SailorStar9: With Chapter 67 uploaded, this is Chapter 68 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 68: The Heartfelt Strap, Part One

Time passes...

"That was amazing!" Genta gushed, the Detective Boys were returning after watching the soccer match. "Did you see Hide's long shot?"

"I can't believe he scored from that far away." even Mitsuhiko was astonished.

"BIG Osaka's goalie was surprised, too." Ayumi piped in.

"What?" Haibara hissed, after Conan informed her of his request. "A school trip?"

"For Teitan High School." Conan stammered. "So, you know..."

"You want to use the APTX4869 antidote to restore your body so that you can participate, right?" Haibara realized. "No. The effects of the antidote is still only temporary. If you continuously take it in order to remain in your original body during the school trip, there's no telling what kind of side effect there could be. And besides, when you went to London... and the Shiragami case! I've saved you countless times with my quick wits when the effects of the medicine expired and your identity was about to be discovered. You still haven't learnt your lesson?"

"Calm down." Conan soothed. "I know you're upset because BIG Osaka lost, but you were in a good mood since you got to meet Higa-san in the stands who was out of the game due to an injury. I even wore a BIG hat today and cheered for them."

"You shouldn't have done that." Haibara glared. "You're the reason they lost! Either way, give up on that school trip."

"Ouch..." Fumio groaned, the train skidding to a stop at the station when it suddenly braked due to a red light. "Genta, get off me!" he glared at the over-sized boy who had fell on him.

"You met Higo in the stands, huh?" Professor Agasa noted, the kids having returned to his house. "That's great."

"He was really cool." Ayumi gushed.

"Haibara-san was blushing." Fumio teased. "You even got a Higo-san phone strap, and it's the last one."

"I was very lucky." Haibara beamed.

"BIG might've won if Higo-san were in the game." Genta pointed out.

"Genta, you have no delicacy, do you?" Fumio sweatdropped when faced with Haibara's downcast look.

"Come to think of it, I got a photo of it." Mitsuhiko piped in. "I'll show you." he took out his phone. "What?" he blinked, finding his phone was set to record mode. "It's recording."

"Since when?" Genta peered.

"It seems to have started while we were on the train." Mitsuhiko replied. "I seem to have pressed the button when I made sure I hadn't dropped my phone after the train suddenly stopped and I fell."

"It's because you keep yours in the rear pocket of your pants." Conan explained.

"Why were you keeping it there?" Ayumi asked.

"I saw Haibara-san doing it, so I copied her." Mitsuhiko answered.

"Ai-chan, is your phone okay?" Ayumi thought to ask.

"Yeah, it's right here in..." Haibara dug out her phone.

"What's wrong, Haibara? Conan gaped, hearing Haibara's shocked exclaim.

"It's gone." Haibara gaped at the metal ring that was missing the figurine. "The Higo-san strap I attached to my phone is gone!"

"I"m sure you'll be able to buy one online." Conan assured.

"I can't!" Haibara wailed. "That strap is special. Today, Higo-san... and he touched it. There's only one strap like that in the world!"

"Haibara-san!" Fumio shouted in worry when the girl went into shock and collapsed against a wall. "Not good." he waved a hand in front of the unresponsive Haibara. "It's a 522 Connection Timed Out."

"But where did we lost it?" Mitsuhiko wondered.

"Probably when we fell on the train." Genta reasoned.

"Mitsuhiko, let me see that video you accidentally recorded on your phone." Conan requested.

"That man next to the train doors..." Ayumi gasped, the video camera had captured Mr. Yoshida picking up the phone strap.

"He's picking something up." Mitsuhiko noted.

"Isn't that the Higo-san strap?" Genta asked, Conan enlarging the image.

"You're right." Mitsuhiko replied. "It looks like it."

"Then, maybe he delivered it to the station's lost and found." Professor Agasa reasoned.

"Is something the matter?" Subaru pushed his way in through the door, holding up a pot of curry, just as Conan was about to head over to the Chiyari City station. "Since I was told I hadn't stewed my curry long enough the other day, so I brought a new batch to share."

"More importantly," Mitsuhiko voiced. "Haibara-san's very important phone strap was taken to Chiyari Station."

"We're on our way to pick it up right now." Ayumi added.

"Uncle Subaru, can you drive us there?" Fumio requested, switching on his puppy-dog eyes in full force.

"I see." Subaru noted. "She's not going?" he cast a look at the still unresponsive Haibara.

"She's still in '522 Connection Timed Out' mode, apparently." Fumio supplied.

"Unfortunately, I need to use my car after this." Subaru apologized. "But I saw a familiar car parked next to this house. Why don't you ask him? A white RX-7."

"Tou-san, huh..." Fumio moaned.

"Tou-san." Fumio greeted his father. "Do I want to know you're doing here?"

"I got sleepy while driving in the area, so I took a nap." Amuro replied. "What are you kids doing?"

"We're going to Chiyari Station to pick up the phone strap our friend dropped." Conan answered. "Could you drive us there?"

"I'd also ask that you do this." Subaru added. "Though if there is some reason you don't want to leave this place, then I suppose it can't be helped."

"I wanted to nap a little longer, but that's too bad." Amuro stated.

"Thanks for waiting, kids." the station master brought out the phone strap. "This is the strap, right?"

"That's not it." Ayumi replied.

"That's Sanada." Genta peered at the figurine.

"We lost a Higo strap." Mitsuhiko supplied.

"Was this the man who turned that in?" Conan asked, showing the train master Mr. Yoshida's picture.

"No, it was a younger man." the station master replied.

"Maybe," Amuro stepped forward. "Could I see that?" he borrowed Conan's phone. "This man in the photo appears to be the father of the boy standing next to him. Maybe he mistook the Higo strap your friend dropped for the Sanada strap his son dropped and picked up yours. Unless you are a passionate fan, they probably look all the same."

"In other words, someone picked up the Sanada strap his son dropped and turned it in here." Conan reasoned.

"Then, we need to find the father and son recorded by my phone." Mitsuhiko noted.

"But how are we going to find him?" Ayumi asked.

"Why don't we think about that once we return to my car?" Amuro stated.

"Ah, right!" Genta suddenly recalled something. "Was a badge turned in along with that strap?"

"A badge?" the station master echoed. "No, I don't think so."

"Genta, what are you doing?" Mitsuhiko asked after Genta rejoined the group.

"Sorry." Genta apologized. "I lost my Detective Badge on the train, too."

"Now then, how should we find this man with his son who picked up the Higo strap your friend dropped on the train?" Amuro asked, once the group was settled in at Danny's. "Both of them look very tan."

"You're right." Ayumi agreed.

"Maybe they're on their way to go swimming at the beach." Mitsuhiko guessed.

"No, that's not it." Conan corrected.

"Why not?" Mitsuhiko blinked.

"This video was taken while we were on the train after the soccer game ended at 3pm." Fumio reminded. "We then arrived at Beika Station 10 minutes later. So if they were to go swimming, they would've left earlier."

"Then, maybe they're on their way back from the beach." Ayumi piped in.

"That's not it, either." Conan voiced. "We were riding the Shonan Shinjuku train. It departs from Takasaki in Gunma and passes through Shinjuku and Yokohama on its way to Odawara in Kanagawa. And the beach doesn't reach Beika Station."

"I don't even want to know how you memorized all that." Fumio was stunned.

"Maybe they went to an indoor pool." Ayumi suggested.

"Or bug hunting." Genta added.

"Or maybe they were just went to an acquaintance's house." Mitsuhiko guessed.

"In that case, did you overhear any of their conversation?" Amuro inquired.

"Come to think of it," Ayumi recalled. "The dad said to his son, 'It's about as long as it takes to watch Kamen Yaiba'. But Kamen Yaiba wasn't on today."

"Before his father said that, did the boy ask him 'How much longer'?" Conan asked.

"He did." Ayumi gasped.

"Which means, it's possible he was using the thirty minute Kamen Yaiba program to explain to his son how much longer it would take to arrive at their destination." Amuro reasoned.

"Do you know when they said that?" Conan questioned.

"It was after the train screeched to a stop and everybody fell." Ayumi nodded.

"So, it's 30 minutes to Beika Station." Conan mused. "That's here around Chiyari Station."

"That boy seemed to be a first-year elementary school student like us." Mitsuhiko noted. "It's not unreasonable that his father would use Yaiba as an example."

"How do you know he's a first-year?" Conan blinked.

"Because he breathed on the train window and wrote something with his finger." Mitsuhiko answered. "He said 'It's only hiragana, but I can write it now. Aren't you proud?' I think he was writing his own name. Unfortunately, I couldn't see what he wrote."

"Do you remember which car you were riding in?" Amuro asked.

"We got in middle of the third car from the front, right?" Genta wondered.

"Yes." Mitsuhiko nodded.

"You really don't remember what he wrote?" Ayumi asked.

"No." Mitsuhiko replied. "I do remember his pale finger pressed against the window, though."

"Pale finger?" Genta blinked. "They're both really dark from being so tan."

"But if you look closely at the video..." Mitsuhiko pointed. "See? It's both of them."

"They're both pale from the wrist down." Genta exclaimed.

"And look at the dad's bag." Ayumi pointed. "It looks like there's something angular inside it."

"Maybe he put his cooler inside his bag since the strap broke." Mitsuhiko reasoned.

"Are they going fishing?" Ayumi frowned.

I don't see any fishing rods." Fumio cut in. "And they're dressed too lightly for hiking. Maybe..."

"Maybe?" the others looked at him.

"They could be digging for clams." Fumio stated.

"Digging for clams?" Mitsuhiko echoed.

"You go digging for clams in spring." Ayumi giggled.

"Actually, grandfather told me you can do it all year round." Fumio supplied. "Granted April to May is the best season since the climate means the clams are full of nutrients due to spawning, there are plenty of beaches that are open for clam digging as late as July."

"And low tide at Chiyari Beach is at 5:59 today." Amuro added. "When digging for clams, it's best to arrive an hour or two before low tide, so it makes sense that they took that train."

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