File One Hundred and Eighteen: The Disappearing Carriage
"Eh? Sera-san, you're not going to the station?"
Conan had immediately looked over to the girl in question, just as surprised as any of his companions about what she had said moments prior, and taken into the sheepish grin that absolutely lacked any tint of remorse for her deeds.
"Sorry, you go to questioning for me," she said, her eyes falling on her wrist, checking her watch for the second time already. "There's something I need to take care of."
His gaze dulled, arms crossing over his chest with that would have been a pout, had he been willing to call it that. Not fair, he thought. How come she can get away from questioning and we don't?
A glare was sent up to her ─ for all that was worth, anyway, since the girl seemed not to notice a thing. Conan noted right off the bat that, rather than on him like it was usually the norm, her entire focus was on the teenage boy who stood there, saying no word at all ─ if the reason for his silence was because he had grown a brain without Conan noticing, or because he feared what his reaction could be, the kid certainly did not have a clue. Nor care either.
The thing was, Sera had locked eyes with him, and her grin stretched further.
"It was nice to see you, Hirai-kun."
Just like that, the girl spun on her heels and departed, leaving the child to freeze, despite the carefree nature of her words, or that he was clearly not the intended receptor of them. Slowly, he recovered, if only to tilt his head back to have a clear view of the boy that was positioned right behind him.
He saw his brother's gaze narrowing in her retreating form. There it lingered, even as he addressed his childhood friend, "By the way, Ran-san…"
"What is it?"
"Is Sera-san also coming to the Bell Tree Express tomorrow?"
Sonoko's head craned to their direction so swiftly that had Conan looking in fear she had snapped her neck. She hadn't, in fact, and was well enough to stare at her target with enough intensity to burn holes in his head. Conan's head tilted, eyebrows rising far above his hairline. Did she finally lose it? That was, assuming she had not already, the boy later realized.
Ran shook her head. "Not that I know of."
"I see." He paused, likely to assimilate her words, then finally faced her with a smile. "Then, I should get going, too."
"Eh?!" Sonoko cried, outraged. "You're ditching us, too?!"
"I wasn't here for most of the investigation." The raise of his brother's eyebrow let Conan see that, no matter which identity his brother would take, Sonoko would always find a way to tick him off ─ now, the child supposed he could empathize. "I was just passing by when I heard this boy's terrified scream, that's all."
And pointedly ignored the glare that came up to meet his face, along with the mumbled "I didn't scream" that just barely reached his ears.
"Besides, I wasn't just walking around in the middle of the night because I felt like it ─ I had stuff to do, you know." A hand dropped on top of the little boy's head. "So, in exchange, tell that to the police for me, alright?"
Conan refused to answer.
"Then… I'll see you tomorrow, I guess."
Not that the older detective waited for one. A light wave of his hand later, his brother was off the map again, leaving the child to grumble to himself, annoyed beyond belief. What's wrong with these people? Leaving the police to us- His thoughts skidded into a halt. Ah, right. The police.
It had completely eluded his mind until the present moment that, no matter how small, for 'Hirai Arthur', who did not exist, to be involved in a police investigation was not such a good idea. So, he supposed he could let it slide…
Just for today.
Though, as much as he wanted to be amazed about him using his brain for once, Conan could not bring himself to. The reason being the way he had just disappeared from ─ definitely not the way he would take to head back home, and, coincidentally, the same that Sera had taken earlier.
He better not cross paths with her… But, honestly? He had that nagging feeling that was the only possible outcome.
"What a jerk," commented Sonoko after a while. "So, 'see you tomorrow'?" There was a certain edge in her tone that got Conan's attention back to the two friends, and curiosity to surface ─ and intensify, seeing Ran's violent flinch. "You didn't give that to him, did you?" Ran's gaze fell to her feet. "Ran!"
Conan's head tilted. "What did she give him?" he asked, unable to help himself.
Sonoko held a hand to her face. "A Mystery Train Pass Ring," she muttered, in between her fingers. "I had bought an extra one, but…"
His confusion only grew. "Why?"
"To give her a chance!" she yelled, irritated. "Without a gentle push, no progress will be ever made!"
Even though she had said 'gentle', to Conan, the girl seemed willing to resort to far more violent measures, judging by her visible exasperation alone.
"So you were planning to leave them alone at some point, in order for her to confess," Conan muttered, his hand raising to his chin. Sonoko nodded, a focused frown on her own etched in her face. "That's unlikely to happen, I'm afraid. Maybe she could try a text message?"
People were more brave when texting, mostly because it was mostly impersonal. It wasn't the best, but all things considered, Conan thought it preferable than all that beating around the bushes.
"No way, no way," Sonoko dismissed the idea with a wave of her hand. "Did you know she called your brother earlier? That's basically the same thing." Actually, yeah, he had known since he had been with him when it happened, but he wasn't about to admit that he had been with him and had listened to everything, for obvious reasons. "But this lady over here chickened out and now her husband is still waiting for an answer to her confession. I can't believe she's the sole reason things aren't moving forward!"
At her side, Ran was silent, but by the reddish tint of her cheeks, Conan could tell she was in close danger of overheating. Slowly, her gaze lowered to meet with his wide, unblinking eyes, and flinched. His mouth opened, and her head started to shake, from side to side, as if she could avoid the inevitable that way.
"But Ran-neechan already-"
Sonoko paused, her hand sliding from her face to pay close attention to the boy's words.
Which she did not get to hear. "Why would I give him something like that?" huffed Ran, before he could add another word. "Besides, he'd just say he's not going to make it, and it'd be a terrible loss."
"So you gave it to this jerk instead?"
Funny how Sonoko would always think poorly of his brother, no matter the disguise. "But he's a likable jerk, at least," he said, then added, putting on the brightest, most innocent grin he could pull off. "Since Ran-neechan kissed him once already!"
Silence. For an entire second, and another one.
Then at the third, "Ran?!" Sonoko could not hold it in anymore. "Don't tell me…"
Ran shook her head rapidly, but her friend gasped nonetheless, holding a hand to her mouth.
"You finally moved on?!"
"No! Of course not!"
"Then you didn't kiss him?"
"Well, yes- Wait, no! I totally didn't!"
"So, uh, you have a thing for jerks or-"
"Sonoko! You know it's not like that!"
I shouldn't have said that. He had realized it too late, he thought, seeing how the two girls had fallen into a rather heated exchange of mocking and too much blushing that had Conan wishing he had kept his mouth shut and thoughts to himself.
A little teasing was fun, but he was now under the impression that Sonoko would take it too far.
And this isn't even close to the end. Turning around, as he had expected, the boy found himself face to face with a certain red Mazda parked right behind where they stood. A sigh left his system as he resigned himself, walked away from the chattering group to the woman waiting for them.
He stood in front of her, not bothering to hide a groan.
"Sorry about that, Conan-kun." She had definitely sensed his reluctance, because she put on an apologetic smile. "I promise it won't take too long."
He rolled his eyes. "I know."
It was not the first time he had to go to questioning ─ in fact, at this point, it was almost a daily occurrence ─ so he was well aware of how the procedure would go. Sure, the police were usually nice to him, whether because he was only a child or a regular face already, he wasn't certain, but it did not mean it was not time-consuming. Especially if they wanted to charge the thug for his attempted murder minutes ago…
It's late. His head hung low, dejectedly. And I have to get up early tomorrow, don't I?
In the privacy of his mind, he allowed himself to curse his friends and their annoying disposition to gather up for whatever event they had at such ungodly hours for no reason at all.
"How about this?" Sato suddenly said, then, crouching next to him, whispered, "I'll buy you something in exchange for your help."
Conan perked up. "Like what?"
"I think I might have seen three cups of coffee listed in Takagi-kun's bill, back when you helped us with that bombing case…" She winked at him. "Is canned coffee okay?"
His eyes flickered, for a split of a second, towards Ran who, oblivious to anything else, still talked with Sonoko. "Too bad I'll have to question you all alone," she added. "And Ran-chan won't have to know anything."
Conan stared at her blankly for a while. "You think you can bribe me with coffee?"
"Can't I?"
"I want cheesecake too."
"Deal."
"Good job today, senpai!"
"Good job! See you tomorrow!"
"See you!"
Adding one last smile, the young medical intern headed out. Ah, it's so dark out, she thought once she got a look around, glancing over her wrist to check her watch, and inwardly cringed. It's only ten minutes past the end of my shift, though…
A sigh escaped her system, crossing the street with little to no further complaint. It'll be fine, she told herself, even if she was shivering in the pleasant warmth of a summer night. I've already escaped a shady organization and death, haven't I? Getting home is not that much of a big deal…
Besides, her apartment was not far from where she was ─ really, she could already see the building peeking out from behind the trees that surrounded her, populating every single corner of the innocent public park she was walking ─ speed walking ─ through.
That being said, the young woman had to fight hard not to look anywhere but right ahead, the lonely street lamps lighting up the way for her, so that she wouldn't get lost ─ lost in that wide, open sea of exhaustion and extreme paranoia that would wreck her body, every single night. Where the light did not reach, the shadows reigned, morphed into strange creatures and people staring at her.
Such was the case that now occurred to her ─ her head had turned on her own accord, fixating on a lone bench somewhere in the distance. Her heart skipped a beat when she made out a young man, hood over his head, directly staring at her soul.
Uchida Asami did not stand by to figure out if it was another trick of her mind. She promptly ran away.
A sigh escaped the figure on the bench, head thrown back and eyes closing in annoyance. I should've hidden a little better… The poor girl had been, quite understandably, scared shitless by their mere presence. But it couldn't be helped ─ I almost didn't even get here on time, after all…
The eyes snapped open, immediately alert at the feeling of someone sitting close by, and flickered towards the form, sharing a seat with their owner. That new company uttered no word, and neither dared to meet glances. Just stared, calmly, back ahead.
"I knew we were going to cross paths again." A smirk surged through the hooded figure. "But I didn't think it would be this soon, Hirai-kun."
Hirai did not look back, but let a small chuckle shake his system. "What are you talking about?" he said. "You basically called me here, Sera-san."
"Eh?" said Sera, even though her smile widened dramatically, in utter interest. "Did I, really?"
"You checked your watch before, did you not? Because you knew this is the time when Asami-senpai's shift ends," replied the boy, leaning back against the bench, his gaze rising to the darkened sky. "I didn't think much of it initially until you said my name out of the blue. That was the only way you could think of for me to pay attention."
And then he looked back at her, locking eyes with his fellow detective sitting beside him.
"You did the same back then, too, when you lured me into meeting you at Gunma," he continued. "Someone as clever as you wouldn't forget to log out from Watanabe-sensei's account before you made that search. It was not an arbitrary action ─ you wanted to find out who I really am."
Hirai paused for a moment before shrugging. "Well, I already knew it was you, anyway," he added. "Getting into Watanabe-sensei's computer is not that hard, since it's not password-locked. But getting free access to the school grounds and roaming around while raising no suspicions? Only a student could've done that."
"You're not bad," admitted the girl, leisurely crossing her arms behind her head. "But it's hard to believe all you're saying when you did end up coming to Gunma. Why is that?"
"Because, other than giving Watanabe-sensei and Asumi-senpai a scare for a lifetime, you did nothing to them," he replied easily. "All of those you've stalked and investigated are still alive ─ well, save for one, but I'm sure you know why I can let you off the hook for that one." He then finished with a grin, "And I'm a curious soul as well ─ I wanted to confirm my suspicions."
Her smile dropped, and an extremely more severe gaze took over. "Who are you?" she asked.
He smirked. "Hirai Arthur, detective."
She did not give her a further answer but a frown, eyes squinting, as if she was trying to extract all that precious information he was clearly not giving her. But, instead of clarifying things further, Hirai's expression shifted into a dramatically more serious one.
"This case you're pursuing… I advise you to leave it while you still can," he told her. "If you sink in any further, you won't be able to escape."
Sera paused long enough to think over his words before waving it off with her hand. "I know all that," she said, standing up from her seat, her hand sliding back into her pocket. "But this is something I can't give up on."
There was a certain tone in her voice that made Shinichi sigh. It was that one that he had heard so many times before from a certain stubborn little detective he happened to know ─ and if his experience was worth anything, he knew well that no amount of talking would get her off that kind of mindset.
An objective that goes beyond a detective's unbreakable curiosity, he assumed. A fiery determination that won't flicker away from existence, not even to the strongest winds…
"Then we have similar goals," Hirai concluded, smiling when the girl glanced at him over her shoulder. "Let's be allies. What do you think?"
She analyzed him for a full second before her eyes narrowed. "I can't," she said, turning back around. "I don't trust you yet."
"That's so weird, coming from someone who wanted to meet in a place like this, at an hour like this." Sera did not move. "I could kill you, you know."
Sera stayed quiet for a second. "Sorry," she muttered, just before she started to walk away.
And in the darkness she disappeared, leaving Shinichi to narrow his eyes at the place where she had just been seconds ago.
"Wow, it's so awesome!" Ayumi's cheerful squeals boomed through the busy Tokyo station. "It's the first time I've seen a steam locomotive!"
Genta's grin stretched further. "Me too!"
"It's so impressive!" observed Mitsuhiko.
Ayumi nodded enthusiastically at her pair of friends, immediately turning her head to the other side, to meet Ai's light smile ─ true, she was nowhere close to that level of enthusiasm the other three were subjected to, but she seemed to be happy, at the very least. To Ayumi, that was more than enough.
Conan had yet to utter a single word, though. He just kind of stood there, facing the train with an overall quietness that, to be honest, kind of worried the girl. That was, of course, until she took a better look, and just like that, a smile came to replace it all.
Conan's eyes were wide, twinkling in that way she had seen him only a few times. It made Ayumi giggle. "Have you seen one before, Conan-kun?" she asked.
The boy jumped, startled when he heard his name, and turned to her. "Y-Yeah, of course I have!" he said, putting on a nervous smile. "Not in person, though…"
So he hasn't, thought Ayumi.
"But it's so cool," he added, his gaze falling back to the train before. "It's just like the Orient Express."
"My, Doyle would be disappointed," commented Ai, a teasing smirk already present on her lips. "For his biggest fan betraying him like this…"
"The fact that Sir Conan Doyle is much better doesn't make Agatha Christie any less exciting." He rolled his eyes. "Poirot is not Holmes, but he's passable, I guess."
Ai's eyebrow rose far above her hairline.
"Hey, you brats!" The voice rang from behind, and Conan had to do his absolute best not to roll his eyes even further ─ really, he would probably get stuck like that if he kept in the vicinity of that certain older girl. "You could at least show thanks for the owners of the Bell Tree Express, the Suzuki Financial Group! We specially reserved seats just for you!"
As his three friends' cheers loudly echoed through the station ─ and his own ears, unfortunately ─ Conan stared blankly up at the girl. Sonoko caught it and raised an eyebrow, opening her mouth to speak.
"Thank you," he said.
Sonoko blinked, surprised.
"For keeping our seats a carriage away from yours."
It took another second before they could fully sink in her head. "Why, you ungrateful little-" She launched forward, and was only held back by Ran's hands latching on her shoulders and a nervous laugh that came forward, in a desperate attempt to defuse the situation.
All the while, Conan watched the scene, a bored look in his gaze. It didn't move away, though, not even when a figure came up and crouched right next to him. "Good luck," he whispered. "Seems you'll need lots of it, Oniichan."
At his side, Hirai's face contorted in a grimace. "Are you sure I can't just sneak into yours?"
"Not a good idea." Conan motioned lightly to the group of children gushing with each other. "You wouldn't survive."
"Huh, sounds like you have a lot on your plate."
He shrugged. "You get used to it."
"I know." Conan sent Shinichi a questioning look. "I have you for a brother-"
Biting his lip, the disguised detective tried to contain a scream. Conan smiled innocently, as if his heel hadn't been forcefully dropped atop his older brother's toes, pressing and twisting for a better effect ─ that little demon…
"Hirai-kun, what are you doing here?"
At the external voice, both brothers looked away from each other and to the wide, blinking, blue eyes staring at them. They paused at the sight, long enough for them to realize that they weren't seeing things.
"Nakamori-san?" asked Shinichi, confused.
Another head popped from behind. "And me, of course!"
Conan could not hold back a gasp. "Sera-san?!"
Ran and Sonoko immediately walked closer to meet them, and Shinichi swiftly stood up. From the corner of his eye, he noted Conan quietly backing up, knowing better than to point it out.
"Hey, why are you all so shocked?" said Sera, slight annoyance sipping on her tone. "I'm a detective. Of course I'm here!"
It all went away, as a smirk was brought into existence, falling into a certain couple of kids standing a little away from the group. Ai pulled the hood over her head, a wary frown crowning her features, while Conan turned slightly away, yet not daring to get his gaze away from her form.
When her eyes flickered away from their form, Conan would have wanted to say he felt relieved, but, seeing that they fell back on Shinichi, it was impossible to do so. His older brother barely wavered, though, holding it with astonishing ease.
"What I'm surprised to see is Nakamori-san here," he said, a pleasant smile rising to his lips. "With Sera-san, on top of that."
"Ah, yeah. We met a few minutes ago," replied Aoko, smiling as well. "It was surprising to see a familiar face around ─ well, more than one, with you guys here."
Shinichi stared for a moment. "You two knew each other?"
"Eh? Didn't I tell you?" interjected Ran. "About that case at Haido Hotel."
Actually, it had been Conan who mentioned it, but had elaborated little about it.
"We actually went there with Aoko-san," said Ran.
"Yeah, and solved it on her own!" added Sonoko.
She… did what? His gaze rose to Aoko, shocked beyond belief at the grin she was sending him back, then the wink that indicated that there was something behind it all that she wasn't about to say out loud. Then, he noted some movement at his side, realized that his brother had backed off even further than usual, even going as far as to use him as a visual shield, and everything made much more sense.
As the others continued to talk, Ai imitated the other boy. Shinichi held back a sigh ─ and a laugh all the same ─ at the realization that not only one, but two children were all but hiding behind his legs, away from the scrutinizing look of that female detective.
Sometimes, he wished he could do the same too.
"I don't like her," he could hear Ai's whisper. If it was to him, or his little brother, it was a mystery to him. "She's up to something."
"Well, that isn't any new," replied Conan, keeping his volume low as well. "Since it was her all along."
Shinichi pretended he heard nothing, keeping his gaze trained to the girls talking with each other, thankfully loudly enough to muffle the children's voices.
"What do you mean?" asked Ai, confused.
"Remember I told you there was someone stalking those witnesses-?"
"You're joking."
"Oh, and just you wait. Guess who was the idiot who knew all along and thought it would be a brilliant idea to meet her, and now is her person of interest number one?"
"He didn't." Shinichi could physically feel her incredulous gaze. "You didn't."
"Don't bother trying to talk some sense into him." And the irritation was also horribly audible in his voice. "He'll say that 'she isn't an enemy', or some other extremely dumb variant he comes up with on the spot."
"Oh, my god. His case is worse than I expected…"
"You mean his deficient cognitive abilities or his lack of self-preservation skills?"
"Both."
"Okay, I get it!"
And, just like that, it was silent. Not only the children, but the chattering girls in front of him, staring at him as if he had grown a second head or something, prompting the realization to fall right through his slow-witted brain ─ he had said it out loud.
"I-I get why you're here, Nakamori-san," he choked out, together with a horrendously fake, forced chuckle. "Ever since you solved that case at Haido Hotel, you discovered your passion for mysteries, didn't you?"
Aoko eyed him, seriously concerned. The rest of the girls blinked at him, visually clueless about it all, and even the other three children walked forward, staring at him without saying a word.
"Idiot," came the shared reply from behind his legs.
While Shinichi had never been the one to despise attention, he now felt himself shrinking under their silent judgment.
"Well, no." Thankfully, Aoko was gratuitous enough to break the silence. "I came instead of a friend."
The attention was deviated from him to the girl, currently gazing at her hand, or more specifically, the ring she was wearing. "You know Keiko, right, Hirai-kun?" He nodded, because how could he not? Momoi Keiko, Aoko's best friend ─ he had seen them hang around too many times not to remember her. "She found this in her mailbox this morning."
Okay, that, he certainly did not expect.
"Do you know who sent it?" inquired Sera.
Aoko shook her head. "She was too scared to come." Then, added with a bright grin. "So I came instead!"
"Hey, isn't that dangerous?" Sonoko pipped in. "If the one who sent it was a creepy old man or something…"
"I'll be fine! The sender will be expecting Keiko, not me, right?" The looks she was receiving told her that none of them saw it as such an excellent idea as she did. "I just want to figure out who sent it, that's all."
In the privacy of his own mind, Shinichi wondered if the girl realized that the fact that the sender might not recognize her also meant that she wouldn't recognize them in turn, but, honestly, he figured it would be better to just let it go ─ he had a lot on his plate already; he was not dealing with that right now.
As much as his own detective curiosity whispered the opposite thing.
"Maybe Dad could help you with that?" Ran suggested, looked over her shoulder as if to get some kind of confirmation, before she halted. "Wait, where is he?"
"Oh, I think he went over to Carriage 8," said Agasa. "He said he wanted to greet the other passengers."
"Yeah, I heard so too!" Mitsuhiko said, nodding. "Muttering something to call him 'Mouri Poiro'..."
"Fixing his mustache over and over again…" added Ayumi.
"Smoking, too," finished Genta.
Ran looked as if she wanted to be surprised, but, bringing a hand to her face, sighed exhaustedly instead. "I'll go fetch him…" she muttered, turning around to leave.
Conan perked up at her words. "Ah, Ran-neechan!" he cried. "We're going with you!"
The little girl blinked confusedly at the boy, but a yelp out of her system escaped before she could say a word about it. "W-Wait," she managed to choke out, as fruitless as it had been, seeing that the bespectacled boy had already seized her hand, leaving her stumbling to catch up with him. "What's gotten into you?!"
Shinichi watched the children run up to a giggling Ran, unable to help a little chuckle of his own. In his hurry, the boy had probably not noticed it, but he certainly had ─ that was, the light pink dust covering Ai's cheeks as Conan took her away.
It was a good move, thought Shinichi, looking back to the front, and glanced over to where Sera stood, a bit of a scowl that she had yet to cover with a carefree grin showing on her face. Keeping Shiho-chan away from Sera-san is the best we can do at the moment.
Probably he had been staring for too long, or maybe she possessed a sharp set of instincts, Shinichi was not sure. Because her head had immediately turned to him, their gazes locking for a lengthy moment, that went ignored by any of the others standing around.
Even if I don't believe she's an actual threat… As long as we don't know what her true intentions are…
Narrowing on his form, openly scrutinizing his soul one last time, Sera's happy-go-lucky facade settled in again, and turned to the girls again. Shinichi, however, did not look away as easily.
We should maintain Shiho-chan's interactions with her to the bare minimum.
"Congratulations, you've been selected to play the role of the detective!
in ten minutes, an incident will take place in Carriage 7, Room B, so please investigate!"
Such were the words written on that mysterious card, left in front of a door for a group of enthusiastic children to find ─ those being, of course, the Detective Boys who, giving Agasa not a moment to choke out a single word, had left in search of more thrilling adventures.
Yet, as much as he wanted to be excited about it, Conan could not help but raise an eyebrow, "I thought all passengers were detectives?" and mumble, still unable to get his head around it.
"Maybe they left one for each passenger," suggested Ai, her tone calm and leveled ─ not showing a remarkable interest in the quiz about to unfold. "So that everyone can feel 'special', in that sense."
It could be, Conan wasn't about to discard the idea completely, but it made little sense. Like, would every single passenger in this train get to the same spot? Or would there be several murders happening simultaneously to be found in separate rooms?
"In any way, at least we got to be detectives!" said Mitsuhiko, grinning from ear to ear. "We could've gotten the role of the victim!"
Yeah, that would've been boring.
Ai smirked. "Or the murderer's."
Conan eyed her. "Why does it look like you wanted to get that role?"
"Mm, I wonder why."
Laughing dryly, he thought of shooting something back at her, but soon he found he couldn't. His walking pace skidded into a halt, bumping into one of his friends that had stopped suddenly. "Genta, what are you doing?" he asked, annoyed even long before knowing the answer.
"Those guys…"
"Huh?"
He looked back to the front and spotted two young boys standing at the end of the long corridor. Probably sensing their staring, one of them suddenly faced them, his squinted eyes opening ever so marginally as he shook his friend's shoulder.
"Genta?!" They heard him scream all the way to their corner. "Hey, the others, too!"
And they dashed up to meet them. "What are you doing here?" The squinty-eyed boy said, surprised.
"What are you doing here?" Genta asked back, then puffed out his chest proudly. "We're obviously here, because we're detectives!"
"Don't be like that, Genta-kun!" Mitsuhiko chastised him.
"It's a place for everyone to have fun!" argued Ayumi. "Right, Conan-kun?"
Conan stared at the kids, unblinking. "Who are you?"
The squinty-eyed stood back, startled.
"I'm in your class!" The other kid had a far more intense reaction.
Conan tilted his head. "Are you?"
"Geez, Conan-kun!" Ayumi sighed. "That's Takuma-kun from our class!"
"The other is Hiroki-kun from 3-A," informed Mitsuhiko. "We helped to find his cat several times, remember?"
"Ah! That's right!"
No, he didn't, but he kind of remembered the cat. That one, with the pink ribbon, I think. It would stick in his memory ─ that cat meowing happily as he jumped out of a window, covered in blood. It had been one of their first cases, and he would definitely not forget it.
The kid in front of him, though… He didn't stand out a lot, he thought. Not that he would've said it out loud, of course, given that Hiroki lit up at the mention that he recognized him.
Takuma, on the other hand, was scowling at him.
"I wouldn't worry much if you don't remember Sakamoto-kun. He has been absent for most of the year for an injury," Ai whispered in his ear. "We didn't remember him either until recently."
"What do you mean?" Conan asked back.
"Kobayashi-sensei prepared a quiz so that he and Maria-chan, who transferred recently, could be integrated into the class." She made a pause. "You do remember Maria-chan, right?"
He nodded, because, unbelievable as that sounded, he actually did. Higashio Maria, the extremely shy girl that sat behind Ayumi in class ─ therefore, relatively close to himself and hard not to notice. It had been clear that, while still timid, she had begun to open a little to Ayumi and Ai around Tanabata, maybe a little after that.
Definitely after, Conan later recalled. I stayed away from school for a few days after that incident… Maybe this quiz took place while I was absent? Perhaps Kobayashi had used that opportunity, not wanting to risk him figuring it out first and ruining her plans.
"Well, anyway, we're playing hide-and-seek!" said Hiroki, grinning up at the group. "Wanna join?" But did not leave an opportunity to reply, before he added. "We're looking for Maria-chan and Isamu-kun from my class right now."
Conan thought to decline the proposal as politely as possible, at least until he caught sight of Genta's smug grin. "No can do," he said, waving his index finger in front of their fellow, clueless third-graders. "Like I said before, we're detectives ─ we can't afford to waste any more time on childish games."
The bespectacled boy, and the rest from his group for that matter, stared at him for a second, before turning to the other two ─ Takuma's eyebrow was already twitching, Conan could see. "We got a card saying we were chosen as detectives," he explained. "Maybe you guys got one, too?"
"Wait, really?!" Takuma's eyes widened for a split of a second. He broke into a sprint afterwards, rushing right past the other children while screaming, "Come on, let's find those two quickly!"
"Eh? But-"
"Once we're together, we'll check it out. Let's go already!"
Though unsure at first, Hiroki hurried up to catch up with his friend, disappearing somewhere along the next corner, the way that would take them back to Carriage 6. Conan watched them go for a moment. "Come on, Conan-kun!" At least, until Ayumi tugged from his arm, dragging him the opposite way. "We have to go, too!"
Conan supposed she was right and followed his friend's lead with not much of an issue. A part of him, as much as this sounded incredibly strange and different from what he had read about it in advance, was curious about what they would find behind the doors of the second cabin.
But figured out he wouldn't have to wait much, because they found it right away. Carriage 7, Room B, he thought, his hand reaching up to the doorknob. Here it is.
Thus, sending one last look to his friends, who nodded in response, the little boy gingerly pushed it open.
"Don't come in, moron!"
The scream had reached his ears, followed by the unmistakable, muffled sound of a gun with a silencer being discharged. Conan saw a man, or rather, his eyes widening in sheer horror as they settled on him, moments before the blood splashed all over the place.
Conan stood frozen there, and it would probably have stayed like that, hadn't he been shoved away by a hooded figure who, gun in hand, broke into a run across the hallways.
"Whoa, awesome!" cried Genta. "It's just like the real thing!"
"Let's go after them!" Mitsuhiko shouted and started his chase.
"Come on!" Ayumi did the same, only pausing a few steps after to look over her shoulder. "You too, Conan-kun and Ai-chan!"
As their friends disappeared around the corner, Ai let out a heavy sigh. "This isn't much of a mystery," she mumbled, glancing over to the boy.
Who peeked back inside, almost hesitantly. Is he-? He continued to stare at the man, slumped over his seat while the blood oozed from his wounds, motionless and still.
An eye opened, shifted until it was fixated on the two children, before closing again. Conan could've sighed in relief at that. Good, he thought. A real murder hasn't happened yet...
Adding nothing else, the boy started to run, followed suit by the unenthusiastic girl.
As much as I'm glad it was a fake crime… His eyelids drooped slightly. They could've done a lot better…
"As it is now," he muttered. "More than a deduction quiz, it's like a game of tag…"
"Thank you for coming on such short notice, Kudo-san. Would you want some coffee?"
Kudo Yusaku nodded, a polite smile gracing his features as he sat down. Regardless of the question, or the lack of proper answer, the woman gently placed a cup in front of himself. In response, the smile widened. "Thank you," he said, gratefully accepting the treat. "I've been terribly busy lately, meeting deadlines and the like. The amount of sleep I have lost so far is mostly immeasurable by now."
"Sorry for making you come, then."
The novelist shook his head. "What seems to be the matter?" he asked, raising the cup to his lips, taking a large sip before continuing. "It's not an everyday event to be called over to the police headquarters. I don't recall being involved in any sort of crime, however. Or am I in trouble, Detective Sato?"
Slowly, the woman took her seat in front of him, a sheepish smile spreading all over her face in the next instant. "I definitely hope you're not," she said, though the amused tone of her voice was telltale enough of the harmless nature of her words. "The reason I called you here is mostly out of curiosity. I hope you're not too disappointed."
Followed by that, she calmly took a sip of her own cup. Yusaku observed her for a beat before he shook his head. "A detective's relentless curiosity," he muttered, his lips quivering as if remembering a good joke, or a fond memory buried deep within himself. "What is it?"
"Edogawa Hideyuki-san." It made the man flinch, as lightly as it had been, but Sato caught it either way. "From what I heard, he was a distant relative of yours."
"And my best friend," added Yusaku. His gaze lowered to the cup in his hands, frowning ever so slightly despite the ghost of a smile that lingered against all odds. "At least, until we entered middle-school and he moved away."
Sato leaned slightly forward, her friendly facade from before dissolving in front of his eyes and turning into something far more serious and professional.
"Do you remember talking to him again after he moved away?"
"The next time I heard about him was when I was told about his accident."
"Where he and his wife, Edogawa Fumiyo, passed away," Sato looked down at the files she had scattered all over her desk, and added, without raising her head. "Leaving Conan-kun an orphan to be adopted by you."
He kept quiet, even as the woman flipped a page over, her eyes scanning every single corner of that seemingly inoffensive piece of paper. "Regarding the accident, the information is scarce…"
"They both had a high blood alcohol content, which makes sense because they had been on their way back home after their anniversary celebration when they crashed," said Yusaku. "I assume the case was closed shortly after the incident. Besides those two, there were no victims, after all…" Closing his eyes, the man added, "No, it wouldn't be fair to say so. Conan-kun was the most unfortunate victim of it all."
Sato hummed, still not raising her head. "You had a son," she said, but only silence met her words. "One besides Kudo Shinichi-kun. Whom you named Conan."
It took him a moment longer than usual to reply, as if he had needed that time to properly compose himself before he could make a single sound. "It surprised me too when I found that out," he said, though he sounded drastically more tense than ever before. "We were both obsessed with Conan Doyle back in the day so, if you think about it, it shouldn't have been surprising that we chose the same name for our children, several years later."
"Conan-kun ─ your son, Kudo Conan-kun, I mean." Finally, she looked up, her eyes narrowing on his form. "Coincidentally, he also died in a traffic accident. Days after the other incident."
His gaze took on a more serious turn. "What are you implying?"
"Those accidents… are completely unrelated, right?"
Yusaku sent her a last scrutinizing look before his shoulders sagged with a long sigh.
"Sometimes I want to blame Hideyuki-kun. This tragedy… he could have easily avoided it. It was a mistake, just one, but it left a young child alone in this big, cruel world."
Rather than asking how that was supposed to answer her question, Sato waited, listening attentively as the usually serious, composed man suddenly combed a hand through his hair, and laughed to himself. But it had yet to reach his eyes, no matter how long she observed him.
"But then I'd remember I'm no better than him." His hand remained there, listless between his locks. "My son's death was avoidable, too." Teeth gritted, the fingers curled into a fistful of hair. "Had I kept a better watch on him, they wouldn't have-"
"They?"
Yusaku's head snapped up, looking as if struck by a jolt of electricity and thrust back to reality before he could fully process what was happening. His eyes widened slightly, probably just aware of what had left his lips, before sighing again, shaking his head from side to side.
"It wasn't a traffic accident," he reluctantly said. "He was taken by child traffickers."
Sato's eyes widened slightly at the news.
"Though the case was solved years ago, and everyone implicated was properly prosecuted for it… Conan never made it back." It was mostly whispered by this point, his tone lowered by years of unsolved grief and regret, Sato could infer. "We didn't want to make a big deal out of it ─ we were devastated, as you might imagine."
"You told the media it was a traffic accident."
"Correct." Yusaku took yet another deep breath in. "As you can see, both were tragedies in their own right. But to say there was a connection there… I believe it is quite the stretch."
Sato failed to answer, her eyes lowering back to her files, giving those words one last scan, before looking up. "Thank you for your time," she said, forcing the corners of her lips upwards to attempt a thankful smile.
Yusaku's was a lot messier. To her eyes, it was more of a pained grimace, but she did not point it out.
"And Kudo-san?" she called, just before he could leave. Unable to keep her pretense any longer, she added, "I'm truly sorry."
A curt nod was all she received before the door closed, leaving her all alone with her racing mind and disorganized thoughts.
"What are you two doing?!"
"So slow!"
Rather than encouraging him to run faster, his friends' complaints towards them both prompted him to fall into a lazy stroll, taking his time to reach them. Ai did not seem any inclined in hurry either ─ in fact, she was behind, muffling a yawn with her hand if the sounds that reached Conan's ears were something to go by.
Genta grew exasperated by the detached behavior. "Come on, you two-!"
"What's the hurry?" Conan said, shrugging. "He already got away, didn't he?"
"Because you two were taking too long!"
"Ah, yeah?" Conan stopped right in front of them, eyebrows raising. "Even though you guys were chasing him?"
Genta blanched. "He got away," he admitted. "But you could've taken him down with your soccer ball!"
In response, the boy stared, saying no word at all. Does this guy seriously think I'd use it on a poor innocent guy that's just doing his job? Then, shrugged. Sure, sounds logical.
"You guys…" They turned around at the older, male voice, just to see a man leaning over them with a friendly smile. By the uniform alone, Conan deduced it was a train conductor ─ it did not take a detective to see that. "Is this your first time on this train?"
"Yeah~!" The three kids' loud, cheerful response made the conductor's smile broaden.
"In that case, you better stay in your rooms," he said. "The deduction quiz will be announced via the speakers in… each room… Hey, boy, are you okay?"
But the kid, who so bored appeared before, did not say a word, probably too busy staring at him with wide, perplexed eyes to do anything else. Before long, a frown came to pinch his features, and brazenly pushed past him, running back from the way he had originally come from.
"Hey, Conan!"
"Wait!"
Though those words were certainly heard, they did little to stop him ─ merely slipping away from his mind before they could be fully processed. Conan forced himself to run faster, getting to the next carriage in record time and pushing open the door just as he reached it.
Five gazes fell right on him.
"Oh, Conan-kun." It wasn't the man from before, slumped over the seat with blood oozing from his wounds. "Something wrong?"
It was Ran.
"You should at least knock before you enter a lady's room, you know!" And that one was Sonoko.
Though it was tempting to just say that calling her a 'lady' was a bit of a stretch, Conan could only blink owlishly at the group, his eyes roaming around, stopping in each of the faces he had not expected to see there. Somewhere in the background, he thought he heard his friends finally catching up to him, yet paid no mind to it.
"What…" It took him a while to find his voice. "What are you doing here?"
"I was getting bored, so I came to visit!" replied Aoko, brightly as usual, motioning to the girl who, sitting beside her, enjoyed a cup of coffee. "Sera-san had that idea, too, so-"
"Ah, yeah, but… I mean…" Conan's forehead scrunched up. "You, uh, realize this is Carriage 7, right?"
The staring that followed made Conan's confusion grow exponentially. Ran and Aoko glanced at each other, unsure of what to say, while Sonoko merely raised an eyebrow, bothered by his mere presence, apparently.
Sera merely observed him, silent all the while.
But, at the end, it was his brother, who broke the silence with a chuckle. "Did you get lost?" he asked, arching an eyebrow at the clueless little boy standing in the entryway. "I wouldn't be surprised. The carriage numbers are only written on the outside of the train…"
"What are you talking about?" asked Conan, then added, a frown pinched his face. "I didn't get lost."
"Oh, you didn't?" The raise of Shinichi's eyebrow prompted, purely by instinct than anything else, Conan's to twitch. "Quite the claim to say, considering that you know our seats are in Carriage 8," he said, looking around for a second, and adding, "You saw us getting in the correct one earlier. And we haven't moved ever since."
"Well, I did not miscount." Conan shot him a glare, arms crossing over his chest. "You just want to mess with me!"
"Oh, do I?"
"But, Conan-kun…" Ran interjected, holding back a small giggle with her hand. "Hirai-kun is right. This is Carriage 8."
Conan stared at her, long enough for his shoulders to drop and his eyes to widen.
Wait, really?
"Now that's settled," Sonoko said, waving him off with the back of her hand. "Go pester the passengers in the actual Carriage 7."
Conan's gaze shifted to the girl and darkened considerably.
"Make sure to count right this time!" Shinichi added, a bright grin crossing his features. "And bring some proof next time you want to accuse someone of lying. It's not nice, you know…"
And thus, he observed for a beat before the grin turned into a cocky smirk.
Conan opened his mouth to say something, but it clicked shut right away with nothing but a scowl, spinning on his heels and closing the door behind him ─ if, out of irritation, he did so a little more violently than he should, his friends did not point it out. Though, the looks they gave him afterwards worked just as well as any words.
And silent they remained, doing nothing but exchanging anxious looks while they crossed over to the previous carriage while the bespectacled boy, currently a few steps ahead from the rest of his group, muttered to himself, mulling over what had just happened, again and again.
I thought I was being careful. Ever since he had noted they were not numbered from the inside, he had paid extra attention to his mental count of the carriages, fearing that he ─ and, by addition, his friends ─ would get lose their way in such a place, this spoiling his chance to enjoy the deduction quiz he had been looking forward to so long. Did I really miscount the carriages?
Maybe his brother had been teasing him, and that was all about it ─ that was what he would say, had it been only him in that room. But there were the other four girls, too, and they had appeared just as clueless as him when he had claimed they were in the wrong carriage.
There was no way Shinichi could have known that he would burst into their room, so any kind of joke he wanted to play on him would've needed to be improvised. There was no time for all five to agree on pretending it was the wrong carriage.
Besides, Ran-neechan is not that mean… Conan sighed, dejectedly. She wouldn't do that, right?
I must have been mistaken. Not far from them was room B, so Conan fastened his pace, hoping to get that part of the quiz over with. It's weird that none of the others noticed we've been miscounting the carriages…
Could they have been relying too much on his counting abilities? It was possible, but-
Suddenly, the door with the letter 'D' was opened, just barely smacking him all over his face. The boy stood back, a bored look raising over the head that popped up into the hallway, ready to complain-
"Oh, it's you." None of that happened. "How'd you do on the deduction quiz?"
And, certainly, none of his friends uttered a word either, far too shocked at what their wide eyes were witnessing, or rather, who they were seeing. The person in question blanched, barely resisting the urge to walk back inside the room and closing the door, especially unnerved by the attention he was suddenly receiving.
Especially the small detective in the front whose jaw, seemingly lacking the strength to keep itself closed any longer, barely opened and closed, unable to make a single sound.
"Professor?!" In unison, the trio behind him exclaimed. Even the little girl was staring at him, unblinking at his form.
Slowly, and still not understanding what this was all about, the professor nodded.
"You're joking," he heard Conan whisper, and suddenly Agasa was met with a more focused, incriminating glare. "This is not our room."
"It is?" It came out as a question, but Conan did not mind.
"Ah, yeah?" He just frowned profusely. "Can I see some proof?"
"Uh, sure. Look here."
To be honest, Conan was a little taken aback by his reply ─ like, he actually had proof? ─ but pushed past the professor either way, impatient to see it with his own two eyes.
Sure enough, he was met with the sight of several opened snack packages, scattered around in such a mess that only his group could have managed. Over his shoulder, his friends' gasps were heard as the same realization slowly sunk in, blocking any other thought to filter through their brains.
"Hey, Conan!" Genta was the first one to voice it out.
"Isn't that weird?" Ayumi mumbled, still clearly surprised.
"We only moved down one carriage from Carriage 8…"
Eyes wide as two plates, Conan's feet took him one step backwards. Eventually, he let out the breath he had been unconsciously holding upon his realization, blinking slowly as if he had just woken up from a dream.
Ai tore her gaze away from the scene and to the boy. Head tilting forward, the boy let out a lengthy sigh, a hand coming up to his face.
And off he went ─ stomping back towards the way he had just come from.
A/N
F.C. Meyer: Yeah, I've realized that too. It's likely that I won't, but who knows? The movie isn't out yet, I've no idea what's going to happen in that regard until then.