Conan: When Shinjiu and Maolilan swap bodies

"No...no..."

This posture is unacceptable...

Ran Mouri didn't care. She tilted her head back and silenced his protests with her lips, even biting his lower lip lightly with a hint of venting her anger.

"A handsome man is a source of trouble!" she muttered to herself.

The kiss wasn't long, but it was warm and moist, with a touch of capriciousness.

When they separated, Qingze's body was even stiffer than before.

Ran Mouri snuggled closer to him, shifted her position, and curled up in his arms.

Qingze gently pinched her hand under the covers.

"If you keep doing this, I'm really going to commit a crime."

Ran Mouri froze, her face flushing with embarrassment.

She rolled over to create some distance between them, lying face to face with him, and gently tapped his forehead with her finger.

"Hmph, you troublemaker!"

"How am I a troublemaker?" Qingze blinked, looking completely innocent.

"Freward came to see me today, do you know what she said?"

"say what?"

Ran Mouri reached into his shirt and pinched his waist.

He said your waist is very strong.

Qingze was stunned for a moment, then burst into laughter.

"and then?"

"She asked me if I knew how I release stress when I'm stressed, if I knew the meaning behind certain facial expressions, and if I knew whose name I unconsciously call in my sleep..."

Ran Mouri spoke, her eyes fixed intently on his reaction.

"Hmm... I don't need to explain the beginning, but as for the rest..." Qingze said somewhat uncertainly, "I shouldn't be talking in my sleep, right?"

"You said it yourself, you said I'm a pig!"

"Oh, so you're a pig~"

You're the pig!

Ran Mouri puffed out her cheeks and angrily tickled his ticklish spot.

"Ha...hahaha...stop, stop messing around..."

Qingze suppressed his laughter and tried to dodge, but fearing that his movements would disturb the neighbors, he could only hold back his laughter while grabbing her mischievous hand.

"Your parents will hear..."

Chapter 547 This wardrobe is really cramped.

Ran Mouri realized that making too much noise would disturb her parents next door, so she immediately stopped, but her fingertips still lingered on the hem of his clothes.

Qingze's smile gradually faded, and his expression became serious. He gently brushed away the stray hairs on her cheek with his fingertips.

"And then?" he asked in a low voice, his gaze fixed intently on her face. "What else did Fred... do?"

Ran Mouri was silent for a moment, the light that had been shining in her eyes visibly dimmed, and the curve of her lips slowly flattened.

"...She is dead."

She recounted the events of the day in a soft voice—from silently placing the locator at Poirot Café, to tracking it to the seaside villa in the darkness, and finally, the decisive gunshot.

Qingze listened quietly, his arms tightening around her silently. He now understood why she was still awake so late at night.

He lowered his head, their foreheads touched, and their breaths mingled softly.

Are you very sad? Or... do you feel guilty?

"I can't quite put my finger on it..." Ran Mouri shook her head, her fingers unconsciously gripping his fingers, slowly rubbing the thin calluses on his fingertips.

"I feel heavy-hearted, like something is pressing down on me... I'm not very happy."

She looked up at him, her eyes filled with confusion and a clear-headed pain.

“I’ve changed, Aze.” Her voice was as soft as a sigh. “If it were the old me… I would never have stood by and watched someone die in front of me without doing anything.”

Qingze looked at her quietly for a while, then sighed softly, pulled her closer to him, and rested his chin on the top of her soft hair.

He spoke softly, his voice sounding exceptionally gentle yet clear in the night:

"Growing up is never a happy thing. It's a painful process that forces you to gradually break down your old self and then clumsily and unsteadily grow into a new one..."

He paused, his fingertips tracing the back of her neck, as if soothing a restless cat.

“If I could, I wouldn’t want you to go through any of this. But the world… often doesn’t go according to our wishes.”

He is not a god; he cannot foresee every storm, nor can he protect her forever. There will always be moments like today when she must face the darkness and make choices on her own.

“But Lan,” he stepped back slightly and cupped her face in his hands, “you did very well.”

“If you don’t strike first today, Flaward will become a venomous snake lurking in the shadows. She won’t stop; she will only wait for an opportunity to strike again and again, and may even harm those around you.”

His thumb gently stroked her slightly cool cheek, his voice calm and firm:

"Never have moral expectations of evil people. Your choice is not cruelty, but clarity—and clarity is sometimes the only way to protect your loved ones."

Ran Mouri looked at him, her face reflected in his red eyes, revealing an unvarnished truth.

She looked at it for a long time, then softly hummed in agreement.

"Aze, what about you? What have you encountered these past few days?"

"I was doing a mission with Gin before, and then I was assigned to Dr. Payton, supposedly to treat my illness..."

Qingze sneered, "They've got all sorts of tricks up their sleeves, trying to lure me into that consciousness transfer pod..."

Ran Mouri's heart tightened, and her fingers unconsciously clenched his clothes: "I feel that the time travel pod is strange...it's not simple!"

"Of course it's not simple."

Qingze lowered his eyes and looked into her eyes, which seemed particularly serious in the dim light, and did not hide anything from her.

“Payton is trying to modify my consciousness frequency—the goal is to make my consciousness resonate with, or even interchange with, a pre-defined ‘specific consciousness’.”

"Swap?!" Ran Mouri's breath hitched, her grip on his clothes tightening instantly until her fingertips turned white. "Then you wouldn't—"

"It's not that easy." Qingze patted her hand reassuringly, his touch gentle. "I won't let him succeed. But I do need to go to Payton a few more times."

He paused, his voice lower but clearer: "If I modify my consciousness frequency to a certain degree and fix it, there will never be another accidental body swap with yours. This will solve a big problem."

Ran Mouri paused, realizing the consideration behind his words.

He had been searching for a way to resolve their body swap once and for all.

Although it sounds easy, it must involve a great deal of risk.

Her heart ached and softened, and she was speechless for a moment.

Qingze's voice was low, carrying a hint of coldness and sharpness.

"I gained something from this trip into the consciousness recovery pod..."

He had memorized the voice, and by comparing it, he could tell whether it was the person he had guessed.

“I showed cooperation, and Dr. Payton was able to tell me more relevant information. I might even need him to dig out memories from before I was 10 years old…”

Hearing this, Ran Mouri's tense shoulders finally relaxed.

"That's good……"

"It's late, go to sleep."

Qingze nuzzled the top of her head and pulled her closer into his arms.

Enveloped by that familiar and reassuring scent, Ran Mouri closed her eyes, and soon her breathing became even and long as she drifted off to sleep.

Qingze gazed quietly at her sleeping face, feeling he could never get enough of looking at her.

He didn't know how much time had passed before his eyelids slowly closed, until he was awakened by a knock on the door.

"Knock, knock, knock!"

A sudden, impolite knocking on the door shattered the morning's tranquility.

"Xiaolan! Wake up, have breakfast!"

A powerful voice, belonging to Kogoro Mouri, came from outside the door. Aozawa jolted awake, sitting bolt upright as if electrocuted, all sleepiness gone.

Ran Mouri, who was beside him, was also awakened by his movements. She opened her eyes groggily, still somewhat dazed.

"Xiao Lan? Xiao Lan!" The urging voice from outside the door rang twice more.

Realizing her father was right outside the door, Ran Mouri instantly snapped to attention, scrambling to sit up with her heart pounding.

If Dad were to push open the door and see such a huge Qingze on the bed... then everything would be over!

"I locked it from the inside."

Qingze quickly lowered his voice and spoke in her ear, his tone still slightly hoarse from just waking up, but very calm.

Upon hearing this, Ran Mouri breathed a sigh of relief and patted her chest.

I was terrified, thankfully it was locked from the inside.

"Dad—" she quickly raised her voice in response, her voice sounding heavy with sleepiness, "Just five more minutes of sleep..."

"Aren't you going to the film set with your teacher today? Don't stay in bed, get up early and get ready!"

Ran Mouri paused, startled. Oh right, she'd almost forgotten about that.

"I'll get up right away!" she replied hastily, her voice much clearer.

Her gaze swept quickly around the bedroom, finally settling on the wardrobe against the wall.

In no time at all, Qingze, dressed neatly, was stuffed into the wardrobe by her without any refusal.

Before the cabinet door closed, Qingze looked at her face, which was a mixture of apology, nervousness and a hint of amusement, through the light shining through the crack. His feelings were complicated and hard to describe.

They're clearly a couple, so why does it feel like they're having an affair?

He leaned against the inside wall of the wardrobe, letting his figure be covered and hidden by the hanging clothes, and sighed inwardly.

This wardrobe is really cramped...

Chapter 548 You're really narcissistic.

After stuffing Qingze into the closet, Ran Mouri packed his shoes into a plastic bag, making sure they were hidden properly, and then checked them again before her wildly beating heart finally calmed down.

After changing her clothes, she opened the wardrobe door and met the resentful gaze of the person inside.

Two blushes rose on her face. She stuck her tongue out at the person in the closet and whispered, "Stay put, okay? Don't get caught."

Qingze extended his middle finger.

Ran Mouri pretended not to see anything and closed the wardrobe door.

As she walked out of her bedroom, she closed the door behind her and saw her parents having breakfast in the living room. When she met their gaze, she felt inexplicably guilty, but she forced herself to remain calm and act as if nothing was amiss.

"Isn't Mom going to work today?"

“If you’re going to the film set to film properly, of course I’ll go with you.”

"That's great!"

"Sonoko is coming too, and so is Aze. He said he'd come with me..."

"With so many people, won't the production crew have any objections?" Kogoro Mouri frowned slightly, somewhat worried.

Film crews are not peaceful places; there's no shortage of backstabbing and infighting, especially for newcomers like Xiaolan who are brought into the crew without any fame. She's the most likely to be envied and may be harassed by others.

"It's okay, I don't have many scenes. If things go smoothly, we can finish filming in two days."

Not long after, Sonoko Suzuki's cheerful voice rang out downstairs, accompanied by a super luxury car parked there.

It's my friend's first time on set, so I have to make a good impression. Otherwise, what if he gets bullied?