fast, pulling out a knife with his right hand and, with the other, taking a random, unlucky woman that just happened to be passing by there as hostage. Minori swung his knife around, still holding onto the hostage tightly by the neck, forcing the police to step away, gritting their teeth as they did so.
Conan's hand went to his glasses to take a better look, not failing to notice the odd bulge near the hostage's right ankle ─ maybe she wasn't much of a random, unlucky woman, after all.
Slowly, the three ─ Minoru, the woman and the hostage ─ receded until they were back on the escalator. Yamato approached it, but he waved his knife around, making a cut on the hostage's cheek. Minoru winced in pain at that action.
There, Conan noticed two things. The suspect had trouble using his right hand, and the hostage wasn't bleeding despite the injury she had received. That had the boy frowning and standing up from his crouching position, ready to act.
The hostage situation had been easy to solve ─ a powerful kick at his soccer ball later, the man had fallen from the escalator and to the ground, leaving everyone wondering what had happened.
"He's unconscious..." said Detective Uehara Yui, checking on the suspect, eyeing oddly. "But why?"
Yamato said nothing about it, merely watched the suspect for a moment, before his gaze fell on something odd laying just a few feet away from him. It looked like a deflated balloon, he realized, and looking closely, he could see a distinctive white and black pattern ─ similar to those he would see on a soccer ball.
Assuming he had been hit by a projectile, it should have come… He turned to glance at a certain spot where, even if he ignored that fact, a young child had been watching their operation a few seconds ago. … over from there.
But there was nobody there. Unconvinced, Inspector Yamato gave that empty spot a last, scrutinizing look before returning to his work.
By that time, Conan had already reached the parking lot. He barely stopped running for a second, looking for a certain yellow Tomaso de Pantera, then approached it when his eyes caught sight of it. Shinjuku 33, Sa 7727. There was no mistaking it ─ it was hers.
He crouched down next to the rear wheel, eyes flickering from side to side to check she wasn't around. This is my chance, he thought, rummaging through his pants' pocket, until he got what he needed and smirked at the small transmitter he had been carrying around, waiting for a chance like this. Now, all I have to do is-
"You aren't thinking of puncturing my tire again, are you?"
Conan flinched away, spinning around to see the woman that had been taken hostage before smirking back at him, arms crossed in front of her chest. Conan faltered, attempting to take a step back, but ultimately bumping into the car.
It only seemed to amuse her, if the twitch of her lips was something to go by. "I'm impressed you figured me out," she said.
The boy frowned, but otherwise remained perfectly in place. "You're concealing a gun in your right ankle," the boy explained. "And, even if that man wounded your face with a knife, I don't see any blood on you."
She looked impressed, brushing her fingertips against the scratch in her face, before chuckling, and promptly removing the mask from her face, allowing the kid to see her blonde hair fluttering in the air for a moment until it went still again.
Vermouth sighed, throwing her mask another last, dejected look before discarding it completely.
"I guess I'll have to make a blood-seeping mask next time, huh?"
Saying this, she got closer to the bow, who understandably tensed up, until he realized she was just leaning back in her car, right next to him. "It was on purpose, wasn't it?" he asked, then continued when she looked as if she hadn't understood. "Making yourself a hostage, I mean."
"Oh, why would I do so?"
The child stood up, eyes narrowing up at her. "Once you were out of the police's sight, you would've used the gun to turn the tables on him." Smiling enigmatically, the woman shrugged, and he continued. "But the fact that you walked away just like that means you too realized that man likely isn't the killer."
"Well, a man who can't even raise his right arm to use a knife can't be the culprit," she replied, digging for something inside her purse. "Assuming he didn't hurt it after committing the crime."
She said nothing else, merely taking out a cigarette and lighting it up. "Why is your organization following this serial murder?" Conan wouldn't give in so easily, though.
"My, how straightforward of you." The boy glowered at her. "NOC."
Non-official-cover? Conan blinked a few times, not expecting that word to come out. "A member of yours working undercover as a civilian became one of the victims?"
Vermouth nodded. "That NOC, perhaps seeking some sort of insurance, carried a memory card containing our entire NOC list," she explained coolly. "The organization planned to get rid of them shortly, however..."
"Somebody got to him first," Conan immediately concluded. "And unknowingly made off with the memory card."
"Correct."
Not quite content with the answer he had gotten, the boy began to ponder over her words, and what they implied. Humming to himself, he placed a finger over his chin, while Vermouth merely watched him, amused to no end at the sight in front of her.
She did look away when she felt something buzzing in her pocket, causing her to pluck her phone out. Surprisingly ─ or not ─ the little detective didn't notice a thing, allowing her to unlock it and check the new message she had gotten.
"Come and pick me up.
Will send you my location in a minute."
Her eyes narrowed.
"Wait. If you are here, and not at the conference..." She looked up just in time to see the boy's face growing pale as realization fell on him like a bucket of ice water. "You… had one of your partners disguise at the conference…"
That was why she had infiltrated the conference, the boy quickly realized, so that she could ensure her partner's disguise was in optimal conditions. Had something failed, she would have continued solely on her own.
"Who is it?!" He rushed right in front of her, demanding an answer. "Who are they disguised as?! Is the real officer safe-?!"
Vermouth merely waved her finger right in front of her. "Our conversation has come to an end," she said, gracing him with a smirk. "You have too many questions, and I have to leave soon."
"But-!"
"Irish." Conan stopped short. "That's their codename."
"Irish?"
"Right. Irish whiskey is nicely distilled, with a mild taste."
Before Conan could even begin to process her words, Vermouth suddenly looked up, her hand shooting up for some reason, "Excuse me," and called, with an innocent tone. "This kid looks lost."
Immediately he looked over his shoulder to find that, indeed, there was a security guard with them, making their way towards him. "He's lost?" he asked, causing Conan to twirl fully around.
"No, I'm just-!"
The sound of an engine made him gasp and turn back around, just to see Vermouth waving at him from the driver's seat. "Good luck," she said, an arrogant smile posed in her lips. "I wish you the best."
"Wait-"
Obviously, she didn't ─ not that he expected her to. Powerless to do anything, the boy stood back, watching the yellow car disappear around the corner and, with it, went all the answers Conan so desperately needed right now.
Once he made sure she was really gone, Conan let a very loud groan escape his lips, hands raising to his head, messing with his hair out of frustration.
"Um… little boy? Are you lost-?"
The security guard was silenced by the glare that fell upon him. "You get lost."
Then, he scowled and brushed past him, beyond annoyed for reasons that the officer couldn't even begin to understand, rendering him unable to do nothing but stare after him, blinking in confusion.
"Call me as soon as you can.
There's something I need to discuss with you, Vermouth.
─ Irish."
Vermouth barely cast a look at that text, before swiping it away from sight with a slight shake of her head and scrolling down to the next one she had received. Soon enough, a map opened in front of her eyes, and a small dot appeared right in the middle, telling her where she was supposed to go. This place… she thought, lightly surprised, until a small smirk escaped her. Oh, I see. She had quite a good idea of what that person could be doing at such a place.
Wasting not another second, she started up her car and drove away. As she made her way through the barely lightened road leading up to her destination, which arguably wasn't all that far away from her current position, her mind went back to the text she had received from her partner. It sounded important. It was, actually, she could already tell.
Since she could easily deduce what this was about. Of course he found it. She frowned at the thought. As I expected he would.
Not that she was any happier about it, but couldn't have helped it. Had she done anything about it, he would have probably found her out. Having Irish suspicious of her was something she definitely did not need.
"You're becoming quite the bother," she said to herself, smirking as she did so. A nuisance that needs to be gotten rid of as soon as possible.
She was getting closer to the place they were supposed to meet, so he pushed those thoughts away to search with her gaze for that certain person, who was most definitely infinitely more important than that troublesome organization member. This person, however, was yet nowhere to be seen, so she lowered her gaze to her phone, opening the messaging app to write a quick 'where are you?' message.
A sudden knocking against the windshield had her head jerking up. Not even the shadows of the night hiding their face, or the hood covering their hair, prevented Vermouth from recognizing that person, so she leaned over the passenger seat to unlock the door.
"Sorry, sorry." The person laughed, opening it and plopping down next to her right after that. "Did I scare you?"
Rather than settling with a straight answer, Vermouth rolled her eyes, "Sushi again?" and asked instead. The person glanced away from her, gave the small sushi restaurant they were parked in front of, and laughed a little. "Is it alright? For you to go out on your own in such a place, I mean."
"It's okay!" Vermouth barely blinked at the hand waved carelessly in front of her eyes. "I know the owner. As long as I pay handsomely, he won't tell a soul that I was there. Trust me."
Shrugging, the woman decided her company was probably right, and merely started up the car. "I presume you were stalking that sushi chef again."
"Not stalking." The person huffed, completely offended by her accusations. "I told you before. I'm keeping an eye on my children, that's all."
Vermouth stared. "He isn't your child."
"But he's as good as one," the person said, in a sing-song tone, turning to look out the window, eyes settling momentarily on Mouri's Detective Agency until it completely disappeared from view. "Seriously, he believes he's so smart and cunning, but didn't know I was the one watching him from that table in the corner… Isn't that cute?"
Vermouth settled on a non-committal hum, turning her attention completely on the road in front of her. "He's great. Loyal, too," the person next to her continued instead. "But, sometimes, I miss Rum too, you know."
Unconsciously, Vermouth's hands gripped the wheel.
"I suppose… life is a fleeting thing." There was a weird glimmer in that person's eyes. "One wrong move, and it's all over. Even you."
Her eyes narrowed slightly, but said nothing. Not even when that person's calculating gaze fell on her.
"Rum, Calvados, Snake..." The person sighed, almost dramatically. "Oh, and Singani-kun, too. Do you remember him?"
"Of course I do."
"It was such a pity to see him go ─ I thought he was such a promising one." There was a hum next to her. "Well, it couldn't be helped. There's nothing in this world I despise more than a backstabbing filthy rat."
The woman offered the person a glance from the corner of her eye before focusing back on the road. "I made a mistake, I'll admit that," she said calmly, smirking as if her companion hadn't said that. "But everything is back to normal now."
"Almost, but at least we have it under control," the person said. "Since you made sure he never spoke a word about us to anyone. You were so certain about it, too..." Fist against cheek, the person's head rested, looking thoroughly unconcerned about that matter. "I trust your word, Vermouth. You swore it with your life, after all."
Vermouth's eyes flickered away from the road for less than a second. There was something so dark and cold in that bright smile that would have made her shiver, if she was anyone else.
"Surely, someone so smart like you would know better than to lie to me, am I wrong?"
Her lips curved into an amused smile. "You know me well, don't you?"
Their gazes connected for longer than deemed necessary, "Well," until Vermouth's companion shrugged, glancing back to the street once more. "You can drop me off here."
"Are you sure?" asked Vermouth, slowing down. "I can drop you off at your home."
"It's fine! I want to walk. And nobody is around, so it should be okay."
"If you say so..."
Not questioning those words any further, the woman pulled out next to the sidewalk and looked back at her companion. That person nodded in thanks, hand stretching to open the door, before it paused completely. "Oh, and before I forget… Keep an eye on Irish for me, will you?"
"Irish?"
"Remember that daycare center you took Sherry-chan from back then?" the person said, stepping out from the car, "It appears he has been visiting it lately…" then leaned over to look at the driver. "Think it has something to do with how Rum messed up and died?"
"I don't have an idea myself," replied Vermouth with a snort. "It's hard to get what's going through his head."
"Anyway, just do that… And try not to kill him too, alright, Arty-chan?"
"You're going by that old nickname again?" Her eyebrow rose. "Don't forget you were the one who named me 'Vermouth'."
"Sorry, sorry, it just slipped from my mouth!" The person closed the door with a bark of laughter. "It was so nice chatting with you. We have to do this again..." A mischievous wink later, that person was turning around to leave. "Don't get yourself killed before then."
Her smile remained perfectly in place, up until that person's figure was swallowed by the unforgiving darkness surrounding everything in sight. Only when she made completely sure that she was alone did she allow it to drop, and the frown to slowly creep into her otherwise stoic face.
Tanabata Kyo… Tanabata Kyo…
"Tanabata… Kyo..." he tasted the words, but to no avail. The message remained as indecipherable as the time he had first heard it.
Groaning out of frustration, Conan stepped out of the bathroom, roughly drying his hair with a towel. It was night already ─ and Tanabata was tomorrow. I hope he wasn't trying to warn about something happening on that day, because, if that was the case, there would be little they could do to stop it. Did something happen last Tanabata?
That didn't help things, not even a little. Accidents and tragedies were something that occurred every single day ─ Conan probably knew better than anyone else ─ and Japan was, to say the least, a pretty broad place to look for an event that could force someone to commit murder. It didn't help that it was annoyingly unspecific.
Then, what does 'Kyo' mean? Conan stroked his chin. Kyo… Kyo-
A loud crashing sound, followed Ran's startled scream, brought him out of his thoughts instantly and ran to the source. "Ran-neechan?" he called before he could even poke his head through the doorway to check on her. "What happened?"
"Sorry," the girl apologized with a small, and tense for some reason, smile on her face as she crouched down next to pick the pieces up from whatever she had just dropped. "I broke your bowl."
"It's okay," he mumbled, blinking a few times. "It's just rare, isn't it? For you to break things."
"Really..." she said with a sigh. "What was I doing?"
The boy stood in place, hands resting on the slightly wet towel around his shoulders, watching her carefully pick up the pieces of what had been his favorite bowl. Strangely enough, that fact barely affected him ─ instead, his forehead creased, and his head tilted slightly.
"Ran-neechan?"
"What is it?"
"Is something bothering you?" Her head snapped towards him, surprised at the question. "Is everything alright?"
Ran stared at him for a moment before replying with another question, "Why are you asking, Conan-kun?"
His gaze dropped slightly, an action that the girl undoubtedly caught and that prompted her to smile, crossing the distance between the two, after putting the remains of Conan's bowl in a safe place.
"Conan-kun," she called, softly, as she lowered to crouch right in front of him. She wasn't surprised to see that he hadn't met her gaze, but she still, gently, placed her fingers under his chin, nudging his face upwards until their eyes met again. "Is there something bothering you, instead?"
He hesitated for a moment, but ultimately sighed and nodded. Ran said nothing, patiently waiting for his answer.
"I… I met Vermouth today." Her eyes went wide. "She said there's someone else."
"Someone else?" Ran frowned. "What do you mean?"
"She has a partner that goes by the name of Irish." Suddenly, he became more serious and looked right straight at her. "Who has infiltrated the conference, disguised as somebody else," he said. "Apparently one of the victims was a NOC-"
She made a face. "NOC?"
"Non-official cover. Like a spy," the boy explained. "So this spy was working for the Organization, but took a memory card containing all their NOC list. When the culprit killed him, they took the memory card without knowing..." He trailed down, feeling himself hesitate at the sight of Ran bringing her eyebrows together in concern.
"I see..." she mumbled ─ so softly that he could have easily missed it.
"It should be alright!" Conan blurted out, nervously. "As long as he pretends he knows nothing, he will be okay! So, Ran-neechan..."
"Huh?"
"Please, don't be worried," he finished with a small frown. "Occhan will be okay, so..."
She remained silent for a moment or so, watching the boy in surprise for several seconds before she sighed. "Yeah, I know," she said, hand tenderly brushing a few strands away, letting her see his wide, but also worried, eyes. Knowing that this child hated seeing her like that, Ran broke into a small, yet sweet smile. "Everything will be okay, Conan-kun."
But there was something ─ something about the way she had said it, or something about the way she was looking at him ─ that confused a little, and that made him stare at her, as if trying to figure out a big mystery. To no avail, though ─ Ran had already stood up and turned back to the sink.
"It's getting late. You should get to bed," she told the boy, going back to wash the dishes. "I'll talk about this with Dad when he gets back from the conference, so don't worry about it."
Conan hesitated, giving her one last look, before nodding. "Goodnight, Ran-neechan."
"Goodnight, Conan-kun!"
If the boy noticed the unnatural cheeriness coating her tone ─ which he probably had, considering who he was ─ he made no indication of that and merely left for the night. Even for a long while after that, she carried on her task, until she finally made sure that the kid wasn't going to return abruptly.
Checking over her shoulder to confirm that she was, in fact, alone, she sighed, drying her hands briefly before picking up the phone she had left on top of the counter. He was still on the line, Ran realized.
"Sorry about that, Shinichi," she whispered, just in case. "Conan-kun has gone to bed now."
"Is everything okay?" the teenager asked worriedly. "I heard a loud noise there."
"I dropped Conan-kun's bowl," she explained. "What you told me surprised me a little, that's all." Shinichi went quiet at that, so she continued. "Say, did you hear what Conan-kun just said?"
"Yeah," he replied with a tired sigh. She could even imagine him passing a hand through his hair. "Conan was right, though. Tell your father that it's important that he continues to act as normally as possible… But I can come to Beika, if you want."
Ran closed her eyes, attempting to calm her nerves, but otherwise failing. "It will be alright," she finally said. "Just stay where you are, Shinichi."
"Ran..." Shinichi mumbled, then sighed once more. "Okay, I understand. Don't forget to do what I asked you before."
"Who do you take me for?" Ran sounded almost offended. "Just leave it to me."
"Thank you… And Ran?"
"What?"
"Be careful… All three of you."
"It's fine ─ didn't you hear what I just said to Conan-kun?" Ran forced her voice to sound as cheerful as possible. "Everything will be okay."
Eventually, the call ended. Eyes cast on the phone in her hand, she finally allowed her smile to drop, lips pressing together in a thin line as she just stood there, once more alone with her own thoughts.
Everything will be okay.
"Yeah, got it. 4 PM, right? See you then."
Conan was just arriving in the living room, backpack already over his shoulder and ready to start the day, unlike the older detective sitting there, violently dropping his phone at the table, right next to his breakfast.
"Was that from Detective Takagi?" asked Ran, walking inside from behind him.
"Yeah. Another conference at 4 PM."
As the detective grunted, passing a hand to his face, the boy quietly approached him. By looks alone, Conan could tell that the case wasn't progressing as smoothly as he would have wanted, especially after everything that Ran must have relied on last night while he slept ─ as short-lived as that had been, obviously, considering the nefarious nature of his dreams lately that, thanks to everything that had been happening around him, had done nothing but get even worse.
At this point, he couldn't decide if he was to be disturbed or amazed by his unconscious mind's ability to surpass itself every single night, making up the most frightening scenarios that would put any horror movie director weeping out of shame.
"Has there been any progress?" the boy bluntly asked, blinking innocently at the older man who merely stared at him, then slowly frowned. "Wha-?" he mumbled, taking a step back when he turned fully around.
Conan had good instincts and knew this was the time where he should have gotten as far away from him as humanly possible. His reaction time, however, had not been so good because Kogoro easily caught him without moving from his spot, rubbing his knuckles against his head, so painfully that it actually stole a cry out of the little boy's throat.
"Dad!" Ran was quick to scold her father.
The man finally released him, settling with nothing but a slight glare as the child, still groaning lightly, held his head and grimaced. "What was that for, anyway?!"
"I'm not telling you anything, brat," he scowled, turning back to his breakfast. "And you're heading straight home after school, you hear me?"
"Eh?! But-"
"Sorry, but it has been already decided," Ran said, smiling apologetically ─ Conan could tell, however, that she most definitely did not, by any means, feel sorry for it. "I'm picking you up after school, so wait for me, alright?"
"In fact, she's walking you to school today, too," explained the father, continuing to eat despite the aggravated look he received from the little child. "And making sure you actually get there."
Conan wasn't ashamed to admit that, at that time, he really did whine. "Don't complain," Kogoro grunted before he could say a word. "You should have thought about that before you sneaked inside a police investigation and went up to meet a criminal."
The child stayed silent until he finally realized what all that was about. "But can't you at least tell me about the case?" Kogoro gave him no response, so he frowned deeply. "Occhan!"
"We made a deal, but you didn't go through it." Conan's lips clicked shut. "So bear with the consequences and get to school already."
"You can't just-!"
"You're staying out of this, Conan. And it's final."
Silenced by the unusually firm tone the older man had just used on him, Conan stood there, watching him in surprise. At first, he seemed to want to say something else, but then thought better of it and settled with a huff, glaring at him intensely ─ even if Kogoro didn't even turn to look at him ─ before storming off.
Rather than following after him immediately, Ran lingered in the living room and gave the door a last glance. Sighing, she turned back to her father. There was a strangely serious expression on his face, but she was barely surprised at it.
"Are you sure about this, Dad?" she asked softly. "About going to that conference..."
"I don't have any choice do I? Especially after what Conan told you last night... And what the detective kid said over the phone," Kogoro answered, eyes raising to her daughter, then softening a little. "I'll be alright, Ran. Don't forget I used to be part of the police."
She knew that ─ but it didn't make it any easier. Despite her desire to stop him, to keep him from going there, to harm's way, Ran kept her lips closed, and breathing out, then nodding.
Kogoro offered her a smile, before turning back to his breakfast. "Keep an eye on the brat."
Closing her eyes for a moment, the girl nodded again, then, while heading to the door, gave her father another nod and promptly left, hoping to catch up with the boy before he could think of sneaking away without her. Her surprise was enormous when she found him still there, sitting silently at the end of the stairs, contemplating ─ or, rather, glaring at ─ the random building right in front of the agency.
He didn't speak a word throughout their entire trip.
In fact, he didn't even say anything when they got to the school gates, just waved lightly and proceeded to enter the building. Ran watched him disappear inside, and couldn't help the relieved smile that escaped her. See you after school, she thought, turning around and heading to her own school.
All the while, Conan stubbornly kept his head low, glaring at the floor even if it was far from the reason behind his strong annoyance, border-lining anger at this point. Stupid Occhan. He was frowning ─ most likely stomping, too, but couldn't bring himself to mind. Why can't he understand?
"Oh, good morning, Conan-kun."
There's so much on stake… And he tells me to drop all of this and, just, go to school as if nothing had happened? He even got Ran-neechan to babysit me, too!
"Morning."
So annoying… So stupid...
"Is someone there?"
Blinking repeatedly, the boy's head jerked upwards, just to see that certain scientist giving him an odd look, head tilting slightly as she studied him with her gaze. It made him wonder how long she had been talking, without him being any the wiser about her presence.
"Uh, morning."
"About time," she said, with an even tone. "Are you still half-asleep?"
Conan merely dismissed her with a grumble, opening his locker so violently that had the girl raising an eyebrow. "Bad day?" she asked. The groan that she got in return worked just fine to draw her own conclusions. "You got grounded, didn't you?"
"Close." He opened his locker with his right hand and grasped his white uwabaki from inside with the other. "Got Ran-neechan to babysit me."
She didn't look nearly as surprised. "What did you do now?"
The uwabaki fell on the floor gently. "Nothing," he replied, kicking his outdoor shoes off. The look he received then sufficed for him to smile stiffly. "But I might have gone out of my way to meet Vermouth..."
Her face grew very pale. "What?"
"Apparently, she has a partner disguised as an officer and infiltrated the conference," he explained, setting his red shoes back on his locker. "Their codename is Irish. Heard it before?"
She shook her head. "Never."
Feeling incredibly disheartened, yet absolutely unsurprised by her answer. "I see," he sighed, starting to make his way to his classroom alongside the girl, who remained unsettlingly quiet the entire time.
Deeply immersed in his own mind, Conan didn't even notice that. "If only I had something on Irish..." He failed to see, too, her shoulders tensing up. "I could deduce their disguise."
He did notice, though, her stopping in her tracks suddenly. "You should stop." Conan paused, turning around to give his friend a confused look, but she didn't even raise her head to meet his inquisitive gaze. "If it's true that this Irish has disguised as an officer, they would've been alerted to your running after Vermouth following the conference."
"Yeah, I know, but-"
"Don't you get it?!" Conan couldn't help but flinch away when her head finally jerked up, allowing him to see the genuine anger in her usually impassive eyes. "The more cases you solve, the more likely it is that they'll see you're not an ordinary elementary school student! That you-!"
But stopped suddenly upon the sight of the kid panicking slightly, holding a finger in front of his lips, that evidently meant that she had to keep it quiet. So, when she finally stopped, the boy sighed in relief, turning over his shoulder.
Higashio Maria nodded shyly as she walked right past them. Conan's lips twitched upwards in a strange grimace ─ which was most likely a sad attempt to smile, Ai supposed ─ while the other girl simply stared blankly, watching her disappear inside their classroom a few steps ahead of them.
"I know what you are worried about," Conan said, gaining Ai's attention again. "This isn't something I can leave unsolved." After that, he frowned, gaze lowering to the ground. "Not only this now concerns the life of the officer Irish has disguised as, but Occhan, everyone at that conference, and every single person connected to them… That's why..."
Ai gave him a long, thoughtful look, and just walked forward, stepping inside their classroom with no further word. After a second or so, he did the same. What he didn't expect, however, was the sight he ran across upon entering. Instead of in their seats or randomly scattered across the classroom as they chatted or played, all of their classmates were gathered in a single spot, whispering amongst each other in a less enthusiastic, and more worried, way than usual.
They were crowding around the clay figurines they had made the other day, noticed Conan as he, struck by curiosity, walked closer. "Say, what's going on?" he asked, approaching his friends that stood there, unbelievably shocked about whatever had happened.
"Conan-kun!" Ayumi spun around, waving her arms around. "This is bad!"
"What happened?"
"Your dolphin's fin is missing!"
"What?!"
Abruptly, he shoved Mitsuhiko out of the way, and gasped at what he saw ─ true to their words, his dolphin was there, but the fin was nowhere to be seen. "Who did this?" He groaned, walking closer to take a better look, annoyed beyond belief ─ he had worked really hard on it for someone to ruin it and pretend nothing had happened. "It's all ruined now..."
But another detail had him going silent and staring at the dolphin with wide eyes, or rather, the strange marks around the spot where the fin used to be. These are… Eventually, his surprise died down, and a frown took over his face. Leather glove impressions.
"A mysterious case has occurred!" exclaimed Mitsuhiko, rather excited about the prospect.
"Mysterious where?" Conan pretended to sigh, shrugging it off and going back to his seat. "I bet someone just knocked it off by accident while cleaning the room."
"But we searched everywhere and couldn't find it!" argued Genta.
"It's fine. I'll just make another and put it on."
The three children said nothing else, just watched him settle his bag on top of his desk. His calm demeanor had all of them blinking and glancing at each other ─ they could have sworn the boy looked rather pissed off a few minutes ago.
"Don't tell me..." Ai said, frowning from where she sat right next to him. "That fin..."
"Probably." Conan sighed tiredly, plopping down on his chair. "I wouldn't worry, though ─ if they really wanted my fingerprints, they would need something else to compare them with. Until then, I'm on the safe side."
Ai didn't seem entirely convinced, but knew it was mostly a lost cause, so she didn't say anything else about it. Just continued to watch the boy who, instead of reading a book as usual, had brought out his small notebook, and was scribbling on it, groaning all the while ─ something she could attribute to the frustration coming from being unable to solve this case.
I need to do anything to expose their identity, thought the boy. Catch the culprit before them and get the memory card their NOC was carrying…
Pausing for a beat, the kid allowed his head to rise and his gaze to linger at the wish tree at the front of the classroom, or rather, the blue strand of paper that, to him, stood out from all the others. "I want to be a great detective like Holmes!" he had written there, if his memory served correctly ─ he had thought little about it, and his friends had chuckled when they saw it, having expected it already.
But, even though there was not a single lie on that, even if he did want to become a brilliant detective just like his literature hero, that wasn't his biggest wish.
That one, single card may be just the trump that crushes them.
If he had written his greatest wish there, everyone would have read it ─ and that was something nobody should ever, ever know.
Yeah, in order for that wish to be fulfilled...
Absorbed in his thoughts, he didn't even notice he had turned the page over and that now he was staring at those words again ─ Tanabata Kyo. He frowned deeply.
I can't lose this chance.
"Hey, would you quit doing that?" Confused, Conan turned to glance at the scientist, who looked genuinely disgusted. "Remind me to never borrow a book from you again."
It took a moment for Conan to finally realize what she meant with it ─ undoubtedly, she meant that habit of his when reading that especially irritated her. "Ah," he said with an awkward smile. "Sorry, I forgot you were there."
"Boys are so disgusting." She sighed, averting his gaze with a scowl. "You keep doing it, even if Ran-san and I expressly told you not to."
Conan was more than ready to apologize again until something stopped him from it. Having turned her head, the girl didn't notice his eyes opening gradually, as if something had finally just clicked.
Ran-san and I… He repeated in his mind. Ran-san and… His breath hitched with shock.
And. Or 'to', in Japanese. Could it be?!
Kobayashi's voice as she greeted them barely registered in his mind as his eyes posed again on the words Tanabata Kyo. Quickly, just before class started, the boy grabbed his pen once more to write those last letters at the end of it:
"Tanabata Kyoto."
A/N:
CherryGirl 21-6: I'm not sure if I'll cover that case, but if I do, I'll surely consider what you said ;)
F.C Meyer: Yeah, I've heard about that theory and I personally think that's the most plausible one, but never got to really think about it. I don't think I'm going to mention it in this fic, however.
Rene: Are you sure they didn't just get revived or something? xD Jokes aside, that's already fixed, so thank you for letting me know!