"Even so, why didn't you explain things to me first?" Haibara speaks up. "I was so shocked! I was brought into a room by Hitsuki after she nearly suffocated me to death and thought I was going to die. Then your mom was waiting for me there and told me that I had met your helper for the day. Our neighbor proceeds to hand me a phone and run off with Subaru!"

Haibara grumbles. "not to mention how Hitsuki knows my real name and all. She barely explained what was going on! I was terrified!"

"Wait suffocated? Real name?" Conan asks. "That wasn't part of the plan-"

"Hitsuki. She called me Shiho who the hell is she?!" Haibara yells.

"Actually, I'm not too sure either. She usually lays pretty low and helps out with disguises. I didn't know she knew about you either." Conan notes. "She moved in when I was seven and has kinda been cooking and baking for the neighborhood ever since"

"Plus, we weren't actually sure if the organization was on board or not" The professor speaks.

"I wasn't sure until my mom messaged me that Vermouth was on the train... I couldn't say anything out loud though, our cabin was bugged." Conan continues. "Subaru-san hacked your phone so he thought you were in trouble and told Hitsuki to find you. We're just glad that you followed Hitsuki like we predicted."

"Also, who the hell is that Subaru anyway? Why is he living with your mom in her house?"

"It's alright. He's on our side! And besides, my mom only comes home on the weekends occasionally." Conan notes.

"You still owe me an explanation too." The front door opens and Hitsuki glares at the boy. "You had Subaru knock me out with Chloroform and then your mom proceeded to explain to me that the black organization was after Sherry and they needed my help? The knocking out was completely unnecessary Kudo."

"H-Hitsuki-nee-chan I-"

"Wait. Sherry? Who even is she?" Haibara glares at Hitsuki and she smiles.

"But thanks to the plan" Hitsuki closes the door and sets the treats on the table. "We found out that Bourbon was the Poirot worker."

"Wait wait wait. How does she know about our identities?" Haibara stares at the woman.

"It's hard to not notice two unconscious children taken in by the overweight professor next door you know." Hitsuki grabs the places and places them on the counter. "Besides, I contacted Conan-kun and watched you guys search his house for evidence if he was alive. I flew out of the country shortly after you arrived at the Professor's house."

Hitsuki slices the cake and Haibara glares at her, unconvinced.

"Oh please Ai-chan!" Hitsuki whines. "I'm your mom for love's sake"

"Still doesn't change the fact that you called me Shiho!" Haibara grumbles. Hitsuki hands her a slice of cake and smiles in apology.

"How much do you want to know then?" Hitsuki smiles.

"Everything" Haibara glares, eyes softening after taking a bite from the cake. Hitsuki hands a slice to Conan and the professor before smiling.

"Some secrets can't be said right now. But I'll tell you I have no intention of harming anyone around me" Hitsuki smiles. Haibara senses honesty from her words and settles down.

"Alright Oka-chan" Haibara grumbles.

"Speaking of which, I heard that Amuro's been on sick leave since the incident." The professor speaks up.

"Why he was working part time at Poirot is still a mystery but he probably won't come back. Luckily he thinks Haibara died in the explosion" Conan speaks.

"Wrong" Hitsuki clicks her tongue. "I seduced my way out of there like the madman I am. He's probably going to stay silent on it since Vermouth thinks Sherry's dead"

"Wait what" Conan stares at Hitsuki in shock.

"Mhm" Hitsuki smiles. "Don't worry, he won't speak up about it. I made sure of that"

"Anyways, if he tries anything again we can just investigate him!" Conan notes.

"Anyway, if you guys try something like that behind my back again I won't forgive you!" Haibara complains. "Because I'm not even the least bit happy that someone's been messing with me the whole time!"

"Is that your way of saying thank you?" Conan deadpans.

"Are you thick or something?" Haibara scolds, a blush evident on her face.

"You're welcome Ai-chan!" Hitsuki sings.

"You think she's a tsundere or something?" The professor whispers.

"And what part of that is a dere?" Conan deadpans.

-⧖-

"Ah... this is just too much!" Kogoro speaks. "Who'd have thought that we'd get invited out just to make up for the ruckus on the bell tree express out to your mansion on the Izu Plateau?"

"Nee Sonoko-chan!" Hitsuki smiles. "though I don't think there was anything to make up for"

"That's just the cover story" Sonoko winks. "We're going there for some special tennis training!"

"Do you mean you have a tournament coming up?" Ran asks.

"Something even more important than a tournament just dropped into my life! Take a look at this!" Sonoko pulls up a phone and a video of Makoto shows up.

"He's inviting you to a Tennis date!" Hitsuki and Ran both exclaim.

"Exactly! It's going to be a romantic evening out with just the two of us..." Sonoko gushes.

"If that's the case, it's not as though you need special training" Conan deadpans.

"Excuse me?! I'm a member of the tennis club you know!! I'm not going to let myself just get beat by a beginner" Sonoko yells.

"Why don't you ask an upperclassman to train in the club with you then?" Ran asks.

"They're too weak to be of any use!" Sonoko complains.

"But dad and I aren't good enough to teach you..." Ran reminds.

"Hitsuki-chan can!"

Hitsuki jumps in her seat and speaks frantically. "No no! I'm just slightly better than the average player"

"But we also have it sorted out in case Hitsuki backed out on us! Right Kogoro-oji-sama?" Sonoko mention.

"Yep! I've got us a special coach!" he sings.

Amuro slams the ball down on Conan's court and Hitsuki cracks up. "Tooru-kun you're just as good as expected!"

"Right! Amuro-san you're amazing!"

"Just like Nadal!" Sonoko cheers.

Conan's face darkens and Hitsuki rubs his head affectionately.

"I was stunned when Poirot's manager told me that you were once a junior champion." Kogoro mentions.

"Well, straight after that I injured my shoulder and I can't quite serve like before." Amuro laughs. "But if it's just for teaching then the injury shouldn't be much of a hindrance"

"Thanks for having me!" Sonoko cheers.

"Are you sure you'll be fine? I heard you got sick." Hitsuki eyes him.

"It was just a summer cold" Amuro notes. "I'll be back at Poirot by next week!"

Conan glares at him in confusion and Hitsuki soothes him slightly.

"There seems to be a lot of people in the viewing gallery." Amuro stares at the people that have gathered around the court.

"Tooru-kun! Could we play a match?" Hitsuki grins. "Give them a show?"

Amuro stares at Hitsuki and smiles. "Sure Hitsuki-chan."

Hitsuki rubs Conan's head affectionately and sends them to the outside in case it got harsh.

Amuro serves the ball and Hitsuki receives it perfectly. The ball goes back and forth as the speed picks up on both sides. Amuro hits the ball back to Hitsuki and yells.

"Watch out!" Hitsuki checks behind her swiftly before she hits the ball so that it intercepts the racket that was about to hit Conan. Conan tenses up in shock and Hitsuki runs over to check his condition.

"Did you get hurt?" Hitsuki checks his face and head for any wounds.

"I'm so sorry!" a woman runs up to them. "That was my racket!"

"Thank goodness he's in one piece" Hitsuki dusts off her hands and sighs. Conan stumbles a bit and Hitsuki levels him.

"I'm so sorry! Could I make it up by taking you all to my place?" the woman speaks up and Hitsuki blinks.

"Ah it's fi-" Hitsuki starts but Kogoro speaks up.

"Sure sure!" Conan glares at Amuro before passing out from shock. Hitsuki catches the boy and carries him.

"That would be best" Hitsuki smiles.

-⧖-

Conan wakes up all dizzy and Hitsuki hands him a cup of water.

"Conan-kun are you feeling alright? You seemed to have passed out from shock." Conan nods and stares at his surrounding.

"Where are we? This isn't Sonoko-nee-chan's house is it?"

"This is the house of the lady who threw her racket at you" Sonoko explains.

"It's my house!" A blonde lady walks in the room. "I'm so sorry little boy! My hands were so sweaty and my racket just slipped..."

"I told you!" a short-haired woman comes in. "You should wrap the grip tape properly onto the racket handle since your hands get clammy easily"

"But what a shame! If the battery on my phone hadn't died, I could've recorded the impact the scene and upload it onto the internet. 'Killer racket assaults little boy in failed attempt... at a killer serve!'" a chubby man walks in and Hitsuki sighs.

"How can you say that when a little kid was hurt?" another man walks in and Hitsuki gives up on describing them.

"I was just trying to lighten the mood" The man explains.

"Urui might have died because of your sense of humor!" the slim man speaks up and and the four continue speaking about it. They eventually agree to play doubles and Sonoko's stomach rumbles.

"We've got some Hiyashi Chuka noodles for lunch if you'd like to join us!" the blonde lady speaks up.

"We sure would!" Kogoro cheers.

"Would that be alright?" Amuro asks.

"Of course! I need to do something to make up for the incident anyway" the woman smiles.

"No need to prepare mine then" the chubby man speaks. "I'll clean up the rest of the ice cream cake.

"you're never going to lose weight like that" the short-haired woman speaks.

"Hitsuki-nee-chan" Conan tugs at Hitsuki's shirt and she crouches.

"Hm?"

"Who carried me here?" Conan asks.

"Ah, it was Tooru-kun." Hitsuki smiles. "I was carrying you at first but then he offered to help me out since I got tired"

"huh. But I thought he..." Conan stares at Amuro and Hitsuki smiles.

"Don't worry about him." Hitsuki smiles. Conan's about to ask a question before he feels a wave of dizziness.

"Can I sleep?" Conan mumbles.

"Mhm," Hitsuki carries him and sets him in a room with AC. "Sleep well, detective..."

-⧖-

Hitsuki pauses and the group gathers in front of the fat man's room. Amuro reveals his specialty at picking locks. Hitsuki yawns as they get searching for evidence. Soon enough, it's the little detective's time to shine again. He pulls out his watch cap but gets interrupted.

"Hm? What are you up to Conan-kun?" Amuro stands in front of his watch lid and Conan curses in his head.

"Er... my watch lid is broken!" Conan lies quickly and Hitsuki sighs. Poor boy.

"come to think of it, isn't it impossible for the sound to be from the falling vase?" the slim man speaks up.

"When the noise was sounded, the only people in the room were the body and sleeping boy."

"it's not like a vase could fall over by itself" the blonde woman mutters.

"Ah but what if there was something holding the vase on top?" Hitsuki notes. "Like ice perhaps? The ice would melt and then the bottle would flip over."

"But then we would have found traces of water on the floor"

"Then something like dry ice that's traceless?"

"Then dry ice perhaps?" Ran mentions. "Since it's made of carbon dioxide it would just disappear."

"But you can't carry that" Kogoro speaks up.

"They used Ishigiri-san to carry those!" Amuro notes. "There was probably dry ice in the box of ice cream cake Ishiguri-san said he would eat for lunch. The culprit, after killing Ishiguri-san with the vase likely laid the racket over the dry ice and slipped it under his body. They most likely attached a string to it and pulled his body under next to the door. The string probably wasn't tied. All they had to do was bonk him near the exit and then they left the door slightly ajar to slide his body a short distance."

"I see!" Ran realizes. "That's why I felt a chill on my feet when I went near the room. The dry ice cubes were right behind the door."

The course of the truth of the case trickles out and Hitsuki laughs on her way home. Oh, how sweet.

-⧖-

"Yes, the case has been solved..." Bourbon speaks. "Thanks to the great detective Mouri"

"Is that so?" Champagne notes. "But how long do you plan to stick with that detective? Ever since that Kir incident, you said you wanted to monitor that detective who might be suspiciously related to Sherry... and I've given you plenty of support. But the business is over right? You sent Sherry to her grave after all..."

"No, my interest has just suddenly been piqued." Bourbon smiles as he remembers the runaway. "In the sleeping detective known as Sleeping Kogorou, that is..."

-✿-

Fun facts about this chapter:

Bourbon has never met anyone from Rosé's branch including Rosé
Hitsuki lied this chapter about not carrying Conan the whole way
Gosho's confirmed fact: Amuro lied about having broken his shoulder
Hitsuki has met Amuro on multiple occasions with multiple identities but he has never met her with her actual identity
I trust that you know but the original speaker in the last part was Vermouth