"Come on boys! We don't want to miss it!"
"Ran-neechaaan..." Conan whined as Ran eagerly dragged him and Kogorou out of the hotel. "Why did we have to get up so early today? We're on vacation!"
"That's right," Kogorou tiredly added, trying not to stumble over his own feet while following his daughter's quick pace, and yawned. "We should be sleeping in..."
Ran didn't let the weary boys ruin her good mood. "Well, they say the sunrise here is spectacular, and to see it, you need to be out early! That's just bad luck for you," she laughed.
As soon as they arrived at the beach, she immediately let go of their hands and excitedly ran towards the brightening horizon.
"Look, it's starting!" She shouted at them from the distance, the sound of the waves nearly drowning out her voice. Then she turned back around to observe the sky getting more and more specs of orange and pink light.
Conan tenderly smiled at her excitement. The trio was on vacation at Hikari Beach, which was famous for its beautiful sunrise, and Ran had absolutely wanted to see it.
I feel like hell, but if she is happy then it was worth it...
Next to him, he saw Kogorou make a few steps in the sand.
"Oi, Conan-kun..."
Conan was slightly worried at Kogorou's serious tone and looked up at him. "Yes, Ojisan?"
The man was looking into the distance and pointed somewhere in front of them. "There are no seals here, right?"
Confused by his question, Conan looked in the direction he was indicating. About 50 metres away from Ran something rather big laid in the sand. Disturbed, Conan walked towards it. As he approached, he slowly made out what it really was.
"It's a person!" he exclaimed loudly.
Without waiting for the other's to catch up, he ran and kneeled down next to the body. It was a male teenager with blue hair wearing blue and white clothes, all soaking wet. His face was pale and his eyes were closed, so Conan didn't have much hope. But when he professionally put his fingers on the teen's cold neck, he was surprised by the unexpectedly strong pulse he felt.
Right then, Kogorou and Ran arrived.
"Is she dead?" Kogorou asked dreadfully.
Conan frowned. "No, he is still alive."
He then put his ear to the person's nose. "And breathing, although not much and unevenly."
"Step aside, brat, I'll perform rescue breathing on the lady!" Kogorou exclaimed, completely ignoring Conan's emphasis of the poor person's gender.
"Fine." Conan made room for the eager man, when suddenly, the teen rolled over and started coughing violently. After getting rid of the water in his lungs for what seemed like an eternity he finally laid still again, his breathing rugged and his eyes only half open.
Ran worriedly walked around to face him, and Conan joined her.
She kneeled down besides the teen's head and lowered her face so that they were on the same level.
"Hello," she gently voiced. "Are you awake? Can you understand me?"
Honey eyes weakly met her gaze, blinking. "Nguh..."
He coughed again. Ran frowned, the concern evident on her face.
"You can't walk, can you?"
The teen didn't react at first, and Ran wasn't expecting an answer anymore, but then he slightly moved his head to indicate a no with a shake.
"I thought so. We'll get you some help, okay?"
With that, she stood up.
"Dad, carry him to the hotel."
"What? Why me?!" Kogorou was appalled.
"Why you? Because you're the strongest here, obviously! Why is that even a question?!" Ran hissed, bringing her face very close to her dad's.
"Just because he finally noticed that it's not a girl…" Conan mumbled, eye-rolling.
"O-okay, sweetie, I'll do it. But please don't be mad," Kogorou tried to calm his angry daughter. Then, he picked up the blue-haired teen and started walking.
###
Aoba felt himself being carefully laid onto a fluffy bed and being covered with a blanket, and he instantly felt better. He was probably making the whole mattress wet, but he was too tired to care right now. The warmth hugged him softly, banishing the chill from his bones, and he started to doze off...
"Hey! Don't fall asleep!"
Aoba grunted at the sudden noisy interruption and blinked at the source. It was a little boy kneeling next to him on the bed, probably the same one he had heard talking on the beach. The girl was in the room, too; she sat a little further away on a chair and worriedly observed him. Aoba couldn't see the man who had carried him here, so he was probably outside.
"Ngh... Just five minutes..."
The boy shook his head. "I'm sorry, but you have to stay awake until the doctor checks up on you. Uncle Kogorou is already getting him, so it shouldn't take too long until you can rest."
Aoba sighed, visibly unhappy. He didn't need a doctor, all he needed was sleep!
"…But we can speed that up a little if I already start examining your head. Would that be okay?"
Aoba looked at the smiling little kid. There was something about him that made him trustworthy and somehow mature. Maybe it was his glasses?
Aoba nodded, and the boy smiled even brighter.
"Great. I'll start by asking you a few questions, then. Look only at me all the time, okay?"
Aoba obediently nodded once again.
"Good! Now, I haven't introduced myself yet. I'm Edogawa Conan, and that behind me is Ran-neechan. And what's your name?"
Thinking was so hard right now that Aoba had to force the words out of his mouth. "Aoba... Seragaki Aoba," he finally said.
Conan smiled cheerily. "Nice to meet you, Aoba-san!" He raised his hand to Aoba's face. "On to the second question. Can you tell me what I'm holding?"
Aoba squinted. Luckily, his eyesight had already gotten better. "That's a pen."
"Correct! What's three times seven?"
"Uh... Twenty-one."
Aoba felt a little silly, being interrogated like this by a child, but Conan just nodded happily. "You're doing great!"
His expression darkened a little. It was barely visible, but the blunette still noticed.
"Do you remember how you ended up on the beach?"
That's right... What had happened before he woke up? Aoba tried to remember, but it was no use. The only thing he recalled was having dinner with Granny a few days ago, and then...
"Argh!"
A sudden sting of pain shot through his temples, and Aoba's hands flew to his head and gripped it tightly. His head throbbed as if it was about to burst into a thousand pieces… How did the pain come so sudden?
"Is everything alright? Aoba-san!" Conan yelled, alarmed.
The pain was stronger than ever before. Cold sweat began to form on Aoba's forehead.
"N-need my... medicine..."
Where was his bag? He looked around the room but couldn't see it anywhere...
Then it struck him.
His bag was doubtlessly left at the beach – and the medicine wasn't the only important item he had there…
"Ren!"
Aoba ignored his pain and jumped off the bed, running out of the room and ignoring the calls from his saviours. How could he not notice that his friend was missing? The pain violently shot through his head with every step, but he bore it.
His bag with Ren just had to be at the beach!
Aoba ran past surprised hotel guests and across the sand. Panicking, he looked left and right, but his bag was nowhere to be seen. Then something caught his attention: A group of people was huddled together around something he couldn't see.
Could that be...
He stumbled towards them and hurriedly pushed forward and through the crowd. What he saw there nearly made his heart stop.
"Ren!" He yelled and carefully picked up the blue lump of fur. He suppressed the urge to start him up and gently pressed the wet, small body to his chest. "Ren... I'm so glad I found you..." Aoba softly whispered.
The people around him looked at him with pity. One of them put his hand on Aoba's shoulder. "I'm truly sorry..."
Aoba looked up in confusion at the man's compassionate expression.
"When we found it, there was nothing we could do anymore... Please accept my sincerest apologies."
Aoba just stared at the man, not sure how to react. He was thinking that Ren was a real dog, wasn't he? That must have been why he thought that there was nothing he could do... Ren was a waterproof model, so he would actually be okay, right?
After muttering an "It's fine," he slowly walked back to the hotel room. There he encountered a troubled Ran.
"What was...?" She suddenly stopped when she spotted Ren.
Aoba tiredly sat back down on the bed.
"Do you have a blow dryer?"
Ran nodded and left the room. Conan, who had apparently followed him all the way, curiously approached him.
"Is that your dog? Shouldn't we get a vet or something instead of a blow dryer?" he sceptically asked.
"It's my Allmate," Aoba clarified. But instead of looking enlightened, Conan just seemed to be even more confused.
Aoba blinked. "Don't tell me you don't know what an Allmate is?"
Conan shook his head. "I have no idea."
The other boy was shocked. He had never heard from Allmates before?! How could that be? But now that Aoba noticed, nobody seemed to have Allmates here...
"An Allmate is like a person's assistant and companion. Its personality adjusts to the owner's, and many people like to keep them as pets," Aoba explained. "Don't tell me you've never seen any of these?"
Conan frowned. "I haven't. We don't have those here, I guess."
"Oh..."
Aoba reclined on the bed and his gaze became distant. He couldn't imagine a life without Ren, so he wondered if those people didn't miss something...
Feeling a sudden ache in his heart at that thought, Aoba pulled Ren closer to him.
Ren… I can't lose you!
When Ran came back with the hair dryer, Aoba spent over half an hour drying Ren's fur, carefully making sure that he didn't miss a single spot. Ran and Conan silently watched, not quite sure what to make of the situation.
After he double-checked that Ren was completely dry, he put the hair dryer away and put the Allmate on his lap.
"What now?" Ran insecurely asked.
"I'll start him up," Aoba whispered. He raised his hand to tap Ren's forehead but hesitated.
Is this really alright? If I start him up while there is water inside his circuits, he'll break irreparably... But if there is water there in the first place, he's already broken for sure, so it'll make no difference. Yes... This is the only way to find out.
Finishing the thought, Aoba anxiously touched Ren's soft forehead with his finger.
Accompanied by the familiar starting sound, Ren's eyes immediately opened.
"Aoba."
Conan and Ran gasped in surprise and leaned forward to further observe the strange creature. They hadn't misheard the dog calling Aoba by his name, had they?
"Ren!" Aoba greeted, relieved. "Ren, are you okay?"
"Yes, apart from the damage I took to my left foreleg I'm okay. What about you, Aoba? I tried to get you to solid ground when you passed out, but my emergency program forced me to shut down before we reached the beach. I'm worried that your condition might be a bad one."
"Thank you Ren, but don't worry. I'm alright." Aoba took Ren's left paw with concern and inspected the leg. "What's wrong with your leg, though? Is it the joint?"
"Yes. But a few new screws should fix that."
"Okay, I think I can find that here on the mainland, too."
Then he noticed that Conan and Ran were staring at the Allmate in amazement.
So they really don't have Allmates here...After a second, Ran finally opened her mouth. "Your puppy can talk!" She wondered.
"Is that a robot?" Conan asked.
Aoba smiled. "You can ask him. Go ahead."
Ran and Conan's gaze shifted to Ren, and the little Allmate turned its head towards them.
"Um... Hello, Ren... My name is Ran," Ran began.
"Hello, Ran. Nice to meet you." Ren's tongue stuck out all the time, and the two new acquaintances found that rather cute.
"Are you a Spitz puppy?" She asked further.
"I'm modelled on one, yes," Ren answered.
"Do you know what happened before we found Aoba at the beach?" Conan suddenly asked. Aoba looked at him in surprise. Right, he had totally forgotten that – he had been so busy worrying about Ren...
"Yes. We were going to the mainland by ship to help Koujaku-san, but then we somehow fell overboard. It was rather stormy, so when Aoba fell unconscious, I dragged him towards this beach until my emergency program shut me down."
"Really?" Aoba didn't remember that... "How did we fall from the ship, Ren?"
Ren turned towards him. "I don't know. The impacts I took while manoeuvring us around the rocks must have affected my memory module.""Oh." That was really strange. But maybe how they fell wasn't so important, anyway.
"If you came here to help somebody I suppose that you won't want to go back home immediately, right?" Conan spoke up.
"That's right. I need to find someone first," Aoba confirmed.
"Who are you looking for?" Ran asked. She had started to caress Ren, who didn't mind that at all.
"My friend Koujaku is suffering from tattoos that were forced on him. Another friend of mine mentioned that there is somebody in Tokyo who can remove them, so I came to find this person," Aoba explained. "Those tattoos almost destroyed his life once, that's why I want to help him so they won't threaten him ever again."
He had the feeling that there was something else he had to do here which he had forgotten, but he didn't pay too much attention to it. It couldn't be too important, right?
Conan furrowed his brows. Tattoos that destroyed people's lives and could only be removed by one certain person? He didn't think that was possible, but he decided to trust Aoba, anyway.
All of a sudden, Aoba remembered something. "Ren! Did Noiz already send the info?"
"I'm afraid your Coil was rendered inoperarive by the water when it bumped against a rock, so I don't know.""What?" Shocked, Aoba looked at his Coil and sighed. It really was unusable…
"You wouldn't happen to have Coil repair stations here on the mainland?" Aoba hopefully asked.
Both of them shook their heads, and Aoba gave another frustrated sigh. "Then I have to go back to Midorijima. There's no way I can find that guy without my Coil," he lamented. Great, he had come this far and now he would have to go back just because of his stupid Coil. At that thought, he had to blink back the tears.
"Maybe you don't have to," Conan observed. Aoba didn't dare to get his hopes up, though.
"What do you mean?"
"I have a very good friend who is a genius of technology, you could say," he said with a small smile.
Ran's face lit up, too. "That's right! If there is someone who will be able to help you, it's definitely the Professor!"
"Oh, that sounds good," Aoba said with relief. "And where can I find this Professor?"
"He lives close to where we live," Ran explained. "In Tokyo, that is."
"Perfect!" So right after getting his Coil repaired, he could start looking for the guy. He wouldn't lose that much time… That was convenient. He was being lucky, after all!
"Besides, my dad runs a detective agency, so you can stay with us and you'll get the best help possible," Ran cheerily offered.
Aoba smiled. "Really? That's so nice of you!" Then, his smile faded. "But I can't accept that… I might encounter the mafia gang that got Koujaku into this mess in the first place, and I can't risk getting you involved."
This made Conan prick up his ears. A mafia gang? Could he be talking about the Black Organisation? The chances were small, but Conan could use any chance he could get. But for that, Aoba definitely had to stay with them!
"A mafia gang? That sounds scaaary…" Conan chattered, trying to sound as childish as possible. "If that's the case, you should stay with us all the more, because Uncle Kogorou is the best detective in the world and there's nothing that can go wrong if he helps you!"
Aoba cocked his head to the side and thoughtfully looked at him. "Is that so?"
Conan nodded vigorously. "Yeah!"
Pretending like this made Conan cringe on the inside. The one behind Kogorou's 'mastermind' was actually him, after all…
Aoba laid a finger on his bottom lip. Living right where he had to start searching, with people he liked and who even knew someone who could repair his Coil, and even getting help from a detective? That sounded like the perfect circumstances. "If so, then I'll gratefully accept your offer, if it's not too much trouble."
"It's not, don't worry! I'm glad we can help!" Ran cheered and hugged Aoba.
"Welcome to the Mouri family, Aoba-kun!"