File One Hundred and Twenty-Seven: The Boy in the Library
It wasn't like Conan to get up so early without his friends' prompting. Or, at least, earlier than those who lived with him.
Yet it wasn't as much of a surprise as it might have been, and really, there was nobody else to blame but himself for it. Sera might have been the one who locked him in a chest, true, but he was the one who had agreed with it ─ the one who should have known of the memories would bubble up to the surface to shake him awake in the morning, gasping for air and swimming in sweat.
Is it bad that I'm getting used to this? he had wondered, a dry chuckle resounding in the middle of the silence.
Once awake, it had been impossible to fall asleep again. So he had decided, why not? He could just get up and relieve Ran from the task of preparing breakfast, for once. And that was how she found him when she stumbled inside the kitchen about fifteen minutes later, moving around with a few eggs secured against his arms.
"Oh, Conan-kun!" Ran exclaimed, making her presence now. "You didn't have to!"
"It's okay, I don't mind," he replied, a smile ready on his lips. "I used to do this all the time before I moved here."
The face she made afterwards was one of understanding, as well as sympathy, all the same. "Living with Shinichi must have been hard, huh?"
"You get used to it," he shrugged, easily climbing up the stool he had placed earlier. "But don't worry. I'll straighten him up some before you marry him."
She paused long enough to let the words sink in. "W-Where did that come from?!"
A good-hearted laugh was everything he offered her. His smile lingered long thereafter, imagining the flustered mess the girl behind her must have turned to, just judging by her voice alone. However, as tempting as that might have been, he didn't turn, far too focused on not messing up their breakfast.
Though, being fair, he was probably lying to himself. It wasn't breakfast the reason he didn't dare to look ─ it was fear. Fear of that look that foretold that certain question…
"Did you sleep well, Conan-kun?"
Of course.
"Sort of."
Again, his attention did not drift away from the food he was preparing. Because he knew she knew, and of course, was aware of the presence of that concerned gaze he did not like seeing in her face, accompanied by that resigned sigh his ears could not block out.
Maybe she, too, had long gotten used to this.
"Ran!" Kogoro's voice boomed through the entire house, weaving its way to the kitchen.
At the door he saw, after an alarmed spin that almost had him tumbling down his stool, the aforementioned man standing at the doorway, a hand gripping the doorway in a way that convinced Conan that, whatever was bothering him, it was urgent.
"The brat isn't in his bed! Could he have… snuck off… somewhere…?" he trailed down, eyes drifting from his daughter's face, rising somewhere above her shoulder. "What are you doing there?"
Conan settled him with a plain look, raising a spatula.
A scowl returned to Kogoro's face, and the kid could not get over the feeling that such an expression suited him better, somehow. "Hey," he began. "Get out of my kitchen. You're gonna set something on fire."
"Your kitchen?" Conan turned around, easily flipping a pancake over as he talked. "That's weird. I don't think I've ever seen you here."
"I paid for it. So it's mine."
He took his time to set the freshly prepared pancake on a plate.
"Okay," he said. "I'll stop here."
"You will?"
He sounded confused. Why did he tell me not to if he thought I wouldn't?
"Yup," Conan said. The same spatula was now pointing at the older, disbelieving detective. "Only if you take over."
Kogoro stood back, silenced by shock.
"What? You don't expect your daughter to do everything for you, do you?"
Those words were all it took to make him snap back to reality, a scoff leaving him as he crossed his arms over his chest.
The spatula was left hanging awkwardly in the air, not unlike that of a sword pointing at the older man in a wordless challenge. "It's okay if you don't want to." Lips curving into a smirk, the kid added, "I understand this might be well beyond your league."
Kogoro flinched violently, just as Conan turned back around. "Cooking breakfast is not child's play nowadays," he continued, shrugging as he did so. "You're a wise man, Occhan. To understand our flaws as human beings-"
Suddenly, the spatula was whisked away from his hand. "Give me that," was all that Kogoro said, eyes roaming across the counter, frantically ─ as if he was in front of a puzzle he did not know where to begin solving.
"Maybe you might want to start with the eggs. Look, you hold it like this and then…"
And forgotten in the dawn of their argument was Ran, standing in a corner of the room, at the verge of viciously rubbing her eyes at the scene she had never thought she would see in her entire life ─ for plenty of reasons, in fact. It took several seconds of her seeing her father stir some, and his little instructor pointing stuff at him, to convince herself that she wasn't still dreaming. That it was real.
Stifling a giggle between one hand, she captured the rare moment with the other ─ a photo that would remain stored in her phone, just like this moment would stay, engraved in her memory forever.
Even though it should have been a good thing, it soon became a little too lively at the Mouri's. And with that, he meant Kogoro gushing like a fangirl over Okino Yoko ─ seriously, the fact that her face would pop up every time he turned up the TV was almost as much of a headache as it was a concern. No matter the date, time, or season, she would be there. She was everywhere, not even joking.
In a way, she's just a little scarier than the Black Organization…
So, half an hour after the mostly decent breakfast they had whipped out, he had found himself venturing inside his local library, his prized copy of The Sign of Four tucked under his arm, in a desperate search for some well-deserved break after weeks upon weeks worth of murder and crime ─ and a certain group of energetic children he happened to be friends with.
It went without saying that, in order to do that, he had to purposely ignore the fact that he had been there before ─ also read as 'chased around the building by a creepy librarian who wanted to kill him and his friends'.That's the standard for Beika, thought the boy, stifling a groan with a book he had buried his face in. Is there a place I have yet to encounter a crime at?
The silence prevailed ─ unable to provide answers to any of those questions.
Not for long, however. Conan perked up suddenly, his ears catching up with the sound of a chair being dragged from close.
Finding the culprit was no problem. There was a kid about his age, his face mostly obscured by a combination of raven black hair and his reluctance to look up. Making no further sound, he opened up his bag and started to take out his things. A pencil case, a small notebook ─ all of it made Conan think this kid's reason to be here wasn't only peace, but school work.
Normally, he wouldn't have cared at all, but the library was so big, yet absolutely deserted. And this boy had, for whatever reason, chosen to sit right in front of him, at the same desk he had comfortably settled into. He couldn't decide if he was supposed to be curious or terribly disappointed by it.
Soon he settled with the latter, as every ounce of interest dispelled with a shrug of his own. Whatever this boy might have wanted must not be related to him, decided Conan, and it was not stopping him from enjoying his beloved mystery ─ which, really, after reading it maybe a dozen of times, it shouldn't really count as such. Not that he cared.
But his plans were, of course, bound to fail. "Um…" And it was hard, incredibly hard, to hold back a sigh when it became clear that the boy wanted to engage in a conversation. "Have you finished your summer homework yet?"
"Yes."
He flipped a page over, refusing to look away from his novel. Rather than discouraged, however, his unwelcome companion awed quietly.
"You really are a genius like everyone says, Conan-kun!" Conan paused after hearing that. "Maria-chan told me she was having a hard time because Kobayashi-sensei gave you loads of them…"
Finally, turning his focus away from the book, Conan studied the boy carefully.
"Who are you, again?" he blurted out.
The boy tried to hide a flinch with a nervous laugh. "I'm Honda Isamu, from 3-A." Conan did not seem to get it ─ Honda frowned. "We met at the Bell Tree Express the other day, remember?"
Did we? Conan racked his mind, struggling to remember if they had crossed paths at some point, but got no results at all. Though, to be fair, my mind was all over the place back then. So he wouldn't be surprised if they had met, and had simply failed to register it.
"Say," the boy suddenly said, breaking Conan out of his stupor.
His fingers, which he didn't quite remember moving, parted away from his chin, paying full attention to the way his companion shifted in his seat, visually nervous for some reason he had yet to comprehend.
"Since I walked in here, it caught my attention, and I was wondering…" Honda began, quietly. "That book you're holding…"
"Yeah?"
"That's The Sign of Four by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, isn't it?" Conan's eyes widened slightly. "It's in English, right-?"
"You like Sherlock Holmes?!"
Immediately, he recognized the widening of Honda's eyes as horror, and when the embarrassed flush of his cheeks came, he clamped a hand over his sunny grin, sliding back onto his seat with a blush of own ─ decidedly not stopping to glance over where the librarian was definitely glaring at him right now.
Like, they were the only ones in there ─ who was there to bother, anyway?
"I've only gotten a hold of A Study in Scarlet, but it blew my mind," continued Honda, a small smile on his face. "I was looking for that one, but this library only has it in Japanese. Since I've lived in London, I didn't have any trouble reading in English, but kanji is too complicated for me…"
"No, sorry. I brought this from home," Conan began. Honda's head dropped lightly, dejectedly. "But you shouldn't just give up on kanji. I learned lots of them in the Japanese version."
Not that Honda appeared too enthusiastic about that. "Say, how about this?" Conan spoke instead. "Why don't you file out the kanji giving you trouble and show them to me? I'll help you."
Honda's face lit up. "Will you?"
A bright grin stretched from side to side in his face, a light laugh bubbling up. "Anything for a fellow Holmes' fan!"
"Thank you so much-!"
He immediately cringed over the glare that struck from the further corner of the room, fumbling with his things, presumably to start on his homework for once. Conan watched him, the ghost of an amused smile that didn't quite fade away completely. That was, obviously, until he watched Honda try to open his notebook ─ try, because he didn't succeed at all.
"The key," sighed Honda, rummaging through his pencil case. "Where did I put it?"
A closer look revealed it wasn't exactly a notebook, but one of those journals that came with a lock. Confusion must have shown on his face, because the boy took one glance at him and smiled awkwardly, turning it over so that Conan could see Detective Samonji's franchise logo carved into it.
"I saw this and thought I could use it instead of a notebook," explained Honda. "I'm a big fan, after all."
Conan stared for a while, blinking twice. That much is obvious. But that decision might not have been the best one, the small detective could tell, watching the other boy struggle to get his journal to open, but to no avail.
In a desperate attempt, Honda had taken out a pen, starting on picking out the lock. Should I tell him that isn't how lock-picking works?
"There he is!"
"Conan-kun!"
"Hey, isn't that Honda next to him?"
Conan barely hid a flinch when Ayumi's voice, of all people, reached his ears. It just couldn't be, could it? Why would they be in a library in the middle of their summer break? He must have imagined it, no questions about it.
Or that was what he thought. Running up to the table he occupied were that certain trio of bright smiles that bode no good to him. He couldn't decide if he was supposed to be impressed that they had met there, or that they didn't seem to react to the dark glares from the librarian.
"Lower your voices," sighed Conan. "You'll get us kicked out."
Softly, they professed their apologies, nervous smiles on each of their faces.
"What are you doing here?" asked Conan.
"We went to visit you, but you weren't home," explained Mitsuhiko.
Ayumi nodded. "Ran-oneesan told us you would be here."
That's so nice of her, the sarcastic thought came, only then realizing the real meaning of his words. You came to the agency?! He wanted to cry out. Didn't I tell you not to come close?!
But with Honda sitting right beside him, he had to keep his lips shut. That didn't stop him from burying his face into his palms, muffling out a frustrated groan ─ of course, it was naïve of him to think he could keep them away from that café, and therefore, the man for long. They would be careful the first couple of times, but forever? He wasn't counting on that. And what happened today, together with the sheepish smiles of his three friends, had efficiently cemented that notion in his brain.
At this point, my only hope is that Bourbon suddenly quits or something. But that would be impossible. Unless the member got what he wanted ─ which he didn't think would be good, whatever it was ─ it wouldn't be logical for him to step out on his own foot…
Again, he focused on his friends, and wasn't surprised to see Ayumi, like the social butterfly she was, approaching Honda. "Say, do you want to come, too?" she said, prompting him to jump out of his skin.
The pen he had been using to pick his lock slipped from his fingers. Conan watched it roll away from them, to the dismay of everyone else.
And by the time Mitsuhiko had picked it up, Conan's eyes were already big as plates.
"Sorry, I'd love to," said Honda, nodding in thanks as Mitsuhiko handed his pen back. "But I still have a lot of homework to do…"
At that point, Conan was wondering if he had missed something important. Come where? Eyebrows drawn together, he went to give his friends an odd look, which they didn't return. Maybe they had told him just now, he reasoned, but had been too deeply immersed in his own thoughts to pay any mind…
Wait, that means… Conan barely even reacted as Ayumi pulled from his arm, trying to drag him with her out of the library. We're hanging out today, too?
Only inside his mind did he allow himself to groan, mourning his peaceful summer day reading, masking it with a smile as he turned to Honda and waved a hand. "I'll see you tomorrow!" he cried over his shoulder.
He barely got to see the boy raising a hand before he disappeared from sight, but what he did note were the confused glances from all three friends as they brazenly took him to the elevator.
"He likes Sherlock Holmes," he said.
"Ah," they all replied in harmony.
Why had they made it sound as if it explained everything, Conan had no clue ─ not that he wanted to probe into it any further. Instead, he accepted their silence, calmly stepping out of the elevator as it stopped ─ subjecting himself, in a way, to whatever the trio wanted to do today, as much as he dreaded it completely. Maybe he should ask, he thought, and find it out already ─ along with the reason they could not wait and had to personally come to drag him away.
Soon, he understood it would not be so easy. As proof of it, all three had come up to stand in front of him, their strangely determined gazes meeting with his lost, dumbly blinking ones. Not understanding what was all of this about, he tilted his head, unsure if he should just ask what was wrong, or alternatively, wait until they said it to his face.
Surprisingly, it was the soft-spoken Mitsuhiko who came forward. "What's going on?" Conan's eyebrows raised, hoping to state that he needed more information. "Between you and Haibara-san."
His expression hardly shifted. "Between me and Ai?" he repeated, confused.
A loud gasp echoed through the lobby, three sets of fingers pointing at him.
Conan grew exasperated. "What's with you guys today?"
"So you do!" Ayumi exclaimed, hands pressing against her mouth, eyes widened far above full-capacity. "You do call her by her name!"
"Without honorifics," observed Genta, not appearing any less surprised than his friend. "How close are you two?"
He noted Mitsuhiko crossing his arms over his chest, determinedly turning his attention anywhere but to the conversation in hand. Such an action struck him as strange at first, but after a full second of staring, an unnatural warmth began to rise to his face, sticking just as hard as the realization of what his friends were implying.
Hands frantically moving in front of him, he felt himself stutter, incoherently. The gazes that remained on him narrowed in suspicion, which did not help his situation. At all.
"We… Nothing… No…" Conan paused, sighing loudly ─ ignoring the fact that his cheeks felt as if they were burning. No doubt, they knew that much. "Look, there's nothing-"
"What do you mean?" interrupted Genta. "You even told her you would call her!"
"I wanted to ask about her birthday, you idiot!"
Finally, Mitsuhiko's attention was brought to the conversation in hand, and slowly, his wide eyes slid to meet with his other two friends' and, together once again, the three broke into yet another loud gasp. That had Conan pressing a hand against his forehead, feeling a terrible headache incoming.
"Before you ask, no. I still haven't got a clue of when it is," he said, unable to keep the annoyance away from his voice. "She didn't want to tell me."
They deflated at his answer, again, in perfect harmony ─ leaving Conan to secretly wonder if they were doing this on purpose. Silence followed it, only interrupted by a continuous humming that told him they were thinking hard about something. Not that Conan ignored what their thoughts could be about, moreover, he was actually glad he wasn't the target of them any longer.
For a split second, however, it occurred to Conan that this might be the perfect opportunity to sneak away and recover his peaceful day.
But he was too slow. A grin illuminated Ayumi's face.
"Shinichi-oniisan might know!" she cried.
He definitely should have gotten away while he had that chance.
"Ah, that's right!" Mitsuhiko smiled widely as well. "He and Haibara-san were close, weren't they? He has to know!"
Genta turned to him. "Why don't you call him right now, Conan?"
He had dreaded that question, but he guessed there was no avoiding it. "I'd prefer not to…" he admitted, shifting on his feet uncomfortably.
"Why's that?"
"Genta-kun…" Mitsuhiko elbowed his friend, whispering at him ─ though Conan could clearly hear all of it. "Don't you remember? They were right in front of us!"
"What? You mean they still haven't made up?"
"Genta-kun!"
Unlike any of those two, Ayumi hardly said anything at all. Hesitantly, she took a step forward, her hand coming to rest over her chest as she watched him, their bespectacled friend, pull out his phone. He did not call, not even look for that certain contact, just, stared back at his own reflection on his screen.
She did not like it ─ the troubled expression that crossed his face she had seen once, or maybe twice before. That face he would put on every time he fought with his older brother… It didn't settle well with her.
So, the girl approached him, almost timidly. "That's more to the reason, Conan-kun," she began. "You should call him."
For yet another heartbeat, he remained silent. "Okay, whatever," he huffed. "I'm calling."
Her gradually brightening face was struck by bewilderment when he handed her the phone.
"But that's all I'm doing."
When Shinichi spotted his little brother's name on the screen, he genuinely did not know what to think.
Previously, that alone might have been motive enough for concern. There had been a time when Conan calling him was, to say the least, odd, but now it was that much of a rare occurrence. That was what he would say, obviously, a couple of days ago ─ as it was now, Conan was understandably exasperated with him.
Unless he wanted to talk it over… Or something had actually happened to him.
Unsure about what to expect, he picked it up at the second ring.
"Ah, Shinichi-oniisan?"
He froze, blinking stupidly at plain air at that chirpy girly voice that couldn't be Conan's. Ayumi-chan? So intense was his confusion that he did not find his words to voice it properly. But this is Conan's number… Why would she be calling me?
His stomach made a flip, eyes widening as horrific scenarios began to play into his mind.
"Where is Conan?" Shinichi managed to ask.
"Conan?" That voice was Genta. "He's moping over there."
He couldn't begin to describe how glad he was at the complaints reaching him from somewhere in the background that were, beyond any doubt, his. But he didn't express it further than through a lengthy sigh.
"So?" His question silenced Conan's already annoyed voice to pay attention. "What is all of this about?"
"There's something we wanted to ask you, Shinichi-san," Mitsuhiko spoke up, fairly calmer than any of the others. "We thought you'd be the only one who might know…"
"Which is?"
"Ai-chan's birthday!" Ayumi interrupted before her friend could even think of speaking. "Do you know when it is?"
His eyes widened slightly ─ certainly, that wasn't what he had expected to hear today. But the surprise passed quickly, thoughtful humming filling the air. Anxiety worked wonders, mused Shinichi with a light smile, not failing to notice how that noisy bunch had fallen deadly quiet.
"So?" Surprisingly, it wasn't any of the trio but Conan who, despite his initial reluctance, had come forward. "It's a yes or no question, no need to be so dramatic about it."
"Well, I'm not sure." The annoyed grunt made Shinichi chuckle ─ he was having a little too much fun with this. "I think it was coming close… Oh, thinking about it. The date… it has a nice ring to it. It fits Ai-chan perfectly-"
"We don't have all day."
"If she hasn't told you guys, I doubt she'd appreciate it if I just told you. I don't wanna die, you know."
Again, there was a growl ─ Shinichi had to wonder if he was the target of it, or the girl in question. "What's with her…" Oh, so it wasn't about him this time. That was good, thought Shinichi. "It's just a date. She could just tell us…"
"But Conan-kun!" Mitsuhiko could be heard from the background. "You didn't want to tell us either!"
"That's right!" Genta as well. "If it wasn't for the Professor, we wouldn't have known about it!"
Before he could be fully conscious about it, his grin faded away from existence ─ leaving behind only the ghost of a smile slightly tainted by sorrow.
"She… probably doesn't know how to feel about it," left his lips without his conscious input. Only the thick silence that followed made him realize he had stated it out loud ─ again, he sighed, knowing there was no way he could take his words out. "As you can imagine, being taken by them makes party planning a bit difficult…"
"What…" Ayumi choked out. "What do you mean?"
It was kind of self-explanatory, but he understood where she was coming from, either way.
"Her sister told me this once. Ever since Ai-chan was born, it had always been the two of them," Shinichi explained, patiently. "She had no friends to celebrate it with, but Akemi-san always did her best to get her to enjoy it to the fullest. But…"
"But then…" Conan said, just above a whisper ─ the tone alone made Shinichi frown, but there was virtually nothing he could do about it. "Then she was abducted by the Organization."
He had no other choice but to make a soft, agreement sound. "Since I was mostly the one looking after her, I'd often manage to pull some strings to get them to meet for a few hours..."
It wasn't the same, Shinichi had always known, and certainly had not been an easy feat, but it was something. Even today, he could remember Shiho's little smile that would creep into her face as she returned from visiting his sister when she thought he wasn't looking. Or how Akemi thanked him so profusely, over and over, for everything he had done.
I had promised to her, he remembered. That one day I'd destroy the Organization. That one day, they would be reunited again and celebrate Shiho-chan's birthday without restrictions…
Akemi had smiled back then ─ but thinking about it now, there probably was something off about her gaze. Probably, even then, she knew everything was going to end this way.
It must have been hard, huh, Shiho-chan? Shinichi's head dropped slightly. Your first birthday after your sister died…
His situation back then had not let him be there, either. As it was now, he deeply regretted not having found a way to contact her somehow.
"Then, it's decided!" Ayumi suddenly cried so loudly that it almost busted his eardrums. "Guys!"
"We have no other choice," added Mitsuhiko, voice brimming with determination. "Let's do it!"
"We, Detective Boys, have a new mission!" Genta exclaimed. "To make the best party to have ever existed!"
Every single one of their words stole a dry chuckle out of him ─ wondering if, somehow, the little scientist wouldn't be even more tempted to commit homicide on the spot next time they met. The feeling only intensified at the general 'yeah!' that followed, alongside the mental image of their small fists rising in the sky, in sign of their determination to succeed in their self-imposed task.
Though he could have sworn he heard a fourth voice, albeit much fainter, among the others.
In a way, you're fired up, too. He felt himself smiling. Good luck, Conan.
"Now, now, if you already have decided, there's no way I could tell you guys otherwise, right?" he began. "Listen, Ai-chan's birthday is on August-"
Click ─ Shinichi felt himself staring, once more, at space, unable to believe what had just happened. Slowly, he took his phone away from his ear to confirm, much to his surprise, that they had just hung on them.
Those guys… He couldn't fight the bark of laughter that escaped him, a hand pressing against his face as it shook from side to side. They got so carried away that they forgot why they had called in the first place…
"Hirai-sama." He spun around, startled. "Akako-ojousama will be with you in a moment."
"Ah, thank you."
Shinichi wasn't keen on judging by appearances, but he would be downright lying if he said he wasn't slightly wary of the guy standing in front of him, watching his every movement like a hawk. After diving inside that specially creepy forest that covered the outskirts of Ekoda, he should have expected it. The house wasn't any bigger than his, even the architecture seemed to resemble it, but it gave off such a vibe that, had she been there, it would have Ran tearing up in fear.
Not even her servant could give him a sense of security in such a place ─ but his almost demonic features sort of suit the ambience, mused Shinichi. And his glare was almost as unnerving as everything else.
Shinichi hummed, raising his gaze to scan the room, until his eyes found themselves with a painted portrait of a woman hanging on the wall.
"Nice painting you have there." Noticing there were several others hanging in a long line after it, he added, "Paintings."
"Those are Akako-ojousama ancestors."
"They don't seem friendly." The man's eyes narrowed menacingly on his form. "So, uh, are all of those what you call… witches?"
"Akako-ojousama is the rightful successor to the red magic passed from generation to generation." It was hard for Shinichi not to roll his eyes and pay close attention to what this guy was telling him. "But that is something the likes of you would never be able to comprehend."
He ignored him with ease, favoring his inspection of his surroundings rather than the violent scowling aimed at him. His interest was picked by a framed picture, innocently sitting over a surprisingly ordinary desk at the corner of the room ─ smaller, and so ridiculously easy to miss, hadn't it been for his trained eye.
Pretending he didn't notice the man wincing as he began to approach it was harder than anything else. Humming lightly, he bent over and observed it from close.
"Is this her father?" Shinichi asked.
"Yes."
"Then you're right." At the clueless look he was given, the young detective couldn't help but smirk. "I certainly can't understand it ─ why have you decided to hang fancy portraits of women who have no relation at all with Akako-san, that is."
The demonic-looking man's confusion was palpable. "These are fake," Shinichi added, for good measure. "No matter how hard I tried ─ I'd never be able to find any trace of these women. Because they don't exist. Or have existed either."
Predictably, no confirmation or denial came, but it wasn't like he had been expecting that. Hands naturally sliding back into his pockets, he began to stroll across the room, taking his time to observe each and every one of the portraits. Until he stopped, right in front of the last in the line ─ Akako's presumed mother.
With no warning, the confident smirk lost its strength.
"I used to know someone who was so passionate about things like these," he told the man, not bothering to turn back to him. "He would talk about it, for hours and hours to an end…" A small chuckle escaped him, but it was evident it lacked any genuine humor. "I learnt a lot from him, you know."
"About… what?"
"Artificial intelligence." The widening of his eyes told Shinichi everything he needed to know. "You must have heard about it, too, right? That an AI can easily generate human faces to such detail that, most of the time, you can't tell it's not real."
"That is ridiculous." It was obvious just by his defensive stance, yet Shinichi kept at it either way. "I'd never be able to accomplish such a thing, even if I wanted to."
"All you need is an internet connection ─ there are several dozen websites that can do it for you just with a click. Then, you could pay an artist to transform these AI-generated women into witches ripped straight from a cheap horror movie."
Shinichi shrugged, adding, "I know what you're thinking. There's no way I can prove it, and it's true ─ I can't." Akako's servant's smug smirk did not weaken his. "However, it's obvious that this woman over here…" He moved away from the portrait, motioning at the framed photo in the other corner of the room. "And this man could not have Akako-san as their child."
"Eh?"
"To my understanding, you're Akako-san's guardian. You have surely seen her fairly more often than I could ever have…" he began. "Surely you must have noticed it, too." He pointed at his own eyes for better emphasis, and said, "Her eyelashes are rather long."
He kept being stared at, as clear proof he did not get his point.
"Makeup is not allowed at our school, so it's definitely not mascara, but their natural length." He waved at both their pictures, redirecting his attention to both of them, rather than himself. "But look at her supposed parents ─ wouldn't you agree theirs are kinda short?"
"I suppose they are… But what does it have to do with anything?"
"Eyelash length is determined by genetics, and the allele for long eyelashes is dominant," he explained, calmly and collected despite the violent widening of the eyes of the man in front of him. "Taking this into consideration, it's impossible for Akako-san to be their daughter."
It wasn't like he needed any proof, but it was the pale shade that this man's face gained which convinced him he had hit the nail on the head.
"W-Who…" he stammered. "Who are you?"
The smug smile hardly disappeared, even as his mouth opened to speak.
"Hirai Arthur-kun." That was, until a female voice replied instead. "A detective, right?"
Quickly enough to physically hurt, his head whipped towards the source, and sure enough, he saw her ─ slowly going down the absurdly extensive set of stairs, a bit of a smirk caressing her features, her scarlet gaze fixated on nobody else but him. He did not react, at least, until she had finally stepped onto firm ground, approaching him with her expression unchanged.
"What are you talking about?" he tried, aware that it was in vain. "I'm no detective."
But it only served to amuse her even further. "I assume that's why you display no interest in my family at all."
He failed to utter a single excuse. Not that he thought any would work.
"I know you wanted to ask about my family. But it's a shame," she said, walking right past him to, just like he had done before, stop to contemplate the framed pictures hanging on her walls. "My roots are a mystery. Even to me."
Shinichi had to stop himself from asking any further, far too surprised at the discovery of something dark, alien even, passing by her eyes. She shrugged with a subtle smile, moving again to the furthest corner of the room.
"You were right. Those portraits are fake." And he couldn't get over the shock of seeing her pick that framed photo with the man, with outstanding, if rare, tenderness. "All of them… Except for this one."
As she cradled it next to her chest, Shinichi could say anything at all. His surprise passed, however, his head dipping forward as he came to understand, just a little, what was going on.
The older man stopped right next to him, his gaze softening as it fell onto the young lady.
"Twenty years ago, my master disappeared without notice," he explained ─ his tone decidedly softer than it had been with him seconds ago. "He returned a couple of years later with a newborn Akako-ojousama in his arms."
"Did he tell you where he had gone?"
"Unfortunately, I did not get that chance." The man shook his head solemnly. "He fell sick shortly after that, but he confided in me everything about red magic and how valuable Akako-ojousama's blood is."
Shinichi had to admit, it wasn't even the first time he had heard about this 'magic' stuff, but he still had a hard time believing all that nonsense ─ but reckoned it was not the time to openly speak about it and kept his mouth shut.
"'Don't let her suffer her same fate', were his last words." He scrunched his eyes shut. "To this day, I don't have the slimmest clue of what he meant to say. Were those just delirious musings of a dying man, or…?"
Or he actually meant it. Shinichi did not need him to finish his thoughts, as they were clear as it was. Maybe he meant her mother?
Her same fate… Could she had been murdered?
His gaze had narrowed before he could even be conscious about it, focusing on the girl that, still deeply immersed in her thoughts, kept on gazing down at her father's old photograph. There was no doubt, mused the young detective, that the strange trip aboard she had gone into out of the blue was connected to this ─ maybe she was looking for her mother, or any other family member?
She had also said she had come back early, since there was 'no point in it'. She probably has no clue left to pursue, he thought.
"Akako-san," he said, successfully gathering her attention. "Have you ever heard the name Tsukiko Koizumi?"
Her surprise was evident, as much as it was fleeting. "My, as expected from you," she said with a smile. "You've heard about that legend, too." Putting the photograph back into place, he turned to him fully. "I suppose I don't need to tell you that was the place I spent most of my summer at."
Definitely not ─ in any case, it was safe to assume she found nothing relevant that went beyond what his parents had told him. "How about… Hinata Koizumi?"
Both the girl and her servant looked at him quizzically.
"There's an odd tombstone with that name on it," he said. "Wistman's Wood, Dartmoor, Devon, England. Just guessed you might be interested."
With that being said, he supposed he had no further business left to do there ─ besides, the door was right on sight, and he wasn't looking forward to staying a second longer in such an eerie place. So, he smiled back at their incredibility, nodding his head lightly and spinning on his heels.
"Once again, you're one full of mysteries, Hirai-kun." Akako's words made him stop, but he did not think of turning back. Just waited, absolutely certain that he could hear the smirk on her lips. "I don't know what you are getting into, yet you're suspicious as you get."
He did not move, eyes closing as he waited for the inevitable.
"I don't know who you truly are, or what you're hiding… But it is none of my business." At that, Shinichi felt as if he could breathe again. "And I suppose I owe you one."
Finally, he looked over his shoulder, grinning brightly back at her.
"Just make sure to inform me if you discover something," he told her. "That way, we'll call it even."
Crossing her arms over her chest, she nodded.
"Consider it done," she said.
"Change of plans
Meet me here."
After attaching his location to the end, Conan finally sent the message and put his phone back in place, sighing as he did so. To be fair, this time around, it was nobody else's fault but his own ─ and especially those kids skipping around, grinning happily despite him having ruined their plans were not to be blamed.
"Geez, didn't I tell you already, Conan-kun?" Ayumi's little pout disappeared shortly after. "We're going to the Edogawa Fireworks Festival!"
Conan's head tilted slightly. "Edogawa?"
"It had to be pushed back because of rain," explained Ai, calmly, while looking out the old Beetle's window. "But isn't it great? That means we can go and enjoy ourselves tonight."
He couldn't even tell if she was being sarcastic or genuine about it.
"Besides, it's 'Edogawa', just like you!" exclaimed Ayumi. "We totally have to go there!"
"It's actually 'Kudo'. And you know that."
"Who cares?!" Genta shouted from the front seats, face contorted in a scowl. "You don't have to be such a killjoy, Conan."
Funny that he ended up being one, even after fervently denying it time and time again. Loads and loads of people crowded together ─ in a far larger quantity than he had expected ─ chatting loudly enough to block any further sounds, walking in a dense block of people moving across the streets. In a place like this… The thought had struck him before he could even be conscious of the cold sweat painting his pale little face. It's easy to kidnap anybody. He had focused on keeping up his pace, head lowering lightly as he tried to focus on the ground. It's easy to murder someone.
At some point, Agasa had noticed he was very clearly starting to feel sick, and pulled him out of there, alongside his friends.
He didn't even get to speak a single word when Agasa had smiled. "I know of a place," he had said. "A spot with a splendid view of the fireworks!"
"Professor," called Ai, looking around him to focus on the man in question. "How about we go look around and get our fortunes told and you save us a space?"
Yeah, a shrine ─ that was the place the Professor had been referring to. Apparently, from there you could have an impressive sight of the shores of the Edogawa River so, incredibly enough, it wasn't a terrible idea ─ if hardly unique. Soon, it became apparent that lots of people had gotten the same idea, resulting in it being far more populated than it was the norm.
Not that he exactly minded, on the contrary. It wasn't nearly as awful as it had been closer to the shore, but it wasn't deserted either. That way, even if he were to cross paths with her, it wouldn't be as suspicious.
Jodie-sensei is not here yet, thought the boy, after having a good look around and finding nobody remotely similar to the foreign blonde woman. She was nearby, so she shouldn't take long, so…
"Looking for someone?"
It took a moment longer than necessary to focus on Ai's expectant gaze and stutter a mostly coherent response. "N-No." Mostly, that was. "Not really."
And hardly convincing, apparently, if he were to judge by her expressions alone. A nervous laugh escaped him, which did nothing to make it even more obvious.
"Ah, before I leave, Conan."
Agasa, who had already taken a few steps away from the group, hurried up to meet him. Under Conan's ─ and the others' by addition ─ blinking gaze, he fumbled to take something out of his pocket.
Soon, he revealed it to be a pen ─ one of those that had several colors to use ─ and handed it to Conan. He scanned it curiously, carefully taking in every inch, yet getting no answers of what might have been.
"It's the thing you asked me," explained the Professor.
He almost dropped the pen out of surprise. "But I asked you this morning!"
A nervous chuckle escaped him. "I had it ready ever since a long time ago, it was just lying around," he said. "I thought this is the kind of thing you'd request sometime…"
Though, that being said, that stiffness of his smile had never vanished, rather intensified with time ─ mouth opening and closing soundlessly.
A sigh later, he murmured, "Don't get in any trouble," defeated somehow.
"Please." He scoffed. "Have I ever gotten in any trouble?"
"Yes. Yes, you have."
No hesitation. But, to be fair, he wasn't sure what he had been expecting. "I'll behave," he said, rolling his eyes. "Don't worry, Professor."
But, if anything, Agasa looked as if he was a second away from tearing the gadget out of his tiny hands.
"Anyway, let's hurry!" Conan skipped ahead, just in case. "We won't get our fortunes before the fireworks if we idle around."
"Ah, wait, Conan-kun!"
In a single blink of an eye, all the children had disappeared from sight ─ prompting the older professor to release a long, exhausted sigh. Shaking his head, he turned around to do as he was told.
He was left, like so, alone with his thoughts ─ worried that he would be the one getting in trouble at the end of the line.
Even though it had been beneficial to get away from the Professor, Conan could hardly see the point of having his fortune read. For all the excitement for those around him, namely Ayumi, if he thought about it, all they were doing was to wait in a long line to get a piece of paper with some nonsense written on it that would apply to literally anyone.
The giggling of the group of high school girls that were standing in front of them in the line as they read their newly received fortunes prompted him to roll his eyes. No matter how hard, he could not see the charm of it all.
It's not bound to logic or science. Conan mentally sighed, pulling his own paper slip open. There's no way this could be accurate-
Conan brought the paper slip closer to his eyes, to be narrowed at.
"I got fairly good luck!" he could hear Genta saying.
Ayumi grinned. "I got good luck!"
"I got delayed luck, which isn't too great," commented Mitsuhiko.
Conan swiftly slid his fortune inside his pocket. "Yeah. It definitely could be better," he said.
"Then, let's go tie up our fortunes!"
Having said that, the girl took off running first, followed by both boys. Conan watched them go, and just as he was about to carefully plan out how to tie it up with nobody taking a peek, an elderly man came forward ─ showing no remorse at all from overhearing their private conversation.
"You managed to get good fortunes, so you should take them home with you! You only tie your fortune to leave bad fortune behind and change your luck," he chastised them, mumbling as he walked out, "Though in recent years, some people have taken up the bad habit of tying up whatever fortune they get…"
The three children lowered their heads while the man disappeared among the crowd, unlike Conan, who merely lifted an eyebrow. "Do people really care this much about what others do with ordinary paper slips?" he wondered out loud, shaking his head. "At least, if you tie it up, you don't have to find a space for it at home…"
"Then you're lucky, in a way." Ai smirked. "Since you do have to tie it up."
He gave her the nastiest glance he could muster. "What did you get, anyway?"
"My, you really want to know?" His refusal to answer addled to her amusement. "If you're so interested, then I guess I'll just have to show you."
As much as he tried to mask his expressions with indifference, the sight that was awaiting him was nothing he could have been prepared for. Great luck, was what it read. His shock must have been visually noticeable, he mused, realizing that Ai's triumphant smirk was much larger than ever before.
His mouth clicked shut, fingers taking the slip from his pocket to be stared at for a second time.
A serious frown took over his face. "Swap it with me," he said.
Her smile was eradicated by confusion, and by a faintly spoken, "Excuse me?"
But he did not budge, even as his friends crowded around them, blinking without understanding the situation at hand.
"But you know, 'bad luck' is really rare, so some people take getting it as a sign of good luck." Conan's head perked up at the unmistakably broken Japanese he had not heard for a really long time. "So don't feel disappointed, Cool Kid."
Slowly, he turned around and next to him he saw her, a blonde foreigner winking at him while crouched right next to him. But he hardly reacted, he seized her with a plain glance that had her yielding, backing away from some reason not even she was entirely conscious of.
"I got to be the luckiest person in the world, then," he said, in a whisper.
She blinked. In response, he simply showed her his fortune slip.
"Great bad luck"
For an entire second, Jodie did nothing but stare at it, shocked beyond doubt. Eventually, she recovered, forcing a smile. "You are, without a doubt!" she exclaimed.
His eyes narrowed. "Liar."
She didn't know how to respond. Neither did the other three kids, for that matter, watching them both without moving a single finger.
But it was the strawberry blonde girl who smirked, crossing her arms over her chest. "I get it." That had the cool kid finally lowering the piece of paper to glance over at his friend. "You called her out here so you could talk in secret, didn't you?"
He winced, just like her ─ making the whole thing even more obvious, if possible.
"Well, parks and shrines are often used by spies to exchange information." She paused, looking over the rest of their friends. "So why don't we give them some space? It looks like they want to have a private talk."
Stiffly, all three nodded.
"You often find Public Safety Officers watching places like this, so be careful."
It was beyond incredible, to Conan anyhow, how she had gotten everyone to agree, with no ounce of protest on their part. But it had happened, as much as his own eyes were having trouble believing what they were seeing ─ everyone was walking away, blending in with the crowd to give them some privacy. And while he was grateful for all of it, a part of him was dreading the countless questions that would follow suit once he joined everyone again.
It took quite a while for Jodie, too, to process everything. Though he suspected the culprit for her confusion wasn't his friends' unusual obedience, but Haibara Ai herself, and her unsetting, apparent intelligence that went above her years. At moments like that, Conan wondered if Jodie was still remembered of how Vermouth had called her Sherry, and her mysterious connection to the Organization.
But he wouldn't ask.
"So?" Jodie finally said. "You wanted to talk to me?"
Conan nodded. "But it'll have to wait."
She clearly did not expect him to spin on his heels, glaring at his fortune intensely enough to set it on fire.
"I have to tie this up," he muttered. "Apparently."
A/N
CherryGirl 21-6:
I don't wanna say anything beforehand, but it's kind of funny that you said that… I think you'll see soon what I mean xD
And yeah. I definitely saw it. The teaser of the next movie with Ai and everything… I'm already getting hyped for it, so badly it isn't even funny xD I can't wait to see more of it!