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

He was too smart and too sharp-tongued. From the moment he entered school in his first year, he had already driven all the students who were interested in reasoning to despair and switch to other club activities.

This indirectly led to the fact that several days after Sonoko submitted her application to establish a detective enthusiasts' club, the only members were still Ran and herself.

The school requires a minimum of three people to approve the establishment of a new club.

Sonoko had no choice but to ask Sakurajima, a senior in the student council, for help. She promised that the Suzuki Foundation would sponsor a large amount of supplies for the school festival in exchange for Sakurajima's help.

I wonder what kind of person Sakurajima-senpai found.

However, she said she was a junior and very interested in reasoning, probably a reasoning fanatic like Shinichi Kudo?

Sakurajima-senpai is indeed very reliable.

A guy who's obsessed with mystery novels probably wouldn't have any ulterior motives towards Xiaolan, and he could even help her and Xiaolan learn some knowledge about the mystery novel genre.

Sonoko Suzuki gently stroked the keys on her phone with her fingertips, feeling a strange sense of anticipation for meeting her junior.

.

Meanwhile, a rumor that Chen Nuo and Suzuki Sonoko were unaware of was quietly circulating among the students.

Student A: "It seems that Suzuki is dating that new guy named Chen Nuo."

Student B: "No way? It's that guy who looks a lot like Shinichi Kudo?"

Student A: "That's right, I saw them stay in the library for a long time at noon before coming out."

Student B: "What's the big deal? Maybe it's just helping him find a book."

Student A: "Suzuki went in wearing socks, but came out without them."

Student B's eyes lit up: "Explain in detail..."

Of course, this news is only circulating in a small circle, and Chen Nuo is unaware of it yet.

He returned to his seat and took the opportunity to stuff the stockings from his pocket into his backpack—it was too dangerous to carry them on his person, as he might accidentally pull them out while taking something out.

But unexpectedly, another accident occurred.

Perhaps because there were many people in the classroom, he was a little nervous and accidentally opened the lid of the lunchbox that Ai Haibara had packed for him while he was stuffing it in.

There was a bit of leftover omelet rice sauce stuck to the black stockings.

Unfortunately, since they were out of ketchup for today's omelet rice, Ai Haibara used a creamy white salad dressing instead.

Chen Nuo looked down at the black fabric in his backpack stained with white liquid, thinking that this was a bit hard to explain.

No matter what I say, it seems like people will be suspicious, right?

Even if it's clean, people might still suspect why it was cleaned at all, or if something strange happened, because the cleaning solution smells different.

Chen Nuo thought for a moment, "Why don't we just pretend we didn't see it?"

Anyway, judging from that senior's careless attitude, she probably doesn't care too much about this kind of thing.

Not wanting to get his backpack dirty with his socks, he simply stuffed the black stockings stained with sauce into his lunchbox, planning to dispose of them when he got home.

Nothing much happened that afternoon, except that the boring classes made Chen Nuo feel drowsy.

After school.

Chen Nuo was first called in by the teacher for questioning, who asked him about his feelings on his first day of school and whether he had any difficulties adjusting.

When Chen Nuo came out of the teaching building and arrived at the swimming pool as punishment, he found that Suzuki Sonoko had already arrived.

The pool is outdoors, with fallen leaves floating on the water and cleaning tools piled up by the poolside.

However, Sonoko Suzuki didn't start cleaning; she was sitting by the water playing in it.

She took off her coat and put it under her bottom, with her brown leather shoes next to her, without socks inside.

Yuanzi dipped her bare, white feet into the water and gently swayed them, making her look like a white carp swimming in the water from a distance.

She would occasionally lift her feet out of the water, and water would drip down the skin of her insteps, creating a scene reminiscent of a dolphin emerging from the water.

Clear and clean.

Then she gently touched the water's surface with her toes, a playful gesture that, against the backdrop of her light pink nail polish, seemed to carry an air of ambiguity and provocation.

Chen Nuo walked behind her and saw her expression reflected in the water; her brows were furrowed, as if she were pondering some difficult problem.

"What are you thinking?"

Sonoko Suzuki didn't turn around. Looking at Chen Nuo through her reflection in the water, she said calmly, "I wonder who the person who stole my socks is."

"I wonder if it could be a small animal, like a cat?" Chen Nuo speculated.

"What do you think that person will do if they take my socks back?" Sonoko Suzuki turned around and changed the subject, her fair neck twisted at an odd angle, revealing a patch of white, tender flesh at the collar of her shirt.

Chen Nuo: "When you ask me this kind of question, please don't look at me like I'm a thief."

Sonoko took her feet out of the water and placed them on the tiles beside the lane: "But after thinking about it, I still think you're very suspicious."

"Hasn't she already been cleared of suspicion?" Chen Nuo's gaze unconsciously fell on Suzuki Sonoko's instep, where water droplets hanging on her skin reflected a dazzling light under the sunlight.

"By the way, why didn't Xiaolan come to school?" Chen Nuo changed the subject.

Sonoko: "I don't know, she didn't reply to my text message."

"Could something have happened?" Chen Nuo asked with some worry.

"Shall we go to her house after school?" Sonoko Suzuki shifted her foot position, placing her heel on the ground, as if trying to make the water clinging to her skin disappear faster.

However, her fair and delicate soles were also exposed without any warning.

Chen Nuo glanced at it out of the corner of his eye and nodded: "Alright, let's go take a look."

"Is it pretty?" Sonoko Suzuki suddenly asked.

"Okay... um?"

There was a few seconds of silence.

Suddenly, Sonoko Suzuki grabbed a mop from the side of the pool and started chasing after someone barefoot, shouting things like, "You bastard, you stole it, didn't you?"

But after running only a few steps, she tripped over the cleaning tools she had taken out beforehand.

Chen Nuo looked at her suspiciously from a distance: "Hey, you're not trying to fool me with this trick, are you?"

Sonoko Suzuki remained silent, squatting there with her knees drawn up to her chest.

Chen Nuo had no choice but to walk over.

Then they discovered that she had a graze on her knee from a pebble. The wound wasn't deep, but it could become infected if left untreated.

"Are you still able to walk? Let's go to the infirmary?" Chen Nuo suggested.

Sonoko shook her head: "The teachers at the infirmary have all gone home."

Chen Nuo: "Let's go to the changing room. I have some medicine in my bag, you can apply it first."

Chen Nuo left her backpack at the changing area by the pool before she arrived.

"Ok."

At this point, Sonoko had lost the will to compete with Chen Nuo, because her leg was really hurting.

Chen Nuo glanced at the injury on her knee: "Can you stand up? Or should I help you?"

Sonoko stretched her legs: "No problem, I can walk by myself."

The two were heading towards the changing room when Sonoko, limping, nearly tripped and fell into the swimming pool after a few steps.

Fortunately, Chen Nuo reacted quickly and pulled her back.

Suddenly, Chen Nuo pulled her into his arms, and the strong scent of his masculine hormones made Yuanzi's face flush. She instinctively struggled.

Chen Nuo: "Seriously, if you can't do it, don't be stubborn. If you fall into the water, I'll have to go down and save you."

Yuanzi pushed Chen Nuo away with her hand: "No need, I can walk by myself."

"Don't try to be brave at a time like this, or you'll cause trouble for others," Chen Nuo said sternly.

Sonoko paused for a moment, looked down at the wound on her leg, and this time she did not object, letting Chen Nuo help her walk to the changing room.

During the process, she secretly observed Chen Nuo's expression.

She noticed that he looked very upright and deliberately kept his body far away from her, trying to avoid physical contact.

It feels... a little different from what Shinichi said.

Looking at Chen Nuo's resolute face, Suzuki Sonoko felt a sense of doubt.

Upon arriving at the locker room, Chen Nuo took out his schoolbag.

He remembered that there were some band-aids or something similar that Ai Haibara had prepared for him inside, which should be enough to tide him over for now.

Sonoko sat on a bench in the lounge, her legs curled up in front of her, looking on with curiosity: "Why do you carry something like this?"

Chen Nuo wanted to say that his girlfriend had helped him put it on, but then he thought that he still had to pursue Ran Mouri later, so it didn't seem right to say it like that.

"I practice kendo, so getting injured is a common occurrence," Chen Nuo said with a smile.

"Ran too! I twisted my ankle playing tennis before, and Ran helped me apply the medicine. She also massaged it for me, which felt so good." Sonoko blinked as she moved her ankle.

Chen Nuo thought for a moment and tentatively asked, "You want me to give you a massage?"

"How is this possible?!" Sonoko Suzuki stared at him with wide eyes, her gaze filled with disbelief.

While searching for the medicine, Chen Nuo said, "Then why did you suddenly bring this up?"

"I was just saying it offhand," Sonoko Suzuki said warily. "You really do have a thing for girls' feet."

Chen Nuo was about to explain when Suzuki Sonoko interrupted him.

"You rascal, you're not trying to use this opportunity to touch my leg, are you?" Sonoko Suzuki seemed to suddenly realize a possibility, and she snatched the schoolbag away. "I'll apply the medicine myself!"

"Wait a moment!!"

Chen Nuo tried to stop her, but it was too late.

With trembling hands, Sonoko Suzuki took a lunchbox out of her schoolbag.

The box lid was half open, and what was sticking out was what looked like a black stocking.

Sonoko gently opened the box and saw a black stocking tangled in a ball with chopsticks, covered in salad dressing.

Chen Nuo: "Let me explain..."