I'm in Detective Conan, but it's a chaotic battlefield.

Anyway, Sakurajima-senpai will call her when she arrives, so I'll just take a nap first, Sonoko Suzuki thought.

.

The library was quiet at noon, perhaps because everyone was eating in the cafeteria and classrooms.

Since Chen Nuo didn't have the senior's contact information, he could only search aimlessly in the library.

As Chen Nuo walked past rows of bookshelves, inhaling the mingled scents of ink and paper, he felt his heart calm down.

Chen Nuo had expected to see the literary girl with braided pigtails, a character often seen in anime, here.

But after searching for a long time, he couldn't find the literary girl.

I did see Sonoko Suzuki sleeping on a chair in the corner of the library, completely disregarding her image.

She took off her shoes and socks, and put her fair, jade-like feet on another stool. Her upper body was in a strange position, but she was sleeping soundly. Drooling dripped from the corner of her mouth, soaking her school uniform shirt.

She murmured things like "handsome guy" while she was sleeping.

Chen Nuo stood silently in front of the garden for a moment, then turned and left, pretending not to see anything.

But at this moment—

The stool that was under Sonoko Suzuki just happened to tip over.

Sonoko fell flat on her back. She struggled to her feet, wiped the drool from her mouth, and was still a little confused when she saw Chen Nuo standing in front of her: "Why did you put me on the ground?"

Chen Nuo shrugged: "It wasn't me, you fell down on your own."

Sonoko seemed still half asleep, mumbling, "Oh...Is that so?"

She turned around, arranged the stools, and then began to tidy up the mess.

Chen Nuo kindly helped her pick up the stool that had fallen to the ground.

"Thank you. What brings you here?" Sonoko asked as she sat down to put on her socks.

Chen Nuo: "I'm here to find someone."

"Oh... wait a minute!" Sonoko Suzuki called out to him, "Why am I missing a sock?"

Chen Nuo's gaze fell on her feet.

Sonoko had one leg on an indoor shoe, and her long, beautiful leg, along with the slightly flesh-colored stockings, looked very pleasing to the eye.

The other leg, dangling in mid-air, was smooth and white, with red marks from sleeping on its skin—a different kind of eye-catching design.

Chen Nuo raised an eyebrow: "How would I know?"

Sonoko Suzuki immediately switched to a scrutinizing gaze: "You didn't take it to do something weird, did you?"

Sonoko Suzuki's gaze fell on Chen Nuo's pants pocket.

Although it wasn't Sonoko Suzuki's, there was indeed a black stocking there.

Chapter 2: The Delicious Bento Box is a Black Stocking?

The library was as quiet as a stagnant pool at noon.

Near the boring, rarely visited section of geology books, a boy and a girl in school uniforms were facing each other.

The girl wore a black stocking on one foot and was barefoot on the other. Both feet were on white indoor shoes, but not fully inside.

The skin on the instep of her bare foot was a pale pink, and her toes, painted with light pink nail polish, were slightly curled, creating shallow dents in her indoor shoes, indicating that she was very angry.

The boy's expression was calm, but he was a little flustered inside.

“Nobody ever comes here normally, and there aren’t any exams recently that require research. Also, from what I understand, you don’t seem to have a particular interest in geology. Most importantly… I heard that Chen Nuojun really likes girls’ feet, right?” Suzuki Sonoko pressed closer, and if it weren’t for the fact that her shoes weren’t on properly, she probably would have cornered Chen Nuojun against the wall.

"So, you're the murderer!"

Sonoko Suzuki raised her arm, her slender fingers pointing at Chen Nuo, her neatly trimmed nails still bearing traces of manicure residue.

The library was completely silent.

Chen Nuo thought to himself, "This looks just like the pose at the beginning of the Conan anime, the one where Conan points at the screen and says, 'There's only one truth.'"

Because Chen Nuo arrived late in the world, and the timeline of cases in this world is chaotic.

Moreover, he can't be with Ran and Conan every single moment.

It seems that Sonoko has been used as a tool by Conan in his deductions, which is why she is showing this "Queen of Deduction, Sonoko" aura.

But surely we can't admit to this even if we're beaten to death, right?

No, he didn't steal it at all.

But if he doesn't explain it clearly, Sonoko will most likely tell Ran that if Ran finds out he stole girls' socks, she might distance herself from him.

This means my plan to pursue Xiaolan is probably doomed.

If he can't get Ran (on the surface), he won't be able to explain it to Gin...

Damn it, why does a girl's stockings have to be directly related to my life or death?!

Chen Nuo found the whole thing utterly absurd.

Although somewhat annoyed, Chen Nuo's thinking remained quite clear, and he refuted Suzuki Sonoko's conjectures one by one:

"First of all, I came here to return something to a senior student at the library, and that senior student can testify to that."

Secondly, this seems to be a public area, right? It's already problematic that you took off your socks and slept here, isn't it? If you took off your school uniform and slept here, you'd probably lose more than just a sock.

Most importantly, who told you I like girls' feet?

Sonoko Suzuki was stunned by Chen Nuo's series of sharp counterattacks: "Conan... said that."

Chen Nuo secretly made a mental note of it.

That wretched brat, talking bad about me behind my back! Now don't blame me for taking action against Xiaolan.

"Who would take their clothes off and sleep here?!" Sonoko Suzuki finally realized what he meant and glared at him with her big, angry puppy eyes.

Chen Nuo: "I was just using an analogy."

"It really wasn't you?" Sonoko Suzuki still looked suspicious.

Chen Nuo: "I think it would be better to look for one nearby in this situation?"

Sonoko Suzuki seemed touched by Chen Nuo's sincere gaze—Chen Nuo had indeed not taken it, so he was very sincere—she nodded and sat back down to put on her shoes.

What made Chen Nuo unhappy was that Sonoko deliberately turned her body away when putting on her shoes, so that Chen Nuo could not see anything about her feet.

Chen Nuo was speechless. Had his reputation been swayed like this?

Hopefully, she won't say anything strange to Xiaolan.

The two then searched the area near the bookshelf for a long time but couldn't find the missing stocking.

When it was almost time for afternoon classes, Chen Nuo still hadn't seen the strange senior who had asked him to report to the library at noon.

Naturally, there was no way to return the items in his pocket to the other party.

Because the witness didn't show up, Sonoko Suzuki didn't completely let go of her suspicions about him. She only treated him a little better because of Chen Nuo's help in finding him and his sincere eyes.

The two walked out of the library side by side and headed down the corridor toward the classroom.

Since she couldn't find her socks, Sonoko Suzuki had to take off the remaining pair of stockings and wear white indoor shoes barefoot.

Beneath her specially shortened school uniform skirt, a pair of long, healthy-looking legs were revealed, possessing a unique beauty typical of athletic girls who frequently participate in outdoor sports.

On the way back to the classroom, Suzuki Sonoko deliberately stuffed a crumpled sock into Chen Nuo's hands, asking him to dispose of it to test whether Chen Nuo had any problems.

How could Chen Nuo possibly fall for such a trick?

He feigned disgust, which successfully put Sonoko Suzuki at ease. She thoughtfully stuffed her socks into the pocket of her school uniform and turned to walk towards the classroom.

With class time fast approaching, boys and girls were chasing each other down the corridor, while literature major girls were leisurely walking to their classrooms with their books in hand.

Just then, a gust of wind blew in through the corridor window.

The girls pressed down on their skirts, which were being blown up by the wind, and let out shy gasps. The boys around them also took the opportunity to admire this rare sight with their eyes, only to be punched by their childhood sweethearts and beg for mercy, but their faces were covered with clean and bright smiles.

Of course, this includes the goofy, immature teenager standing by the window with his mouth wide open, catching the wind, and the introverted girl observing her crush's reaction out of the corner of her eye.

Sonoko Suzuki looked down at her phone screen, standing out from the others.

The wind also blew up her school uniform skirt, revealing glimpses of her long, slender legs with a healthy hue beneath. Her short, brown hair, which hung down by her ears, was also blown by the wind, covering half of her face and adding to her mystique.

do not know why.

This scene seemed to add a completely different filter to the image of Suzuki Sonoko in Chen Nuo's mind—a gossipy girl who liked handsome men and occasionally showed a Mori-style smile.

.

Sonoko Suzuki was not affected by her surroundings because she was texting Ran.

She sent Xiaolan a text message this morning when she noticed she hadn't come to class, but Xiaolan hasn't replied yet.

The phone was switched off when I called.

During the break, the karate club members came to ask her why Xiaolan wasn't there. It seems that Xiaolan had just asked the teacher for leave.

This gave Sonoko a bad feeling.

Ding Ding!

At the top of the phone screen was a text message from Mai Sakurajima—

[Sorry, Sonoko, I had something to do with the student council and couldn't make it over at noon...]

Sonoko Suzuki replied that it was okay, and then asked some questions about the new member joining the club. Only after confirming that the new member had no regrets did Sonoko feel relieved.

Sonoko Suzuki's plan was actually quite simple: to establish a new mystery enthusiasts' club.

She felt that the fundamental problem preventing Ran and Shinichi from making any progress in their relationship was that their interests were completely different.

Shinichi Kudo is a mystery fanatic, while Ran knows absolutely nothing about it.

So Sonoko plans to use this method to give Ran and Shinichi some common topics to talk about.

Moreover, this plan would also keep Xiaolan tied to club activities. With karate practice and the daily activities of the mystery club, Xiaolan would hardly have any time to interact with Chen Nuo, at least at school.

The first obstacle Sonoko Suzuki encountered was that the students at Teitan High School had little interest in reasoning and solving cases, and were even less likely to join any clubs for it.

This is all Shinichi Kudo's fault.