(⌐▨_▨)
Haibara Ai may look like a child, but there was no doubt in Conan's mind that a demon inhabited that body. Genta suggested they draw straws to decide who should wake her up, and Conan got the short end of the stick. When he poked her, she threatened to test out her new antidote on him while he slept.
Conan informed Ran that Haibara would not be joining them for dinner.
Ran, being the angel that she was, set aside a serving for Haibara and made sure each and every person was aware that if they touched Ai-chan's food, they're going hungry the next morning.
Genta stayed forty feet away from Haibara's plate at all times.
They were cleaning up dinner by the time an evil-eyed yawny girl crawled out of her tent. Her hair was tangled, her clothes rumpled, but her expression made it clear that any comment made on either of these facts would be your last.
Haibara yawned and sat in a lawn chair across from Conan's. Everything else was put away, and people had wandered off in groups. The shrunken adults were alone at the fire pit, glowing embers exuding little heat.
"Glad to see you waited for me," she said coolly.
Conan let her harmless verbal jabs roll off his back. "Genta and Hattori wanted to eat, and I'd rather not find myself the subject of one of your experiments. Besides," he dropped his voice to a murmur, "these kid bodies need a lot of sleep to function. There's a reason I insisted on taking my own blood sample the other day. Your hands were shaking so much, you would've missed the vein."
Haibara closed her eyes, leaning back in the lawn chair far too big for her. "Ala? So Tantei-san knows more about human anatomy than the former biochemist?" she said, though there was no bite to her words.
He refused to smile. "Haibara, you got six hours of sleep last week. I will start coming to your house and tranquilizing every night if that's what it takes."
She smirked, opened her eyes. "Look, now he's worried about me." She leaned forward, flicked his forehead. He yelped in protest. "You underestimate me. I know my limits. At least I have the mental capacity not to pass out in a coin locker."
"That was one time-"
"And you're lucky that it was on a weekend," she continued. "Otherwise, 'Ran-neechan' would have a cow, wondering where her little 'Conan-kun' had gone."
He pinched the bridge of his nose. "Are you done yet?"
"Do you admit defeat?"
"Will you stop staying up all night? These might not be our original bodies, but you know as well as I that they're still ours."
She leveled a stare at me. "I promise I will get a normal amount of sleep for a six-year-old human body."
He let out a breath he hadn't realized he was holding. Reaching under his chair, he handed her a plate covered in saran wrap, a plastic fork and knife folded neatly into a napkin on top. "Ran set this aside for you. Here, eat."
Haibara silently took the food. Peeling back the saran wrap, she cut a piece from the fillet and put it in her mouth. "It's still warm."
He nodded. "Ayumi-chan kept it on the coals until they started adding more fuel. She almost burned herself a few times until Ran gave her a hand." He stood, started to leave. "If you need me, I'll be with Sign of Four."
Haibara nodded absentmindedly, hardly paying attention to him as she looked around the campsite. "Where is Yoshida-chan?"
"Uhhh." Scanning the area, Conan couldn't see Ayumi's trademark hairbow anywhere. "I don't know." Walking towards the tents, he called her name. "Ayumi-chan! Hey, where'd you go?"
No response.
"Ayumi?" he called once more.
Ran and Agasa passed by, each carrying a bundle of clothing in their arms. "I thought she was with Kazuha-chan and Heiji-kun. The two of them walked off with Genta-kun and Mitsuhiko-kun, at the very least. I simply assumed Ayumi-chan went with them," said Ran, shrugging apologetically.
Agasa stroked his mustache with a free hand. "Did you check the radar?" He tapped his glasses. "If she's not with Heiji-kun, you'll know."
Activating the radar, Conan let out a relieved sigh. "All three of them are together," he informed them. Turning back to the campfire, he said, "I'm going to put some wood away so we can make a fire after the storm."
As he walked away, Conan pulled his badge from his pocket. "Ayumi-chan, next time you run off, make sure you tell someone. Haibara was really worried about you."
Haibara threw an acorn at his head (where did that come from we aren't even near any oak trees), hitting him squarely in the forehead. "She's the only girl 'my age' that I know, so excuse me, meitantei, if I care for her well-being."
"That was uncalled for," he grumbled, rubbing the spot.
Haibara raised her eyebrows, unfazed. "I thought you'd developed the reflexes necessary to be a detective."
Before Conan could shoot back a completely thought-through and intelligent response, a voice that was definitely not Ayumi's came over the detective badge.
"Uh, Conan-kun? Ayumi-chan-" Kazuha broke off to bicker with Hattori. "'Course I'm usin' it right, Heiji, shut your trap- She left ta go back ta camp 'bout an hour ago. We were out pretty far, an' we were comin' back when Genta-kun found this Detective Badge thing. I don't know where Ayumi-chan is, but she ain't with us."
His six-year-old mouth uttered some very unchildlike words.
Haibara took out her own badge in a flash. "Kazuha-neechan, will you please leave the badge exactly where you found it? Yoshida-chan is a smart girl. I'm sure she left it for a reason."
"Will do, Ai-chan."
"Once we get back to camp, we can all split up and look for her together," Genta chimed in.
"Genta, Mitsuhiko. Tell Heiji-niichan that Ayumi-Chan was wearing a simple bow-knot for her hairbow. Her ribbon might be around there somewhere. Keep an eye out for it," Conan ordered.
"Hai!" they answered simultaneously.
"Now hurry up and get back," Haibara said urgently. "The sooner you return, the sooner we find Ayumi-chan."
(⌐▨_▨)
Heiji took Conan's glasses from his face. "For the last time, Kudou, ya ain't gonna find her with those. The rain's only blurrin' your vision at this point."
Running his hand through hair wet with rain, Conan scowled. "It's been an hour and we've found nothing. What if she got kidnapped or fell into the lake or-"
Heiji whacked Conan upside the head. "C'mon, ya know thinkin' like that ain't gonna help. We still got another area ta search, an' the other groups aren't gonna search as fast as the two of us do. Someone's bound ta find her."
An hour ago, Kazuha and Heiji came back to camp with the two younger boys. They all paired off into teams to search for Ayumi: Ran and Haibara, Genta and Agasa, Mitsuhiko and Kazuha. Heiji and Conan were together, of course.
After an hour of searching constantly through the thickets and undergrowth, all the two detectives had found was that this useless tiny body of Conan's still tired far too quickly. Their efforts only resulted in a pair of soaked-to-the-skin detectives and clothes dirty with mud and rotted leaves.
They trudged up a hill, reaching the top of it with little effort. On the opposite slope, they found it was steep enough that if one was to slide down, it'd be almost impossible to scale it again.
At the base of the hill, a river crashed past, rocks from a mini-quarry turning the flooded brook into an ideal spot for white-water rafting. A large pile of rocks kept the water at bay. The moment another surge of water attacked, the entire valley would flood. On the opposite bank, rocks the size of a shopping cart formed yet another pile.
"I don't think she's down there," Conan said, raising his voice over the incessant patter of the rain. "There aren't any tracks that show she slid down the hill."
Heiji shook his head. "I showed them a trick ta get down this hill. We were gonna go this way 'till Kazuha got cold feet an' dragged 'em all in the opposite direction." Lowering himself to the ground, Heiji motioned for Conan to get on his back. "Here, I'll show ya."
After Conan climbed on, Heiji turned around and went down the hill backwards. "See, if ya go down like this, ya can catch yourself," he explained. "Ya lean towards the hill, an' with a slope like this, ya don't fall far if ya-" (stomach dropping, grip on his jacket tightening as he slid five feet before he caught himself and uttered a curse) "-if ya slip."
As he stood up, Conan loosened his grip, started to drop to the ground. Heiji caught Conan mid-fall, hoisting him up higher to his shoulders. "Stay up there, Kudou. We gotta cross the river, an' I don't trust that small body of yours not ta get swept away."
"Wouldn't she be over here? If I can't cross the river, she wouldn't be able to, either," he argued, leaning over to meet Heiji's stare.
He looked up at Conan, raising his eyebrows. "Get your head in the game, Kudou. Ayumi-chan disappeared two hours ago, before the rain. There were steppin' stones across the river. They're submerged now, but she coulda gotten across an hour or two ago. Either she's lost or got stuck somewhere. I'm willing' ta bet my hat she's in the rocks on the other side."
He turned, pointed to the hill we'd just come down. "There 're three pairs of footprints goin' down the hill. Two of 'em are mine, and the third looks like it's a kid Conan's age. Since there ain't a pair that size comin' back up the hill, she's gotta be in the valley somewhere."
Conan thought about it. "There aren't many trees, So she's not hiding behind one of them. The brambles are nowhere as thick as they are on this side of the river, and if she'd collapsed somewhere we'd see her bright pink raincoat." He scanned the shoreline. "These tracks indicate she crossed the river. If she fell in-" it's a case, disconnected, you can say it out loud "- her body would get caught on the rocks that are damming the water." His throat was tight.
"I'll bet ya my hat she's in the rocks uphill," Heiji repeated emphatically. Nodding to the river, he said, "Make sure ya hold on tight. Don't want ya fallin' in an' gettin' lost yourself."
With a nod, Conan wrapped his arms around Heiji's head. In any other situation, Conan would've grumbled and groaned, squirmed out of his friend's grasp and escaped such an embarrassing position. This was no time for pride or dignity. Heiji and Conan both knew it was only a matter of time before the water broke through the pile of rocks, flooded the valley and carried away anyone in it.
Heiji had the same thought process. "It's a dam matter of time," he said, a glint of mischief in his eyes and an unapologetic smirk on his face.
"We don't have time for your dam jokes," Conan shot back, whacking his head. "Come on, it'll break any moment."
Without another word, Heiji marched up to the shoreline. Taking a deep breath, he took the first step into the river. Conan felt the shiver run down Heiji's back, his neck muscles tensing as he clenched his teeth against the cold. The spray was cold enough- Conan could only imagine how frigid the rushing water must've been.
He chose a spot where the river was the thinnest across, but even then it was six or seven of his average strides. His strides couldn't be as long, as he needed to be sure and plant his feet to not fall over. Once the force of the current, the weight of his soaked jeans, and an extra Conan on his shoulders were taken into account, the barely-a-walk became a fifteen-minute trek.
Heiji set Conan on his own two feet the moment he reached solid ground. Heiji collapsed onto a rock, chest heaving with exertion, legs trembling from the effort. Conan frowned, opened his mouth to inquire, but Heiji shook his head.
"You go find her. I'm two minutes behind ya."
A short nod of acknowledgment, Conan threw another glance over his shoulder. "I'll be counting."
He ran to the pile of rocks. "Ayumi! Ayumi-chan, are you there?" He climbed onto the first rock. An opening between the one he stood on and the next was just larger than his body. "Ayumi, if you're there, say something!"
The tiniest sound, barely audible over the rain, the chatter of the birds sheltered in the trees, the crash and roar of the river behind him, the crack and grumble of the thunder-
"C-Conan-kun?"
Relief flooded his senses. She sounded weak, tired, cold, but she sounded alive. Putting his hand into the gap, he said, "Can you see my hand? How close are you?"
Something cold and wet grasped his hand. "I'm right here."
He gave her his other hand. "I've got you. Hold on tight, okay?"
Gripping both her arms, Conan tugged Ayumi up and out of the crevice. He realized as he did so that she truly had been trapped. The inner rock had no footholds, and she was too short to get a good grip on the top of the rock.
Heiji came over, his two minutes far from up. "Ayumi-chan, are ya okay?" He took off his coat and put it on her. "Here. It's wet, but it'll keep ya a little warmer.
She nodded, her eyes half-lidded, her lips tinted blue, her teeth chattering. "A-arigato, Heiji-oniisan, Conan-k-kun." Shivering, she pulled Heiji's coat tighter around her shoulders.
Conan gently took her arm, pressing his fingers to her wrist to take her pulse. "She's going to have a cold if she doesn't already," he told Heiji. "We need to get her out of here, but you need to rest first."
Heiji shook his head. "I'm fine, Kudou. I'll rest when we get her back ta camp."
The sound of rock slamming into rock, a splash preceded by a crack of thunder. Conan's blood froze as he turned around. The dam started to crumble. Water gushed into the valley.
Heiji swore. Loud.
Ayumi was far too gone to notice.
"The trees!" was all Heiji shouted before he scooped her up.
They ran. Up the hill, slipping and sliding. Heiji tripped. Ayumi fell from his arms. He shouted another curse, throwing her onto his shoulders. Conan reached the first tree and started to climb.
The water was only meters away. Conan quickened his pace to give Heiji room to climb. Heiji jumped onto the tree as the water closed in, scaling the branches with all the practice that comes with lost cat cases. Conan only glanced behind him for a fraction of a second before he went even further up.
He found a stable branch and straddled it. A scream from below shot fear through his heart.
"Shh, we're okay," Heiji said soothingly. Ayumi nodded after a moment, holding onto his head tighter. "Just a little longer an' you'll be safe."
He later told Conan he'd reached for a branch and it snapped under his weight. He fell a few centimeters before he caught himself, Ayumi screaming as gravity took hold for that fraction of a second.
Both of them were in arm's reach before the water hit. It crashed with incredible force against the tree. The entire trunk swayed. The branches trembled as countless liters of water pounded relentlessly against the tree.
Heiji let out a yelp as his hands slipped. Ayumi cried again.
They both started to fall.
Conan grabbed both Hattori and Ayumi by the wrists. "Don't let go!" he shouted over the roaring water.
Conan pulled Ayumi to safety- she was light enough, but Heiji was another story.
Heiji brought his other hand up, gripping a wet branch above his head. Conan felt him shift his weight to that hand, saw the branch begin to crack, and just half a second too late-
"Hattori, look out!"
An ear-splitting crack, the air became electrified. A flash of light brighter than anything Conan had seen before- he jerked his head away from the blinding lightning. His fingers reached for empty air. He heard a shout as Heiji fell, a splash as he hit the water.
Conan opened his eyes, and Hattori Heiji was nowhere to be seen.