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After accepting the Monster Cell, Kisaragi Rin also took out the galgame proposal and handed it to Shikanoko Noko.
Shikanoko Noko directly stuffed the exchanged item into her head, then took down the skull hanging on Chopper's horn and reassembled it, as smooth as a Transformer transforming.
After finishing the serious business, Shikanoko Noko returned to her usual playful demeanor.
The team advanced at a slow pace. Whenever there was a bit more space ahead, Chopper would show its use, reaching out to push Shikanoko Noko, who was lying on the ground, to roll forward.
"I'll have to buy more later, otherwise, waiting in line for so long would be too much of a loss," Kanroji Mitsuri said, looking at the recommended items on the back of the flyer.
"It's precisely because everyone has that thought that the line moves so slowly."
Fortunately, besides the two deer, no one else cut in line, so the queue kept moving forward instead of staying still or even moving backward.
The latter is perhaps more common in boarding school student cafeterias.
Chatting like this, it took nearly an hour to see the shop sign again. As Chopper and Shikanoko Noko each walked out with an oversized rainbow cotton candy, Kisaragi Rin and Kanroji Mitsuri walked in.
Scanning inside, it was a very ordinary shop. Besides having more varieties than other dessert shops, the interior decoration had nothing amazing about it.
It wasn't until Kisaragi focused her gaze on the busy figure that she understood why there was such a long line here.
Her orange-yellow wavy hair fell to her waist, tied up with just a simple hair tie, and a white apron completely failed to conceal her figure.
Her face had a seductive charm, especially her dark blue eyes and a beauty mark at the corner of her mouth, combined with the cream smudged on her face, she smiled like a vixen.
There were two more such beauties busy in the shop, though slightly childish, their beauty was already apparent, and they were twins.
These people weren't here to buy desserts; they were clearly here to see the 'Tofu Beauties'!
The problem was, Kisaragi Rin knew these three people.
Kanroji Mitsuri, seeing Kisaragi Rin's gaze fixed on them, poked him jealously, "Kisaragi-san?"
When that name appeared, the three busy figures all shifted their gaze over.
The alluring shop owner's foxy eyes clung to every part of Kisaragi's body, and her moist lips slowly uttered, "Kisaragi-kun..."
"Auntie Tsubakihara."
Kisaragi Rin responded to her reluctantly.
"Someone you know?" Kanroji Mitsuri looked left and right, thinking in her mind.
Tsubakihara Mira covered her mouth and chuckled, "Auntie? That's too much, isn't it? You should call me Mira-nee, that's what you used to call me."
Kisaragi Rin chose to remain silent.
Tsubakihara Mira's twin daughters, Tsubakihara Yuna and Tsubakihara Nina, also stared at Kisaragi, their red lips slightly parted as if to say something, but they held back.
"Is this your girlfriend? She looks so cute," Tsubakihara Mira said, praising Kanroji Mitsuri beside Kisaragi Rin.
After praising Kanroji Mitsuri, she looked at Kisaragi Rin and said in a subtle tone, "But Yuna has been waiting for you, Kisaragi-san."
"This kind of thing, it's not good to chat about it now," Kisaragi gestured to the surrounding onlookers.
Tsubakihara Mira smiled, "Kisaragi-kun is still as shy as ever. Nina, tell the customers behind that today's dessert stock is sold out..."
...
Hanging up the 'temporarily closed' sign, Tsubakihara Mira led Kisaragi Rin and the others to sit around a small round table.
Tsubakihara Yuna, the elder of the twins, brought red tea and brewed it for everyone.
Although they were twins, they were actually quite easy to distinguish: Tsubakihara Yuna's eyes were a bit greener, while Tsubakihara Nina's pupil color was the same blue as her mother, Tsubakihara Mira, and she wore glasses.
"I'm, in a sense, Kisaragi Rin's guardian."
Tsubakihara Mira took Kanroji Mitsuri's hand and told her this, which startled Kanroji Mitsuri.
"Eh... Eh! I'm sorry, I was so rude... What should I call you, Mom?"
Her face flushed, Kanroji Mitsuri said somewhat flustered.
Kisaragi Rin looked at Tsubakihara Mira, who was full of smiles, and told Kanroji Mitsuri, "Don't worry about it, because there's no such thing."
"At most, she's a close friend, with a slight role as a benefactor."
As he spoke of Tsubakihara Mira's identity to him, Kisaragi took a sip of red tea and asked her, "How did you come to Chiba, and open a dessert shop?"
When he was in the orphanage, many people wanted to adopt Kisaragi Rin, and Tsubakihara Mira was the most active among them. Even though Kisaragi Rin had long refused to be adopted, she didn't give up, being so proactive that Kisaragi at first suspected she was a pedophile.
Later, their relationship improved, and Kisaragi Rin even stayed at her house for a period during junior high school.
However, it was also because of her that Kisaragi Rin came from Tokyo to Chiba for university.
"I missed you."
Without any subtlety, Tsubakihara Mira looked at Kisaragi Rin seriously and said.
"Mom, please don't talk like that."
Without waiting for others to respond, Tsubakihara Yuna couldn't help but interrupt Tsubakihara Mira.
Tsubakihara Nina ignored her mother and sister, biting her straw and staring at Kanroji Mitsuri's face, making her feel puzzled.
"Tsubakihara Mira is a friend and benefactor Kisaragi actively acknowledges. Tsubakihara Yuna, according to Tsubakihara Mira, is the woman waiting for Kisaragi, perhaps a former girlfriend or something. So what role is Tsubakihara Nina? Why is she looking at me with such displeasure?"
Kanroji Mitsuri's mind was filled with questions. She pulled out a pink phone, ready to tell Busujima Saeko what was happening here and ask for her opinion.
Tsubakihara Mira clutched her chest, feigning sadness, "Yuna, if you act like that, Mommy will be very sad."
Tsubakihara Yuna turned her head away from her, clenching her fingers, and looking at Kisaragi Rin, she answered for her mother, "The reason we came to Chiba is because there have been many inexplicable murder cases in Tokyo, all with very peculiar methods of death. It seems every murderer is showing off their skills."
At this point, Tsubakihara Yuna also seemed unsure how to express it, as the matter sounded quite absurd. Seeing that Kisaragi Rin's expression hadn't changed, seemingly already believing it, she continued, "Even Nina and I were involved in a crime scene and were almost taken away as suspects... After that, Mom brought us to Chiba, and... Nina and I also transferred to universities in Chiba."
Although she gave a very serious reason, Tsubakihara Yuna's ears were warm and flushed, and her gaze fixed on Kisaragi's face showed the true reason for coming to Chiba.
"If that's the case, then live well."
Kisaragi Rin thought: Is the aura of a certain Detective Conan already taking effect? Shouldn't the Survival Institute contain this 'Death'?
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