Chapter Text
“I’ve got the key!” Take-san came running down the corridor, waving the keychain, even as Heiji, Kisaki-obahan, and Kudo waited impatiently in front of the door, along with Yasue-san. The secretary lady had decided to stay with Mouri and look after the chairman.
Finally! Heiji thought, glancing down at his watch. It had taken the old man six minutes to grab the key. At this rate whatever Hideomi-san had planned to do to his brother-in-law was already done. The lack of noise from the other side of the door proved that much in Heiji’s mind. Still, a part of him was also somewhat excited, since this time he could work a case with Kudo without worrying about anything else… Even an open-and-shut one like this. Or at least a case that appeared like that. After all, while they did see Hideomi-san, the man’s condition made it laughably easy for someone else to disguise themselves as him.
Something that Heiji put together instantly, and Heiji could tell that Kudo himself was thinking something already. Maybe not that exactly but there was something, given how his eyes were focused on the door, like he could see through it somehow. He was surprised that they left Mouri behind, given that the shrunk karate expert could be useful right now, but that wasn’t Heiji’s call to make.
“Everyone, but me, and Hattori-kun step back just in case,” Kisaki-obahan ordered, just as the lock clicked open. Heiji noticed that Kudo reached down to his shoes and did something to them. Trained eyes noticed that there seemed to be a spark of electricity that seemed to emanate from the red shoes.
“Ready, Hattori-kun?” Kisaki-obahan asked, grabbing the door handles.
“Go for it,” Heiji nodded and the doors flung open…
Revealing a dark, empty room.
“There!” Kudo called out and Heiji’s eyes zeroed in on the open door to the balcony… Along with the rope dangling in front of them, clearly coming down from the upper floor.
“Oi, oi, doesn’ that lead up to-”
“Kirino,” Kisaki-obahan whispered in fear, but before they could move, a scream, a male scream drew their attention, just in time to see a shape fall from the balcony above, flailing as it went.
“What the-” Heiji tried to say, but Kudo was already running forward, so he joined him. Once the two detectives and Mouri’s mother reached the balcony, they looked down and saw a grizzly sight; Mitsuaki-san was embedded on the wrought-iron fence underneath the balcony, his back arched at an unnatural angle. Given that the man wasn’t even twitching, Heiji could only assume he was already dead.
Glancing to his right, Heiji noted the rope that was hanging next to him. Following it up toward the floor above, Heiji saw that it was attached to the balcony of Nagato-san’s room via an old-fashioned four-pronged hook.
This took some practice, Heiji noted, but turned his attention to Kisaki-obahan, who leaned over the railing;
“Kirino!” the lawyer lady called out, and sure enough, Mouri popped her head from above. A wave of relief washed over the woman’s features before she continued; “Kirino, what happened?”
“Not sure! Come back up here! Something is very wrong!” Mouri yelled back, causing Heiji’s eyebrows to rise even higher.
What did she mean by that?
-DoDo-
“Okay Kirino, walk us through what happened,” Kisaki-san asked, as the group filed into the room, and Shinichi observed the rather strange scene in front of him; Nagato-san was in his bed still, sleeping somehow. Given the commotion, and the lack of reaction, that led Shinichi to suspect that either the man’s illness was a lot worse than he led others to believe… Or someone drugged him. Next to the door leading to the balcony was Hyuga-san, sitting on the floor and curled up in a ball. Shinichi could hear the quiet sobs that escaped the woman’s mouth even as her shoulders trembled. Ran, who much to Shinichi’s relief was fine, was sitting next to the secretary, trying to console her.
Ran looked up at her mother seemingly unsure. After a moment she replied;
“I’m… Honestly not sure, Eri-no-obasan,” Ran admitted, as she continued to rub Hyuga-san’s back. “About three or so minutes after you left, Nagato-san started to doze off. After that, I heard a noise coming from the balcony, and I along with Hyuga-neesan went to check what it was. When we reached the railing we saw Mitsuaki-san start to climb onto the railing, a bloody knife in his mouth.”
Despite himself, Shinichi felt his mouth open a little at the revelation. But that would mean that-
Glancing over to Hattori, he could see that the Osaka detective was reaching the same conclusion.
“No that’s-” Mitsuaki-san’s wife tried to protest, but Ran continued her recount;
“Mitsuaki-san appeared confused by us being here because he said ‘This wasn’t part of the plan!’ After that, Hyuga-san rushed at him-” the sobbing secretary lifted her head and interrupted Ran;
“I- I- I saw the knife and I- I panicked. I rushed at him, demanding to know what happened to Hideomi. Mitsuaki-san panicked and… And he fell- I tried- I barely missed his hand-” the woman devolved into another fit of crying, forcing Ran to continue;
“Mitsuaki-san slipped off the balcony,” Ran said, her voice grim. “I was too far away, and Hyuga-san couldn’t catch him either. We… We saw him hit the fence,“ Ran finished, looking away. Shinichi immediately picked up on the fact that his friend was blaming herself for what happened to Mitsuaki-san.
Still, the news seemed to reverberate throughout the room, affecting Yasue-san the strongest, as the woman took a shaky step forward, tears streaming down her face.
“You… YOU KILLED MY HUSBAND!” Yasue-san screamed as she lunged at Hyuga-san, only stopped by Hattori and Take-san who each grabbed one of the distraught woman’s arms. “LET ME GO! I’LL- I’LL-” Shinichi noticed that the poor woman was beyond reason at this point and quickly primed his tranquilizer watch, the needle shooting out and burying itself in the woman’s shoulder, quickly taking effect. Sure enough, the woman quickly slumped in Hattori’s arms, before he handed her over to the butler.
Hattori gave Shinichi a quick nod. While both of them understood the reason for the woman’s actions, they needed to focus on what was happening now and more importantly;
“We need to find Hideomi-san,” Shinichi suggested, drawing a surprise from Hyuga-san;
“H-he… He wasn’t in his room?” the secretary asked, her tone somewhat flat, but Shinichi attributed that to the shock.
“Nah, room was empty,” Hattori answered, with a shake of his head. “Hideomi-san was prob’bly never even there in the first place,” Hattori said, and Shinichi found himself nodding along;
“We only saw someone covered in bandages. For all we know, we saw Mitsuaki-san wearing them, to incriminate Hideomi-san,” Shinichi proposed. “Which means Hideomi-san is still somewhere in the mansion and we have to find him.”
“Especially since he might be an accomplice,” Kisaki-san’s voice drew everyone’s attention, as she was next to Nagato-san’s bed, her fingers on the old man’s neck, checking his pulse.
“Whaddya mean, obahan?” Hattori asked.
“I am no expert, but I am fairly sure that Nagato-san has been drugged,” Kisaki-san said, drawing attention from everyone. “His pulse is incredibly stable, and he hasn’t woken up, even with all of this discussion. I tried to shake him, but it didn’t work.”
“But Hideomi-san wasn’t even at the party, Eri-no-obasan,” Ran pointed out, her voice still sounding rather strained.
“True, but he could have set something up beforehand. We did see him after all,” Kisaki-san said. “Whatever the case, need to call the police, now,” the lawyer said, as she pulled out her cell phone.
While Shinichi agreed that they needed the police, the shrunken detective couldn’t shake the feeling that something was very wrong here. Something that was staring them in the face, yet none of them could quite see.
-DoDo-
“And you are sure that nobody left the mansion in the time it took us to get here?” Sato-keiji asked, and Eri found herself nodding. Personally, Eri would have enjoyed it more if they had managed to work with Takagi-keiji again, as the junior detective was far less attentive. Sato-keiji meanwhile seemed to have both Eri and the children under a microscope ever since the murder of Hirota Masami.
“Hattori-kun’s father had placed extra security at Nagato-dono’s request,” Eri explained. “They report that nobody left through any of the entrances, and nothing was captured on the security cameras.”
“I see,” the female detective, wrote down in her notebook. “And you’re sure that you saw Hideomi-san at the villa today?”
“Yes we-” Eri tried to answer but stopped short as she realized something important.
“Kisaki-bengoshi?” Sato asked again, but Hattori-kun stepped in before Eri could speak;
“Obahan realized the same thin’ we did,” Hattori-kun motioned to himself and Conan-kun. “We only saw someone who looked like Hideomi. They didn’t really say a word or stay too long. Really, it could’ve been anyone, onna-keiji,” Hattori-kun finished with a shrug.
“Hattori Heiji-kun, correct?” Sato-keiji asked, which caused Eri to raise an eyebrow. As far as she was aware this was the first time the two had met. It was possible though that Sato-keiji had heard from Megure-keibu or Takagi-keiji about Hattori-kun, but it was still surprising nonetheless.
“Heard ‘bout me?” Hattori-kun asked with a confident smirk.
“Yes. A colleague and my boss were at the murder of Tsujimura Isao. They said your deduction was inaccurate, and Kudo-kun had to step in to prevent a wrongful arrest,” the female detective said coldly. The effect the words had was immediate, with Hattori-kun’s expression souring, while Eri found herself staring. She couldn’t help but feel there was something more to the woman’s words, than just the possibility of a wrongful arrest.
And given what Eri had seen from Takagi-keiji at that crime scene, and Sato’s previous actions, it was easy for Eri to put the pieces together as to what was really the problem; Sato-keiji was looking for Shinichi-kun. And she blamed Hattori-kun for Shinichi managing to slip away.
This begged the question; why was Sato-keiji so interested in Shinichi-kun?
“Now wait, ‘ere!” Hattori-kun snapped in frustration at the detective. “My theory was still plausible! It ain’t my fault that this guy-” Eri cleared her throat as Hattori-kun was about to point toward Shinichi. “That Kudo had a better perspective! I bet I could’ve solved it eventually!”
“I do hope so, Hattori-kun, given that we won’t have Kudo-kun to correct any mistakes you make this time,” Sato-keiji said before returning her attention to Eri. “I assume you’d like to help with the investigation again, Kisaki-bengoshi?”
“I was present at the scene, I do have some insight into the situation, and Kirino-chan was almost attacked during the incident,” Eri recited, though in all honestly, she felt like right now, getting away from the female detective was a better idea.
Because Eri knew exactly what Sato-keiji was doing; she was baiting, rather aggressively, to try and make them slip up and reveal something. It was a basic tactic, but effective in the end, especially since Hattori-kun appeared the type of person who always spoke his mind without thinking. Not to mention Ran wasn’t in the best headspace herself right now, which would leave her a bit more vulnerable than Eri would have liked to admit.
Eri herself might also slip up if something happened, given how Hideomi-san’s condition could evoke some unpleasant memories. It almost triggered an attack just with the vague allusion to what happened. If Eri had a full-on attack, she might end up slipping in her story either during or afterward.
This case was shaping up to be a headache.
“I see no reason not to, but please do consult us, before doing anything… Impulsive,” Sato-keiji said rather curtly before she started walking away toward the coroner, who was examining Mitsuaki-san’s body. Eri noticed that Shinichi-kun was nearby, clearly trying to find more information.
“Hey, obahan,” Hattori-kun approached Eri, his eyes fixed on Sato-keiji’s back. “What’s ‘er problem?
“She was fishing, trying to see if either of us could slip up,” Eri explained, glancing pointedly over to Hattori-kun. “Sato-keiji was, to the best of my knowledge, involved in the investigation regarding my husband’s murder. I believe she still suspects me of having some sort of role to play.”
“Does she-”
“I don’t think she suspects Conan-kun and Kirino-chan too much, but we should try to be careful around her,” Eri insisted, and Hattori-kun wisely nodded.
“Aye, I’ve been getting’ that impression,” he said. “That bein’ said, somethin’s been botherin’ me, obahan,” Hattori-kun said.
“Where Hideomi-san is?” Eri guessed.
“That, yes. Hate to say it, but he might well be dead,” Hattori-kun said. “Mitsuaki-san don’t seem the kind to leave ends loose. But no, I was wonderin’ why did he do his little show tonight?”
“For an audience obviously,” Eri proposed, but Hattori-kun shook his head.
“He could’ve ‘ad that every day he wanted. But he did on a day where I was ‘ere, all the extra guards oyaji set up were ‘ere, and you were ‘ere as well obasan. Like it or not, you’re gettin’ a reputation for solvin’ cases just like me and Kudo.”
“So, something was pushing him to act rashly,” Eri nodded, finally understanding what the Osaka detective was implying. “A time limit of some kind. Perhaps he knew of a decision that Nagato-dono was going to make regarding succession?”
“Maybe. Mitsuaki-san did seem rather hung up on the president's seat. And if the old man knows he ain’t gonna be ‘round much more, it makes sense. What’d ya find?” Hattori-kun asked, as Shinichi-kun approached, from where he observed the body.
“About what we expected,” the shrunken teen said, casting a weary glance at Sato-keiji. “Died the moment he hit the fence. There was a wound on his palm that I can’t account for. Maybe hit it on the fence as well? Also, wire in his pocket.
“Safe to assume he wanted to strangle the old man, no?” Hattori-kun suggested and Eri nodded;
“It’s bloodless, and will let him claim it was Hideomi-san much easier than risking a stabbing and getting blood on himself,” she nodded, feeling inwardly disgusted at how meticulously planned the murder of an old man could be.
“There were traces of him wearing the bandages, so it’s clear he was the man we saw from the balcony,” Shinichi-kun added.
“But not the one we saw in the room, given that they came in at the same time,” Eri pointed out and both detectives nodded.
“Which means it was someone else,” Hattori-kun said.
“And we can narrow it down to the 3 that were not in the room at the same time,” Shinichi-kun nodded.
Yasue-san, Nobuko-san, and Hyuga-san then, Eri thought.
“We need to examine Mitsuaki-san’s room. We might find clues to Hideomi-san’s location… One way or another,” Eri proposed. She just hoped that Sato-keiji would follow that lead, and not pry too carefully.
“Where is Kirino?” Shinichi-kun asked, looking around, but Eri shook her head;
“She’s staying with Hyuga-san,” Eri sighed. “She’s… I think there’s been too much happening lately and she’s taking the fact she couldn’t help Mitsuaki-san hard. The fact that Hyuga-san is also feeling like it’s her fault probably helps them a little.”
“I see,” Shinichi-kun said, even if he didn’t look too happy with the explanation.
Eri supposed that he felt helpless to help Ran in this situation and it frustrated the young detective.
-DoDo-
“Are you okay, Hyuga-san?” Ran asked as she and the older woman were sitting on the stairs of the Nagato mansion entryway. Sato-keiji had yet to interview the two of them, as she wanted to give them a moment to recover from seeing Mitsuaki-san fall. Ran thought it was a nice gesture from the female detective… Even if Ran saw that Sato-keiji was trying to antagonize Oka-san and Hattori-kun.
“Oh, I am fine… Kirino-chan, right?” Hyuga-san asked. When Ran nodded, the young secretary sighed, before continuing; “Though on second thought… No, I don’t think I’m exactly fine… I knew Mitsuaki-san… Mostly professionally, but he was a friendly man overall… To think that he’d try and commit murder is just… It feels so-”
“Wrong,” Ran couldn’t help but finish the woman’s sentence, her mind flickering to the events of a few days ago. They were still so fresh in her mind, that it was little surprise, her voice sounded strained. Something that even Hyuga-san seemed to pick up on;
“Did something happen recently?” try as she did, Ran couldn’t help but answer the question;
“Someone I- Someone I was told was an amazing person turned out to be a murderer,” Ran explained vaguely, already barely stopping herself from revealing her link to Yonehara-sensei.
“I’m sorry that happened-”
“And now I couldn’t even stop Mitsuaki-san from dying,” Ran continued, ignoring the older woman. It just felt so… Frustrating… Wrong… Painful; her Otou-san, Seiji-san, Hirota-san, and now Mitsuaki-san. Her little bubble of self-doubt though burst suddenly, when Ran felt Hyuga-san put a hand on Ran’s head, gently.
“That’s not something someone your age should be concerned about, Kirino-chan,” Hyuga-san said gently. “Even if you reached the railing before he fell, I doubt you could have stopped him from falling. I couldn’t, and I am much stronger than you. Besides, if anyone is to blame, it’s me. I startled him after all”
“That’s-” Ran wanted to say it wasn’t true, given the power-enhancing bracelets, but she managed to catch herself in the last second. It was… Scary how much the last few weeks were affecting Ran’s judgment. For now, though there was only one thing she could say as Kirino; “You’re probably right, Hyuga-san,” Ran said, trying to sound like she believed the words. Fortunately, Hyuga-san seemed to believe Ran, as she continued;
“Besides, one thing I’ve learned, and one thing that Hideomi himself claimed is that you can’t save everyone,” Hyuga-san said, and that got Ran’s attention.
“What do you mean, Hyuga-san?”
“It… Ties into the incident that Nagato-san mentioned earlier. How Hideomi got his scars,” Hyuga-san said, her tone rather sad. “A fire happened at an inn. Hideomi and Mitsuaki-san, who were in high school at the time, happened to be walking by that area. Hideomi… He jumped into the fire, ignoring Mitsuaki-san’s pleas for him not to. From the fires, he saved a little girl. But not her parents,” tears were starting to prickle at the corners of Hyuga-san’s eyes, and Ran put the pieces together herself;
“The ‘bonds of fire’ you mentioned earlier. That girl was you, Hyuga-san?” Ran asked, getting a small nod as a reply.
“He risked his life to save me. He encouraged me after the fire, even though I was sent to an orphanage. He made it possible for me to attend school, to find a job. He even-” Hyuga-san’s voice caught a bit at the last words; “He even accepted my proposal. And now I don’t even know if he’s alive,” Hyuga-san trailed off, tears starting to stream from the corners.
Unsure exactly what she should do, Ran placed a hand on Hyuga-san’s shoulder, trying to reassure the woman;
“If anybody can find Hideomi-san it’ll be Heiji-niichan,” Ran said, purposefully leaving out Shinichi, as she noticed that Sato-keiji was approaching.
“I… I wish I had your optimism, Kirino-chan,” Hyuga-san said with a sad smile on her face. The way she spoke, made Ran rather suspicious, of how… Resigned the words were. While it was possible that Hyuga-san simply didn’t believe Ran, because she was a child, it felt like something deeper to the shrunken teenager.
“Is this a good time, for me to ask you some questions, Hyuga-san?” Sato-keiji approached before Ran could question the secretary further. “And I can question Kirino-chan after, as well.”
“Are you sure you don’t want to question us both at the same time, Sato-keiji?” Ran asked, somewhat confused. Normally it would make things easier for the detective and save some time as well.
“I want to see if your recollections match up, is all,” Sato-keiji admitted, and Ran was surprised by the short-haired woman’s words. A glance over at her Oka-san told Ran that her mother and Shinichi were just as puzzled by Sato-keiji’s behavior, as both of them shook their head. Deciding not to push, in case that arose Sato-keiji’s suspicions, Ran nodded;
“I’ll be just over there Hyuga-san,” Ran promised as she walked away. Before she could reach where her mother and Hattori-kun were talking though, Shinichi walked up to her and grabbed her hand. “H-hey!”
“Follow me,” Shinichi said plainly and started dragging, Ran along, despite her protest. Soon enough, the two of them were a fair distance away, near the fountain where nobody could overhear them.
“What do you want Conan?” Ran asked, some frustration leaking in her voice. It was probably something to do with the case anyway. And right now Ran had to be honest that the last thing she wanted to do was talk about more murders and-
“You’re not perfect,” Shinichi stated simply. The bluntness of the statement caused Ran’s mind to go blank for a long moment before she replied;
“Huh?”
“That’s what you told me on the way back from Tsukikage Island, remember?”
“I-” Ran thought for a moment before she managed to recall the conversation. “I did, but what about-”
“You told me that all it mattered was that I tried to save Seiji-san, right, Kirino?”
“I- Yes, but-”
“Then you tried as well, right?”
“Of course I-”
“Then don’t blame yourself!” Shinichi insisted, giving Ran’s shoulders a shake, his hands staying on Ran. “You tried to save Mitsuaki-san from what Hyuga-san said. That’s enough, Kirino.”
“But-”
“No, Kirino, you couldn’t have saved him, not really,” Shinichi said with a sigh.
“You’re… You’re sure?”
“At best he would have slipped through your fingers. At worst he would have pulled you over with him,” Shinichi declared with the same conviction he often used to proclaim someone’s guilt.
“I understand where your frustration comes from, but please; don’t torture yourself over this,” he pleaded with her again. “Dwelling on it will only hurt you in the long run.”
“I- Just- So much has gone wrong lately, Conan,” Ran said listlessly. “I just… I wish I could have saved him.”
“I know, Kirino,” Shinichi smiled at her reassuringly. “And that’s why you’re you. Always ready to help anybody and everybody.”
“I just… Wish I was better at it,” Ran said sadly, but Shinichi was still undeterred;
“Then how about we go find Hideomi-san, for Hyuga-san’s sake, huh?”
“Are you sure he’s still alive?” Ran asked pointedly, but Shinichi shook his head.
“I honestly don’t know, but we need to keep hoping, Kirino. It’s all we can do right now. Now come on! We’re going to check Mitsuaki-san’s room,” Shinichi said, finally removing his hands from her shoulders. As he did, Ran realized just how reassuring that simple gesture felt and how much she wanted it to continue.
The thought brought Ran to a further realization, namely that Shinichi was always able to reassure her and support her, even in her darkest moments. It was… Nice, having someone she could rely on like this. An anchor to keep her grounded, even through the pain of losing her Otou-san. A pillar to lean on every time she had to lie to Sonoko about something as of late. Shinichi’s presence gave Ran hope. Hope she cherished…
And hope that Sonoko was right when she said that Shinichi liked her.
It felt… A little too good to be true, Ran had to admit to herself, how the one person who made her feel so safe and cherished was her oldest friend. But still, the more time she spent with Shinichi, especially now, in their current state and constantly having to rely on one another. And it served to further reassure Ran that Shinichi did feel the same way.
It felt right!
That’s what the little voice in Ran’s head kept repeating, especially after the case with Yonehara-san. It was almost enough to push Ran to confess. The prospect did scare her, but not nearly as much as it did a month ago. Or even three weeks ago. In fact every day, the idea of confessing more and more seemed like the right thing to do.
Just a bit more, Ran told herself as she watched Shinichi and Hattori-kun follow the police into the mansion. Just a bit more and I’ll have the courage.
