Detective Yoko - The White Dove 『Detective Conan』

Chapter 53 - Messages

The house was big. Yoko enjoyed visiting it from top to bottom to get to know it better.
   The young girl was alone. She had woken up two or three hours after Yukiko had left. She got dressed, combed her hair and had breakfast. Immediately afterwards, she went into the library and took photos, playing with the angles.

   Yoko pushed open a door. A room she knew a little about in addition to the library. This was where Conan had given her some clothes when they first met. There she found her clothes, which had been left loose in a corner. She reached for her jacket, which was now too big for her. She reached into her pockets to retrieve her phone. She stared at it for a moment before putting it in her waistcoat pocket.
   The young girl went into the kitchen to get some snacks, made herself a cup of milk and sat down in a chair. She switched on her phone, which had her old friends as a background. On the screen were numerous message notifications. Over a hundred of them. There were also numerous calls. She sighed before going to her messages. Most of them were from Yosuke, her little brother.

   Yoko first read the messages from Akihiko, her best friend at school. Just one message from him. A pamphlet in which he explained that he was worried, that the club was struggling to function without her, that he went to her house every day to see if she was back, until the girl's parents said she would probably never come back. Now he was waiting to hear from her.
   I wonder if I can contact him... he knows how to keep a secret... it would be easier with Conan's knot...
   Then she traced Yosuke's conversation back to the night she'd been poisoned.

   "Kyoka, don't piss off and come! We've been waiting for you for an hour!"
   "We've been waiting for you since last night! The parents are going to call the police if you don't come back."
   "We've called a detective, we're going to stay here while he looks for you"
   "We've gone back to the house because I've got lessons to catch up on! And so have you, so get home as soon as you can!"

   It's true that nobody knows what happened to me...

   "Yesterday we ate your favourite meal without you!"
   "Dad said you'd either been kidnapped or killed... The detective abandoned the search..."

   Several days went by without any messages from him.

   "We're going back to Tokyo to look for you ourselves... I've heard of a good detective... Mouri I think? But the parents don't want to contact him... we'd like to try and get in touch with this Kudo Shinichi but he's not giving us any news either! He's a pain".

   No wonder you haven't heard from him! We live together!

   "Come back"

   "Come back"

   "Come back"

   "Come back"

   "Come back"

   "Come back"

   "Come back"

   This same message was sent several times, every night. Yoko felt a gun run down her cheek, then another, and so on.
   -Why are you crying, you idiot! the former high school student thought aloud.
   She closed her phone, continuing to cry. She couldn't stop, and kept her teeth clenched. She'd got used to her current life, that wasn't the problem. It was the fact that Yosuke was desperate for her return that was hurting her. She couldn't say anything to him or it would get back to the men in black.

   Yoko finally rubbed her eyes. She finished her cup of milk, put it in the room and left, heading for Agasa's house.
   -Hakase? she said as she opened the door.
   -Yoko-kun! What are you doing here?
   -Not much, not much! I just felt lonely! Can I ask you to make me something? And get your phone number back?
   -Eh? I'll write it down for you... and what would you like to have?
   -A bike! Since you always favour Conan with your gadgets, I'd like to have something too! And I think a bike would be great! I'd like to be able to take it everywhere!
   -I can always try...
   -Thank you!
   She sat down on a chair and entered Agasa's number into her phone. She deleted those of all her current contacts. She didn't want to read any more messages from her friends or family.

   That evening, Yoko stayed the night at Agasa's, Yukiko and Conan not having returned. She'd managed to take her mind off things. She told him that Ran had recently had doubts, but that they'd only just got over it. She told him about the Moonlight Murder, which had taken place on an island where the murderer had killed several people before leaving himself to die in a fire.
   It's not so bad talking to him, he's a good listener at least!