The boy soldier next to the famous detective

"So I think the way Xiaolan looks at me lately is really strange."

Sitting at the kitchen counter in Professor Agasa's house, Conan Edogawa held a bowl of hot milk and said with a troubled expression.

Recently at the detective agency, Conan Edogawa could sense that Ran Mouri was looking at him strangely, but Ran Mouri wouldn't say anything, she just kept peeking at him, making Conan Edogawa very uncomfortable.

Today, Conan Edogawa couldn't resist the urge to spy on him, so he made an excuse to help Professor Agasa prepare things for tomorrow's camping trip and dragged Jona to Professor Agasa's house to hide from the commotion.

"Every time she looked at me, it was as if she wasn't looking at a primary school student, but at... a completely different person."

"Hey, Shinichi, you didn't already give yourself away in front of Ran, did you?!"

Looking at Conan Edogawa in surprise, Professor Agasa, who was holding a cup of coffee, quickly put down his cup and nervously moved closer.

"I don't know either, it's just a feeling. I can't really ask Xiaolan about this directly."

Frustrated, Conan Edogawa ruffled his hair and looked at Jonah, who was playing games on the sofa. Suddenly, he felt a pang of envy for Jonah, this real child.

It's so carefree! I can eat whenever I want, play games whenever I want, kill whenever I want... wait, wait, wait, the last one is wrong!

He quickly shook his head to bring his thoughts back from the jumbled mess Jonah had created. Conan Edogawa took a sip of hot milk, sighed, and slammed his head on the kitchen counter.

"Kudo, what will you do if your Ran-neechan sister really figured out your identity?"

Hearing Conan Edogawa and Professor Agasa's discussion, Ai Haibara, who had been playing games with Jonah, switched her character to computer control, letting Jonah play alone for a while, and then walked over to the kitchen, looking at Conan Edogawa seriously.

"We already had a conflict with the organization at the Beihu Hotel last time. You should know that we've been in a dangerous situation due to the organization's investigation."

"I'm not interfering with your decision-making process, but before making any decision, you must carefully consider its potential consequences."

"Of course I know what you mean. I don't want Ran to be involved in such a dangerous environment either. In fact, I'm starting to regret listening to the professor and going to Ran's house in the first place."

Giving Professor Agasa a resentful look, Conan Edogawa realized that he had been confused because he had suddenly shrunk, and Ran Mouri's sudden arrival had thrown him off balance. He had actually agreed to Professor Agasa's suggestion to go to the detective agency and continue the investigation by using Kogoro Mouri's detective identity!

Now that Kogoro is asleep, his reputation in Tokyo and even Japan is quite significant, making it very difficult for Conan Edogawa to back out.

A famous detective who suddenly becomes incredibly skilled and then suddenly becomes ordinary will definitely attract a lot of curious investigations. At that time, it will be easy for the child who appears and disappears at two different points in time to be found out.

It's a dilemma, a real predicament!

"Moreover, given Xiaolan's personality—she can't stand seeing others suffer—if she really knew what I went through, she definitely wouldn't sit idly by."

With a sigh, Conan Edogawa looked up at Jonah, who was playing a game, and asked without much expectation, as if trying to vent his feelings, "Speaking of Jonah, do you know what's been going on with Ran lately?"

"Ran thinks you're Shinichi Kudo, Conan, and even asked me to help keep an eye on you."

"ha!"

"what!"

"Clang!"

Two gasps and the sound of a coffee cup shattering made Jonah pause his game. He calmly turned around, looked at the three people whose eyes were wide open, blinked, and then turned back to continue playing.

"Wait a minute!"

In this situation, how could he let Jonah continue playing the game? Conan Edogawa jumped out of the table, ran to Jonah, grabbed Jonah's shoulders with both hands, stared wide-eyed, and his voice cracked.

"Jonah, what did you just say? Say it again!"

Looking innocently at Conan Edogawa, Jonah recounted his conversation with Ran Mouri.

It wasn't that Jonah wanted to betray Ran Mouri, but Ran Mouri hadn't asked Jonah to keep it a secret when they ended their conversation, and Jonah's little brain really couldn't figure out how to handle it, so he could only follow his own habit and remain silent until anyone asked.

"Ran... she's really amazing. But it's no wonder, you two grew up together, she knows you too well, Shinichi."

With a wry smile, Professor Agasa shook his head and looked helplessly at Conan Edogawa after listening to all of Ran Mouri's deductions, as if he had already resigned himself to his fate.

"But all I can hear from here is the arrogance of a certain great detective, who tries to treat everyone around him like fools with his ridiculous and childish performance, and even after being recognized twice, he still doesn't repent."

Compared to Professor Agasa, Ai Haibara is much more aggressive.

With her arms crossed and legs crossed, Ai Haibara sat next to Jonah, her eyes fixed on Conan Edogawa.

"Indeed, who in this world could be smarter than Sherlock Holmes of the Heisei era?"

"Stop being sarcastic! Aside from Heiji seeing through my disguise, no one else..."

Seeing Ai Haibara raise her finger and point it at Jonah, Conan Edogawa swallowed the rest of his sentence. Then Jonah seemed to have thought of something and spoke casually.

"And Kaito Kid, he should also know that Conan is Shinichi Kudo."

"..."

This time, not only Ai Haibara, but even Professor Agasa's gaze towards Conan Edogawa became strange.

"I admit it was my fault, but now is not the time to dwell on these issues."

With his face flushed red, Conan Edogawa took a deep breath and accepted the accusation, then began to seek help in distress.

"What other way is there? Unless your Ran-neechan personally sees Shinichi Kudo and Conan Edogawa together, and is certain that Shinichi Kudo isn't Kaito Kid in disguise, no matter what you do, you won't dispel her suspicions."

With a sigh, Ai Haibara got up from the sofa, turned around, and went down to the basement.

"Keep it a secret as long as you can, and think of an explanation if you can't keep it a secret anymore. Oh, by the way, your Ran-neechan seems to be really good at karate. I wish you safety, Kudo."

"You wicked yawning woman!"

Watching Ai Haibara disappear down the stairs, Conan Edogawa quickly turned to look at Jonah, his eyes full of anticipation.

"...I won't fight you with Ran-neechan, Conan."

"...Thank you so much!"