Chapter Text
Kogoro Mouri was watching horse races, as he usually did whenever in his spare time. We were in mid-September, but the weather was as humid and hot as the summer. Conan was reading a manga magazine on the couch. The child was not bothering himself with Kogoro screaming at his bet losses. The door of the detective agency opened to Ran coming back with groceries.
Conan 's phone rang with a message notification a few seconds later. Haibara was sending him an email with a video link. Conan was expecting it to be footage of one of Higo's matches, the soccer player she really liked. He was slightly surprised when he saw, not a soccer play but a tennis one with a boy a few years older than them, as kids, of course. The boy in the video was playing rather well for a middle school student. Conan had to acknowledge this.
The tennis boy had dark hair with green hints and golden-brown eyes. The child detective didn't watch the video and sent a message back to Haibara.
Why did you send me this? He simply asked.
I thought he was great. Haibara replied.
As much as Higo? Lol. Conan taunted
No. Haibara didn't take a minute before texting back.
Ayumi sent me this earlier. The girls are all over him at school. I thought you would like to see it since it's sports.
Not soccer, but he still is pretty good. What's the name? Conan queried.
Ryoma Echizen. Or something like that.
Conan put his phone back into his pocket after replying to Haibara. A few minutes later, someone rang at the agency, and a man came into the door. The man was wearing sunglasses, probably to hide his identity outside. He seemed to be in his thirties to early forties. He was wearing a marine costume with a tie of the same color.
Mouri was taken aback and almost fell from his chair when he came hastily to the man who just entered the room. The man remained unphased by Mouri's behavior and politely saluted everyone.
"Sorry for my sudden arrival but I needed to talk to you as soon as possible." The man simply said.
"Oh... That's alright, go ahead and sit". Mouri slightly struggled to say that last sentence.
Conan stayed by Mouri and waited for the client to explain his demand. The rich-looking client seemed to be surprised by the child's presence but didn't say anything. Ran, who already brought tea for all of them, was standing by the couch.
Mouri asked after the man's request:
"So... Mister Atobe... You want me to protect your son... Or at least, help you find that serial killer going around Tokyo, am I right?"
Mister Atobe nodded.
"This... crazy man has killed five teenagers already. Girls, boys... My son Keigo could be next for all I know. And the police seems a bit... Inactive. You are my last resort, mister Mouri. I don't want to lose my son. Not like this.
"Something makes you think your son is the next target?" Conan asked.
"Not that much... But you know. That killer appears to like young prodigies, as the news put it. And Keigo is one tennis prodigy for sure."
Mouri was thinking for seconds.
"That makes sense..." The detective stated.
"I might go overboard here, but — Did the police tell you anything? They won't tell me anything about the previous crimes. And I heard you were a close advice source of them."
" Actually... No one talked to me about it, sorry." Mouri admitted.
Mister Atobe stayed quiet after Mouri's words.
"So, will you help me? The Atobe patriarch demanded. Here the first payment — for the fees."
The whole Mouri family jumped out at the check amount.
"Of course, Mister Atobe!" Mouri replied, shaking his new client's hands.
That was expected. Conan sarcastically thought about Kogoro's reaction.
The Atobe's family father saluted and left the room after that. Mouri asked both Ran and Conan to go out, claiming he needed to think on the serial killer case in private. Conan wasn't so sure about that. But Ran and him both left anyway.
Practice time was over for the Seigaku tennis club, and the regulars were parting ways after changing clothes. Momo and Echizen were going out of the school together, Momo holding his bike beside him.
" Sorry we can't go back together today, Echizen."
"No problem." The shorter boy simply replied.
Momo had told Ryoma earlier in the day that his younger brother was sick. For that reason, he had to go back as soon as possible after afternoon club training — to help his mother taking care of his bed-ridden sibling. Echizen then decided he would go to the sports shop before going home.
The friends parted ways at the school gate, Momo going ahead to his home.
"Stay safe, Echizen!"
"Tsk. Of course, Momo. "The first year mumbled, lowering his cap.
The club and everyone else he knew seemed to be excessively worried about his safety for a reason he couldn't process.
Even Monkey King sent me a mail. The young teen thought.
They mostly said it was because of that creepy killer going around the town. Echizen still didn't understand why the criminal would target him, however. There were a bunch of well-known sports figures in Tokyo, after all. Like Fuji. Prodigy was literally the blue-eyed third year's nickname . But Fuji could be the one who would scare the killer away.
Ryoma smiled and snorted at his thoughts and went into the shop he arrived at.
The first year was walking home from the sports shop, lost in his thoughts. That is how he didn't notice the man waving at him.
" Hey! Ignoring someone calling you is pretty rude, you know? Or didn't you hear me?"
The man, seemingly in his late 20s to early 30s, came to him, talking in a taunting tone. He had dark brown eyes, dark hair, and slightly tan skin. He was smiling all the way with perfectly white and aligned teeth.
"Sorry, I didn't think you were talking to me." Ryoma apologized.
"No problem, kiddo. "
Echizen grunted very quietly at the "kiddo" . He was not fond of the man's talking. He was talking to the teen as they were friends or something like that. Maybe they did, but Echizen didn't remember him at all. He always has been bad at remembering people that wasn't his opponents, anyway.
"Oh yeah! I just remembered what I wanted to say!" The man screamed suddenly.
Echizen raised an eyebrow. The man was just so weird, childish, or even looking stupid to him.
"Ah ah, sorry. Can you help me find this address?" The man asked as he showed a piece of paper with something written on it.
The younger boy was a bit intrigued. Why was he asking that when he had a smartphone, probably on, he could use to find that place? But Echizen helped him anyway, giving him directions. He still kept everything short — as he usually did — since he didn't like talking. The man seemed satisfied. He said one last joyful "Thank you, Echizen!" to the middle-schooler before heading to the place where he needed to be.
Ryoma just shrugged and continued to walk. At his entry door, he suddenly realized something. Did the man say his name before leaving? How did he know it? The teen hurried into his home, shrugging it off as him being a fan of his.
What he failed to realize, however, was the eyes behind him, watching him.
Detective Megure was talking to Mouri about the case at the detective agency. Conan managed to stay in the room as the detective explained the details, unknown to the public, of the case. But Megure still seemed to leave out numerous specifics for some reason.
Megure explained they were yet to find out how the killer lured his victims to their death, or even how he chose them, besides the prodigy criteria. He described, although not too much, the horrendous nature of the crimes. After an hour's talk, Megure left to go back to the police station.
Hm... Did Megure really tell us everything? He seemed like he didn't want to dwell on the case... Yet.
Conan went upstairs, leaving Mouri, strangely in his thoughts, just like him.