SailorStar9: With Chapter 44 uploaded, this is Chapter 45 of this fic. (Sighs) Guys and girls, is it too hard for you to leave a review, instead of just putting this fic up on your favorited list and story alerts?

Disclaimers: I own absolutely nothing, except this plot and the pairing.

Pairing: Established!Furuya Rei/Mizuno Ami

Chapter 45: Teimuzu River Kite Flying Case, Part One


Sometime later...

"All right, it's done." Genta beamed, putting the finishing touches on the Detective Boy's kite.

"The design is the same as our Detective Badges." Haibara noted.

"Every kite needs a tail." Conan noticed their kite was missing its twin tails. "Without a tail, it'll just spin in circles."

"I've already made some." Professor Agasa spoke. "And they contain a message."

"'If you have a case on your hands, contract the Detective Boys of Teitan Elementary School Class 1-B.'" Haibara read off the message on one of the tails. "'If you're looking for useful inventions, contract Agasa Hiroshi of Beika City 2-chome, 22-banchi." she then read the message of the other tail.

"You even wrote your website on the back." Conan deathpanned.

"Why not?" Professor Agasa complained. "I helped make the kite. I deserve at least this much."


In Professor Agasa's Beetle...

"But, will it be alright?" Mitsuhiko wondered. "A kite's tails flap in the wind. No one will be able to read the messages."

"We just have to win an award at the kite-flying event we are attending." Professor Agasa explained.

"What do you mean?" Mitsuhiko was puzzled.

"Kites with awards for flying the highest or having the most unique design are hung in the city hall for one month." Conan clarified. "It would be a super effective form of advertisement."

"Let's do our best, Ai-chan." Ayumi beamed.

"Sorry." Haibara removed the earbuds from her earphones.

"Let's do our best to fly our kite." Ayumi repeated.


By the Teimuzu River bank...

"The song Haibara's listening to?" Conan echoed, after Ayumi and the others asked him.

"Sometimes, she hums really happily." Ayumi nodded.

"Was it an anime song?" Genta wondered.

"I think it was one of Okino Yoko's songs." Ayumi recalled.

"It seemed like classical music to me." Mitsuhiko stated.

"Why don't you just ask her?" Conan asked.

"I did, of course." Mitsuhiko replied. "But she said it was a secret."

"Don't worry about it." Conan laughed. "It's probably some dumb song that's popular right now."

"I'm sorry that I like dumb popular songs." Haibara fumed.

"Quit putting on airs and tell them already." Conan chided. "I'm kind of curious, too."

"I'll never tell you." Haibara retorted. "If you want to know that badly, why don't you figure it out for yourself, Meitantei-san."

"It's almost your turn to fly your kite." Professor Agasa informed the kids.

"Next up, are Team Detective Boys and Team Café Renno." the announcer declared. "Please get ready."

"How's this?" Mitsuhiko asked as he and Genta positioned the kite.

"Bring it a little further back so the wind hits it from the front." Conan shouted. "Don't step on the tails."

"We did it." Mitsuhiko cheered once their kite started flying.

"Oh no." Conan gaped when one of the tails tore off due to the strong winds and destabilizing the kite.

"Watch out." Renno Ryōta chided when the kids' kite crash-landed next to him.

"Is there someone next to you?" Renno Takami asked over the phone.

"Some kids." Ryōta answered his wife. "They dropped their kite. I told you I was going to a kite-flying event this afternoon."

"Are you sure?" Takami sneered. "There's something wrong with a wife who trusts her husband who lies to her about having an affair with some woman."

"What woman are you talking about?" Ryōta retorted. "Bring her to me."

"That's not possible." aside, Kakura Yuitoshi remarked. "Last night, my sister sliced her wrists in the bathroom. She's lying unconscious and in serious condition in a hospital bed right now. She was stupid for believing you'd actually leave your wife for her, but I still adore my sister. We need to talk once this is over."

"Renno-san, what are you doing?" Yatsukoshi Takeshi rebuked. "Not over there, go farther back."


By the portable toilets...

"No one turned in a missing phone." Professor Agasa told the girls.

"Are you sure you dropped it in front of these portable toilets?" Haibara asked.

"Probably." Ayumi nodded. "I think I dropped something when I took out my handkerchief after using the bathroom."

"Why didn't you pick it up then?" Professor Agasa inquired.

"Because I heard an announcement saying it was our turn to fly our kite." Ayumi explained.

"Do you remember anyone who was standing near at the time?" Haibara questioned.

"Someone tripped behind me." Ayumi recalled. "I didn't see their face, though."

"Maybe they thought they dropped their own phone when they tripped and took it with them." Professor Agasa reasoned.

"If they tripped, they must have been in a hurry." Haibara noted. "Then maybe, someone flying their kite at the same time as Edogawa-kun and the boys."

"Then, we can call the phone once their turn is over." Professor Agasa pointed out.


By the river bank...

"It's no use." Conan sighed, looking at their torn kite. "The frame is broken."

"Even if we reattach the tail, it still won't fly." Mitsuhiko muttered.

"What are you doing?" Yatsukoshi shouted. "If you keep going..."

On cue, the still backing Ryōta missed his footing and fell into the river.

"Mitsuhiko, call an ambulance." Conan went into action.

"This isn't good." Kakura realized Ryōta was drowning. "He can't swim."

"Someone, help!" Conan shouted, spurring two men into action.


Afterwards...

"He swallowed a bunch of water and now he's unconscious and in serious condition." Megure remarked, after the ambulance took Ryōta to hospital. "So, who fell into the water?"

"He's the manager of a nearby café." Takagi referred to his notes. "Renno Ryōta-san, thirty-nine years old. According to witnesses, when Renno-san was holding up his kite and backing up, he had the misfortune of slipping between the posts where the rope was cut and fell into the river."

"The ends of the ropes are old and worn." Megure surveyed the severed rope. "It probably broke apart a while ago and was left that way. It looks like this was just an accident. We'll let the appropriate authorities handle the rest."

"I don't think that was an accident." Conan spoke up.

"Conan-kun." Megure blinked. "What do you mean, this wasn't an accident?"

"Detective Takagi, try tying the two ends of the rope together." Conan requested. "They don't reach." he pointed out, Takagi tried to tug both ends of the broken rope together to no avail.

"But if they were exposed to the elements for a long time, it makes sense that they would have gotten shorter." Megure reasoned.

"But, the rope on the bottom is so long there's some left over." Conan pointed out. "Even if these are connected, the rope would just hang down uselessly. On top of that, one end of the rope has been bleached by the sun, but the other side hasn't. It's probably the rope from the post on the very end. The tip of the rope on the end would be worn from exposure. Someone untied it, matched the length and tied it back on here to make it seem as though the rope broke a long time ago. Maybe the underside of the rope wasn't bleached because it was wrapped around the post. Mitsuhiko and Genta went to check it out."

"Conan-kun, you were right." Mitsuhiko and Genta returned. "The rope attached to the post next to the one of the very end had a brand-new cut on it and wasn't attached to the post next to it."

"The post on the other end didn't have a rope on it, either." Genta reported.

"But who would do this?" Megure wondered.

"And for what purpose?" Takagi was also confused.

"Maybe someone did it to make the man who nearly drowned fall into the river." Conan suggested. "That man was holding his kite and backing up. People won't normally pay much attention to what's behind them when they do that."

"Besides, he thought there was a rope behind him." Genta added.

"You might watch your feet to make sure you don't step on your kite's tail, though." Mitsuhiko stated.

"Then, if someone drew him to this spot between the posts without a rope, wouldn't it be possible for him to fall in?" Conan posted a question.

"Which means the culprit is..." Takagi trailed.

"The most suspicious figure is that fat man who was helping the man who nearly drowned fly his kite." Conan pointed to Yatsukoshi. "If they were on the same team, it would be possible for him to tell the other man where to stand. Also, there's that big man talking to him. He was speaking to the man who nearly drowned just before he fell into the river."

"We'll question them." Megure nodded.

"Also, speaking of conversations, before the man fell into the river, he was talking to someone on his cell phone." Conan added. "From his phone, I heard someone talking. Maybe it was his wife. But when I answered the phone and told her her husband fell into the river, she rushed here. She rode in the ambulance with him."

"Call her back immediately as a material witness in an attempted murder." Megure ordered.


SailorStar9: Any OOC-ness is regretted. *Sighs* Don't you just hate plot bunnies sometimes? Read and review.