The Silver-Eyed Starlet (A Detective Conan Fanfiction)

Chapter Nine:

It was all over in less than an hour. Raponov and Furuta Masaoka were taken away in handcuffs to the police station, police sirens wailing around them. The suite of Akitoshi Aogi was cleaned, with all visible traces of blood scrubbed from the carpets. The water was dried off from the floors, though the carpets were still rather damp.

Yusa and Sonoko were reunited with the very relieved Mouris and Kudos. Ruth, after hearing what had happened, and raced all over the hotel trying to find Yusa, and was on the verge of tears once she saw that Yusa was safe and sound.

“Thank goodness! Thank goodness you’re alright, Yusa, thank goodness. I was so worried once I heard that there had been a murder, and to think that an assassin had gone after you---!” Ruth blubbered in English, sniffing and wiping her wet eyes with a handkerchief.

Yusa smiled. “There there, I’m fine. See? Not a single scratch. I’m sorry for worrying you so much.”

Meanwhile, Sonoko was also sobbing into Ran’s shoulder. “I was so scared! He had a gun! And he pointed it at me! And he was about to shoot me!”

Ran patted Sonoko’s head reassuringly. “Don’t worry, he’s gone now, so you’re safe. It’s a good thing Miss Yusa was there, right?”

Sonoko’s head bobbed back and forth so hard Yusa was worried that it might fall off. “Mmhmm! She saved me! She even stood in front of me to protect me from that assassin! And I-------” Her words broke off as she erupted with a new tsunami of tears, bawling.

Yusa sighed, a soft smile on her face. In the end, nobody else was hurt, and the perpetrators were properly arrested and taken away. A good ending. Looking around, she made sure that no one was watching her, then quietly slipped away from the crowds, making her way through the shadows until she reached the balcony of the ballroom.

Gently placing her hands against the glass windows, she pushed them open and stepped out onto the balcony. The night was still dark, though far, far away, she could just barely make out the soft red and gold rays of sunshine as dawn arrived over Beika City.

A sudden gust of wind blew, and her hair fanned out behind her, streaming like a raven black banner. The air was cool on her skin, tendrils dancing across her arms like playful fingers.

Suddenly, she heard the sound of the glass windows being opened again. She spun around, and relaxed when she saw who it was. “Oh, hello Conan-kun.”

The young boy smiled in greeting. “Hi, Yu-neechan.”

Yusa was rather taken aback at this new name. “Y-Yu-neechan? Me?”

Conan blinked. “Did I say something bad?”

She sighed, shaking her head. “No, it’s nothing. But why did you come out here? Ran will get worried if she can’t find you, you know.”

“I told Ran-neechan that I was going somewhere, so it’ll be fine.”

“Oh, okay then.”

Conan looked down at the ground, scuffing his toes. “Um, Yu-neechan?”

“Yes?”

“If you don’t mind----can I join you?”

Yusa’s eyes widened in surprise. “You want to join me?”

The little boy nodded. “I like Yu-neechan. Yu-neechan is a nice person.”

Yusa stifled a laugh, and replied, “Of course you can, Conan-kun. There’s no need to ask.”

His eyes lit up, and he trotted over to stand beside her, peering out at the city from between the railings since he was too short to reach the balustrade that Yusa was leaning on.

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Conan sighed internally. It really was peaceful up here, watching the sunrise, listening to the bustling city slowly come to life, feeling the breeze billowing. It had been quite some time since he experienced a sensation like this, long enough that it seemed unusual and awkward, almost foreign.

“Say, Conan-kun?” said Yusa.

“Yeah?”

“Can I ask you something?”

“Sure, go ahead.”

Yusa took a deep breath, then turned her head to look down at him standing beside her. “This may sound really awkward, but are you really seven years old?”

Conan heart stopped, and his stomach jumped up into his throat. “Wha--what do you mean, Yu-neechan?”

“What I mean is, you don’t really act like a seven year old sometimes. I haven’t known you for very long so I can’t say for sure, but you act like you’re older occasionally. Like, as in around my age. Seventeen years old.”

His heart pounded against his ribcage like a drum, so loud he was sure that Yusa could hear it loud and clear. “Eh heh heh,” He laughed nervously. “Is that so?”

Yusa sighed. “Well, I may just be imagining things, but you look a lot like someone I knew from a long, long time ago.”

“Someone you knew?”

“I didn’t actually know the guy, but his mother told me about him a lot. She even showed me his baby pictures, pictures of him as a child and growing up, et cetera.”

“Who was this guy?”

“Shinichi Kudo, Yukiko and Yusaku’s son. If I recall, he’s close friends with Ran and Sonoko. Apparently, he’s off in some foreign country investigating some difficult case related to drug smuggling, smuggling of illegal weapons, and whatnot.” Yusa paused to take a breath before continuing. “But anyway, you just look a lot like Shinichi when he was younger. No, correction. You look exactly like him. Are the two of you related?”

The blood drained from Conan’s face in a sudden rush, and his words came out in broken stutters. “N-no, we’re n-not related at all!”

Yusa frowned. “Hmm, that’s strange. From Yukiko’s descriptions of her son and his detective habits, you resemble him quite a bit.”

“Ah, well Shinichi-niichan teaches me sometimes! And---and I like to watch detective shows!” Conan made up, scrambling to piece together an appropriate excuse from the top of his head.

“Oh, is that so?” Yusa’s frown turned into a pout. “And I was so sure that you two were brothers or cousins or something.”

Conan let out a huge breath of relief. Dang, this girl is way too smart. And to think she was this close to discovering my real identity after only knowing me for less than twenty-four hours.

Yusa sighed, feeling rather disappointed. She had been so sure for a moment that Conan Edogawa had some connection to Shinichi Kudo, only to be thoroughly let down. What a shame.

Suddenly, Ruth’s voice called out. “Miss Yusa, we’ll be leaving for the airport in half an hour.”

“Got it!” Yusa replied, then turned to Conan. “You heard her. I guess I’ll be saying goodbye to you now, then.”

"Okay. Bye, Yu-neechan!" Conan waved goodbye, and watched as the famous teenage actress and martial artist ran off.