For what had been a good two months or so, things had been very different for the three youngest members of the Shuonen Tantei. Adventures became exponentially less fun, games seemed bland, and even things as simple as going out for ice cream or playing in the park, as they were now, had lost it's flair. For two months they had been short a very important member of their team, and for two months they played in a silent melancholy for their departed comrade.
"Is it just me or do they seem a little lethargic lately?" Mouri Ran would ask her friend quietly as she observed their lackluster play from a nearby park bench.
"Obviously it's because the little nerd is gone!" Sonoko would reply with her trademark smirk, leaning over to note the way they couldn't seem to find a fourth person to even out their team for some impending game.
"I just feel bad, especially for poor Ayumi-chan..." Ran's eyes darted to the little girl who was in fact taking this loss the hardest. The look in the child's eyes was undeniable; a feeling known all to well to Ran, something that most girls could universally spot and sympathize with. It was more than apparent that she was struggling just as her teenage counterpart had for so long.
She glanced back to the three children she was babysitting to make sure all was still well as the two boys run off, leaving Ayumi alone to count. Suddenly the quiet was broken with a familiar, yet increasingly less-heard sound:
"Hey! Ayumi-chan! Mistuhiko, Genta-kun? Anyone read?" Between small breaks of static came a voice which had been absent for quite some time. Quickly reaching into her pocket, Ayumi would remove the small transmitter and squeal with excitement flooding into her voice:
"Conan-kun?! Is that you?" A nervous chuckle was heard on the opposite end as she pressed the small device closer to her chest, looking to it expectantly.
"Yeah, it's me...Apparently Agasa-hakase modified our transmitters to pick up international waves, so we can talk like this again." The cool tone of the young boy calm as it had ever been came clearly over the speaker.
"That's great! Now we can talk anytime we want, right Conan-kun?"
"Anytime!" He answered warmly. Ayumi's face curved into a satisfied smile as she bid the young man farewell, promising to tell the others the good news as soon as she found them [afterall, you can play hide and seek with only three people all day].
Meanwhile, Ran had begun rising from her seat to wave at her new boyfriend, hands shoving something small and red into his pockets as he walked toward the small group of familiar faces.
"Over here, Shinichi!" The young man had promised to catch up with her while she babysat, after clearing up a few details for Megure-keibu, as per usual. As he continued in their direction, he would take a moment to pause at the little girl still leisurely standing on the playground deep in thought. With a familiar smile he'd bend down to place his hands on his knees so he could address her face-to-face:
"Good afternoon, Ayumi-chan! How're you today?" As the detective awaited his answer, the elementary schooler simply looked at the ground, thinking on a quote that Conan-kun had spoken so many times before; when you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth...
Lifting her head to smile up at him, she'd quickly latch onto the teenager's chest and hug as tightly as she could possibly muster. Holding back a tear or two, she'd simply whisper:
"I missed you..."