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"Was this your doing?" Haibara stared at Hana Fumei like she could see right through him. "You've been going out a lot lately. Very suspicious."
Hana Fumei let out an awkward laugh. "A lot of people go out. Why am I the only one who's suspicious?"
Haibara rolled her eyes. "Because there probably isn't a second person in the world who can appear and disappear like you do."
"Nonsense!" Hana Fumei snapped back, clearly annoyed. "I can name someone else—what about Kaito Kid? That guy's always vanishing into thin air. Why aren't you accusing him?"
"Him?" Haibara let out a small laugh. "He's a thief. You are a killer. Big difference."
Hana Fumei scratched his head in defeat. "Alright, fine. You know the truth, just don't go around telling everyone. I really don't want Conan and his over-the-top sense of justice coming after me."
"Wait, so it really was you?" Haibara looked genuinely shocked.
Hana Fumei froze, then suddenly realized—"Damn it! You were testing me!"
"Yep, I was. Didn't think you'd fall for it so easily," Haibara replied casually. "Relax, even if Conan finds out, he won't turn you in. He quoted Sherlock Holmes this time, remember?"
Hana Fumei raised an eyebrow. "What quote?"
Haibara yawned and turned to walk away, tossing a line over her shoulder: "When law and conscience conflict, I prefer to cheat the law…"
The weather cleared up, and Hana Fumei went back to the daily grind of school life.
The old him would've totally scoffed at this kind of routine, but after all he'd been through, even his mindset seemed to have changed. Hanging out with the kids didn't annoy him anymore—in fact, it felt kinda... relaxing?
Yeah, let's just blame it all on that whole "back to basics" thing.
During a rare break, Professor Agasa drove the kids out to the mountains for a camping trip.
The car stopped at a scenic spot with mountains and a river. Genta, Ayumi, and Mitsuhiko couldn't wait—they bolted straight to the water.
"Hey! Come quick, there's a fish here!"
"Where? Where?!"
As the kids hollered excitedly, Conan got out of the car with his hands in his pockets, grumbling under his breath, "Why are we camping in this freezing weather anyway?"
Haibara nodded in agreement. "Only little kids would be this hyped right now."
Just as she said that, they saw Hana Fumei laughing loudly, holding a fish in his hands. "Hahaha! I caught it!"
"Whoa! Awesome!"
"Fumei-chan, you're amazing!"
Soaking in the praise from the kids, Hana Fumei proudly lifted his chin, but tried to sound humble: "Oh, it's nothing, really! I'm just, y'know, a few hundred million times more skilled than you guys. No big deal."
Conan and Haibara were speechless. Could it really be true—was this guy actually just a kid?
Ignoring the rowdy bunch, Conan turned to Professor Agasa. "Anyway, let's get the tents out first."
So Professor Agasa started digging through the trunk… but the longer he looked, the weirder his expression got.
"What's wrong, Professor?" Conan asked, suddenly uneasy. "Don't tell me… you forgot the tents?"
"Uh… haha… Congratulations, you guessed right!" the professor chuckled awkwardly.
Conan just sighed in total defeat.
With no choice, the group piled back into the car and prepared to head home. The fish they caught? Back into the river it went.
They'd been driving around the mountain for half an hour, but somehow still hadn't found the way out. Professor Agasa, behind the wheel, was sweating nervously. It was obvious—they were lost.
He glanced around at everyone in the car and sighed in relief. Good, the kids hadn't realized it yet. They were a bit slow to catch on.
"This is ridiculous," Genta grumbled from the front seat. "Who goes camping and forgets the tents? There goes my whole holiday—down the toilet."
Hana Fumei helpfully corrected him, "You mean 'down the drain,' right?"
"....."