SailorStar9: With Chapter 62 uploaded, this is Chapter 63 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: Established!Furuya Rei (Amuro Tooru)/Mizuno Ami

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

Chapter 63: Mystery of the Burning Tent, Part One

Time passes...

"Okay, everyone." Wakasa-sensei turned to the Detective Boys. "Could you go gather some firewood for dinner?"

"Don't run." Haibara reminded, the group running off.

"Conan, there's someone like you." Ayumi voiced.

"Someone like me?" Conan echoed.

"That guy over there." Genta pointed.

"He's just like you." Mitsuhiko noted.

"I told you." Urushibara Fumiaki chided, as Ashizawa Sumito stirred the pot of curry over the stove. "Three more." he held out three bandaged fingers. "The curry won't be thick enough unless you add in three more pieces of roux to the curry. You've got to add in at least two more."

"I get it." Ashizawa replied. "That's why Midori's out buying more right now."

"I see." Haibara noted. "It's those fingers. That's exactly what a certain someone influenced by his Gallicized mother does. This gesture means three, right?" she held out three fingers.

"Yeah, that's three." Conan confirmed. "But this is two." he held out his index finger and thumb.

"But that guy..." Ayumi blinked.

"He did two like us." Genta stated.

"He represents three like this and two like this." Conan gestured. "On top of that, his fingers are taped, which means... aren't you guys..." he approached the older group. "Basketball players?"

"I see." Fumio nodded. "Basketball referees extend their pointer and middle fingers to represent two, but use their pointer fingers, middle fingers and thumbs to represent three, so as not to confuse with two. I've heard quite a lot of players pick up this habit."

"That's amazing." Furuoka Midori gaped. "You're exactly right."

"Nothing less from an American transfer student." Conan teased.

"I"m Furuoka Midori, manager of the Shiraami University basketball team." Furuoka introduced herself. "The guy stirring the curry is the man who became our star player this year, Ashizawa Sumito."

"What?" Ashizawa chided. "Don't call me that." "I was riding the bench until last year."

"But you've been approached by professional teams, right?" Urushibara stated. "The other day, a scout came to meet you before the game.

"It was a coincidence." Ashizawa replied.

"I hope we'll still be friends even after you became famous." Urushibara remarked. "I'm Urushibara Fumiaki, the cornerstone of our team's defense. I'm a stickler when it comes to defending and making curry."

"And I'm Danno Kuninori." Danno cut in. "The former ace who was blinded by the cornerstone of our defense."

"Blinded?" Mitsuhiko gasped.

"I gently bumped him with my elbow during practice." Urushibara answered.

"It wasn't gentle!" Danno snapped. "I nearly lost my sight. I almost got a glass eye."

"Yeah, but because of that, you got closer to Midori, right?" Urushibara teased. "You should be thanking me."

"Urushibara, that's going too far." Ashizawa chided.

"Watch what you say, Ashizawa." Urushibara warned. "I could crush you anytime I wanted. Just like Danno."

"You bastard." Danno hissed.

"I've had enough." Urushibara stood up. "I knew I shouldn't have come. I'm going to drink, have some snacks and go to bed." he retreated back into his tent. "Wake me up before you leave tomorrow."

"Thank you for letting us join you." Wakasa-sensei noted, the slightly enlarged group settled down for dinner.

"Don't worry about it." Furuoka assured. "We just combined your ingredients with ours."

"And food tastes better when you're sharing with a large group." Danno added.

"Danno-san." Fumio swallowed his spoonful of rice. "Have you considered wearing eye protection glasses?"

"That is a great idea." Furuoka agreed. "You should consider getting a pair." she nudged her boyfriend.

"It's no use." Ashizawa returned to the group. "Urushibara's hiding in the tent and won't respond."

"Maybe he's already gone to sleep." Furuoka suggested. "He complained when I talked to him earlier. Here, Ashizawa." she served up Ashizawa's portion.

"But his light is on." Danno turned to Urushibara's tent.

"You're right." Furuoka remarked.

"Looks like he's doing squats." Danno observed.

"Come to think of it, Urushibara said he does them every night before bed." Ashizawa stated.

"Ashizawa, can I have that curry?" Danno requested. "I'm going to take this over there." he stood up.

"You're going to lure him out with the smell." Furuoka realized.

"You can do it." Ashizawa encouraged.

"Urushibara." Danno stopped in front of the tent. "Sorry for picking a fight earlier. I know you didn't do it on purpose. It's not use." he returned. "He's not responding. He's listening to music on his headphones while doing squats."

"Do you smell something burning?" Haibara looked around.

"You're right." Conan agreed.

"Look." Genta gaped, spotting the raging fire. "The tent's on fire!"

"Isn't that Urushibara's tent?" Danno exclaimed.

"Water!" Conan sprung into action. "Everyone, get water."

"Ai-chan, what happened to the man inside?" Ayumi asked, once the fire was put out.

"Don't!" Haibara insisted. "You don't want to see that."

"But Mitsuhiko, why did the tent catch fire?" Genta gaped.

"Maybe the person in the next door saw something." Mitsuhiko spotted the tent nearby. "Excuse me." he and Genta hurried over.

"Sorry, I was sleeping with earplugs on." Kuroda unzipped his tent flap.

"Managing Officer Kuroda!" Fumio gaped at his parents' former superior.

"But I can tell at a glance what's happening. Let's call the police immediately. Any objections, Wakasa Rumi-sensei?"

What's with this very uncomfortable atmosphere? Fumio wondered.

"A tent caught fire, and a man is dead." Wakasa-sensei noted, shaking herself out of her stupor. "It seems natural to me that we'd call the police. Why are you asking me? And how do you know my name?"

"You were glaring at me with such a fierce expression." Kuroda explained. "I thought you had an objection." "Because of this face, people often look away, bu they rarely stare. And I saw your name in the news. 'Grade School Teacher Wakasa Rumi saves the day.' 'Subdues professional golfer'."

"Sorry, Yuminaga." Kuroda apologized, the Arson Inspector's team was called in. "I wasn't sure whether to call you or violent crime's Megure."

"No problem, sir." Yuminaga assured. "A fire is arson's job."

"I see." Kuroda nodded. "So, what's the situation?"

"The origin of the fire was the candle inside the lantern." Yuminaga concluded. "It melted into the other candles scattered around it, so it's kind of a mess. The candle fell, igniting comic books and clothing. The fire spread quickly. Then, it enveloped the victim sleeping in the legless chair, burning everything. It seems the victim had quite a bit to drink." he looked at the scattered beer cans. "The tent's entrance was zipped shut all the way. It even had a lock on it." he showed the lock to his superior.

"So it wasn't arson." Kuroda noted.

"No." Yuminaga agreed. "I believe it was an accident."

"But isn't it strange?" Fumio questioned.

"There's a strip of bamboo mixed with the melted candle." Conan pointed out.

"That's probably one of the skewers from the dango the victim was eating." Yuminaga noted. "I didn't notice you were here, Conan."

"You're familiar with the Sleeping Kogoro's adviser?" Kuroda inquired.

"Yeah." Yuminaga nodded. "He advised me before."

"Not only that, if you look closely at the hardened candles, you can see a hole near the tip on one of them." Fumio added. "And there's also a V-shaped burn on the magazine next to the laptop. Maybe someone set up some kind of mechanism."

"Which means that person is one of you three who visited his tent one at a time." Kuroda turned the university basketball team. "The first to visit his tent was Furuoka Midori-san. Next was Ashizawa Sumito-san. And finally Danno Kuninori-san, right?"

"Oh my." Wakasa-sensei cut in. "Earlier, you said you were sleeping inside your tent with earplugs in. But you know the order in which they visited?"

"Actually, while nodding off, I was watching through a gap in my tent flap as you cheerfully ate your curry." Kuroda replied.

"Was there someone who caught your interest?" Wakasa-sensei smiled.

"No." Kuroda answered. "I had no particular reason for doing it."

"No particular reason, huh?" Wakasa-sensei echoed.

"Yes." Kuroda nodded. "Since my tent was next to the tent that burned, I remembered the faces and order of the people who came this way. But since I had earplugs in, I don't know what the three of them discussed with the victim."

"And then, you went to sleep?" Wakasa-sensei asked. "Surely, you didn't ignore the tent engulfed in flames so you could observe the person you're so interested in, right?"

"No." Kuroda replied. "I made the mistake of falling asleep. Though, since there was a grade school teacher present, I may have underestimated the situation and believed nothing serious would occur."

"Is she a teacher?" Yuminaga turned to the two chibi-detectives beside him.

"Yeah." Conan and Fumio nodded.

"She's our assistant homeroom teacher." Conan added.

"So, why don't we ask you one by one again." Kuroda turned back to the case in hand. "What did you discuss with the victim then? Let's start with Furuoka Midori-san who visited the victim's tent first."

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