SailorStar9: So with Chapter 76 uploaded, this is Chapter 77 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 77: Search for Maria-chan, Part Two
"This room seems to be directly beneath that arrow." Mitsuhiko led the group into the next room.
"What a cute room." Ayumi gushed, taking in the pink, girly room when the lights were switched on. "Maria must have stayed in this room when she came to this house."
"Isn't it kind of cold in here?" Genta shivered.
"We are in the basement." Mitsuhiko reminded. "So, where's the next arrow?"
"I don't see an arrow." Haibara stated. "But there's a note stuck to the bedside table next to the bed."
'Now you can use the bathroom during the night.'" she read. "She must've meant to turn on this light before going to bed, so..." she turned the night light on. "Could you turn out the lights?"
"But it doesn't look like an arrow." Mitsuhiko pointed out, switching off the lights.
"Perhaps..." Fumio put the fallen photo frame back to its original position.
"The shadow changed for some reason." Genta remarked, seeing the shadow in the wall.
"This doll..." Fumio picked up the fallen doll on the ground and placed it back to its original spot. "Is there anything on the floor over there?" he asked. "Try standing that sailboat back up." he pointed to the fallen over boat.
"Amazing." Mitsuhiko gasped, seeing the arrow shape on the wall once Genta moved away. "There's an arrow on the wall."
"Then, the next one must be in the room next door." Ayumi ran out. "It's a bathroom." she entered the bathroom.
"But there's an very obvious arrow in here." Mitsuhiko pointed to the wall taped to the wall.
"But the only thing it is pointing towards is the bath." Genta noted.
"There's a note in front of the arrow on the sink." Haibara informed. "'Take care of my bird.'"
"What bird?" Ayumi wondered.
"Won't it mean this doll?" Fumio bobbed the bird toy that was on the sink.
"It seems to have a beak." Haibara noted.
"But how do we take care of it?" Genta asked.
"Let me try." Fumio stepped forward and filled the gargling glass with water from the tap. Putting the glass of water in front of the toy bird, he tapped the bird's head once to dip it into the water.
"It's like it's actually drinking water." Mitsuhiko was surprised to see the bird dunk it's head into the glass repeatedly.
"The arrow is pointing the other way." Mitsuhiko exclaimed, the group peering through the glass.
"Why?" Ayumi gasped.
"The water in the glass is refracting the light, changing the focal point because of Snell's Law." Haibara explained. "It makes objects appear flipped."
"In other words, the arrow is pointing not to the shower room in the bath, but that room across the bathroom." Mitsuhiko concluded.
"The door won't budge an inch whether you push or pull." Genta was struggling at the doorknob when Mitsuhiko suddenly sneezed.
"I see how it is." Fumio realized. "The door won't open because the room on the other side of the door is warmer than the hallway. The air pressure is keeping the door shut from the inside. If we all push the knob turned, it should open."
"Maria!" Haibara rushed into the room once the door was open.
"How is she?" Mitsuhiko asked, the rest of the group untangled themselves.
"It's okay." Haibara assured. "She's just asleep."
"The room is covered with Maria-chan and her grandparents." Ayumi looked around to see the blown-up pictures that decorated the walls.
"That's a lot of home movies." Mitsuhiko gawked at the cabinet full of tapes.
"I see." Haibara realized what the treasure was. "This room full of their memories is their treasure."
"Guys?" Maria yawned and opened her eyes to see the group beside her. "What's going on?"
"You missed school." Ayumi informed.
"We were worried, so we came here." Mitsuhiko added.
"School?" Maria echoed. "I was going to go to school after watching this video, but I couldn't open the door. I thought I had to finish watching to open the door, but I started getting sleepy. I fell asleep, and now I'm hungry."
Meanwhile, in Cafe Poirot...
"By the way, do you have any plans for Christmas, Amuro?" Azusa asked.
"Not really." Amuro answered. "Just a family dinner with Ami and Fumio-kun."
"I see." Azusa noted. "The manager wants to plan our shift schedule for December, so he wanted me to ask you."
A message? Amuro pulled out his cellphone when a message came in. 'Seeking information on Kudo Shinichi.' He read the new text. 'Time is money. Hurry, Bourbon. Rum.' Roger. He smiled and replied the message.
Later that night...
"About the code that was left at Haneda Koji's murder scene," Ami started after she and Amuro tucked Fumio into bed.
"ASACA and RUM." Amuro stated.
"I've discussed it with Akai-shishou and we came to the same conclusion: the code isn't supposed to be split into ASACA and RUM, but rather, it should be read as a single name containing all right letters." Ami informed her lover.
"Karasuma Renya..." Amuro breathed in shock.
"The multi-millionaire that doesn't exist." Ami nodded.
"Damn..." Amuro muttered.
SailorStar9: Any OOC-ness is regretted, by the way. *Sighs* Don't you just hate plot bunnies sometimes? Read and review.