SailorStar9: With Chapter 106 uploaded, I present Chapter 107 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 do not own Sailor Moon or Detective Conan, I only own this plotline and the pairing.

Pairing: Established!Furuya Rei/Mizuno Ami

Chapter 107: Friendship Washed Away in the Riverbed


Time passes...

"Even in Tokyo, there are places like this." Mouri gushed, he, Ran and Conan were at Tokyo Park. "The air's clear and the view's excellent. What a great place to drink sake."

"This way, please." the restaurant hostess led the trio to their table.

"Onee-san, the watermill isn't working." Conan noted.

"It used to deliver water to the wasabi farms." the hostess informed. "Now, we use it as an icehouse. It's where we keep the natural ice we serve here."

"Excuse me." Suzumoto Maria, Matsui Juri and Akiba Yuko voiced.

"Are you Mouri Kogoro-san?" Matsui instantly recognized the detective.

"That's me." Mouri blinked.

After the hostess brought out Conan and Ran's kakigōri, Ran spotted a flood of red flowing down the river.

Suzumoto let out a frightened scream at the sight.

"What's wrong?" Mouri was shaken awake from his drunken slumber.

"Over there." Matsui pointed to the windmill.

"Yuko?" Suzumoto gaped, seeing Akiba floating past.

"It's an emergency." Conan sprung into action.

"Get a life preserver." Mouri ordered. Diving into the water, he swam towards Akiba and pulled her to shore. "It's no good." he reported, feeling no pulse. "Ran, call the police."


After Megure's team was called in...

"Mouri-kun, did you just happen to be at the crime scene once again?" Megure sighed. "Why don't you explain what was happening when the body came down the river?"

"We came here to take photos." Matsui answered.

"But Yuko got a text from someone and left." Suzumoto added.

"She hadn't come back yet, so we were worried." Matsui supplied.

"Then, suddenly some blood red water came flowing down the river." Ran recalled.

"We saw Yuko in the red river." Suzumoto sobbed.

"Awakened by the scream, I leapt into the river and pulled her out." Mouri related.

"Inspector, I have the results of the inspection." Takagi ran in. "According to Mizuno-san, the cause of death was a cerebral contusion from a blow to the back of the head."

"Do we know what was the red stuff in the water?" Megure asked.

"It's a fern called Azolla japonica that grows in lakes." Conan piped in.

"Because the plant is small, buoyant and red, in large quantities, they look like pools of blood." Takagi added. "We also discovered what we believe to be the victim's belongings near the watermill. On the phone, we found this photo."

"It's possible the victim accidentally fell in here while trying to take a photo." Megure noted, seeing the photo of Akiba beside the windmill.


After surveying the crime scene...

Conan pieced together what had occurred and tranquilized Mouri. "Inspector, this wasn't an accident." he took on Mouri's voice. "It was murder. Don't you think it's strange? Her selfie stick was discovered in the riverbed. But if she slipped while trying to take a photo, she and her phone should've fallen into the river. The selfie stick was placed there to make it look like an accident by the person who murdered Yuko-san. The killer lured her out using a free texting service. Later, she gave her own excuse and went after her. After meeting her at the watermill, the killer asked her for tips on taking good photos and had the victim take selfies. Then, she convinced Yuko-san to go into the watermill after breaking the lock beforehand and struck Yuko-san with natural ice, killing her. In the watermill, there were traces of sawdust being swept. The killer must have erased their footprints. After murdering Yuko-san, the killer used a cart to transport the body from the watermill. Then, she threw her into a pool and left the selfie stick on the riverbank so it would look like she fell. The person who staged the accident and murdered Yuko-san is among us." after sending Takagi off, he continued. "Allow me to recreate the trick for you." after he gave Takagi the go-ahead, the detective opened a sluice to allow the water trapped behind the wall to flow into the river, the sudden increase in water volume turning the water wheel. "The killer opened a sluice not normally used. The water swept up the Azolla japonica that had grown in the irrigation canal and flowed into the pool. Eventually, the water in the pool rose. The time is exactly what the killer carefully planned as part of their trick. Pools are naturally formed when sections of the river curve and separate from the main river. Put a body and direct water towards it, and eventually it would flow out into the river. The one who planned all of this was you, Maria-san. There were thin scratches on the body. She probably got them from the thorns of wild roses while being carried to the pool. Those same scratches should be on the killer's body."

"Maria, did you..." Matsui gaped.

"No, Juri." Suzumoto protested. "These are... believe me. I really didn't..."

"There's no point in playing dumb." Conan cut in. "I already noticed. You weren't wearing band-aids when you first arrived, but you were when you returned from the riverbed."

"Inspector, I had forensics examine the watermill." Takagi reported. "They found what we believe to be Yuko-san's blood on one of the blocks of ice."

"Why don't you give up already?" Conan advised.

"That's just your reasoning." Suzumoto insisted. "Show me the proof: proof that I killed her."

"Maria-san, you have it on you." Conan revealed. "The gloves used to pick up the ice haven't been found anywhere. Those gloves must have Yuko-san's blood and sawdust."

"Excuse me." Takagi searched Suzumoto's bag. "I found them."

"She got what she deserved." Suzumoto sneered. "We were college friends. If we won the contest, we'd have a collection of our photos published. To leave a lasting memory of our college life, we agreed it would belong to everyone, no matter who won. But that day, I realized the one making those troll comments was Yuko. She was insulting everyone in the photography club so that she would win. The next day, we were friends as usual, but the scandalous comments didn't stop. I couldn't take it anymore. I tested it countless times. My plan was perfect. I anonymously commented on Yuko's blog so she would come here."

"Why didn't you tell me about it?" Matsui chided, giving Suzumoto a slap across the face. "Aren't we friends?"


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