Jiangxia Tongzhi got home earlier than the neighbors, went to bed earlier than the neighbors, and because one of his shikigami had been jostled, he popped a ghost mint to replenish some lost energy. Long story short, he woke up the next morning as the most energetic person around.
He carried the invitation letter for the Sherlock Holmes-themed trip that he'd somehow won. His original plan was to visit the Mouri Detective Agency and find Conan, but on his way past Dr. Agasa's house, he suddenly remembered what had happened yesterday. So he turned in, peeked through the door, and, sure enough, there was Conan.
Compared to Jiangxia, the three inside looked like they'd just come off an all-night rave—pale, haggard, and ready to collapse.
From behind Jiangxia, the ghost of Miyano Akemi peeked out, surveyed the room, and floated merrily over to rest on top of Haibara Ai's head. She patted her sister's soft hair contentedly, clearly enjoying the perks of ghosthood.
Before Jiangxia arrived, the trio had been discussing the previous night's events. But the moment he stepped in, all conversation ground to a halt.
Haibara Ai, committed to helping Jiangxia maintain his secret identity as an Organization member, never discussed anything Black Organization-related when others were present.
And considering what had gone down yesterday, even if Dr. Agasa and Conan weren't around, Haibara wouldn't have brought it up anyway—after all, she'd been the one digging for information on the Organization. Now here was Jiangxia, still technically in the Organization. Talking Organization stuff in front of him just felt... sketchy.
Of course, Dr. Agasa and Conan wouldn't say anything either. They figured Jiangxia should stay blissfully ignorant of the whole dark and dangerous mess.
That's why, even though Conan really wanted to drag Jiangxia to the scene of Akira's suspiciously timed death, he resisted the urge.
—Because honestly, the guy had died way too conveniently. It screamed "Organization clean-up." And if Jiangxia found any clues there, he might become the next target. Worse, it could drag some innocent people into the crossfire.
So, nobody brought it up. And Jiangxia didn't either.
Still, the awkward mood was so obvious that Jiangxia had to ask what happened. Then, very politely, he helped change the subject. Once everyone had calmed down a bit, he finally got to the real reason for his visit.
He pulled out his Sherlock Holmes trip invitation and tried to lure a certain case-magnet of a fake child to come along.
Conan's eyes lit up when he saw the invitation. "You won too?!"
He was thrilled for a second—yay, traveling with friends!—then immediately deflated.
The top prize for this trip was a rare first-edition copy of A Study in Scarlet. But there was only one.
Now Jiangxia was going too...
Conan could already picture a tragic farewell: Book-chan waving her handkerchief, tearfully choosing to run into Jiangxia's arms instead of his.
But after a moment of emotional collapse, he rallied. The Sherlock Holmes journey wasn't about solving a case—it was a quiz-style competition. And most importantly, there was no "first to finish wins" rule.
As long as it wasn't a speed run, he might still have a chance.
And hey, even if he lost, Jiangxia's house was just around the corner. He could visit and bask in the glory of the book anyway. Besides, compared to letting some complete stranger win the Scarlet prize, better it end up in Jiangxia's hands.
Jiangxia observed Conan's rapidly shifting expressions and suspected the kid had finally broken his brain from lack of sleep.
Conan eventually snapped out of it under the trio's increasingly weird stares. Trying to act casual, he said, "Wow, didn't think you were a Sherlock Holmes fan too. That explains why you're so good at solving cases."
Jiangxia: "..." What does Holmes have to do with solving murders involving shikigami and psychic ghosts...?
But he did catch that Conan had said "too."
So Conan had definitely won an invitation as well.
Jiangxia felt a wave of relief.
Dr. Agasa, who had been quietly listening, glanced at the date on the invitation and looked torn. "But... didn't I already book us a trip to my uncle's villa that day? For the treasure hunt with the Detective Boys?"
The kids, who had grown close to Conan, often hung out at the doctor's place. Seeing how eager they were to "do something big," Agasa had bought some toys, stashed them in his uncle's old villa, and rigged up a whole scavenger hunt with riddles and secret codes.
Now Conan remembered. Oops.
He weighed "friendship" vs. "Sherlock Holmes" for all of 0.1 seconds and chose betrayal: "Maybe we can reschedule? Or have Haibara go instead?"
Treasure hunts and fake pirate loot weren't really Conan's thing. His mind was now 100% occupied with Holmes.
The villa was a bit out of the way, and the doctor didn't have any open weekends coming up. In the end, he turned to Haibara Ai with pleading eyes.
The whole reason he invited Conan in the first place was to use him as insurance. If the kids couldn't figure out the clues, someone needed to "accidentally" help them out. Now that Conan had defected, Haibara Ai was his only hope.
Sighing like a martyr, Haibara closed her book and muttered, "Fine."
Jiangxia glanced between the two of them, deep in thought.
...He hadn't expected to get caught up in troop deployment logistics.
It was already tough enough juggling between ghosts and murderers. Now he had to pick between murderers and murderers with children involved?
The villa treasure hunt... Jiangxia had vague memories of that place. He recalled that a craftsman had once died of illness up in the attic—and no one had ever found the body.
Worse, the guy had a set of counterfeit bill templates, which meant there was currently a shady gun-wielding villain sniffing around the property.
Jiangxia didn't know whether the dead craftsman had become a ghost. But he was sure that where there were gunmen, there were murders.
And the Doctor and the Detective Boys were... not built to survive that sort of plotline.
On the other hand, the Sherlock Holmes trip also featured serial murders...
Jiangxia: internally at war with heavan and man.
But then Haibara asked where exactly the doctor's villa was located—and Jiangxia, eavesdropping as usual, realized something wonderful.
Dr. Agasa's villa was actually quite close to the Sherlock Holmes event venue.
In other words—this was a rare double-dip opportunity. If he played it right, he could go to both events.
This revelation filled him with inner peace, and he went home feeling smug.
…
The day of the Sherlock Holmes tour arrived.
Jiangxia showed up right on time at the designated meeting point and boarded the van sent by the organizers.
*Goal #1: Top 200 fanfics published within the last 30 - 90 days by POWER STONES.
Progress: 23/60(approx) for 10 BONUS CHAPTERS
Goal #2: One BONUS CHAPTER per review for the first 10 REVIEWS.
Progress:1/10*