September 21st, 2:25 PM
A flashy supercar suddenly pulled up in front of Teitan High School.
Quite a few first-year students who weren't participating in club activities after school quickly gathered around the vehicle. Unable to resist, they pulled out their phones to snap pictures of the luxury car and upload them to social media or their blogs for likes.
One particularly knowledgeable boy wearing a baseball cap couldn't help blurting out, "Holy crap! Isn't that the new Bugatti Divo?! And it's a custom color too! That's insanely cool!"
Noticing his friend couldn't stop himself from running his hand back and forth over the hood, a more timid boy said worriedly,
"Hey, hey, hey! What if you damage it? There's no way you could afford to pay for it!"
"I'm just touching it a little. How could it possibly break? Besides, the owner isn't here, right?"
"Little kid, don't go touching another man's wife~"
The baseball-cap boy nearly jumped out of his skin. One hand immediately clamped down on his cap as he spun around.
The moment he saw the speaker, he felt an invisible pressure bearing down on him.
It wasn't because the white-haired man was over half a head taller than him.
It was those phoenix-shaped eyes. Despite the smile in them, they carried an unmistakable sense of distance.
The boy swallowed nervously and didn't dare breathe too loudly.
Ritsu smiled as he adjusted his glasses and leaned against the car door.
"Try not to touch it randomly. I don't really like my belongings picking up other people's scent."
A moment ago he had called it his wife. Now he'd changed his wording awfully fast. The baseball-cap boy scratched his head awkwardly.
"Sorry. It's just... the car is so cool. I couldn't help myself."
"I understand. I'm not blaming you, so no need to apologize."
After saying that, Ritsu paid the student no further attention. He raised his left hand to check his watch.
Three minutes remained before the agreed meeting time.
'Surely Kudo isn't going to be late, right?'
Fortunately, less than a minute later, he heard an all-too-familiar voice.
"I knew the culprit behind the disturbance at school would be you."
Shinichi walked over wearing his blue school blazer and rubbed his forehead.
"Sensei, we're just going to a tea party. There was no need to spend a fortune renting such an expensive car."
Glancing at the eye-catching supercar, he added, "You don't even own a car yourself. Wouldn't it be better to save that money and buy one?"
"Who said I rented it?" Ritsu crossed his arms and looked displeased.
Shinichi froze. For several seconds, he simply stood there processing the statement. Then his expression changed dramatically.
"Sensei! You're a police officer! How can you knowingly break the law?! Did you rob a bank or a jewelry store or something?!"
The moment those words left his mouth, the surrounding students all started looking at Ritsu differently.
"This handsome, wealthy-looking guy was actually a robber?"
"Wait, didn't Kudo just say he was a police officer?"
"Hold on, was something huge about to happen?"
"Although... this white-haired police officer looked oddly familiar."
"Wait a second! Isn't that Inspector Onizawa from Nichiuri TV?"
"Onizawa? The genius detective known as the Light of the Police Force with that crazy case-solving rate?"
"Wasn't he the one who solved that case at our school too?"
"I didn't recognize him without the motorcycle!"
"Awesome! I finally got to meet Shuten-dōji in person!"
"..."
'How many times do I have to tell people not to call me Shuten-dōji? That nickname is way too weird!'
Even Shinichi hadn't expected Onizawa's popularity to be this high. Seeing more and more students gathering around them, he immediately shouted,
"Onizawa-sensei and I have an important case to handle! Stop bothering us!"
"Huh?" A blond-haired boy carrying a soccer ball looked utterly confused.
"Kudo, when did you become his disciple? I'm your classmate, and I never heard about this!"
It was Nakamichi Kenta. Honestly, he felt a little betrayed. As one of Shinichi's close friends, how could he keep something like this a secret?
"Sorry, Nakamichi! It's really urgent! I'll explain everything when we're back at school!"
Shinichi waved frantically. "Everyone, please move aside!"
At this point, he didn't even care about the car anymore.
If they ended up late to the tea party because of this crowd of busybodies, that would be a real problem.
Ritsu wasn't interested in being interrogated by a bunch of teenagers either. He had already spotted several high-school girls pulling autograph books and pens from their bags.
Without hesitation, he climbed into the driver's seat. Not even waiting for Shinichi to fasten his seatbelt, he started the engine and sped away.
As soon as Shinichi shut the door, he asked, "Sensei, you didn't really commit some irredeemable crime, did you? I strongly recommend confessing while you still can."
"Why did you suddenly buy such an expensive supercar?"
Ritsu held the steering wheel with one hand and casually put on the gold-rimmed glasses sitting nearby.
Instantly, that refined-yet-suspicious intellectual aura returned.
"In your eyes, am I really the type of person who'd do anything for money?"
"Of course not." Shinichi shook his head. "That's why I want to know the answer."
"The answer is..." Ritsu noticed Shinichi still fumbling with his seatbelt.
The corner of his mouth curled upward. Deliberately leaving the sentence unfinished, he suddenly slammed on the brakes at a red light.
"Whoa—!"
Before Shinichi could react, his body lurched forward.
Thunk!
A crisp sound echoed through the car. Rubbing the rapidly reddening mark on his forehead, Shinichi glared at him resentfully.
A small bump was already forming.
"The answer is that I'm rich." Ritsu smirked.
"Much richer than you imagine."
"Huh?!"
Shinichi stared at him. "Then why were you always hitching rides from other people before?!"
"Isn't the heiress of the Suzuki Financial Group always around you?"
Ritsu shrugged. "Go ask her."
Shinichi rubbed his aching forehead while seriously considering the statement. A shallow interpretation quickly formed in his mind.
'Hmm... Sonoko does get weirdly excited over trivial things sometimes. Could this be some rich-person hobby?'
For example, despite having access to private luxury transportation, Sonoko often preferred walking part of the way home with Ran.
And despite being able to summon a chauffeur with a single phone call, she frequently chose buses, trains, and subways instead.
At that moment, he understood. Ritsu hadn't avoided buying a car because he lacked money. It was simply a rich person's eccentric hobby.
He just enjoyed mooching rides from other people.
"If you waste your brain cells thinking about nonsense like that, you're going to run out of memory and fry your brain."
Ritsu glanced at Shinichi's still-unfastened seatbelt. "Hurry up and buckle it."
"If the Traffic Division spots you, we're both going to have a bad day."
"Oh, right!"
As Shinichi finally fastened the seatbelt, they reached the next intersection. Sure enough, a female traffic officer was patrolling nearby in a mini police vehicle.
Both of them visibly relaxed.
They had been dangerously close to getting stopped and fined.
"Sensei..." Shinichi narrowed his eyes.
"Are you secretly cursed with a crow's mouth?"
"If I had a crow's mouth, we'd already be pulled over."
"...Fair point."
Ritsu glanced at the GPS. They were getting close to their destination. Lowering the window, he pulled out a cigarette to satisfy his nicotine cravings.
The moment he lit it, he noticed the look of disgust coming from the passenger seat.
"What?" Ritsu raised an eyebrow. "Jealous that adults get to do things like this?"
"I'd never do something that's bad for my health." Shinichi folded his arms.
"Sensei, you should really smoke less."
"Worry about yourself."
Ritsu exhaled a stream of smoke. "Although, Kudo, there is something I'd like to ask you."
"Hm? What is it?"
"Have you seriously never thought about why Moriya-san invited you?"
Ritsu looked ahead at the road. "For example, whether your family has some connection to the Moriya family."
"Otherwise, why would he invite a high-school student to a private tea party out of nowhere?"
Upon hearing the question, Shinichi immediately put on an extremely smug expression. "I actually gave that some serious thought!"
"Sensei, you asked me the same thing before."
"Oh?"
Ritsu raised an eyebrow. "And did you come up with an answer?"
"Of course! Moriya is an incredibly famous architect, right?"
After seeing Ritsu nod at the mention of Moriya's fame, Shinichi grinned proudly.
"Heh!"
The grin widened.
"I'm a famous high-school detective! A famous detective and a famous architect, don't they make a perfect combination?"
"Maybe some amazing chemical reaction will happen and inspire him with new architectural ideas!"
"..."
Ritsu nearly slammed on the brakes again.
This time, he almost wanted to give the other side of Shinichi's forehead the same treatment as the first.
After a long pause, he finally said, "You're really full of yourself."
Forget it.
He'd just find an opportunity later to dig for information himself.
'Let's see what exactly this famous architect was planning.'
----
bonus chap every 20 PS
read ahead on my pa reon @Siamus404