Let's Go Find Fireflies Together
"Radio calisthenics! Starting positions..."
"One, two, three, four! Five, six, seven, eight..."
Xia Xi followed the instructor's commands with a thoroughly bored expression, going through the motions of an even more thoroughly boring set of exercises.
She sighed inwardly. She didn't actually need to be out here doing this pointless workout at all. She would gladly have taken on four more commissions rather than waste her time on these sluggish stretches.
At that thought, Xia Xi let her resentful gaze drift toward the very reason she'd been dragged here in the first place — Nahida, who was exercising with great enthusiasm alongside the kids of the Junior Detective League.
That's right. The only reason she was here was that, with Nahida around, the kids hadn't forgotten their little friend. Knowing that Nahida hadn't left yet, they had eagerly invited her to join the morning calisthenics.
And Nahida hadn't turned them down. On the contrary, she seemed genuinely interested in the whole affair, and had hauled Xia Xi along with her.
In her own words: "Even a Traveler needs to relax now and then. Too much stress builds up, and then — like a branch buried under heavy snow — one day it simply snaps under the weight. And that wouldn't be good at all..."
Xia Xi hadn't argued with her, but she'd still been dragged to the scene regardless, and now she could only plod through the simple exercises with a blank face.
Fine. Just as Nahida said — she'd treat it as a rest day.
At the moment, in the crowd, someone sharing Xia Xi's exact sentiment was Conan, eyes half-lidded, grumbling to himself.
Seriously? He was supposed to be enjoying his summer vacation as a high school sophomore, and instead he was stuck out here doing this... It was all those two men in black's fault.
At that thought, Conan's mind drifted back to the standoff at the port a little over a week ago. There had been plenty of surprises, but at least they'd come away with something — thanks to the transmitter he'd planted, he'd captured the tones of the Organization boss's email address.
But just who was that man?
Conan thought of the man who had appeared so abruptly, both at Twilight Mansion and at the port — the man even the FBI agents hadn't been a match for — and his expression grew grave.
What's more, he was certain the man had noticed Conan's own abnormalities, and had also seen through Haibara's true identity. Yet for some reason, like Vermouth, he hadn't revealed any of it to the rest of the Organization. Had Vermouth said something to him? Or had they struck some kind of deal?
Either way, the secret staying quiet was a good thing.
Up until now, he'd only told Haibara that Vermouth had promised to stop hunting her; he'd said nothing about the man. In Conan's view, the fact that Vermouth had been willing to make that promise meant she must have had some confidence the man wouldn't spill Haibara's secret either.
He still didn't fully understand why Vermouth was so concerned about him, but for now, his guess seemed to have held up.
Just then, Genta, annoyed at Conan's absentmindedness, called out, "Hey, Conan! You're supposed to take this seriously..."
Ayumi chimed in too. "Radio calisthenics is one of the most important memories of summer vacation, you know!"
Haibara, keeping one eye on Professor Agasa, nodded in agreement. "That's right. If you don't exercise properly when you're young, it'll be too late when you're older. High blood pressure, high cholesterol, high blood sugar — they'll all come knocking..."
"I get it, I get it..." Professor Agasa, visibly frightened by little Haibara's words, quickened his pace.
Xia Xi overheard the children's exchange and felt even more resigned. See? None of this had anything to do with her.
She had zero interest in radio calisthenics, and certainly no sentimental memories attached to it. As for high blood pressure, cholesterol, and blood sugar — she rather doubted a Traveler's constitution was capable of contracting such ailments.
Come to think of it, though, someone was missing today...
"Ayumi, does Mitsuhiko have something going on today? I didn't see him come with you," Xia Xi asked.
Ayumi looked puzzled as well. "I don't know. We haven't seen him today either."
After a group discussion, everyone agreed that, out of concern for Mitsuhiko, they would head over to his house afterward to check on him.
But when they arrived at the Mitsuhiko residence, they were stunned to learn from his older sister that he had left home very early that morning — saying that after calisthenics, he was going camping with the rest of the Junior Detective League, and he'd even taken a whole pile of bamboo-leaf rice balls with him.
Mitsuhiko's sister warmly invited everyone up to his room. Mitsuhiko had a habit of leaving notes behind — maybe he'd left one this time too.
"How strange. Looks like he didn't leave a note this time," his sister said, bewildered, after rummaging through the drawers of Mitsuhiko's room. "And he took his wallet with him, too."
At that, the kids all began to wonder — could Mitsuhiko have run away from home?!
But based on the clues they found afterward, his sister concluded that Mitsuhiko had probably gone to the seaside with a girl from the flower shop.
Nahida suddenly spoke up. "Why the seaside? I think it might be the forest, actually."
Conan looked confused. "Nahida, why do you think it's the forest?"
Instead of answering right away, Nahida smiled and turned to Haibara and Ayumi. "Haibara, Ayumi — do you remember what you said the day we watched the fireworks?"
Haibara and Ayumi thought back for a moment before remembering — while watching the fireworks, they had said they wished they could see fireflies with their own eyes, just once.
During the days Nahida had spent at Xia Xi's side, the Junior Detective League kids had often come by to play with her, and she'd been there on the night of the fireworks. Naturally, she'd noticed Mitsuhiko's reaction when Ayumi and Haibara voiced that wish. What's more, for a while afterward, Mitsuhiko had been dreaming about it — and things a person dreams about so intently tend to reach Nahida all on their own.
She just hadn't expected Mitsuhiko to have such drive — planning to go catch fireflies all by himself. Wandering into a forest alone wasn't safe. And besides, something like this was only meaningful if friends did it together, wasn't it?
Having heard all this, Conan understood what Nahida was getting at. He thought of the bamboo-leaf rice balls — damp bamboo leaves made it easy for fireflies to roost — and confirmed with her, "So you're saying Mitsuhiko went into the forest today to catch fireflies, to make Ayumi's and Haibara's wish come true?"
"Mm." Nahida nodded. "Back when we watched the fireworks, I noticed his reaction was a little odd, but I never imagined he'd plan to go off on his own."
Then she tilted her head and smiled at the other kids. "So — how about we catch up to Mitsuhiko and go find the fireflies together?"
"Of course we should!" Genta threw his hand up at once, loudly endorsing Nahida's proposal. "No way we're letting Mitsuhiko go off and do this alone!"
"Yeah! Mitsuhiko went into the forest for our sake, for our wish — so of course we're going with him," Ayumi and Haibara said, nodding together.
As for Conan, though his expression betrayed a touch of resignation, he didn't refuse Nahida's suggestion either.