The Spirits of the Forest
After the group had chatted for a while, the conversation circled back to the whole reason they'd come out here tonight — hunting for fireflies.
"Let me think, fireflies usually show up around..." Before Conan could finish, Nahida cut him off again.
"This way." The same scene from before played out once more — Nahida had spoken up a step ahead of him, pointing out the direction where the fireflies would be found.
Conan could only stare, dumbfounded, as the other children trooped off after her pointing finger.
Seriously? Genta and Ayumi don't have any doubts? And fine, finding Mitsuhiko he could accept — you could plausibly explain that away as deducing his location from the surrounding traces. But how could she be so certain about the fireflies too? Had she been here before?
"Really?" Mitsuhiko asked Nahida, eyes shining. "There are really fireflies over this way? I've been searching forever."
Genta didn't even wait for her to answer before jumping in. "Yeah, no way she's wrong. Nahida's the one who led us straight to you last time."
Ayumi nodded along eagerly. "Nahida's super smart. She knows so many things — of course she'd know where the fireflies are."
Conan: "......"
That's not exactly the same thing, you know. Just because someone knows a lot doesn't mean they can find fireflies. That still comes down to luck...
Haibara caught the look of gloom on his face and remarked, with just a hint of mockery, "My, my. The great detective didn't manage to contribute much this time, and now he's in a sulk."
Conan gave her profile a flat, wordless stare. "That is not why I'm annoyed, okay? I just can't figure out how Nahida manages to find the right direction every single time."
It's almost as if she knows every blade of grass in this forest personally...
Still, that couldn't be it.
Conan shook his head with a wry smile, dismissing the idea. According to Xia Xi, Nahida had only come to Japan for the very first time recently, and her behavior so far made it clear she wasn't familiar with the country. Even if she had passed through this forest at some point, she couldn't know it that well.
So how on earth is she so sure she'll find fireflies here?
"We're here."
While Conan was still turning the question over in his mind, Nahida finally led the whole group to their destination.
Conan looked up to find a small pond before them, quiet and serene, ringed by low shrubs. From somewhere in the foliage came the occasional chirp of an insect, the only sound breaking the stillness.
Genta surveyed the scene with clear disappointment. "Huh? There's no fireflies here at all. Nahida, did you take a wrong turn or something?"
Unbothered by his doubt, Nahida walked up to the edge of the pond. When Agasa hurried over to warn her to be careful, she gave him a small smile, then said, "We're not in the wrong place. The fireflies are right here. Look..."
The moment the words left her lips, everyone followed her gaze — and along the banks of the pond, on the tips of the shrubs, points of firefly light began to kindle, flickering one after another. Then the lights lifted into the air and drifted among them, dancing all around, as if the stars of the night sky had come down to settle beside the children.
"Whoa! It's fireflies!!"
Mitsuhiko, Genta, and Ayumi cried out in unison at the beautiful, dreamlike sight.
Haibara murmured beside Conan, "Getting to see a view like this once while I'm still alive... I suppose that means it wasn't a waste."
Conan had been absorbed in the spectacle himself, but her words snapped him out of it at once. He shot her a sideways, exasperated glance. "Hey. You're not still hung up on that whole harbor thing, are you?"
He turned to look at her seriously. "Don't be so pessimistic. As long as you're alive, anything is possible. I promise — next year I'll bring everyone back here to see the fireflies again. And next time, not a single one of us will be missing."
Though chances are the person who comes then won't be Edogawa Conan, but Kudo Shinichi. And I could bring Ran along, too. When that happens...
Haibara had actually been a little touched by his words — until she saw the faraway, dreamy expression that crept over his face the moment he finished speaking, and promptly lost the mood entirely. She decided she'd had enough of Conan and turned her attention fully to the scenery instead, though the faint gloom she'd carried had lifted, and at last a genuine smile settled onto her face.
By now even Agasa and Xia Xi, the two adults present, had momentarily lost themselves in the beauty of the scene.
"Oh, right — Nahida, how did you know there'd be fireflies here?"
After watching for a while, Conan's curiosity finally got the better of him, and he wandered over to Nahida's side to ask.
Haibara noticed him moving and sighed inwardly.
Good grief. He can't even go out to have fun without chasing down an answer to satisfy his curiosity, can he?
Nahida tilted her head and gave him her answer. "The spirits of the forest told me."
"Spi... spirits?" Of all the answers he might have imagined, this wasn't one of them. "Nahida, are you joking? There's no such thing as spi—" in this world.
Once again, before he could finish the sentence, Conan was cut off for the second time that night.
"Really?! There really are spirits?!" Ayumi, Genta, and Mitsuhiko had all been watching curiously when Conan posed his question, and at Nahida's answer they burst out in astonished excitement.
Nahida nodded. "Mm-hm, it's true. They're the ones who told me where Mitsuhiko was, and they're the ones who told me we could see fireflies here."
Conan wasn't buying it. "Really? Then how come we've never seen any?"
"Because they're a little shy," Nahida said, "and they don't know you yet."
She looked at Ayumi and the others and went on, "The spirits of the forest can only be seen by kind-hearted children. As long as you all keep being kind and brave, one day you'll see them too."
Hearing that they might get to see spirits someday, Genta and the others swore up and down that they would never do anything bad again — they'd be good kids from now on...
The corner of Conan's mouth twitched as he watched them swallow it whole.
That's so obviously something you say to comfort little kids. So in the end, I still have no idea how she actually found Mitsuhiko.
"Who's there? Come out!"
Suddenly, Xia Xi sensed someone in the woods behind them. She whipped her head around and shouted, stepping in front of the children in a single fluid motion.
Conan snapped his attention away as well, every nerve taut, and turned to stare warily back the way they'd come, easing into position in front of the children alongside Haibara.
Someone in the woods? Maybe they just wandered in by accident. Please don't let them be dangerous — there are so many kids here...
Wait. No.
Conan shifted his gaze to Xia Xi's back. Perhaps it was whoever was hiding out there who should be worried.
The thought had barely formed before he relaxed. With Xia Xi here, given just how strong she was, as long as their uninvited guest wasn't too numerous, everything would be fine.