Author POV
"So who was that," I asked, as Dr. Agasa hung up.
"It was Ran," Agasa replied. "She said that they got hungry, so they went to get something to eat, and when they returned, Shinichi was gone."
The room was silent. I found my backpack at my bedside. It WAS here, after all, in plain sight. How did I not see it? Poking out of one of the pockets was my binder and the graphic novel version of Adventure of the Dancing Men.
I lifted it up and waved it in the air. "Here it is guys!"
I flipped through the pages. I doggy-eared all the pages with codes or translations on them. "The only problem is that I cannot remember how to read in English, and my book is in English, as well as the code. I suppose I could just video chat with Sakura.
I grabbed my laptop and opened up a video chat. "It doesn't look like they're available," Heiji noted.
I rolled my eyes. "No, really; you think?"
I shuddered. "The only thing left to do is video chat…with my sister."
"What's so bad about that?"
"My Neechan isn't supposed to know about this adventure!"
"Why?"
I blushed. "Well, if she knew, she'd be nagging me for Kaito's autograph. And she doesn't tell me what she's thinking about, so it's only fair."
"Do you honestly need to know that," Heiji questioned, sarcastically.
I opened a video chat tab with Neechan. To my ultimate despise, she was available. "Imouto," she shrieked.
My subtitles were still on, so I understood what she was saying. She couldn't understand what I was trying to say, making this one-way conversation very challenging.
She said some things in English.
"Oi, Neechan, you're speaking too fast. Slow down, please."
She fumbled around, and apparently found out how to turn on subtitles. "Ah, that's clever, Imouto; deciding to pull up a cartoon instead of you. And the Japanese bit…how hilarious. Just tell me: where are you? The whole family has been worried half to death."
"This isn't just some cartoon. This'll sound really out-there, but I invented a machine that sends me into TV shows. I'm in a Japanese anime right now. When I enter a show, I can only speak, read, and write in the language corresponding to the show."
She thought a bit. I shouldn't go into details, but one here's one way to describe her: she was very FEMININE. Kaito saw this, and instantly got his flirt on.
"Hello, I don't think we've been introduced." A rose appeared in his hands.
Neechan placed her hands on her cheeks, and with her eyes closed, squealed. "Ohmygod, Imouto, you walked into Magic Kaito 1412! You must give me Kaito's autograph!"
Megure and I exchanged glances.
Kogorou butted in, again. "How could you two be SISTERS? I mean," he exclaimed, gesturing to Neechan. "She's so masculine and beautiful; while you're…" he stared at me. "How are you even a woman?"
I gritted my teeth and pulled off my hat. Golden brown locks fell onto my shoulders. "There's more, but don't even make me go there."
"This discussion is getting awkward," Sonoko frowned.
"As if it wasn't awkward to begin with," came an irritated voice from my laptop. "Anyways, something tells me you didn't just pull up a video chat just to make amends. What do you want?"
I lifted up the book. "Translate this."
"You want me to read you a bedtime story or something?"
"Oi, Neechan; of course not-we need you to translate this, as in, tell us what each letter means."
She spazzed. "I'm not Sherlock Holmes! How could I figure it out?!"
I replied in a calming voice, "Trust me, Neechan, you can do it. You're our last hope. If you can't figure this out, Conan may not live."
She sighed. "I suppose I'll do it…for Conan." Realization hit. "I just remembered. Shouldn't HAIBARA know English?"
Author's note: she does know English, right? If not, you are dead, Neechan!
All eyes were on Haibara. She gave an evil glare. We all simultaneously shuddered. We faced Neechan again. "PLEASE do it instead of her. PLEASE!"
She looked at it again. Neechan shook her head. "Sorry, Imouto, I can't make heads or tails out of it. Haibara will have to do it. But do I get Kaito's signature for trying?"
"Maybe when I come back," I lied.
Haibara gave us another evil glare. But why she was glaring is beyond me.
Neechan ended the video chat and we all turned to Haibara. "Yeah, I suppose I could translate."
"Don't give us that stare, Haibara," I whined.
"What stare?"
"Uh…never mind."
She took the book and my laptop and began to read.
We were all looking over her shoulder, curious. "Could you all please move?"
Everyone backed away. "Take your time."
"So," Kaito suggested. "Maybe we should go check out the crime scene while she's doing her thing."
Inspector Megure nodded. "C'mon everyone, let's go." We cruelly left Haibara alone in my hotel suite while the rest of us went to the hospital to investigate.
They were all upset.
"Are there any nearby security cameras," Megure asked aloud.
Agasa pointed to one behind us. "There's one. Perhaps it could give us insight into who kidnapped Shinichi…or Conan…"
"It's alright, Agasa," Ran noted. "Everyone knows Conan's secret. You don't need to hide it."
"Arigatou, I keep forgetting that."
We all checked the security camera footage. "There!"
One of the staff who was handling the camera footage paused the video. A man who obviously was willing to let us see his face walked into the hospital room.
The staff-member, who was a guy by the way, pressed play. The man in the video waved at us.
"He's got some nerve," Kogorou grumbled.
He came into the room and didn't come out for quite a while. When he did, he had Conan/Shinichi, the thing that gives Conan/Shinichi air and nutrients, and a note. It said, "Give me the flash drive or I will kill Kudo and Sherry before your eyes. The details will come later."
Megure ordered an analysis of the man's face to be run, see if they can figure out who it is.
"I bet it's that Takamachi Kenta guy Conan…er, Shinichi…was talking about," Kaito assumed.
"Of course not," Kogorou laughed. "Why would he come and show his face? This guy's pretty serious."
A few minutes later, a police officer returned. "Inspector, the results are back!"
"Well, what are you waiting for, enlighten me," Megure demanded.
"The man's name is Takamachi Kenta, age 42."
"Ha! I told you so," Kaito bragged.
"So who is Takamachi Kenta?," Mitsuhiko asked.
"That's my line, kid," said Megure.
The officer cleared his throat. "You see, he was born January 5th, was married to Fujisaki Mirai, age 43, and a son who passed away 20 years ago due to a birth defect. His wife passed in labor."
"He seems pretty normal. Does he have a record?"
"Well, other than a few speeding tickets, nothing really."
"How fast did he go?"
"His highest was fifty miles over."
"That's fast."
"Yeah. Apparently there has been no record of him for the past 10 years. None of his friends saw him at their usual rendezvous, he didn't come to work, he didn't spend any money through his bank account; it's as if he was erased off the planet."
"Arigatou," Megure said, taking the papers the officer had regarding Takamachi Kenta. "These will be helpful."
Once the officer left, the air was creepy. No one spoke.
I shivered and looked around. I felt as though I was being watched.
"We have a starting point," Megure noted. "We could begin at his house."
We followed the address, but got lost.
"I said to go left," I shrieked at Heiji.
"I DID go left!"
"No, you went right!"
"That was a left turn, get it right!"
We looked at the house. It was Shinichi's house.
They all stared at me. "I think my inner fan-girl subconsciously directed us to Kudo-dono's house."
"You will stop calling him Kudo-dono at this very moment…now!"
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KODO-DONO😂😂😂 IM LOVING THIS STORY RIGHT NOW!! ARE YOU? Btw, sorry I didn't publish this chapter at 12. I was busy and didn't have chance to do. Thanks for understanding!!