A quick note for those used to watching the English dub: I've decided to go with the original Japanese names for the characters in this story, so let's introduce them with a quick bio. By the way, this story originally referred to the Inspector as Merogane, but Chalicity helpfully pointed out that it's actually Megure:
Jimmy Kudo is really Shinichi Kudo: This high school supersleuth was famous throughout Japan for his razor sharp brain and uncanny ability to solve cases. A secret crime organization tried to finish him off with an untested poison. Instead, he was shrunk by the poison and became Conan Edogawa.
Conan Edogawa is a fake name Shinichi takes on to disguise his shrunken form; it is a combination of the names of mystery writers, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Rampo Edogawa. Conan's height reduction gives him the illusion of being a grade schooler, and he masquerades as such to evade the notice of the criminals who shrunk him, until such time as he can find and capture them.
Detective Richard Moore is really Kogoro Mori: He used to work under Inspector Megure as a detective for the police department, but has since become a private detective. Following the advice of Prof. Agasa, Conan lives with Mori and Mori's daughter Ran, helping them solve cases and become more famous. Hopefully, the criminals who shrunk Conan will go after Mori once Mori becomes too famous- and this time Conan will be ready for them.
Rachel Moore is really Ran Mori: The beautiful daughter of Detective Mori is working towards being a model, and is also the captain of her high school's karate team. She and Shinichi Kudo were childhood friends, and it only after Shinichi was shrunk did he learn that Ran felt more than friendship for him. Shinichi has covered up his existence as Conan by claiming he is away on an important case, and Ran misses Shinichi immensely. She longs for Shinichi's return, for the day when she can, finally, beat him up for leaving her alone.
Inspector McGuire is really Megure: This no-nonsense man is in charge of a large jurisdiction, so large that he handles practically any case that Mori investigates. He has great respect for the conclusions of Kogoro Mori and Shinichi Kudo.
Next Conan's Hint: Wet Towel
Conan Edogawa says to the audience, "Hi, I'm Shinichi Kudo. But I go by the name Conan Edogawa because my body was shrunk by a mysterious criminal organization. Until I can find them again and reverse their drug, I go by the name Conan Edogawa and fight crime. Today's case is a robbery. The suspects have unsuspected superpowers and hidden pasts, but one truth will prevail!"
The Serpentine Sculpture Robbery Case
Ran knew she was lucky. She had convinced her father once again to part with some hard-earned money and take them to a hot springs for a weekend getaway. It was a good thing he liked hot springs too, although he'd probably take advantage of every opportunity to evade her watchful eye and go to the resort's bar. Still, this was a chance to relax and she was going to take it.
"Say," her dad, Kogoro Mori, commented, "I think I'm liking this trip already."
Ran turned the way that her father was facing, and saw a beautiful young woman checking in a few feet ahead of them. Ran's lips turned down. It was especially embarrassing when Dad went after the ones near her own age, and it looked like this was one of them.
Conan thought to himself, "Oh no, the old man's at it again. I'd been hoping this would be a relaxing trip."
Mori ran forward, and the woman turned quickly. Conan noted with narrowed eyes that she reached towards her waist, as though for a weapon, before realizing that Mori just wanted to speak with her. Mori entirely failed to note the gesture.
"I'm Mori Kogoro, the famous detective!" he introduced himself excitedly, last name first in traditional Japanese style. He was clearly hoping she would recognize his name and be impressed by his reputation.
The woman smiled politely at him, her brown eyes scrutinizing him closely as she introduced herself as, "Lady Une. Pleased to meet you in person, Detective Mori. I heard about your brilliance in your latest case."
"Well, that's just great!" Mori put his hand behind his head and laughed in delight. Ran crossed her arms while Conan rolled his eyes.
Mori looked back and gestured to Conan and told him, "Conan, take Lady Une's luggage to her room for her."
Conan gawked at Mori and thought, "Way to be gallant, old man. Send a little kid to do a grownup's job!" Lady Une only had one suitcase that he could see, but it was rather large.
"Dad, he's just a little kid!" Ran protested, also disgusted by her father's behavior. "I'll carry it," she determined, taking the suitcase's handle and lifting it easily.
This time Lady Une merely tensed her face slightly before relaxing. Perhaps she was worried about giving away her familiarity with armament, or her apparent lack of armament at the moment. She told them, "Oh, I'm so sorry to trouble you. I really appreciate your help." She bowed in gratitude, and when she straightened, her long brown hair flowed gracefully to the small of her back.
"No trouble," Ran and Mori agreed. Mori was about to walk with Lady Une to her room when the receptionist politely called "Mr. Mori? We have your reservation. Would you like to check in now?"
"Oh yeah," Mori muttered disappointedly. He returned to check in. Conan grimly took Ran's luggage in hand, as well as his own, and stepped forward to join Mori. A young man joined the queue behind them. His platinum blond hair was so fine and light that it almost appeared white.
After Mori had checked in, he walked towards the door that Ran and Lady Une had left by, taking his own luggage with him, and leaving Conan to handle Ran's luggage. Ran joined them at that juncture, and Mori was clearly disappointed that Ran was alone.
"Honey," he asked his daughter, "thanks for your help. What room number did Lady Une have? I'd like to make sure that she isn't too tired from her trip."
Ran frowned and said, "Dad, we're here to relax as a family. Lady Une is fine, she was very grateful for our help."
They were distracted by a commotion from the check-in area. The young blond man had been arguing with the receptionist. He now raised his voice slightly, though he was not yet shouting. He banged his open palm on the desk, locuting with a lordly tone and a toffee palate, "Listen to me, girl! Owls! If any owls come, don't bother them!"
The receptionist was too trained in formal etiquette to retaliate in any way to this rude treatment, and so she merely put her evident confusion into words, "Sir, I'm sorry, but we don't allow pets at this establishment."
"Pet? I don't have a pet owl. When owls come, they don't stay long," he insisted. "Listen, just let any owls that come fly where they like. They'll find me well enough."
"Very well, Mr. Malfoy," the receptionist said, clearly having decided to give in to his ridiculous request to end the bizarre scene. "We'll do our best."
The young man, whose name was evidently Malfoy, gulped, as if to clear his head. Releasing some of his anger, told her, "Thank you," and abruptly headed for his room with his luggage, a large steamer trunk.
After he had passed, Mori commented, "Young people these days have no manners."
Ran decided not to mention any of the million things that came to mind and simply took her luggage from Conan, sweetly thanking him for his trouble.
"You're welcome, Ran-neichan," Conan told her with a grin, addressing her as an older sister as he usually did in this body.
They proceeded towards their room.
After soaking in the hot springs for an hour or so, Mori went on the prowl, for drinks or Lady Une or both. Ran and Conan went to the rec room to play ping pong, setting off down the hall in the opposite direction. They noticed a famous young man heading towards them.
The man walking towards them would've stood out even if he were not famous, because of his gigantic stature, shaved head, barrel chest, and powerful muscles that the yukata only barely concealed. What was more striking about him were the cybernetic implants grafted into the ebony skin of his face, the dully glowing red sensor replacing his left eye, and his entirely mechanical arms. Conan knew he was looking at Cyborg, a member of the world-famous Teen Titans of Jump City in the United States.
"Good evening," Ran and Conan said as they politely bowed to him. Cyborg hesitantly emulated them. His voice spoke English with an urban, American accent, but they were surprised to hear a neutral and artificial voice speaking a few seconds after his. Cyborg had said a nervous but friendly, "Hello" in English, and a few seconds later the artificial voice had rendered it into an emotionless, "Good evening," in Japanese.
"I'm Mori Ran, and this is Edogawa Conan," Ran introduced herself and Conan, putting their last names first as was customary. "I'm Cyborg," he introduced himself, and the emotionless voice soon after rendered this into Japanese.
"Yes, you and the other Teen Titans cracked the Brushogun case only a few months ago, didn't you? That was amazing detective work," Ran said sincerely. Cyborg grinned widely and said in English, "Aw, thanks," while the artificial voice said in Japanese, "Thank you kindly, young lady."
Conan remembered the Brushogun case. He had wanted to crack the case himself, but hadn't had the time; the cases he helped Mori solve weren't unimportant. Conan felt a mixture of jealousy and professional respect for the Titans. If Cyborg smiled much more at Ran, though, Conan figured he'd start feeling jealous for a different reason.
Cyborg told them, "I wanted to see Japan more informally after we cracked that case. I'm happy to catch up on some R & R after our work lately. This is a really nice resort." The artificial voice translated his words into Japanese.
Ran correctly inferred, "Are you using a translation computer? That must be very handy." Cyborg agreed, "Yeah, I compressed the one we had at Titan's Tower. It's worked out fairly well."
Conan asked him, "Mr. Cyborg, are you visiting with the other Titans?"
Cyborg smiled, but this time his eyes were troubled instead of transmitting his natural friendliness. "Well, they're actually elsewhere. Even good friends sometimes need time apart." Conan nodded, though he was actually running through his mind the most likely reasons that the Titans, who worked as a small, close-knit team, would separate even briefly.
They had all run out of things to say, and so they bade their farewells. Ran said to Conan, once they reached the recreation room, "Wow, it's amazing that we'd meet someone as famous as Cyborg here!" Conan agreed, "He is a good crime fighter. It's interesting that he would want a vacation so far from his home and friends." They didn't say any more about it, but lost themselves in a ping-pong game. Despite Ran's height advantage, Conan played a fair game of ping-pong. He was better at soccer, though, and wished he could hit the ping pong ball with his feet and head as well as the paddle.
A redheaded man entered the room. He watched the game with interest, and when Ran defeated Conan, he asked, "I hate to interrupt such a good competition, but I was wondering if one of you would please play against me?"
Ran and Conan had been intent on the game, and had barely noticed the man's nearly silent entrance. Now they looked at him more closely. He had green eyes, long red sideburns, and a long mane of red hair reaching to the ends of his shoulder blades. The man appeared to be slightly younger than Ran and Shinichi's true age, though the stranger carried himself with poise that gave him the gravity of an adult. Their new opponent possessed a steady, mature gaze as well as a confident and friendly half-smile.
"As your challenger," the stranger continued, "I should introduce myself first. My name is Minamino Suichi." He had also introduced himself with his last name first.
Ran introduced herself and Conan. Ran then suggested, "I'll play you, if you like." Minamino nodded wordlessly, and Conan ceded his end of the table to Miamino. Conan was curious to see more of this stranger, his intuition telling him that there was more to Minamino than met the eye.
Minamino grasped the paddle and held it at the ready. Ran served, and he quickly returned the ball to her. She volleyed it back, and Minamino batted it to a different spot on Ran's side of the table. Ran parried this offensive, and again Minamino hit it to another spot. This continued for a few more volleys until he ceased ensuring that the ball impacted at different locations. He started to increase his pace of responding to the volleys. Ran's reflexes allowed her to continue returning the ball. Sensing the challenge, she began to hit the ball back faster and faster, accelerating even faster than he had been. Minamino was watching all of this calmly while Ran grinned fiercely. They continued hitting the ball over and over again at very high speed until Minamino suddenly hit the ball to a precise spot on Ran's left. The ball struck the table and bounced past her as she tried but failed to hit it.
"You're good," she told him, nodding at him and bowing as she would at a rival in a karate match. Minamino bowed back and told her cheerfully, "You're very good at this yourself. Thank you for such an enjoyable game. Please tell me, do you practice this often?" She shook her head and replied, "No, actually my sport is karate. I play this when I can, though." Minamino nodded.
Conan checked his watch and realized aloud, "Hey, wasn't your dad going to meet us here at 8, Ran?" It was 8:15 PM.
She frowned. "I hope we don't have to go fetch him from somewhere. You're more dependable than him sometimes."
"Would your father happen to be the famous detective Mori Kogoro?" Minamino asked. Ran turned to him and said, "He is, as a matter of fact." Minamino nodded, "Yes, I heard about how he's been on quite a streak lately. Your father must be a very clever man."
Conan thought to himself, "Most of the time the old man jumps to the wrong conclusion, and I have to knock him out and imitate his voice to get these things solved. I don't know what he'd do without me."
"I'd like to meet him, if you don't mind my asking," Minamino continued.
"I'll introduce you then," Ran said, slightly nervous, "if he's presentable. He said he'd stop by the resort bar, we should check there first. Please come with us, Mr. Minamino." He nodded, and the three proceeded out of the rec room and down the hall.
They turned a corner in a hallway, spotting a middle schooler with red hair, who was closing and locking the door to his room. He shook his head and looked up at the three coming down the hall, but without surprise, as though he had detected them coming long ago. The young man appeared to have a new and heavy burden on his mind. He bowed slightly in greeting as he said, "Hello, Mr. Minamino and friends. My name is Niwa Daisuke." The last sentence was directed towards Ran and Conan, who bowed and introduced themselves in turn. Daisuke, like Minamino, Ran, and Conan, introduced himself with his last name first.
"So, you met Mr. Minamino already?" Ran asked Daisuke. He replied, "Yes, we met this morning just after I checked in. We were both admiring that painting on the wall." He gestured towards a print of a beautiful sunrise over a lake.
The door to Daisuke's room was located near the check-in area. The foursome in the hallway heard murmurs from the check-in area, and though Ran couldn't hear all of them, she was fairly sure that she heard the words, "Call the police, just to be certain."
"What's that about?" she wondered aloud. "Let's find out." The four went towards the check-in area, and found a hotel manager and the receptionist. The receptionist was dialing the phone while the manager pored over a letter.
As the four approached, the manager leapt up and asked, "Can I do anything for you?"
"Is that letter some sort of threat, Mr. Manager?" Conan asked with the innocence of a child.
The manager froze, and said awkwardly, "I wouldn't want to disturb our guests with this unpleasant business." Then he snapped his fingers as he recalled. "Actually, miss, you and your young friend are related to Mr. Mori, the detective, yes?"
"Yes, we are," Ran answered for herself and Conan. The manager continued awkwardly, "I hate to ask this of a guest, but I trust Mr. Mori's discretion."
Conan thought to himself, "You're putting your trust in the wrong place, then."
"Could you please ask your father to come look at the letter, and help the police when they arrive?" the manager asked. Ran nodded and agreed, "Yes, of course."
The manager looked awkwardly at Minamino and Daisuke, then decided to whisper further information to Ran. Unfortunately, he was an older gentleman and misjudged his volume. Conan, Daisuke, and Minamino, were able to hear him say, "Someone has threatened to steal the Serpentine Sculpture."
Glossary:
Brushogun case: See "Teen Titans: Trouble in Tokyo" for more information.
-neichan: Japanese informal suffix for an older sister, or someone considered as such. For example, when Conan says "Ran-neichan" he is referring to her as his older sister, even though they both know they have no blood relation. It's a form of respect, even though the suffix is informal.
Toffee palate: British expression for an upper class English accent
Yukata: A kimono associated with resorts and summertime
The following disclaimer shall be construed so as to apply to all the fanfiction. The author does not own, and does not claim to own, anything copyrighted, trademarked, or otherwise owned by anyone else. The author does not claim to own Case Closed, or any other series', characters or events or jokes or concepts or dialogue, despite any usage of the above. All intellectual properties, copyrights, trademarks, and other items are the property of their respective owners.