Conan: I'm a zaibatsu in Tokyo

In the living room, the afternoon sun shone on the floor.

Zheng Yi was sprawled on the sofa, holding a handheld game console in his hand, his fingers flying across the buttons as if he were arguing with someone.

"Zhengyi".

A clear, cold female voice broke the silence of the living room.

Zheng Yi's fingers didn't stop, his eyes still fixed on the screen: "Huh? What's wrong? Is lunch ready? I'll eat it later."

All you ever think about is eating!

Ai was holding a light blue towel in her hand. It was a new one she had just bought yesterday, made of pure cotton and soft to the touch.

She walked to the sofa, looked down at Zheng Yi with a scrutinizing gaze.

Zheng Yi finally sensed something was wrong. He looked up at Ai with a blank expression and asked, "What's wrong with this towel?"

"Look at this."

Ai unfolded the towel and pointed to a very inconspicuous curly black hair at the edge.

Zheng Yi squinted and took a closer look, then frowned: "What is this? Hair? What's the big deal?"

“This isn’t hair.” Ai said firmly. She carefully picked up the hair and held it up in front of Masakazu. “This is your leg hair.”

Zheng was taken aback for a moment.

Huh? My leg hair?

He grabbed the towel and shook it vigorously, trying to shake off the incriminating evidence: "You're being completely unreasonable. This is your towel, how could it possibly have my leg hair on it?"

"Yeah, why is there leg hair on your legs? Can you explain that?" Ai asked, squinting her eyes.

Zheng Yi looked at Ai innocently, feeling like he was being framed again.

“It’s definitely not my leg hair, it’s your hair, isn’t it?” Zheng Yi said.

"My hair isn't black."

Zheng Yi looked at Ai's face again and said, "Is that your eyebrow? Did you rub it off when you were wiping your face?"

“My eyebrows aren’t that long.”

Masakazu grabbed Ai's arm and said, "That must be your body hair."

"My body hair isn't that thick either."

Ai pulled her arm away from Shoichi's hand and crossed her arms over her chest.

"That's really strange," Zheng Yi said in a low voice. "If it's not that, then what kind of fur is it?"

Ai pointed at Shoichi's thigh and said, "Your leg hair."

Zheng picked up the pillow next to him and covered his legs with it.

“My leg hair doesn’t grow like this.”

“That’s what it looks like.” Ai stared at Shoichi and said, “Last time we went to the hot spring, I plucked a lot of your leg hair, so I know your leg hair very well.”

Zheng Yi's lips twitched slightly.

I still remember things from so long ago.

Zheng Yi suddenly looked at Ai with suspicion, wondering if she still kept her leg hair.

"You wouldn't..." Before Masakazu could finish speaking, Ai immediately interrupted him, "No way!"

"I haven't said what it is yet," Zheng Yi muttered softly.

Xiao Ai snorted coldly.

Even though you didn't finish speaking, I already know what you're thinking.

I can't let you finish farting.

"So what if it's my leg hair?" Zheng Yi chuckled dryly. "It's just one hair, why are you making such a fuss about it?"

He said nonchalantly, "Since you like it so much, how about I frame it and give it to you?"

"Disgusting." Ai threw the towel at Masakazu's head in disgust.

"You bastard, did you use my towel to wipe your legs?"

“No,” Zheng Yi said.

"Why are there your leg hairs on it?" Ai questioned Masakazu.

Zheng Yi fell silent again.

Who knows?

It could have grown out of the towel itself, or it could have been leg hair blown up by the wind.

There are many reasons.

Ai gritted her teeth and said, "You still dare to argue!"

There are your leg hairs on it, you must have used them to wipe your thighs, I wonder what else you used them on.

Masakazu looked at the angry Ai and pointed to his mouth.

I didn't say anything, so where did I make excuses?
You little Ai, you're so twisted and untrue.

“Alright, I’m guilty,” Zheng Yi said.

"Hmph!" Ai snorted coldly, glaring angrily at Masakazu.

Zheng Yi, holding up the towel, asked, "Do you still want to use that towel?"

"What do you say?"

Zheng Yi smiled gently. "Of course we'll wash it and use it again. We're like family, no need for such formalities."

"Not so many rules?"

Ai reached out and poked Shoichi's cheek hard with her finger, saying angrily, "I have no relation to you."

“What a hypocrite,” Zheng Yi said.

"Ok?"

Hearing what Shoichi said, Ai poked her face even harder.

I'm going to stab you to death, you bastard.

"I don't want this towel anymore," Ai said.

"So you're giving this to me?" Zheng Yi asked.

"no!"

Ai snatched the towel away.

This is mine, how can I let you continue using it!

"Hmph! What a hypocrite," Zheng Yi said, pursing his lips.

Even though you said you didn't need it anymore, when I said I would use it, you still promptly snatched it back.

Ai clenched her fists so tightly that her knuckles turned slightly white from the force.

Two small flames seemed to ignite in her eyes as she stared intently at Zheng Yi's irritating face.

Ai asked, "Who are you calling a hypocrite?"

"Although her voice remained cool, there was a hint of embarrassment and anger at the end of her sentence."

Ai stared wide-eyed at Masakazu in disbelief.

You bastard, you even gave your own commentary?

Also, was I just angry and embarrassed after my secret was exposed?

Zheng Yi, completely oblivious to the danger, shrugged and even moved closer, seemingly unaware of the consequences.

"Isn't that right? You said you didn't want it, but your body betrayed you by snatching the towel back. Ai, your tsundere nature... I..."

"So verbose!"

Ai finally lost her temper. She raised the light blue towel in her hand and ruthlessly threw it at Zheng Yi's face.

"Snapped!"

The soft towel struck Zhengyi's nose with precise accuracy.

"Serves you right for being so talkative! Serves you right for spouting nonsense! Serves you right for using my towel to wipe your legs!"

As Ai scolded him, she angrily patted Masakazu with a towel.

Zheng Yi didn't dodge, but simply covered his face with his hands, making exaggerated pleading noises. "Ouch! I was wrong! I'll never talk nonsense again!"

"Where did I go wrong?" Ai stopped what she was doing.

"You shouldn't have used your towel to wipe your legs."

Ai asked Masakazu with a stern face, "Why did you use my towel?"

"I took the wrong one," Zheng Yi said.

"Besides your legs, where else did you wipe?" Ai asked.

"It's wiped off..."

"go to hell!"

Masaichi covered his face, thinking to himself that Ai was too barbaric; she hadn't even finished speaking before she attacked him.

Ai got tired of making a fuss, then turned around angrily and stormed into the bathroom.

With a "bang," the bathroom door slammed shut, followed by the sound of the faucet being turned on full blast.

Ai was frantically washing the stained towel, as if she wanted to wash away all the traces of Zhengyi on it.

Ai looked at the trash can next to her, wondering if she should just throw the towel in.

The sound of running water continued for a full ten minutes, until Zheng Yi suspected that the pure cotton towel had been wrung into a rag, and the bathroom door was finally pushed open.

Masayuki complained to Ai, "It's just washing a towel, you're wasting too much water."

Shoichi, who is thrifty and hardworking, is very dissatisfied with Ai's wasteful behavior.

Zheng Yi looked at Xiao Ai and asked, "Are you clean? Do you still need this towel?"

Ai didn't say anything either, still sulking with Masakazu.

Zheng Yi sighed, went to the bathroom to get his towel, and said to Xiao Ai, "At worst, you can use mine once, then we'll be even, and neither of us will lose out."

"Disgusting." Ai looked at Masakazu with disgust.

She felt that Zheng Yi was becoming more and more annoying.

Even though she knew perfectly well why she was angry, she still insisted on coming closer to tease her.

That's outrageous.

"Come on, let me soil my towel too." He threw his towel at Ai's face.

"You bastard!"

……

Tokyo, an underground bar.

Dim lighting, loud jazz music, and the air thick with the smell of tobacco and alcohol—this is one of the gathering places where the organization's members occasionally meet.

In a corner booth, Gin sat at the very back, a half-smoked cigarette between his fingers, coldly watching the group of people in front of him.

Vodka sat next to him, looking uneasy.

"Um... everyone, listen to me."

Vodka cleared his throat; his voice was a little dry.

"Regarding the story that circulated before... that 'forced entry into the women's restroom' incident, it was actually a complete misunderstanding."

As he spoke, he secretly glanced at Gin's expression.

Gin remained expressionless, only taking a deep drag on his cigarette before stubbing it out in the ashtray, an action that seemed to be crushing someone's bones.

Vodka swallowed hard and continued, forcing himself to explain, "The situation was complicated. We were arresting Sherry. Sherry was in that toilet, and she didn't do anything strange."

Those reports are all fake; someone is deliberately smearing us!

He spoke with absolute certainty.

Sitting across from him, Vermouth was elegantly swirling her glass of wine. Upon hearing Vodka's explanation, she merely raised an eyebrow casually.

"Vodka is right."

She took a small sip of her drink.

"It's all a misunderstanding. I started talking nonsense before I even understood the situation. Gin is our organization's ace, how could he do something so...unbecoming of his status?"

Her words sounded like she was chiming in, but there was that deliberately drawn-out ending.

And the playful glint in his eyes conveyed a completely different meaning.

Vodka's face instantly turned a deep purplish-red. He knew Vermouth was undermining him, and could only glare at her angrily.

Chianti fiddled with a folding knife in her hand. When she heard Vodka's explanation and Vermouth's 'denial,' she was taken aback for a moment, then a meaningful smile appeared on her lips.

"Oh, I see."

She nodded, her tone filled with a sense of sudden realization.

"I knew it! Gin would never do something like that. It must have been fake news made up by those reporters just to grab attention."

As she spoke, she glanced at Gin out of the corner of her eye, a subtle slyness flashing in her eyes.

"Since it's a misunderstanding, then we're relieved. If anyone dares to spread rumors again, I'll shoot them."

Cohen remained as taciturn as ever, wearing a black baseball cap and round-lensed goggles, making it impossible to see his expression.

But the slight upturn of his lips betrayed his true thoughts.

He picked up the whiskey on the table, tilted his head back and took a sip, then looked at the vodka and mumbled, "Yeah, I believe you."

Although it was only a few words, the extremely perfunctory attitude was more unpleasant than direct mockery.

Chianti and Cohen exchanged a glance, both seeing an undisguised smile in each other's eyes.

They certainly didn't believe vodka's nonsense.

Vermouth's dismissive attitude practically screamed "I'm lying."

This is simply a cover-up!
In fact, neither of them had any real interest in Gin and vodka.

Once you've joined an organization, isn't it normal to have a few quirks?
Although Gin's quirks are somewhat indecent, who in the organization cares about that?

Gin's attempt to cover up his true intentions is truly 'adorable'.

Gin, however, did not utter a single word from beginning to end.

He just sat there quietly, watching Vodka's explanation, watching Vermouth's hypocritical denial, and watching Chianti and Cohen's 'I don't believe you' expressions.

He picked up the glass on the table, downed the whiskey in one gulp, and let the cold liquid slide down his throat. "Hmph."

He snorted coldly, stood up, and his black trench coat looked particularly oppressive in the dim light.

"Let's go, Vodka."

He didn't look at anyone again, and turned to walk towards the door.

Vodka quickly grabbed his sunglasses and hat, and followed Gin as they fled the place in a disheveled state.

Watching the two figures disappear into the distance, Chianti finally couldn't help but laugh out loud.

"Hahahaha! Did you guys see that? Gin's expression just now was exactly like a cat whose tail had been stepped on!"

Cohen also took off his goggles, revealing a pair of smiling eyes: "It seems that the rumor was true."

Vermouth simply smiled gracefully and remained silent.

She has already apologized to Gin, so naturally she won't spread rumors about them anymore.

Vermouth picked up her glass and gently raised it in the direction Gin had left.

"A salute to our organization's ace."

Chianti and Cohen raised their glasses and said, "Cheers!"

Outside the bar, Vodka watched Gin with trepidation.

He messed up what his older brother had told him to do, and none of those guys believed him.

Tonight's clarification not only failed to clear the stains on the elder brother and himself, but also made the rumors even more confusing and believable.

Chianti's barely concealed snicker, Cohen's perfunctory attitude, and Vermouth's mocking clarification.

Everyone's eyes were telling him:

Nobody believed it.

Damn Zheng Yi, damn Vermouth, neither of them are good people.

If it weren't for those two bastards, his and his brother's reputations wouldn't have been damaged so much! (End of Chapter)