Chapter Twenty-Nine


"Home is where the heart is."

-Unknown


"So, what about this one? It's fairly close to your school," Ai pointed at the apartment ad on the computer.

"Well... it's not bad, but the rent is a little high..." Natsuki frowned, looking at the 71,000 yen price tag.

"Do you think you could find one that's maybe 30,000 yen?" he asked.

Ai typed in the search box and looked at the ones that popped up in Ekoda-cho.

"Here's a few," she motioned to 4 that were around 25,000 to 32,000 yen.

"This one's closer to school... only about a 10 minute walk," Natsuki pointed at the one priced at 27,000 yen.

"You want that one?" Ai asked.

Natsuki nodded. "I'll look for a job at one of the convenience stores nearby."

Ai nodded and sent in the application.

"Go ahead and get ready to look in the morning. You're lucky it's a Sunday tomorrow," Ai smiled.

Natsuki smiled. "Thanks for all this, Haibara-san."

"Call me Ai when we're outside. Honorifics aren't required."

Natsuki fidgeted a bit. "Um... about tonight..."

"Go ahead and sleep in one of the unused rooms. Conan is staying at the Mouri's, so he probably won't mind," Ai waved the larger teen off.

"I really appreciate this," he called as he walked out of the room.

"Yeah, yeah," Ai mumbled.


As Natsuki stood in front of the apartment complex, he was actually quite happy about his decision.

While it may not have been a 5 star luxury complex, it certainly more than easily suited his needs.

The landlady was really nice, and showed him the open rooms.

After signing the contract, the room 214 was officially his.

The room was quite bare, since Natsuki had nothing with him besides some clothes.

Deciding to go out and get something from the nearby market for dinner, Natsuki spotted a help wanted ad in the store's window.

Lucky for him, they were looking for some part-timers to work in the evenings.

He walked in and talked to the manager, who was a college student, and got the job after a quick interview. He was to start next week.

"Today has really been going well," he mumbled. "I hope this doesn't mean something bad is going to happen in the near future..."


Short chapter, I'm sorry! I really just wanted to have an excuse to write an apartment searching scene since (oddly enough) I like reading those kinds of things. I'll be back next weekend with a new chapter! I'm also not sure what kind of chapter I want it to be, so I thought maybe you guys could give me some ideas?

I was thinking maybe since I mentioned the KID heist in a previous chapter, would you guys want to see that? Just a thought. Also, I'll make a poll with some ideas if you guys want to do that instead.

NEXT CHAPTER: ?

DFTBA GUYS! :)