The villa's living room.
Everyone had arrived and introduced themselves one by one.
Sukiyo Hiro, male, 23 years old, hired by Arata Yoshinori to help around the villa.
Hamano Toshiya, male, 28 years old, a member of the chat group, online name: The Vanishing Bunny Girl.
The last one looked a bit chubby—Dojima Katsuki, male, 21 years old, online name: Red Herring.
Kurosawa Hoshino glanced at him a little longer but didn't pay him any more attention. He knew this guy was actually Kaito Kuroba in disguise.
"Didn't I say it?" Hamano Toshiya stared excitedly at Ran and Sonoko. "They're the girlfriends Kurosawa-kun has online—the names match exactly."
"Um, please don't believe the rumors online. We're not in that kind of relationship with Hoshino," Ran and Sonoko explained together.
"Exactly." Kogoro Mouri said irritably, "My Ran is not that brat's girlfriend. Don't believe the stuff online—it's all made up for clicks."
Kogoro Mouri had introduced himself earlier, so everyone knew he was Ran's father. They decided not to joke about it anymore. However, they all tacitly turned their gaze to the one person who hadn't introduced himself—Kurosawa Hoshino, still wearing his hat—and their expressions were excited. Anyone who wasn't a fool and followed Kurosawa Hoshino's news knew that Ran or Sonoko was always by his side. Now both girls were here, and the guy who hadn't introduced himself was deliberately wearing a hat. They were absolutely certain this was Kurosawa Hoshino.
Finally, Hamano Toshiya asked, "Young man, are you Kurosawa-kun?"
"That's me." Since Ran and Sonoko had been recognized, Kurosawa Hoshino decided not to bother disguising anymore and took off his hat.
Immediately, the people in front of him screamed and swarmed over.
"Ahhhhh!"
"It really is Kurosawa-kun! Amazing!"
"Kurosawa-kun, quick, let's take a photo together."
"Don't rush, everyone, one at a time."
Hamano Toshiya squeezed to the front, grabbed Kurosawa Hoshino in a hug, blocking the others behind him, and said irritably, "Don't fight me for him. If you do, I won't give Kurosawa-kun to you."
"Uh—" Kurosawa Hoshino didn't mind being hugged by a man, but the smell on him made him hold his breath and frown. He thought, What the hell? That's a strong men's cologne.
But the next second, his expression changed. Because he felt a pair of hands squeeze his butt hard and pat it.
"You—" Kurosawa Hoshino was about to explode when Hamano Toshiya quickly let go of him and retreated into the crowd, throwing him a flirtatious wink.
If it were a woman, that wink might have been okay, but this was a man—and it made Kurosawa Hoshino want to throw up.
"All right, all right, I've hugged Kurosawa-kun and I'm satisfied. I won't fight you for him anymore." Hamano Toshiya said this while pushing the two women in front of him—Kuroda Naoko and Tanaka Kikue—toward Kurosawa Hoshino.
"Heh~" Hamano Toshiya laughed, especially enjoying the scene of Kurosawa Hoshino wanting to cause him trouble but being blocked by the two women. He felt even more delighted, a smug expression appearing on his face.
Hamano Toshiya wasn't actually the real person—he was Vermouth in disguise. Yesterday, she'd heard Sonoko mention the address, so she'd come early today and waited outside. She happened to catch the real Hamano Toshiya on his way to the gathering, tied him up, and disguised herself as him. Knowing Kurosawa Hoshino was observant, Vermouth deliberately sprayed on a lot of men's cologne to mask her natural body scent. That was why she'd dared to approach Kurosawa Hoshino so recklessly and play a prank on him, teasing him.
At that moment, Kurosawa Hoshino had no idea that "Hamano Toshiya" was Vermouth in disguise. After being molested, he was genuinely disgusted. While taking photos with Kuroda Naoko and Tanaka Kikue, he cursed inwardly: Damn pervert! Don't let me find a chance—otherwise I'll make you regret squeezing my butt. Damn it, I didn't even let those male fans succeed yesterday, and today he got away with it. I'm not clean anymore—
Kurosawa Hoshino didn't know that Ran and Sonoko had seen what just happened. The two girls exchanged a glance and shuddered in unison, disgusted expressions on their faces. Then they looked at each other.
Ran asked very quietly, "Do you think Mr. Hamano likes men?"
"Definitely," Sonoko whispered back. "Didn't you see Hoshino's face change? Sigh, Hoshino must be disgusted. He ran into a pervert."
"What should we do?"
"Of course we pretend we didn't see anything. We can't even mention it—give Hoshino some face."
"Mm, mm." Ran nodded.
After the playful commotion, Kurosawa Hoshino signed autographs and took photos with everyone except Hamano Toshiya—including Dojima Katsuki, who was Kaito Kuroba in disguise. Kaito probably didn't want to get close to Kurosawa Hoshino, but everyone else was acting the same way, so if he acted differently, he'd definitely be suspected.
The atmosphere calmed down a bit. Everyone became more composed and proper again, as if the fanboy/fangirl scene earlier had never happened.
Arata Yoshinori smiled. "It's still early before dark, and two more people haven't arrived yet. How about we play cards?"
Sonoko asked, "Are we still waiting for the Escape King and the Shadow Mage?"
Those were online names.
"Yes," Arata Yoshinori nodded.
Kuroda Naoko sighed. "Actually, I don't really want the Shadow Mage to come."
Ran asked Sonoko, "What's wrong with that person?"
Sonoko explained, "The Shadow Mage. His messages in the group were really weird before—stuff like 'I'm going to fly' and 'I'll make you all disappear.' It just gave a bad feeling."
"Oh." Ran understood.
"Didn't you say we're playing cards? I happen to have a deck with me." Dojima Katsuki pulled a deck of playing cards from his pocket and smiled at everyone.
Kurosawa Hoshino stayed silent. Kogoro Mouri really wanted a cigarette. Conan and Sonoko looked at the group with pity.
"Sure, I'm not bad at cards," Ran said shyly.
"Actually, I'm pretty good at cards too." Dojima Katsuki—Kaito Kuroba—was quite confident. He didn't think anyone here could beat him, not even the brilliant detective Kurosawa Hoshino. After all, being good at deduction didn't mean being good at cards.
Hamano Toshiya suggested, "With so many people, let's split into teams. Two per team, and the losing team swaps out."
Kurosawa Hoshino stared hard at this guy. Looking at that face, he felt like there were hands moving all over his back again. He wanted to rush over and punch him.