Phone Calls

8:03 PM, Fuji residence…

Fuji was just done eating dinner when he went to his room and do whatever nightly routines that he had in mind at the moment. After a few minutes or so, he did all his nightly routines and resumed yo reading a book that he hasn't finished reading yesterday. He was about to start opening the book where he left off when his cellphone suddenly rang. It was placed on the bedside table so he went there and looked at the name on the screen.

He frowned when he saw that only a cellphone number was registered on the screen. Nevertheless, he decided to answer it since he felt nothing dangerous in doing so. Besides, he has to know who would call him at the hour.

"Hello?"

"Sorry for calling at this hour. May I ask if this is Fuji Syuusuke-san?" an unfamiliar voice asked on the other line. But for some reason, it wasn't that threatening. And yet, why would that person look for him?

"Fuji Syuusuke here, speaking. Who is this?"

"Shinomiya Kourin's cousin, Kudo Shinichi."

'Kudo Shinichi? As in the famous high school detective of the East?' Fuji was surprised to hear the name of the person mentioned. And he was even more surprised to know that Kourin has a cousin who was a famous high school detective. But then again, that day alone already gave them a lot of surprises—dangerous surprises, to be more precise. This would probably amount to a good surprise that would balance everything.

"I got your number from Rin if you want to ask that," Shinichi said even before Fuji could say anything. "I've been meaning to thank you for helping my cousin before. It's just that I couldn't find the right time to do so."

"It's okay. You're a detective so I know you're busy. But why would you call me?" That was the question the tensai had been meaning to ask a while back.

"To ask a favor from you…" Shinichi answered in a serious tone that Fuji couldn't possibly ignore, especially since it came from Kourin's cousin.

"A favor? What's that?" he asked in the same tone, as well. He knew at that moment that the favor Kudo Shinichi would want to ask might change something from that night forward. Whatever it was, he knew it would be something important and had a great deal of relation to Kourin.

He then chose to listen to what the detective was about to say to him. After all, it was a favor related to Kourin. Now that he thought about it, other than Kourin's past, he didn't know much about that girl—especially those people related to her. But if he asked that to her, would she even give him an answer?

After a few minutes or so of letting Shinichi explain his side, it didn't take Fuji a long time before he could come up with a decision on whether or not he would accept the detective's request.

"I know it's foolish of me to ask such a dangerous favor from you. But I just need to ensure my cousin's safety for the duration of this case. I haven't explained this to her yet and I don't want to let her worry even more than she is right now. If I told her the truth that I had just recently discovered, things will take a turn for the worst. Rin is still in her vulnerable state. Until this case is over, I want to ask that favor from you. Can you at least do that for me?" Shinichi asked in a pleading tone that was slightly hidden in his voice.

At the time, Fuji knew what to do for the girl's sake, though it was weird for him to easily trust the person he hasn't even met personally. Shinichi's voice that showed evidence of the person's concern for Kourin was somehow enough for the tensai to do that, though.

"Don't worry. I won't fail you. I'll do what I can for her," Fuji answered with determination, his eyes opened as he said those words. He has this feeling that Shinichi could imagine that—that is if the detective saw him even once. "But something tells me that I'm not the only one you asked for such a favor. Am I right?"

He heard Shinichi chuckle. "You're right. You'll know those people soon—probably tomorrow. I just hope Rin could figure out what's wrong with the code that Shouko-san found earlier."

"Something's wrong with the code?" So does that mean Momoshiro was right about the code, that it would mislead them again?

"You'll find that out soon," was all Shinichi said.

-x-x-

8:56 PM, Momoshiro residence…

Momoshiro was busy eating a burger while watching his favorite night show when he heard his cellphone suddenly ring. He thought it was just one of his friends or probably the other regulars that were calling him at that hour. But then he frowned upon seeing an unregistered number on the screen.

"That's weird. What kind of weirdo would call me at this hour?" he murmured as he opened the phone and pressed the Answer button. "Hello?"

"Hello? Sorry for calling at this hour. Is this Momoshiro Takeshi-san?" the person on the other line politely asked. The voice was somewhat familiar and yet it wasn't. Now that was weird.

"Yes, Momoshiro Takeshi here speaking. Who's this?" he asked, thinking it was some stranger with nothing else to do and looking for him. But upon hearing a familiar name, he felt he was given one of the greatest shocks of his life.

"This is Kudo Shinichi, a high school detective. And at the same time, Shinomiya Kourin's cousin," the person answered.

"What?!" he exclaimed in extreme surprise, making him fall from his seat. Though it hurt, he immediately sat up as he rubbed his head that hit the floor. "Is that true?"

"What kind of question was that?" Shinichi asked, obviously in an annoyed tone. Momoshiro could see the person's half-eyed expression in his mind upon hearing that.

He laughed quite nervously. "No, nothing. It's just that…" He immediately composed himself and cleared his throat before speaking seriously. "Sorry about that."

"I know it's pretty surprising to know that someone like me is related to the girl you've met a few months back. And I bet Rin didn't tell you much about her family. But I'm sure she just needs some time to tell you everything."

Now that Momoshiro thought about it, he didn't know anything about Kourin other than that she was the last surviving member of the brutally murdered Shinomiya family. She had another cousin named Edogawa Conan and she currently lived with a portly professor who seemed to invent a lot of things that Kourin used. The Miyuzaki family were her current guardians. So it was a surprise for him to know that someone as famous as the high school detective Kudo Shinichi was related to Kourin.

'Well, that was a surprising revelation,' Momoshiro thought. Nonetheless, he smiled knowing how cool Shinichi was. He was glad to know that Kourin had a cousin who was as smart as that high school detective.

"Yeah, she didn't mention you to us. But I can understand that," he said seriously before clearing his throat again. Weird… He'd been doing a lot of that lately. "Anyway, why did you call me? And how did you know my number?"

"Rin provided me that. I heard what happened to her before and I've been meaning to thank you for what you did to help her. I should've been there but certain things prevented me to do so. As for the reason why I called, it's actually because of this…" And then Shinichi started explaining his reason.

Of course, it was a surprise for Momoshiro upon hearing that reason. But the more he listened to the detective's explanation, the more his determination rose to a certain level. He could say it was a protective kind of determination rather than the determination he felt while playing tennis.

"I know it's a little weird and confusing for me to ask such a dangerous favor from you. It was a foolish thing for me to do but I need to assure that Rin would be alright. This tennis court serial murder case is not a simple case, to begin with. I couldn't afford to let Rin worry about this even more than how she is now. It might not be obvious but Rin still hasn't recovered from the Dark Rose case—making her vulnerable. I don't want her to suffer anymore. She already had enough of that. Can you grant me this favor, Momoshiro-san?" Shinichi requested, his voice had hints of pleading but a determination was still there.

All of it was enough for Momoshiro to realize the gravity of the case they were dealing with. And it was more than enough for him to know that Shinichi was telling the truth. If that was the case, then…

"You don't have to make it a favor, Kudo-san. Whether you ask me or not, I'll still do what you want me to do. I'll make sure I'll do it," the junior power player said with a determined smirk on his face. He felt honored that Kudo Shinichi entrusted such an important job to him. He would make sure he won't fail the detective. He would do what he could to make sure he fulfilled the task without fail.

He heard Shinichi sigh in relief. "I'm glad to hear that. As for the code, I just wish Rin could already figure out what's wrong. That's the only way for you to prevent Tachibana An-san's murder."

"You mean there's a loophole in the code?" he inquired while frowning. 'Does that mean Shouko-san gave us the wrong interpretation?'

"There's a loophole, yes. The only loophole there is the time that he'll strike at Fudomine Middle School. I still need to figure it out, alongside Rin. But I have to be honest, Rin always beat me when it comes to cracking this kind of code. I'm sure Rin could find that loophole faster than I can. I just hope she's doing it fast enough to stop all this."

Momoshiro sighed heavily. All of a sudden, he could feel his head aching when he heard that.

"I hope so…" he muttered as he rubbed his temple.

-x-x-

10:59 PM, Echizen residence…

Ryoma was already in his room. He was just done taking a bath after he and Kourin did some practice matches at the tennis court a while back. He had fun tutoring Kourin about tennis. Her enthusiasm fired him up for some reason. And although she constantly lost in every set of matches (they played a 4-set match, to be exact), the score she got was still unbelievable, especially for a girl like her. He couldn't believe she could keep up with him. The first set ended with a score of 6-2. The second was 6-3, the third set ended with another 6-3. While the fourth set ended with a score of 6-4.

She used a regular racket—not the invented super-powered one. But for a kid, especially a girl, she sure has a lot of power and potential. While the two of them played, he could already see that Kourin was an all-rounder. She just needed to train some more to perfect her techniques and playing style. He knew there and then that it would only take a matter of time before she could reach him—maybe even surpass him. Of course, that would make him enjoy tennis even more.

When he went out of the bathroom and towards his room, he smiled as his expression softened at the sight of Kourin peacefully sleeping on his bed with Karupin. He knew that Kourin was tired—physically and mentally. This situation they were dealing with at the moment probably took a lot out of her. She was worried, he knew that. So he said to himself that he would do everything to help her fade that worry away.

Kourin had already been through a lot. He couldn't afford to let her deal with another frustrating and dangerous situation. Helping her—and at the same time protecting her—was the least he could do for her.

He was snapped out of his musings when he heard his cellphone ring.

'That's weird. It's nearly midnight and yet someone would still bother to call me at this hour.' But even still, he picked it up which was placed just beside his alarm clock. When he looked at the screen, he frowned at the sight of an unfamiliar number as it continued to ring. He decided to answer it since there was probably no harm in doing so…

…or at least that was what he thought as he pressed Answer and placed the phone on his ear.

"Hello?" he inquired in an apathetic tone.

"You know, I would kick a soccer ball straight to your face if you greet me like that in person, Echizen-kun," a familiar voice greeted him over the phone causing his eyes to widen because of surprise.

Ryoma knew that voice! He couldn't mistake it for anyone else. "K-Kudo-san?! Is that you?"

"Is there any other person you know who would dare call you at this hour and say something like kicking a soccer ball straight to your face because he was greeted in a boring way?" Shinichi responded in an annoyed tone but turned serious in a matter of seconds. "Sorry for calling you this late at night, Echizen-kun."

"It's okay. I'm still awake since Rin and I had practice matches a while back. I thought that could help her relax a bit," he said seriously before looking at the sleeping Kourin. "Anyway, why call me at this late hour?"

Ryoma already knew the fact that Kudo Shinichi—the famous high school detective of the East—was Kourin's maternal cousin. Shinichi's father Kudo Yuusaku and Kourin's mother Shinomiya Rina were siblings—as it was told to him while he was at Professor Agasa's house a few months back during the Dark Rose case. He met Shinichi and talked to him—or at least met him over the phone, that is—after Kourin got discharged from the hospital. The detective thanked him for helping Kourin get over the fear that she had been feeling for a long time. But Ryoma insisted that he had nothing to do with that. Still, he and Shinichi had a great conversation at that time.

So now, he was wondering what could be the reason for Shinichi to call him again?

'Not unless… this case isn't just a simple serial murder case and there's more to it than what we could ever know now!'

"I'm going to ask you a favor, Ryoma-kun," Shinichi answered gravely—different from the tone of the voice Ryoma had heard from the detective before. Of course, he already knew it was a very serious favor.

"What kind of favor?" he inquired in the same tone.

A few moments of silence soon followed before Shinichi started talking about the favor he was talking about. At first, he couldn't believe the words he had heard from the detective. But as he listened to Shinichi's explanation about the favor, he then figured out that the case they were dealing with was something they couldn't easily ignore. One mistake and all of them—especially Kourin—would die in vain before they could even close the case.

It was something he couldn't afford to happen.

"This is something extremely dangerous and I know it was a foolish thing for me to ask this to you. But you're the only person who I can trust right now when it comes to Rin. Not just you but also two of your senpai-tachi, as well. Echizen-kun, can you at least do that for me?" Shinichi ventured, trying his best not to sound extremely afraid and quite desperate.

Ryoma gave it a thought for a short while. Yes, he admitted that the situation they were dealing with at that moment was dangerous. But Shinichi trusted him. For some reason, he was glad that Shinichi could do that to him. And the detective said that he also trusted two of his senpai-tachi… and he didn't know who among the remaining 8 Seigaku regulars.

But then, if that was the case—

"I will do it," Ryoma answered with full of determination as he peered at the sleeping girl on his bed. His eyes softened as he saw the girl sleeping peacefully beside Karupin. "If Rin's life is definitely in danger here like you said, I'll do what you asked me to. After all, I haven't repaid her for saving my life twice before. This is probably the least I could do for her."

"I know you can do it and I appreciate it. But make sure you don't die because of this. Rin would be devastated if something bad happens to you and your friends. Stay alive—that's one thing you could do to repay her."

"I will, Kudo-san."

"By the way, do you think you can help Rin figure out the loophole from the code that Shouko-san sent to her a while back?"

The freshman frowned at the question. "Loophole from the code? What do you mean by that?"

"I'm not sure of that yet myself. But I've been doing my best to figure it out as soon as I can. It's the only way for me—for all of us—to prevent another murder to happen again. Rin is already frustrated with all this. And I best something else would frustrate her even more."

"Something else?"

"It's just a weird feeling I had that bothered me since the case started. There's one thing I know, though. That weird feeling I know would bother and frustrate Rin has something to do with the killer's motive for committing these murders. Whatever it is, I want you to be with Rin. Can you do that, Echizen-kun?"

Ryoma smirked even though he knew Shinichi couldn't even see him at the moment. "No need for you to ask that, Kudo-san. I'll do it… without fail!"

"Thank you…"

-x-x-

Conan sighed after ending the call and putting his voice-changing bow tie on the table in front of him. Shouko was just looking at him while she sat on the sofa opposite him. They were currently at Shouko's hotel suite near St. Rudolph—the same place where they discovered a horrific truth behind the case there were dealing with.

"Kudo-kun, are you sure about this? By telling them that Hades was dead and that Zeus could be the one behind this series of murders, I'm sure you're aware that you're endangering their lives here in the process," Shouko said in a worried tone.

Conan could only clench his fist on his lap as he looked at the coded message written in the word processor. He typed it there right after listening to the music recorded in the mini-CD left at the recent crime scene.

'I know there's something wrong with this code! Rin must have known this fact, as well, as soon as Shouko-san sent it to her thru e-mail. Taking this kind of risk to call those three and ask them to guard Rin… I have to admit it's extremely dangerous since they might deal with the leader of the Dark Rose Agency. But for the sake of assuring Rin's safety and ending this case once and for all, this is probably the best choice,' Conan thought as he heaved a heavy sigh.

"I know I'm exposing them to an open danger as soon as I decided of calling those three, Shouko-san. But with what's going on right now and what had already happened, I can say I made the right choice. I can assure Rin's safety to them."

But Shouko wasn't convinced by the boy's answer. "What made you say that?"

Conan showed a confident smile as he faced the woman. "Among the Seigaku regulars right now, only Fuji-kun, Momoshiro-kun, and most of all, Echizen-kun have the strongest desire to protect Rin. I'm sure you're aware of how did that happen, right? These past two months didn't diminish that desire at all. Now that I told them the possible hidden truth within this case and knowing Zeus was doing all these murders to lure Rin from her hiding, that desire only intensified. Even when I was just talking to them over the phone, I could feel it. I'm not mistaken. They truly care for Rin that they're willing to do me a favor of protecting her as they helped her investigate."

All Shouko could do was give up and smile at Conan's answer. "Well, if you say it that way, then I guess I'll just have to go with the flow. I have to agree with you, anyway. Those boys have certain levels of attachment to Rin-chan even after the Dark Rose case—especially Echizen-kun. But letting them know that the Dark Rose leader is after Rin-chan now, do you think they could be able to handle what you had asked them to do?"

"Having faith in them and trusting them is one thing I can do. Another is for me to locate Zeus before he could kill another tennis player to let Rin take the bait enough to be a reason for him to take her life. We can't allow Zeus to succeed in eradicating the last surviving member of the main Shinomiya family at all costs! Over my dead body!"

'It seems to me that Fuji-kun, Momoshiro-kun, and Echizen-kun weren't the only ones fired up to end this commotion, huh? But then the danger that those three will likely face is extremely high. Can they do it?' Shouko thought before staring outside the window.