Kiouku Tantei Chapter 4

[Rukia Kurosaki]

(OOC: Natake Rin is the main character, a female undercover as a boy named 'Shinichi' and she has blue-dyed hair and green eyes, as well as a detemined but apathetic personality.

Hande Mura is a strong, serious detective with black hair and violet eyes. He wears glasses, but doesn't need them, and can communicate with spirits.

Amari Seiji is tall, good at communication, and has blonde hair and blue eyes. He's popular in the 'real world,' and can get whatever information he wants out of most anyone.

Amari Kira is an attractive, moderately OCD girl with long strawberry-blonde hair and blue eyes. She's not a detective in any sense of the word, but is brought along on cases to protect Rin's identity.

Osawa Minoru is a sketch artist with a photographic memory of sorts, and he has long brown hair tied in a ponytail. His dichromatism gave hm one brown and one blue eye behind his glasses, and he's been in a wheelchair since his legs were paralyzed in an accident. :OOC)

Hattori flinched as the suspect questioned him. "Well, what did you need, Hattori-san?"

"Ah, how do ya know my name?" he asked in reply. "And why have ya been avoiding me?" The teen sighed and stated, I really have to follow this guy, but we can talk, as long as you remain discreet." Heiji scoffed, "Of course I can be discreet!" With a dismissive shrug, the teenager sighed, "My name is Natake Shinichi. I'm a detective in training, and hot on the trail of an arson suspect. I had to avoid talking to you to stay behind him, but now I lost the trail..." Natake broke off without so much as a glance at Hattori and made her way to the sidewalk. When Heiji followed, she added, "If you must know, I researched you at the police station during my investigation." Only Rin knew that this was a lie, but there was no way he'd believe that she had come into a world she'd believed was fake and had read all about him in a fictional manga, was there?

After apologizing for suspecting her, Heiji decided to say his goodbyes and leave the case to the precinct's jurisdiction. He'd go back to where his mother and Kazuha were and leave this kid to his work... Even as he thought it, the hot-blooded Osakan knew he'd never do something like that. "Sorry, Kazuha," he muttered, following as Rin offered to let him 'tag along' and help with the investigation. "My suspect was tall, wearing a winter coat and scarf, and in soot-stained galoshes." Hattori did his best not to laugh, but the chuckle that escaped him at the thought of a criminal in galoshes was only restrained for a moment. Rather than rolling her eyes at his unprofessional behavior, Rin smiled, adding, "At least he should be easy to find." Heiji turned on his phone to check the digital clock, but was thwarted as two voicemail messages popped up. One was from Kudo Shinichi. Or rather, his younger counterpart, he thought. The other was listed as a restricted number, and his brow furrowed as he sifted through the possibilities.

After dismissing the first message, which was little more than Conan demanding he answer his phone and discuss a case with him, he deleted it and moved on to the other. No sooner had he pressed '1' to listen than a chill crawled up his spine and he felt a tingling at the nape of his neck. A voice, obviously altered to an inhuman growl, snarled, "Listen, kid, I've had enough of your interference in other people's lives. These little bonfires have been for you, and now I'm going to set off a firework big enough for your farewell party. The girl with the striped umbrella is here, too. Alert the police, and the celebration will begin ahead of schedule. You have until 3 a.m. to reclaim what I've taken. It is hidden from your eyes as an easy example of your uselessness. Tokyoites wouldnt understand. You have my hint, tantei-kun."

Only a moment later, he turned to Rin and shouted, "He has Kazuha! That bastard's gonna get a broken nose messin' with this detective!" Trying to calm her hyped-up companion, Rin sighed, "For now, let's follow the lead I have on the suspect. Once we catch up to him, we'll get the information we need." With a sigh, Heiji relented. "Fine, but I ain't gonna be held responsible fer what happens ta the guy when we do find 'im!"

"Granted," replied Rin. A few minutes later they were about ten feet from the suspicious man, following in the crowd as much as possible and trying not to be seen. But, try as he might, Hattori couldn't hold in the rage that was boiling in his blood. "He's gonna pay," he muttered, sneaking closer to their target every second. "Hattori-san," the other detective whispered. "Get back here. If he sees you-" But the impulsive Western detective was too far away to heed the warning, both physically and in state of mind. Muttering a curse, Rin forged ahead, trying to reach the other teen before he made a deadly mistake. But she was forced back as a group of kids skipped between them, and Hattori had seized the sleeve of their suspect before she could object. As he jerked the man's arm, he turned, and Heiji froze. Rin surged forward, hoping she could keep the detective from getting killed. Hattori only stared at the face of his suspect. "You..."

(OK! Next chapter we go back to Conan and his companions, as well as the group who is looking for Hattori. If you want to try and deduce the meaning of the culprit's code, here are some hints from the message:

- It's a place he would know better than a Tokyo-resident.

- The fact that it's an 'easy example' is important.

- There is a key in translation between japanese, english, and another language's meaning of something.

- He has a long time to crack the code for a reason. )