File One Hundred and Twenty-Four: The Sixth Passenger

A large hand pressed against his face, sliding up until fingers carded through his hair. Eyes, wide yet barely focused on the present time, fixated on that lone cigarette, gradually burning out in the ashtray, black smoke rising in to hide those big blue orbs, quietly taking into his reaction from behind thick lenses.

"No, this can't be…" came out of his throat, all on its own. "No way in hell…"

His daughter, having just finished telling him the news, sat in silence beside the child.

"Amuro-kun… He's-?!"

Conan nodded, solemnly. "His codename is Bourbon," he said, even though it had already been stated in the conversation. "Activated by the Organization to go after Ai. He was likely after my brother, too." He paused momentarily, noticing that Kogoro was looking anywhere but in his general direction. "He might have thought you were helping her hide, so he did everything to be as close to you as possible."

Kogoro scowled, teeth gritting the more he thought about it. "I was completely fooled."

"We all were," said Conan. "He's just… good. And dangerous."

"But wait," Ran pipped in, eyebrows drawn together in confusion. "I thought Shinichi drove the attention away from Ai-chan and himself…"

"Yeah, by faking their deaths in front of him." Conan muttered, arms crossed over his chest. "That's why we can't understand it. Why is he still around?"

He got no reply, not that he was expecting one. Did he figure out it was fake? That thought barely reached his mind before it was brusquely shaken away from existence ─ since it made no sense. Bourbon wouldn't have waited so long to repair the damage done, taking traitors Sherry and Singani with him as soon as he noticed the trick. Even if he couldn't point out where Kudo Shinichi was, Haibara Ai's whereabouts weren't exactly a mystery. He had talked with her just this morning and she was fine.

Bourbon wouldn't spare them from the goodness of his heart… probably. He sighed ─ because, really, what did he know? It had proven just the other day how little he truly knew about the guy.

"I don't." The memory surfaced unprompted ─ that of the back of his older brother's head, refusing to face him. "I know nothing about him."

His forehead scrunched up in a deep frown.

"Ran, pack your things."

Kogoro's firm tone had startled the boy back to reality, head snapping back to the man who, once so lost in thought, sported a rather focused gaze, fingers intertwined together under his chin ─ clenching lightly, Conan did not let that detail escape him.

"You're moving out with Eri," he said. "Take Conan with you. I'm sure Eri won't mind if the brat stays there, too."

Ran was initially far too dumbfounded to properly react. "Dad," she finally uttered. "What-?"

"I'm not allowing this guy close to you." Conan flinched slightly, surprised when his gaze was settled on him. "Any of you."

He stayed like that, silent, just like the girl beside him, staring at the older detective with wide eyes for a little more than a typical reaction required. It gradually dimmed, shoulders relaxing once more, the corner of his lips twitching in a barely contained chuckle.

"I see." Arms crossed behind his head, Conan leaned back and closed his eyes. "Without me around, you wouldn't get payments from my parents anymore."

"This is no joking matter." Kogoro sounded strangely displeased, judging by his voice alone.

"Oh, did I say I was joking?"

"Conan, this is serious."

The firm nature of his statement had the boy looking again, rendered speechless just at the sight of Kogoro's eyes, or more likely, that certain anger dancing as flames behind them ─ and continued to, just, stare, as if there was actual fire in front of him, attention captivated by nothing but a primal instinct.

With his smile burned out from existence, Conan's eyebrows drew out a frown. "What are you going to do?" he asked.

"I'm staying here," replied the man. No hesitation. "By getting close to me, I got close to him."

"You're going to investigate him." It was no question. "That's what you're saying."

The lack of response, ironically, served as enough answer for the small detective. He seized him with a look, stating his feelings clearer than any words could. This is madness, it said.

Yet Kogoro remained impassive.

"I'm not going anywhere."

Of course, it didn't last long. Bewildered, he turned back to his daughter ─ and her eyes, not missing the unshielded determination they shared, for widely different reasons.

"It's just your mother's house, Ran," Kogoro said, slowly ─ doing his absolute best to reason with her. "Nothing is going to change. You'll still attend the same school, hang out with your friends… The only thing that's going to change is-"

"-that you're staying here," Ran completed for him, definitely not any more convinced about the whole thing than minutes ago. "Alone, with that dangerous person working at the café downstairs."

"That's more the reason you can't be here!"

"And you can?"

"Ran, don't be unreasonable-"

"No. I'm absolutely not leaving without you."

Back and forth they went, paying no regard to the young eyes that bounced from one side to the other, subjected to serious flashbacks about Minerva Glass's tennis match. None of them gave signals of yielding.

There was a time Conan had wondered how such a kind angel like Ran could have come from that lousy detective of a drunkard. But now, it was hard not to see the resemblance.

Whatever the case, that newfound likeness between the two of them was making it impossible to find common ground in the foreseen future.

"Aren't you being a little optimistic?" Conan pipped in. "You really thought you could take care of yourself without Ran-neechan around?"

For once, he looked away from his daughter to glare at him. "Of course I can take care of myself."

Conan settled on a plain stare. "I beg to differ."

Kogoro rolled his eyes. "Then, if you're just a smart brat," he said. "Do you have a better idea?"

"We stay." With a smirk, the boy added, "All three of us."

"So we all can get killed together. Great idea, brat."

"On the contrary," said Conan. "If we feign ignorance by staying, Bourbon doesn't become wary of us. And we live. Easy, right?"

"I agree," said Ran. "Besides, if we are all together, we can watch each other's backs!"

"Yeah!"

There was a brilliant grin on the boy's face, replicated by the girl as they nodded at each other, in a wordless pact that Kogoro had no part of. Powerless to do anything, Kogoro buried his face into his palm and let out a rather loud, exhausted sigh.

"Do what you want," he muttered, utterly defeated.

Ran's eyes lit up, yet Conan's dulled with boredom.

"No need you to tell me," he said.

He didn't wait for a response either, merely hopping off the couch.

"Where are you going?" asked Kogoro, watching him heading to the door just after stating he was going to stay.

"I'm going out to play soccer with Genta and the others," he said, pausing at the doorway. "The Professor bought some fancy cake and we're going to eat it later."

"Take a jacket with you," said Ran ─ like the mother-hen she was, mused Conan.

"A jacket?" Kogoro raised an eyebrow. "We're in the middle of summer…"

"Yeah, but I heard it was going to rain today."

"I see… Better take one with you, brat," said Kogoro, adding with a scoff, "Sick children are a pain to deal with."

"Dad…"

Conan honestly considered shooting a response back at him, but one glance at his watch had him changing his mind. He was running late as it was, especially if he needed to run up to his room to get a jacket before leaving. Best-case scenario, his friends would just complain about his lateness and let go.

But the possibility of them coming to pick him out was uncomfortably high.

Maybe I should tell them not to go to my home, under any circumstances, he decided, going up the stairs, two at a time. At least, until Bourbon quits or whatever.

Which sounded better said than done. The guy was probably going to stick for as long as possible.

Unless…

He froze midway through the stairs, staring at space in contemplation. Rapidly he shook his head, trying to banish that stupid idea away from existence.

Yet, the idea stuck, clawing to the back of his mind, far too stubborn to fully abandon him.

No matter how hard Ayumi kicked Genta's old soccer ball, Conan had no trouble catching it. He let it fall onto his chest to get it under his control, then allowed it to descend to his left heel, where it remained, bouncing repeatedly.

A certain strawberry blonde haired little girl stood in front of him, arms stretched at both her sides ─ even though they were playing soccer, meaning that hands were certainly not allowed. A smirk crept up onto her face.

"I'm not letting it through!" she declared.

"Sure, you aren't."

Then, proceeded to kick it over her head, just to be recovered by the bespectacled boy behind her ─ when had he gotten there? She stood back, frozen by surprise for a beat before she turned around, to spot the wide, mischievous enlarging grin directed at her all the way from the other corner of the field ─ if a borrowed, limited spot on that public park could be called a 'field', in any case.

"It won't get past me!" Running came Mitsuhiko, determined not to retrieve the possession of the ball ─ which, admittedly, he had barely gotten the chance to even touch today.

It simply slid between his legs and was gathered by Conan again. Seeing his chance, the small detective took off in a sprint, easily outrunning the two children hot on his tail, and met eyes with Genta. Eyes narrowing, limbs extended, he made sure to let Conan know he was going to guard their makeshift goal post with everything he had.

Which determinedly wasn't enough, since Conan scored yet another goal the following second.

"Alright!" From the other goal post, Ayumi was bouncing on her feet. "Our fourth goal! Conan-kun's so cool!"

Conan was pretty sure it was their fifth, but he wasn't about to correct her.

Genta groaned as he lifted himself off the ground, gathering in his hands, to settle a glare onto Conan's self. "Hey, this isn't fair," he grumbled.

"Maybe there's a problem with the rules," said Mitsuhiko.

Conan raised an eyebrow. "This is a three-on-two match where your team has more players, Mitsuhiko. Where I'm not allowed to use my right foot," he said. "I think I can see more than a few problems with the rules."

Ai scrutinized him with her eyes. "Then we'll have to seal away your left foot, too."

"Then what's left for me to use? My head?"

"But if we let Conan-kun head the ball, we might end up even worse!" Mitsuhiko pointed out.

Genta had the perfect solution to their newfound problem. "Then you can't use your head either."

Conan threw his hands up in the air. "Sure, I could just blow the ball to move it to the goal post," he said, tone dripping sarcasm.

Yet Ai was looking at him like she was actually considering it.

Hey, hey, seriously-

"Let's go!"

Eh?

By the time he realized the ball was back in the game, his two friends were already heading for their post. "Hey, Genta!" he shouted, irritated, as he began to chase them. "That's so low!"

Genta only snickered in return. Contrarily, watching Mitsuhiko passing the ball to Ai, Ayumi panicked.

"Okay! Here I go!" exclaimed Ai. "Higo-san's signature no-spin shot!"

Ayumi braced herself, awaiting the shot that ultimately never came to be. Ai's foot merely grazed it, causing the girl to lose her balance and fall back, and the ball came rolling gently for Ayumi to catch, chanting with a bright smile, "Lucky~!"

"Woah, just like Higo-san!" Conan came forward, clapping his hands. "He'd definitely be impressed if he saw it!"

She sent him a look he replied to with a smug grin of his own.

"Sorry," Mitsuhiko said. "I should've passed the ball better."

Ai's expression changed dramatically as she turned to the other boy. "It's not that," she said.

Before any of them could think of asking what she meant with it, she started crawling, reaching for a small calico cat they had not noticed being there. "This kitty jumped in front of the ball, so I couldn't kick it," she explained, affectionately nuzzling her head against the cat.

Evidently, a cute animal would have all children crowding together around it.

It took one glimpse for Conan's eyes to widen in recognition. "Taii?"

"Taii?" repeated Genta.

"Yes, Taii." Conan crouched right beside the girl, to confirm that, yes, he was the one. "He's a stray who set up camp around the Agency. He's attached to Azusa-san at Poirot, and goes there every evening for food."

"But is it really a stray?" questioned Ai, eyeing the collar around his neck.

"Apparently, he used to be someone's pet."

Out of the blue, the cat made it known that he wanted out ─ squirming out of the arms he had been resting on so comfortably. Confused, the children watched the feline dart away, with no clear destination.

Conan shrugged after a moment of consideration, turning to fetch the ball before Genta would play that dirty trick again.

"It'd be horrible if he jumped into the road and got run over by a car!"

The bespectacled kid halted.

"Let's chase it!"

Let's not.

Not that he had time to voice his displeasure, as everyone started to run, leaving him no chance to get them to, just, wait. Seeing no other choice, he was forced to follow, not without taking the time to hurry over to where they had left their belongings.

These guys… Arms full of jackets whose existence had been forgotten by their owners ─ besides his, obviously ─ and a sigh hung on his lips, Conan rushed over to catch up with them. I sure hope they are not the ones getting run over by a car.

It did not take long to find them, right around the corner, frantically pointing at something happening in the opposite lane. There was a large truck, from Cheetah Delivery Service, judging by the giant logotype in sight, and Taii, staring at the vehicle in a way that had Conan silently begging that no, don't you dare to-

Naturally, the feline jumped right inside the truck.

A refrigerated truck, as indicated by the chilling air slapping his cheeks the moment they put a foot inside, was a dramatic contrast to the summer blistering warmth outside. Better find Taii and get the hell out of here, he thought, hugging the bundle of clothes he had carried all the way from the park here. Wouldn't want to catch a cold.

Moving further inside alongside his friends, Conan wondered if it wouldn't have been wiser to wait for the driver to come back and nicely ask him to get the cat out.

Hiding behind yet another stack of boxes, they saw Taii's little head poking out.

"There you are," said Ai, smiling as she crouched down next to the animal.

Ayumi did the same. "Taii-chan!"

The three boys joined them, crouching behind the many mountains of cardboard boxes lying around.

"Geez, that cat really gets in a lot of trouble…" Genta commented.

"You said it," sighed Mitsuhiko.

"Reminds me of someone," said Ai, without looking away from the cat.

It took Conan an entire second to realize who she was referring to. "Listen here-"

"Geez, you left the door wide open!"

"Ah, sorry."

Not as much as it took him to understand their current predicament, or rather, why the sunlight seemed to cut off out of the blue, leaving the children to exchange puzzled looks amid the newfound darkness. Only when Mitsuhiko ran back to the front, shouting loudly in hopes of anybody hearing, did realization really fall on him.

They locked us in?

Soon came the inevitable sound of the engine, setting Mitsuhiko, Ayumi and Mitsuhiko in panic mode. "They started driving without us!" the latter said, stating the obvious.

"Isn't that bad?" Genta worried.

"Are we going to freeze, too?" asked Ayumi, in a small frightened voice.

But then, she found herself blinking ─ confusion easily overriding the fear at the object presented right in front of her eyes. She later identified it as her jacket ─ whose existence had slipped from her mind until the present moment ─ and following the arm that held it revealed a familiar, comforting blue gazing back at her behind oversized glasses.

"You all forgot these at the park." She retrieved it from his hands, only then noting that Conan had his own jacket on him, and a couple more sitting on his arms. "If we stay here in our summer clothes, we'll freeze for real."

Ayumi nodded as the boy walked past her to reach the boys. "It'll be fine," he said, handing his belongings to Mitsuhiko first. "I saw a bunch of undelivered goods scheduled for today."

The freckled boy lit up at his words. "I see!" he said, clutching the jacket he had yet to put on out of excitement. "All we have to do is to get out the next time the delivery guys open the door!"

Conan grinned. "Exactly."

Then went to give Genta his jacket. From the corner of his eye he saw Ai approaching him and, while initially thinking nothing of it, a certain feeling, or lack thereof, on his arms had him pausing, slowly turning his head until it met with the small scientist's expectant gaze.

Gradually, her eyes darkened. "Where is it?" she hissed.

"Where is… what?"

"I thought you brought everyone's jackets with you."

Needless to say, his arms were empty. "It's probably…" He scratched his cheek sheepishly. "... still in the park."

Neither of his other friends uttered a word, absolutely unwilling to lend him a hand. Not that he thought he would, had he been an outsider to the current situation, but it still stung quite a bit.

Ai's arms were on her waist. Her glare intensified, if possible.

"I might have dropped it accidentally on my way here." He wouldn't doubt it for a second ─ his arms were only so long and he had been forced to gather five jackets in a hurry. "But don't worry! We'll be back in the lovely blistering warmth outside in a matter of minutes-"

"You don't get it, do you?"

Conan paused to really look at her. Her head had dropped slightly, enough for her eyes to be hidden away from his sight. Hands at her sides, ballet into tight, trembling fists.

Out of instinct, he took a single step backwards; the shock dulled his senses and kept him from asking what was wrong.

That jacket… was it so important for her? he wondered. Something so precious she couldn't afford to lose?

The possibility was bigger than ever before. He felt his stomach drop at the thought that it might be lost forever, because of him.

"That jacket-" she began. Conan frowned, preparing himself for whatever was to come ─ and to apologize, if it applied. "-was a limited edition!"

"Look, I'm so- Wait." Conan blinked comically. "Limited edition?"

"A collaboration with Fusae Brand!" She nodded firmly. "Do you even have an idea of how hard it was for me to get it?!"

His expression dulled. "How big is your allowance, exactly?"

"How hard it was for me to convince the Professor to buy it for me, of course."

Ah, that makes much more sense.

"Five to fifteen minutes."

"You're making it sound like he's such a pushover…" Conan gave her a look. "But you aren't wrong."

In response, the boy shrugged, nonchalantly crossing his arms behind his head.

It shouldn't take long, thought he, taking in the large quantity of packages placed neatly at each side of the storage compartment, so he assumed chances were that the delivery guys were bound to stop to deliver any of them in minutes. Getting out of there was the priority, then he would think of a way to soothe Ai's ruffle feathers ─ and avoid a potentially painful death by human experimentation, or something alike.

Backing away for the time being was the safest, he decided.

Well, not quite, he decided, feeling the pain of his body colliding against a large box ─ heavy, too, since it withstood Conan's weight just fine without sliding away. His friends noticed none of it, having busied themselves by playing with Taii, and he wasn't about to tell them ─ he had pride, believe it or not ─ so he opted to play it off.

But he did end up whirling around to glare at the inanimate object, as if it amounted to anything.

A beat later, however, the annoyance passed, and perplexity came to take its spot. Why was there a box there, in the middle of the storage when the others were piled at the corners? Probably due to its immense weight, he mused, they have barely been able to board it with all their strength combined, so that was why it was there.

But wait… Then it doesn't make sense, thought the boy, crouching down to inspect it closer, just to discover dented corners and smudged sides. It's as if it had been rolled over repeatedly.

Granted, it could have happened, as slim as the probability was, provided that the truck moved so violently that it was thrown aside. That being the case, he would have found any signs of damage in the nearby packages, which he did not find ─ the box, as stated previously, was heavy.

No, they deliberately rolled it over.

For reasons that, as for yet, he couldn't picture. Cupping his chin in between fingers, he struggled to think of a single one, but found himself unable to do such a thing.

To slow down rigor mortis, the thought welcomed itself in his mind unexpectedly, stealing a dry chuckle out of it. Come on, not everything has to be about crime and death! Let's think of something else.

Besides, I haven't found a body yet… Have I?

He eyed the large immovable box warily.

"Guys?"

"Huh?"

"Maybe stepping out isn't such a terrific idea after all."

"Eh?"

But suddenly, the sound of the engine ceased to be. Now, he did not know what kind of expression he made, but it had to be one to remember, seeing the terror-stricken, pale faces that stared back at him ─ even though they did not know what was going on, they evidently knew that something was not right. Or at least that was what Conan assumed. He wasn't staying around to confirm it.

Rather, he plucked Taii from the ground and hurried to hide behind the boxes, hoping that his friends would follow his lead, which, fortunately, they did. Just in time, too, because the doors opened the moment they all disappeared from sight.

"Hey, quit dawdling! Hurry up and deliver 'em!"

"I think I heard somebody inside…"

"Don't be stupid. That makes no sense."

They seemed to let it go, proceeding to climb up the truck. Risking a glance around the box, Conan saw those two for the first time today, yet perceived nothing out of the ordinary. One of them bore a large complexion and a rather plain face, while the other was much smaller, but had an incredibly nasty expression ─ for a moment, Conan was tempted to point the latter out as the criminal by looks alone, even though he had yet to confirm the existence of, well, a crime, for starters.

Right away, the large one found the package they had to deliver next ─ a fruit assortment package for someone at Beika Condo, as the other guy had said. At that point, Conan was about to declare every ounce of suspicion as paranoia and calmly walk out, hoping that explaining the whole thing with Taii would let them off the hook.

"Drop it on the entryway floor on purpose like before," said the nasty-looking one. "And make sure they remember your name and face!"

Conan stopped himself just in time.

"They're our precious witnesses."

W-Witnesses?!

"Meanwhile, I'll go ask the nearby corner shop to use their toilet like last time."

So, he stood still as a statue, no movement at all besides the slight narrowing of his eyes.

"Hey, just to be safe, shouldn't we check the cargo area?" the plain-looking one said. "I'm intrigued by that voice."

In return, Conan felt himself flinch. His muscles tensed, ready to run in case that he acted upon his words. But then he remembered ─ he wasn't alone. Was there a way that he could take out two adults on himself so that they could run away?

It was highly unlikely. He needed a plan, and now.

"Don't bother." Or maybe he didn't. "He can't possibly make any voices, you know."

And that right there was it ─ the confirmation that they had screwed up, again. It wasn't until he heard the sound of the doors closing and locking that he allowed himself to quietly slide away from his position.

Whatever his friends were whispering about in the background faded over to the back of his mind, as he got closer to the ominous box from before. Carefully, he peeled the tape off to peek inside.

And, indeed, there he was ─ the sixth passenger.

It was a man of generic appearance, probably in his forties, tucked inside the box in an awkward position he attributed to the culprits rolling the box periodically to slow rigor mortis ─ apparently, he had been right about that one. Thinking about it, the freezing temperatures of a refrigerated truck would also aid to such an objective. Brazenly, he tilted the man's head forward to see nothing, actually. There was no blood anywhere, but he couldn't discard a head injury ─ not that he would be able to tell, with the lack of light.

He turned his attention to his watch, suddenly reminded that he had a flashlight. But no matter how hard he clicked the button, it wouldn't activate. Great, the cold must have messed it up, he thought. Which meant, naturally, that anesthetic darts were off the map as well. This watch has been more trouble than it's worth lately…

All he had were his shoes, yet he failed to see how he was supposed to knock both criminals almost simultaneously and not die in the process.

Suddenly, there was light. Not from the outside ─ thank God for that ─ but from an artificial source at his side. "Ah, thanks," he said, figuring it came from his friends' watches, without needing to have a look.

"N-No problem, but…" Mitsuhiko's shaky voice confirmed it. "But… uh…"

"What is it?"

"That's a body, isn't it?"

"Oh, yeah. A dead body."

Simultaneously, they all flinched, or so Conan perceived from the corner of his eye. "I don't know who he is, or why he was killed," the boy said, too focused on the newfound corpse to pay attention to anything else. "But the ones who did it were probably the delivery men from earlier."

In perfect harmony, all of his friends ─ except for Ai, naturally ─ screamed out of surprise, so loudly that, for a beat, Conan worried that they might have heard, even though it was unlikely seeing that the truck was still moving. At their clear bewilderment, Conan stated out loud all he had deducted at the moment, as little as it was for now.

For instance, the reason why this man was in there might have been the cooling equipment ─ a decrease of decomposition rate would push the estimated time of death forward. By dropping the packages at the clients' door, they made sure their faces were known, thus creating witnesses to serve as their alibi. Same went with visiting the restroom at nearby shops recurrently. All they had to do was to claim they were sick on the stomach, and they would have their faces showing on surveillance cameras with no further suspicion.

Ai, who was holding Taii tightly against her chest, grimaced. "Hold on," she said. "So if those two find us…"

For the first time, Conan glanced away from the box, eyes narrowing on her. "It's game over," he said. "For all of us."

Again, panic settled in ─ running was out of the question, as Ai later clarified, with their bodies numbed by the unrelenting cold. Yet Conan did not let that get into his head. Simply smiled, trying to appear as reassuring as possible.

"That's it, if they find us," he said, plucking out his phone from inside his jacket's pockets. "We can just call Detective Takagi and have him deal with all of it."

They lit up considerably after hearing it.

"That being said, can someone lend me their phone?" Conan's smile turned a little stiff. "My phone's battery is almost depleted, so…"

He had intended to charge it before leaving, remembered Conan, but Ran had broken the news of Bourbon's true identity, so it had naturally been pushed to the back of his mind. Yet, he supposed it wouldn't be any problem, considering that those kids always carried their phones with them…

Or so he had thought. The unsure glances they shot at each other made him hesitate.

"You… don't have them with you?" It wasn't a question.

Silence worked far better than any words, but did little to explain things to the confused, bespectacled boy. Sure, Mitsuhiko's phone had been bugged only recently and, as agreed, he had disposed of it, pretending to accidentally break it so as not to have Bourbon realizing that they knew about it. But they had also agreed that Conan's mother would buy another one for him. Had he still not gotten it?

No, that was not it ─ he certainly had received it. There was a different reason, Conan knew, just by seeing his gaze cast at his feet, and the way he shifted uncomfortably on his spot.

And it wasn't only him. Genta and Ayumi were not different at all.

They are scared. Conan's gaze softened at the discovery. After what happened, they are all worried they might endanger someone just by carrying a phone…

Which was perfectly understandable, decided Conan. For that, he couldn't blame any of them.

Thus, he didn't press them further, turning to Ai next. "What about you?"

Her eyebrow trembled. "It was in my jacket's pocket," she said, voice gelid.

That was dangerous territory. Maybe it was safer to just back off and stop reminding her he had lost her precious jacket ─ even though it was clearly not his fault. He wasn't the one who had gotten distracted by a cat and forgot it in a park. Really, how was he to blame? At least he had tried, and luckily he had. Surviving this long in a refrigerated truck in such thin clothes? None of them would have…

His train of thought violently stopped when he remembered. Hadn't Ai been wearing an ordinary summer dress?

But right now, she had a jacket on her. Conan blinked stupidly at the blatant contradiction.

Ai raised an eyebrow ─ he had definitely been staring too much. Then, as if reading his mind, he motioned him to look at something else. Mitsuhiko was standing there, looking even more puzzled than Conan, somehow.

Mitsuhiko was not wearing a jacket, but a long-sleeved T-shirt.

"Conan-kun?" asked the boy, flinching away from the ogling that did not seem to end. "Is there something wrong?"

Conan stared for some more, eyes squinting, before averting his gaze completely. Mitsuhiko's head tilted slightly, unable to comprehend what had just happened.

Did… Did I do something wrong?

"Oh, sorry. I'm kind of busy. Hold on a bit."

Protests fell on deaf ears as the Professor, or so Conan presumed, put the phone aside to deal with… whatever was that he was doing. Desperation made him raise his voice louder, shouting in a vain attempt to be heard over what seemed to be the sound of boiling oil ─ was he frying something?

Not that he stayed long to confirm it. With a click, the call had been terminated for Conan to contemplate in silence his contact list. At his side, his friends began asking questions, puzzled by his actions, yet he barely paid any attention to them.

Calling Takagi earlier had proved to be a failure ─ really, of all times, he could have chosen that one to turn off his phone, it had to be now? And now Agasa, who seemed to fail to see the urgency of the situation.

There was less than one percent of battery left. Soon, they would be left with no way to contact the outside world, and therefore, no way out from this freezing, moving prison.

"No luck?" asked Ai, calmer than anyone else.

Conan huffed, his vision momentarily blocked by his own condensed breath for a split second. "I have only one shot left," he mumbled, mostly to himself than to anyone else. "Whoever I call now has to pick up."

"What about Mouri-san?" asked Mitsuhiko. "I mean, detectives must always keep close attention to their phones, right? A client could call in any moment!"

Despite the brightening faces of both Ayumi and Genta, Conan felt like sighing. "Okino Yoko's drama must be on right now," replied the boy, shaking his head. "Believe me, he's the least likely to have his phone around."

Their shoulders dropped instantaneously, all sense of hope abandoning them rapidly.

What about Ran-neechan? Unlike her father, she usually had her phone on her. In fact, his trembling fingers were hovering over her name on the screen, just stopping themselves from tapping in the nick of time. Once she picks up, I'll have seconds. Maybe even less. Can I tell her everything in a few words?

That was beyond his capabilities ─ all he could hope was to pronounce a few words until the line went dead and have her fill in the blanks. Which posed another problem ─ would she be able to perfectly deduce everything happening in there? Sure, Ran was quite smart in her own right, but she was no detective.

"All that's left in that one person." As if reading his mind, Ai's plain tone rang through, voicing his thoughts to the utmost perfection. "The only person who fits the bill so perfectly."

Conan did not openly acknowledge her words, yet quickly began to look for that certain contact in his phone.

Hurry up and pick it up! thought Conan, phone pressed against his ear. You're our only hope right now!

"Akako-chan!" shouted the teenage girl, waving her arms in the middle of the crowded airport. "Here! Here!"

Like that, she went on and on while people walked by, sneaking brief glimpses as they passed before going on with their days. Yet, she did not give up, raising her voice's volume to the maximum, standing on the tip of her feet as if she would be finally seen if she was five inches higher.

Her target had yet to act upon her calls, vibrant red eyes looking anywhere but in her general direction.

"You think she's ignoring her?" whispered Kaito, crossing his arms over his chest, standing a suitable distance away from the screaming girl. "I mean, I would."

A non-committal hum was all he got in return. Feeling curious, the magician glanced at the boy standing at his side, taking a good sight of that certain frown carved into his face ─ the same one that he had grown used to seeing throughout these two years, that served as a reminder of the brilliant detective that hid under his disguise.

This time around, it had befallen the scarlet-eyed witch that stood still in the distance.

"I was worried, you know." That had broken the detective out of his stupor. The next second, he was blinking cluelessly back at him through Hirai's chocolate eyes. "After weeks of hearing no word about a certain detective I know, I get a call. What's the first person he asks for? Akako."

Finally understanding where he was getting at, Shinichi's gaze dulled.

"I genuinely thought Meitantei's poor heart had been broken by his sweet angel and was seeking a rebound."

"Now I understand why you rarely go to the movie theater," Shinichi said, plainly. "With all those movies living rent-free in your head-"

The grin vanished from Kaito's face. "Kudo?" he asked, greatly concerned when the detective, instead of finishing his sentence, whipped around, wild-eyed, frantically scanning all over the face as if searching for something. "Is something wrong?"

Kudo's hands were clutching his forearms, shivering despite being only August. "No," he said, giving a wary last look at his surroundings before he looked back at the magician. "It's probably nothing."

"You've been jumpy lately," said Kaito. "Is it because of that Bourbon guy?"

"Yeah." Shinichi nodded jerkily. The frown came back, and did not look like it would leave soon. "A guy like him being so close to Conan and the others…"

"But didn't you say it before? That he's merely recollecting information, and that it was highly unlikely that he would harm any of them."

He did not get a response right away, yet Kaito saw a shadow passing by the detective's eyes. "It's unlikely, but I cannot pretend I can predict their movements to utmost perfection," he said in a whisper. "You know what happened last time."

It had done wonders to silence the usually eloquent magician, but Shinichi was not any surprised with the result. Because he knew Kaito would never forget the events that transpired last Tanabata, just like it was the case with everyone involved in that disaster. At least, Shinichi was sure it would stay engraved in his mind, like yet another scar that would never fade away.

Besides, this isn't just another member. It's Bourbon. Inside his pockets, Shinichi's hands curled into fists. Believing I could predict what he's thinking is a mistake.

A mistake he had sworn never to repeat a long time ago.

But then, he was thrusted back to reality at the feeling of something buzzing. My phone. The realization came quickly enough, and the next second, he was pulling the device out to stare at the screen.

As he had feared, it was his little brother's name, the one displayed on it.

It was him who Akako noticed first, eyes caught upon the figure moving, rushing through the crowd of people in retreat. So quickly it had happened that she hardly realized it had been Hirai until she noted Kuroba's stretched hand, mouth opening as if to shout something, before settling into saying nothing at all.

While slightly curious about what might have happened, the young witch thought not further of it. Instead, she focused on Nakamori, waving her arms around with a sunny grin of her own.

Akako shook her head slightly, then, securing her bags onto her shoulders, began to make her way to meet them.

Or at least, that was what she had been intending. She had suddenly been forced to come to a stop at the felt of something bumping lightly against her shoulder. No harm had been done, yet she still considered it fitting to apologize.

But the platinum blonde woman said nothing, light blue eyes widening at full capacity as she stared back at her, shocked beyond belief for reasons Akako could not begin to comprehend.

It came to pass in a heartbeat. "I'm sorry." The strange woman smiled apologetically at her, but Akako could not get over the sense of longing steaming from it. "I thought you were someone I know."

Uttering no further word, the woman walked away. Akako stared at her for a second further, before pushing it back to the back of her mind. It wasn't her business, in any way.

None of it was ever noticed by the teenage detective, having only stopped running after finding a relatively quiet place in that insanely busy airport. Wishing not to waste more time, he picked it up.

Instantly, Shinichi knew something wasn't right ─ teeth chattering, and the sound of an engine in the background had him opening his mouth to demand an explanation.

Conan beat him to it.

"Chee-"

And the line went dead.

"Conan, are you there? Hey, Conan!"

"Damn it!"

It was tempting to flung the phone against the wall, but he ultimately won against the impulse. The frustration was still there, prompting him to let out a curse that would have Ran glaring if she heard ─ but really, he couldn't help it. The battery had died on him before he could speak a single word.

As required by the situation at hand, however, Conan did his best to work through it. Keeping his cool was primordial for survival ─ he forced himself to take a deep breath, gently tucking that useless phone back inside his pocket.

"It's okay, we'll figure something out," he said calmly. "You guys, show me everything you have."

His friends exchanged looks. Whether it was because they could hardly see a way out, or because of the sudden shift of his personality, Conan had no clue. That didn't keep them from rummaging through his pockets, pilling their belongings in front of him, as if an offering.

Ayumi had a handkerchief, pocket tissues, a candy and a cotton bud.

Mitsuhiko had a notebook with a ballpoint pen, yet another handkerchief, a wallet, and a taxi receipt his mother had dropped ─ which he had intended to give back but completely forgot about until the present time.

Lastly, Genta was carrying, as one might have expected, a chocolate bar. Alongside were a single bandaid and an anti-itch cream for treating frost nips…

Wait.

"Frost nips?"

"I never got any, but Mum nagged me to carry that anyway."

"We're in summer, Genta."

"I haven't used this jacket since last winter," explained Genta, slightly annoyed by the bored look his friend was shooting his way. "I must have forgotten to take it out then."

"Ah, I see." Filling it under 'not important' in his mind, Conan turned to Ai. "What about you-?"

The glare had him instinctively looking away. Right. The jacket. Anything she could have with her must be in there, Conan guessed. His attention was brought back to the items they had collected, frowned at the sight.

He could hardly see how these would help, even if they combined them. Well, he supposed it would be nice if they could write a note in Mitsuhiko's notebook and drop it outside the truck, like Ayumi suggested. But it was too risky ─ if it got stuck and discovered by the delivery guys, it wouldn't end well.

There has to be something we can do! It was hard for Conan not to give into panic ─ but he had to resist. If he freaked out, his friends would definitely do the same. Something-

But suddenly, his sight was blocked by a ball of fur, flopping over the things they had collected and stretching himself. You're taking this pretty well, Conan could not help but glare at the feline, like he could understand. You're the one who got us into this mess in the first place, so take some responsibility, will… you?

The glare softened, eyebrows raising high above his hairline.

"AH!"

And suddenly, he had lifted the animal up in the air, staring at it with such a wild gaze that had his friends backing away.

"You got us into this mess," he said, eyes not straying away from Taii's. "And you'll get us out!"

Taii mewed softly, as if he, too, was puzzled by the tiny detective's actions.

It didn't last long. The cat soon left his grasp, leaving the boy to stare up at the girl, cuddling Taii protectively in her arms, eyeing him warily ─ like, did she actually think he would harm him or something?

Conan sighed, tiredly. Whatever.

In the ground, there was a child-sized jacket ─ forgotten in the middle of an ordinary public park, up until the moment Shinichi stumbled upon it, crouching over to pick it up. His eyes surveyed the intricate design, paying special attention to the golden ginkgo leaf pattern embedded into the fabric.

This has to be Shiho-chan's, he thought, without a shadow of doubt ─ if the Fusae Brand logo wasn't proof enough, the smart phone in a lilac case he had seen in her hands once or twice in the past had to be it. No surprises there, since the Professor told him they had been playing soccer there ─ there was also a soccer ball lying around, too, so that pretty much confirmed it.

Apparently, they had been waiting for a special cake from Yokohama to arrive. The Professor had miscalculated and ordered for a much later time than he had supposed to, so they had gone out to play in the meantime. Evidently, being the Detective Boys, they couldn't do even that without getting in trouble.

His phone barely got the chance to ring before he picked it up. "The sixth district, too?"

The other side of the line went quiet. "That's exactly it," said Kaito, after a while, sighing as he did so. "I disguised myself as a delivery man, like you told me."

The detective was a second away from telling him not to waste any time explaining, as he had told him to do so in the first place ─ knocking on every door, pretending that he had a package to check if the actual delivery guys had arrived. Whether the answer Kaito was to receive, he would pretend he got it wrong and get out of there.

"I got it right on my first try." Kaito sounded rather irritated, for some reason that escaped Shinichi. "The lady who opened the door was furious, you know. Apparently, her package had taken an eternity to arrive, only for the delivery men to drop it on her doorstep. And then, I turn up also saying I had something for her." There was something in between a chuckle and a grimace. "Let me tell you, she almost skinned me alive when she saw me..."

"Just like in the second district…"

Actually, that had been Shinichi himself, who had also disguised himself for the same thing he had gotten Kaito into doing. There had been a man whose package had also been dropped at his doorstep, and a terrible delay.

There's no doubt they must be heading for the seventh district right now. Shinichi frowned profusely. Even if we headed there, we wouldn't make it in time.

"Hey, what are we even doing, anyway?" Kaito asked. "Tantei-kun couldn't tell you more than a fraction of a word, right? How in the world did you deduce he's stuck inside a home delivery truck?"

"I could hear his teeth clattering from the cold, and the sound of an engine ─ it's obvious he was in a refrigerated vehicle," said Shinichi, matter-of-factly, tucking Ai's jacket over his arm to begin moving. "And he might not have gotten the time to finish his message, but I heard part of it."

Kaito made a confused sound.

"When he said 'chee' he was trying to say 'cheetah'."

"Cheetah?"

"Cheetah Delivery Service," Shinichi explained as quickly as possible. "I searched on the internet on our way to Beika, and that's the only one that sounds remotely like it."

"I see," said Kaito, though the detective was left to wonder if he really did see it. "A delivery truck… it makes you wonder what kind of trouble he got into this time."

"He probably found a body."

Once more, it was silent. "Do I want to know how you know that?" There was an air of resignation in the thief's voice, which he paid no mind to.

"It's obvious." Kaito wanted to argue that, no, it was not, but kept it to himself. "If Conan actually got hold of his phone, then it means they weren't kidnapped, but rather, got locked up in there by accident." Shinichi's eyes narrowed as he explained it, even if there was no one out there to see it. "They could have simply stepped out next time they stopped to deliver something, and they'd have let go with nothing but maybe a light scolding… But they didn't."

"Because… they found a body?"

"That's what makes the most sense when you think about it. If you keep a body in a refrigerated truck, the rigor mortis is delayed, and their murderers would avoid any suspicion. And they've been dropping the packages on their clients' doorsteps, right?"

"So that their faces would be remembered," Kaito breathed out, finally being able to grasp the entire picture.

Shinichi did not confirm it, as useless as that might have been, and instead, remained quiet. It was because of that Kaito took the initiative. "What do we do now, Meitantei?" he asked. "Do we call the police?"

"It's easier said than done ─ we don't have any proof."

"But we have witnesses." Shinichi eyed the phone because, no, they didn't. "I mean, I could be one of them." That caught his attention, keeping his mouth shut in favor of him speaking his mind. "I could claim I saw some shady people loading suspicious baggage in a delivery truck. The police would have to come and investigate."

The plan was not terribly off the mark, and sounded that it might work, hadn't it been for the previous realization that the criminals were, most likely, already at the seventh district. If Conan and the others were inside the truck, reasoned Shinichi, they would have to be hiding behind the yet undelivered boxes to avoid detection. The number of packages would inevitably decrease as the day passed, and in no time, they would run out of places to hide and be found out.

He didn't want to think about what would happen next.

By the time the police find them, it will be too late. Shinichi gritted his teeth. If those criminals discover them, what could they possibly do?

Even if it's Conan, there's barely anything he could do in a truck full of refrigerated goods-

His head rose sharply. Refrigerated goods, he repeated in his mind. Cake… Yokohama…

Eyes widened violently, his pace quickening dramatically.

"Kuroba, head for the first district."

"Huh?"

"Cheetah Delivery Service starts their rounds at Beika," explained the detective, darting past the streets of Beika, hoping to get to his destination as soon as possible. "The people living in the second district complained about a huge delay. If the murder happened before then, everything would make much more sense."

"It has to have happened right at the beginning of the murderer's shift ─ the first district." Shinichi could not help the smirk that surfaced ─ he had expected that Kuroba would get the complete picture. "So my job is to figure out which house belongs to the victim?"

"And pretend to be a worried man who can't seem to find their missing neighbor," said Shinichi, nodding. "Think you could do that for me?"

Kuroba snorted.

"Who do you think you're talking to, Meitantei? Leave it to me."

Much to his chagrin, Conan had to admit that their chances of survival were at the lowest at this point of time. Curling onto himself, the boy willed his little body to stop trembling, urging the gears in his brain, frozen solid and beyond useless, to keep on moving ─ he was struggling here, not to give up to despair and to think of a way out.

But even if they could survive the cold, there was no telling how long they could stay hidden. After having just finished their rounds at the seventh district of Beika, the amount of parcels yet to be delivered was diminishing at an alarming rate. In fact, Conan had heard that they were going back to the second district to drop off another package, and then they would return to 'take the body back to his own house in the first district' ─ their words, not his.

"Hey, Conan." Genta's voice was trembling ─ if it was because of fear or the cold, Conan had no way of knowing. "It's been ages since we let the cat go and nobody's coming to help us!"

Yet another of his plans that had failed horribly ─ what a shame, too. Conan had been a little proud of that one. Dipping Ayumi's earbud in Genta's anti-itch cream he had gotten to erase a few letters on Mitsuhiko's taxi receipt to spell the word 'corpse' and the license plate number before sticking it in Taii's collar, letting him free to go beg for food at Poirot at usual… But…

"Maybe that code was too difficult?" Ayumi asked, worried about the possibility.

"No, it wasn't," responded Conan with astounding certainty. "The paper must have just slipped out of its collar."

Disheartened, Ayumi let out a sigh, going back to bury her face onto her knees, while Genta groaned, frustrated beyond belief. Conan simply watched them, an empty gaze of his own ─ all hope that had been encouraging him to keep on trying, absolutely drowned by the thoughts that danced on his head ─ the logical part of his brain telling him it was useless, that there was no way out.

I should have called you first, shouldn't I? A sad smile crept up into his face as he hugged his legs closer to his chest. Had I gotten to speak to you, would you have found us already?

About that, he wasn't certain ─ he had no way of knowing, yet he had the slightest suspicion that he would.

But one thing is for sure. Had I called you first, at least I would have gotten the chance…

The chance to talk with you. One last time.

"You trust Azusa-san a little too much." Conan's head rose sharply, right at where the strawberry blonde sat, hugging herself to retain her body warmth. "How were you so sure that she would understand the code?"

It took a moment longer than usual to understand what she was implying. "Ah, no. All I was thinking was, if it was going to Poirot…" He averted his gaze, narrowing slightly at a random box lying around their freezing, moving prison. "Then that man would see it for sure."

Eyebrows knitted together, Ai continued to scrutinize him, taking an interest in the serious disposition that he had suddenly gained ─ at least, more than what the already delicate situation required. Ayumi and Genta, too, were staring at him, yet it was clear that the confusion was dulling their strength ─ they paused to exchange looks and blink.

Yet, unlike Genta, her attention was caught by something outside their friends' exchange.

Eventually, Ai's severe gaze shifted, pure fear taking control of it. "Don't tell me…" She was shivering violently, yet it was clear it was not from the cold. "That man you're talking about is…"

Conan's closed gently. A light nod from his part had her rising to her feet, looking at him as if she wanted to run and smack him over the head, all at the same time.

"I thought he would figure it out straight away." Yet Conan held on bravely, his gaze rising to meet with hers and say the rest to her face, "Since he's one of the men in black ─ Bourbon."

Ai did not look pleased by the turn of events ─ not that he had expected it to be.

"What?!" Strangely enough, it was Genta the one who reacted first, and not Ai ─ in fact, he had absolutely forgotten about their presence up until now. "Wasn't he the scary guy after Haibara?!"

"Yeah." Conan nodded, calmly. "But he's not looking for her anymore."

"But he's still dangerous, right?!" Genta continued to argue. "Can't he still recognize her?!"

"He can." Conan conceded. "But it's not like we have another choice but to take that risk."

The bigger boy paused long enough for Conan to sigh. His attention drifted back to the girl whose gaze, while silent, threatened to burn him alive despite the numbing cold they resided in.

"Mitsuhiko-kun, are you alright?" Everything was dispelled the next instant by Ayumi's sweet, worried voice. "You've been very quiet."

In fact, Conan realized she was right ─ he hadn't heard Mitsuhiko in a long while. Not that he was hard to find, curled in another corner like they all have been doing minutes before their slightly heated argument.

It would take another moment for the small detective to realize, much to his horror, that no. There was something that made his current disposition different from everyone else's ─ something was wrong.

"Yeah…" It was feeble ─ yet not trembling. "I seem to have managed to get over the cold somewhat…"

Alarms went off Conan's head as he rose back to his feet, making his way closer to his friend.

"I've stopped shivering, too."

Conan's eyes widened behind his glasses ─ that had been what he had been fearing. Opening his mouth, he was about to voice his concern, yet as soon as he reached Mitsuhiko's position, he halted.

The boy did not even sway once ─ just dropped like a rag doll.

"Mitsuhiko!"

A purple hue was dyeing his fingertips, much to Conan's horror. He should have known, he berated himself, desperately shaking his friend to get him to open his eyes. But it was all useless.

Mitsuhiko, who had lent Ai his jacket, had only been wearing a thin T-shirt. It was given that hypothermia would come to strike sooner. That was the obvious outcome ─ yet Conan had failed to see it.

"Mitsuhiko," he continued to call his name. "Come on, Mitsuhiko!"

Why, though? We're going to die. He had thought he had come to terms with their inevitable fate. That nobody was coming to rescue them, so it was either freezing to death or murdered in the spot…

It was useless to keep on trying. To keep on hoping for a miracle.

Yet…

"Hey, Mitsuhiko!" He couldn't stop himself from screaming. "Don't you dare die, Mitsuhiko!"

Mitsuhiko did not respond.

Conan bit his lip.

Oniichan… Please…

"MITSUHIKO!"

Oniichan, you have to find us!

A/N:

F.C. Meyer: Even though I really like that scene, it's probably not going to happen. Since the events differ from canon, I didn't think it would make sense here.