Nearby park.
After disguising himself as a woman, Takagi Wataru came out and changed his clothes again.
The three children couldn't hold on and went to sleep in Chi Feichi's car.
"Aren't you guys going to sleep?" Chi Feichi asked the remaining people.
Before Haibara Ai could answer, she yawned. When she had things to do, she didn't feel sleepy, but now that she had to wait until dawn, time felt very long. So she didn't refuse, climbing into the passenger seat. "Then I'll sleep for a while. What about you?"
"I'll wait for dawn," Takagi Wataru said.
"Me too." Conan indicated he could also stay up.
"I have nothing on tomorrow, I'll sleep when I get back." Chi Feichi dug out two thin blankets from the trunk, handed one to Haibara Ai, and covered the three children leaning together in the back seat with the other.
"Why do you keep two blankets in the trunk?" Conan asked curiously. Usually, people keep one thin blanket in the trunk, but for a single guy like Chi Feichi, one should be enough.
Haibara Ai wrapped herself tightly in the blanket and yawned again. She wasn't curious about this question at all. For Chi Feichi, it wasn't strange. Maybe there were more than two...
"Children can't stay up, I actually brought three," Chi Feichi said to Conan. "If you want to sleep, get a blanket yourself."
Conan: "..."
The sky was gloomy, with no moon and no stars.
Under the dim streetlights, a red car was parked next to a bench. Three people sat on the bench, each silent.
Ten minutes later, Chi Feichi waited calmly, thinking about his own affairs, indifferent to how long the silence lasted.
Takagi Wataru and Conan, however, couldn't hold out. There were about two or three hours until dawn. If they went to sleep, not to mention whether they would oversleep, they would feel even sleepier when they woke up. It was better to stay up until the matter was resolved and then sleep well.
But sitting idly like this made time pass too slowly.
"Brother Chi, do you only have black clothes?" Conan couldn't help but ask Chi Feichi. He had never seen Chi Feichi change into other colors. It was either all black or with some white lines or simple white patterns.
If they weren't all familiar with him, he would be put on the suspect list of a certain dangerous organization in minutes, okay?
"Personal preference," Chi Feichi broke his silence. "Black is durable."
This...
Conan couldn't refute it for a moment. He couldn't dictate someone else's preferences, right?
"By the way, why don't we take turns telling stories?" Takagi Wataru proposed, seeing the conversation going cold. He felt Conan was too naive; chatting with Chi Feichi was asking for a conversation killer. It was better to chat with him, but if the two of them chatted, they would leave Chi Feichi out. Better to tell stories.
Conan nodded in agreement. "Alright."
"I have no objection." Chi Feichi also agreed.
"Since I proposed it, I'll go first..." Takagi Wataru thought for a moment and told a story that touched him the most during his time as a police officer. It was about a senior officer sacrificing his life in the line of duty. Not much suspense, but touching.
Conan skipped telling one, opting for a detective story. After finishing, he looked curiously at Chi Feichi. This guy didn't seem like someone who would tell stories...
Although Takagi Wataru felt it wasn't very kind, he still turned to look at Chi Feichi, waiting to watch the show.
"Let me think," Chi Feichi pondered for a moment. "The story is called, The Sister in the Bottle..."
Takagi Wataru: "..."
Conan: "..."
Why does this feel a bit wrong?
Late at night, silence all around.
A cool male voice steadily narrated a horror story. No exaggerated attempts to scare, not even much emotional fluctuation. But as he spoke, the winter temperature seemed to drop a few degrees, making hair stand on end.
When Chi Feichi finished, Conan and Takagi Wataru remained silent for a long time.
"Your turn, Officer Takagi," Chi Feichi reminded.
To Takagi Wataru's ears, this voice inexplicably sounded like a ghost demanding his life. He shivered before snapping back. "Uh, well... I suddenly can't think of a good story to tell..."
Chi Feichi looked at Conan again. "Conan."
The corner of Conan's mouth twitched slightly. His mind was in chaos. Hearing Chi Feichi's voice, he imagined the ghost girl in the small bottle Chi Feichi talked about. "I can't think of a good story either."
Chi Feichi thought for a moment. "Then I'll tell one."
"Can we change the genre?" Conan requested proactively.
Takagi Wataru nodded repeatedly. Even changing the storyteller would be good.
"I can only think of this," Chi Feichi said. "And don't you feel very awake now?"
"This..." Takagi Wataru felt it. "Indeed, not sleepy at all."
The next two hours became Chi Feichi's solo show.
He didn't want to keep talking, so after finishing a story, he left some time for the two to think, but the final result was still him telling stories.
Walking backwards ghost, restroom cleaner, who is the ghost... Similar stories of varying lengths, some just a few sentences, some longer, totaling eleven or twelve.
At dawn, Haibara Ai, who slept lightly, woke up. Rubbing her eyes, she sat up and saw through the front windshield Chi Feichi, Conan, and Takagi Wataru sitting in a row on the bench. After recovering for a moment, she moved the blanket, opened the car door, and got out. "You didn't sleep all night? Not sleepy?"
"Not sleepy."
"It's okay..."
Takagi Wataru and Conan shook their heads in unison, wanting to cry but having no tears.
Chi Feichi's stories are truly damn stimulating!
Seeing the two looking pale and suppressing yawns, Haibara Ai turned to look at Chi Feichi. "What's wrong with them?"
"Nothing, probably cold." Chi Feichi shook his head. They clearly hadn't experienced the devastation of ghost stories. Legends like the Slit-Mouthed Woman and Yuki-onna were too clichéd. Stories he got tired of hearing at six or seven in his past life could scare these two.
Haibara Ai understood. Looking pale from the cold didn't seem strange. "The temperature has indeed been dropping recently, but isn't there another blanket?"
Takagi Wataru and Conan looked at each other: "..."
They actually forgot...
If wrapped in a blanket, there might have been some psychological comfort, at least warmer.
Haibara Ai was puzzled, feeling these two were weird. "Should we go to the department store to ask about the situation now?"
Takagi Wataru remembered there was still a case to solve and stood up quickly. "Of course! I can go alone, you guys wait here for me."
"I'll go too!" Conan also jumped off the bench. He needed a change of mood.
"Seem quite energetic," Haibara Ai watched the two walk away quickly, sat on the bench, and turned to look at Chi Feichi. Finding Chi Feichi also looked energetic, she suddenly admired these three for being able to stay up so well. "Is your injury healed?"
"Healed," seeing Haibara Ai staring at his sleeve, Chi Feichi explained, "Took off the weights."
Haibara Ai nodded. Chi Feichi often wore windbreakers with wide sleeves. Previously, she thought it was for carrying Feichi conveniently, but last time in Izu, she discovered Chi Feichi always had weights tied to his arms. It wasn't easy for Feichi either, having to squeeze with the weights. "Will you tie the weights back on for training later?"
"Not anymore. If I add Feichi, there's no room. Besides, the physical improvement has slowed down." Chi Feichi's expression didn't change. When making the training plan, he was mentally prepared.
Now, data in various aspects had reached the standards he envisioned. The time taken was shorter; this body's quality and potential were better than he imagined.
"However, improving physical fitness too fast with weights before, it's best to settle for a while. Otherwise, consuming potential in advance will make it hard to catch up with Kyogoku in the future," Chi Feichi added.
Haibara Ai originally wanted to suggest asking Professor Agasa, but seeing Chi Feichi already had a plan, she didn't mention it. "Heard he plans to go abroad to improve himself and strive to beat you next time he returns."
"Impossible in the short term, and I can't beat him either," Chi Feichi looked at the sky and turned to ask Haibara Ai, "Ai, morning exercise?"