To everyone that has been following along with Childhood Times, I sincerely apologize for not having Chapter 6 of CT ready today. I know today was supposed to be the day I updated, but with the new years and all, I haven't gotten it done yet.

So, in order to make up for that, I'm putting up this one-shot instead. This idea had actually already been dancing around in my mind for a while now, but I just didn't find the urge to write it out, until now, that is.

Tessa: Yup, Midori-chan's still sick. Don't own DC. Do not defy us. Period.

The Envelope

It has been a long day. Satou Miwako slowly dragged herself out of the car that she so proudly owned.

Mou…She thought to herself. Takagi-kun and Megure-keibu are in Haido City for this other case…no doubt Mouri-san, Ran-chan, and Conan-kun are involved, again… She dug out her key and opened the door to the house she shared with her mother. Her mother should be long asleep by now.

During the first few weeks of her job as a keiji, her mother had always insisted on staying up until she made sure that her daughter had returned home in one piece. But after a while (and some persuasion on Miwako's part), she gave up and learned to believe that she will see her daughter in her room the next morning.

Chiba-kun was sent to Chiba, of all places, to investigate some arson fire case…Shiratori-kun has a day-off…and I haven't heard from Yumi the whole day. Now that she thought about it, Miwako found it strange that Yumi hadn't bothered to find some time to drop in to the Division 1 offices. Usually, they can't keep her away.

Oh well, she was probably just too busy. Miwako thought with half-moon eyes as she made her way to her room. As soon as the door closed behind her, she sat down on her bed and began digging things out of her bag.

Forms…forms…reports…analysis…envelope…reports…re- wait a minute, envelope? She quickly pushed away the other papers and pulled the envelope out of the heap.

It was a plain, yellowish envelope, with no markings on it whatsoever. No name, no note, no nothing. But it was sealed shut, and it was pretty obvious that there was something within the piece of yellow. Frowning, Miwako tried to remember how this thing had gotten into her bag.

Oh, right. I just kinda pushed all the papers on my desk into my bag and left. Miwako thought as she sweatdropped. Okay, now that she knows how (or something like how) she had gotten it, next came the big question.

Should I open it?

This question just kind of hang in the air for a few seconds. Miwako tried putting it on her desk and convincing herself that it's nothing important. But, of course, she failed, or else I wouldn't have had to use the word "tried".

She glared at the envelope, the cause of her unease right now. She knew that she shouldn't let curiosity get the better of her, but…

Aw, screw what they say about curiosity and the cat, she's opening this thing. Now.

Miwako grabbed a penknife from the drawers and neatly sliced open the top of the envelope. She half-expected something to jump out of it (if that made any logical sense), but instead, a card fell out. Paper-clipped to it was a photo.

She took one look at the picture and froze.

Where the heck did Yumi get this?!

Numbly, she read over the words by the picture. They were in Yumi's handwriting, alright.

"Miwako,

Chiba-kun gave this to me. He was staying at Takagi-kun's place a few days ago. Thought you might like it.

Yumi~ 3"

Her eyes took shape of tiny dots and she blushed as she read the last line. Continuing to blush, she snagged the picture off and placed it in a frame. Then, she gently set the frame on her desk.

Now, as long as nobody knows what she did with the picture, everything will be fine.

Omake

It is now morning. I gently open the door to Miwako's room. Oh, good, she's still there. That means she didn't do anything too dangerous last night. Thank Kami-sama for that.

Then I notice a framed picture on her desk that I don't remember seeing during my previous visits to her room. Curious, I walk into her room and pick up the picture to see it better.

Miwako stirs. I quickly place the picture back where I found it and tip-toe out of the room. Miwako needs her sleep.

But, when she wakes up, I'm going to have to ask her why on earth she has a picture of a sleeping young man.

Owari

Do you get what the picture is of? It's not that hard! XD

The Omake is written in Satou's mother's POV because I wasn't sure what to call her. Just calling her "her mother" all the time is a little weird to my taste.

Again, sorry for not having Chapter 6 of CT ready! Hope you enjoyed this one-shot enough to be able to wait until Saturday! That's probably when Chapter 6 of CT is going to come out.

~ruth~