"By the way, Miwako, what's going on? Weren't you supposed to go with the inspector to investigate the bank case?"
When Takagi calmed down a bit and asked Miwako what was happening, she answered.
"It's about that bank case. The branch manager of the robbed bank called last night saying, 'I remember something, so I'll come talk,' so we agreed to meet here. He said he and his wife would come together at 2 o'clock."
Then Conan, being as meddlesome as ever, asked Miwako.
"Why are they both coming together?"
"The branch manager's wife was also taken hostage by the culprit at the bank. Maybe she has something to say about that?"
Then Takagi spoke with a question.
"That's strange. I also got a similar call from that wife last night. She said she had something to say about the culprit and would come alone at 5 o'clock."
"Ah, the branch manager mentioned that too. He said just in case the culprit might target his wife, they would come together before it got dark."
"Ah, I see."
"By the way, did Yumi from Traffic Division say anything?"
"About what?"
"I think I passed out at a bar yesterday and Yumi brought me home... I don't remember a thing."
"Ah, she didn't say anything special."
I have no idea what these people are doing when so many people are waiting here.
'Are they not thinking about investigating?'
If this continued, Conan's meddlesome nature would kick in and we'd get dragged into another case, so I spoke to Detective Takagi.
"Excuse me, Detective Takagi? With so many people waiting here, when are you going to conduct the investigation?"
"Ah~ I'm sorry. I got distracted... Everyone, please come to the next room."
We followed Detective Takagi to the next room. But Conan was fidgeting restlessly. He seemed to have caught the scent of a case again. So I quietly said to Conan.
"Hey, the people waiting come first. This is a place where cases always gather, so you could run into a murder any time. You're not planning to live here forever, are you?"
"That's true, but... something feels off."
As expected, this guy prioritizes cases over everything else without thinking.
"That's exactly why you lose people who are precious to you. If they were that precious, you should have invested more time in the people you cared about. In the end, you're just a person who prioritizes your own work over your loved ones or the people around you. Look at all these people gathered here. Do you think they should have their time stolen because of your curiosity? So do whatever you want after the statements are done."
When I said that, Conan scowled and got angry. He knew that the phrase 'precious person' referred to Ran.
"Wh-What did you say?!"
"Why? I don't think I said anything wrong, did I? If you keep on like this, you might lose even more people. You need to know when to restrain yourself. Well, if those people aren't that important to you, I won't stop you, but don't come crying after you lose them again."
Conan couldn't really make an excuse. Because it was the truth.
"Damn... Fine."
We cooperated diligently with Detective Takagi, finished our statements quickly, and came out. But Conan had been fidgeting the whole time during the statements. This guy really can't help himself, it seems. I thought about saying, 'Instead of interfering between me and Ran, why don't you just marry a case?' but I held back.
"Thank you for your cooperation. It might be hard to make the other detectives understand about the Onmyō arts, but since the culprit confessed to everything, it probably won't be a problem."
"That's a relief. You've worked hard as well, Detective."
We were greeting Detective Takagi and about to leave, but outside was quite noisy. So Detective Takagi grabbed a police officer and asked.
"What's going on?"
"Well, the wife of the bank case branch manager has died. So we're on our way to provide support."
"What?! Understood. I'll be there soon."
Detective Takagi looked at us and said.
"Thank you for cooperating with the investigation. I have to go now because I'm busy..."
Leaving those words, he ran off somewhere.
"Let's go back too. There's a good tonkatsu place near here. Want to go eat?"
"Oh~ Sounds good~ Huh? Where did Conan go?"
Ran noticed right away that Conan had disappeared. It seemed Conan had followed Detective Takagi. So I answered instead.
"Ah~ Conan said he was going to hang out for a bit. He asked me to tell you."
"What? It's a bit far from here to home. Will he be okay..."
When Ran worried, Kogoro said.
"It's fine. That kid wanders around alone all the time. I'm getting hungry, so let's go eat tonkatsu. We can just pack one and bring it to him later."
"Okay..."
The children also didn't like that Conan had disappeared.
"That traitor! Did he go off somewhere alone again without us?"
"I know, right. That's so mean."
"Conan..."
"Come on, come on. You guys come too. I'll buy you tonkatsu."
When I said I'd buy, the children got very excited.
"Wow~ Really?"
"Thank you, big brother~"
"Thank you, big brother~"
We split between the Doctor's car and my car, went to the tonkatsu place, ate deliciously, and dropped off the children. Then, as Sonoko had suggested, I went to karaoke with Sonoko, Ran, and Haibara, had a great time, and then dropped Sonoko off at home first.
"I had fun today! Well then, see you later~"
"See you later~"
I took Ran and Haibara to my house and dropped Haibara off. Then Ran asked.
"Weren't you going to drop me off?"
"Of course I'll drop you off, on foot. I wanted to walk hand in hand with my lover after a long time."
At those words, Ran became very embarrassed.
"Jin, you're really..."
I couldn't miss this perfect timing with Conan gone.
Pulling my hat down so no one would recognize us, I left the house with Ran and started walking hand in hand.
"What brought this on?"
"Well, honestly, it's been hard for us to have alone time together. I thought it would be nice to do this sometimes."
"I suppose it has been hard. With Conan there, and Sonoko too..."
Ran knew that too.
Ran and I looked at the scenery around us, went to a café and chatted, and enjoyed our date happily. Then, as it got dark, I walked Ran to her house. Ran looked very happy today.
"I had fun today. Dates like this are nice too."
"I'm glad you enjoyed it. Then can I get my reward?"
"Huh? Reward?"
I subtly offered my cheek to Ran.
"Oh, really~ You're so embarrassing..."
Ran immediately understood what I meant, blushed, and looked very shy.
"Are you not going to do it? My neck is getting sore."
"It's embarrassing..."
Ran hesitated shyly, but eventually gave me a kiss on the cheek.
Smack~!
Just then, Conan suddenly pushed his way between us.
"Oh, Conan, when did you get here?"
"Just now..."
But Conan had a few tears in his eyes. Seeing that, Ran worriedly asked Conan.
"Conan, did something bad happen?"
Conan wiped his tears and said.
"Ah, no. I got something in my eye... Let's go inside quickly. I'm hungry."
From the situation, it seemed he had watched Ran kiss me on the cheek.
'You little... crying... I guess you solved the case well.'
Actually, in that case, the branch manager was the culprit. He had killed his wife to claim insurance money and conspired with accomplices to stage a hostage situation and rob the bank. Since this case involved Conan's selfishness issue and there were many people with me, it seemed complicated to drag everyone along, so I just let it be.
'Watching incompetent police and wasting time is far worse than just eating tonkatsu and having fun with Ran...'
At any rate, Ran smiled at Conan and said.
"I brought home some tonkatsu today, so you can eat that. It was delicious. It would have been nice if you could have eaten it with us then. I'll heat it up for you quickly."
I said goodbye to Ran and Conan.
"Well then, see you later. It's vacation, but you're close by, so I'll come often."
"Jin, I had fun today~ See you later~"
"You don't need to come anymore."
That Conan kid said that outright now.
"Huh? Conan, what did you say?"
"Ah, nothing. Goodbye, big brother~"
Ran seemed to have just decided she must have misheard Conan. She always tends to think positively.
"Alright, see you later, Conan."
I came home like that, and Haibara was waiting in front of the door.
"Did you enjoy your date?"
"It was good. Having a date like this once in a while is nice."
"Really?"
Haibara somehow looked displeased.
"Why? Something wrong?"
"No, nothing."
Then she slammed the door shut and went into her room.
'What's wrong with her now?'
About two days passed like that, and then I got a call from 'Hattori Heiji.'
"So you're coming to Tokyo to attend a wedding, and you want me to show you around?"
· Yeah, Kazuha's coming too. If you know any good spots, how about a double date with me?
"Oh~ That's a good idea."
I called Ran and told her about this as well. Ran readily agreed. I started planning the course based on my experience traveling around Japan with Natasha in the Marvel universe.
On the day of, I drove the Hessler to pick up Ran. But besides Ran, Conan was also outside.
"Huh? Why are you here?"
"M-Me too! I wanted to hang out because I was bored staying at home..."
This guy, even though it's a double date, he's trying to follow us no matter what to keep an eye on me and Ran so we don't do anything funny.
"Jin, I'm sorry... Conan insisted on coming along..."
Since Ran said that, I couldn't say anything, and there wasn't much time left until our meeting time, so I decided to just go.
"It can't be helped. Let's just go together."
"Thank you~"
We got in the car and arrived at Tokyo Station. There, Heiji and Kazuha recognized us and waved happily.
"Hey~ Long time no see. But... why did you bring Conan?"
"Well, you see, he said he was bored staying at home and insisted on coming."
When I said that, Conan looked at Heiji and said.
"I wanted to see you too, big brother, after a long time."
Then Heiji quietly said to Conan.
"Hey, aren't you being a bit insensitive?"
"Whether I'm insensitive or not, I'm coming. Deal with it."
"That's ridiculous..."
Then Ran, perhaps sensing the mood, apologized to Heiji.
"Sorry, I should have left him behind somehow..."
"No, it's fine. It can't be helped."
'I understand how you feel, but making Ran apologize? I'll make sure you never return to your original form!'
I made that vow, and first I loaded everyone in and set off. The city is pretty much the same whether it's Osaka or Tokyo, so I headed to Asakusa.
"This is Asakusa."
"I've been here before."
Heiji seemed to have come here for various reasons, but Kazuha didn't seem to have. So I said.
"You might have seen it before, but the reason we came to Asakusa today is to ride the rickshaws."
"Oh~ Really? I've only seen them, never ridden one. Aren't they expensive?"
They certainly were expensive. For 30 minutes for two people, it was a bit over 100,000 Korean won.
"Don't worry. It's a double date, and an acquaintance came up to Tokyo after a long time, so I'll treat you to this much."
"Really? Then I won't hold back."
Heiji knew I was making good money, so he didn't particularly refuse. At any rate, we parked the car in the parking lot and rode the rickshaws in front of Asakusa. But a problem arose. The maximum capacity of a rickshaw was two people, so one person had to ride separately. Heiji could ride with Kazuha, but Conan was the problem.
"Hey, if you have any conscience, ride alone."
"I don't want to!"
I said quietly to Conan, but he refused immediately. Then Ran said to me.
"I'll ride with Conan. Conan is young, so it wouldn't be right to make him ride alone."
When Ran said that, I felt like that would mean losing to Conan, so I made another suggestion.
"Hoo... I guess it can't be helped. Then I'll ride with Conan. I feel like I've been drifting apart from him lately anyway."
"Really? Then let's do that."
We rode the rickshaw and toured around Asakusa. I had ridden with Natasha in Marvel before, so it wasn't a new experience, but I enjoyed it again this time.
Then suddenly Conan, who was beside me, said.
"You were right. I haven't been paying attention to my surroundings and only focusing on what I like. Maybe that's why I ended up like this."
"You know it well."
"So I've decided to put Ran first in my life from now on."
"Is that a declaration of war?"
"Yeah. As I said before, I can't lose her like this. It's very unfortunate that I've only realized how big of a presence Ran is to me now that I'm like this, but I can't just keep taking it lying down."
"Good grief... Hey! Who said anything about taking it lying down? You haven't forgotten that Ran is my lover now, have you? If you want to talk about fairness, I'm the victim here. Do you realize that? You stalker."
"What did you say! I won't accept that!"
"Then it can't be helped. Since you declared war, I'll mobilize all my Onmyō arts and..."
"You bastard! You promised not to do that!"
"Who cares, since it's war."
"You! You!"
Conan went wild and started grabbing and shaking me. Then the 'rickshaw man' pulling us from the front said.
"Sir! Please don't shake the rickshaw! It's dangerous."
"Sorry."
"Sorry."
We quickly apologized. Anyway, after one loop around Asakusa, we got off the rickshaw. Feeling bad, I bought the rickshaw man a drink.
"Wow~ That was fun, wasn't it?"
"Yeah, it was fun."
Heiji and Kazuha seemed to have enjoyed it. From Ran's expression, she seemed to have enjoyed it too even though she rode alone. Since we were here, we toured inside Senso-ji Temple in Asakusa as well. There were still many tourists here. We also gathered together, took photos, looked around, and then moved back to the parking lot.
"Next is Akihabara. Let's have lunch there."
"Okay~"
I drove to a restaurant that Japanese otaku often visited. It was a basement restaurant near Akihabara Station and had pretty good reviews. So we ordered food and ate. As the reviews said, the taste wasn't bad.
"Now, let's go get dessert."
"Huh? I'm full. Where are we going?"
I pointed to a maid café across the street.
"Eh~? We're going there?"
"Yeah. Honestly, I've been curious and wanted to go once, but I've never been. I was also worried about what my girlfriend would think. But if I go with my girlfriend?"
"Oh~ I see! That's the way. Honestly, I've been curious too."
Actually, I had set the course to Asakusa and Odaiba, but it seemed too short, so I inserted Akihabara in between. And since we were here, I decided to go to a maid café too. It wasn't that I had an ulterior... well, maybe a little.
"Honestly, men... there's no stopping them. Right, Ran?"
"Right."
Kazuha and Ran sighed and said.
"Aren't you curious?"
"Well, I am, but..."
"Then let's go this once."
I took them to the maid café.
"Oishiku nare~ Moe moe kyun~!"
"Aaah! I'm dying of embarrassment!!"
Heiji lacked the endurance and struggled. The girls laughed a lot at that. After having one drink each, we got back in the car and headed to Odaiba, where the Gundam is.
"Here still has the First Gundam..."
"Huh? Is it strange that it's the First Gundam?"
"No."
Remembering the hard times with Natasha here, I had spoken unconsciously for a moment.
At any rate, we wandered around Odaiba, looked at various things, and when it was time, we headed to the Moriizono family mansion, where we had been invited to the wedding.
"Wow~ Today was fun. I thought when I came to Tokyo I'd just see the city."
"I agree, it was really fun. Thank you, Jin."
Heiji and Kazuha seemed to have enjoyed sightseeing in Tokyo today. Well, the date with Ran was a bit ruined because of Conan, but everyone except Conan seemed to be enjoying themselves, so I decided to be satisfied with that.
"Is this the place?"
"Yeah, this is the Moriizono family mansion."
I had been here a few times myself. The Moriizono family was extremely wealthy, and they had also commissioned me for many jobs.
"Wow~ The mansion is huge."
"I know, right."