The next morning.
Early dawn.
"Ugh…" Kurosawa Hoshino frowned, a pained expression on his face. He slowly opened his eyes, but the pain only became clearer.
"Hiss—" He took a deep breath, his face twisting. Both his arms had gone numb—Ran and Sonoko had used them as pillows all night. It felt like he didn't even have hands anymore.
Don't misunderstand. Nothing happened last night.
It was purely because of Vermouth and Kaito Kuroba's disguises that the two girls no longer trusted anyone else in the villa. They were too scared to sleep, so they came to chat with him.
He didn't know how long they talked. Kurosawa Hoshino was the first to give in—he collapsed onto the bed, answering their questions vaguely with his eyes closed, and gradually fell asleep. Ran and Sonoko were probably exhausted too, so they just settled down next to him.
Meanwhile, Kogoro Mouri, who had woken up early, was on his way to check on Tanaka Kikue. Passing by Kurosawa Hoshino's room, he found Conan sleeping on the floor. He gave him a light kick.
"Hey, brat, what are you doing lying here?"
"Ugh…" Conan mumbled, gradually waking up. He felt sore all over—sleeping on the cold, hard floor at the doorway, of course he'd ache in the morning.
"Brat, I'm asking you—why are you lying here?"
"I—" Conan's mind was fuzzy. He thought for a moment, then finally remembered. Last night, he'd gotten up to use the bathroom and saw Ran sneaking around outside Kurosawa Hoshino's door. Then she opened it and went in. Worried they might do something between a man and a woman, he eavesdropped at the door, ready to tattle at any moment. But then he found out Sonoko was already inside.
In the end, it was just the three of them chatting. He stood guard outside the whole time, listening. Eventually he couldn't hold on anymore and fell asleep.
Conan stared stiffly at the hallway, fully aware it was already daylight. A wave of sorrow washed over him. He was terrified that "that kind of thing" had happened while he was asleep. He said to Kogoro Mouri, "Uncle Mouri, last night Ran-neechan and Sonoko-neechan were in Brother Hoshino's room. They didn't come out all night."
As soon as he finished speaking, Conan felt a pressure. The Kogoro Mouri in front of him seemed like a different person. He looked the same as usual, but his eyes and expression were such that even one more glance might kill him.
"Move." Kogoro Mouri said flatly. He put his hand on the doorknob and turned it gently. It wasn't locked, and the door opened.
Kogoro Mouri straightened his jacket, glanced at the situation in the room—especially the three people lying on the bed—and walked in unhurriedly.
Conan followed him in. Seeing Kurosawa Hoshino with a girl on each side, he nearly fainted and collapsed on the spot.
"Uncle Mouri, I can explain," Kurosawa Hoshino said. His hands hadn't recovered—he couldn't move even if he wanted to. He glanced to his left and right. The two girls seemed to be awake already; their eyelashes were trembling wildly, but they didn't dare open their eyes.
With a cold snort, Kogoro Mouri crossed his arms and observed the large bed. He said flatly, "You're under the blanket. They're sleeping on top of it. Looks like you fell asleep first, and they went to sleep much later after chatting. They must have been too tired to move, so they just lay down next to you."
"Right, right, right." Kurosawa Hoshino nodded quickly.
"The foot of the bed is neat. There are no collision marks at the headboard from shaking. That means you slept soundly last night."
"Huh?" Kurosawa Hoshino felt something was off about that. Surely he didn't think they'd done that?
Kogoro Mouri bent down, touched the bedding under his daughter's feet, nodded, and sniffed. "Under the blanket is cold. That means even if they'd been under it, they got out more than an hour ago. The air doesn't have that smell, and there's no tissue in the trash can—"
He paused there. The pressure around Kogoro Mouri slowly faded, and he continued, "Brat, you saved your own life."
Kurosawa Hoshino could tell—that had just been the "Great Detective Kogoro Mouri" state.
"Good, nothing happened." Conan breathed a sigh of relief, a smile appearing on his face. As long as nothing had happened, he was satisfied.
"Hmph. Get up and eat breakfast. No sleeping in." After saying that, Kogoro Mouri glanced at the two girls pretending to be asleep. He knew that if he didn't leave, they wouldn't wake up.
He casually grabbed Conan and left the room.
"Uncle, I—"
"Shut up!"
The door slammed shut with a bang.
Instantly, the room fell silent. Only the sound of the three people breathing remained.
Kurosawa Hoshino said irritably, "Stop pretending. Get up. I feel like my arms don't belong to me anymore."
Hearing that, both girls opened their eyes at the same time and sat up. They turned to look at Kurosawa Hoshino, whose arms couldn't move at all, and couldn't help but burst out laughing.
"Stop laughing. Help me rub them. It hurts so much."
"Oh, oh~" The two girls quickly each took one of his arms and began massaging vigorously.
"Hiss~ Ah~" Kurosawa Hoshino twitched the corner of his mouth and said quietly, "Good thing we didn't do anything last night. Otherwise, Uncle Mouri might have just killed me."
Ran's cheeks flushed. She pinched his arm and said irritably, "Don't say nonsense. How could we have done anything?"
"Exactly," Sonoko agreed. "If Uncle Mouri really was going to do something, I definitely would have said that we were scared by those two disguised people last night and didn't dare sleep."
"Then why didn't you say that just now?" Kurosawa Hoshino rare adopted Conan's dead-fish-eyed stare.
"Hehe~" Sonoko stuck out her tongue. "I was too embarrassed just now. I didn't dare open my eyes. Besides, Uncle Mouri didn't do anything. If he had, I definitely would have said something."
"Me too," Ran said firmly from beside her.
"Heh~" Kurosawa Hoshino rolled his eyes at them, not believing a word. Thank goodness it had been the Great Detective Kogoro Mouri just now. If it had been any other state of Kogoro Mouri, he probably would have attacked first.
After a few minutes of massage, Kurosawa Hoshino felt his arms could move again. They were still sore, but he left the room. If he stayed any longer, Kogoro Mouri might come back for another round.
Downstairs, everyone ate breakfast. Then Kurosawa Hoshino and the others prepared to head back first. The rest stayed to watch over Tanaka Kikue and wait for the police at the villa. Everything that needed to be explained had been explained yesterday, and Hamano Toshiya and the others had memorized the details. They could give a clear account when the police questioned them.