Chapter 3

No One's P.O.V still

The two groups left Agasa to do whatever it was he planned on doing and decided to all go to the arts and crafts shop after Hattori told Saguru about Shinichi's curse. "That sounds ridiculous." Saguru said as they walked over to the shop.

"It does, but it really does happen. Everywhere he goes, bodies just seem to show up out of nowhere."

"And I keep making him charms too." Kazuha said sighing.

"I don't think any amount of charms are going to help Kudo." Hattori said snickering.

"He's got a lot of bad luck." Kaito said looking amused.

"Yeah, you two are total opposites." Aoko said smiling at her childhood friend. Saguru rolled his eyes.

"No kidding." Ran frowned.

"What's wrong, Ran-chan?" Kazuha asked her.

"I have a bad feeling." Hattori shrugged it off.

"I'm sure it's just the food you ate."

"Not every bad feeling has to do with food, aho! That only happens to you!" Kazuha said glaring at him.

"Oi, who are you calling aho!?" Hattori said getting defensive.

"Maa~ Maa~ you two. I'm sure it's nothing." Ran said putting her hands up trying to keep the two Osakans from going at each other's throats again.

"Hmph," The mentioned two said before ignoring each other. Ran sighed. She hated that she was left to keep these two from fighting. Shinichi you baka… She thought trying not to outwardly scowl.

Somewhere on the trail…

Shinichi's P.O.V

Shinichi sneezed loudly. "Crap…" He muttered trying to hide himself. Luckily the only person who heard him was Haibara. He knew she wouldn't give him away. Why did he feel like someone was talking about him? Hopefully no one jinxed it.

"Hey, there's a clue over here!" Mitsuhiko shouted in glee.

"What does it say?" Ayumi-chan asked eagerly. They'd been at this almost an hour. Shinichi was getting bored, but he knew that he had to keep an eye on them in case something did happen. Just as he thought this though, he heard Ayumi-chan scream.

"Ayumi, are you okay!?" He heard Genta ask. Shinichi stepped out of his hiding place and went looking for Ayumi-chan.

"It hurts!" He heard her say. When he got up to the group, he saw that Ayumi-chan had fallen down a shallow hole, but it wasn't so shallow that it would be easy for Shinichi to climb back up if he went down there.

"Shinichi-niichan what are you doing here?" Mitsuhiko asked surprised.

"I was following you to make sure you didn't get into any trouble but it looks like it happened anyways." Shinichi said lowering himself into the pit. "Hold on, Ayumi-chan, I'm coming for you." She sniffled.

"Okay,"

"Tell me what hurts," He said as he got to her.

"My left ankle." She said with tears in her eyes.

"I'm going to look at it okay? It'll hurt a little bit." She nodded and he examined her ankle. It was a sprain. "It's just a sprain. Okay, I'm going to put you on my back and then we'll have to find a different way to get back to camp."

"I'll take these two back." Haibara said as Shinichi did what he told Ayumi-chan.

"Okay, be careful and please don't stray from the path." Shinichi looked at Mitsuhiko and Genta as he said the last part. The two boys nodded and unfortunately the group had to split up. Shinichi's journey back to the lodge wasn't going to be as straight forward as it would be for the others.

"Are we going to be okay, Shinichi-niichan?" Ayumi-chan asked worriedly.

"Of course we will. You just try and get some rest and I'll get us back to the lodge, okay?"

"Okay," She said burying her head into his back and making herself comfortable. He'd have to take some detours but he was determined to get back before nightfall. It was probably about another hour before he came across his first obstacle. He had to climb over a fallen tree trunk to get through. How was he going to do that with a sleeping child on his back? There was a crawl space underneath the trunk that had just enough space for Ayumi-chan to get through. Shinichi suddenly had an idea.

"Ayumi-chan? Are you awake?"

"Yeah," She said yawning slightly.

"We're going to have to get over this tree trunk if we want to get back to camp."

"What are we going to do?" She asked worriedly.

"There's a small crawl space that you can use to get to the other side. I know it's going to hurt, but do you think you can make it through there? I can get over the tree trunk and I'll meet you on the other side."

"Y-Yeah," She was scared.

"You don't have to, if you're scared."

"No, I want to get back to the others." She said determinedly. Shinichi smiled. He always admired her strength.

"Okay, I'll put you down near the crawl space so you don't have to go too far." He felt her nod and then got her as close as he could and put her down. "I'll wait here until you get over there okay?"

"Okay," She hesitated.

"Are you sure you still want to do this?" That seemed to harden her resolve.

"Yes, Shinichi-niichan."

"You're doing very good, Ayumi-chan. I'll see you on the other side." She nodded and began crawling to the other side. She was slow, but Shinichi was patient. He knew what it was like to move with an injury like that. Once she made it to the other side safely, Shinichi hoisted himself up to the top of the trunk and jumped down to the other side, being careful not to hurt his own ankles. Shinichi hurried and put Ayumi-chan on his back again before continuing on their journey. "You did a great job, Ayumi-chan. You can rest some more now."

"Okay, Shinichi-niichan." She muttered quietly before nodding off to sleep. That crawl must have made her tired. He thought as he moved on. He was getting tired too, but he wanted to get Ayumi-chan back as quickly as possible. Her foot must be really causing her pain, but she hasn't said a word about it so far. How far were they? Shinichi thought some hours later. The sun was beginning to set. That's not good. He thought tiredly. They couldn't spend the night in this forest. It wouldn't be good for Ayumi-chan's health. He kept walking though. He knew the others would be very worried by now. He had to get there so they wouldn't be worried anymore. Sure they'd probably be angry with him for not paying attention before Ayumi-chan fell, but that was better than them being worried. "Are we there yet?" Ayumi-chan asked tiredly after a while.

"Almost. We'll be there in thirty minutes."

"Okay," Then she went quiet again.

"How's your ankle?"

"It doesn't hurt as much anymore."

"Are you cold?"

"No, Shinichi-niichan's back is really warm."

"That's good." Shinichi said smiling.

"I'm hungry though."

"I am too, but I don't have any food on me. I'm sorry."

"It's okay, it's not your fault. I'm really glad you followed us, Shinichi-niichan."

"Why is that?"

"Because if you didn't, then I'd still probably be back in that hole,"

"I don't know about that. I'm sure one of the other three would have come to let me know if you were hurt."

"Yeah, but sometimes Genta-kun and Mitsuhiko-kun get distracted." Shinichi chuckled.

"Yes, I've heard about that." It was completely dark out when Shinichi spotted the lights from the lodge. "We've made it." He said feeling relieved.

"I bet everyone is worried."

"I'm sure they are too." He said as they walked into the lodge. Agasa Hakase, Ran, Toyama-san, Hattori, Haibara and the other two, and the students from Ekoda were all in the lobby.

"Kudo, what took you so long!?" Hattori said as soon as he put Ayumi-chan down on one of the sofas.

"We ran into a few obstacles." Shinichi said tiredly. His legs were ready to give out. He was sweaty, hot, tired, and hungry. He definitely didn't feel like putting up with any crap right now. He thought as Agasa Hakase looked over Ayumi-chan's foot.

"I'm so glad you're okay." Ran said looking relieved.

"Thanks," He noticed Hakuba, Nakamori-san, and Kuroba staring at him. "What?"

"It's nothing." Nakamori-san said smiling. She elbowed Hakuba and Kuroba both in their sides, causing them to jump. Shinichi shrugged.

"Well, since we're all back, I say it's time to hit the hay." Hattori said stretching.

"Sounds good to me." Shinichi said yawning a little. He was too tired to eat. Ayumi-chan seemed to share his views because she fell asleep on the sofa. Agasa Hakase chuckled and soon ever retired to their rooms for the evening. Shinichi took a quick shower before going to bed. He didn't want to go to bed sweaty. He hated that feeling. He fell asleep almost instantly.

Shinichi woke up around three in the morning for no reason at all. He was sore, but his mind wouldn't let him get any rest. He couldn't sleep. He quietly got up and went to search for some pain killers. Maybe if he reduces the pain then maybe he'll get some sleep. As it turned out, that didn't help him get back to sleep. So Shinichi eventually put on some clean clothes and decided to walk around outside to see if it'll make him tired enough to go to sleep. He happened to find a ball that looked like it had been left behind by someone out near the trail. He never noticed it before. Maybe he was just too tired or busy trying to keep an eye on the kids. Eventually, Shinichi found himself juggling the ball like it was a soccer ball. He forgot about all his worries as soon as he got into his rhythm.

He smiled. This was the most relaxed he's felt for a while. Yes, he did enjoy being with his friends, but he found he really did miss playing soccer from time to time. Maybe he should take a break and try out for the team for the rest of this year? It was something he would have to commit to though. He'd have to be stern with Megure-keibu about calling him during practice and whatnot.