Conan: The Man Behind the Romance

Chapter 255: Will Sonoko be disqualified as a best friend? !

After all, Kudo Shinichi did not go to check on Mie Kanako.

He was only a detective, not a policeman, and even if he was, he had no such qualifications in this situation.

You become suspicious of someone as soon as they pass by you and even search them. Even the SS is not so arrogant.

The figure disappeared outside the door. The ward was silent. Yingsheng suddenly said in the earphone:
"I think she has a point."

Toru Amuro nodded silently, but he was just an outsider and said nothing. He glanced at Kogoro Mouri who was stunned on the hospital bed, turned around and walked out. When he reached the corridor, he asked Hotaru what he would do here in the future?

"No need, Ms. Okino Yoko, Lawyer Hime, please investigate these two first."

Yingsheng sighed softly: "You really shouldn't have said that you would return the money to me just now. The deterrent effect has been greatly reduced. I didn't intend to take it in the first place."

Amuro Toru smiled and said, "I still have to have some principles. What do you plan to do with Mr. Mori next, Mr. Suigetsu?"

"Let him go. What else can he do? Anyway, he has a storefront on the first floor. He won't starve to death no matter how decadent he is. He doesn't have to worry about Xiaolan's future. He can do whatever he wants. Didn't the magazines say that this is the case in the United States? Once children become adults, they must be independent and have no contact with their parents until they die. It's a very nice family model."

Yingsheng said casually.

Mr. Amuro Toru on the subway cell phone: "Mr. Shuiyue, what magazine are you reading? I have never seen it before."

"Hmm...what about the Japanese elementary school students' summer camp where they carry 20 kilograms of weight and walk 50 kilometers?"

“…They are actually special forces.”

"Then do you have to wash dishes seven times in a restaurant?"

"...I see. Mr. Shuiyue is reading a satirical magazine. It's quite interesting."

"Oh, there are indeed a lot of jokes in it. Anyway, that's it, keep it up, Mr. Amuro."

Yingsheng hung up the phone, raised his hand to stop Suzuki Sonoko who was impatiently about to speak, and dialed the next number:
"Hello, is this Miss Towako?

I am Mr. Maori's friend. He has suffered a great blow both physically and mentally, and needs a gentle and virtuous lady to accompany him. Of course, the fee is negotiable, but don't mention me. Just say that you heard the news from Kanako Mie back to the nightclub and came out of sympathy and pity.

No, no, no, the appearance fee must be paid. If you don’t charge him, I will think that you really sympathize with him.

Okay, thank you for your help. Please bring two bottles of wine with you.

Thank you, you are very considerate. Mr. Maori will be very happy to see you."

The call was hung up. This time, just as Yingsheng put down half of his hand, Sonoko immediately spoke up: "The thing on the phone before, were you setting up a trap to harm Uncle Maori?"

"Tsk, how come this is another game? I'm just a spectator, okay?" Yingsheng tilted his head and stretched out his hand with a look of disgust. "I listened for a long time and you only heard something as ridiculous as this. Your ability to understand is really worrying. Give me back the headphones."

Yuanzi quickly covered her right ear and leaned back: "No, there will be a follow-up to this matter later, I want to hear it."

"cut--"

Yingsheng turned his wrist and pointed at Xiaolan who was watching the game intently at the edge of the field, sneering: "This is a very important family matter for Xiaolan, and you actually treat it as a gossip series, you fake best friend."

"Hmph, I just wanted to see if I could help. What's the problem?" Sonoko glanced at him. "But you, the phone call you just made to Miss Towako, looks suspicious no matter how you look at it. You definitely have other intentions."

"If you think so, I can't help it."

"Hey, hey, that's too perfunctory!"

"To put it simply, it was the story of Kanako Mie that gave me inspiration. I plan to use this to create a conditioned reflex in Mr. Maori, so that he will tremble when he sees a beautiful woman, especially one who approaches him actively. He won't even dare to say a word, and then his lustful habit will be corrected.

If he is arrogant and likes to brag, and a few more people call him a slug like he just did, it would be good if he doesn't feel inferior to others. He can definitely correct himself.

Finally, it’s gambling. He doesn’t even have any money now, so he definitely can’t continue gambling.

If it doesn’t work this time, try next month. As long as it’s not completely rotten, I don’t believe it can’t be fixed.

What, my plot is sinister enough, isn't it? "

Yingsheng said with a smile.

After hearing this, Yuanzi was so shocked that she could hardly close her mouth: "You...you really want this?"

"What else can I do? He is Xiaolan's father. How can I ruin him? Besides, if there is no such relationship, he and I would just be strangers who have never met each other. Why should I care about him?" Yingsheng told the truth.

Yuanzi was stunned again, and after a long while, he spoke in a complicated tone: "You have really changed a lot now."

Yingsheng smiled, said nothing, and continued watching the game.

Around four o'clock in the afternoon, Toru Amuro sent Yoko Okino's address. Hotaru took a look at it and raised his eyebrows slightly. 2502, isn't this downstairs from his house?
Yingsheng immediately called the Sumiyoshi Association and asked them to send someone to hand out flyers to Ian Apartment 2502. After about ten minutes, they reported that no one was inside. Yingsheng then asked the person to wait outside Ian Apartment and wait for Okino Yoko to come back and tell him.

"So you are a big boss of the underworld." Yuanzi said coldly.

Yingsheng glanced at her and said, "Tsk, I forgot you were wearing headphones. Even Xiaolan doesn't know about this. Don't tell anyone."

"Humph, how many things have you been hiding from Xiaolan?"

"Not much. We should always proceed step by step. By the way, Xiaolan has seen me use Kanhara Chiyoko's business card, but I don't know much about it."

"It's not just your PUA. Xiaolan has been completely fascinated by you."

"No, no, no, this is an open-minded outlook on life, which is very worth learning. Think about it, considering Xiaolan's family situation, if she wasn't more open-minded, would she be so cheerful now? I guess she's about the same as Qingliu-classmate."

"That's no reason for you to take advantage of her weakness."

"Haha, outsiders should stop talking, okay."

At 4:30 in the afternoon, Kudo Shinichi called and angrily asked:
"Sui Yue, what on earth are you going to do?!"

"I don't understand what you mean, Kudo-san." Hotaru chuckled.

"Don't say you don't know who sent for Towako!"

"Who is Towako?"

"…You are playing dumb, right? She has already confessed that she heard voices cheering for Wada Haruna on the phone. Nakamichi told me that you asked our school to cooperate with Haido High School so that we can cheer for each other."

"Oh, Nakamichi is back to his old self? That's great news. But why didn't he come to me to ask about the baby-faced, big-breasted girl? I'm afraid he has let it go."

"Damn it, stop changing the subject!"

"I really care about my classmates, okay? As for Towako, well..."

Yingsheng repeated what he had said to Sonoko before, and added at the end: "And this person came here because she really cares about Mr. Maori. She didn't even ask for an appearance fee, saying that she has already received too much care from Mr. Maori.

And she can confess to you, oh, it must be that you, the despicable famous detective, are bringing out that excuse of the mastermind again. Can't you use your smart brain to think carefully, is there anything about Mr. Maori that is worthy of others' plotting against him?

I said, judging from what you said before, your attitude towards Mr. Maori is also very average.

How long are you going to protect him now?" Kudo Shinichi was silent for a few breaths: "It doesn't matter what kind of person Uncle Maori is, I only care about the truth."

"Even if he turns into a complete puddle of mud?"

"That won't happen."

"OK, so how did Miss Towako's visit end? After all, it happened in the ward, so it's impossible for anything too outrageous to happen. I really don't understand what you're so excited about."

"I've already asked her to go back. Thanks to you, Uncle Maori has become even more depressed now."

"Don't blame others. It's obviously because of you. It's really a bummer, Kudo-san. I hope you can recover and be discharged from the hospital soon."

"When will Ms. Aida be back?"

"Next Mon."

"I understand, Shuiyue, this kind of thing is meaningless, don't continue."

"Listen to the instructions, see you."

The headphones were suddenly silent. In less than a second, Yuanzi spoke seamlessly:
"What does the man behind the scenes mean?"

"A character that only exists in Kudo's imagination, roughly equivalent to Professor Moriarty who is against Sherlock Holmes, the Napoleon of the criminal world." Yingsheng said casually.

"What did he do?"

"I did some things like flying, escaping the earth, and resurrecting the dead. After all, it was just an absurd dream that didn't exist."

"Is that you?"

"what?"

"What you just did is too suspicious."

"Oh, this is okay. If I really don't want to be discovered, I will first change the venue."

"Yeah...that's right."

The game on the field is coming to an end. The top eight have been announced and the draw has begun. Xiaolan's opponent is not Wada Haruna, which makes people from both Teitan High School and Beido High School breathe a sigh of relief. They were looking forward to the meeting of these two in the final.

It will be fun to see them cheering for each other's players.

In the field, all the contestants participating in the competition today stood in silence in their teams. An unknown Mediterranean figure was giving a speech on the stage. The crowd in the stands began to leave one after another. Yingsheng stood up, looked at Xiaolan in the field, and pointed outside.

Xiaolan nodded slightly, and Yingsheng and Yuanzi also joined the crowd and left together.

Sonoko returned the headphones to Yingsheng and called her father to ask where the contact person was. Five minutes later, in a remote corner behind the green belt of the gymnasium parking lot, the two parties completed the handover of the drug Junerick.

One person casually took out an unknown object from his pocket, while the other person bowed solemnly, took it carefully and put it into an encrypted cold storage box.

Looking at this scene, Yuanzi inexplicably had a very strange feeling.

It was like witnessing some historical moment.

And just like everyone else in the past, she didn't have any special feelings at this moment.

After everyone from the Suzuki Group got in the car and left, Sonoko looked at Hotaru and said, "My sister has investigated your life, including the teachings of the Suigetsu couple. Logically, you shouldn't be like this now."

Yingsheng asked curiously: "How do you investigate home education, cram schools?"

"almost."

"Have you ever thought that if they know a lot themselves?"

"Yes, my sister thinks so too. Although they appear to be employees of a research institute and run a private clinic, they might actually be agents of some country, just like in the movie Mr. and Mrs. Smith."

Yuanzi sighed and walked towards the main exit of the gymnasium where there was the most traffic. "But I still think you're weird. After all, we were classmates before."

"You haven't paid attention to me. What does that mean? Twenty-five days ago, I didn't even know you existed in the world."

"Hey, hey, that's too much."

"I apologize. Also, where is my parents' private clinic?"

"It's in Beika-cho 4-chome, but it was put up for sale two weeks ago. Didn't you say your parents were on a business trip abroad, so you just sold it?"

"That's a shame. I was looking forward to going there to hunt for treasure, but now I guess there's nothing left."

"You haven't been there before?"

"Perhaps."

“…It’s really strange.”

While chatting casually, behind a group of people in groups of three or five, Xiaolan, who was saying goodbye to her teammates from Teitan High School, appeared. When she saw the two of them, she walked straight over, and Sonoko naturally fell half a step behind.

"Suiyue-kun, have you found Miss Kusano's address?"

After saying hello, Xiaolan asked curiously.

"Not yet. I guess I have to go find Miss Okino Yoko first, and then go in a roundabout way." The people from the Sumiyoshi-kai hadn't brought any news about Okino Yoko returning home yet. Yingsheng thought for a while and said, "Why don't we go to Nichimi TV first? Ai has something to ask there."

"Eh? Ai-chan wants to find a TV station? Yes..."

Xiaolan paused for a moment, and before she could turn around, Sonoko, who was one step behind her, spoke first:
"I won't disturb your date. See you tomorrow."

Xiaolan hurriedly said goodbye to her best friend. Yuanzi nodded and walked to the side with a free and easy back. She made a telephone gesture with her right hand and shook it to her ear.

Xiaolan thought he was saying to her: "I will definitely call you tonight."

Sonoko had always been very curious about her date with Shinichi, and she was happy to share it.

Now is no exception.

However, considering that Sonoko was Hotaru's ex-girlfriend, and that many of the things they did together involved crimes, Xiaolan hasn't shared them for a while.

Tonight I was just going to visit my idol with Mizuki-kun, something like that didn't involve any crime, so it was totally fine.

After Sonoko's back disappeared in the crowd, Xiaolan and Hotaru walked side by side, and then continued with the previous question:
"Xiao Ai wants to be interviewed by a TV station so that the news that she is still alive can be spread?"

"Yes, do you know Rena Mizunashi? Is there any special reason why Ai wants to find her?"

"Mizunashi Rena..."

Xiaolan thought for a moment, then looked up and said, "She is very beautiful, and has a very gentle temperament."

(End of this chapter)