Next Target

Though confused about Shouko's words while they were at the tennis courts of St. Rudolph, the three Seigaku regulars decided to let it go in the meantime. They saw Conan and Kourin on one of the police cars near the other tennis court.

The medical examiner already put the victim's body in a body bag and placed it onto the stretcher before the remaining evidence got washed away by the rain. As expected, a mini-CD was left there again along with an orange lily.

Though chasing Yuuta—whom the kids later learned was Fuji's brother—and almost killing him wasn't exactly a part of the culprit's plan, the same process was done to kill the victim. The victim was killed in the same manner as the first five.

Shouko led the four tennis players and the two kids to the nearby hotel where she was probably staying for the time being. Upon their arrival at the hotel, a completely elegant and large suite greeted them.

"Why did you bring us here?" Ryoma asked as they entered the suite despite their clothes already soaking wet.

It was a good thing the guard allowed them to enter the hotel even though their clothes were drenched in the rain. As it turned out, that particular hotel was one of the business establishments owned by the Shinomiya family and currently managed by one of Shouko's cousins. Ryoma figured at least to the part that the hotel belonged to Kourin's family since the guard and the hotel manager recognized Kourin and formally greeted the young girl, addressing her as ojou-sama. He knew what the word meant since it was a formal way of addressing a young mistress/young lady of a rich family—at least similar to Kourin's social status. Well, the term annoyingly reminded Ryoma of how the butler addressed that Hyotei monkey king.

"For now, this is the safest place for us to discuss the current case," Shouko answered and closed the door behind her.

The tennis players saw clothes neatly placed on the sofa. Almost all of the clothes there were meant to be worn by boys—teenage boys—with two exceptions as it was obvious that those two sets of clothes were for kids. One for a boy and one for a girl. They approached it but before touching any of it, the four tennis players faced the woman for confirmation.

"You can use those clothes. Better hurry up changing before you catch a cold because of staying under the rain for a long time." And then she told them which clothes each of them could use and where to change.

After a few minutes, the four teens were clad in their new and dry clothes. So were the two kids. The wet clothes were placed in the laundry and the chambermaid retrieved them at Shouko's request so they would be washed and dried before they leave.

"Thank you for the change of clothes, Miyuzaki-san," Momoshiro said with gratefulness in his voice.

"This is the least I can do. You don't have to thank me," Shouko replied before facing the still quiet Yuuta. "Are you alright, Yuuta-kun?"

That question startled the said boy and it made him face the woman. "Yeah, I'm f-fine…" But Yuuta seemed to be zoning out.

"You almost died back there. I can understand if you're still afraid and in a state of shock about it. If it wasn't for your brother's arrival, I doubt if you'll be able to do something to survive."

"But even though we did arrive there, Rin was the one who first thought of something to create a distraction to help Yuuta-niichan get away from whatever sinister that the killer was about to do to him," Conan said, speaking for the first time since they got there.

With that said, he glanced at the aforementioned person who was staring blankly outside the window.

It made Shouko heave a sigh. Something about the events earlier made Kourin this way, she knew it. When she glanced at the tennis players, she saw that they had worried and concerned looks on their faces. She could feel that the Seigaku regulars were at least troubled for Kourin.

"While she's like this, I'd like to talk to you about something," Shouko started before standing up from her seat and going to a drawer near the standing mirror and the grandfather clock. She pulled out a folder there and went back to sit on the sofa. "It's about the clues left on the fifth murder."

"It's another coded music, isn't it?" Kourin suddenly asked which surprised the others. Then they saw her walking away from the window and sitting beside Conan.

"Your ears sure are sharp when it comes to this type of discussion, huh?" Conan commented with a grin which earned him a hard smack of a pillow on the head from the girl.

"I'm not exactly the type of person who easily gets distracted to listen to this type of discussion, midget detective," Kourin retorted and stuck out her tongue before crossing her arms.

"Hey! Do you have to do that?"

"I have every right to do that to you, in case you didn't know that."

The others could only look at the scene between the two kids before smiling at it. Well, they never really thought that Kourin was listening to their conversation.

"You two never change…" Shouko commented with a helpless smile. "Well, at least we got everyone's attention. The code is still the same as the others. The killer left us a music code to decipher. Or to be specific, he left us a confusing riddle."

"Did he mention the next location?" Ryoma asked.

"He did. But what's weird, though, was the fact that he didn't only mention the next location but he also mentioned the time and the clues about the specific person that he will kill."

Of course, those words astonished the others since that was the first time something like that happened.

"What do you mean clues about his specific target?" Conan inquired.

"The code was long but I'll give you the derived answer from it just to cut the story short. The next location is Fudomine Middle School's Tennis Club. The time will be tomorrow before sunset—specifically 5:17 PM. As for the target, this is one thing I haven't found an answer to."

Fuji frowned as his face grew serious. "What kind of clues did he give?"

The woman nodded. "He wrote it as 'the light year's angel', but I couldn't think of anyone who could fit the description. Anyone who might be connected to that tennis club, that is."

After that, all fell silent. Most of them, though, appeared to be in deep thoughts, as if thinking about how to answer that sort of riddle. They tried to do it as calmly as they could since they knew they wouldn't be able to think clearly if they would panic. In the midst of that, Conan suddenly spoke which broke the trail of their thoughts.

"Speed… He's referring to speed when he wrote the words 'light year'. Is there anyone you know who's known for his speed in that tennis team?"

The four tennis players looked at each other as if that would help them answer the little boy's question. But then, almost immediately, the answer they were looking for almost immediately dawned on them.

"You couldn't mean…?"

"Kamio-kun?" Fuji mumbled.

"If Kamio-san is the person referred to as 'the light year' in the code, then who's the 'angel'?" Yuuta asked.

"Probably a girl special to him right now whom I believe is also a tennis player," Conan answered before facing Kourin. "Is that it?"

"If we're going to base it on the killer's M.O., then yes. He's still after a middle school tennis player."

They went back to thinking again. But then Momoshiro and eventually Ryoma found the answer.

"The killer's going after An…" Momoshiro mumbled in horror upon coming up with that realization.

"An? How is she related to Kamio-san?"

"Her name is Tachibana An, the sister of Fudomine Tennis Club's captain Tachibana Kippei. Kamio has a crush on her," Momoshiro answered Conan's question upon recovering from the shock.

"You have a crush on her, too, Momo-senpai," Ryoma stated nonchalantly.

Momoshiro immediately blushed and was caught off-guard by that. Ryoma smirked when he saw that. Yuuta and Conan sighed while Fuji smiled when Momoshiro tackled Ryoma into a headlock.

This action made Kourin laugh as quietly as she could but still loud enough for the others to hear. It made Momoshiro and Ryoma stop what they were doing. Kourin tried to regain her composure but the smile never left her face.

"Sorry… I wasn't supposed to be laughing. But I can't… help it…" the fourth-grader said as she struggle to contain another fit of laughter.

The others smiled. Oh, well. At least they broke Kourin's serious mode even just for a while. The 3 Seigaku regulars couldn't afford to have her get too much worried about the case.

"It's okay. At least you laughed," Ryoma said with a small smile. Momoshiro and Fuji nodded in agreement.

But after a short while, Kourin's face turned serious again. "I just hate it that we're not making any progress here or at least preventing another murder from happening. And now, a regular was almost killed by that masked culprit. If we hadn't arrived there, Fuji-san's brother would've been dead by now."

"You're the one who saved Yuuta, Kourin-chan," Fuji said. "Speaking of which, what kind of tennis racket was that? The one that you used to save him. It looks amazing, even though it looked like a normal tennis racket to me."

"Long story but I'll try cutting it short. It's a collaborated invention of Agasa-hakase and two other scientists basing it on Conan-kun's super-powered sneakers. If what Ai-chan told me was the truth, Ryoma-niichan used it during the attack at Seigaku before." Then Kourin faced the said rookie with a knowing look. Ryoma answered with a nod.

If what Ryoma could see in Kourin's eyes was right, the girl didn't want to mention the truth with regards to that particular tennis racket—that it was, in reality, Kourin's collaborated invention with Haibara and Professor Agasa. Anyway, he could understand it since no one would believe that a kid like Kourin could help someone invent something as complex as that. Shouko already mentioned to him that Kourin's mind has always been far advanced for a normal kid—a trait she most likely inherited from both sides of her family, particularly Kourin's mother and paternal grandmother who were both scientists at the Miyuzaki Laboratory. Two months ago, he had seen a concrete proof of that—a proof that he vowed to keep a secret.

"Saa… It was an amazing invention, nevertheless," Fuji commented.

Kourin groaned in frustration when she remembered something. "Yeah, right. Thanks to that invention, I guess I still need to pay up for the repair of the tennis court that has a hole in it because of my overpowered serve."

Shouko chuckled. "You don't have to worry about that, Rin-chan. What we need to worry about is the killer's next move."

"Okay, so if Tachibana An-san is the next target, we need to go to Fudomine earlier than the time of the killer's expected attack stated in the code. I guess that's the only way for now that we can outwit the killer," Conan said in a serious and firm voice.

"Let's just hope this code wouldn't be another one to mislead us," Momoshiro added, his voice has hints of worries and was as serious as Conan's.

"It's not a code to mislead. It's a code to lure someone out. The murders are like collaterals for that, more like a way for the killer to force that person to come out, whoever it is," Kourin said before sighing. "But if I go to Beika City now, it'll take me a while to get here even if I take a train after I go to school." Then she faced Shouko. "Shouko-san, would it be okay if I stay here just for tonight?"

The woman smiled at the young girl. "I figured you'd come up with this kind of decision so I prepared something with regards to that."

Kourin frowned. "Prepared something?"

"I already asked someone to take care of you as I investigate this case along with the police. I figured that going here from Beika City would take up much of the time. So I asked someone a favor to let you stay with them for the time being, just until we finish this. And they agreed."

"Are you sure those people you asked can be trusted? Will they take care of Rin?" Ryoma asked, concern was evident in his tone. Much to his confusion, though, Shouko smiled mysteriously.

"It's for you to find out, Echizen-kun."

Okay. That made him frown a bit. "Huh? What do you mean?"

"Rin-chan will stay with your family for the time being- Echizen-kun, just until this case is over. I already told this to Nanjiroh-san and Rinko-san. They're more than glad to do it since they said that they wanted to see her again. I relayed this message through Nanako-chan, of course."

The news made both Ryoma and Kourin smile widely as they looked at each other and then back to Shouko.

"Really?" Kourin exclaimed. Shouko nodded. "But what about my spare clothes? You know what I mean since it's like I'm having a sleepover with them."

"It's already in my room. All the things you'll be needing."

"So what's my role here?" Conan asked Shouko.

Shouko faced the bespectacled boy seriously and intently. "I'm going to need your help with something. You're the only one who can help me as the police continue the investigation."

"Miyuzaki-san, why are you asking for help from a kid? Sorry to suddenly ask this but I just did so out of curiosity since it looked like you've been relying on them," Yuuta blurted.

To the younger Fuji's surprise, though, the Seigaku regulars there were having confident and knowing smiles on their faces.

"They're not just ordinary kids, Yuuta-kun. That's all I can say to you about them."

"I agree," Fuji said. "We've already seen proofs of that before. They're what you can say as mini-Holmes, both Conan-kun and Kourin-chan."

"Don't worry. They're not the type who would cause trouble before they think. They're quite amazing for kids their ages, I can say that" Momoshiro added.

Well, at least there are people here who finally realized I wouldn't cause trouble. But still, is it okay for Rin and Shouko-san to have them get involved with this case? Conan thought as he looked at them. Then he noticed Kourin from the corner of her eyes. But I can see that Rin is happy to see these guys again. It's been a while since the last time they saw each other, though I never expected their reunion to be in this situation. It would have been better if they met each other again under normal and uneventful circumstances—not like this. Not because of some kind of murder case.

"What's wrong, Conan-kun?" He heard Kurin whisper that disrupting the flow of his thoughts.

"N-nothing! I'm just doing some musings," he said as he scratched the back of his head and laugh before he went serious. "So you'll be staying with Ryoma-niichan for a while, huh? You have to prepare so that we could leave as early as we could. We still need to tell Haibara and the others about this. I don't want Mitsuhiko or Genta to say I'm doing all the hard work again and for stealing the spotlight."

The young girl laughed at her cousin's statement before they discussed what they needed to do. And when the plan was finally ironed down, they all headed to wherever they had to go.

-x-x-

"Thanks for the ride, Miyuzaki-san. We appreciate it," Fuji said to the woman when they got out of her car. Conan remained with Shouko in the car, though.

"Conan-kun, you're not going with us?" Kourin asked.

"I'm not. Sorry. I need to go with Shouko-san for a while since she'll be heading to the police station to resume her investigation. I'll call you once I found something reliable."

"I see. Then be careful, okay?"

"You and your friends should be the ones who need to be careful, Rin-chan. We could be heading out to a trap here so I want you to be careful and vigilant when you go to Fudomine tomorrow. Okay?" Shouko reminded.

The three regulars and the young girl nodded. Then Shouko's car went ahead. As for Yuuta, he went to the police station to give his statements about the attack and the murder he had witnessed earlier. Inspector Megure assured them that Yuuta would be safe. The same goes for the rest of the St. Rudolph's Tennis Club.

Kourin heaved a sigh when she saw Shouko's car take a right turn. She was about to carry her duffel bag where her clothes were. But Momoshiro beat her to it.

"A young girl shouldn't be carrying big luggage like this," he said with a grin before going inside Kawamura Sushi ahead of them.

"Does he always do that?" she asked.

"No," Ryoma answered plainly. "He rarely carries someone else's bag."

"He probably wanted to show off," Fuji said with a chuckle.

"To who?"

"Who knows," Ryoma said with a shrug before taking her hand. "Let's go."

Walking hand in hand, they entered the sushi shop where they were greeted by angry—or if not worried—faces of their friends.

"I think we're in trouble here," Kourin whispered with a grimace but she just saw the 3 regulars shrug at that. Or I think they're already used to this. Oh, well. It's expected since we left without even explaining anything to them.

"Where have you been, Fuji, Echizen, Momo? You just left all of a sudden without even explaining to us what in the world is going on," Oishi ranted in a worried tone. "Fuji, what exactly happened? You made us all worried."

"Sorry, Oishi. But I don't think this is the right time for us to do some explanation. A lot of things happened and it'll be too much if—" But Fuji was cut off when he felt Kourin tug his shirt.

Soon after, she spoke. "I guess it's fine if we tell them what happened. That way, Oishi-san wouldn't fret so much about it that he might have sleepless nights later."

The rest of the team laughed at her statement. But Oishi didn't take it seriously, though. He laughed at it, too, even though he felt a little embarrassed. But before someone could start with the storytelling, Ayumi noticed something.

"Rin-san, where's Conan-kun?" the girl asked.

"Ah, he went with Shouko-san to the police station. He said that he still has something to do and I guess to ask Yuuta-san some questions himself."

"Yuuta? Your brother, Fuji? What happened?" Kawamura couldn't help barging in upon hearing Kourin mention Yuuta's name and police in the two girls' conversation.

The three involved regulars looked at Kourin who sighed before nodding to them, giving them the signal to do what they thought would be best. Kourin sat beside Ayumi and just opposite Haibara who was quietly eating her portion of the sushi. She listened as Fuji, Momoshiro, and Ryoma told the details to the other Seigaku regulars and the other kids of what had happened at St. Rudolph until to the part where Shouko found them. But the four of them somehow came up with a silent agreement that they shouldn't mention anything about the killer's next target.

"Nya! I can't believe something like that happened," Eiji commented.

"Now the killer is even targeting a tennis regular?" Genta added.

"I don't think it was a part of his plan to kill Yuuta-san. But he was left with no choice but to do so to silence him," Haibara said placidly. "If Rin-san didn't use the super-powered tennis racket, everything could've been turned into something worst."

"Fuji-senpai speculated about the same thing," Momoshiro said. "But with this event starting to happen, I don't think even the regulars are safe anymore, as well."

"Regular or not, those middle schoolers are never safe, to begin with," Kourin uttered. Those words surprised the others. "If there's just the fastest way to stop all this…" And then she sighed heavily before she saw Kawamura's father place a plate full of sushi in front of her.

"Maybe eating would calm your nerves for a while. You had too much for one day," the man said with a gentle smile. "This is our specialty. As for your wasabi sushi, I've already made them but you have to finish this first, okay?"

Though a little surprised, Kourin was grateful for that. She nodded and started eating. The others resumed their eating, as well. But as she continued to eat, questions started churning in her mind. As for the plan they had for tomorrow, maybe she or Conan might create some revisions to it. Of course, Fuji, Momoshiro, and Ryoma would have to know about it since those 3 would be with her tomorrow. Those three came up with an agreement that they should be her guardian—for reasons she couldn't tell yet.

"Ne, Rin-san, may I know what's in that bag?" Mitsuhiko asked as he pointed at the duffel bag behind her.

She looked at the bag that the boy pointed at and smiled. "They're my clothes. Shouko-san said I'll be having a sleepover later."

"Nya! Sleepover? Where? To who?" Eiji inquired excitement and curiosity in his tone.

"Secret," the fourth-grader answered plainly with a smile before she continued eating her sushi.

"No fair! Tell us," Genta insisted.

"No."

"Not even one hint?" Ayumi asked.

"Not even one."

"No fair! Come on, you can tell us," Mitsuhiko pleaded.

"It's still a secret."

The three kids sighed in defeat when they realized that they wouldn't get any answer from Kourin. When Kourin glanced at Haibara, she saw her doing something with her hand. It was then that she realized Haibara was communicating with her through sign language. They both learned it a month and a half ago so that they could communicate without the other kids knowing what exactly were they talking about.

'You're going to have a sleepover with Echizen-kun, are you?' Haibara asked using the sign language in a not-so-obvious way.

Kourin answered with a nod and began responding in sign language, as well. 'Shouko-san said it would be much more convenient that way. So I guess I won't be back to Hakase for a day or two, just until this case is done.'

'They already figured out the next location of the murder, right?'

'They did, but I couldn't tell the others right now. Shin-nii might talk to you about it later with regards to the case. I guess he doesn't want Ayumi-chan and the others to get involved in this any further, knowing how dangerous this could get.'

'I see.' And both girls resumed eating their food, without knowing that Tezuka, Inui, and Fuji were observing them the whole time.

The three aforementioned tennis regulars didn't know or even understand what was going on but what they were sure of was the fact that Kourin and Haibara were communicating secretly. Inui observed the two girls from the corner of his eyes (or in his case, glasses) as he jotted down some notes about his observation at an amazing speed in his notebook.

As for Momoshiro and Ryoma, they acted normally (if you can call eating a bunch of sushi normal) as they watched the others enjoying themselves with the sushi. But it was still obvious that the team—even the other freshmen—were not as active as they normally were. Well, who would be? A tennis club member was killed followed by another one even though the latter was in a different school. They couldn't possibly have fun with this kind of situation.

It was when Momoshiro and Ryoma figured out that it was for the best that no other people should know about what Shouko had told them a while back. They also realized that they would be facing a danger probably even worse than what they had experienced more than 2 months ago. Preparing for that danger would be the best precaution that they could do…

…at least for now.