Chapter 313: The Children's Hide-and-Seek
"Everyone holds a completely different attitude toward their Vision, don't they?" Ayaka murmured, her gaze distant as she reflected on the nature of the elemental artifacts.
Natsume nodded, leaning back against her seat. "Yeah. Just look at Ningguang. She originally wanted to sell hers to the highest bidder. Keqing even tried to destroy her Vision on multiple occasions, though unfortunately for her, she never quite succeeded."
A soft smile graced Ayaka's features. "In my eyes, a Vision carries a person's most sincere wishes and the grandest dreams from deep within their heart. For some, losing it means losing their way forward. Their lives become confused and aimless, stripped of all ambition. Yet, there are others who merely see it as a convenient, practical tool. Naturally, those individuals do not care too much about it."
On the other side of the estate, the guest room housing the children remained a chaotic hub of activity. Since they had all been dragged into a dreamscape while watching the earlier match, their physical bodies had rested. Now, despite the late hour, none of them felt the slightest bit of fatigue. Boundless energy practically bounced off the traditional paper screens.
Ayumi clapped her hands together, her eyes sparkling with sudden inspiration. "Hey, why don't we play hide-and-seek!"
Genta pumped a fist into the air, his loud voice echoing through the quiet halls. "Great idea! This place is huge. There are so many awesome spots to hide around here. It will definitely be fun."
Conan pinched the bridge of his nose, thoroughly startled by their sudden whim. He immediately stepped forward to shut the idea down. "That is not a good idea, guys. We are guests in someone else's home. We cannot just run around randomly and cause trouble."
Mitsuhiko tilted his head, offering a compromise. "We can just play inside this specific courtyard. It should be fine as long as we do not go inside the main house, right?"
Before Conan could argue further, Klee tossed her Akasha Terminal onto a nearby cushion and shot her hand into the air. "It is okay! Klee just asked Big Sister Ayaka, and she said it is perfectly fine to play outside in the courtyard."
The little Spark Knight then turned her bright red eyes toward a thoroughly helpless Conan. "Oh, Big Sister Ayaka also asked me to pass on a message. Big Sister Ran told Klee to remind Conan not to run around and get lost while playing the game."
Conan felt imaginary black lines drop down the back of his head. His mouth twitched. 'How did Ran even get in touch with Ayaka? And why did she have to give me such a specific, embarrassing reminder? Do I really run off that often?'
He genuinely lacked the self-awareness to answer his own question.
Haibara watched his internal crisis play out across his face. She crossed her arms and offered a cool, amused smirk. "It seems a certain great detective does not give his precious Ran much peace of mind."
Conan offered no defense, merely letting out a dry, hollow chuckle. "Heh heh..."
With the estate owner's official permission secured, Genta, Ayumi, and Mitsuhiko huddled together to hash out the rules. They quickly played a few rounds of rock-paper-scissors to determine the order of seekers and hiders.
The moment the game commenced, the children scattered like startled birds, diving behind bushes and ornamental rocks.
A few rounds passed in a blur of giggles and rustling leaves. Inevitably, it became Conan's turn to be the seeker.
He let out a long, suffering sigh, leaned against a wooden pillar, and covered his eyes. "One. Two. Three..."
The frantic patter of small footsteps echoed across the gravel as the others scrambled to secure the ultimate hiding spots.
"Ninety-nine. One hundred." Conan slowly opened his eyes, adjusting his glasses as he scanned the moonlit courtyard.
He took a few steps forward, his sharp detective gaze sweeping over the manicured shrubs, the stone lanterns, and the shadows cast by the towering trees. A sly smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. 'These guys are actually pretty good at hiding. I cannot see a single soul.'
He shook his head, muttering under his breath. "And then there is Haibara. She acted so aloof, claiming she did not want to play. But once the counting started, she vanished faster than anyone."
Conan straightened his posture, his competitive streak flaring to life. He refused to lose a simple game of hide-and-seek to a bunch of actual elementary schoolers. Failing to find them all would be utterly humiliating, and Haibara would never let him live it down.
Prowling through the garden, Conan unconsciously drifted toward the main entrance of the courtyard. Just as he was about to pivot away, a flicker of movement caught his eye. A small, child-sized figure darted past the open gate. They moved with startling speed, their silhouette vanishing into the corridor before he could even register a face.
Conan exhaled a soft, exasperated sigh. "These guys... did we not agree to stay inside the courtyard boundaries? Why did someone run out?"
Grumbling about how much of a handful they were, Conan stepped past the gate, determined to catch the rule-breaker first.
Peering down the dimly lit hallway, Conan caught a fleeting glimpse of a small back disappearing around the corner. He shifted his weight, ready to give chase, when a sudden vibration buzzed against his thigh.
He paused, instinctively digging into his pocket to retrieve his phone. The screen lit up, illuminating his tired expression. As expected, the sender ID displayed the name of that endlessly exasperating detective from Osaka, Heiji Hattori.
Conan rolled his eyes hard enough to strain them. 'Does this guy ever shut up?'
Without a second thought, he tapped the power button, decisively blacking out the screen. Hattori had already bombarded him with no fewer than ten utterly pointless text messages tonight alone.
The messages ranged from complaining about Kogoro's devastating snores keeping him awake, to rambling about the Jade Chamber's Akasha Terminals and whether he should buy one. He even texted to question if the bizarre events he witnessed at the Takahashi estate were just a wild hallucination.
Because of Hattori's poorly timed interruption, by the time Conan shoved the phone away and looked up again, the hallway was completely empty. The small figure was gone without a trace.
Meanwhile, deep within the estate, the 'child' Conan had just spotted was already kneeling inside the private study of the Kamisato Residence, preparing to report the results of today's investigation regarding the Takahashi family directly to Ayato.
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