Chapter 8 Date with Ayumi

My eyes fluttered wide open when I felt the cool breeze brushing against my skin. My eyes darted around and my face turned red when I noticed Ayumi was hugging me like her stuffed pink unicorn. Her soft body felt warm and comforting, with her arms gently rubbing against mine. Her arms were tightly coiled around my neck, and her hair had a rosy aromatic scent. I gently smiled her innocent figure. Ayumi wore a pink-flowered pattern pajamas set. I took a glance at myself and found that I wore an airplane-patterned pajamas set. I almost gave a nosebleed with the thought of any Yoshida Family members bathing and changing clothes for me, especially Ayumi. Most probably Mr. Yoshida was the one who dressed for me, I thought to myself. Putting the thoughts aside, I glanced at the clock. 6:00AM. “Oh, you’re awake, John,” a sleepy voice said beside me. “Gomene, Ayumi, did I wake you up?” I asked. Ayumi shook her head and squeezed me tighter. “It’s so comfortable hugging you,” she muttered, and she soon fell back asleep.

            “You were lucky last time, but not this time,” a voice spoke behind me. The man with long silver hair wearing a black hat with matching black trench coat, and green turtleneck sweater appeared behind me. “Gin!” I exclaim in horror. “Say goodbye to your little sweetheart, Johnathan Smith,” smirked Gin. On his right hand, he held up Ayumi by her collar, and on his left hand, he held Ayumi at gunpoint. “John, save me!” yelled Ayumi, and Gin took the shot. “Ayumi!” I yelled back, and bolted up straight. Ayumi was sitting up, staring at me. “Are you ok, John? You were shouting my name,” frowned Ayumi. “I guess it’s just a nightmare,” I replied. “It’s about that big case, right?” asked Ayumi. “Yeah, but the bad people have already been put to jail,” I sighed. “Daijoke, Ayumi is always here with you,” she kissed my cheek. “Arigatou, Ayumi,” I whispered. “Oh yeah, how did you like your pajamas?” she grinned. “I like it. Who dressed for me?” I asked. “Ayumi did,” beamed Ayumi. My nostrils shot out blood like rockets. “Are you okay? Your nose is bleeding,” noted Ayumi. “I-I’m fine. I-It’s just the hot weather,” I said. “Hot weather? It’s cold in here,” said Ayumi.

            A voice chuckled by the door, and we both turned our heads to see Mrs. Yoshida standing, with her hands on her hips. “O-Okasan!” Ayumi gave three shades of red. “Gomene, Ayumi, I can’t help to see how sweet you both are to each other,” Mrs. Yoshida continued to chuckle. “Nevermind her. Today’s our date ––” I began, then I gasped in horror. I haven’t asked Shinichi where he’ll be having his date! “What’s wrong?” asked Ayumi. “Let me make a quick phone call to Shinichi-niichan,” I said. I phoned Shinichi and Shinichi answered the call. “Ah, Shinichi, about that time, I wanted to ask you where you would be having your date with Ran,” I explained. “Let’s have a double date at Haido Town Shopping Mall, the largest Ferris wheel, and my mom will be giving you both a ride at 12PM,” suggested Shinichi. “Sure, I’m at Ayumi’s and see you later!” I ended the call. “Haido Town Shopping Mall,” I told Ayumi. “Shopping Mall?” asked Ayumi. “Oh, it’s actually a Ferris wheel,” I explained. “Sure! I can’t wait!” piped Ayumi. “He’s giving us a ride there as well at 12PM,” I continued. “I can’t wait more!” exclaimed Ayumi.

            Shinichi kept his word. At 12PM, a silver Series 2 Jaguar E-Type car came to a halt in front of Ayumi’s black gate. I opened the car door for Ayumi, who gave a slight blush, to enter the car first, and I entered after her. “Thank you for giving us a ride, oba-oneesan,” I altered the address to Yukiko, after noticing her death glare. Ran was sitting at the front passenger seat while Shinichi was sitting at the far left at the back. The Series 2 Jaguar E-Type was a manual-driven car with a brown, old-fashioned steering wheel with a grey gear. “I heard from Shin-chan that you’re the American boy who infiltrated the American branch of the Organisation,” began Yukiko. “Yes, but I was caught red-handed but barely managed to escape, or Shinichi would have been together with Ran long ago,” I explained. “John,” Ayumi quavered. “I’m scared… of falling to the front.” I took a glance at the speedometer: the meter was gradually shifting to the right. Yukiko is speeding as usual, I sighed. “Oneesan,” I began. “Nani?” replied Yukiko. “I-I’m getting car sickness,” I pretend to quaver. “Daijoke, we’ll be there soon,” smiled Yukiko. “Ba-rou, he’s asking you to watch your speedometer,” said Shinichi, with his arms crossed. A traffic officer signaled us to stop the car and knocked on the window. Yukiko rolled down her car window and apologized, “Gomenesai, I’ll drive slower next time.” “I’ll let you off for now,” said the traffic officer. Yukiko thanked him, but he ripped his disguise off to reveal Vermouth. “Vermouth!” Shinichi and I exclaimed in unison. “You know her?” Ayumi whispered to me. However, before I could reply, “Vermouth” interrupted me, “Got you! Vermouth is no longer running around,” “she” said, while ripping off "her" second disguise to reveal Shinichi’s lookalike. “My name is Kuroba Kaito, and thank you for helping me solving that case, John-kun and Shinichi-kun,” said Kaito. “Don’t tell me,” I began. “You’re the real identity of Kaito Kid?!” exclaimed Shinichi. “As expected from the two detectives,” bowed Kaito. “What are you doing here?” I asked. “Can’t I take my girlfriend out for a date as well?” he frowned. “Bakaito! What takes you so long?” a voice called out, which belonged to Ran’s lookalike. “Ahoko! It seems we’re not the only ones out on a date,” explained Kaito. “You two pairs of couples go first, while I find a parking spot,” suggested Yukiko. “Sugoi! It’s my first time meeting Kid’s real identity –– and his girlfriend!” exclaimed Ayumi. “Kid?!” gasped Aoko. “You’re Kid?! WAIT, KID HAS BEEN WITH ME THIS WHOLE TIME?!” “Yes, I’m Kaito Kid, and it’s a long story, Aoko,” sighed Kaito. “I know how you feel, Aoko-san. I didn’t know Shinichi has been with me this whole time as well before he confessed,” chuckled Ran. “Ayumi-chan, you too, right?” Ran turned to Ayumi and Ayumi looked down. “Yes, I like John very much when I first met him, and I didn’t know he was an adult until Shinichi-niichan confessed to the Detective Boys,” sighed Ayumi. Kaito, Shinichi and I hung our heads in regret, but the girls held our hands tightly, “It’s ok,” began Aoko. “We understand,” Ran said next. “We forgive you,” finished Ayumi. “Arigatou gozaimas,” we thanked our girlfriends. “Let’s go have fun!” cheered the three girlfriends. We nodded our heads in agreement and boarded the Ferris wheel.

            “Look at the scenery!” Ran began. “It’s so beautiful, isn’t it?” finished Ayumi. Ran nodded her head. Suddenly, Shinichi’s cell phone rang. “Moshi moshi?” he answered. “Kudo Shinichi,” said the voice. “Find me if you want your mother to live. I will give you clues. Good luck.” The other end ended the call. Shinichi held a hatred expression. “What happened?” asked Ran. “My mother is being kidnapped,” said Shinichi, and we all gave a loud gasp. “The abductor said he’ll give us clues,” continued Shinichi. With that said, Shinichi received the first message and read it aloud, “First clue: I hate the setting sun.” “He could be hiding in any of the shades,” Ran said thoughtfully. “The first clue asked us to follow where the shadow is leading to. If you hate someone, you would have your back facing someone,” explained Shinichi. We had our backs facing the setting sun and we found that our shadows were pointing towards the forest. Shinichi’s phone beeped as we approached the forest. “Next hint: London Bridge Is Falling Down,” he said out loud. “Huh? London Bridge Is Falling Down? What’s got to do with the clue?” puzzled Ran. “Oh, it’s the children’s game, where children at the side held their arms high to let other children pass through the middle,” I explained. “There it is! It’s talking about the arching trees!” I pointed to the arching trees beside us. We then walked through the arching trees. Suddenly, I felt a hand pushing the back of my head forward and the other hand pressing a cloth towards my nose. Before I could warn the others, I blacked out.

            A cover was yanked off my head and I saw Shinichi and the others were abducted as well. Our hands and legs were tied behind our wooden chairs. “Shin-chan, you’re here as well,” a familiar voice whispered. “Okasan! Are you hurt?” gasped Shinichi. A figure came into view revealed to be a man in his forties. “Before I release you boys, I want you to find out something for me,” he said in a low voice. “What is it?” asked Shinichi. “Find out my wife’s murderer,” he replied. His subordinates released Shinichi, Kaito and I from the wooden chairs but held us with them. We followed the man to his room, where his wife was murdered. The room had a 30-feet high window and there was a black swivel chair by a large desk with six drawers, three drawers on each side. There was a dried splatter near the top left of the chair, with a bullet hole in the middle of the splatter. One of the subordinates then handed Shinichi a large, black cordless phone. “If you have any questions, you can ask me via this phone. If you tried to flee or contact the police, your girlfriends will all die,” warned the man. “First, there are two people I suspect: Daigo Hisamoto and Hidetada Hisateru. Daigo Hisamoto lived the first building from the northwest of this building, and Hidetada Hisateru lived the first building from the northeast of this building. You may begin now,” with that, the man left us alone.

            “I remembered solving a murder case similar to this,” I began. “It involved strings attached to the pole and tension.” “But the ceiling is 30-feet high,” noted Kaito. “What’s this?” announced Shinichi. Kaito and I joined him, and I noticed that there was a small hole in the wall, about three degrees to the right. “There is no way someone can shoot from that angle,” I said. “Unless the murderer is left handed,” noted Shinichi. “We’ll investigate Daigo-kun first,” he suggested.

            Daigo lived one kilometer northwest of the building. It was a single-storey building with a large grey gate of 10 feet wide and behind the gate was a black Mini Cooper 1.3i Mark VII. Shinichi rang the button-shaped doorbell, and a man of forties with a scissor cut hairstyle appeared at the doorway. “Can you please open the gate for us? We’re here on an investigation,” Shinichi called out. “Hai. Chotto matte kudasai,” he replied. He slipped back in, and one moment later, he appeared again and pressed a button on the remote control with his left hand. “Nevermind, arigatou!” Shinichi called out again. “What’s that for?” asked Kaito. “He’s definitely not the culprit,” replied Shinichi.

            Hidetada lived one kilometer northeast of the building. It was a double-storey building with a large blue gate of 10 feet wide and behind the gate was a red Mini Cooper 1.3i Mark VII. Shinichi rang the triangular-shaped doorbell, and a man of forties with a slick black hair appeared at the doorway. “Can you please open the gate for us? We’re here on an investigation,” Shinichi called out. “Hai. Chotto matte kudasai,” he replied. He slipped back in, and one moment later, he appeared again and pressed a button on the remote control with his left hand. “Nevermind, arigatou!” Shinichi called out again. “Again?” asked Kaito. “He’s definitely not the culprit either,” replied Shinichi.

            “I’ve figured out who the culprit is, and meeting Daigo-san and Hidetada-san confirmed my deduction,” smirked Shinichi, and we went back to the captive building. The man’s two subordinates led us to him, and Shinichi announced that he had figured out who the culprit was. “My right-hand staff, Arisa Michiko?” the man puzzled. The man’s right-hand staff Arisa Michiko was called before him. “Yes. First, there was a hole in the wall, three degrees from where your wife was murdered, which threw us off thinking that your wife was shot from the outside by a left-handed murderer. Next, the outline of the corpse showed that it is pointing to the right, and that was dying message,” began Shinichi. “Third, both Daigo-san and Hidetada were left-handed, which could explain the suspicions. If one of them had shot your wife, they would shoot it from the left side. However, the bullet hole was on the top right, which means the murderer was right-handed. Fourth, ‘Michiko’ sounded similar to ‘Migite’, so the murderer was your right-hand staff, Arisa Michiko,” deduced Kaito. “Arisa-san first poisoned your wife and then shot her in the right side of the chest,” declared Shinichi. “What an interesting story! Where’s your proof?” she sneered. “The cup most probably still has your fingerprints on it!” I declared. Arisa gasped and sank to her knees, “That woman –– she doesn’t deserve to be the Boss’s wife! She’s useless! She doesn’t know or could even do anything! She doesn’t even deserve to live!” The man ordered his subordinates to take Arisa away. “Thank you so much for solving this mystery,” he said. “In return, I return your girlfriends back to you.” Ayumi, Ran and Aoko appeared from the spotlight behind us. “Ayumi, thank goodness you’re safe!” I exclaimed. “You’re not hurt, are you?” asked Shinichi. “No one gets hurt, including you, Aoko,” said Kaito. “Of course, because I know you will always protect me,” smiled Ayumi. “Of course I’m not hurt, Shinichi. They only kept an eye on us,” explained Ran. “Bakaito, make sure you use your motto on yourself as well,” teased Aoko. “You all are so romantic. I wish Yusaku is here as well,” chuckled Yukiko.

            Shinichi, Kaito and I held our girlfriends hands until we, including Yukiko, were all out of the captive building and stared at the evening sky. “I love you… forever and ever,” Shinichi, Kaito and I said to our girlfriends. They smiled and we gave our girlfriends a deep kiss in the lips.

PREVIEW: “Congratulations on solving that case, chibi meitantei.” Haibara whispered to me with a smirk, when I got back to school. “Yeah, it was noth ––“ I said, but was interrupted when Haibara gave me a kiss in the cheek, and Ayumi saw the kiss… Next time on Ayumi’s New Crush: Haibara vs Ayumi!