Playing the Right Note
A Detective Conan AU fic
by
Deborah J. Brown

Detective Conan is copyright Aoyama Gosho.

Author's Notes: This story is a sequel to Playing with the Big Boys. As such, it's really a good idea to read that fic before you read this one. There are things only barely referenced here that were established in the original story and won't make sense without reading Shoji's introduction.

I'll be making further comments on the story in my Live Journal, user name: kosaginolegion. Review here, if you would, but feel free to comment there as well, or respond to stuff there. I'll be answering any questions on the fic there as well.

SHOJI:

"This is your fault."

He sat on the floor and stared blankly at the ceiling for a bit. "Really?"

"Yes. If you weren't being such an overprotective jerk, you could have gotten away and helped me get out later. Now we're both stuck in here and the only one free is a little girl - a real little girl - who's probably hiding somewhere in a corner and hoping Tsukano won't find her." Ai's tone turned bitter. "Or don't you think she deserves a bit of protection too?"

"Ayumi ran. She was safe enough. You were the one in danger."

"And how much help did you give me? How much help are you going to give Ayumi?"

He sighed.

"Don't sigh like that."

"I'd like to point out that you could have run when I told you to, instead of pausing to watch me get beaten up." He noted with interest that there was a fancily bound record album on the top shelf beside him. From here it was hard to read the title, but he was pretty sure it was Der Frieschutz. It certainly looked a lot like the album that used to have a place of honor over the family's stereo system when he was little.. It explained where Tsukano had gotten a copy of Angela Beda's voice. He must have been a fan. He used the same song for his security code to the safe. Nice to know, except we're on the wrong side of the door to use it Too bad. So sad.

Ai hesitated. Returned to the attack. "And if you'd run too it would have given all of us a fighting chance. But you had to be the big man. In case you haven't noticed, Akai Shuichi, you are just over four foot tall and weigh less than fifty pounds. We won't even discuss that broken arm of yours."

He dropped his head onto his arms and sighed again. "Yeah. I know. I know. On the other hand, Shi Shi, you've picked a fine time to let courage be your guide. Or is it foolhardiness?"

"Shi shi? SHI SHI?" Her voice rose an octave, plus a couple of notes, "You have a nerve calling me Shi Shi. NO one calls me Shi Shi but my sister."

He cursed his big mouth. This wasn't the time to let his pet name for her as a child slip out. Looking at her, he managed a wry smile. "Sorry. I didn't mean to be too familiar. I don't have any right to be."

Blue eyes met his in a glare that would, from their mother, have been followed by the sounds of beautifully and perfectly pitched screams that meant more broken glass to clean up. "That's the best you can do?"

"Yep. Look, Ai. I'm trying to apologize. I'm just not very good at..."

"You're entirely too good at acting like a jerk." She glared at him. "Is that why you're apologizing?"

He sighed again, tiredly. His arm was beginning to hurt. At least he hadn't made the damage worse, though. Vermouth would have added to his pains with yet another lecture on how he was in a child's body and should act at least somewhat accordingly. "No. It isn't why I'm apologizing. I'm apologizing because I'm me and you're you and I keep trying to treat you like my three year old little sister."

There was another moment of silence and Shoji wondered if he'd erred, if she realized the truth and would use that as another weapon against him. That's why I didn't want her to know. He stared into her eyes, trying very hard not to let his thoughts show.

"Well I'm not three and I'm not your sister. So where do you get the right to treat me like I'm either?" He gazed at her and realized that, even when she didn't know the reason, she sensed that she was the weakest point he had. He'd deserted her and his parents. Run away and gotten himself straight into trouble so deep that it had nearly killed him. And he was still running. "Well?"

Slowly he spoke. "Nowhere. Absolutely nowhere. I'm sorry." He forced his voice to stay calm, if not positively cold. "You're not three and I shouldn't treat you that way. You are..." He hesitated, managed a small snort. He wanted to tell her and he still couldn't. He was still a coward in the most important thing. "You weren't adult even before you took the drug. You have no idea what it's like to have a normal childhood or how to deal with someone like me. That's not your fault. I'm bossy. I'm used to being in control. And you're an important witness, so I have to keep you safe. It's my job to protect you."

Her voice softened a bit, her tone slightly puzzled, as if there was something she didn't quite understand. "I don't want to be protected. I want to face my fears. I want to do something to protect myself. You don't understand that, do you? You have no idea what it's like to be afraid."

Somehow, Shoji kept from snorting. He couldn't, however, keep from telling her, "The hell I don't. You have no idea what kind of things frighten me." He shrugged. "Never mind that. What I'm afraid of doesn't matter. What matters is that I'm trained to protect people. It's part of who I am. Part of what I am. You didn't ask for me, and I know you don't want me, but I'm here and I'm not going to just dry up and blow away. For one thing, it's not like I have anything else I can be doing like this."

"That's a low blow."

"Yeah," Shoji agreed. "It is. But we're stuck with each other, Ai. All three of us. I can't solve cases like Conan and I can't find a cure for our situation. But there's one thing I am good at and that's protecting people. Let me do what I do best. And I'll try my damnedest not to be such a jerk about it."

As Ai opened her mouth to answer, his Detective Badge crackled. "Shoji? Ai? Are you there? Can you hear me?"

Ayumi.

AI:

She grabbed the badge from his hand before he could so much as press the send button. "Ayumi. Are you alright? Where are you?"

"I got away from him. He's searching the other side of the building." Ayumi's tone sounded triumphant. "Where are you two? Do you need help? Are you hurt?"

Ai smiled in relief. It was typical that Ayumi would worry more about her friends than her own situation. "We're in the basement. Yes, we need help. Get the Kid. We're not hurt but we are locked up in the safe. We can't get out without someone to open it."

"The Kid has a bit of a problem with that." The young male voice broke in on the conversation. "Whoops. Nearly got me that time. I'm sorry, kids, but I'm a trifle busy with Nakamori and his band of merry men. It would be raining, just to make it all so much more fun."

Shoji gestured for a chance to talk and Ai let him. "Wouldn't the merry men fit you a bit better. How far away are you? The criminal's Tsukano. Can you at least try and keep him from getting away? I'm betting he's on the run now."

The badge crackled momentarily and made a screeching sound. "Damn cat," the Kid muttered. "I might catch up with him if he comes outside. I've been trying to stay near the museum, but that means I'm an easier target than usual right now."

Sitting back, Ai considered the situation, then took the badge from Shoji again. "Ayumi? Come downstairs. Maybe you can open the safe door." At Shoji's startled look, she continued, "I have an idea about it, at least. Hurry. We don't want Tsukano to get away, and I bet he'll run soon if he can't find you."

"All right, Ai. I'll be right there."

Once the badge had been put away, Ai gazed at Shoji, who was still blinking at her. "Exactly how is she supposed to get us out?" he asked dryly.

"That depends on you," Ai told him quietly. "Or is singing that much of a terror for you? Even if it's in front of one person?" It had been slowly dawning on her. He did understand a lot more about music than someone who was supposedly tone deaf. Too much, in fact. It wasn't just that his mother had apparently been a singer, nor that he just understood the mechanics but - like Conan - couldn't sing. Miss Tsukano's comment earlier came back to her, that Shoji might surprise her. He sang like Conan all right. Exactly like Conan. He could repeat the entry code for Ayumi. Ai was certain of it.

The FBI agent's face was closed and pale and Ai was suddenly vouchsafed a vision of him standing on stage, pallid and scared looking, trembling as if ready to run. Oddly, she could almost hear a boyish soprano rising above the audience. Then he smiled wryly. "Stupid fear, isn't it? Not like anyone's going to kill me if I sing the wrong note."

"Can you remember the notes of the code, then? Can you repeat them? I can sing but I can't remember them."

The smile quirked a little more broadly. "That part's easy. It's the first ten notes from same aria Tsukano used for his trick." He pointed upwards at a record album with tangled old script on its binding. "I just noticed it. He must be a fan of Angela Beda's. Not that I can blame him. She had a beautiful voice."

Ai would have pursued that point a bit further, wanting to know more about her mother. Perhaps Shoji's mother had known her. Perhaps he had met her. Any little scrap. That's all I ask. Before she could, though, Ayumi's voice crackled over the badge again. "Okay. I'm here. Mr. Tsukano's in his office. He's packing something. I think he is planning on running."

Ai nodded, though Ayumi couldn't see the gesture. "Okay. Do you remember that game we played upstairs? The one with the notes? If I sing you the notes, can you find them on the keypad in front of you? Play with it a bit so that you learn what numbers are what note, okay?"

"All right. Give me a few minutes."

"All the time you need, Ayumi." But not too long. Ai was getting very tired of being cooped up in the safe. Turning off the badge, she looked at Shoji. "You don't have to sing them for her. Just sing them for me and I'll sing them to her."

He nodded, looking a bit relieved. It didn't surprise Ai. He might be willing to let her see that particular weak point but she doubted he was willing to share it with more than one person. She smiled at him, reassuringly. "Don't worry. I won't tell Miss Tsukano, either. Though I think she knows already." That actually startled him and she pointed out with the superiority of one who'd only just figured it out herself, "Anyone can be a bad singer. Anyone with a reasonable sense of pitch can probably sing a bit. But I don't think anyone can manage to sing in exactly the same bad way as another person. Not unless they're imitating every note. And you can't imitate a note that perfectly without knowing how to sing. So? Will you?"

Very slowly and not at all willingly, he nodded.

SHOJI:

The door swung open finally and Shoji sighed with relief, stepping out before Ayumi could come in after them. The last thing they needed was to be accidentally locked in again. Ai followed, not quite as quickly and he gave her a quick glance. She was looking as cool and collected, which was something of a relief. The case might be solved, but they still had to catch the criminal. Well, they didn't have to, but now it was personal. He didn't like being stuck in a safe. "Kid?" he said over the badge. "We're free."

"Oh goodie. Glad to hear it. Think you could do something about getting Nakamori off my tail now?"

Laughing, he answered. "We'll do our best." As he put the badge away, he looked at the girls. "Okay. We need to get Nakamori's attention and avoid Tsukano's. Thoughts?"

Ai pondered the question for a moment. "Let's use his own methods against him. If he's the one who set everything up, it's probably being controlled somewhere. The security room would be my best bet." She headed out the door with a decisive air that made Shoji feel another surge of big-brotherly protectiveness as he followed behind.

I really am going to have to get over that. Shoji hadn't understood her reasons for being annoyed and now that she'd told him, he wasn't sure exactly how to handle the situation. He had less of a problem dealing with women in the Bureau. They, at least, had the training and know-how to be where they were. He didn't want to admit that she deserved that same respect. It was a double standard and he knew it. She'd faced dangers all her life and had every right to stand on her own two feet. But she's still my baby sister, damn it.

Like Tsukano's office and the basement, the security room was in the older part of the building. It made things easier in one respect because it meant a shorter trip. On the other hand, it meant that the floors creaked when you walked on them and the lighting was iffy. The shadows and noises were enough to make even Shoji a trifle edgy. He never liked this kind of layout in a chase. It was too easy to get lost or to over-react.

Still, they got where they were headed without incident and once inside, Shoji locked the door and shoved a chair up under its handle. Then he started pushing - trying to push - a bookshelf into position as well. At Ai's raised brow, he shrugged. "He may have a key. Better overkill than letting him in at us." He shoved at the shelf again and winced. It was so damned heavy, the weight too much for his skinny frame to manage.

He was just about to give up on the idea when Ai and Ayumi joined in, Ai muttering, "Try asking for help once in a while, dummy." Somehow he managed not to flush, especially when little Ayumi reminded him that he had a broken arm and that he shouldn't be trying to do so much. Honestly. Can't they give the male ego a break for a little? With a final shove, the shelf moved into place.

"That enough or should we push the desk over too?" Ai asked with asperity. At his look of consideration, she growled, "I'm joking!"

"I'm not." Shoji eyed the doorway. "Given enough shoving, he could get in. The question is, how desperate will he be? Escape would be a better option for him." Desperation could push even the nicest of people into doing the stupidest things. Like that pistol of Tsukano's. Just having it could get him into worlds of trouble. Where'd he get it anyway? The thing was old. Perhaps it was part of the museum's exhibit. Was it even loaded? He'd reacted on the assumption that a gun was always loaded and ready to fire, but it occurred to him that - for once - the rule might have been wrong. Still, better safe than sorry. Unfortunately, "It's too heavy, even with the three of us. Never mind. What's your plan, Ai?"

She headed for the console controlling the cameras and the monitoring equipment and examined the televisions above her. The images flipped from one room to another, showing no signs of movement. One, though, made Shoji frowned. "There." A shadow on Tsukano's door had moved from one view to another. "He's still in his office." It wasn't far from the security room, not good news. They'd gotten in and defended just barely in time.

Ai nodded and turned to the controls, fiddling around with the computer attached to the system. She made a small satisfied noise. "All the computers in the building are connected by an local area network," she said and Ayumi nodded wisely, though Shoji wasn't absolutely certain she really understood what that meant. Oh, wait, her father's a computer whiz, isn't he? He focused his attention on Ai, watching her search the system, finding the games that they'd played earlier, a program that controlled the speaker systems, then the files containing all the recordings. She frowned. "I don't see anything for Angela Beda."

"Try the 'Beautiful Angel' file," Shoji told her, not surprised that that was one she wanted to find. "Beda is Sicilian for Beautiful." She selected it and nodded as their mother's voice filled the room.

"Now," she murmured. "To put it on all the speakers." She started the program and selected the file. Then, with a grin at Shoji, she added the one he'd been listening earlier as well. "Ayumi? Anything you want to hear?"

"I dunno. I liked the song about the duck." At both Shoji and Ai's frown, she sang in English, "Be kind to your web-footed friends, for that duck may be somebody's mother."

Ai and Shoji looked each other and began to laugh.

AI:

Outside the room they could hear the sounds of the music Ai had selected. At first the volume wasn't much, but it only took a bit of fiddling on her part to bring it up to eleven as Shoji so oddly put it. Fortunately, there were no speakers in the security room, because the noise level even through the door was making it hard to think straight. Still, this would almost certainly get Nakamori's attention.

"Hey, that's pretty cool," the Kid's voice crackled over Shoji's badge. "Just one problem. Nakamori thinks it's a distraction."

Ai reflected that the Inspector had an admirable, if currently frustrating, sense of focus, not to mention a clue about how the Kid worked. There was no reason for the thief to return to the museum, since the theft was completed. So all their noise was accomplishing was annoying the neighbors and attracting Tsukano's attention. "He's right, too," she grumbled into the badge. "Drat him. Well, try and get away. We need help here."

The bang on the door made Ai start. A glance at the monitor showed her that Tsukano had, indeed, realized where they were. He hammered hard, yelling, "Children. Stop that. Let me in. Let me talk to you!"

Shoji looked like he desperately wanted a gun in his hand and Ai couldn't blame him. She didn't' carry her little pistol around anymore either. It had gotten too hard to keep hidden and she worried that one of the children might get their hands on it. She wanted it very badly now.

"Children! Please. I won't hurt you! I'm sorry I frightened you. Please stop that noise and let me in." Desperation was apparently lending strength to the man's efforts. Little by little the door was shoving open, neither shelf nor chair a deterrent. The tips of the chair's legs were too smooth to get proper purchase. Ai stepped backwards, then stiffened, realizing that they were cornered and that she had to stand her ground. The door pushed a bit further open and Tsukano's face peered around the edge, eyes wild and terrifying.

Ai took a deep breath. "Shoji? What do we do?" She glanced at the boy, who was frowning deeply. Lord. Don't tell me that he's taken my lecture to heart so much that he's not going to do anything. "Shoji!" The door kept inching further open and she stared at it, panicked and unable to move or think straight. What do I do?

"Mr. Tsukano? If you really don't want to hurt us, give us your gun. Just set it down where we can reach it," Shoji said calmly. "Otherwise I'll turn this switch on and the police and everyone in the area will hear you murder us." His hand was holding a microphone that he'd found from somewhere and Ai thought, irately, Why didn't I think of that. It occurred to her that the fundamental flaw in her plan had been its elaborate nature. Conan was going to laugh at her, if they made it thru this mess. Ayumi had said the speakers were used for announcements. She should have realized there'd be a way to talk over all the speakers.

"No. Wait. Please. Here," The man's hand slipped in and placed the pistol on the chair. "It isn't loaded. I promise you. Please. Can we talk?" He backed away from the door at Shoji's direction and in the monitor Ai could see him standing on the other side of the hall, staring pleadingly up at the camera. Shoji ordered her to get the pistol and she obeyed, noting by its light weight that he'd been telling the truth. It wasn't loaded. By its age, she wondered if it could even fire. She said as much.

Shoji nodded. "I'd wondered," he said quietly. "Now. This is my sort of thing. Let me do my job." At her nod, he jerked his head at Ayumi, calling her over. "Ayumi, I want you to sit at the end of the console. Hold this microphone and - if anything happens to me or to Ai - turn it on and start yelling for Nakamori. All right?"

Ai didn't comment that Nakamori, as focused as he was on catching the Kid, might ignore even Ayumi's cries for help. Still, it was at least a small deterrent. She watched Ayumi crouch where she'd been told to. Then she helped Shoji move the shelf out of the way and let Tsukano in.

SHOJI:

Every instinct in him was saying that the situation wasn't nearly as bad as it looked. He'd gotten in trouble for letting his instincts drive his choices before, though, so he tended not to let them be the only thing that guided his actions. Still, they were at a stalemate and that had to be dealt with. Years of negotiation training kicked in and he gazed quietly at the man. "Okay. We're listening."

Tsukano pulled a handkerchief out of his coat pocket and wiped sweat from his forehead. The signs of tension had increased. The sense of a man pushed right to the end of his tether. If he'd really meant to kill someone he would have by now. It's still just a matter of instinct. If I'm wrong, we could be dead in a minute. Shoji kept his eyes on the man's hands as Tsukano began to talk.

"It's the museum, you see. We really need people coming in. I could pour money in, all the money I have, and it won't change anything if no one visits." He sighed. "I just wanted to get us some attention. It was just a publicity stunt. I didn't expect the Kid to show up and I didn't expect you three to realize what I'd done."

Ai coughed. "What about the real diamond."

He pulled a shiny clear stone from his pocket. A very familiar one. "Right here. It's been in my pocket all this time. It's not really all that valuable, being man-made and all." Tsukano looked at them worriedly. "Please, children. The only reason I wanted to lock you up was that I panicked. I was going to run. Everything had gone wrong and I didn't know what else to do."

Shoji considered the question carefully. He didn't trust anyone but he could acknowledge the sense of the man's statements. "What about the insurance? Are you sure that isn't the real reason you did this?"

There was absolute shock on the man's face. "Insurance? What insurance... Oh... I see. I can see how you'd think that. I'm so sorry, children." He gazed at the diamond sadly, watching it glitter brightly then set it on the console. "Could you... call the Inspector in. I've been a fool. Perhaps he will be understanding."

Shoji hesitated and was about to tell Ayumi to do exactly that when a thought occurred to him. He walked up to the man. "If the Kid is supposed to steal the diamond then maybe he should steal the diamond." He picked it up and watched Tsukano's face. "Well? It's only fair."

"But..." A startled and hopeful look crossed the man's face, answering the final question. Instinct was - probably - right. He hoped. "How?"

"It doesn't have to really be the Kid," Shoji reassured the man. "Give me a handkerchief, would you?" Tsukano, puzzledly, handed a large piece of fairly clean linen to Shoji, who wrapped the diamond up carefully. He'd have used his own handkerchief but he didn't want to risk any possibility of his DNA getting on the gem. Somehow he was pretty sure that Nakamori took every chance he could to find out who the Kid was. "Now. I want you to go outside and see if you can find Nakamori. Tell him that you suspect that the Kid had already stolen the diamond and switched it for a fake from the billboard. Don't forget to break one. Okay?"

Tsukano hesitated then nodded. As he left the room, Ai spoke. "Are you sure this is a good idea?"

AI:

It puzzled her. Shoji was on the side of the law. She had been inclined herself to trust Tsukano's story, had wanted to. Yet paranoia had entered into the equation and she still wondered if the man was lying to get himself out of trouble. Still, would Shoji be holding that diamond if that were the case? "What if that's a fake too?"

He found a pen and tapped it lightly against the diamond's surface, holding it carefully to allow it to vibrate. Aside from the small clink, there was nothing. Not hollow, then. It was the coloring, similar to but not quite the same as the coating on the glass pieces, that made it hard to tell. As gaudy as the piece was, she couldn't help but agree that it couldn't be a very valuable gem, either. "Sure?" Shoji repeated. "No. I'm never certain of anything. For what it's worth, though, I'm reasonably confident that we're doing the right thing." He shrugged. "I don't do things by intellect, Ai. All I have is my instincts."

Ai shook her head, not really understanding. Ayumi, however, hugged Shoji suddenly. "I liked him," she said. "I'm glad you thought of a way to help him." To Ai's surprise, Shoji flushed bright red. "What do we do now?"

"Get this to the Kid. We may have to talk fast..."

"Nah." The voice from the corner of the room caused all three to jump and turn. No one was there but when they turned, the Kid, in full regalia, was seated, dripping wet, on the chair Tsukano had vacated. "I'll play along. It's a blow to my rep, a bit, but I'll recover." He held out a gloved hand for the gem. "Real, yep. Ugly as sin. Yep. Something I'll never live down stealing? Ah well." He sneezed. "I hope you three appreciate all the trouble I went to, chasing around out there. I think I may catch a cold."

She couldn't help telling the young man, "Drink some hot tea and lemonade before you go to bed. Plenty of vitamin C and you should be okay. Getting wet doesn't give you a cold. It just makes it easier to catch one."

"Have your mama make you a hot bowl of soup, too," Ayumi suggested. "That always makes me feel better." Ai noted Shoji's smirking and gave him a sharp glare that did nothing to change the expression. Honestly. He's such a boy sometimes.

The Kid seemed just as amused by the mothering as Shoji was. The two exchanged a look of understanding and grinned broadly. Then the Kid rose to his feet. "And now I'd better get my hind end out of here. I'm going to need a leave a trail so Nakamori thinks I'd hidden this ugly piece of junk somewhere and came back to get it." He bowed. "It's been a treat working with you, Miss Ai. I see that I'll have to keep your observation skills in mind, should we ever cross swords for real one day. Until then..."

"Please. No smoke bombs. Just go," Ai snapped. He laughed and, for once, left the room like a normal human being.

There was a moment of silence, then Ayumi said. "What now?" It was a good question. They would still have to wait for the police to return, probably answer a lot of questions. First would be to get their stories straight so that Nakamori wouldn't realize how much involvement they'd had in the case. Second was probably to find Miss Tsukano. Ai was reasonably sure their teacher would sleep for a long while after being drugged, but she wanted to be sure she was okay. She said as much and Ayumi nodded. "And then, maybe Shoji will play me a real game of Tones?"

They blinked at her, startled, and she gave them a look. "Anyone who knows what note a crystal is vibrating at can play a Tone game."

SHOJI:

"You let the Kid go?"

"It seemed the thing to do at the time." Shoji cocked his head and listened to the next note in the sequence. Ayumi was good at this game. He could keep up, but only just. She had one hell of a memory. Beside him, Conan was just about incandescent. The only reason he wasn't jumping around and screaming was that he didn't want to risk someone walking in on them and wondering why a seven year old boy was having a fit over permitting the Kid to escape.

"You let the Kid go?"

Listening to another sound file from Der Frieschutz, Ai gave Conan a look. "If you want to catch the Kid red-handed, then you need to actually be here."

Conan gritted his teeth, making a sound like a small angry poodle. "I would have come if I'd known I needed to."

That surprised Shoji and he nearly made a mistake in the sequence, catching himself just in time. Then he realized why. "Of course. The Kid only pretended to call. He probably didn't want to risk your showing up. He knew if he called Professor Agasa for real you'd probably figure out something was up and try and get here sooner."

"I don't know why you're so upset, Conan. No one's been hurt and nothing's really been stolen. The Kid will give that diamond back and the museum will be fine." Ayumi triumphantly finished her turn and gave Shoji a grin.

Oh man. I'm getting wiped across the floor by a little kid. For real. It wasn't fair. He actually admitted to a talent for music and he was still behind on the game. Embarrassing. He focused on the next set of notes, only to have Conan growl angrily, "You. Let. The. Kid. Go." Somehow he still got that sequence right, despite Conan's 'help'.

"Give it a rest, Conan. You know you'd never forgive us if we caught him, so stop being such a jerk." Conan stopped and stared at Ai, whose sharp tone held that note of aggravation that Shoji had come to know and was beginning to like. As long as it wasn't aimed at him, that was.

I can, I think, get used to her being braver. Just as long as she lets me be there for her. Shoji winced as he finally missed the next sequence. "Okay, short stuff. I give up. You win. This round." He eyed Ayumi. "Best two out of three?"

She grinned at him and was about to agree when Miss Tsukano entered the room. The real Miss Tsukano, he was fairly sure. The young woman looked a bit tousled from her nap hidden in the women's bathroom, but none the worse for wear. "Oh, children. My uncle told me what happened. I'm so sorry you had to go thru all that. Oh, hello, Conan."

"Hi Miss Tsukano!" Conan's tone shifted very quickly into the childish treble that he usually put on. His look at Shoji and Ai, however, said that he wasn't quite done. "Are you okay?"

"Just fine, dear. Just fine." Miss Tsukano came over and barely glanced at the game Shoji and Ayumi were playing. She didn't seem to notice the way he stiffened either. Still, Shoji suspected that was because she didn't want to make him nervous more than not realizing that he'd been playing a game that a child with the level of musical talent he was supposed to have should not have been able to play. Ai gave him a look and he shook his head. He wasn't ready for that sort of confession. There were some fears he simply didn't want to face. Yet.

AI:

Ai sighed inwardly as Miss Tsukano told them that the police were just about ready to leave and that Professor Agasa would be able to take them home soon. She wasn't really looking forward to dealing with Conan when the three of them could be more private. Ayumi was the only thing keeping Conan from anything more than the relatively mild complaint over their permitting the Kid to get away. Particularly letting the Kid get away with one of their badges. She wondered how long it would be before Conan remembered that that meant the Kid was carrying a transmitter that his eyeglasses could trace.

Not, I think, very much longer. Except I bet the Kid will guess that as well and get rid of the thing. He isn't an idiot. Annoying, yes, but not an idiot. Ai watched Shoji as he talked to Miss Tsukano, both carefully ignoring the results of the game that he and Ayumi had just played. Sometime, when she could talk to him in private, she was going to have to ask him just how he knew so much about Angela Beda. Perhaps his mother had been her mother's contemporary? Perhaps they'd known each other. He could even have met her himself.

Somewhere in the back of her mind, an idea was trying to form but it was so nebulous that she couldn't put her finger on it. She knew it was important, though and she decided to let it sit there and slowly gel. Someday, perhaps, she'd work it out. Someday she'd understand.

If nothing else, though, she thought she was beginning understand Shoji a bit more. Possibly even like him. Oh, he was an irritating, over protective, nuisance. On the other hand, her safety did seem to matter to him. It was strangely comforting. Conan was there to help her find her courage, to help her stand on her own two feet. But maybe everyone needed a big brother to count on sometimes. It was nice to know that she could count on Shoji, even if he did like to keep secrets and keep his own council. He spoke the truth, pretty nearly always. His lies were in his silence. Just like her own lies were. In a way, it made her feel a connection to him that she hadn't felt before.

Miss Tsukano got to her feet. "I'll send Professor Agasa back for you, all right?" Four voices chorused agreement and she left the room.

"Are you sure it was a good idea?" Conan asked once their teacher had gone. Ai grinned at him. Still on that question, even now.

"Yes, actually. It wasn't as if we let someone get away with a real crime."

"But..."

"There's only one truth, Conan. But no one ever said that it has to be visible to everyone." She grinned at Shoji, who grinned back. "Some truths are better kept in the dark. Until they're ready to come into the light, that is."

Epilogue: Coda

The auditorium was full. Hundreds of parents all watching the choir. All waiting for their children to prove their talent and make them proud. Not for the first time, he stood on the stage and felt his breath go short in his chest. Then a light hand nudged him over to the side, reminding him that he was safe from all that.

Music played. Voices sang. And he carefully turned the pages and listened peacefully, turned away from the crowd and watching the choir. Content just to be there and watch over his sister and her friend. "Miss Tsukano?" he whispered, during the moment's break.

"Yes, Shoji?"

"I know how to sing."

"Yes, Shoji.

"I don't want to."

She smiled at him. "That's fine, Shoji. As long as you don't want to, you don't have to."

He nodded agreement and listened as Ayumi's voice rose thru the room. Sweet and clear and courageous. Maybe, someday, he might find the kind of courage that let you leave the shadows. Until then, there were pages to be turned and patterns to be listened to.

And a sister to watch over. Whether or not she wanted him.

The End