That day, the Astra Yao concert venue was packed, and the atmosphere was lively.
In the VIP area, Rin returned with three freshly bought milk teas.
She carefully avoided the excited audience around her, handed one to Rina, who was gently nodding to the rhythm, and gave another, extra-sweet one to Ellen.
"Thank you," Ellen took the milk tea, sipped it through a straw, and her shark tail wagged slightly.
Rin, holding her own cup, was about to sit in the empty seat next to Ellen, but because she had to avoid Ellen's tail, she miscalculated the distance and accidentally tumbled directly into Rina's lap.
"Oh!" Rin gasped, her face instantly turning bright red, and she fumbled to stand up, "S-sorry, Rina-nee! I wasn't paying attention..."
Rina chuckled, then naturally put her arm around Rin's waist, and in that position, rested her chin on Rin's shoulder, using her other hand to bring the straw to her mouth and take a sip of milk tea.
"Mmm, the taste is indeed good."
Rina's voice carried a hint of laughter, and her breath brushed against Rin's ear.
"But it seems a bit too sweet. I can't finish it, Rin, can you help me drink it?"
She said, moving the straw of her milk tea cup closer to Rn's mouth.
Rin's face grew even redder, her heart pounding, and she took a sip from the straw. "I-it's okay... This cup is normal sweetness, Ellen's cup is the extra-sweet one."
"Is that so?" Rina's smile deepened, "I also have a little experience with making milk tea. If you like milk tea so much, how about I make a cup for you to try next time? I guarantee it'll be better than this."
"Ah?!"
Rin, like a startled rabbit, suddenly broke free from Rina's embrace and stammered, waving her hands.
"N-no need! Actually, I don't like milk tea that much! Really!"
She quickly sat upright in her seat, staring straight ahead at the stage.
Ellen glanced at the interaction between the two beside her, especially Rin's action of breaking free from Rina's embrace. Her previously downturned lips curved slightly upwards, and the milk tea seemed to taste even sweeter.
After another sip of milk tea, Ellen's gaze swept over the few still-empty VIP seats nearby, and she spoke with some confusion.
"Speaking of which, Ran told me earlier that they also got VIP tickets for this concert, and their seats seemed to be near ours. How come the concert has been going on for so long, and we haven't seen them yet?"
Rin pouted at her words, complaining.
"What else could it be? It must be that Shinigami Shougakusei[1] Conan acting up again! Most likely, they ran into some case on the way or nearby.
Tsk tsk, luckily we didn't set off with them this time. What a wise decision."
Just then, the song Astra Yao was performing on stage entered its climax. The stirring melody and incredibly penetrating voice ignited the entire venue.
Rin was also caught up in the atmosphere. Just as she was about to cheer, her gaze inadvertently swept across the VIP area diagonally in front of her. An extremely incongruous figure made her instantly choke, almost gagging on her milk tea.
In that seat, a burly man wearing sunglasses, dressed in an otaku-style support uniform with a cute, stylized image of Astra Yao, was wildly waving a glow stick, passionately cheering along with the rhythm, shouting louder than anyone else.
That's right, this fat otaku was Vodka!
Rin glanced beside Vodka but didn't see Gin, so she figured Vodka must have abandoned his Big Brother to sneak out and have fun by himself.
Of course, it's also possible that Gin couldn't stand Vodka dressed as a fat otaku and deliberately didn't come along... A little earlier, before the concert began, in a certain restaurant.
Mouri Kogoro was wearing a flashy pure white suit, his hair slicked back and shiny, and he held a bouquet of bright red roses, his face beaming with anticipation.
His mind was already envisioning how he would present the flowers to Miss Yoko Okino and Miss Astra Yao on stage, under the spotlight of thousands of people.
He habitually reached into the inner pocket of his suit, wanting to confirm once again that his precious VIP ticket was safe.
With that touch, his smile froze on his face.
The pocket... was empty!
Mouri Kogoro's expression changed dramatically, and he frantically pulled the entire pocket inside out.
He saw that the inner pocket of his suit had a hole in it, he didn't know when, large enough for his hand to pass through directly.
"My ticket! Where's my concert ticket?!"
Mouri Kogoro let out a shrill scream.
He fumbled all over his body but found nothing.
His ticket had clearly fallen out of that hole, lost somewhere unknown.
"It's over! It's all over! My Miss Yoko! My Astra Yao!"
Mouri Kogoro was grief-stricken, then turned his gaze to the innocent-looking Conan beside him, wanting to shift the blame.
"It's all your fault! You brat! You must have messed around in my closet and torn my clothes! Pay for my ticket!"
Conan's mouth twitched, and he gave him a half-moon eye. "Hey, hey, Uncle, you clearly tore your own clothes by accident, didn't you? What does that have to do with me..."
"I don't care!"
Mouri Kogoro acted shamelessly, grabbing Conan by the collar.
"Anyway, your ticket isn't lost! Give me your ticket! What's a kid like you doing at a concert? Go home and watch Kamen Rider!"
Ran, standing nearby, couldn't take it anymore. She didn't know why, but her father had become increasingly fond of targeting Conan lately. She frowned and said:
"Dad! How can you be like this! Since the ticket is lost, let's think of a solution... How about we ask if there are any scalped tickets?"
"Scalped tickets?"
Mouri Kogoro's heart ached at the mention of money, and he said with a mournful face,
"How expensive would VIP section scalped tickets be! I... I haven't even made up for the commission fees I lost gambling on horse racing last time... How can I afford to buy high-priced tickets now!"
Making him spend a large sum of money on scalped tickets was even more painful than cutting off his own flesh.
Just as Mouri Kogoro was pounding his chest in frustration, the conversation of a young woman nearby who was on the phone drifted into their ears.
"You're too much!"
"Kenji, what do you mean you have a cold and can't come?"
"Do you know how much effort I put into getting these VIP section tickets for this Astra Yao concert?"
"My sister and I were all ready to take your car to the concert, and now you're not coming, do you want us to take a taxi ourselves?"
"Hello?! Hello!"
"Ahhh he actually dare to hung up on me directly, what a useless guy! Can't you just overcome a mere 39-degree fever?"
[1] previously it was Shinigami Elementary Schooler, now i change it to Shougakusei. Because it was more... .... Cool