SailorStar9: After 2 weeks with no update, I present Chapter 122 of this fic. (Sighs) Guys and girls, is it too hard for you to leave a review, instead of just putting this fic up on your favorited list and story alerts?
Pairings: Established!Furuya Rei (Amuro Tooru)/Mizuno Ami
Disclaimers: I own absolutely nothing, except this plot and pairing.
Chapter 122: The Surprise That Leads to Tragedy
Time passes...
Late one night, Takigawa Mai entered the darkened entryway of her apartment. Realizing there had been an uninvited guest, she grabbed the golf club in the umbrella holder near the door. "Is someone there?" she asked, stepping hesitatingly into her house.
Suddenly a shadow emerged from behind a wall, frightening her and causing her to strike the intruder with the golf club.
Outside the corridor...
"That chameleon sure was cute." Ayumi remarked.
"I'm not surprised your friend likes weird animals like that." Genta remarked, Professor Agasa having brought the Detective Boys to visit his reptile collector friend.
"It's quite late, isn't it?" Mitsuhiko looked at the night sky.
"Wow, it's close to 8 pm." Fumio gawked, looking at his wristwatch.
"That came from downstairs." Conan turned to the staircase, the group having heard a horrified scream. "What happened?" he banged his fist on Takigawa's door. "Are you alright?"
"It's Yusuke..." a sobbing Takigawa opened the door.
Inside the apartment...
"Yusuke..." Totsuka Riko sobbed over Tsuda Yusuke's body. Takigawa having collapsed in Professor Agasa's arms at the door. "I killed him."
After Megure's team was called in...
"Let me make sure I've got it straight." Sato clarified. "When Mai-san came home from work around eight tonight, she saw someone move around inside her apartment which should have been empty. Thinking that she was being robbed, she grabbed the golf club she kept for self-defense. However, that person was actually her boyfriend, Yusuke-san who appeared out of the darkness to surprise her with a party."
"It's my fault." Totsuka wailed. "I'm the one who suggested we throw a surprise party for Mai's birthday."
"All three of you were close friends, right?" Sato inquired.
"Yusuke and I have always been mischievous." Totsuka admitted. "We got into trouble a lot with honor student Mai all the time for pulling pranks."
"I checked the third floor hallway security camera footage." Takagi confirmed. "It's exactly as they described."
"In other words, no one is at fault." Sato concluded. "It was an unfortunate accident."
"Don't you think it's weird, though?" Conan pointed out.
"You don't normally keep a golf club in an umbrella stand." Fumio agreed.
"Mai had just started living on her own." Totsuka explained. "She was really paranoid about security."
"And you decided to throw a surprise birthday party foe such a person?" Fumio quirked a brow.
"We wanted to cheer her up." Totsuka insisted. "Mai's been having trouble at her new job. She really seemed down."
"What's wrong?" Professor Agasa noticed the two boys run over to the window.
"We were wondering why they chose this spot." Conan stated. "Isn't this the only spot Mai-san would be able to see anyone on her way home? This is where you were hiding, right?"
"So what if I was?" Totsuka snapped.
"If you wanted to surprise her, why choose the window where you would be easily spotted?" Fumio asked.
"So, I could see Mai coming home." Totsuka replied.
"Was the loosened light bulb part of the surprise, too?" Fumio challenged.
"It did seem loose." Takagi fixed back the bulb.
"I admit I took it too far." Totsuka defended. "It was meant for the surprise. I didn't mean any harm."
"Give it a rest, you two." Genta chided. "I'm hungry. Let's go."
"You're right." Professor Agasa agreed. Conan-kun, Fumio-kun, let's get going."
"What's this?" Genta spotted a pepper spray in a bag tucked under the TV table.
"Isn't that pepper spray?" Fumio frowned.
"Mai-san." Conan voiced. "Why didn't you use that spray?"
"Kids sure don't know anything." Totsuka scoffed. "Pepper spray can make someone back off, but it's relatively harmless. You also need to get close to someone to use it. So, when you're really in trouble, a long-reach and highly-damaging weapon like..."
"Then, you were the one who recommended Mai-san to use a golf club." Fumio noted.
"A handkerchief?" the tired Ayumi spotted a dirtied handkerchief under the TV table. "Is this blood?" she squealed, taking a closer look.
"It's mine." Totsuka took back the handkerchief. "I thought I put it away."
"That was Yusuke-san's blood, isn't it?" Sato frowned.
"I was so focused on trying to stop the bleeding." Totsuka defended.
"But why is your lipstick on it?" Takagi inquired.
"From some other time I use it." Totsuka insisted.
"Detective Takagi, do you have lipstick around your mouth?" Conan pointed.
"Is that what happened?" Sato realized what Conan was implying. "At first glance, Yusuke-san's death seems like an unfortunate accident. But all of this was set up by RIko-san, who planned this surprise party. You made sure Mai-san would see you on her way home. You loosened the light bulb so the light wouldn't turn on. You encouraged Mai-san to switch to using a highly damaging golf club for self-defense, all so Mai-san would mistake Yusuke-san for a burglar and hurt him."
"Riko would never do that." Takigawa insisted. "Besides, she had no motive."
"This is Yusuke-san's blood and your lipstick on this handkerchief." Sato retrieved the handkerchief as evidence. You would've held it against his head. Only the victim's mouth had been wiped. Why did you only wipe the victim's mouth and what was your lipstick doing there? You were kissing, weren't you? In the darkness as you waited for Mai-san. When the lights turned on, you noticed your own lipstick on Yusuke-san's lips, so you rushed to wipe his lips clean. You and Yusuke-san were dating, weren't you? Without Mai-san's knowledge."
"Riko, how could you make me kill Yusuke over that?" Takigawa muttered.
"I just wanted Yusuke to be seriously injured so you'd break up." Totsuka confessed.
"I need to go to the toilet." Genta panicked.
"Genta-kun." Mitsuhiko chided, Genta accidentally turning the hall's lights off.
"Let me." Takigawa moved forward.
"That roly-poly doll looks out-of-place, doesn't it?" Fumio looked up at the wooden doll on the top of the bookshelf once the lights came back on.
"That's true." Conan nodded, taking a closer look at the doll tucked at the back. Realizing that one of the doll's eyes was a camera lens, he pieced together what actually happened.
In the corridor...
"Those two are playing with fire inside my apartment." Takigawa exclaimed, taking a look at her phone.
"Called it." Fumio grinned, Conan blowing out the lit candle on the birthday cake as Takigawa hurried back into the unit. "We just needed to confirm something."
"But now, we know exactly what happened." Conan added. "Isn't that right, Professor?"
"Know what" Sato blinked.
"Who the real culprit is, of course." Conan borrowed Professor Agasa's voice. "Though we believed Mai-san was RIko-san's pitiful puppet manipulated into killing her own boyfriend, she's actually the real culprit who was manipulating everyone involved. Mai-san already knew what Riko-san was planning and pretended to be tricked so that she could kill Yusuke-san. It was probably also Mai-san who led us to discover the handkerchief used to wipe Yusuke-san's mouth so we'd realize what Riko-san did. A handkerchief couldn't happen to fall out of that pocket. Riko-san was on her guard. Only Mai-san, who had been by her side the whole time had the opportunity to take it."
"I really didn't know anything." Takigawa insisted.
"Then, why didn't you call Yusuke-san when you entered the apartment?" Conan questioned. "You thought there was a burglar inside. You said you've always called Yusuke-san when you felt anxious. And tonight, you should've been feeling more anxious than ever. And yet, you didn't call him; because calling him would've ruined your plan. Furthermore, check the security footage. Don't you think there's something strange about the way Mai-san walked down the hallway?"
"She appears to be touching the wall as she walked." Sato pointed.
"If you zoom in on Mai-san's face as she enters the apartment, you'll understand why." Conan informed.
"She's closing her eyes?" Sato blinked.
"She's adjusting her eyes to the darkness." Mitsuhiko realized.
"But why?" Genta wondered.
"To make it easier for her to hit Yusuke-san accurately on the head with the gold club, of course." Fumio revealed.
"That's just conjecture, right?" Takigawa stammered. "Not evidence. If you are so sure I did it, show me the evidence."
"You really shown us the evidence through your actions, Mai-san." Conan stated. "Don't you find it strange, when Conan-kun and Fumio-kun went missing earlier..."
"How was Mai-san the only one who knew that?" Sato pondered.
"That is the answer." Fumio pointed to the roly-poly doll on the bookshelf. "Look closely at its right eye."
"Is this a camera?" Sato frowned.
"It's probably a baby monitor." Conan revealed. "The type that detects movement and sends video to your phone. Naturally, it's also an infrared camera that takes clear pictures even in the darkness. Mai-san probably used it to determine what was happening inside, including where Yusuke-san was hiding and where he'd come from."
"Mai-san, you already know about Yusuke-san and Riko-san, didn't you?" Fumio asked.
"Of course I did." Takigawa snorted. "The three of us had been together since we were kids. I knew you better than anyone; you've always taken away anything that made me happy! Now, it's my turn to take away your happiness." she burst out in demented laughter.
SailorStar9: Any OOC-ness is regretted, by the way. *Sighs* Don't you just hate plot bunnies sometimes? Read and review.