Five days.
Five days of bizarre, seasons-in-a-week weather. Five days of… nothing.
No cases. No murders around Mouri Kogoro. No Conan-induced chaos.
Just sunburn and the faint scent of disappointment.
This detective-waiting game is terrible for my health, Kurosawa Hoshino mused, slinging his bag over his shoulder after school.
He and Ran were heading out when a figure blocked their path.
Tsukamoto Kazumi.
"Senpai!" Ran and Sonoko chirped in unison.
Kazumi nodded at them, but her serious gaze was locked on Hoshino. Her lips pressed into a thin line, eyes flicking to the two girls beside him.
Ran and Sonoko exchanged a look. The silent girl-code passed in an instant.
"Ah! We just remembered! We have to… go!" Sonoko blurted, grabbing Ran's arm.
"Right! Bye, Senpai! Bye, Hoshino-kun!" Ran added, already being pulled away, throwing a perfectly innocent smile over her shoulder.
Their acting was terrible. And obvious.
Once they were gone, Kazumi steered Hoshino to a quieter corner of the hallway, her voice dropping. "Kurosawa-kun. About last time… I've finished my mid-terms. I was hoping… we could go shopping? To make up for it."
"Senpai, I wasn't hurt. There's no debt," Hoshino said, his mind already half out the door, scanning for any sign of a brewing incident.
"It still feels like my fault," she insisted, scratching her short hair in frustration. "Then… let me walk you home, at least?"
He sighed internally. Her guilt was genuine, not just an excuse. "Alright."
They left the school gates, falling into step. The afternoon sun was oddly gentle.
"So," Kazumi began, her school skirt swishing. "Three attacks dodged in a month. You're… really good at that, aren't you?"
"I'm observant. I notice things," he said casually, his eyes scanning the street ahead, the shops, the reflections in windows. "Like the two people tailing us right now."
"What?!" Kazumi spun, scanning the crowd of shoppers and salarymen. "Where?"
"Don't look directly. They're about fifty meters back, using the crowd as cover." He stopped walking, turning to face the direction they'd come. "Let's see how long they pretend."
Kazumi stood beside him, tense. A minute passed.
Then, two familiar heads yanked themselves back behind the awning of a coffee shop.
Kazumi's tension melted into amused recognition. "…Ran and Sonoko?"
"Of course," Hoshino said, a dry smirk on his lips. "You pull me aside for a 'mysterious talk,' we leave together… they've obviously concluded this is a secret date and are here for the live commentary."
Two bright spots of pink bloomed on Kazumi's cheeks. "A d-date?! Those two…!"
Inside the coffee shop, panic ensued.
"They saw us! They totally saw us!" Sonoko whisper-yelled, ducking behind a menu.
"This is your fault and your terrible 'stealth' skills!" Ran hissed back, mortified.
"I was just conducting important research on campus romance!"
"You're just a gossip!"
With a sigh, Ran grabbed Sonoko's wrist. "Come on. Time to face the music."
They trudged out, approaching the waiting pair with the grace of convicted criminals.
"S-Senpai! Hoshino! Fancy meeting you here!" Sonoko offered, a giant, wobbly smile on her face.
"Y-Yes! What a… coincidence!" Ran echoed, studying a fascinating crack in the pavement.
Hoshino and Kazumi just stared, unimpressed.
Kazumi crossed her arms. "Because of the incident, I wanted to talk to Kurosawa-kun. That's all. Your imaginations need a leash."
"I told you," Ran mumbled to Sonoko.
"Okay, okay, I'm a nosy busybody!" Sonoko conceded.
Kazumi rolled her eyes, but a smile tugged at her lips. "Hopeless, both of you."
"Since we're all here," Hoshino interjected, "should we get something to drink? Sonoko was eyeing the afternoon set menu in there like a hawk."
"Hey! I was just… strategically assessing value!" Sonoko protested, puffing her cheeks. "Two sets for four people is efficient!"
"Since when does a Suzuki heiress worry about efficiency with desserts?"
"I have layers, Hoshino! Layers!"
As Sonoko launched into a dramatic defense of her character, Hoshino's gaze drifted over her shoulder, across the busy intersection.
His playful expression vanished.
His eyes sharpened, locking onto a scene down the cross-street.
"Hoshino-kun?" Ran followed his gaze. "Oh, it's Conan and the Detective Boys. They seem… frantic."
It was true. Conan, Ayumi, and the others were darting around, peering into shop windows, looking under boxes—a clear, chaotic search pattern.
But Hoshino wasn't just looking at the children.
His focus was on the three men in black, moving with silent, predatory grace through the crowd, their eyes fixed on the unsuspecting kids. Black hats, black coats. A chillingly familiar silhouette.
The Black Organization. Here. This early.
A specific memory clicked into place. The map with the maple leaf coins… a treasure hunt for the kids. And these vultures, following the scent.
A cold calculation ran through his mind. Interfere? The potential Origin Points from tangling with the Organization could be massive… but so was the risk of a bullet from a silenced pistol.
He had a simpler, safer objective right now: stay near Conan, survive the inevitable case.
"Fifteen thousand maple leaf coins…" he muttered under his breath, the words almost lost in the street noise. "Not worth the currency I need. Just stick to the plan. Earn the Points, stay alive."
He tore his eyes away from the shadowed men, a new tension lining his shoulders. The quiet afternoon was over.
The game was on.