He was unfortunate enough to have experienced it all himself:
One moment, he was seeing a little girl through that person's eyes. The girl who that person seemed to care so much about.
The next, he was being grabbed from behind.
And then his head hit the ground hard.
A rush of adrenaline, as Shiho Miyano got on top of him, about to finish him for good.
"Ayumi-chan, cover your ears and don't look!" that woman barked to the girl.
And then, resignation to what was likely inevitable and which, in any case, that person was no longer willing to fight. Not with that girl in the room. A sense of serenity. A very brief final reflection upon the life that that person got the chance to live.
And then, he could feel that person's lips moving, his vocal cords spelling out the last words that he was ever going to say.
"You cannot...stop...what he has already set into motion."
He was able to experience that person's last thoughts. A plea, to him:
Vindicate me. Don't let this part of me go to waste. Don't let me forget her...Do what you promised me. I place my trust wholly in you.
And then:
His eyes shot open. He began convulsing violently in his chair, hyperventilating, his heart pumping way too fast for somebody his age. His heart monitor was going ballistic. He was half-worried that he might die of shock right then and there, or that he might accidentally yank out the plug that powered the equipment keeping him alive.
And then, he regained his composure.
What a gruesome...hideous sensation, he thought, his eyes watery.
It was one that he hadn't experienced in a long, long time. Like the essence of a human being was ripped out of its body by some unthinking, sadistic, brutal force of nature. Maybe he could've bailed out earlier than he did, so that he wouldn't have had to go through that all over again. But he didn't, because he owed at least that much to the man who'd been so faithful to him and the cause, that he should be with him in his final moments.
Something wet began to stream down his face. There was a lump in his throat.
That even one person should have to die...it tore him up inside. He was getting tired of this, and he desperately hoped that the big payoff of his life's work was just around the corner.
He dreamed of a world where nobody had to die, no matter what might happen to whatever mortal body they inhabited at the time. A world where the worst of enemies could reach a common ground, through common experience and understanding...where the best of friends never had to part ways but instead might, at the most, have to say goodbye for a little while. A fairy tale world, many would say with derision.
But he believed in that dream still. Even after all this time, as ancient as he was, in spite of everything that he had seen, in spite of everything that he had done. He believed still that man was but a fool rather than a scoundrel. And a fool could be taught, if not shown.
This body of his was weak. Very weak. His condition had deteriorated very rapidly in the course of the past year. He could hardly make an audible sound, save the kind of pathetic wheeze that his nurses had the nerve to refer to as 'breathing'.
...Where were they anyway? he wondered. Just now. When I was flailing about in the chair like a heart attack victim.
In any case, he recognized Shigeo Yasuda's death for the tragedy that it was. Whether or not that he was able to give that man something to live for that was good enough to justify cutting his life short, he did not know. He did not want to pry into something like that, especially when he knew that Yasuda would've been cognizant of what he was looking for. In any case, emotions do fluctuate from time to time, so there might not have been a definitive answer for him.
However, he knew of the circumstances that Yasuda came from, where the man was emotionally and even physically at the time that the two of them first met. That he was at that time able to remove Yasuda from the precipice of irreversible self-destruction was a comfort to him now, though it wasn't quite enough to answer his question.
Shigeo-kun, he thought, you were a good man. And yes, I will do as I have said. However much strength I have left should be...sufficient. Yes.
Opening
(Angel Night by Psy-S, an opening to City Hunter, performed here by Garnet Crow)
(To act decisively is a prerequisite to victory! Seize the day or die trying! The Miyano family must arrive at a fateful decision! Akemi's life hangs in the balance! Perceiving the one and only truth! With the body of a child but the mind of an adult, my name is DETECTIVE CONAN!)
Irumine shon mashita ni mioroshi
Yoru wo nobotte ku ESCALATOR
Kooritsuita BIRU no tanima wo
HEADLIGHT no kawa ga nagareru
Saisho ni suki ni natta no wa koe
Sore kara senaka to totonoerareta yubisuki
Tokidoki damarigachi ni naru kuse
Dokoka e itte shimau kokoro to MELODY
ANGEL VOICE na wo yonde mimi sumasu ECHO
SHINING SMILE kaze ni chiru hanabira to KISS
ANGEL VOICE atarashii natsukashii ECHO
SHINING SMILE isogazu ni ari no mama KISS
The Girl Who Lived! Part One!
Holding bags of groceries, Conan and Nancy crossed the street.
"Really," Conan complained. "They're inviting us over but we had to buy and bring over half the ingredients."
"Yeah, well, the Professor's had to cook for five people these past three weeks," Nancy said. "I imagine his pantry's running rather low."
Three weeks ago, the hostage crisis at Teitan Elementary came to a close. Shortly after the last three hostages came out, the police stormed the building to find the remains of two unidentified people splattered all over the cafeteria, along with numerous bullet holes in the walls and ceiling. Additionally, the cafeteria was on fire and so the fire department had to step in.
Cognizant that a bomb had gone off inside, and of the threat that more remained to be found, the police ordered that the school be closed, a decision which virtually all the parents involved agreed was appropriate. Subaru Okiya, calling from an anonymous number, informed the police that he was the party who set the bombs in the first place, patiently explaining to them why he did it (he said that he had wind in advance of the hostage-takers' plot). He helped the police find and remove all 59 remaining bombs, and then afterwards he assured them that there were no more and the school was safe to re-open.
Still, the police were not satisfied, because in the principle's office they found two large canisters of what was later identified as gaseous carfentanil. Enough to kill hundreds, if not thousands, of people, and certainly children. As a result, a hazmat team was called in to search every square inch of the place for dangerous substances.
On top of that, there was the matter of interviewing the hostages to piece together the details of what happened. A number of families affected simply packed their bags and fled Tokyo in the aftermath of the crisis, so tracking down everyone was quite difficult. Additionally, it was somewhat unclear which students were not present that day and which were: at least one student who was reported absent that day was seen leaving the building at the crisis's conclusion. As of so far, none of the hostage-takers who the police captured were willing to talk. Backgrounds checks on them revealed shockingly little, in many cases.
Finally, there was the matter of repairing the cafeteria, as well as the other parts of the school where shots had been fired. All things considered, that they managed to re-open in just three weeks was a borderline miracle.
Of course, during that time all of the Teitan elementary students were home-bound. So Mitsuhiko, Genta, Ayumi, Conan/Nancy, and Haibara had seen very little of each other for the past three weeks. Today marked the first time since then that they'd all be hanging out again. It was a date that none of them were willing to miss. A Sunday afternoon, the day before their lives were scheduled to make a sharp return to normalcy.
Or at least, that was the government's hope.
Conan and Nancy knew that Haibara had done something unthinkable, and Ayumi watched it happen. As for who was affected worse they did not yet know.
I guess we'll find out today, Conan thought.
And so they went on their way. They'd gone to a store, had to give up some amount of money that, quite simply, they could afford to part with, and then walked out with a bunch of food. This was a viable option 24 hours a day, every day of a year. Japan was, for all intents and purposes, a post-scarcity society.
Of course, it was not always this way.
Scene Transition
Not only did she have to contend with a crying kid, and not only was she stuck carrying a sack of food for the next three miles, but she also dreaded the scolding that she knew would entail.
Yesterday, she'd been lying on her side in the living room flipping through the pages of an old French fashion magazine, admiring the mature beauties in all of their 1930s "glory". And then, her aunt had walked in, berating her for being such a lazy child, and then giving her instructions: take the sowing kit from the dresser in the master bedroom (or whatever equivalent of such existed in this part of the world at this time), and find somebody in this city of 350,000 people who was willing to trade it for at least one pound of rice flour. As her little brother Takahide was too young to by alone by himself unsupervised, she had to take him with her.
Who knows, her aunt reasoned, maybe seeing him will buy you a little extra sympathy.
That was doubtful, of course. Food was scarce, especially for city-dwellers such as themselves.
They didn't find anybody willing to make the trade yesterday; fearing their aunt's wrath, Akihime found them a half-decent place to fall asleep and then they tried again early in the morning. As it turned out, just a little while ago they finally had some luck, and they were now on their way home with what they came for.
"Hide-kun, just a little longer," she said.
"But I'm hungry," he sniffled. "I had no food for days!"
She nodded. "We're all hungry. These are hard times for everyone. But I've got some food right here. When we get home your nice aunt can cook us up something yummy. How about that?"
They'd passed by a clock tower a little while earlier. The time then was 8:00. So now it was maybe about a quarter past then. The day now was...
Hmm, what day is it again? Akihime thought.
She knew August had started a little while ago. But she'd lost track of the day of the week, or of the month.
As a matter of fact, it was August 6.
A few minutes ago she'd faintly heard the sound of what was probably a plane overhead. But she didn't see anything up in the sky, so...
Maybe it was one of ours? she thought.
There didn't seem to be any need to take cover right now, and in any case Akihime just wanted to get back home as soon as possible.
An automobile passed them by. And then another.
She sighed. If only they had a car they wouldn't have to go through this trouble.
But as for the stressing ordeal that began yesterday, they were almost finished, or at least for the-
*BLLLLLLLLLAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM*
It all happened so fast. Like in but the blink of an eye. Had a bomb dropped near them?
Whatever it was, Akihime sprang into action.
She looked at her little brother, dropped what she was holding, and-
She slammed him to the ground and covered him with her body, cradling him as his only protector, forcing him against a wall.
And then she was engulfed in flames.
She was seven years old, but a few weeks shy of her eighth birthday, living in the city of Hiroshima.
Scene Transition
"Ah! There you are!"
At the time that they came up to the door Mitsuhiko, Ayumi, and Genta were already waiting for them.
Now that they were all here, they could go inside.
Ayumi knocked on the door.
A few seconds later, Haibara opened it.
"Finally," she said. "You all been standing out here like a bunch of morons."
They entered. Conan and Nancy put their groceries on the kitchen table.
"...Alright, I'll get this started," Conan said. "How've you guys been holding up?"
Mitsuhiko nodded. "Good. It's been nice having this much free time, though it's getting sort of boring by now."
"Same," Genta said. "Not getting to see my friends sucked."
Nancy turned to Ayumi. "How about you, Ayumi-chan?"
Ayumi blinked. "Umm...I don't get it."
"Huh?"
"Why did school close?" Ayumi asked. "Why did the police want to talk to me? Why have my mom and dad been acting so weird? Did something...happen?"
There was an awkward pause.
"...Ayumi-chan, you don't remember?" Genta asked. "Any of it? F-For real?!"
"You guys can wait out here," Conan said. "The Professor, Haibara-san, Nancy and I will prepare the meal."
Scene Transition
They were making nikujaga. Conan was assigned to peel and chop potatoes. All the while, they were listening in on the chatter coming from the other room.
"Haibara, I know this was your doing," Conan said. "What did you do?"
"Ayumi-chan saw my adult self kill a man," Haibara explained. "If she were to have told the police about that, then...well, you know. That would've confined me to this identity for the rest of my life. I'd never be able to go back, or else face arrest. So I made Ayumi-chan forget altogether."
Conan forcefully grabbed her by the shoulders. "And how exactly did you accomplish that, huh?! Don't tell me that you-
"Yeah," she said without hesitation, shaking free. "I paid her a visit, as my older self, late at night. I cuddled her in my lap, read her a bedtime story, and then gave her a glass of warm milk laced with rat poison. I let her lose consciousness, waited about an hour, and then administered the Elixir to her. Well, in any case I gave her a free doctor's visit, for all intents and purposes. She came out of it alright, so nobody has any reason to complain."
Besides, she thought, no child should have to live remembering something like that. I gave her innocence back to her...to the extent that's possible for somebody hanging around the likes of us.
"You could've consulted me first, you know!" Conan protested. "She would've been dead for a period, after all!"
"Sure, then both of us would have to feel guilty about that," Haibara retorted. "You already got enough on your own plate, if you ask me...Ran, Hakase, you're the only ones now. The only ones whose consciences are clean. Must feel pretty good, huh..."
N-No, the Professor thought, thinking back to his final conversation with Vermouth. My conscience definitely isn't clean.
"At least tell us how far back you erased," Nancy said.
"Well, let's see...I did it about a week afterwards, so...she should still remember Hong Kong, if that's what you're wondering. But not much else after that."
"Oi, how are we supposed to explain something like this to them?!" Conan protested. "Mitsuhiko and Genta are at their wits' end right now trying to make heads or tails of the situation, I'm sure!"
"Repressed memories," Haibara said. "It's that simple. What happened to Ayumi-chan was so traumatic, apparently, that it caused her to just clam up and forget all of it. That's what we'll tell them. And that's what we'll tell her."
She turned to Conan. "You were there when it happened. I'm leaving it up to you to explain what happened."
"H-HUUH?!"
"Not so loud," the Professor hissed, looking anxiously at the doorway.
"Don't worry about it," Haibara said. "I've come up with a cover story for you. Speaking of, what did you tell the police when they visited you?"
"Oh, that? Nothing."
"Huh?"
"We refused to speak to them," Nancy said. "They chalked it up to us being scared little kids, so they left rather quickly after that. I'm sure they've gotten that a lot of that at this point, interviewing as many kids as they have, but in any case they should only need a few witnesses to piece together what happened, more or less."
The olive oil and the diced onions at the bottom of the metal pot began to sizzle.
Scene Transition
It wasn't a very hard transition.
Despite herself, she'd usually ended up working while at the villa in Shikoku. In her office away from home (or so to speak), on the second floor, sitting at her large wooden desk, a sliding door with curtains opening up to the balcony behind her. As though she was the boss of a large company, because for all intents and purposes she was. There was always something that needed her approval, a stack of papers for her to go through.
She was tempted to open the door behind her and let in some cool air, but she didn't want to risk anything blowing away.
These past three weeks she, her husband, and her son had been living with Shiho and her semi-elderly caretaker, that Professor, since their normal place of residence had been blown to smithereens. It was a messy arrangement that they all got kind of tired of after a short while (as Satoshi and his private tutor took up the dining room half of the time and nobody wanted to disturb them), but it was one that they had to put up with until Elena could convince Jirokichi Suzuki to let them relocate to the villa.
The old man was upset that one of his family's company's top pieces of real estate had been demolished without his consent or prior knowledge, and so he was thinking of pulling the plug on his cooperation with them altogether. Atsushi had to go meet with him and convince him otherwise. Finally Jirokichi reluctantly agreed, and the Professor was obviously glad to have the house to himself and Ai-kun again when Elena's people started coming by to help them move out.
But at first it was pretty great. They had some long, deep discussions as a family, played a few board games even. At times they almost seemed like a normal family.
Among the discussions that they had concerned the gaping elephant in the room: Akemi's body.
Haibara and Satoshi, apparently after having discussed it together, came to the conclusion that Akemi should be revived at present. The way they reasoned was thus: Ran and Higo, though being of little practical value to the cause alive, were at present living persons thanks to the power of the ELXR-0666, because the lives of both were things that Kudo-kun demanded. Additionally, Haibara had been permitted to remain alive and roam free even though her capture would pose a substantial threat to the cause.
In all of these cases, the continued status as "living organism" was considered to be an acceptable risk because the apotoxin allowed for their identities to be obscured. With that in mind, the risks for Akemi could be considered acceptably low if the same was administered to her upon her revival. One dosage would revert her to roughly her mid-teens, and a false identity could be assigned to her.
Admittedly, Akemi's revival would not benefit the cause and would doubtlessly come with some risks. However, Elena and Atsushi's line of work was so incredibly dangerous that they might feasibly not live long enough to see a time when Akemi's revival was an entirely risk-free affair. That applied to Satoshi and Haibara as well.
And as a mother, Elena thought, there are things which regular cost-benefit analyses cannot decide for me.
They all came to a consensus, about something which, looking back now, it seemed like they should've done a long time ago. They were going to try to revive Akemi, even though she'd been dead for about a year and a half.
There was, however, a certain obstacle that had to be cleared first. In that regard, Elena was waiting for a very important phone call. Once this matter was cleared up, then they could proceed. That matter being, of course, the possibility of their daughter's person having been assumed by an Antichrist.
*RIIIIING*
Startled, she answered:
"Um, yes, Elena-san? I'm calling to confirm the test results."
Elena nodded. "Continue."
"Let's see...it says here that it's a negative for all of the five markers you told me to look for."
Breathing a sigh of relief, Elena said:
"Yes, thank you. That's very good news. Was there anything else?"
"Was there supposed to be something else?"
"No. Goodbye."
She hung up and then ran out of the room and down the marble staircase, a kind of joyful expression on her face that her husband hadn't seen in years.
"It's a go!" she declared.
Excited, Atsushi picked up his wife and spun her around.
They ran into the other room, where Akemi's body laid in repose, an IV drip through her veins (or whatever of such still existed).
Having been dead for as long as she was, her body was not a pretty sight. And yet Daizu-sensei had been by his prospective patient's side since last night. He stood up when they came in.
By the way that they were looking at him, he could tell what they wanted him to do.
"Due to the length of decomposition time, we're going to need an extra large dose," he said. "My recommendation would be a series of injections."
Atsushi nodded. "Do it, doctor. Bring our daughter back to us."
"How long will this take?" Elena asked.
Daizu yawned. "I don't know. Based on the available data I'd have to say a couple of hours, probably. The most uncertain part will be her brain, her memories, her personality. But based on the reports I've gotten, all prior patients made a full recovery with the entirety of their personalities intact, so I don't see why she'd be any different."
"Remember though," he said, "she's been dead for a very long time. It is possible that something won't turn out the way you hoped. Don't be surprised in that case."
"At this point, we'll take whatever we can get, doctor," Elena said, holding her husband's hand.
"In that case, let's get started."
Scene Transition
They were all sitting at the table.
"...Anyways, that's just my theory," Haibara said.
"Huh," Mitsuhiko said. "If what you're saying is true, then that's pretty awesome."
"I wish the rest of us could be that lucky," Genta muttered.
"I-I'm sorry," Ayumi said bashfully. "Even after you guys having told me what happened, I just plain can't remember any of it at all."
Conan smiled and shook his head. "You have nothing to apologize for, Ayumi-chan. I think we're the ones who should be sorry, in fact: we've been trying to make you remember something as terrible as that. You're a very lucky girl to have forgotten, I think, and nobody should want to take that away from you. Some things in this world just aren't worth remembering, but usually we don't have a choice in that one way or another."
"By the way, where's Shiro-kun?" Nancy asked, eager to change the subject. "I'm guessing he couldn't be here today?"
"Oh, he's taking the entrance exam to St. Procopius Academy," Conan said.
"Saint what?" Genta repeated.
"Oh, is that like one of those catholic girls' schools from those shows on TV?" Mitsuhiko asked. "I mean, obviously it isn't an all-girls' school if he's applying, but-
Conan nodded. "It's a denominational all-boys' school, as a matter of fact, catering to the educational needs of students grades elementary to high school. It's not too far from here, though I'm sure you don't know anybody who goes there. And it's Eastern Orthodox, not Catholic."
"Huh?"
"Eastern Orthodox," Haibara explained. "One of the three major branches of Christianity. Primarily found in Russia and Eastern Europe, and historically in Turkey. Well, Russia's eastern frontier is close enough to Japan that there is an Orthodox presence in this country, though it's a very small community. On first glance, Eastern Orthodoxy and Roman Catholicism are very similar, but there are some key differences that it can be difficult for outsiders to the faith like ourselves to understand."
"Not sure if I understood any of that," Genta said.
"It's a Christian all-boys school not far from here," Conan said. "That's all you need to know."
"But why's he switching schools?" Ayumi asked.
Mitsuhiko was about to answer that, but Conan gave him a look and shook his head.
Mitsuhiko was silent.
"There are some people who're after him," Conan said. "That's why he came here in the first place: to escape them. But the big incident three weeks ago made it clear that now they know where he is, so he has to move. He can still hang out with all of us, just not at school."
The three Detective Boys, of course, would probably never come to realize and appreciate the role that Conan played in this: he spent the past three weeks working with Elena to convince the Black Organization that Shiro was a mere decoy used by the FBI to bait them, on account of the boy's striking resemblance to Higo's younger self. And as far as he knew, the ploy worked. But Elena still decided to take the precaution of having Shiro enroll elsewhere, though at Haibara's pleading he was allowed to remain in the area and continue to associate with the friends that he had made these past couple of months.
"That's strange, though," Genta said. "After we got out of the building I could've sworn that I saw Shiro standing out there by all those peop... "
He paused, trying to recall something. And then:
"WUUAAAAHH!" he screamed in horror, his face turning red as a stoplight.
"Huh? Is something the matter?" Conan asked.
"G-Genta-kun, don't say anything else!" Haibara barked, also redfaced, realizing what Genta must've seen then.
"What is it?" Mitsuhiko asked. "You say Shiro was there? I mean, I guess he might've worked up the courage to come to the scene and wait outside for his-
"SHIRO-KUN AND HAIBARA-SAN WERE KISSING!" Genta blurted out.
"HHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEHHHH?!" Haibara shrieked, feeling super embarrassed, like somebody had seen her naked or something.
"Genta-kun, why would you reveal something like that?! You're the worst!" Ayumi said, though deep down this was a juicy piece of gossip that she was glad to have heard.
And with that, they all turned to Conan, expecting him to start bursting out laughing.
"...Why are you all looking at me like that?" Conan asked. "I'm fine with it. They have a lot in common, and they seem like they're a good match for each other. Congratulations, Haibara."
He raised his glass to her.
"Oi, you make it sound like we're gonna get hitched soon or something weird like that," Haibara griped. "It was just a one time thing."
"Yeah, yeah," Nancy said, to Haibara's chagrin.
Conan smiled.
Congratulations, Haibara, he thought. You've finally moved on. And I think Higo-san's somebody you can trust. You'll be happy together, I'm sure.
"Hold on a second," Mitsuhiko said. "Conan, didn't you tell me that Haibara was skipping school that day? How did she-"
"I went to the nurse's office early on because I was feeling bad," Haibara lied. "I slept through most of what happened. I was woken to the shrill sound of kids screaming and that lunatic woman going on and on about a bomb."
"Well, whoever she is we owe her our thanks," Mitsuhiko said.
After they ate, they played some games on an old N64 that the Professor was able to buy for a song from a pawn shop and then they played some soccer in the front yard.
Scene Transition
"Alright, I'm off."
"Bye. I love you."
They kissed and Shigeo Yasuda, considerably younger at this time and much better groomed and dressed, headed out the door with his suitcase.
He took the commute to work via the subway, as he always did.
"Hey," the man at the front desk greeted him as he passed by.
"Hey."
He flashed his clearance badge and entered the testing area.
He was a part of the company's ongoing project to develop the next generation of workout supplements. And for that, they had assembled both a treatment group and a control group from a random survey of 100 college students. He'd already gotten to know some of the subjects, all of whom were keen either to build muscle or at least to make three hundred thousand yen, or both. But mainly he was involved behind the scenes doing the math to ensure that everything checked out before they began administering anything to anyone, so as to avoid major adverse effects.
Usually, he was up there about 10 hours a day, and it paid well enough that he and his wife were optimistic about one day paying off the mortgage on their house. Their future looked bright. If only they could finally have a child things would be just about perfect.
But today, something was different. About twenty minutes into the work day his boss tapped him on the shoulder.
Yasuda stood up straight (from bending over to veer at the readings on the small computer) and faced the man. "Yes?"
"I'd like to see you in my office."
"Huh? Did I do something wrong?"
"Just come with me, please. Right now."
Scene Transition
"Have a seat."
Yasuda sat down.
"As you're aware, there've been some glaring discrepancies between your team's projections and actual outcomes as of late," his boss said. "So I took the liberty of having Sonozaki-san from the department over come and review your work. Last night she spotted an error that you made six weeks ago, which has thrown off all the team's work since. We're going to have to start all over from that point."
Yasuda blinked. "Say what? I did...I did what? I, um, gosh...uhh, I'm not sure what to say to that, except-
"We're letting you go, effective immediately."
"Excuse me?"
"I'm sorry to have to say this, and I have nothing against you as a person. You've been with this company for three years now, and most of your work since you started has been exemplary. If not for this, I would consider you to be one of our finest employees. But your blunder has cost us six weeks of expenditures and set back the ultimate release date of that product. I need not impress upon you the magnitude of this transgression. And now we don't know whether we can trust you not to make a similar mistake in the future. You're fired."
"But-
"The decision is final. Pack your things and be out of here within the hour."
Scene Transition
What am I going to tell her? he thought.
He inserted the PIN number and the door unlocked. He opened it and stepped inside.
"Honey?" he called out. "Something happened at work. We need to talk."
He was not looking forward to the conversation that he thought he was about to hold with his wife.
She wasn't in the kitchen, or the living room.
He went into their bedroom, and:
She was lying in bed, clad in a nightgown, though it was still in the morning and though she'd already changed into day clothes before he left for work earlier.
Yasuda sighed. "I was laid off today."
"What? Why?"
"Apparently I made a mistake a while back which is really damaging to the company now," he said. "I goofed with some numbers, apparently. Not entirely sure about the details. But it was pretty serious. So they fired me for it today."
"Huh...well, I'm sure you'll find something else."
"That's it? You're not upset at all?"
"Upset? Nah. But I think we should definitely discuss this later."
"Later?"
"Are you hungry?" she asked. "You didn't get to eat anything this morning, right? Go wait in the kitchen, give me a minute to get dressed, and then I'll make you something to eat."
"Why are you wearing that anyways?"
She shrugged. "It's comfortable."
"Comfortable? I've never seen you wearing that in the day bef-
"Why are you getting on my case, huh? You're the one who just got fired, right? Why don't you just go wait quietly in the kitchen like I asked you to?"
What the heck is this, Yasuda thought. Nothing about this is right at all.
"...Is somebody else here?" he asked.
"Huh? N-No! Why would you even th-
*yaaaaaaawwwwwnn*
It came from under the bed.
"Shiori-chan, you're such a terrible liar," a woman's voice said. "Why don't you just tell him the truth already?"
She emerged from under the bed and stood up, also wearing a nightgown, her hair disheveled.
Shigeo started to hyperventilate. His heart was racing like crazy,
"W-WHAT IS THIS?!" he demanded, beginning to feel hot.
His wife sighed. "I guess this is as good a time as any to tell you. I like women. I only married you because my parents expected me to find a husband. But I can't be untrue to myself any longer. I'm leaving you, Shigeo."
He shook his head.
No, he thought. It can't be happening this sudden, right? All this time she was lying to me? Every time that she said she loved me...and she's going to leave me...just like this?
He fell to his knees, staring a thousand feet ahead (metaphorically speaking) as his wife and her female lover brushed past him.
Scene Transition
She'd been expecting a call/message earlier in the day. The fact that it hadn't come yet: did that mean something had gone terribly wrong?
It was getting late. She'd tried watching TV, but her sense of nervousness was just too great for her to sit still or to pay attention. She ended up pacing the house, though she was sure that she was keeping the Professor up with her antics.
Fresh air, she thought at last. That's what I need.
She went to the panel on the wall, entered the PIN, and deactivated the alarm. Then she opened the door and stepped outside.
She was sparsely able to take three steps when-
*brrrrrph*
Her hand raced to pluck her phone from her pocket.
It was a two-word message:
"She's awake."
Scene Transition
The Next Day
"At this time the Middle East as we know it today was dominated by two great empires, the Eastern Romans and the Persians. They were hated each other because they practiced different religions, in a time when many countries thought religious matters were important enough to go to war over. In the early 600s they fought a war against each other that lasted an entire generation. When the war was over, both empires were exhausted, and they were too weak to fight back against the rising power to the south, from the Arabian Peninsula, the forces of..."
As Kobayashi-sensei droned on, Mitsuhiko looked around the classroom.
A lot of people are missing, he noted.
Indeed: a large number of parents had pulled their children out of Teitan Elementary, the first straw being the recent murder of a music teacher on the school grounds and this recent hostage crisis being the last straw.
"In the year 610, he was a successful businessman who was also very religious. One day he headed up to a mountain to pray, and it is believed by Muslims today that while there he encountered the archangel Gabriel..."
Scene Transition
"So how was your first day back?" Nancy asked.
"Awful!" Ayumi exploded. "Maria-chan's gone!"
"She must've been among those whose parents pulled them out," Conan said. "Well, her parents have an extra reason to be wary of this school."
(Author's Note: He is referencing Maria's kidnapping during "Valkyrie's Mission".)
"And to make things worse," she said, "I can't find Yasuda-san anywhere! I haven't seen him since I don't even remember when! He doesn't answer his phone when I try calling him!"
"Ayumi-chan, I think you should probably forget about Yasuda-san," Conan said.
"Huh?" Genta said. "What's that supposed to mean?"
Conan sighed. "This information hasn't been made public yet, so don't repeat a word of this to anybody, but...Yasuda-san was among those killed during the incident three weeks ago."
Ayumi dropped her fork. "W...What?"
Sensing that this was the appropriate time for such, Nancy stood up, walking around the table, and gave a visibly shocked Ayumi a hug from behind.
"It's going to be okay," Nancy whispered.
What on earth are we doing, Conan thought. We haven't shielded Ayumi-chan from anything: rather, we're just making her relive that trauma all over again. Maybe I shouldn't have told her that? But what else could I have said, other than-
*brrrrrrph*
Conan looked at his phone.
It was a text from Dr. Agasa. It read:
"Come to my house after school. I need your help with something urgent."
He put his phone back in his pocket.
"What was that?" Mitsuhiko asked.
Conan shook his head. "Nothing for you to worry about."
"Huuh? Why would you say it like that?" Genta said.
"Now we just have to know what it is!" Mitsuhiko said.
"The Professor wants my help with something," Conan said. "I'm not sure what it is yet, but he wants me to come over after school."
"Then we're coming with you!" Mitsuhiko said.
"Yeah!" Genta parroted.
"...Count me out," Ayumi said, looking down, Nancy still trying to console her. "I don't feel like doing anything today."
Conan nodded. "We understand completely, Ayumi-chan. Come back to us whenever you're feeling good and ready."
Scene Transition
They were sitting in the Professor's living room.
"So what do you need our help for?" Mitsuhiko asked.
"Um, well..."
Dr. Agasa motioned for Conan to come closer, and then whispered to him:
"Oi, why'd you bring them for this? I don't think this is kid appropriate."
"I couldn't stop them from coming even if I wanted to," Conan said.
The Professor sighed. "Alright then. To all of you, the truth is..."
...
...
...
"HHHEEEEEEHHH?!" Mitsuhiko exclaimed. "Hakase, somebody threatened you?!"
Ending
(In the Storm of my Mind by Sayuri)
On that day they trekked to the mouth of the great river
Leading the procession, the elder donning black vestments
His wrinkled face, an old, sad story etched into its creases
With a thousand yard stare, he uttered the old utterances
"Take to heart, ye of few days, what you have witnessed!"
His words carried no weight as we played quietly in the back
The years passed, and our style of play grew more refined
Anywhere, anytime, you were the only company I needed
But watching you gasp for air was a sudden slap in the face
It was from then that I could hear the crescendo of the bells
Trapped in the storm of my mind none can hear me scream
I know our bodies shall be threshed at the foot of the altar
And our ashes sprinkled on the lips of the grinning demon
This happy dream is naught but the vapors of a dying flame
I want to cherish these moments always, but I am reminded
The strongest among us must yield to the turning of the hour
Its ticking, like nails on a chalkboard, like cascading thunder
The stroke of midnight shall do us apart, forever and ever.