Kaiya POV
"Oooh the results from today's match! So cool!" Genta cried as I walked the detective boys home from school.
"Amazing!" Ayumi clapped.
"It's the double H! They are doing really well!" Mitsuhiko said, looking at his phone.
"What's double H?" Conan asked.
"Erm I don't know either." I sheepishly said. What was double H again?
"Eh? Kaiya-neechan, Conan-kun you don't know double H?" the detective boys cried. Conan and I shook our heads.
"Tokyo spirit's Hide and Big Osaka's Higo are known as "Double H" nowadays" Haibara explained.
Walking along beside me, Conan kept staring at his phone, seemingly distracted. I stole a quick peek to see that he was researching about a shoji serial murder case that had been on the news lately.
"What's that character?" Ayumi piped up, looking at Conan's phone.
"It reads yachou." I said.
"Which means that someone intentionally loses a match." Haibara finished. "Just like when Edogowa-kun lets you win the games." The detective boys protested in annoyance, but I knew Conan lost against them for real... I guess the great detective isn't good at video games at all...
"I wonder where the term yachou comes from." Mitsuhiko said.
"Maybe sumo?" Haibara wondered.
"Or shoji." Conan said
"No its not from shoji." a voice interrupted us.
"Ah! Taiko Meijin!" the detective boys cried.
"It actually originated from the game Go. There was a grocer named Yachou who would always let everyone win. He would put others in a good mood so they would buy from his shop. But when he played an evenly matched play against a skilled player Honinbou Shuugen, everyone saw his true skill. That's where the term yachou came from." He corrected us.
"Long time no see Shukichi-san." I waved.
"Hey have you ever played against a player named Nishiko, who was recently found dead?" Conan suddenly asked.
"Yes I have. There was nothing too impressive, but one time after he came back from the restroom, he surprised me with a brilliant move. I prevailed though." Shukichi said.
"Say Shukichi-san, you are dressed up nicely today." I commented.
"Yeah, your hair is done nicely and you shaved your beard." Conan pointed out.
"Are you on a date with Yumi-san?" Ayumi piped up.
I laughed, "You should bring Yumi-san some flowers then! I'm sure she would love those." I told Shukichi.
"No-no I'm just meeting up with someone important today." Shukichi stuttered while blushing.
"It's not a date?" the detective boys chorused.
Shukichi shook his head. "Anyways Kaiya-chan can I talk to you privately?" he asked.
I nodded and we walked a little further ahead. I could see Conan studying me out of the corner of his eye.
"Since you know my brother, would you happen to know how my mother is doing? I haven't been able to contact her." he told me.
"I-I well that's -" I looked down at my shoes. I can't really tell him the truth yet. "I think you should ask Akai-san. Maybe he would know." I suggested. "Is it because you want to introduce Yumi-san to your family...?"
"Yeah hopefully sometime soon." he smiled.
"Good luck then Shukichi-san! Yumi-san would love that." I smiled and he went inside the donut shop we stopped at.
"Eh? What's that about me?" an angry Yumi marched up to me, dragging Conan with her. Poor Conan. "What's Shukichi up to?" she demanded.
"He's right over there." I pointed to a group of people chatting.
*********
"So you guys are a Shoji group?" Yumi said in realization. Everyone introduced themselves as Katsumata Mina, Uryuu Shouko, and Hishinuma Kousuke. They had planned to meet at another one of their friend, Genda Yasukiyo's place to play shoji. He didn't respond for a long time after the doorbell was rung, so Katsumata used a spare key and let us into the apartment. However, as soon as we entered, we saw him lying on the floor with a shoji board next to him... with two legs gone...
I immediately ran to check his pulse and shook my head, indicating that he was gone.
***********
Looking around, I could see a blender, a toaster, and a tray of ice cubes on the counter. Shukichi touched the counter and his expression changed. I went over and touched the counter as well.
"Did you notice something?" Conan came up to me.
"I'm not sure..." I mused. My hand just brushed against something warm, but what does that mean?
I turned around in surprise as a fire erupted from a house nearby, apparently around their friend Kishimoto's house.
************
I leaned back against my chair in my room after doing some homework. For whatever reason I had an uneasy feeling. Shukichi's expression... did he find something about the culprit? Seeing as Shuichi and the Kudos were not home yet, I wrote a note telling them I was meeting up with a friend.
I found Shukichi's apartment and knocked on the door.
"Kaiya? What are you doing here?" he opened the door in surprise.
"Following you, obviously." I replied. "I couldn't let you go and chase after the culprit alone."
Shukichi sighed, "Alright, you got me there. I know where the culprit lives."
*************
"The culprit should be over in that room." Shukichi pointed to the room.
"It's because of the postcard we saw earlier right?" I clarified.
"Let's go in then." he nodded.
I rang the doorbell. "Excuse me mister, I hope you don't mind us the intrusion but we wanted to ask you something." I said as Hishinuma opened the door with a shocked expression.
"I bet you must be surprised to see us. We are here to tell you to turn yourself in. You are the culprit aren't you. The one who is behind the deaths of Genda-san and the other shoji-players." Shukichi said as he walked inside in front of me.
"Wait Shukichi-san!" I warned before he got tasered. I quickly ran and pulled out my phone to call for help but I felt an electic shock and everything went dark.
*************
Conan POV
"What? Taiko Meiji hasn't been home?" I put my phone to my ear.
"Yeah, I thought he came home late last night and left early. I didn't see him when I woke up." Yumi said over the phone.
"What about the other shoji-players?" I asked.
"They said they haven't seen him either. I'll keep asking around." Yumi hung up.
I waved the detective boys goodbye just as my phone rang again.
"Ah Conan-kun, I might be home later today! I wanted to drop by Shinichi's house to drop off Kaiya's school work." Ran said.
"Ran-neechan you say Kaiya-neechan didn't show up at school today?" I asked.
"Yeah maybe's she's not feeling well again." Ran said. "But it's odd... she usually lets me know if she ever misses school..."
Both of them missing can't be a coincidence. They also acted weirdly yesterday. I immediately called Akai-san.
"It's rare for you to call me boya. Hmm you say Shukichi and Kaiya are missing after getting involved in a murder case? Send me the details of the case." he told me. I could hear my parents talking in the background.
*********
Kaiya POV
I slowly woke up to a floor in a room with a shoji board. I must be tied up since I can't move my arms.
"Kaiya-chan." Shukichi whispered next to me.
"What's going on?" I asked groggily.
"Over there" Shukichi told me. I looked up to see Hishinuma pacing around on a phone call.
"He seems very impatient." I observed and tensed as he came closer. "What should we do? I think my phone was taken away."
"I have a plan." Shukichi whispered.
I nodded in understanding.
"You must be waiting for someone. Why do we play a game since you have some time to spare?'' Shukichi suggested to Hishinuma.
"You would get the opportunity to play a blind shoji match against THE Taiko Meijin." I stated.
I felt a metal object being pressed in my hands. Ah, it was Shukichi's phone. I can use it to get help while Shukichi engages the culprit in a game. Using the location of the chess pieces, Shukichi can tell Shuichi the room number.
Despite the circumstances it was cool to see Shukichi in action. They played shoji for a while and the phone vibrated so I quickly pressed the answer button.
"Bishop to 8-3 and promote it" I heard Shukichi say. "Oh no, that was a bad move, now my king will be captured by your lance!" Shukichi exaggerated.
Suddenly the culprit glanced towards me.
"I knew it, you both lied to me!" Hishinuma angrily cried and grabbed the phone from me, smashing it with a knife. "There's no way a Meijin would have made such a bad move. I would have let you both live but now it's over." He held the knife in front of me.
"D-Don't you dare get any closer!" I shouted, and kicked him hard in defense, causing him to drop the knife.
Just then a voice through a megaphone boomed, "Stand down. This is the Metropolitan department's special assault team. We have you surrounded." I relaxed slightly. It was Shuichi and Conan. "Surrender and drop your weapon."
"Shut up! Don't you care whether they live or not?" Hishinuma declared, retrieving the knife and placing it against my throat. Seriously, must culprits always do this? Before Hishinuma could do anything, the window suddenly broke.
"That was a warning shot just now. Another team has been dispatched over to you." Shuichi declared.
Hishinuma ran out of the room in fear and Conan tranquilized him with a dart.
"Conan-kun! Akai-san!" I cheered.
"But why did he wait here instead of fleeing before?" Conan asked, motioning to Hishinuma.
"He murdered the others since apparently they cheated during their shoji games. When one of their friends, Uryuu-san was almost exposed, the others abandoned him, leading to eventually commit suicide. Shukichi-san found a confession letter that Hishinuma-san had written to the police." I explained.
"But why didn't the police find it yet?" Conan asked.
"Because I beat them to it! I found it in the mailbox of the apartment." Shukichi explained.
**************
I twiddled my thumbs on the car ride home, as it was more silent than usual.
"Shukichi-san, do you think he's mad at us?" I whispered.
"Who? My brother?" he replied. "Eh hehe I think so..." he said sheepishly.
"Chasing after the culprit alone was reckless." Shuichi lectured us.
"Hai..." Shukichi and I both replied.
************
"Come on, Kaiya-chan, the party will so fun!" Sonoko said over the phone.
"Gomen Sonoko.... I'm grounded for a week." I sighed.
************
"Don't make that expression, Kaiya." Shuichi told me. "You know why you're grounded."
"Hmph" I pouted, crossing my arms and sitting on the sofa. I can't believe he grounded me for chasing after the culprit.
"But, I still grateful that you looked after my brother." he said, causing me to sit up and look at him in surprise. "Here..." he handed me a bracelet.
"This is for me? It looks so pretty!" I gasped in surprise.
"Just tap this hidden button if you're ever in danger, and it will alert me to your location." he explained.
"Awesome!" I grinned.
"He asked me to help make it for you." Agasa explained.
"Thank you guys!" I clutched the bracelet happily.
"Yukiko-san, Yusaku-san, look how pretty this is!" I shouted, running into the study, showing them the bracelet.
"That doesn't mean you should go seeking trouble again, Kaiya." Shuichi warned.
"What? I'm always careful!" I insisted.
"I'm being serious right now. It goes in one ear and out the other." he sighed.
"If Conan-kun's a murder magnet, Kaiya-chan's quite the danger magnet." Agasa chuckled.