Ch 3: Inaba is Weird.

4/20, Wednesday, Cloudy.

Early Morning

Shinichi woke up, far too early in his opinion, to the blaring of the alarm he set. The not-child glared daggers at his phone before shutting it off.

Like he had surmised, he had spent most of the night awake trying to parse through the case, the strange dream, and the should-not-exist items. Those last two really got under his skin.

The need to check would not leave him alone. So, Conan got out from under his covers and picked up his wallet, hoping the items were just figments caused by a lack of sleep.

Alas, as soon as he turned the wallet over, the mask clip seemed to stare back at him, almost like it was mocking him. Another check revealed the tarot card was likewise real. He threw his wallet down, hand cupped over his chin and mouth as his mind started turning things over.

Only to be interrupted by a large yawn erupting from his mouth, and a hungry growl from his stomach. Right. 'Food first, and maybe I can sneak some coffee too if no-one else is awake.'

Crossing his room, and slowly opening the door, Conan peaked out, looking around the hallway. 'So far, so good,' he mused, neither seeing or hearing anyone awake. Slipping out, he began creeping down the stairs, trying his hardest to keep them from creaking.

One step seemed ready to foil his careful attempt letting out a loud creak when he placed his weight on it. Conan froze, head darting around, checking to see if anyone was approaching. When it became clear that no one was coming, he continued back down and into the living room.

When he did make it down, he was once more greeted by the sight of boxes everywhere. Sighing, Conan made his way into the kitchen. 'Right, almost everything is still boxed up from the move.' He walked over to the counter, pushing one of the stool to it, and climbed up.

Scanning the counter-top, he spotted what he needed the most right now, the coffee pot and bean grinder. "Alright, so those are set up." Hefting himself on top of the counter, Conan opened one of the cabinets, and found that some of the mugs had been unpacked as well. Pulling another cabinet open revealed the next thing needed for his quest for waking and awareness, coffee beans.

"Now, how to make the coffee without waking the rest of the house." Well, Kogoro wouldn't be hard, the man slept like a log. This issue would be- "CONAN! What are you doing on the counter?!" And there was Ran. Alas glorious coffee, it was once more out of his reach.

"Good morning Ran-neechan." Conan chirped. "I just wanted to help out by making coffee for you and Kogoro-ojiisan." He added his best wide-eyed innocent look to try and get out of the scolding that he really didn't want to deal with right now.

Ran sighed, a soft, affectionate smile on her face. "That's very thoughtful of you Conan, but you could hurt yourself climbing around like that." She walked over, picking him up and placing him on the floor.

"Don't do that again okay?" She smiled a little brighter now that her 'charge' was largely out of harm's way. And Conan? He pouted at the fact that he would likely be without coffee now, but he gave a silent huff as he watched Ran go about getting their breakfast ready.

"And don't forget, Conan, after we finish eating, I'll walk you part way to school." Ah yes, he had almost forgotten. Kiddy school again, with no-one to distract him this time.

He decided the wisest course of action was to make sure he had a good book to read packed, maybe a few, depending on how bad it could be. Conan thought he just might want to invest in a tablet if he wanted to get through this year. It would be easier than hauling books back and forth, and might raise less questions.

Morning

The walk to school had been interesting. They had seen one boy with brown hair with headphones on his bike peddling for all he was worth away from a very loud girl in green, shouting something about T.V.s and something that happened the other day as she chased after him.

He was slowly getting the feeling the people of this town might just be a little off.

Afternoon

Scratch might be, the people of this town are most definitely off. While the subjects were just as boring as he had expected, the teachers were decidedly not. The history teacher was even running around in a replica astronaut's helmet.

Conan quickly decided he need to get that tablet ASAP if he didn't want to lose his mind.

Well, he had a card from his folks to use, even though he really hadn't had to yet, he decided to go see if the shopping mart, Junes, he thought, to see if they had anything worth while. If nothing else, he might be able to get a can of coffee out of a vending machine.

...Actually, he'd very much like some coffee, especially after the day he's had. Maybe he should go up to the food court and see if he can't get that first.

Thankfully, the vending machines did have coffee, and Conan had been able to get a can without anyone, namely Ran, finding out. 'Coffee, glorious coffee.' He hummed in appreciation as he could feel himself wake up a bit more from indulging in his drink.

Looking around the food court brought a curious sight, the boy and girl from this morning, along with his new neighbor, Narukami. What kept his attention though, was what they were talking about.

"So, you two are ready, right?" Asked the girl in green, "I don't want to Yukiko left in there any longer than she has to be."

The boy with the headphones sighed, "Chill Chie, we're all worried about her, but if we wear ourselves out, we won't be able to save her."

'What?' Conan kept his head from snapping around to stare at them, instead moving slowly over to better hear them. 'I wonder if they're talking about Amagi Yukiko.'

Narukami placed a hand on the girl, Chie's shoulder, "We will save her, it might not be easy, but we will do it." He gave her a slight smile, "And Yosuke's right, if we rush, we won't be in any condition to help her."

'Okay, something is going on with these three.' Conan had no idea what, but he would get to the bottom of it. Something clicked though as he remembered the name of the girl in green. 'Chie, as in Amagi's best friend Satonaka Chie? Now I really think I should follow them.'

"Are we ready to head in for today?" Narukami looked at the pair, as they gave him confidant nods. "Alright, then let's head over to the electronics section."

Trailing after the three teens, Conan had to wonder, 'Why are they going to the electronics section?' He ran a hand through his hair, confusion bubbling up, 'It's not like there's anywhere she could be hidden there.'

While the three teens took the elevator, Conan raced down the stairs, hoping to reach there before them. Unfortunately, or fortunately, he got there after them. Ducking behind one of the shelves, he peaked around the corner to observe them.

They seemed to be checking if anyone else was watching as he quickly ducked back around, "Alright, it looks clear, let's go."

Poking his head around again, he almost locks up as he watches Narukami put his arm into the T.V. 'That… should not be possible.' Pushing his glasses up to rub at his eyes, and still, there's Yu, halfway into the set.

'Tha- that shouldn't be possible! Someone going into a television set should not be physically possible!' Conan was having a small mental meltdown as Yu went into the set almost entirely, Chie and Yosuke starting to follow.

'I don't know what's going on, but I'm not letting them get away!' He sprinted out once they where most of the way in, grabbing onto their leg, now taking him along with them.

-?-

The next sensation Conan had was free-falling as he watched the repeating black and white ripples move by. Upon seeing the ground come closer, he let go, tucking into a roll to break his fall.

Getting himself standing again, and squinting through the fog, he saw that he was in some sort of T.V. studio, and where those? "Okay, I know I stumble across a lot of crime-scenes, but why are there body outlines all over the place?"

That was when he was reminded he followed others in here.

"What the heck?! What's this kid doing here?!" That sounded like the girl, Chie. Conan turned around, and saw three very confused teens in glasses.

"Wait, so you grabbed my leg? That was dangerous kid!" Shouted one of the guys, Yosuke, if he remembers right.

'Wait, glasses? And they're all wearing them? Why?' He was confused by that, none of them had been wearing them in the food court.

Yu adjusted his glasses, peering down at him, "You're Conan-kun right?" The silver-haired teen tilted his head, "Why were you following us?"

Yosuke turned to Yu, "Dude! That's not important right now, we need to get him out of here! It's danger-"

"You're looking for Amagi Yukiko in here, correct?" Conan asked, more like stated, as he eyed the three of them, "In that case, I'm not leaving, dangerous or not." He rolled his shoulders in a shrug, "I deal with murderers on a regular basis."

The silver-haired young man's brow furrowed as he mulled over the statement, and muttered the young boy's name over a few times. "Conan, Edogawa Conan, Edogawa Conan-" Yu gave a sharp intake of breath, "The same Edogawa Conan that's always in the papers for either solving murder cases or stopping the Kaitou Kid?"

The not-child had a smirk on his lips, light glinting off his lenses. "Let me introduce myself proper, Edogawa Conan, Detective, at your service."