Yukiko Kudo was more worried that her hopeless kid, who had never been much of a fighter even before shrinking, might run into danger while blindly running around.
That little brat who loved playing hero probably would not ask for help even if he really was in danger, thinking he was being hunted down. They had only wanted to tease their son and warn him that facing the enormous Black Organization alone was extremely dangerous, so he would leave Japan as soon as possible. If something really happened...
She waited for her husband on the other end of the line to come up with a new plan, irritably rubbing her hair before looking up to survey the street again.
The moment she did, she saw a miniature Shinichi Kudo, who had been missing for quite a while, tumble out from inside onto the second-floor terrace of her home. He scrambled up, grabbed the railing, and looked ready to climb over it and jump straight down from the second floor to escape.
Just as his tiny hands gripped the railing, a black figure emerged from the pitch-dark room. With a casual reach, the figure seized her son's slender neck.
"!" Yukiko Kudo shuddered in shock. The figure was dressed entirely in black, with a hood concealing most of his face. Holding her son by the neck with one hand, he dragged the tiny boy back into the darkness without letting out so much as a cry.
She immediately forgot all about any plans and screamed into the phone, "Get over here, now! Something happened! Yusaku, there's a man in black in the house—he caught Shinichi!"
Remembering the organization that truly threatened her son's safety, Yukiko Kudo was so anxious that her hands began to shake. She rushed toward her front door, so only muffled fragments of that identity-revealing conversation reached the two people listening in.
The man in black was, of course, Tangze.
After dragging Conan back inside, he went downstairs with the "hostage" and began setting up a simple trap by the entrance.
This somewhat unethical fishing scheme had been half Conan's idea and half Tangze's.
Tangze knew exactly what sort of situation would truly make the prank-loving couple panic. So among Conan's various plans—"call the police ahead of time," "turn the tables," and "set up an ambush"—he added the current one, which was—
"Since they need to disguise themselves in order to take you away plausibly instead of simply finding a chance to kill you, that means you have value to them. You're not someone they want to silence outright. So why not pretend someone else got to you first and is preparing to kill you? Once their plan is disrupted, they'll have no choice but to find out who this third party is and what they want. That way, we can turn the tables and control them instead."
Tangze's suggestion sounded righteous and persuasive, and it seemed highly feasible. After considering it, Conan, who was itching to take a gamble, ultimately accepted the plan.
Yukiko Kudo wanted to throw open the door and rush inside to check on her son, but she knew full well that she was not much of a fighter either. Going in alone could easily turn into a buy-one-get-one deal, so she could only stamp her feet outside and wait for her husband to come help.
Yusaku Kudo, dressed in a black cloak and wearing a bizarre, exaggerated smiling mask, completely cosplayed as the Night Baron. He had not gone far to begin with. After Conan escaped from Yukiko's car, he had driven back toward home to meet up with his wife, who was about to knock their son out. After all, she looked far too much like some strange old lady kidnapping children. He was worried that before they could take their son away, his wife would get handcuffed by the police first. That would have been far too awkward.
He had not expected an even bigger accident to occur.
Frowning, he slammed down on the accelerator and thought rapidly. This was too strange. That organization should not have targeted Shinichi already, so why had they encountered an attacker? Could they have come to the house to confirm whether their son was dead, only to run into him after he hid back at home?
Yusaku Kudo was frantic. Without bothering to find a proper parking spot, he stopped the car sideways in front of the house, rushed out, and opened the front door with his sweat-soaked wife.
The Kudo residence had small yards in both the front and back. At this moment, however, the house was silent. Yusaku Kudo cautiously assessed the situation and quickly concluded that someone had indeed broken in through the backyard.
The intruder had entered through a side window. There were not many of them—at most one or two—and they had not left many traces.
After making a quick assessment, Yusaku Kudo nodded at his wife. Yukiko Kudo took out the house key and unlocked the front door.
The entire first floor was shrouded in darkness, with all the curtains drawn. Yusaku Kudo did not dare turn on the lights recklessly. The attacker might not have realized anyone had entered, and he could not alert the enemy.
With that in mind, Yusaku Kudo cautiously stepped through the door.
After passing through the entryway, he was just about to step into the living room when a sharp pain struck his ankle.
Damn, piano wire! The mystery writer, who had solved many cases involving it, reacted instantly. But he was only marginally stronger than Conan in a fight. Though his mind raced, he could not steady himself in time and was tripped by the trap, falling hard to the floor.
"Tangze!" Seeing the trap work, Conan shouted, raised his charged high-tech shoe, and kicked the prepared soccer ball.
The soccer ball shot out at a tricky angle, bounced off the entryway wall, and slammed into Yukiko's back as she walked behind Yusaku. She screamed and went down right after her husband.
The instant Conan shouted, Tangze leaped up from behind the sofa, seized the off-balance Yusaku Kudo, and spun him onto the floor.
He bent down, pinned Yusaku Kudo's back with his knee, locked both of his arms, and pulled them backward. Yusaku Kudo, who spent his days at a desk and had never faced anything like this, let out a howl and could no longer move.
"I've got this one under control, Conan! Tranquilizer needle!" Tangze shouted dramatically, giving a light pull with his hands.
"Stop! Let go! It's me, your dad! Stop it, Shinichi!" Yusaku Kudo immediately realized what was happening when he saw his son emerge from behind the table and activate his watch dial. He shouted with all his strength.
Conan, whose adrenaline was surging as he thrilled at landing a hit, froze.
Tangze also stopped applying pressure and looked up at the bewildered Conan.
"Click." Yukiko Kudo, who had been knocked to the ground and was struggling back up while rubbing her waist, painfully turned on the lights.
The tangled group stared at one another in silence for several seconds. Conan strode over and tore the smiling mask off the cloaked man's face.
The face beneath the mask really was Yusaku Kudo's. Tangze's hold had him sweating and baring his teeth in pain.
"Ah! Dad! Why are you..." Conan slapped his forehead speechlessly.
So that woman... Conan looked at the woman clutching her waist. She yanked off her head covering, and her voluminous long wavy hair cascaded down, revealing Yukiko Kudo's gentle face.
"Ah, you two!" Conan pressed his fingers to his aching brow and stared at Yusaku Kudo, who was still sprawled on the floor and unable to get up for the moment, with half-lidded eyes. "This was your idea again, wasn't it, Dad?!"
After thinking it over briefly, Conan understood that his parents had learned he had shrunk and had come all the way back specifically to mess with him.
Tangze pulled down the hood concealing his face and blinked innocently with a bewildered expression.
Conan glared furiously at his parents, who were still recovering from the beating. Not knowing how to explain things to Tangze, who had planned this purely out of goodwill, he clenched and unclenched his fists, then rolled his eyes.
"They're hopeless, Tangze. Just call the police and have them arrested."
(òó) Thanks for all the monthly votes, everyone! This kid finally got votes—I'm touched!
Before you continue