Chapter Text
Conan would like to think he had been productive lately. In the past two weeks, he had solved at least ten cases, ranging from murder to theft to finding lost items. And that did not include the two FBI cold cases he and Akai-san had worked on together.
It was interesting, to see how the FBI agent, well, supposedly dead FBI agent, worked on cold cases. The intricacy and paperwork and such. He and Akai-san should probably send James-san, Agent Camel, and Agent Jodie a gift basket or something for all the trouble of supplying them with documents and dealing with the actual paperwork.
“Boya, we just solved a 20-year-old cold FBI case with minimal evidence and witness testimonies. A case that was said to be unsolvable when I was in the Academy. A case that is older than you.”
Conan looked up from his bowl of Akai-san’s technically homemade beef stew. It seemed that after many complaints from Haibara, Akai-san had finally diversified the ‘he-accidentally-made-too-much-so-he-had-to-bring-over-to-share’ dishes. They now ranged from beef stew, curry, cream stew, goulash, ragout, chicken stew, scouse, and occasionally sandwiches.
Conan stared at Akai-san. What did the man want him to say? He already knew all of that. Those were some of the first things he knew about that case.
Akai-san was not in his disguise right now, one of those rare moments he allowed to do so, but that let Conan see his sharp green eyes focus solely on him. The shrunken detective shifted uncomfortably. It somehow made him feel like a child being caught staying up too late or hiding a bad grade, which was ridiculous since he had never gotten any grade lower than 95 in his entire life.
“I know, Akai-san.” Conan looked back to his bowl. The beef chunks had been separated from the carrots and potatoes. In fact, he was in the process of separating the potatoes from the carrots when Akai-san stopped him.
A moment of silence between them stretched on for a few minutes.
“Boya,” Akai-san sighed. “I know when someone is using work to avoid talking about something. My mother did it. My coworkers do that. I did that. And I have no doubt you have seen your parents do that too.”
Conan flinched. He guessed the man heard, at least in some part, what happened. It was hard to avoid, especially when he stayed with Akai-san in the past two weeks. It was quite big news in his close and small social circle. He was actually quite lucky that his parents were on a book tour in the U.S. when the news broke. Considering the current situation with Rum and the Black Organization, he was sure that the tour was not the only reason for his parents’ sudden trip. He just hoped his parents wouldn’t meddle too much. It was still his case, after all.
“Do you want to talk about it, Shinichi?”
That made Conan look up. Akai-san still looked as serious as always. But there was a hint of softness in his eyes. Conan was unsure how to feel about it.
What was there to talk about?
Kudo Shinichi and Mouri Ran broke up. Well, technically, Kudo Shinichi broke up with Mouri Ran, through a lengthy phone call.
The aftermath was…to say the least, not pretty.
Ran was so heartbroken and depressed that she admitted she was unfit to take care of Conan and took him to Hakase. Uncle Kogoro, Sonoko, and a bunch of mutual friends were cursing Shinichi in every way possible. Weirdly enough, Sera seemed to be the only one in the class trying her best to stay neutral and focusing more on Ran’s mental health.
Hattori, Hakase, Haibara, and his mom were more confused than anything. After all, he did risk a lot in London and Kyoto to be with Ran, just to break up a few months later. They seemed to have enough tact to not question him for now. Well, he knew that his dad probably stopped his mom from interrogating him.
Hattori actually came to Tokyo last week, but Akai-san, disguised as Subaru Okiya, turned him away. It all happened when Conan was in the library, working on the first cold case. He didn’t know what Akai-san told Hattori, but his friend seemed more mellow and constrained when they finally had their weekly phone call.
Conan was waiting for a few snarks and “I-told-you-so” from Haibara, but those never came. She seemed like she didn’t know what to do. In fact, Hakase said Haibara had been holding up in her lab. As long as she wasn’t doing anything destructive to herself and the case, who Conan was to judge her? He did tell Hakase to look out for her just in case. As for the old investor, he tried his best to keep the Detective Boys off their backs. Knowing the children, Conan was sure they were planning something to “cheer Conan and Ai up.” If he had to guess, it would be the upcoming Kamen Yaiba pop-up event.
He hoped Hakase and Akai-san cooperated and bailed them out when the time came. He and Haibara loved those children but sometimes they were a bit too much for two teenagers-turned-7-years-olds. Then again, he suspected that Hakase and Akai-san would try to make them go out instead. He should come up with an excuse soon.
As for Akai-san’s offer…
“Not really.” Conan had been working hard in the last two weeks to not think too much about it, in every sense possible.
He was the one who kept leading Ran on for months, who made empty promises, who kept secrets, who confessed first, who was stubborn and naïve, who became a couple with Ran despite everything happening with him and the Black Organization, and who fell out of love with her…
He knew that if he thought about it, the thoughts would suck him in and refuse to let go, just like Miyano Akemi, Asoh Seiji, and Ray Curtis, except it would be a million times worst since this was Ran, his childhood friend, his best friend, the girl who he (and everyone) thought he would end up and spend the rest of their life together. All those hopes and dreams just went up in smoke, all because of his own arrogance and impulsivity.
But in the end, he was still a detective. Cases still happened around him. He couldn’t allow some criminals, especially murderers, to get away just because he was feeling down. A detective wouldn’t cry or get depressed.
So, Conan dealt with it like he always did, putting them all in a box and letting the emotions eventually grow numb. They always did, since there would always be cases for him to solve.
“Shinichi,” Akai-san didn’t look like he was disappointed or irked at Conan’s refusal. “when you are ready or want to talk about it, I am willing to lend an ear. I am sure your parents and Hakase, even your friend Hattori Heiji, feel the same way.”
“Don’t worry, Akai-san. I won’t let this get in the way of our investigation.”
“That is not why I am telling you this, Shinichi.” Akai-san sighed and suddenly ruffled his hair, before cleaning up his bowls and plates. “Now please finish your food. Your guardians will send me away if they find out you miss meals, Boya.”
“Hai, hai.” Conan had heard his mom’s lengthy speech with Akai-san about making sure he ate at least three meals and not had more than half a cup of coffee a day. She acted like he was actually in first grade and hadn’t been taking care of himself since he was fourteen. “Oh, Akai-san-”
“Also, James said that we had been working hard so he had revoked my access to cold cases. I plan to use this time to talk more with the FBI and hopefully Amuro-kun about information so we can be on the same page.” Akai-san didn’t even look back as he put the dishes in the sink.
“Oh.” That was the only thing Conan could say.
“You should rest whenever you can right now, Boya, we might not have that luxury when the real chase begins.”
---
Normally, Conan would just hold up in the library and re-read the entire Sherlock Holmes, Detective Samonji, and his dad’s detective fiction series to relax. Even though he memorized them all, it was still fun to re-read, check if he still remembered the information correctly, and look out for details that the authors planted or missed. Occasionally, he would go to a bookstore to check out potential mystery novels and manga. Most of them were quite mediocre. He either figured out who was the culprit a third way through the case or the solution was so ridiculous that there was no logical way to deduce it just from the evidence. He had complained to Ran quite a lot about the state of the mystery genre…
This was not a normal situation. Conan needed a case, an actual mystery. Just re-reading wouldn’t do.
It was already quite late so going out was not an option. He had school tomorrow anyway. It seemed that Akai-san had taken over the library so he doubted the man would let him go in and take out his dad’s old case files. The current detective books and TV shows that he had on hand were just plain boring.
There Conan was, teenager-turned-child, lying face down on his bed, trying to think of anything to do to not think about his life. Kami forbad he rolled around on his bed like an actual bored child.
Technically, Kaito KID sent a heist notice a few days ago, but it was all the way in Sapporo, Hokkaido and it seemed to be one of those small heists, so he couldn’t go…
Well, it was more complicated than that. Hattori actually offered to take him to Hokkaido so they could catch the thief together. A very Hattori way of cheering people up. But Conan declined because... He didn’t want to think about it right now.
It was already 11 PM. KID was probably done with his heist anyway. That thief was probably laughing and pissing off Nakamori-keibu and the police before flying off under the moonlight again. He wondered if this was the gem the thief was looking for. How funny would that be if it was that gem? What would that guy do then? Came to think of it, Conan never really asked what the thief planned to do with the special gem he was looking for. It was one of the more personal questions that they kind of agreed not to speak about. Like how KID never asked him why he was a seven-year-old or about Haibara’s situation.
It was a simple and unspoken agreement between them.
In a heist, they were enemies. Outside of it, their businesses were their own.
Unless they really needed help, of course.
Not that KID had a normal sense of exchanging favors. Honestly, who smuggled a child across the border to exonerate himself? At least Conan had the decency to ask KID for help on the Mystery Train, even if the thief insisted that was blackmail. In his defense, it was an emergency and KID was the only one who could do what was needed. But the stupid thief acted like he was lucky to escape, or he couldn’t have escaped the explosion. There was a reason Conan included him in the plan as the most important role in the first place. Stupid thief.
Conan did wonder from time to time if he should establish a more direct line of contact with KID. The thief seemed to be local in Japan and had some useful skills. Honestly, his disguises were as good as, if not better than, his mom or Vermouth. In the end, Conan resisted the idea every time.
KID, despite being a criminal, was non-violent. KID heist was one of the few places Conan could solve a mystery and riddles for fun rather than catching a murderer. Well, technically he still needed to catch KID. The thief’s identity was one of the biggest mysteries after all. Not that he would ever admit it out loud, but KID’s tricks were always so fun to solve, way more fun than figuring out his identity. He enjoyed gloating over that guy when he figured the trick out, seeing KID’s surprised face, and giving him a few footballs when he became too annoying. Most importantly, KID continuously performed new tricks, like a peacock showing off his feathers, and seemingly always took into account that Conan was going to be in the front seat of the show, watching the tricks with the greatest scrutiny. So, the thief did not need to get involved too much in the Black Organization mess. And from what Conan had read about KID’s heists, the thief had his fair share of violent thieves and criminals to deal with too.
Their businesses were their own.
Conan flipped himself up to face the familiar ceiling.
Their businesses were their own.
He wondered if he could force himself to go to bed now. It was rather late for a child.
Their businesses were their-
Tap. Tap. Tap.
The sounds of knocking on glasses were deafening.
Conan immediately sat up, hands on his watch, and scanned his room.
Outside of his nearest window was a dove, staring at him.
Conan took another look around the room.
The dove tapped on the window again.
It was just the bird.
Conan slowly slipped down from the bed and opened the window. The dove quietly flew inside and landed… right on his head, like it belonged there. It even let out a satisfied coo. Considering how familiar and well-trained this dove was, he had a guess who it belonged to. Like master, like pet.
He looked out the window for a while, half expecting to catch sight of the thief. Let’s hope that KID didn’t trigger any of Akai-san’s or his parents’ security measures. The last thing he needed was a highly trained FBI agent barged into his room with a gun because of an idiot internationally wanted thief who did not have the concept of a disposable phone.
After five minutes of nothingness and occasional cooing, Conan gave up and locked the window again. What was KID planning now?
As soon as he finished locking his window, the dove flew to his desk and stood there obediently. Sure enough, there was something tied to its leg. A white tube, as big as two of his fingers. Conan huffed before climbing on his chair and untying the tube. As soon as the object came off, the dove just sat down, staring at him, as if waiting for him.
There was a piece of paper inside the tube.
5 AM. Beika Park.
Just four words, nothing else.
Conan supposed this was a step up from kidnapping.
“Your owner is such a weirdo.” He sighed and petted the dove. It cooed, leaning into his hand. While he was not an expert on differentiating animals, the dove did seem familiar. It was way too friendly to him. Did it appear in one of the heists? Or was it… He ran his fingers lightly through the feathers. There it was. A scar on its warm body. The dove cooed again before flying to his bed and made itself comfortable on one of his pillows. “Well, I am glad you are doing fine too.”
The bird was staying then. Presumedly it would also be his guide to where in the park the meeting was going to happen.
At least he had something to look forward to now. If KID was asking for his help, it was probably not simple. Either that or the thief managed to get himself framed for murder, again.
Anyhow, he should figure out how to sneak into the kitchen and get some seeds and water.
---
Conan wondered if he should be worried about how easy it was for him to sneak out at 4:45 AM. Sure, security measures were to keep people out, not in. He also had no intention of making his house into some sort of temporary house arrest place, considering how easy it could be for it to be used against him. So, it was a plus. But it was also worrisome that if someone could break in, they could also easily break out. He had no doubt this issue would be one of his and Akai-san’s discussions soon.
The dove sat on his head as he made his way to Beika Park. As soon as he arrived, it flew away slowly.
So, Conan followed.
But he felt it.
The moment he stepped foot into the park.
He felt a familiar gaze on him.
It was not hostile nor oppressing like the Black Organization.
It was the usual playful I-found-you gaze.
Conan couldn’t really complain about the measure the thief took. He would probably do the same. Better safe than sorry. But then, if it were him, he’d rather choose a disposable phone, courtesy of Hakase, of course. If phones were not an option, he supposed a fake KID notice would catch his attention. Like how old man Suzuki Jirokichi did when Lupin the dog got trapped. Then again, compared between the time it took for his mom to reach Japan and for KID to know about the fake notice, his mom had always been the more reliable option.
The dove finally landed on a tree branch.
This was it.
It was a pretty secluded location in the park. Not many pedestrians would go here. This would also be where Conan would choose if he were to arrange a secret meeting in Beika Park. KID clearly had cased this place before.
“So, what do you want, KID?”
“Wow Tantei-kun, you are not grumpy because you are awake this early, are you?” the stupid thief grinned as he popped out from a nearby brush, dressing as suspiciously as humanly possible. Black cap. Black mask. Black gloves. Black long-sleeved T-shirt. Black pants. Black shoes. All without any distinctive branding. It was like the stupid thief was telling everyone to be suspicious of him. “Luckily, I came bearing gifts.”
Out of nowhere, KID popped out a cup of what looked like iced coffee and offered it to Conan. He eyed the thief.
“If there is sedative in this, you are going to be so miserable in the next few heists.” Conan took the cup.
“You aren’t still upset about Singapore, are you?” the thief said without a single sign of remorse on his face.
“You try and get shove into a suitcase and trafficked across the border!” Honestly, he didn’t even mind the kidnapping that much. But trafficking was an entirely different thing. They could both be in big trouble, considering they were using their alter egos. They could both be exposed.
“Hai, hai, duly noted. I won’t be kidnapping and trafficking you anywhere unless you agree.” He raised his hands as if he was surrendering.
Conan eyed KID once more before taking a sip. The thief stood, seemingly relaxed, hands in his pockets as if he had not just scheduled a meeting with a detective who was out to get him. But Conan could see how prepared for action and alerted that guy actually was. Because he was the same. It was not that they were suspicious of each other or anything. Ambushing each other outside of heists was not their styles. It was just an occupational hazard their secret life brought.
The coffee was not as caffeinated as he liked. It was still nice.
“So, did you get framed with murder again, or what?” Conan said as he finished the cup.
The stupid thief dared to grin.
“My, Tantei-kun, your critic skills have been improving. Is it because you are in your growing age?”
“Idiot.” Conan gave KID a deadpan look. At least he was right. Another case for him to solve. Another reason for him to ignore his personal life. That was what mattered. “So, what happened?”
“Here, this might be easier than both of us standing here and talking.” The thief popped a tablet out of thin air and handed it over to Conan. “It has information about the case and the people involved. Most of these are information I gathered for my heist.”
He opened the tablet and scrolled through the files. They were categorized neatly with information and photos. People. Locations. Events. It was what he expected from KID. A guy who did public heists in front of thousands of people was bound to be meticulous.
Conan opened the files and started reading. To summarize:
The victim was Toukai Shizumi (41, secretary, single). She was the younger sister of Toukai Ichiro (53, businessman, married twice). Toukai Ichiro was the patriarch of the Toukai family. They were locally well-known and rich in Sapporo, Hokkaido due to their fishing business since the 19th century. Other family members presented were: Toukai Hana (45, Ichiro’s second wife, stay-at-home mom), Toukai Nori (34, Ichiro’s eldest son, businessman), Toukai Chieko (30, Kento’s wife, restaurant manager), Toukai Noboru (32, Ichiro’s second son, chef, divorced), Toukai Naoki (20, Ichiro’s youngest son, university student), and Bando Yoshiaki (20, university student, Naoki’s boyfriend). There were also the Ueno family, Ueno Iwao (52, butler, married) and Ueno Junpei (28, secretary, single), who were friends with the family and served them for many generations.
The gem KID planned to steal was called “The Eye of the Sea,” the family heirloom. It was a silver ring with a round-shaped 5-carat fancy vivid blue diamond. The ring was also decorated with eight 0.5-carat white diamonds. The whole jewel was priced at 2.15 billion yen, or roughly 15 million USD. It was gifted to the first patriarch by a business partner from India and supposedly passed down from one head of the family to another.
At 6 PM, when KID got in and cracked the safe holding the jewel, the victim suddenly appeared and triggered the security mechanism with a remote control, locking the room down. Sleeping gas was then released. But KID had a gas mask so he put it on, stole the remote and the jewel, undid the lockdown, and escaped with his glider. When the dust settled, the thief found out through the police radio that the victim was dead and he became the prime suspect. The thief was now somehow extra wanted across Sapporo and its surrounding areas.
The autopsy revealed nothing so far. No poison. No sign of heart attack. No mark on the body. Like the victim just dropped dead. The crime scene did not give much. The sleeping gas was still being examined in the lab. Everyone else in the mansion, including Nakamori-keibu, was in the dining room since there was an incident right before the heist that caused quite a commotion.
A kind of locked-room mystery then.
All of the evidence saying that KID was the killer was all circumstantial since no cause of death was determined. It was not as conclusive as Conan would like but that was better than nothing. He was pretty sure Nakamori-keibu now wanted to catch KID to exonerate the thief too. As loud and aggressive as the man was, he clearly had a soft spot for the thief and never seemed to believe KID would murder anyone.
It was not like Conan thought much differently. But it was not a soft spot like keibu. Through their multiple interactions, he decided that he could trust the thief. The guy was annoying, sneaky, way too smart for his own good, and annoying. But he was trustworthy. If during the investigation, more evidence pointed toward KID… Conan would cross that bridge when it came.
“Of course, if you want to see the actual crime scenes and talk to people, you will have to come to Hokkaido with me.” KID said as he popped out two airplane tickets. “With any luck, I might return you home before the end of the day. But of course, if you want to be naughty and skip school tomorrow, I’m happy to oblige.”
Stupid thief. As if he needed him or an excuse to skip school.
Then again, getting away from Tokyo for a day or two didn’t sound so bad. A weird case in an unfamiliar city and some fresh air might do him some good. It was an excuse to both get away from Ran and Akai-san. It was not ideal since he was still with KID, but he doubted the thief would stick around after the case was solved, so he might get a day or two by himself, hopefully with another case, knowing his luck, before returning to Beika.
“Tantei-kun?” The thief was looking at him now. “Are you seriously-”
“Alright. Let’s go to Sapporo. We can talk more on the Shinkansen. Give me some time to pack some stuff.” Conan said as he took out his phone. They needed a reason for Edogawa Conan to miss a few days of school. Someone the school and staff knew as Edogawa Conan’s guardian so no further contact would be made. “Here, this is the picture of my “mother,” Edogawa Fumiyo. My mom’s disguise. She already appeared and attended a school event. Her voice is about an octave lower than her usual voice. She acts just as usual. You can disguise as her and pull me out for a few days.”
“Oh?” KID accepted the phone and carefully examined the pictures. “You are prepared, huh, Meitantei.”
“Idiot, that one is unexpected. It is just my mom meddling. Anyway, just disguise as her and get me out. A family emergency should do.”
“Alright then.” KID returned Conan’s phone. “I assume she was around your mother’s height? Any background information I need to know?”
“Yeah. Well, the story is that we live in the U.S., returned to Japan for holiday, but accident and then business got in the way to now I am living with the Mouri for the time being while my parents returned to the U.S.”
“Okay. I will pick you up later in the morning then. Around 9 sounds ok to you?”
“Should be. I will put my bag in the garden for you to get before coming to my school.” Conan paused for a second. What should he say to Akai-san? “Be careful about Subaru-san.”
“You don’t have to tell me that, Tantei-kun.” KID waved. “See ya later.”
The thief then disappeared in a poof of smoke
Stupid thief.
Honestly, Conan was a bit surprised KID never mentioned or asked why Conan was staying at the Kudo Mansion. Maybe the thief had some tact. Or maybe he was more preoccupied with the murder case than Conan thought to notice the change. It was temporary anyway. It was not like he needed to care.
Their businesses were, after all, their own.
Now, what should he tell Akai-san about this arrangement?