Late Night.
"He looks like he's in a lot of pain..."
Hattori and Tsuneo stood on either side of the bed, peering down at a fast-asleep Conan.
"Is it because of that prank photo?" Hattori asked with a yawn.
Even at such a young age, the boy's brow was furrowed so deeply in his sleep that he looked like he was carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders.
"He's whimpering and tossing. Should we just throw him out?" Tsuneo suggested.
"I second that..."
Early Morning.
"Ugh..."
Conan rubbed his eyes as he sat up.
Why am I sleeping inside the gaming capsule?
Tsuneo was already awake, sitting in front of the TV with a bowl of rice, watching the morning news.
"Where's Hattori?" the Great Detective asked, hopping out of the Cocoon pod. He washed his face quickly and scooped himself a bowl of breakfast.
"He ran back to Osaka at the crack of dawn. Probably went to beg Kazuha for forgiveness on his hands and knees," Tsuneo said with a chuckle.
They had agreed to meet for dinner, but he'd forgotten to tell her he wasn't coming, and then he'd gone off the radar for the entire night. A "passionate" yakiniku session with a female teacher was a hard one to explain away.
"Conan-kun!"
A shout drifted in from outside the window.
"It's Ayumi and Genta." Conan opened the living room window and waved to the two kids.
The Great Detective suddenly remembered: today was the day for the neighborhood's summer health gymnastics.
"Seriously, Conan! If the Professor hadn't called Brother Tsuneo, we would've gone all the way to the agency and found nobody there," Genta grumbled. He naturally joined the breakfast table and had already polished off half a bowl of rice.
"Genta, stop eating! We have to exercise in a minute," Ayumi scolded him, looking exasperated.
Didn't he already eat at home?
"Oh, right. I almost forgot." Genta grinned. The moment he'd walked in, Tsuneo had handed him a bowl, and he'd just reflexively started eating.
"Can this machine still run?" Ayumi asked, standing by the Cocoon capsule with a look of curiosity.
The newspapers had reported that due to certain "technical issues," the development of the virtual reality game had been suspended indefinitely. It seemed the Schindler Company had faced massive legal pressure and cancelled the project.
"We're just keeping it as a souvenir," Tsuneo said, choosing not to mention anything about Noah's Ark. He began clearing the table.
"Speaking of which, the Pirate World was so cool. The ocean was full of eels!"
It hadn't been that long, but Genta was clearly already craving eel rice again.
"Heh heh..." Conan's eyes went flat.
He was certain that if Genta was seeing eels everywhere, it was definitely Noah's Ark playing a little joke in the system.
After breakfast, Tsuneo led the three children over to Dr. Agasa's house. Under Haibara's strict supervision, the Professor had been forced to participate in the summer health gymnastics every day.
Tsuneo couldn't quite remember when summer vacation had actually started, yet it was already nearing its end...
"That case last night... it didn't have anything to do with you two, did it?" Haibara asked, casting a side-eye at the handyman and the detective.
The morning news had briefly mentioned the fall at the apartment building, though the media hadn't managed to get many details yet.
"Wherever this Grim Reaper goes, people tend to drop dead," Tsuneo said, giving Conan's head a light tap.
Tsuneo had visited Jodie's apartment several times and everything had been perfectly peaceful. The moment this kid showed up, someone took a dive.
"Everyone, it's time to go!" Akemi called out, wearing her apron. She helpfully hung a National Health Gymnastics attendance card around her sister's neck.
"Let's go, Professor. Don't even think about escaping," Haibara said, fixing the old man with a sharp gaze.
"I—I just wanted to change my clothes..."
"One, two, three, four! Five, six, seven, eight!"
The school playground was filled with people. It wasn't just kids; parents and residents of all ages were following along with the rhythmic exercises.
"This is ridiculous. I should be enjoying my summer as a high school sophomore, and instead, I'm stuck here..." Conan muttered. He waved his arms like a soulless robot, his movements entirely mechanical.
"It's actually quite fun to do this every once in a while," Tsuneo remarked. His movements were crisp and perfectly in time with the music.
"Hey, my attendance card is almost full of stamps..." Conan sighed.
"Conan, you have to take this seriously!" Genta, the "leader" of the group, was currently acting as a drill sergeant.
"He's right," Haibara said while stretching her waist. "If you don't pay attention to exercise while you're young, you'll regret it when you're older. High blood pressure, diabetes, high cholesterol, hyperlipidemia... these can lead to cerebral embolisms and a host of other related diseases."
"..."
Conan remained unimpressed, but the Professor's arms started swinging with significantly more vigor.
"It's a great summer memory, after all," Ayumi added with a nod.
"Where's Mitsuhiko?"
Tsuneo noticed the Junior Detective League was missing a member.
"I don't know. He didn't show up at our usual meeting spot today," Ayumi said. "Genta and I thought he'd just head straight to the school."
"He probably overslept. He might not even be out of bed yet," Genta added.
Even Ayumi and Genta, who were usually with him, had no idea why he was absent.
"Mitsuhiko isn't like Genta; he's not that loose with his schedule. He wouldn't miss a group activity without a reason," Conan noted, performing the jumping-jacks portion of the routine.
Genta: "..."
"Maybe he's sick? Should we stop by his house on the way back?" the Professor suggested. Compared to the others, Mitsuhiko was a reliable kid; it felt strange for him to miss out without saying a word.
"Mrs. Tsuburaya makes a mean cake," Tsuneo noted helpfully.
"Really? What flavor?" Genta's ears perked up. He had been to Mitsuhiko's house many times, but he'd never caught a freshly baked cake.
Even the Professor looked at Tsuneo with interest at the mention of sweets.
"The chocolate sauce she uses is a special brand, hard to find. It's not too sweet or too heavy—just right," Tsuneo recalled. All the neighborhood mothers had their own signature skills. Sometimes, remembering a specific flavor was enough to remind him of a long-time client.
The group arrived at the front of the Tsuburaya villa and rang the doorbell.
"Eh?"
"Quite a crowd today!" The door was opened by a teenage girl around fifteen or sixteen with short hair. Her resemblance to Mitsuhiko made it obvious she was his older sister.
"Asami, is there any cake today?" Tsuneo asked with a grin.
Conan: "..."
This guy knows everyone, and he's on a first-name basis with all of them.
"You're just in time. Mom baked some yesterday, and there's one piece left," Asami Tsuburaya said, waving them inside. It was clear she was quite familiar with the handyman.
"Wait, did you say Mitsuhiko didn't show up for gymnastics?"
Asami looked puzzled as she brought a piece of chocolate cake out of the kitchen for Tsuneo.
"Is he not home?" Tsuneo noticed Genta and the Professor staring at the cake, so he sighed and divided it into four pieces for them.
"No. That's strange... he told me that after gymnastics, he was going to go camping in the wilderness with all of you."
"He was so excited about it. He's been preparing since last night. He even said he had to bring extra bamboo leaf rice balls so he could make sure everyone was fed."
Asami recalled her brother's odd behavior from the night before.
"Feed everyone?"
"Bamboo leaf rice balls?"
Conan blinked, confused. Why would he need to feed us with bamboo leaf rice balls?
-------------------------------
I've already uploaded 40 chapters of this story on Patreon!
If you enjoy it, come check out the latest chapters in advance.
Here's the link:
[pat*eon*com/DaoistRoeoNQ]
Thank you so much for your support!!!
"And If you're enjoying it, drop a Power Stone for me!"