For about three weeks, nothing much happened. Since there were no cases related to me, I couldn't participate, but I thought Conan would handle them well. And the Mouri Detective Agency now has a steady stream of work, so the office's situation seems much more relaxed. You could tell by seeing Ran buying a lot of expensive meat when we went to the market.
Besides that, what changed was my relationship with Ran; at school, the atmosphere now almost officially recognizes us as a couple. We go home together, and for lunch, instead of other girls, I now eat with Ran and Sonoko.
Because of that, other female students were looking at Ran and Sonoko with jealous eyes, but they couldn't interfere. Ran is a famous karate expert at school, and Sonoko's family is a wealthy conglomerate that anyone who knows would recognize.
During lunchtime while eating together, Sonoko talked about the famous thief these days.
"Phantom Thief 1412?"
"Yes! The thief uncle who's popular among young women lately. Your dad is a detective, and you don't know that?"
"Hey...! Just because of that, it doesn't mean I like cases."
Listening to the conversation, I thought it was about time for Kaitou Kid to appear. At this time, he was still called Phantom Thief 1412. 1412 is an international criminal code, but one day, Shinichi's father, the famous mystery writer Yusaku Kudo, scribbled 1412 on a newspaper, and it looked like KID, so it became famous as Kaitou Kid.
"Cassian, you know about it, right?"
"Yes, I know about the famous jewel thief."
When I called him a jewel thief, Sonoko explained about Kaitou Kid.
"He's not just any famous jewel thief. Do you know how popular he is among women! And he's famous worldwide!"
"He's a jewel thief, right. Other famous thieves had philosophies. For example, in an old story, 'Robin Hood' stole from the rich to give to the poor to stand up to their tyranny. 'Pancho Villa' in another tale was the same. And he was a thief but also a revolutionary. But Phantom Thief 1412? Does he have such beliefs and justice? From what I see, he seems like a guy just collecting for his own collection."
"Hmm... hearing that, it does seem so. But it's true that he's popular."
"I think that's a bit problematic too. Once, in a certain country, there was a very handsome murderer who was caught. When the mugshot of that murderer was on the news, people went crazy over how handsome he was. Later, I heard even fan clubs were formed. But they don't know. The suffering of the victims and their families caused by that murderer. They're just fools focused on his looks."
At those words, Sonoko flared up.
"Ugh~ fine! I'm a fool!"
"Huh? Don't tell me Sonoko is also a fan of Phantom Thief 1412?"
"Hmph! Yes!"
"Haha~ last time too, you like bad boys, don't you."
"Hey! No! More than that, you said I'd get a boyfriend soon; when is that supposed to happen?"
"Hmm... first, let's eat, and I'll read your fortune for free one more time."
"You promised!! Yum yum~"
As Sonoko ate hastily, Ran stopped her.
"Sonoko, eat slowly, you might get indigestion."
After the meal ended like that, I pretended to read Sonoko's fortune.
"Hmm... I see something like a martial arts uniform? Is he an athlete?"
"What? Really?"
Sonoko seemed to be thinking deeply about something.
"And it's still far off. It's within this year, but seems like a few months later."
"I see. Is there anything else?"
"He's like a hot-blooded protagonist from an action manga. A person with strong mental strength who always trains himself."
"Don't tell me..."
Sonoko seemed to have specified someone.
'Oops... did I spoil too much?'
I was worried if something might go wrong, but the person Sonoko will date in the future, 'Kyougoku Makoto', is the strongest in the worldview in terms of武力 but isn't very skilled in romance, so it probably doesn't matter. In the original, even though they knew each other's feelings, it took a long time to start dating.
"But if you get too impatient, it might not work out."
"I see... understood."
'Well, this should be enough.'
"Ah! By the way, the conversation drifted, so I couldn't say it, but you know about the worldwide famous gem exhibition at the art museum, right? Dad wants to protect our family heirloom displayed there from Phantom Thief 1412. I was planning to ask Detective Mouri and you for help this time. Look, even the heist notice came?"
Sonoko showed a torn heist notice.
"I see... but why is the notice torn?"
"That's because Dad saw the notice, got angry, and immediately tore it up."
"Really?"
I collected the torn notice pieces and pasted them so the writing was readable.
-When the moon separates two people on April Fool's Day, under the name of the Black Star, I will go as guided by the waves.Phantom Thief.
"What in the world does this mean? It's like a puzzle... Cassian, do you know?"
Ran asked me after seeing it. I already knew the answer but pretended to ponder and replied.
"Looking at 'when the moon separates two people', it means the moon is between them, and there aren't many things like that. Probably one of the two people mentioned is the sun. And the other one has a hint later. Black Star and waves. If you think about the first letters BS from Black Star and waves, it might refer to BS broadcasting station and radio waves. That means the other one is an artificial satellite."
"Wow~ amazing!"
"Probably on April Fool's Day, the time when the moon comes between the sun and the artificial satellite is... hmm... from 12:30 AM to 4:30 AM when BS broadcasting stops. The location, I'd need to see a map to know. Or I could go to the art museum."
"Really? Then let's go right after school! If Dad finds out we solved this, he'll be so shocked he might faint, ohoho~!"
Sonoko was striking a pose as if she solved it herself, putting strength in her shoulders.
'Sonoko, I solved it.'
Ran and I looked at Sonoko with disbelief. And since I had promised to read fortunes for a rich person today, there was no time.
"I can't today, I have work. And it's better to keep this a secret. If too many people know, the phantom thief might not show up."
"Really? Then I can't tell anyone until the day! I'm so itchy to talk, I don't know if I can hold back..."
I was worried Sonoko might cause trouble. Since the notice needed to be shown to Kogoro too, Ran decided to make a copy and take it.
The next day, Sonoko said there was a delicious bakery in town, so we decided to go, but since it was raining a bit, we left the bike and walked. This day was the 30th.
"Cassian, I showed the notice to Dad and Conan too, but Dad threw it away after a while, and Conan seemed to be trying hard to solve it alone."
"Really? Well, Conan really likes playing detective. So, did he solve it?"
"No, it seems he couldn't. So when I said you solved it right away, he was surprised and held onto the notice until late at night."
"Well, it's a bit hard for kids to solve."
Conan seemed to have a competitive streak since I solved it. Then suddenly, Ran looked across the crosswalk and stood still with a shocked face.
"Ran?"
"Shinichi? Shinichi!!"
When Ran suddenly called Shinichi's name, I also looked in the direction she was staring. There, a person who looked similar to Shinichi was crossing the crosswalk with some woman, going somewhere; probably 'Kaito Kuroba' and his girlfriend 'Aoko Nakamori'.
Kaito and Shinichi are relatives and look so alike that it's hard to tell them apart unless seen up close.
Sonoko also saw Kaito, misunderstood him for Shinichi, and said with a frown.
"Huh? That guy is with another woman! Didn't he say he was investigating a difficult case?"
"That's what I heard."
"Wow~ what a disappointment. I never thought he'd be like that."
"I don't care who Shinichi meets anymore! I have Cassian, so let's go, Cassian!"
"O-okay..."
In the original, only Ran saw it, but since I'm here, Sonoko saw it too. It's a misunderstanding, but since it works in my favor, I decided to stay quiet.
We were buying slice cake at the bakery Sonoko guided us to and heading back home. With Ran's serious face, we were walking silently. Ran seemed to be still thinking about the earlier incident even without saying it.
Suddenly, Sonoko poked my side, so I looked, and she winked with an expression saying to do well, then told Ran.
"I think I should go now. See you tomorrow~"
"Huh? Oh right, see you tomorrow~"
After Sonoko left like that, the two of us started walking home silently again. Then Ran spoke up first.
"Cassian... I'll be honest... I still think about Shinichi a little. So, here's the thing, should we just date? Then I think I won't think about Shinichi anymore."
I was slightly taken aback by Ran's sudden confession but calmly said.
"Um... are you sure?"
"Yes."
Ran seemed to have already decided.
"Alright. Then, let's date."
We became a couple like that. I held Ran's hand and arrived at the Mouri Agency. As soon as we entered, Conan came out, saw Ran holding my hand, frowned again, ran over, and used a hand chop to separate us.
"Hah!"
Thwack!
"Ow! Conan!"
'What is this? Déjà vu?'
Conan questioned us as if accusing.
"Where did you two go and just come back?"
"Sorry, are you hungry, Conan? Sonoko said there's a delicious bakery, so we went together on the way back. Later, after eating, let's have cake together."
Ran seemed to misunderstand that Conan was angry because he was hungry. Ran was misunderstanding a lot today. I talked a bit with Kogoro, then thoroughly beat Conan, who was glaring, with Tekken (the game), said goodbye, and went home.
The next day, after a long time, I took the wand-sword made in the MCU, dressed in a suit, and went to the art museum. Of course, I had obtained a sword possession permit earlier. Many police forces were at the art museum, probably due to Kaitou Kid's heist notice.
Entering the museum, I saw Kogoro, Ran, and Conan talking with Sonoko's father, Jiro Suzuki.
"Hello."
"Cassian! You came~"
When I greeted, everyone welcomed me warmly. Jiro Suzuki shook my hand and expressed gratitude for the previous incident.
"So you're the onmyoji Cassian. Thank you for saving my daughters."
"Not at all. Saving friends is only natural."
"Oh~ I see. By the way, do you have a girlfriend? How about my daughter Sonoko?"
At that, Kogoro laughed and said.
"Hahaha Chairman, Cassian is already engaged to marry Ran."
"Is that so? What a shame... Our family has only two daughters, and for some reason, we have no luck with men; I've never even heard news of them having boyfriends once..."
At that, Sonoko shouted embarrassedly.
"Dad!"
I decided to give a little spoiler to Chairman Jiro.
"You don't need to worry about that problem too much. When I read Sonoko's fortune last time, the divination said there would be a happy event in the household soon. Probably, Ayako-nee will get married before long. And Sonoko also had a divination that she'll get a boyfriend within this year."
"Oh~ is that true? If it's Cassian's divination, it's famous and reliable. That's good news."
Due to the previous incident and being famous among the wealthy, Chairman Jiro seemed to trust me.
Guided by Chairman Jiro, we were looking at the Suzuki family heirloom that Kaitou Kid is trying to steal.
"Oh! This is the world's largest black pearl, the Black Star!"
Kogoro admired the black pearl.
"Yes. After my grandfather purchased this black pearl, the Suzuki family has walked the path of prosperity. You could say it's our family's guardian deity."
"I see."
Chairman Jiro talked to me.
"Yesterday, Sonoko was bragging that she solved the meaning of Phantom Thief 1412's heist notice. Can you perhaps figure out the location?"
'Sonoko, you couldn't hold back...'
When Ran and I looked at Sonoko, Sonoko silently made a sorry face, put her hands together, bowed her head, and apologized.
"Hmm... BS broadcasting's radio waves are transmitted from south to west at 45 degrees, and from the horizon upward at 42.3 degrees. Based here, i.e., the art museum, the location would be the rooftop of 'Bay City Hotel'."
I pointed to the tall hotel building visible from the museum window and said. Looking at Conan's surprised face, he still seemed unable to solve it.
"Oh~ I see! I should inform the police immediately."
"Let's set a trap. I'll catch him for you."