Hattori Heizo had a bad feeling about this.
So, deep in his heart, he made a secret decision: next time he got the chance, he'd find a way to make those two young people spend more time together.
Hattori Heiji, meanwhile, was being silently stared at by his father. A chill crept down his spine.
He looked at Hattori Heizo warily. Something bad was definitely coming—he could feel it. Unfortunately, he had no proof...
…
Jiangxia returned home in good spirits and began organizing his new shikigami.
After sealing the contract, he routinely summoned the ghosts, lined them up, and prepared to do a headcount.
Just then, the doorbell rang.
Jiangxia paused and got up to answer it. At the door stood Haibara Ai, holding a plate of fruit.
Haibara handed the plate over and glanced at the luggage Jiangxia had just dropped by the entrance.
"Just got back?" she asked. "Planning to eat dinner here, or coming over to my place? The doctor's been looking for you."
That last sentence sealed the deal. Jiangxia, of course, chose to go over.
Maybe there'd be a few cases to stumble into.
Haibara Ai nodded in satisfaction at his response.
—In her opinion, boxed lunches never looked as appealing as plated food. Even if the journey was short, the sealed lid always made the food feel... stifled. Like its soul had left.
…
After dinner, Dr. Agasa helped Jiangxia fine-tune his new weapon stick, and invited him to attend the demolition event happening the day after tomorrow.
Jiangxia froze for a moment. Then he mentally connected this demolition with that bomb code-named "Tropical Rainbow," and then remembered the Art Museum—the one soon to be decorated in flaming confetti.
...Even though he probably wouldn't have time to show up, Jiangxia nodded anyway. Worst case scenario, he'd ghost the Doctor and bail the day after tomorrow.
…
The demolition-by-bombing would happen the day after tomorrow.
That next afternoon, Jiangxia headed to the Art Museum—right after dealing with the office ladies who had come in to file complaints about cats.
This part of town used to be bustling, but times had changed. Now, many buildings stood abandoned.
In Jiangxia's memory, there was an old building right next to the Art Museum—also abandoned.
That afternoon, the Detective Boys were rehearsing a play inside it. During their rehearsal, they ran into a fugitive who'd just slipped away from Officers Sato and Takagi.
The fugitive had scrambled up to the roof of the abandoned building, then clambered over to the Art Museum using a ladder. But no matter how many rooftops you leap across, you still can't outrun Officer Sato's judo. She caught up, suplexed the guy into a bathroom stall, and arrested him.
After pinning the suspect, Sato wisely cuffed herself to him.
But as she stood up, she realized the chain had looped itself around a pipe on the wall.
In other words, they were both handcuffed to the building's plumbing.
…
According to Jiangxia's "prophecy," Officer Sato and the suspect would remain trapped in that stall until tomorrow morning.
Which meant they could be blown into orbit by a Tropical Rainbow at any moment.
Jiangxia arrived at the old Art Museum.
There was a "No Entry" sign on the first floor. Jiangxia ignored it and walked right in.
By now, the Tropical Rainbow had already been planted. Jiangxia glanced around at the known detonation sites. Remembering how easily those bombs went off just by being talked about, he picked up his pace up the stairs.
…
The museum had been cleared out, and in the empty space, every little sound echoed.
As Jiangxia reached the fourth floor, he heard faint voices coming from the bathroom.
He pushed open the door—and yep. As expected, there were Officer Sato and the suspect, handcuffed together in a stall.
Jiangxia gave them a mildly confused look. "You two are...?"
Officer Sato: "!"
She groaned internally, stood up on reflex, got yanked back by the cuffs, and dropped like a sack of bricks onto the toilet lid.
In the end, she could only hide her handcuffed hands behind her back and smile awkwardly.
"Uh, why are you here, hahaha…"
At that moment, seeing Jiangxia unexpectedly appear… Officer Sato's first instinct wasn't relief—it was shame.
Today had been a disaster: she lost the suspect, handcuffed herself to said suspect, lost the key, and now had Jiangxia catching her mid-bathroom crisis. All of it was now immortalized in her personal dark history.
But after the wave of embarrassment passed, Sato Miwako had a realization. She suddenly brightened.
"Actually—are you free right now? Can I ask you for a favor?"
—When she first realized she was trapped, she'd considered asking Takagi to go back to the station and fetch a spare key.
But then the suspect, with a face full of "please believe me," had insisted he was innocent and only ran because he wanted to attend his daughter's wedding the next day. And with the Detective Boys causing their usual yinbi-level chaos, Sato's heart had softened.
So, she'd decided not to call the station to avoid unnecessary delays. Instead, she let Takagi and the kids try to find the real killer on their own.
Sato Miwako didn't have much confidence in Takagi's detective skills.
Luckily, the team included Conan. And Sato remembered that this weirdly competent child always showed up with Jiangxia at crime scenes. He probably picked up some skills from Jiangxia too.
It was a gamble—but then again, hadn't Conan also predicted the last bombing's exact location alongside Jiangxia?
Still, a crew of kids plus Takagi didn't exactly inspire confidence.
And now... Jiangxia himself had shown up.
The more Sato thought about it, the more it felt like fate was throwing her a bone.
If this suspect was truly innocent, Jiangxia would definitely sniff it out.
*Goal #1: Top 200 fanfics published within the last 31 - 90 days by POWER STONES.
Progress: 9/60(approx) for 10 BONUS CHAPTERS
Goal #2: One BONUS CHAPTER per review for the first 10 REVIEWS.
Progress:2/10*