Conan: I'm Really Not the Manipulator

Rabbit offers advice over his shoulder.

Aoyagi Binguang picked up the pen next to him and did not reply to the rabbit for the time being.

He did not take the initiative to approach Toru Amuro, and he did not want to be too enthusiastic and arouse suspicion towards Shinichi Kudo, who would become a famous detective in the future. He still wanted the other party to take the initiative.

Based on the rabbit's description and his observation of Kudo Shinichi's recent situation, Aoyagi Akimitsu judged that he was rather lonely recently.

His parents went to the United States and he has no brothers or sisters; the girl he likes and his friends are all in his original school. As an exchange student, he has not found new friends in the environment where everyone has formed small teams in the second grade.

——The class that Kudo Shinichi is currently in happens to be the class of Hojo Toika’s younger brother. Her younger brother is also a second-year junior high school student and is a leader in that class.

Aoyagi Binguang didn't know if it was Hojo Tooka who said something to her brother. One time when he deliberately passed by their class after class, Kudo Shinichi was not there. He only heard Hojo discussing Kudo Shinichi there, and everything he said was correct. His dislike.

The school ethos in Hong Kong's secondary schools is strict, and there isn't much direct violence, but there is a lot of cold violence where people band together to exclude outsiders.

Considering that Kudo Shinichi is not an introvert, he will not shut himself off in this environment. Instead, he will have two choices: go back to Beihua immediately after class to be with familiar people and relieve his mood; or...

In this new environment, try to make new friends outside the class.

Aoyagi Akimichi lowered his head and wrote an A·A after the names on the library card.

...That's what he thought. But in terms of controlling people's hearts, his level was only average, and he himself was not sure whether he could succeed.

"that……"

At this time, a young man's voice came from behind Qingliu Binguang.

The man and the rabbit turned around together, and saw Kudo Shinichi also holding a mystery novel, looking at them with shining eyes.

"Do you like Sherlock Holmes, too?"

----

Shinichi now: There are no bad people who like Sherlock Holmes!

Future Conan: ...the trust I've had over the years has ultimately been misplaced!!!

Chapter 41 Prelude to the Incident

The sun is shining brightly in the afternoon.

The noise from the playground downstairs can be heard from afar in the library, but it is very quiet inside.

Shinichi Kudo, who was only fourteen years old, took his favorite Sherlock Holmes book and took the initiative to talk to the young teacher in front of him who was nearly ten years older than him.

……

Kudo Shinichi has been secretly observing this long-haired foreign teacher for several days.

Influenced by his father, he began reading various mystery novels since elementary school. Among them, he liked the Sherlock Holmes series the most. He read it over and over again, and it was almost worn out.

He enjoys this hobby, the only drawback is that it is a relatively niche hobby and he doesn't have many people with whom he can discuss it.

My neighbor, Professor Agasa, doesn't read novels much. My childhood sweetheart, Ran Mouri, another childhood friend, Sonoko Suzuki, and other boys who played football with me in elementary and junior high school have little interest in mystery.

Originally, his parents were still around and they were the most supportive of his hobby, but they moved to the United States not long ago and only called him every few days to ask about his life.

So Kudo Shinichi wanted to try to find people who share the same interests in the new school.

Originally, he had his eyes on a boy named Hojo in his class.

Judging from the name and appearance, the other party is most likely the younger brother of the author of "Detective Kyoko". The author Hojo Toika once mentioned her brother's name and age on her personal website.

However, the reality disappointed Kudo Shinichi. Not only did Hojo dislike reasoning, he also hated him. His attitude even affected other people in the class. Two weeks after the start of school, he had no one in the class who he could talk to.

A week ago, his nanny asked for leave, saying that the child at home was not feeling well. Kudo Shinichi did not fire her for asking for a long leave right after joining the company, and told her not to worry and that she could come back after taking good care of the child.

There was no one at home, and Xiaolan had to attend club activities which ended in the evening. Kudo Shinichi was not in a hurry to go back to Beihua. After school, he would stay in the library and read some foreign originals that were not available at home, while also paying attention to whether anyone came to borrow mystery novels.

——In this way, he noticed Aoyagi Akiko who came to borrow Holmes several times.

He had heard his name in class. The boys would discuss which female teacher was pretty, and the girls would also pay attention to which male teacher was handsome. Mr. Amuro from the Home Economics class and him were mentioned by them many times.

"Do you like Sherlock Holmes, too?"

Kudo Shinichi, who asked this question, was holding the original English version of Sherlock Holmes in his hand.

In the last column of the book's borrowing card, there is an abbreviated name AA, and the borrowing time was just a few days ago.

Aoyagi Akimitsu, pronounced as Aoyagi Akimitsu in roman form, abbreviated as A·A.

"like."

While Kudo Shinichi was waiting nervously, he saw Aoyagi Akimitsu smiling in front of him.

……

Because chatting in the library would disturb others, Kudo Shinichi put the book back and left with Aoyagi Akimitsu who had completed the new borrowing procedures.

"Teacher Aoyagi, which mystery novel do you like best? Which detective do you like best? Do you like classical mystery or social mystery?"

They talked as they walked. It was so hard to meet someone with the same interests as him. Kudo Shinichi couldn't hide his excitement and asked several questions in one breath.

"My favorite detective is Poirot, and my favorite detective novels are Curtain and The ABC Murders by Ms. Agatha."

Qing Liu Bingguang paused for a moment and continued:

"Both schools have their own strengths. The orthodox school focuses on deciphering the truth, finding the criminal and the method used to commit the crime. The social school... is this a school that seems to have emerged from Japan? It often reveals the murderer very early, and then tells about his or her motives and mentality for committing the crime, and focuses more on portraying human nature."

“Among the social mysteries, my favorite is Malice, the twists and turns in it are quite surprising.”

After listening to this, Kudo Shinichi asked, "Which Sherlock Holmes story do you like best?"

Aoyagi Akiko was not surprised that he suddenly turned to Sherlock Holmes. After thinking for a while, he said, "I currently like The Hound of the Baskervilles. I have just started the Sherlock Holmes series. There may be more to like later... A friend of mine has finished reading the entire series."

"Which case does he like best?" Kudo Shinichi asked curiously.

Aoyagi Akimitsu answered without thinking, "Five Orange Pips."

"Eh?!"

Kudo Shinichi's eyes widened, and he said in disbelief: "That was one of the rare cases where Sherlock Holmes failed. How could he..."

Even someone as strong as Sherlock Holmes has areas he is not good at - astronomy and politics. He quickly figured out the ins and outs of the case, but he did not expect the other party to act so quickly, and ultimately failed to protect his client.

"Because it was a rare failure for Holmes."

Aoyagi Binkou walked down the stairs and raised his hand to steady the black rabbit on his shoulder.

"How can I describe him... He admires Holmes' abilities and thinks he is a very good detective, but because of this, he hopes to see him fail and make sure he is not omnipotent."

Qing Liu Bingguang smiled helplessly: "You can understand that he is the number one anti-fan of Sherlock Holmes."

Kudo Shinichi, the ultimate true fan: "..."

I prefer to see the detective fail... Could it be that this friend of Mr. Aoyagi's sees Holmes from the perspective of an enemy?

Such dark thoughts?

Kudo Shinichi couldn't help but be a little curious about this: "Then he..."

Before he could finish his words, he stuttered and his expression twisted.

Qing Liu Bingguang looked over immediately: "What's wrong?"

"I was speaking too hastily just now and accidentally bit the wound in my mouth..." Kudo Shinichi, who was in pain in his mouth, spoke a little unclearly.

"Is the ulcer broken?" Aoyagi Binguang asked curiously.

"No, I ate some glass shards in my meal at noon today. Although I spit it out in time, I was still cut inside."

Kudo Shinichi saw Aoyagi Akimitsu frowning and quickly explained, "I'm not sure if it was done by a classmate or if the cafeteria hygiene is not up to standard. I've already told the homeroom teacher and he said he would check the surveillance."

He had some suspicion that it was Hojo who did it, as he had tried to put a dead cockroach in his shoe cabinet the day before yesterday and was caught red-handed.

As they were talking, the two came to the first floor.

Aoyagi Hikari stopped and looked back at Kudo Shinichi: "I just happen to be going to Mika today, so I'll take you back."

"Teacher Aoyagi, is this too much trouble for you?" Kudo Shinichi felt a little embarrassed.

"No trouble, it's on the way anyway."

Aoyagi Binguang took the rabbit off his shoulder and handed it to Kudo Shinichi: "Help me hold him first, I'll drive the car over."

……he?

Kudo Shinichi, who was holding the rabbit, felt a little strange when he heard this pronoun, but he didn't ask any more questions and nodded.

----

Aoyagi Binkou came to the parking lot alone and opened the car door only after making sure that there were no inexplicable "gifts" inside or outside the car.

As soon as he sat down, the phone in his pocket suddenly vibrated.

[…I have already contacted her. What do you want to do? —Gin]

After reading the questioning email sent by this Sherlock Holmes hater and "Five Orange Pips" fan, Aoyagi Akiko smiled.

In the past two weeks, he not only acted as a teacher and tried to get in touch with Kudo Shinichi, but also moved forward step by step according to the tentative plan.

[I just want her to seek justice...]

After sending the email quickly, Aoyagi Akiko deleted both emails with one click. The car quickly drove out of the parking lot and stopped in front of the teaching building. Kudo Shinichi sat in the passenger seat holding the rabbit.

Aoyagi Binmitsu was about to tell him not to hold the rabbit so tightly, when he suddenly turned his head and looked behind him.

A figure quickly shrank back around the corner, and he only saw a conspicuous piece of white cloth passing by.

Faced with this shoddy stalker, Aoyagi Binkou did not immediately get out of the car and rush over to catch him. Instead, he calmly looked away, as if he had seen nothing.

The black Mazda quickly left Minato Middle School.

Chapter 42 Everything is impermanent

The port area is not far from Beika Town. Twenty minutes later, the Mazda stopped in front of the Kudo residence.

"Thank you for sending me back."

Kudo Shinichi put the rabbit on the central control and unfastened the seat belt. He did not get out of the car immediately, but turned his head to look at Aoyagi Akimitsu beside him.

"Teacher Qingliu..." He scratched his cheek and said a little embarrassedly: "Can I still come to see you in the future?"