SailorStar9: With Chapter 35 uploaded, this is Chapter 36 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?
Pairings: Furuya Rei (Amuro Tooru)/Mizuno Ami
Disclaimers: I own absolutely nothing, except this plot and pairing.
Chapter 36: The Shadow Approaching Amuro
Time passes, one morning...
"Thanks for waiting." Azusa served the customer his ham sandwich order. "Here are your ham sandwiches.
"Hey." Mouri voiced, seeing Conan's intense look at the man. "You've been watching that customer this whole time." he noted, biting into his toast.
"Really?" Ran wondered. "I'm surprised you noticed while reading about the races in the paper and eating breakfast." she turned to her father after Conan nodded in affirmative.
"I am a great detective." Mouri bragged.
"He's not dressed as a salary man." Conan noticed.
"But he's at a cafe before work hours start." Mouri stated. "Is that what's bothering you? Some people are like that. We're like that."
"But he ordered sandwiches instead of the breakfast set most customers order at this hour without even looking at the menu." Conan pointed out.
"Does that mean he's a regular?" Ran wondered.
"But he's not speaking to Azusa-san or Amuro-san and he's been watching the counter this whole time." Conan stated.
"It's simple." Mouri snorted. "He's interested in Azusa-chan."
Actually, he's been watching not Azusa-san, but Amuro-san this whole time. Conan corrected. Why?
After school that afternoon...
"What?" Mitsuhiko echoed. "We're playing games at the professor's house again?"
"That's all we've been doing lately." Ayumi remarked.
"What do you want to do, then?" Genta asked.
"You were assigned homework today." Haibara reminded. "You should do that."
"Him again?" Fumio suddenly stopped in his tracks, spotting the man once again in Cafe Poirot.
"Again, Fumio?" Conan asked. "He was at Poirot this morning, too."
"He probably lives or works nearby." Haibara suggested.
"Why are you so interested in that man?" Ayumi inquired.
"Because he's interested in everything." Haibara stated.
"He's coming out." Genta noted, the customer had exited Cafe Poirot.
"If you're so curious, let's follow him." Mitsuhiko grinned.
"Great idea." Genta beamed. "Sounds more interesting than playing games at the professor's."
"It sounds like something the Detective Boys would do." Ayumi agreed.
"Hey, guys." Conan chided.
"I'll pass." Haibara stated. "Don't follow him for too long. You should go home and do your homework."
"They aren't listening." Fumio supplied helpfully, the other three had went after the suspicious man.
"This is your fault." Haibara glared at Conan.
"I'll go keep an eye on them." Fumio volunteered.
"Conan-kun?" Azusa noticed Conan standing outside the cafe. "You're alone? The man who just left?" she asked, watering the bushes outside. "I don't know his name, but he has been coming a lot lately."
"What does he do?" Conan asked.
"I don't know." Azusa admitted.
"He's gone." Ayumi gasped, the quartet having followed the man to a shopping district. "He disappeared."
"He must have gone into a store." Mitsuhiko determined.
"Let's split up and check all the stores." Genta declared.
Fumio just heaved a sigh and followed suit.
"He was watching me?" Amuro echoed, preparing coffee in the coffee strainer.
"It looked that way to me." Conan nodded.
"I'm sure it did." Amuro agreed. "Fumio-kun and I saw the same thing. And he even followed us the other day."
"He followed you?" Conan repeated. "When?"
"Three days ago, I think." Amuro recalled. "When I went shopping at the supermarket with Fumio-kun."
"And?" Conan pressed.
"And what?" Amuro blinked.
"You're just ignoring him?" Conan gasped.
"It's not as though he's done anything to us." Amuro replied, stirring in the coffee powder.
"A member of the Organization..." Conan suggested. "Do you think he could be?"
"Probably not." Amuro concluded.
"But you don't know all the members of the Black Organization, right?" Conan asked.
"Well, no." Amuro admitted. "But I don't get that feeling from him.
"Is it possible he's a public security officer like you?" Conan wondered.
"I see you love investigating as much as ever." Amuro teased, pouring out the freshly brewed coffee.
The next day after school...
"I'm serious." Genta insisted. "He disappeared in the shopping area."
"He must be hiding something." Mitsuhiko insisted.
"Tou-san?" Fumio blinked, spotting his father at the intersection in front of them. "Haibara-san?" he turned to the girl who had suddenly stopped.
"I just remembered I had something to do." Haibara declared. "I'm leaving."
"It's that guy." Ayumi pointed, seeing the mysterious man stalking Amuro. "What's going on?" she wondered, the group peering from the corner.
"Indeed." Mitsuhiko agreed. "Why is he following Amuro-san?"
"What are you doing?" Genta protested, the group had followed after the man when Conan stopped them.
"There's a dead end up ahead." Conan remarked.
"Does that mean..." Fumio realized. "Tou-san knew?"
"Do you have business with me?" Amuro emerged from the corner, having cornered his stalker.
"Not really." the man replied. "I have business this way."
"This is a dead end." Amuro stated. "You've been coming to Poirot a lot lately. Why are you following me?"
Left with no choice, the man turned tail and fled.
On cue, the Detective Boys were also hot on the man's tail.
"Hello?" Amuro took the call when his phone rang.
"Amuro-san, it's an emergency!" Azusa voiced from the other end. "Go buy some ice cream. We accepted an order for an ice cream soda even though the manager forgot to order some. Go buy some as soon as you can."
"I'm counting on you, chibi-detectives." Amuro smiled, the Detective Boys had taken over the chase.
"And... we're back again." Fumio stated, the group having turned the corner and finding themselves in the shopping district again.
"Let's search all the stores again." Mitsuhiko declared.
"Could it be?" Conan scanned the shops.
"You figured out something." Fumio concluded, seeing the group's de facto leader's expression.
"It's no use." Genta returned with Ayumi and Mitsuhiko in tow. "He's wasn't in any of the stores."
"He's not in here, either." Ayumi looked at the bakery.
"He'll appear soon." Conan declared. "He's late." he glanced at his wristwatch. "Could it be? Amuro-san knew he was following him, right?" he looked at Fumio.
"Yes." Fumio nodded. "And?"
"That's it." Conan realized and hurried back to Cafe Poirot.
"Amuro-san!" Conan burst into Cafe Poirot. "Mister, you're a baker, aren't you?"
"A baker?" Ayumi, Mitsuhiko and Genta chorused.
"How did you figure that out?" Fumio was amazed.
"Yesterday, he had sandwiches here in the morning and evening." Conan deduced. "He always kept his fingernails clean. And he has a distinctive mark on his head." he pointed to the telltale elastic band mark around the baker's head.
"A hat with an elastic band..." Fumio mused. "Like the ones worn by cooks working with starchy foods, like beard or noodles, in the kitchen, instead of interacting with customers. So that's why you're in front of the bakery earlier."
"A baker who doesn't interact with customers make beard early in the morning and makes more as necessary in the afternoon." Conan confirmed. "In other words, his job allow him a lot of free time in the mornings and evenings. Naturally, if you wait outside the bakery long enough, he'll change in the back and show himself again. At least, that's what I thought, but he didn't appear no matter how long we waited for. When Amuro-san noticed him, I thought he might make a desperate final play. You wanted to ask him directly, don't you: about how Amuro-san makes his sandwiches."
"Really?" Amuro gaped.
"I heard that lately, the sandwiches here have been delicious and cheap." the baker confessed. "When I came to try them, I was shocked by how delicious they were. The ham sandwiches were especially fantastic. I wanted to make sandwiches this delicious myself. But no matter how much I watched you, I couldn't figure it out. So I followed you and examined the beard, ham, lettuce and mayonnaise you bought. But you weren't buying anything special. Even when I tried to make them with the same ingredients, I couldn't achieve the same flavor."
"Mister, that's Amuro-san's trade secret." Conan stated. "There's no way he'll tell you."
"I don't mind telling you." Amuro cut in.
"Cheap ham is fine." Amuro demonstrated. "But choose the leanest pieces possible. Then coat them with olive oil. That's not all. I sue ordinary mayonnaise as well."
"Miso?" Mitsuhiko gawked at the miso container Amuro brought out.
"Just use a pinch of miso." Amuro mixed in the paste. "This is ordinary hot water, and this is ordinary lettuce." he ducked the lettuce leaves into the hot water.
"But it'll make the lettuce soft." Ayumi pointed out.
"Not if you use water at bath water temperature." Fumio corrected. "Right, tou-san?"
"Fumio-kun is correct." Amuro confirmed, snapping one of the lettuce into two. "Furthermore, the lettuce will keep it's crispness for longer even if kept between beard. Now for the beard; slightly stale beard is better."
"A steamer, right, tou-san?" Fumio grinned.
"Exactly." Amuro grinned at his son, lifting the steamer cover to reveal a stack of steamed beard. "Your mother did the same thing while working in America, didn't she?" he guessed.
"Yes." Fumio nodded.
"This softness doesn't last long." Amuro explained, putting the sandwich together. "It's good for eating in the store, but not great for takeout."
"I"m a baker." the baker reminded. "I can do something about the beard, so please let me sell your sandwiches at my store."
"Mister, you're asking too much." Conan gaped.
"Sure thing." Amuro consented, shocking Conan.
"Kaa-san had the same thing happen to her in America, too." Fumio piped in. "If I remember correctly, the appetizer in question is a fish salad: a salmon-herring-sardine mix. Jodie-baa-san calls it the ultimate brain food."
"Excuse me." Amuro took the call after serving up the ham sandwiches.
"Hey, Bourbon." Vermouth voiced from the other end. "I heard you're conducting a secret investigation recently."
"An investigation?" Amuro echoed. "Into who?"
"I wouldn't be calling you if I knew?" Vermouth complained.
"Of course." Amuro conceded.
"Don't take it too far." Vermouth warned. "Apparently, he has his eye on you."
"He has his eye on me?" Amuro echoed. "Who?"
"Gin." Vermouth answered.
SailorStar9: Any OOC-ness is regretted, by the way. *Sighs* Don't you just hate plot bunnies sometimes? Read and review.