It was just two adults and five elementary school kids eating at a family restaurant, yet the final bill left Ritsu utterly dumbfounded. They had somehow managed to spend even more than the last team dinner, and that time there had been four adults.
He had never imagined that Genta had managed to take his eating abilities to yet another level.
After finishing five bowls of grilled eel rice, the boy had somehow gone on to eat three servings of sizzling grilled beef tongue and four servings of pan-seared foie gras.
"Genta, if you eat that much, will you even be able to sleep tonight?"
"Huh? Are you guys already full? Honestly, I still wanted some dessert, but ice cream's too cold in winter, so I guess I'll skip it."
The moment Ritsu heard that, the hand reaching for the car door trembled. Turning helplessly toward Hayasaka, he said,
"Sorry, but could you take the kids home? I'll give you tomorrow off so you can get some proper rest."
"You said it! If there's a case tomorrow, don't expect me to come help!"
Hayasaka had already begun picturing the perfect stay-at-home lazy day. She planned to spend the whole day relaxing while catching up on the shoujo manga she'd been reading lately.
"Hey, what do you mean if there's a case tomorrow? I seriously don't want there to be one. Besides, school's off tomorrow too. I'd rather nothing unexpected happen."
Hayasaka looked at him in confusion.
"What does a case have to do with school being closed?"
Ritsu glanced toward Conan, who had already climbed into the back seat, before replying with a perfectly straight face,
"Recently, Kogoro-san has been extremely active with Inspector Megure's team. I just have a bad feeling about the combination of police and detectives."
"I think things only got busier at the MPD after you showed up."
"...So this is somehow my fault?"
Hayasaka laughed and waved her hand.
"Of course not. It's just that people these days have such terrible tempers. The smallest conflict turns into murder. I heard from the neighboring Megure team about a case where someone got dumped, then killed their ex's completely innocent new girlfriend instead.
Seriously ridiculous. They even got revenge on the wrong person."
Ritsu sighed.
"We live in peaceful times, so people create trouble out of nothing. In that triplet villa case I investigated with Kudo, the eldest brother's murderous intent was simply because of money.
Fortunately, Tomizawa-san survived after being rushed to the hospital."
"Alright, it's getting late. You should go pick up Akemi after the concert. Seriously, you're a pretty terrible husband."
Hayasaka grinned before adding, "I'll take the kids home. See you the day after tomorrow!"
"Yeah. See you then."
...
After fastening his seatbelt, Ritsu estimated the concert had already ended. He pulled out his phone and called Vodka.
"Vodka, are you out already?"
"I was just about to call you! How the hell were you performing on stage with TWO-MIX?! Augier, I never thought you'd secretly become an entertainer behind my back!"
"..."
After several seconds of silence, Ritsu finally interrupted the endlessly chattering Vodka.
"I was only filling in temporarily. The drummer they invited for the collaboration had an accident and fractured his hand. Where are you? I'll come pick you up."
"So that's what happened. Man... now I kind of want Aniki to arrange a fake identity for me too, so I can go play around at the MPD."
Vodka sounded genuinely disappointed. Being a fake police officer actually sounded pretty fun. Cases involving celebrities would let him investigate while fangirling at the same time.
"...Please don't. You'll blow your cover."
"Hehe, I was just kidding."
Vodka glanced at the nearby sign. "I'm at the entrance to Parking Lot B of the Budokan. Come over."
"Got it."
After successfully picking Vodka up, Ritsu even handed him a complete gift set of signed TWO-MIX merchandise.
The overly enthusiastic Vodka was only one step away from dragging him inside for a drink of actual vodka.
Politely declining, Ritsu drove away.
...
Monday, February 11
As the first day of the week, Mondays were universally hated by both office workers and students.
Yet for some unknown reason, school had been canceled today, leaving only the office workers shedding silent tears.
Ritsu lounged lazily in his office chair, glancing at the clock in the lower-right corner of his computer monitor.
There were still three hours left before the end of his shift. The danger alert had yet to be cleared.
He pulled a cigarette from the pack and lit it.
With both female officers absent from the office, the atmosphere was pleasantly quiet. Hopefully, he could survive these last three hours, pick Akemi up peacefully afterward, and enjoy the delicious dinner she'd cook.
Unfortunately, plans never kept up with reality.
He hadn't even finished his cigarette before the phone on his desk rang. Ritsu felt his heart skip a beat.
He still clung to a tiny sliver of hope that it was merely a call from headquarters relaying instructions rather than news of another case.
The moment he answered, however, reality crushed that hope.
'Looks like dinner was ruined again tonight.'
"Understood. I'll be there immediately."
Looking over at the half-asleep Takagi, Ritsu stubbed out his cigarette, picked up his police notebook, and lightly smacked him on the head with it.
"Takagi. We've got a call."
"Huh? Another case?" Takagi immediately woke up.
'That 'another' was a very well-chosen word.'
The two took the elevator downstairs before driving toward the crime scene.
This time, the murder had occurred at 295, 6-Chome, Beika Town. The neighborhood was a small upscale residential district, where nearly every resident was either wealthy or influential.
'Another rich person murdered? Wonder if it'll be another company president... or perhaps another company president.'
Escorted by officers from the local police station who had already secured the scene, Ritsu entered an impressively luxurious mansion.
As he approached the crime scene, he spotted an old acquaintance from the Forensics Division, Officer Tome, carefully examining the door lock.
Before he could step inside, however, a thick Kansai accent reached his ears. The voice even sounded strangely familiar.
"Why's this little brat here? It's because you weren't watching him properly! Seriously, how can you let a kid see a corpse like this?"
"S-Sorry..."
Ran's voice.
Combined with someone calling a child "little brat," there was no need to guess who had wandered into yet another murder scene.
'Kudo... it's you again.'
With both hands in his pockets and a deadpan expression, Ritsu walked into the room. His gaze landed on a handsome dark-skinned teenage boy.
'Hmm? That complexion... and that Kansai dialect... It's the middle school kid from back then.'
----
—"He's adorable! Doesn't he look just like Psyduck from Pokémon? Isn't he cute?"
—"Not at all. He just looks stupid... Heh. Actually, Kazuha, he kind of reminds me of you."
----
It turned out to be the two Kansai kids he had run into by chance while on a mission with Korn five years ago.
Time certainly flew, they had both grown up.
Heiji also noticed Ritsu looking his way. The moment he recognized him, his face lit up.
"So you're the famous Onizawa Takashi! It's an honor to meet you. I'm Hattori Heiji, the high school detective from Kansai."
'The high school detective from Kansai?'
Ritsu slowly shifted his gaze to the right, toward a certain Kanto high school detective currently clinging to Ran like an octopus.
'Tch... shrinking really lets you get away with anything, huh?'
"Nice to meet you too."
Ritsu smiled pleasantly.
"But to me, you're still just a kid. So... would you mind leaving my territory?"
Detectives had always occupied a gray area.
Deep down, Ritsu was still a by-the-book police officer. As long as he was capable of solving the case himself, he had no desire for detectives interfering in his investigations.
---
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