Chapter Text
Again, the situation didn’t look pleasing.
"Karasuma, looks like your condition is still the same as ever." The doctor bit his lips nervously as he fixed his glasses, his gaze was stern on the report in his hand. "Your heart seems to be deteriorating, the pumping seems to be worse than before but your heart rate is higher than normal. The heart murmur is still there as usual. As you know, I can’t really do anything other than monitoring your condition until I find a cause behind this condition. Are you sure that you don’t want a heart transplant?”
“I… need some time to think about it.”
“That’s fine, take your time as much as you want. I will prescribe the same medicine for you again, I think you’ve told me in the previous session that you still have some left."
You forced a pained smile and nodded. "Yes, of course. Thank you as always, Doctor Hafumi. You have always been watching over my health, I’m sorry to trouble you about this."
The doctor shook his head. "It’s my pleasure to take care of you. Your case is fairly interesting after all."
"Haha, I suppose so."
"The medicines are ready by the counter, you just have to take them from the usual nurse." Hafumi instructed as per usual, sitting behind his desk with a gentle smile that tried to soothe you down. "See you next time then."
Waving farewell to him, you exited the room and headed to the counter for the medicines. Two new bottles of medicines were packed nicely for you but upon seeing them, you couldn’t help but sigh. Having to eat those when your heart wasn’t listening to you was just saddening. Hearing your depressed sigh, the nurse looked at you with a worried look that you often received.
"What’s wrong?"
"Ah, it’s the usual thing. It seems like I’m getting worse." You kept the bottles safe in your backpack, your upset look was obvious enough for the nurse to point out. "Who knows, maybe I don’t have that much time left in this world, considering how my condition is worsening."
"There’s no such thing!" The nurse slammed both of her hands onto the counter and glowered at you, despite the number of surprised stares she was getting. "Believe in yourself, please. You will be perfectly fine so don’t say such a thing! One day, I believe that one day, there will be new medicine that could help you feel better." She smiled. "So, please, trust in yourself."
You ended up gazing at her for quite some time, completely baffled by her unexpected outburst. Even though you were baffled with it, you still managed to chuckle in amusement. "Haha, I guess you’re right. I shouldn’t give up that early at all. Thank you, I feel better now. I will see you again next month."
As you exited the hospital, you took a brief look at your watch and nodded to yourself. The day was still early and you were confident that you could be productive today, meaning more tinkering with gadgets. Using the spare keys you got from Agasa, you unlocked the gate and entered, only to hear Agasa’s howl of laughter from the inside. When you set foot into the house, you saw Conan — or more precisely, the young Shinichi — sitting by the cushion with an irritated look.
"Oh, Shinichi is here today."
"Welcome home!" Agasa pointed at Shinichi with a mocking grin while his other hand was busy mixing chemicals. "Shinichi is here to complain about the detective agency."
You quietly placed your backpack onto the floor and took a seat beside Conan. "Must be nice to be seven again. You get to finish your school early and you have so much free time in this world. You don’t even have to worry about assignments anymore, huh?"
Conan rolled his eyes. "I don’t have school, idiot."
"Oh, I see. Huh? What kind of grade schooler has no school? You should sign up for one or else it will be weird to have you around." You nudged Conan with a smile."Anyway, what were you complaining about? I want to listen to it too!"
"It was basically about how helpless the old man is. For God’s sake, he is always fawning over the actress on tv instead of looking for jobs. It would definitely take some time for me to get information regarding the men in black. Damn it."
"Was there not even a single case?"
"There was, three days ago. But it wasn’t about the men in black anyway."
Agasa blinked. "On the day you shrunk?"
"Then, how did it go?" You asked.
"Tiring." Conan answered with a wry smile, his eyes twitching uncontrollably with a hint of agony in his expression. "He seriously is helpless without me! He jumps to conclusions way too fast and he wouldn’t even investigate properly first, geez. In the end, I have to be the one finding out the kidnapper’s location with a damn dog. Well, I ended up getting beaten up but Ran came in time and the kid is fine so—"
You frowned and glared at Conan, only to sigh in defeat. "I knew it, you wouldn’t listen to what I said at all. I guess I shouldn’t expect any obedience coming from you."
"Oi, don’t say it like I ain’t gonna listen!" Conan clicked his tongue in annoyance. "It was an emergency, I don’t have a choice but to take it with my own hands."
Scoffing, you rummaged inside your backpack while conversing with Conan. "You need to take care of yourself as Conan, Shinichi. I can tell you right now that you shouldn’t die in the body of Edogawa Conan. Because if you did, Ran would be sad." You eventually took out the bottles of medicines and placed them on the table. "She is already worried about you, Shinichi. I’ve heard Ran wasn’t even paying attention in class and she kept asking the other classmates if they have seen you or not from Sonoko. Not to mention, Ran kept asking me if I have seen you. It has gotten quite tiring."
"Ran.."
"That’s right, Shinichi.” Agasa said, “You need to be careful. Ran was so worried about you that she came looking for me while crying. I managed to stop her from calling the police and trick her by saying you’re on another serious case but that wouldn’t last too long either. We seriously need to find the men in black soon."
You nodded to agree with the professor. "So in order to not worry Ran, take care of yourself, got it? Even I would be sad if something bad happens to you." You poured out two different tablets while noticing that Conan was scrutinising you. "What is it?"
Conan grabbed the bottle of pills to examine it. "Did it get worse again?"
With a reassuring smile, you snatched the bottle out of his grasp and kept the bottles back on the table. "It’s the usual but this time, it’s more about you, Shinichi. Your situation is more dire than mine so no need to worry about me. Oh, right! Thank god I didn’t completely forget about it," You stood up hastily and looked into the nearest drawers. "Professor and I made something for you yesterday. It might be helpful for future cases."
"Oh! You mean that!" Agasa chuckled.
"What is it?"
When you found it, you took the red bowtie and handed it to Conan. "It’s a voice changer. Professor and I came up with it, considering that you’re going to be living with Mouri. Anyway, just turn the dial to fix the frequency and pitch to find the suitable voice you want."
Agasa nodded. "Awesome, isn’t it?"
Conan’s eyebrows twitched. "This is cool but couldn’t you make something better than this?"
You eyed him. "Like what?"
"Something that could catch the criminal in one shot!" Conan sighed as he wore the bowtie, grimacing over how tacky it was. "Anyway, it’s because I lost all my power in this small body. Even if I find the bad guys, I can’t defeat them easily like before. Come on, I’m sure you thought of something. You know from the start I don’t have much strength with this body."
Humming, Agasa tapped his chin. "If I remember correctly, they did think of everything necessary on the day you were shrunk."
Conan’s eyes twinkled in excitement. "As expected from you! What was it anyway? When will it be ready for me?"
You sighed and took out your sketchbook. "It will take some time to construct them." Placing the open sketchbook in front of Conan, you explained to him one by one at a slow pace. "First, I thought of a pair of sneakers that could generate force and electricity when you turn on the dial. Since you’re good at soccer, it would just be easy for you to hit the mark, right?"
"Sounds good!" He grinned.
"Then, I plan to construct a watch that has a tranquiliser dart in it. One shot and the target will fall asleep. But there will only be one dart so use it wisely on that day. After that, just make sure to reload it back here or at least give it to me, I will reload it for you."
"Nice! Thanks." Conan nodded before reality hit him hard on the head. "But then it would all be pointless since that old man ain’t getting any job in that state."
Agasa shook his head. "That will depend on you, Shinichi." The said boy looked at Agasa with a confused look which caused Agasa to smirk. "You have to keep solving those cases from the shadows and shape Mouri into a great detective! That’s your job!"
"Ah, I suppose that’s true. Once he is famous enough, you might get more cases and maybe a piece of information about the men in black." You laid your elbows on the table and nodded, agreeing with Agasa at this point. "Information about illegal trading will be what you’re looking for, Shinichi. There might be some people out there that witness or know about an illegal trade. Once Mouri is famous enough, they might consult him."
"That’s true but," Conan chuckled dryly. "A great detective, huh. That sounds almost impossible. Shoot— I gotta go back before it gets too late! Talk to you two tomorrow!"
You watched the kid sprinted out of the house with those short legs of his. When he was long gone, you snickered. "Don’t you find it amusing to see him as a child, professor? I bet he was this cheeky when he was younger too."
Agasa burst in laughter as he turned around to look at you, the test tubes with fluid in his hands. "That’s right! He was that cheeky too. Speaking of which.. He said he has no school so can you register Shinichi into an elementary school? It would be odd if he has no school to go to, don’t you think?"
"I will get on to it."
"Just use the computer over there. I’m sure there is online registration for it. I will get this over with then we can work on the enhanced sneakers you suggested together."
"Alright, no problem."
You used the computer and helped Conan to register into a school. You wouldn’t expect him to like what you were doing but well, it was still for his own good. You almost giggled when you thought of him complaining about attending the elementary school again. No choice but to listen to Professor Agasa, you typed in Conan’s name on the registration list and printed out the necessary forms that will be filled later.
"Professor Agasa, I just have to fill in the forms for him and bring it to the school tomorrow for it to be done. You can inform Shinichi about this tomorrow."
Done with his work, Agasa rolled up his sleeves and nodded with an eager look. "Yosh! Then we will just finish the enhanced shoes today to give to him tomorrow!"
You blinked in shock. "Eh? That fast?"
"Of course! This amazing professor finishes his job!"
You sighed but continued to amuse him. "You’re right."
༺═──────────────═༻
"Good evening, Shinichi."
Conan, who just came out from his elementary school, looked at you. Somewhat puzzled to see you waiting for him, he eyed you cautiously. With kids screaming in the background, completely excited to get back home, you couldn’t resist the urge to smile at Conan. No doubt Conan was the only child who wasn’t running back home giddily, always with his tiny hands in his pockets.
"What are you doing here so early?"
You grinned and rubbed your eyes from the fatigue, moving away from the wall to walk with Conan. "Since you have turned into this state, I guess I could say I want to watch over you more. To make sure you’re okay on your own."
He mocked. "What can you even do, idiot?"
"I could also see what more gadgets you need in your daily life. It will be easy to know what you need for each case. Anyway, I heard your kick during PE class was super duper strong." You patted Conan’s head and ruffled his hair, which he didn’t bicker about. "Did you use the sneakers during the class to try it out?"
"I did." He sighed in defeat while looking down at his new sneakers. "But don’t you think the power is too much? That scared the shit out of me."
Smiling, you scratched the back of your head and laughed dryly. "I did suggest the idea of enhanced sneakers but the professor was the one increasing the power. I asked him whether it was necessary, considering the suspicions that would fall on you, but he said it would be fine so I just let him do whatever he wants with it." You yawned tiredly and rubbed your eyes once more. "Well, you can’t deny that it’s helpful for catching criminals."
Conan glanced at you. "Not enough sleep?"
"Professor and I stayed awake to finish your shoes."
He scowled. "You idiot. There’s no need to rush."
"But still it would be better if you have the gadgets early so that you wouldn’t be facing any difficulties." You smiled. "Just trust me, I will be fine. Losing a few hours of sleep wouldn’t do much to my body. Besides, I have been eating very well and I eat those medicines whenever it’s necessary. I should be perfectly fine! Have some faith in me, Shinichi."
Despite how uneasy his expression showed, Conan dropped the topic immediately with a hesitant nod. "Fine, fine." Suddenly, he caught a glimpse of someone he knew. "Oh, uncle!"
You looked ahead of you and saw Ran’s father hiding behind a pole with a newspaper in his hands. "Geh!" He flinched when Conan had called him and hurriedly turned around, whispering at Conan to shut his mouth.
"Good evening, Uncle Mouri. What are you doing?"
He looked at you, recognising you to be someone he knew. "If I’m not mistaken, you’re Ran’s friend, aren’t you? Together with that snobby detective." Kogoro glanced at the man with coat ahead of them and shooed you as well as Conan away. "Can’t you see? I’m shadowing that man. So leave me alone, you two are bothering me at work. Also, Conan, tell Ran I will be late back home. Got it?"
Conan nodded stiffly. You and Conan observed Kogoro trying to follow after that man quietly. However, it didn’t seem to be an easy job for that old detective. Even with the day as bright as the sun, Kogoro somewhat still managed to knock over a trash can, getting the attention from the suspicious man that he was following. Conan and you laughed ironically at the pitiful sight of Kogoro.
Conan couldn’t suppress the urge to groan. "See. I told you, it would be almost impossible for him to be a great detective."
"Y—You are right." Even you sighed in disappointment at the generic sight of the old detective. "But maybe you can change it, you know. You’re Kudo Shinichi after all. I believe you could make him into a great detective soon."
"I sure hope so."
"Come on, Shinichi. I will walk you back home. I think Ran should be back by now, I want to see her and make sure she is fine, especially when she is already depressed from your disappearance." You then walked back to Mouri’s detective agency that one would usually ignore. "Maybe you could try calling her once in a while with the voice changer, you know?"
Conan scoffed. "I did think about it but wouldn’t it just make her more worried with my excuse? Besides, if I want to call her, I will have to go outside and use the public phone instead."
You rolled your eyes dramatically. "Do what you want."
Climbing the stairs to the detective agency, you turned the knob around and swung open the door, greeting Ran who arrived beforehand. She was still in her school uniform so that meant she had just arrived back home, as expected from you. The interior of the agency was still the same as you could remember, unfortunately. The empty cans of beer by the desk and the cigarettes piling up the ashtray were the first thing to greet you when you stepped into the agency. You took a seat on the couch and smiled stiffly at Ran.
"Looks like the agency is still the same."
Ran sweated and laughed, quickly cleaning up the desk. "I’m sorry about this mess! He got too excited yesterday and just— Eh?" Realising something rather peculiar, Ran looked at Conan and then you. "That’s odd. I didn’t expect you to be with Conan today."
While Conan was sweating bullets, you only flashed a calm smile to Ran. "Ah, Conan and I are actually very close. He likes the gadgets I make with the professor so he would often hang out there. You wouldn’t believe how many questions he would throw at me."
"T—That’s right!"
"I see, I guess that’s not surprising at all. Professor Agasa is his distant relative anyway. Your projects are also interesting to know about." Ran gasped, "Ah! I’m sorry, you’re already here yet I was too busy to make something for you to drink. What do you want to drink? I will make one for you right away."
You shook your head and hands vigorously. "Oh no, I’m fine. Don’t trouble yourself, Ran. I’m only here to tell you something."
"Tell me something?"
"I heard there will be a fire festival at the Akaoni Village this week. Do you want to go with me and professor? You can bring Conan along with you too if you want." You then smiled at Conan. "Right, Conan?"
He nodded. "Y—Yeah!"
"I am sorry, I don’t think I will be going. You can enjoy the trip with Professor Agasa instead. Thank you for the offer though!" She smiled sadly. "There’s just too much on my mind right now. I don’t think I can enjoy the trip and my mood will only affect it."
"It’s fine, Ran. I don’t blame you for worrying over Shinichi." Eyes twinkling in elation, you snickered. "But Shinichi sure is lucky to have someone to worry about and love him that much! Right, Conan?"
Instead of answering you, Conan blushed and averted his eyes away.
You patted his head lightly and stood up. "Anyway, don’t worry about him too much, Ran. If it makes you happy, I saw him sneaking into his house last night at Agasa’s house." Before Ran could bombard you with questions and run to Shinichi’s house, you stopped her. "But then he ran out of his house after a few minutes with a bag. I assume he is just getting himself into another case. Don’t worry too much until you’re losing sleep, Ran."
She nodded weakly. "He could have at least called."
Conan’s eyes softened, which you took note of. You only shrugged. "Maybe he will call you when the time is right. Anyway, I will get going before it gets too dark. See you at school tomorrow, Ran."
She waved her hand. "Be careful on your way home!"
"I will."
You then made a texting gesture to Conan as a way of saying: I will text you.
༺═──────────────═༻
"Professor, are you sure this is the right way?"
Agasa nodded without any hesitation or doubt as he drove past the signboard. "Yep! I have been to the village a few times so don’t be too worried about it. Have some faith in me already! Anyway, the fire festival and the temple there are amazing. I’m sure you will like it there. Why didn’t Ran come with us? I thought she loves to visit places."
"I did ask her. She said she has too much on her mind so she couldn’t possibly enjoy the trip with us. That Shinichi, I told him to call her but he wasn’t doing it yet. Ran is going to lose her sleep at this point. I can’t help but worry over the two of them."
"Well, no point in worrying over them. Shinichi will handle it soon. If he can’t, I’m sure he will ask for our help like always. Oh, that’s right. Did you bring your medicines along with you? It’s going to be a long night today."
You nodded. “It’s in my backpack.”
"Are you still sure about going?"
"You’re the one who begged me to go with you because the drive is too lonely! Anyway, I am already here so there’s no point even if I say no. It’s only an hour drive so no need to worry. I can rest in the car while you drive." You looked out the window and grinned at the lovely village that was getting closer in view. "There it is, professor. Thank goodness you remember the path or else it would have taken forever to get there."
"D—Don’t say it like that!"
"Wah, the village is so lively. Looks like they are trying to get the fire festival ready before the anticipated time." You suddenly questioned Agasa. "Do you think we can still enter the temple? It seems like the people have closed it off for the time being."
Agasa laughed. "No worries. My old friend takes care of the temple and I specifically got permission from him. He should be waiting for us by the entrance by now."
You smiled in reply and nodded, flipping open your cellphone to play a short game. The trip wasn’t as boring as you might think at first. After all, Professor Agasa spent some of his time conversing with you although most of the topics were mainly about Conan’s new gadgets. This time, instead of talking to you, Agasa was too occupied searching for an empty spot to park his car. You laid your head on the window quietly and stared at the people preparing for the fire festival, humming a tune to nobody but yourself. The people were busy blocking the path to the spot where the fiery bonfire would be.
"What’s that song you’re humming to? It sounds quite familiar."
"Nanatsu no ko."
Agasa slowed down the car and parked it by the street where most visitors left their cars at. "Huh, I didn’t know you like a children’s song." He rotated the car key and took it out, killing the engine as he got out of the car. "Let’s go and take a look at the temple first."
Forcing yourself out of the car, you sighed. "The song just came to my head instinctively."
As he brought you to the temple, Agasa raised his eyebrow. "Instinctively? Huh, that means that song must have been important to you in the past. Or maybe you listen to it way too often. Well, take your time to remember about it. Don’t stress too much or else your hair is going to turn completely white like mine."
"But your hair is due to your age."
"You get what I mean, geez!"
"Agasa!"
Hearing someone calling out for the professor, you turned to the right after crossing the street, catching a glimpse of an old man waiting by the entrance of the temple. The old man was brushing his long beard with a relaxed smile, placing his broom right by the pole. The street was oddly calm and tranquil but despite how eery it might look at first glance, you weren’t complaining at all. It gave you a short moment of silence to enjoy with Professor Agasa. Agasa was the first person to approach the temple caretaker, you merely followed after him without speaking a word, and Agasa’s pleasing smile was enough to be a greeting to the old man.
The old man nodded back in response. "Good to see you again, Agasa. Oh?" His eyes suddenly landed on you, scrutinising your appearance that showed you were the opposite of Agasa. "This kid ain’t your grandchild, is it? You two don’t look alike at all."
He shook his head with a chuckle. “No, no. This kid is just someone I am looking after. Ah, but you could say I do treat them as my own. By the way, Okami, We can enter the temple, right?"
"Definitely, come right in. The shrine is just right in front, just make sure to not head inside the temple. The fortune teller is not here today so you can’t really do a fortune telling. Sorry about that."
"No, no. It’s okay!"
The old man guided Agasa and you into the temple. You walked past the red torii and viewed the place in awe. The path was lit by the bright street lamps. The warm colour was comforting and it matched the ginkgo trees by the path like a piece of the puzzle. Agasa and you stood in front of the shrine, taking out a coin and tossing it into the large box by the shrine. You then clasped your hands together and prayed, hoping whatever that would come into your way would only be good. With your eyes closed, you gave your entire hope to God.
I pray that everyone will be safe.
I pray that all of us are happy together.
I pray that I can find myself.
"Yosh, I’m done. Ready to see the yagura?" You peeled open your eyes gradually and eyed your clasped hands before flashing a smile to Agasa who seemed rather eager to see the fire festival. "So, what did you pray for?"
You snickered and walked away. "I’m not telling!"
Agasa pouted. "Meanie. Okami, let’s go."
Okami laughed. "Yes, yes. Agasa, do you mind helping me carry this? These are a bit too heavy for me to carry alone."
"Of course! Hold on." Agasa grunted.
Paying no attention to Agasa and Okami, you continued walking and merely let your gaze wander into the woods by the temple. You suddenly halted in your tracks. There was certainly something — someone — moving by the trees at a slow and relaxed pace. You narrowed your eyes and scrutinised the slow movement, stepping closer to catch a glimpse of it better. It was a man with a normal build, his spectacles glinting under the moonlight that was starting to get much radiant. You took another step forward, accidentally stepping on the thin twig by accident.
Shoot!
When he turned around, you saw his face.
Then, you saw it.
That man was carrying someone else on his shoulder.
"What are you doing?"
You glanced at Agasa that crept up to you from behind quietly. "Professor!" Hurriedly, you turned your head back and the man was gone. You blinked in shock and pointed at the woods. "Professor, did you see someone there?"
Agasa looked ahead and frowned. "No. Did you see anyone in the woods? I don’t think there would be anyone walking there."
Quite worried, you made a face. "Ah, I guess it’s nothing important. Let’s go to the yagura, professor.”
Instead of staying at the temple, Agasa and you had moved to the yagura. You didn’t expect the crowd during the festival to be this extreme. Everyone was squeezing against each other to get a better look at the yagura and you were merely in between everyone, squeezing yourself right in while keeping your eyes on Agasa. The crowd was suffocating and you swore you could smell the sour smell of sweat on some people.
"When will it start?"
Agasa looked at his watch. "Ten more minutes!"
From ten to five minutes.
From five to three minute
From three minutes to zero.
A man hastily tossed the wood with flame into the yagura and cheered loudly. Flame immediately travelled from the bottom of the yagura to the top of the wooden stacks, lighting up the night with such an intense heat. Several dancers moved gracefully in a circle while following along the beat, the scorching heat didn’t seem like a bother to them at all. You clapped your hands with the same beat coming from the large drums, swaying your body effortlessly with a wide grin on your face. One minute was filled with joy, another minute was filled with dread.
There was suddenly a piercing screech coming from the front and everyone instantly hurried close to the yagura in curiosity. The sudden movement from the crowd managed to push you away from Agasa yet all you could do was weakly fought back, though it didn’t do much.
"Professor Agasa!" Your eyes were wide open, "Ack! Hey— stop pushing me— Ah, professor is gone.."
You suddenly stopped moving when your back hit someone’s broad chest, squeezed from the crowds moving past you. The smells of sweats and ashes were somewhat overwhelming, you were feeling rather nauseous simply by sniffing the strong smell. You drew a sharp, shaky breath and closed the lower part of your face with your hand. Flinching from the foreign, uncomfortable touch on your shoulders, you gradually looked up in horror. Inch by inch. Your eyes quivered in fear as you held your head up high, anticipating and afraid of what person might be behind you.
You gulped, the dry discomfort in your throat.
The man from earlier.
His glasses gleamed with murderous intent and somehow, you knew he was smiling from behind the face mask.
He only smiled at you. "Are you okay?"
You didn’t like that smile at all. It was a way of threatening you, the look that said you better kept your mouth shut.
"Y—Yeah."
"Hey! I heard they found a body inside the yagura!"
"That’s awful, who was that?"
"No idea but they are calling the police right now."
You stared back at the man — the murderer. His calloused right hand snaked from your shoulder to your neck, sending chilling shivers down your frail spine. His long fingers lightly brushing against your lips, reaching out to silent you, perhaps forever. Your heart raced and pounded against your chest from the anxiety crawling up to your perturbed face. You understood what he wanted to do, or at least what he was hinting at you. You knew that if it was Shinichi, he would have fought back or run when things wouldn’t go his way but what could you do? You were nothing but a fragile little child, even running drained your entire energy away.
It was impossible to escape.
The only thing reassuring you right now was the fact that you were in public, he wouldn’t simply stab you in front of everyone else. What you were trying to focus was behind the chattering, finding a source of a sound that could be any help.
"Hey.."
"I heard that.."
"Murdered—"
"Who was it?"
"No idea…"
It was then when you heard your own name being called among the crowd, you snapped your head away in a hurry and pushed yourself away from the murderer. He didn’t fight back to keep you steady or against him. Maybe it was because he knew he was out of time, especially when Agasa was already rushing over to you while waving his hand frantically.
He only stared at you.
You breathed in shakily and heavily. "You.."
He grinned from ear to ear, plastering an innocent look that was way different from his original intention. The face mask he wore only added to the eeriness. "Kid, don’t get lost again next time." His expression suddenly changed drastically as he glared at you. "Because there’s no knowing when it will be your last day."
You clenched your jaw from the threat.
"There you are! I was so worried." Agasa patted your back. He brushed away your cold sweats that were stubbornly sticking onto your face. "Look at you, you’re already sweating this much. Did you bring your medicines? Maybe it’s a bad idea bringing you here after all. Your health is not suitable for this kind of event. They even found a man burned in the yagura. We shouldn’t stay here for too long. Let’s go back home."
You nodded with a grim look, secretly eyeing at the murderer that merely smiled and walked away. You were incredibly lucky. If you weren’t in the middle of the crowd, who would have guessed what the man could have done to you? He might just outright kill you despite how dirty his hands could get from your blood. No, maybe he would kidnap you first, holding a knife to your frail throat and threatening you to follow him quietly. Then, he would just keep you captive and decide what to do with you — maybe leave you to die from hunger and thirst.
Just like what you expected, you couldn’t read a criminal’s mind at all.
"What’s with that look?"
Wiping your sweat away, you looked at Agasa. "Huh? Oh. Nothing. My chest just felt tight."
He blinked and hurriedly took out a bottle of medicine from your backpack, "Really? That doesn’t sound good at all. Might be because of the crowd, you probably feel suffocated from the number of people there. Not to mention the ashes are all over the place. Here." Agasa placed the white tablet onto your palm and held a water bottle to you. "Maybe I should avoid bringing you to a crowded place from now on. I will keep that in mind next time."
You gratefully accepted the medicine, swallowed it and quickly drank the water as if you had been thirsty for days.
"Hmm, are you sure you are okay?" Despite witnessing you swallowing down the medicine, Agasa was still watching you closely with worry written all over his face. "You don’t look so good. Your face is all pale now. Was it that bad for you?"
"Professor! Let’s quickly head back first!"
"Huh?"
"Hurry!"
"O—Okay! Geez, calm down!"
༺═──────────────═༻
"What?!"
You nodded at Agasa’s expected, loud outburst and placed your backpack onto the table. Briefly taking a look at the ticking clock, you noted the time. It was currently ten in the night. You and Agasa were at the fire festival at eight in the evening. The car ride wasn’t as pleasant as the beginning anymore as all you could think of was the murderer. You first began to doubt whether the man was actually a murderer or just a traveller — a visitor just like you and Agasa.
However, you decided that a mere visitor wouldn’t walk through the woods with a limp man on their shoulder. It was simply too suspicious and just weird. Next, you were thinking of the man on his shoulder. Was it really a corpse? What if it ended up as a stupid doll or a drunk friend of his? If it had been that way, then the man wouldn’t have taken his time to actually look for you in the midst of the running crowd. Just by recalling what had happened, your own blood ran cold. It would be best if you assumed that he was actually the murderer.
"Yes, I think I have witnessed a murder."
Agasa took a seat opposite of you and blinked. "What?"
"Technically, it’s not the actual murder." You placed your chin on your rested hand and frowned. "I found the murderer carrying the corpse instead. I think he was in the middle of transporting the body to the bonfire. Since the temple and the restricted path are close to each other, it wouldn’t be odd for him to go through the woods, right?"
Agasa leaned closer to you. "Who was it?"
You looked straight into his eyes. "I’m not sure if you have paid attention but he was standing behind me when you found me. I think I’m pretty sure he tried to keep me quiet because he was holding onto me before you came." You grinned. "Whew, it was so scary!"
"A suspicious person standing behind you? I don’t think I saw him. No wonder you were looking pale. We should hurry up and tell this to the police. First, we must watch the news. I’m sure they have gotten it by now."
Agasa took the remote control in the coffee table and switched on the television. The news channel popped up almost immediately, explaining the incident that had happened at the fire festival. Out of the blue, a picture of the victim was presented on screen and subconsciously, you gasped without realising it. It was someone you had seen before, you were certain of it. After all, that victim was the man that Mouri Kogoro was shadowing. With your mouth wide agape in shock, you were petrified to even point your finger at the victim’s photo.
The professor looked at you. "What’s wrong?"
"That man looks familiar."
The alarming ring from your cell phone interrupted what you were about to say. Both you and Agasa stared at each other for three seconds before the two of you looked around the house. It wasn’t the house phone nor was it Agasa’s cellphone. It was yours. The mild, annoying vibration coming from your pocket was hard to ignore. Feeling disappointed, you grumbled under your breath as you pulled out the phone from your pocket, flipping it open to answer the call.
"Hello."
"Hello, this is Edogawa Conan— Eek! Get out of here, you troublesome kid! Dad, don’t just throw him like that!" There was someone clearing his throat on the other side of the line. "Ahem, Mouri Kogoro’s here. I’m sorry for calling you this late but Conan informed me that you and Professor Agasa went to the fire festival at Akaoni Village. I have to ask you some questions, I hope you wouldn’t mind."
You watched curiously at Agasa who laid his ear on the other side of your cellphone to listen to the conversation too. "Oh, no problem."
"You see, there was a murder case that happened during the fire festival. If you have been there then I assume you would know about it?" You replied with a quick and simple yes. "The victim was Negishi Masaki, the man that I was shadowing a few days ago. I’m sure you recognise him by his picture that was shown on the news channel right now."
"Yes, I saw it."
"I will be investigating this matter soon so anything coming from you would be helpful. For example, maybe you have seen something suspicious—"
"I did see the murderer’s face."
"That’s right, and maybe if you’ve— Eh?" There was a short silence before Conan’s voice entered the call. "Hey, what do you mean by that? Can you tell me the details?"
Then Kogoro’s enraged voice came from the background.
You nodded. "You might want to put the call on speaker right now, Conan. I think it was around seven when we reached Akaoni Village. Before we got to the yagura, we made sure to visit the infamous temple there first. Besides, the yagura will only start around 7.45 in the evening so to prevent people from messing up the yagura, they restricted the road for a while. Technically, there aren’t any people in the yagura. Uh, let’s see… we were done praying around 7.25 in the evening and then I saw him. There was a man walking through the woods with an unconscious man, which I assume is the victim, on his shoulder."
"What?!"
"At first I couldn’t see his face so I stepped closer until I could see his face."
Conan’s voice boomed out of the phone. "So you have seen his face?!"
"Yes. Well, I get the gist of his face. He was wearing a face mask and glasses. Anyway, he disappeared after I looked away for a moment. Then, we just went to the yagura for the show and someone found the body after a few minutes of the dance. Um, people were pushing each other and rushing to the front so I got separated from the professor."
"And it was bad! They've encountered the murderer face to face!" Agasa butted into the conversation as he shouted at your cell phone. "That man was trying to keep them quiet and thank the God I found them before anything bad could happen! He might have kidnapped and killed her!"
Conan’s eyes widened. "Could you describe his app— Gah! Ran! Take this annoying kid somewhere!" Kogoro took over the phone now. "Hello. This is Mouri Kogoro again. Anyway, could you please describe his appearance for now?"
"His eyes are somewhat small and sharp. He wears a pair of glasses. Uh. His nose bridge is a little bit high. I couldn’t see the bottom face because of the face mask but if the suspect wears a mask, I will be able to recognise him."
"That— Tch." Kogoro hesitated before focusing back on another matter. "Can you please follow me to the police station to be the witness tomorrow afternoon? I will need you to explain what you have seen to the police."
"Of course, I will be happy to help."