Act 1 Scene 1 - 熊島 [Kumajima] 'Bear Island'

Two sets of footsteps echoed up the stairwell. One set light, but causing the stairs to creak. The other louder, but not making the stairs creak as much. Sonoko's chipper voice was amplified by the narrow staircase. Deduction: Ran and Sonoko were arriving. Ran's height and muscle mass made her deceptively heavy for her slim build, and her considerable strength and agility allowed her to walk nimbly, with little sound.

Another set of footsteps joined them, light, rapid, little squeaking in the stairs… Probably Masumi Sera. She's smaller than Ran, and also had nimble feet from years of self-taught martial arts.

Conan looked up from his little kiddy homework, to watch the girls enter. First Ran and Sonoko, then a slightly winded Sera gave their hails and respectful "Pardon the intrusion"s.

Once shoes were removed and stowed away, Sonoko darted around giving out tickets from a wad of them in her purse. "Surprise!" she exclaimed. The tickets were too wide for train tickets, and the end of the Japan Air's logo sticking out. One was sticking out of Ran's bookbag, and Sera's grin meant that Sera likely had received one too, though Sera grinning wasn't exactly an unusual occurrence.

"Where are we flying to?" he asked.

She dropped one onto the table, and skipped over to Kogorou's desk to drop off another. "We," she paused, likely for dramatic effect, "are going to an island resort in Kumajima, for four days!"

Kumajima… there are hundreds of small islands in Japan. The name "Kumajima" sounded suspiciously like "bear island", which hopefully wasn't named for its inhabitants.

Kogorou looked up from the horse racing statistics in the newspaper, eyebrows raised. "Any particular reason this time?"

Sonoko laughed, not entirely convincingly. "Well, you see… it's a light family and friends get together, and you guys are my friends. I wanted to take Ran, but she can't leave Conan behind, and since Masumi doesn't have any family with her, there needs to be some sort of chaperone for the lot of us troublesome girls."

Kogorou made a vaguely affirmative grunt.

Sonoko spun around and grabbed Ran's hands, doing a little dance. How much caffeine was in her system? She was normally quite expressive, but this was a little more hyper than usual.

"Is there something special happening at Kumajima?" Conan asked.

"Not really." She chittered on, ignoring Conan. "You guys need to get packed! Remember, it's a lot warmer down there, so light summer clothes and swimsuits are best! Also, we leave tomorrow, at 4 AM." Before anyone could respond, she started pushing everyone out the door, humming.

Conan followed them up the stairs to the living quarters to get packed. He wondered if perhaps a Kaitou KID heist had been announced there, but if that'd been the case, she'd probably have said so already.

He didn't have much clothing, so his packing was finished quickly. He even slipped in extra batteries for his gadgets. He could hear Sonoko singing a nostalgic tune in Ran's bedroom down the hall. He dragged his suitcase into the kitchen and listened to her for a while, then his stomach churned with fear. She was singing 'Nanatsu no Ko', the song that the Black Organization's phone number was based on. He charged into Ran's room. The door was open, and the girls were helping Ran pick outfits. Masumi was arguing for a loose pair of shorts that would facilitate more active adventures on the island, and Sonoko was waving about a bright sun dress. Ran was sitting between them, staring at her already stuffed suitcase, mumbling something about space for souvenirs. Finally she snatched them both from her friends' hands, and stuffed them both in, and zipped the suitcase shut.

"Where have you heard that tune?" Conan asked, trying to stop his knees from shaking.

"I dunno," Sonoko shrugged. "I've just heard it around, and it gets stuck in my head." She pulled a low-cut shirt out of the closet and held it up. "But what about-" Sonoko began.

"Nope, we're done," Ran snapped. Did Ran not want to go? "What's special about that song, Conan?"

He couldn't tell her that. Time to change the subject. "So," Conan said from the doorway, regulating his breath. "Why are we going?"

The three girls exchanged glances. "I think it's alright to tell him," Masumi said, shrugging. "It's not like some horrible secret or anything."

Sonoko sighed, the over-the-top excitement gone. "You know how I'm the last Suzuki kid who hasn't run away to be an artist? My grandparents are coming, and they're really putting on the pressure to join the family business. They even have the university and the degree I'll be getting planned out."

Ran frowned. "They don't seem to care about what Sonoko wants at all. Sonoko is going to tell them no, and we're going to give her moral support, okay?"

Yikes, that didn't sound fun at all. The old generations were weird about stuff like this, and with the wealth and power the Suzuki's had, it was easy to see why they wanted to keep it in the family. It wasn't a very good recipe for a happy family though. Conan gave a Kamen Yaiba salute and shouted, "You can count on me!"

That might have been a bit over the top, in hindsight. The girls all laughed at him and poked his cheeks, cooing about how cute little kids are.

Then they left to help Masumi choose a wardrobe for the trip, with Sonoko making the vigorous oath, "No one who sees you this weekend will have any doubt that you are a girl!"

Masumi looked a little uncomfortable at the idea, but didn't protest.

Author's Note

In this chapter, you may have noticed that the girls gave a greeting upon entering the apartment. English speakers generally don't come from cultures that have this tradition, at least not when entering a home along with the owner/person who lives there. The phrase that Sonoko and Sera would be saying is 「お邪魔します」or "Ojamashimasu", which means something akin to "Sorry to be imposing on you," or "Pardon the intrusion." It may have had a different meaning in the past, ("I'll be bothering you!") but it's now just what you say when you enter another person's home, like saying "thank you" or "you're welcome" or "how do you do?". These phrases have lost their old meanings to become purely functional social phrases, independent of grammar or sentence structure.

You'll also notice that they take off their shoes at the door – another common Japanese practice, but not one near as exclusive to Japan, because it's often considered polite to not track mud all over another person's house. I don't know about the rest of the world, but up here in Montana, it's common for the front door to open into a "mud room", which will have a space to hang your coats and hats and take off your dirty shoes before entering a house. Growing up on the ranch, we had a large mud room that had heaters set up to dry mittens and boot linings on during the winter. Now that I'm living in a "big city" (what counts as one in Montana, anyways) I make do with a short corridor with a closet and welcome mat, since I don't have to worry about people coming in covered in hay and manure. In Japan, this "mud room" is called a 「沓脱」 or "kutsunugi" (the whole entryway/foyer is called a 「玄関」 or "genkan"), which includes a 「靴箱」 or "kutsubako", a rack or shelf for putting shoes away in.

Because I'm not using Japanese phrases all over the place, I'm trying to give the reader a sense of the setting by including Japanese customs instead. This is actually a running theme, and I'm planning on writing more about this.

また来週！(See you next week!)
dreamingfifi