File Six: The Birth of the Detective Boys

I shouldn't have complained that much when Mom took me to the theater, Conan lamented in his head, eyes trained on the man in a costume that, pretending to kick another actor, fell backwards with a loud ─ overdramatic, Conan would say ─ cry of pain tearing his throat apart.

He didn't even touch him.

Seriously, this entire show was so ridiculous that was almost funny, except that it wasn't ─ this was torture and definitely not something he could feel any tinge of enjoyment about. Unlike him, however, the three children sitting beside him were beaming at the cheap kid's play that he had been forced to sit through for several hours now.

How did I get dragged into this, again?

Oh, right. It was Ran-neechan's fault.

It had happened the other day, when they were just heading back from Okino Yoko's apartment after that murder case. Those kids had approached him to ask if he wanted to join them and see a Kamen Yaiba show at the department store. Clearly, he hadn't wanted to, but before he could even open his mouth to politely decline the offer, Ran smiled and agreed on his behalf.

Not only that, she had also walked him to the department store and stayed with him until someone ─ Ayumi, in this case ─ showed up, thus frustrating any of his plans of running off somewhere else.

"Give them a chance, Conan-kun," she had said gently, completely unaffected by the glowering child beside her. "They are good children."

Fortunately, the show ended not long after that, a fact that Conan was definitely happy about. As they began their trek to their respective homes, his mind drifted somewhere else, privately deciding which mystery book of his broad collection he should read once he finally arrived, thus completely blocking out the sounds of those three children singing ─ screaming ─ Kamen Yaiba's opening theme at the top of their lungs. He didn't mind ─ just a little longer, and he would be back at the agency…

Or not.

When Genta first screamed, claiming that he had misplaced his precious Yaiba badge ─ which, really, was just a piece of cardboard some guy had doodled on. More than anything, Conan found it so curious how easy it was to please kids of his own age… And get money out of them, of course.

Thinking about it, it was a little scary, he realized.

"Hmm… Hold on." Mitsuhiko pondered over it for several seconds. "When you took a picture with Yaiba you were at-"

"It's in the store Kojima bought his hot dog," interjected Conan, audibly bored by this entire situation. His three classmates turned to blink at him, so he couldn't help but sigh heavily. "If you look at the photo we took with Yaiba, you should be able to see it."

Ayumi quickly fished the photograph in question from her pocket, allowing the other two boys to look at it from over her shoulder. "Ah!" None of them could help but gasp at the sight of Genta holding a hot dog instead of his badge ─ it was nowhere to be seen.

"He had it before, right? When he asked Yaiba to take a photo with us," the girl said, going over the events of that day. "Then Genta-kun said he was hungry, so…"

"It must be still in that store!" Genta shouted suddenly. "I am going to get it!"

"Wait a second." Conan tried to reason with him. "The store is already closed. Why don't we come back tomorrow morning?"

Genta scowled at him. "You always only think about yourself!" he shouted, causing Conan to freeze. "I'm going to go and get it!"

"Ah! Genta-kun!"

"Hold on!"

With that, Genta took off running, leaving his other two friends to try catching up with him. The last kid, however, didn't move from his spot, doing barely anything else but to stare at the three children drifting away from where he stood.

Do I really think only about myself?

Mitsuhiko's scream was just as clear as it had first been nearly one year ago at the mansion, Genta's too. Ayumi's frightened expression from when they huddled behind a cabinet, hoping against hope that the crazy lady didn't find them would be engraved in his mind, forever. None of that would have happened if he…

He shook his head, not allowing his mind to continue spiraling down that path, and forced himself to follow those three children. Soon, he lamented his barely thought choice of just leaving without them when he had to sneak inside without the security guard spotting them.

There were many reasons that led him to believe that this wasn't such a brilliant idea. This statement was soon proved especially true when, right after recovering Genta's badge, the security system was activated, thus leaving all four children locked up inside.

When the lights turned off, and the three children began to freak out, Conan just stared, then sighed, and calmly passed by them. Instantly they quietened down and turned around to see the boy approaching the stairs. "Where are you going?" Genta was the first one to ask.

"The security office is on the second floor," he replied, not even bothering to stop so that they could catch up with him. "If we go up there and explain everything to the guard, they should let us go."

They easily did, though. "I see!" By the time they had reached it and they were walking down the corridor, the girl was right beside him, beaming. "You're so smart, Conan-kun!"

Not really. You should've also figured it out yourselves.

Conan found it rather odd, however, that the door was slightly open, but thought little of it. That was, of course, until he and his other three classmates peeked inside and saw Kamen Yaiba, and his enemies, in the middle of the room. What are they doing here? he privately wondered, eyes narrowing slightly, before they opened widely upon seeing the answer to his unspoken question.

There, tied up and eyes folded, were the guards and the elevator girl, huddled together in a corner of the room.

Before Ayumi could scream Yaiba's name, clearly oblivious of the hostages he had spotted, Conan clamped a hand over her mouth, gently pushing her back and away from sight. The other two said nothing, a fact Conan was infinitely grateful for.

"Yeah." Like so, the four children stood there, in silence, listening as the man disguised as Yaiba talked. "The jewelry department is on the sixth floor and the antiques are on the seventh."

Of course. Conan mentally cursed his misfortune. Of all nights we could've gotten locked in, it had to be the one they are planning to rob the place.

It would be alright, he convinced himself while quietly motioning the others to head downstairs, hand sliding inside his pocket. All we have to do is hide somewhere and… His fingers froze at the lack of contact of any kind. … call the police.

Just then, it hit him. He had left it back at the agency.

"Hey…" he said, slowly. "Do any of you guys have a phone?"

Obviously not. As their luck would have it, none of his classmates had their phones with them, since they were supposed to see a play and return right away. Mitsuhiko suggested they could try the public phones on the seventh floor but, naturally, the thieves had cut the wires, thus leaving them completely isolated from the outside world.

Wonderful.

"It can't be..." Mitsuhiko's shoulders dropped when realization finally settled in.

"Then... are we going to be killed?!" The girl panicked.

"I want to eat an unaju before I'm killed!" Genta whined.

On the other hand, Conan remained silent, letting his gaze linger on his three classmates for a while, watching them shift on their place, shaking with nervous energy, while letting fear take control over their thoughts, conjuring the worst-case scenario for the situation they were in ─ that, Conan wasn't going to lie, they were highly possible at this point.

It made him frown instead, and spin around, averting their gaze in the process. "No one is going to die today," he declared, earning his classmates' confused looks. "Come, Kojima, help me out."

Though Genta didn't have a clue, he nodded right away. After borrowing a paintbrush and a can of white paint from a nearby store, Conan guided the bigger boy to the windows and, without any kind of explanation, promptly climbed on his shoulders. Genta didn't complain, though, just supporting his weight obediently while the other child painted something on the glass. It wasn't until he stepped out that he finally realized what he had been doing.

"SOS"

Followed by this, the bespectacled little boy started banging on the glass hoping that, somehow, the people on the building right next to theirs would see it, but to no avail. It didn't matter, even when the other three joined, doing all in their power to be noticed.

After several seconds, Genta was beginning to feel a little desperate, grabbing a nearby chair and banging on the window. "W-Wait!" Now it was Conan who was freaking out, seeing that, not content with the result, Genta had taken a hold of a table to repeat the process.

In the middle of it all, the security camera started to move.

"Duck under the tables, now!"

Their response was instantaneous this time, scrambling out of the way of the camera without a second thought. Just as he was about to join his classmates under the tables, Conan noticed the message was still there, in plain sight.

So, he rushed the opposite way, quickly closing the curtains and sliding into his hiding spot just in the nick of time, almost giving his classmates a heart attack out of fright.

Kojima is going to get me killed someday. He wasn't joking.

Conan was exhausted, rightfully so. He had no idea of what time it was, but he was almost one-hundred percent sure it had been quite a few hours into the night already, and in all that time, all they had done was run. Since the thieves had spotted them ─ thanks to Genta, who had gotten caught peeking out their hiding spot ─ there wasn't much else they could do but try to survive until somebody saw the SOS message on the window…

Which was unlikely at this point. Conan sighed, dejectedly, and focused his attention on the canned coffee in his hands.

Just a few moments ago, they had survived another close-call, also caused by Genta, naturally. They had this brilliant plan of pretending to be mannequins, and it had worked at some point, somehow, but then Genta's stomach had growled, forcing them to run, again.

But there was something that still didn't fit. Back when all four robbers had chased them around, the children had resorted to rushing down the mechanical stairs, only for them to start moving the moment they set a foot on them.

There's no doubt about it. His eyes narrowed slightly. There's a fifth member out there.

And that fifth member is in the security room. Which means…

"I am sorry," Ayumi muttered, hands clapped against each other, staring down at the pile of snacks they had borrowed from the supermarket. "If we are saved, we will pay you back in full amount!"

Technically, our guardians will, thought Conan, shrugging over the fact. Kogoro wouldn't be too happy about that, for sure. Wonder if he's going to charge my parents for this.

Well, he guessed he would worry about it later. In the meanwhile, he contented himself with taking a sip of the iced coffee he had borrowed ─ stolen ─ and took a moment to let the flavor caress his taste buds. He had missed it, needed it, badly.

What Ran-neechan doesn't know won't hurt her, he decided, happily taking another sip of it.

Mitsuhiko didn't look so cheerful, though. "But…" Gulping the last bit of a donut, his eyes lowered to the floor, forehead creasing slightly. "Are we going to be saved?"

The other two seemed to agree, copying their friend's somber expression right away. Conversely, the other kid merely shrugged. "I said it before, didn't I?" he said nonchalantly, stretching forward to grab a donut. "We are going to make it out of here. Don't even doubt it for a second."

As he munched on his snack, without a care in the world, the kids blinked owlishly.

"But, how?" Ayumi asked.

For some reason, the boy grinned to himself in response.

"Have any of you ever watched Home Alone?" The clueless gazes staring right into his soul told Conan what he should have already expected. "Nevermind." Sighing tiredly, he pressed a hand against his forehead. "Just hear me out."

And here he had thought that riding a dog in the middle of the night in order to save a kidnapped girl was the craziest thing he would do in his entire life… Yet there he was. Riding a bicycle straight into some robbers' face, throwing alcohol at them until they ─ and Mitsuhiko, as an unfortunate casualty on their side ─ passed out irremediably drunk, and releasing dogs on the man with the Yaiba costume.

Somehow, they had won, evidenced by the heap of defeated criminals the children were standing in front of. Obviously, Genta and Ayumi were cheering with joy, until they turned around, only to realize that Conan was nowhere to be seen.

The boy in question was, in fact, down the corridor, smiling innocently at the elevator that just stood there, shocked for a whole second to see him there.

"Oh, hey, kid!" She recovered right away. "What are you doing here?"

"I got locked up inside," he explained. "You need to hurry too, Miss, or the bad people are going to hurt you!"

Before she could even stutter out an answer, the boy had grabbed her hand and dragged her away. "Where are we going, boy?" she asked, confused to see that he had taken her to an elevator.

The boy just pushed the rooftop button. "I overheard them talking earlier," he explained, hands latched behind his back as he faced her again. "They said they were going to be on the sixth and seventh floor, so I think the rooftop is the safest place to be."

"Oh, I see." The woman forced a smile. "Are your friends safe, also?"

His face scrunched in fake confusion. "How did you know I got locked up inside with my friends?"

There was a pause. "I saw you with your friends when you were leaving earlier today, so I thought..."

"By the way, why did you become an elevator girl? You would make an excellent escape artist."

Before she could even begin to understand the meaning behind those words, the child's expression changed completely. She felt a chill running down her back the instant her eyes caught into the smirk making its way across his face.

"You were tied up pretty tightly before." The elevator had reached its destination, but she was so focused on the light refracting on the boy's glasses, thus hiding his gaze away from her, that she completely missed the fact. "Weren't you, Elevator Girl? Or should I say… Fifth member of the robbery gang?"

She backed up in shock. "Who… Who are you?"

"Edogawa Conan. Just an ordinary elementary school student."

The woman stared at him, wide eyed, for several seconds before, gradually, her shock passed, and her expression hardened. All the while, Conan didn't break eye contact, not even when she let out an arrogant snort. "You aren't so bad, boy. But you didn't seem to realize something very, very important."

Before he knew it, Conan felt something pressed against his forehead. "I am the boss of that group," she said, and only then did the kid realize what exactly she was pointing at him with ─ a gun.

But he said nothing, nor did he scream. Instead, he took a step backwards, then another, out of the elevator. So this is your plan, huh? The gun muzzle was cold against his sweaty forehead, slowly yet firmly pushing him further away. Since they were on the rooftop right now, Conan had quite a good idea of what she was intending.

All she has to do is get rid of the gun, erase the camera footage and tie herself up. Which wouldn't be much of a problem, considering they were all alone ─ beside the guards, but they were blindfolded so that they couldn't see what was happening ─ and that nobody was bound to come until morning, meaning she had plenty of time. Then, the job is done.

No fingerprints. He cringed at the thought of what could happen to those three kids if this continued like this. No witnesses. Just a bunch of guards that failed doing their job, her, a poor hostage that didn't get out in time...

And a group of children, killed by an unknown robber, for being in the wrong place, at the worst time possible.

Just like me. There was nothing under his left heel now, so he was pretty sure they had reached the edge of the building. An innocent child whose short life was tragically ended by falling off a twenty-story building.

All because he knew too much.

The gun was still pressing hard, but Conan didn't move this time. "I'm sorry, Miss." He raised his head and gazed straight at her, a determined glint taking over his eyes as he frowned. "But I can't die here."

There are things I need to do…

Then, a certain smile, radiant and kind, flashed in his mind, prompting him to take a step forward. The woman, startled by his actions, unconsciously backed up.

There is someone out there who I want to see again.

"Do you really think you are in a position to negotiate?" After needing a second to recover, she snickered, yet the child didn't yield. "We are up here, alone. And guess who is the one that holds the gun?"

For the second time today, the boy smirked. "Who said I was alone?"

She didn't have the time to question it because she immediately felt pain. Something had hit her feet, knocking her off and, by the time she looked around to see a skateboard lying beside her, the boy had bolted off. Now he stood next to Genta, who glared back at her. He was the one that had kicked it, she supposed.

But they weren't done there. Just as she was rising to her feet, Ayumi quickly jumped onto her shoulders, sinking her teeth into her hand. As a result, her grip on the weapon slacked, allowing the bespectacled kid to retrieve it, careful not to leave any fingerprints by using a napkin.

"Take this!"

Conan couldn't believe what happened next ─ Genta had just dropped a freaking chair on her head, causing her to drop into the ground, limply. Fearing that he had just witnessed a murder, the boy hesitantly inched closer. Once he made sure that she was just unconscious, and breathing, he couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief.

Ayumi didn't move, just winced at the scene, "G-Genta-kun," and stammered, nervously. "Don't you think you went a bit… overboard?"

"That woman almost killed Conan!" Genta argued, throwing his head away as he huffed. "She deserved it."

Conan couldn't tell if he was supposed to be touched, or absolutely disturbed. In the end, however, he decided just not to comment on it, and silently tie the criminal up.

Once done, he allowed himself to breathe. "It's finally over," he said.

The other two cheered in delight, smiling brightly despite the situation they had just lived through. So lively, he thought, shaking his head, watching them jump excitedly. Aren't they a bit tired? I sure am.

"Let's go check on Mitsuhiko!" Genta shouted, bolting out the stairs. "Then we will have a feast as a celebration!"

"Wait, Genta-kun!" Ayumi chased after him. "We can't just do that!"

And off they went, Conan realized, standing there and wondering if he was supposed to follow them, too. Before long, however, he finally gave up and went downstairs to join them.

Not without giving the gun in his hand a long look. The same gun that, just a few moments ago, had been pointed at his own forehead.

That icy gaze crossed his mind again, forcing him to look away.

His head was killing him ─ that was the first thing he felt upon awakening. What happened? He wondered, panic settling in as the memories from the day running away from robbers surfaced, and opening his eyes did not help either. It was dark, so dark that it made him worry they had caught them, and now they were being taken somewhere against their will.

He shot up from his position, groaning when dizziness struck, so maybe getting up just suddenly wasn't such a good idea. His eyes widened however when his hands grasped something ─ there was a blanket draped over him.

A potential kidnapper wouldn't be so kind as to do that, guessed Mitsuhiko, looking around and attempting to discern something of his surroundings. It took some time for his eyes to get used to the darkness, but when they did, he felt himself sighing in relief. On his right, Genta and Ayumi were slumbering placidly under a blanket similar to the one he had.

Did Conan-kun's plan work?

He wondered where the boy was, brief as it was. A soft, so soft that he wouldn't have heard if it hadn't been so quiet there, whimper had him turning to his left, and freezing all movements at the sight that welcomed him. The boy in question was there, fast asleep, but unlike the others, there wasn't anything peaceful about it. His expression contorted, as if in pain, and his body twitched now and then, like he was wincing.

Mitsuhiko hesitated, unable to tell if it would be better to wake him up or not. That was when the kid curled in a tight ball, hands clutching his blanket like dear life.

The sight of it made Mitsuhiko sprung into action. "Conan-kun." He gently tried to shake him awake. "Please wake up. It's only a nightmare."

If anything, the boy seemed to fight him, face clenched in discomfort. "... Why...?" he whispered, causing Mitsuhiko to pause, a little frown forming on his face out of concern.

What could he be dreaming about? the freckled boy wondered for a second, before shaking his head, "Conan-kun!" and tried again, voice much firmer this time.

"… Mitsuhiko-kun?" came a female, sleepy mumbled from behind. Turning around, he noticed he had accidentally woken Ayumi and Genta up. "What's wrong?"

But he didn't apologize for it. "I'm trying to wake Conan-kun up," he explained instead. "I believe he is having a nightmare."

"A nightmare?"

Just then, icy blue eyes fluttered open, falling on the three children talking among themselves, crowding around him for some reason his sleep-addled brain still wasn't able to grasp. Genta shifted his gaze to him suddenly and grinned, not caring ─ or noticing ─ the boy in front of him flinching violently at the attention.

"Conan, you're awake!" he shouted, a bit too loudly for his liking, and the other two sighed in relief.

Conan figured out that this was the moment where he should say something, but there wasn't anything he could think of, so he remained silent as he slowly incorporated, wiping away the thick beads of sweat on his forehead. It has been a while since I last had a nightmare, he thought. Well, I suppose I would be surprised if I hadn't.

He had, after all, been held at gunpoint just a few moments ago, so it was to be expected he would have nightmares about it. But he was still trembling slightly, unable to wipe away that scary dream from his mind, as it always happened when he had that one, without fail.

If the person holding the gun in his nightmare had been the elevator girl, Conan figured he would have waved it off instantly. Too bad it hadn't been her.

"Are you okay?" asked Ayumi, undoubtedly worried.

"Yeah, don't worry about it." He forced himself to smile at her. I'm sorry I scared you guys."

"But-"

"I'm telling you, I'm okay."

"No," Mitsuhiko interjected, causing Conan to halt. "You are not, Conan-kun."

It was surprising to hear him actually raising his voice, but it was the deadly serious expression as he kept his eyes trained on him that truly shocked Conan, enough to leave him staring instead of replying, allowing Mitsuhiko to continue.

"It was after Tropical Land that we noticed you weren't acting like yourself, then three days later you suddenly missed school. At first, we thought you were ill, and that would explain your weird behavior…" Mitsuhiko's gaze narrowed. "But you weren't sick at all!"

Have I really acted any differently? Conan hadn't noticed it himself.

"Yeah!" Genta joined in. "And now it turns out you're living in a detective agency with your brother's girlfriend!" Had he been in another situation, Conan figured he would have found it very amusing that even this boy had noticed how close Shinichi and Ran were. "That's really weird!"

There was nothing he could say in his defense, to deny every word that they were saying and convince them that they were just overreacting ─ there simply wasn't, no matter how he tried. Yet, he didn't give, just remained in silence, forcing his mind to run, looking for something, anything, he could say…

Anything but that.

"What happened to you, Conan-kun?" but then Ayumi asked, softly.

Suddenly, the floor appeared to be far more interesting than any of their faces, refusing to let a word escape his tightly pressed lips. He heard shuffling, which he supposed it was the girl moving closer, then hands wrapping around his, and forced his mind to work harder ─ there must something he could say right now to avoid-

"Did something happen to Shinichi-oniisan?"

That was all it took for his mind to stop completely. His breath hitched, and all his muscles seemed to forget how to move. Eventually they did, however, if only to allow the little boy to finally raise his head to gaze at his three classmates. They were looking at him with something that he couldn't pinpoint.

Sadness? Pity? Concern?

Ayumi's hold tightened suddenly ─ why?

Until he finally registered that distinctive cold, wet feeling trailing down his cheek, prompting him to hurry and wipe it with his sleeve before anyone would see ─ though he was sure they already had. "S-Sorry…" he muttered, moving as if to stand up. "I-I need to… toilet…"

But Ayumi didn't let go, just smiled sweetly at him. "It's okay if you want to cry."

After that, there was no stopping it ─ after more than half a year holding in much more than a child should, the dam finally broke. Without his consent, it all came pouring out ─ his concerns, his frustration, his fears, everything ─ as tears, slipping from his eyes and freely flowing down his face.

"Conan-kun," began Ayumi, her frown more prominent now. "What happened to Shinichi-oniisan?"

Between sobs, he managed a single sentence:

"… I don't know."

For the first time since he could remember, Conan truly cried, and his classmates allowed him, patiently waiting for him to calm down enough to talk almost normally. It was then that he told them everything ─ about his brother's suspicious behavior throughout the year, and even about the scary men in black he saw talking to him one night.

"The last time I saw him was at Tropical Land with you guys," he confessed, wiping the remains of the tears that were still in the corner of his eyes. "I waited at home for him, and waited some more…" He frowned, fists clenching at the memory. "Then Ran-neechan called to yell at him for ditching her, and not answering his phone. Since then, I haven't heard a word about him."

It was silent for a while, but Conan wasn't surprised. He had foreseen this kind of response ─ had he been in his classmates' position, he wouldn't have known what to say either.

"Alright!" What he didn't expect, though, was for Genta to exclaim, a big grin spreading all over his face despite what Conan had just said. "We'll find your brother! Detective Boys, I declare this as our first official case!"

Genta received three pairs of confused blinking in return.

"Detective Boys?" Mitsuhiko raised an eyebrow. "What is that?"

"That's what we are going to get called. And from now on, I'm the leader of this group!"

"You can't just decide that on your own, Genta-kun-"

"I like it!" Ayumi beamed. "Even though I'm a girl... But Detective Kids doesn't sound half as cool as Detective Boys, so let's go with it!"

"W-Wait… Wait a second!" Conan stood up, waving his hands around anxiously. "This isn't a game! Those men are clearly dangerous and-"

"So what?" Genta gave him a bored look. "You still are going to chase after them even if we do nothing, aren't you?"

"Well, I-!"

"We are here, Conan-kun." Mitsuhiko was smiling gently at him. "You don't have to do everything on your own."

"Because we're friends!" Ayumi grinned and turned to the other two. "Right?"

Those simple yet stunning words left Conan utterly out of words, unable to do anything but blink rapidly, as if suddenly seeing the sun after years of navigating through the dark. "… Friends?" he muttered, slowly, as if tasting the word ─ it sounded unnatural, almost foreign in his mouth.

"Yeah!" Ayumi nodded decisively. "Friends."

Friends. Though a little weird, it didn't sound that bad, he decided, letting his eyes slide close, breathing deeply. "Thank you, everyone."

It was scary, he reflected, as the other three exchanged smiles at the prospect of a new member of their group of friends. After so many years building those protective walls around his heart, it was scary, terrifying even, how those three kids could tear them down to let themselves in so easily…

But this feeling of having someone to finally open up also made him feel warm from the inside.

Maybe, just maybe, it would be okay this time. He only had to be a little bit braver and try.

"After all of this, I don't feel sleepy anymore," commented Ayumi after a while. "Do you guys want to play something?"

"I have an idea." Genta stood up suddenly. "Follow me!"

So they did, and before they knew it, they found themselves standing in front of a video club. Conan stared blankly at it for several seconds until the three other kids promptly ran inside, laughing in joy as they did so. He watched them for a beat before calmly walking in.

"Hey, hey! Let's watch some Kamen Yaiba!" Ayumi suggested.

"Agreed!" Genta and Mitsuhiko raised their hands.

Conan grimaced. After being chased around a guy who looked exactly like him… they still want to watch it?

That was a little insane.

"Which episode should we watch?" Mitsuhiko pondered, finger stroking his chin, as if his decision would affect the fate of the entire world. "I enjoyed the one where Yaiba got trapped in a burning building with his rival, but..."

"No, no, that one was boring!" Genta complained. "Let's watch the one where he defeated the monster terrorizing Karuizawa!"

"That one is too long! The monster didn't die until four episodes later!"

Ayumi seemed to think hard about it for several seconds until she sighed, as if defeated, unable to figure out which episode she wanted to watch. Then she turned around to consult with their newly acquired friend, only to see the bespectacled boy standing there, a few steps away from there, shifting awkwardly on his spot. She closed that distance regardless, gaining his attention.

"Which one do you like the most, Conan-kun?" Conan flinched. "I love every single second of the series, so I don't mind."

Conan hesitated before answering. "I haven't really watched Kamen Yaiba…" he confessed in a whisper, loud enough for the other boys to snap their heads at him ─ unwillingly making him try to shrink away from their gaze. "Like, not even a single episode."

It was followed by a long, thick period of utter silence. Then…

"EH?!"

"I have always preferred reading over watching television, so I have never bothered to... watch it..."

He trailed off when he noticed the children huddled against each other, voices rushed and frantic as they discussed something. Conan sweatdropped at the sight, hand stretching forward as to ask if there was something wrong when their heads snapped his way, again, prompting him to jump out of surprise.

"Now everyone, you know what you have to do!"

"Yeah!"

Before Conan could even think of asking what was going on, the girl had seized his hand and dragged him away to the electronic store. Genta joined them not long thereafter, a DVD player in his hands, and began to set it up.

Mitsuhiko came running in, carrying a CD box. "I brought Kamen Yaiba's first ten episodes!" he exclaimed, handing it to Ayumi before leaving again.

"Good." Genta nodded, seriously. "Ayumi, play the first one."

"Understood!"

"And you…" He pointed at Conan, then to the spot in front of the television. "Sit there."

"Yes, yes…"

When Mitsuhiko returned, arms full of pillows and blankets he had recovered from somewhere, the rest of the children joined Conan on the floor. Ayumi wasted no time and hit play, thus allowing the opening theme to fill the room.

Is this… really okay?

Time passed by quickly, so much that the boy truly didn't notice it. By then, two entire episodes had already been watched, and the third one was almost over already ─ but Conan did not mind. Instead, he kept his eyes trained on the screen.

Without meaning to, Conan's eyes went wide when they caught on the enemy, crawling from the distance, sneaking from behind Yaiba. Conan moved slightly closer, as the enemy slowly raised his sword just above the head of the hero, who remained completely oblivious of the imminent danger he was in.

Just as he was about to strike, the screen went black, and the ending theme started playing. Sitting straighter, he grabbed the remote lying at his side. "Is it okay with you guys if I just skip the… ending?"

He trailed down into silence when he caught some soft snoring, muffled slightly by the catchy song on the TV. Turning around, he realized that his classmates ─ no, friends ─ had dozed off at some point, without him realizing. Focusing back to the screen and shrugging, Conan put the next episode on.

He didn't quite notice, though, that his lips were curving into a timid smile of his own.

It was much closer to morning when a patrolling police officer finally came across the SOS message on the windows, and not long thereafter the police, plus Kogoro and Ran, burst inside, just to find the five criminals, knocked out and tied together in the middle of the food court.

And the children were found soon after that as well in an electronic store, huddled together in front of a forgotten TV, soundly asleep after what they imagined to be a rough night.

Ran crouched next to them, giggling at the unusual sight. So cute, she thought, plucking out her phone from her pocket to call the children's guardians… After snapping a couple of photos, obviously.

Their parents, worried sick, arrived not even minutes after her call. Like her, each of them smiled at the tender scene before taking their children home with them. Once they were all gone, Ran also leaned down to pick Conan up, cradling him against her chest in a motherly fashion.

The robbers had been caught already thanks to these kids, so she figured that their statements to the police could wait until tomorrow. For now, the teen just contented herself with watching the child sleep. His face was so strangely free of care that she didn't have the heart to wake him, and instead merely got into a taxi along with her father, letting the kid slumber, nestled comfortably in her arms.

Something good must have happened to him, she thought.

After all, even in sleep, the boy had never looked so content before.

A/N:

Published: 03-07-2020

Last edited: 06-19-2021

Based on the Hijacked Department Store Case.