Case Closed Fan Fiction ❯ The First Woman In The World ❯ 10 ( Chapter 10 )

Fifty Years Ago

“Are you sure about this, Ushi?” Eta asked softly.

“We will never find that jewel like this,” Ushi replied. “We might at least replicate its properties as a failsafe.” He fell silent as the professor entered the private room with them.

“You are- “Red Rum”?” he asked. “Your associate here- “Vermouth”-” he indicated Eta- “gave me a very interesting proposition.”

“We have scoured the earth for scientists of your skills, Miyano-sensei,” Ushi said. “We are hoping that, in exchange for our providing all the facilities and funding you will ever need, you will be cooperative in our project?”

“For the kind of funding you're offering, I'd be happy to try to find a way to pull the gods themselves from the sky and put them into an ether bottle,” Miyano laughed. “I'll happily try my hand at the elixir of youth... who knows, anything's possible if you throw enough money behind it!”

“And we have a lot to throw,” Ushi said with a thin smile. “Very well. We will provide you with a laboratory, supplies, an adjacent apartment for you and your family... you have a young son, I believe?”

“Atsushi,” the man confirmed. “Very bright boy.”

“We will also provide for his schooling,” Eta promised. “The brightest ought to have their brilliance supported, after all.”

“And all we ask in return,” Ushi said, “is that we are periodically updated on your progress, and also that you understand this; if you work for us, you work for us forever. You understand? You belong to us. You belong to us, your wife belongs to us, your son belongs to us. Your project is of such importance to us that you cannot leave it for anything other than the Next World, understand?”

“I understand,” Miyano said, nodding gravely.

“Another associate of ours will take you to pick up your family and move you to your new lodgings,” Ushi said. He dialled the phone. “Applejack? Take Miyano-sensei to that new apartment next to the lab. We now have a head researcher for Project Pandora. Pick up his family first, he'll tell you where to go.” He put the phone down again. A few minutes later, a young man entered the room. At first glance, he was obviously foreign- his short blond hair and emerald eyes noticeably not Asian. However, far more noticeable were the vivid scars across his cheeks. He looked visibly annoyed to be playing chauffer, but obediently led Miyano away.

Eta watched the young man go. Kurosawa James- codenamed Applejack, because one shot from him and you were dead- had been quite a find for them. He had been tormented by his peers in America throughout the war due to his father being Japanese, and was left bitter for it- deeply bitter, and a terrific fighter. In no time at all, with a little tuition, he had become an unparalleled assassin. He was not, perhaps, as deeply loyal as he could be- some of those whom they employed were slavishly loyal to the Syndicate and their aims. James' loyalty was based solely on the fact that Eta had promised that the Syndicate had ever-growing shadow control over the governments of the world, a control that may allow them to prevent future wars, and the bigotry and racism that resulted. James believed that the only good reasons to kill were self-defence and cash; wars, the results of fear and pride, and the resulting suffering, were something that he simply could not stand.

His partner, an odd girl named Hanako- codenamed Cider- thought similarly; she was deeply loyal to Eta for rescuing her from street poverty during the bombing. She despised disorder and chaos; for the sake of the Syndicate's control, she was happy to kill anyone, and she was good at it too. She always knew where targets would be, what made them weakest; she claimed to be something of a psychic, and this was probably true. If she weren't so fanatically loyal, they'd have had to kill her for some of the things that she knew.

Merciless killings aside, though, she was a surprisingly sweet and gentle girl, and Eta held the closest thing to a friendship that she'd had for millennia with the girl. Especially since she knew about the dream.

She'd had it herself, but knew that it was Eta's. Eta begged her to keep quiet about it. She'd simply zipped her lips with a wink.

“By the way, Red,” Eta said, flipping through an account book- they had taken to calling each other by codenames, in case anyone was listening- “you should really see this... It's very impressive.”

Oh yes; the codenames. It had started in the nineteen-twenties, in America, as a sort of joke; While people these days talked of Al Capone running the illegal liquor market during probation, they never asked themselves who owned Al, or why mere tax evasion got him sent to Alcatraz. People often wondered what had happened to his money when he died, too. Eta and Ushi, or Vermouth and Red Rum as they were known these days, didn't wonder.

They'd chosen alcohol names just to irritate and confuse the cops, but the names had stuck, and now their most trusted associates also bore the names of alcohols. Vermouth had put a lot of thought into her name. What went into her was a secret, and while she might smell sweet she often felt bitter; as a secret to herself, as well, the German word from which vermouth derived also meant “wormwood”- a substance which was said to destroy werewolves... like a Silver Bullet.

Ushi's codename, Red Rum, was simply a pun. It translated badly, which thankfully led to an air of mystery rather than confusion, but those with a command of English often realized what it meant. It didn't take them long to realize why, either.

“This is impressive, indeed,” Ushi muttered. “I'm growing fond of Japan, you know. So many brilliant minds. This young man could be very useful indeed.”

“This was of his own initiative, as well,” Eta pointed out. “And nobody has noticed that the money is missing, despite the amount that he siphoned off...”

“What's his name again?” Ushi asked.

“He's an accountant,” Eta said. “Masuyama Kenzo. A very bright young man indeed. Whiskey recommended him. He has a lot of potential, I'd say...”

***************************************************************** ****************************************

And there's your confirmation of why Vermouth and Boss were listed as the main characters. If you still haven't gotten what “Red Rum” means, either watch The Shining or just read it backwards.

Because Eta and Ushi are in charge of it, KageNoNeko. ^_-

Bingo, Desperatembrace. You're sort of on track…

I do agree that it's largely down to human nature, Pretztailfan95, but so often religion is the reason for such outlets. A vast number of historical wars were caused by religion, not to mention the various witch hunts and Inquisitions. The bad side of human nature isn't caused by religion, no, but neither is the good side- and the shift between the two has not happened because of religion, nor even in spite of it. I do respect people's right to have their religion, but only to the point where it does not interfere with anyone else's life- and far too often religion has centred on nothing but.

XD I wonder how awesome that would be, International DCFanficNut 1207 XD but nahh… that's a new one about Akako XD This is important now- the story that Vermouth told Shinichi when he was kidnapped…

I do not claim to own any of the characters in Meitantei Conan. They are the intellectual property of Aoyama Gosho. All characters, couples and locations, if Canon, will be faithful to the manga, so if you're into fics with weird pairings like Shinichi and Heiji, the back button is at the top there. The fic may not make sense if you have not read up to chapter 698, which you can do at a site called (read between the lines) O/n/e/ma/n/g/a, but I advise you to buy the official Tankoban novels (up to volume 30 are out in English at the time of writing) so that Aoyama-sensei can afford to continue gracing us with his imagination. Now, I hope you enjoy the fic! (If you don't, please see my previous comments re the back button).