By the time Yuu Hoshiyama left the Suzuki Building, the lunch hour had long since passed. Ayako Suzuki, who had been standing guard outside for several hours, glared at him with a look of pure resentment. She didn't let him go until he promised to attend a class reunion she was organizing as compensation.
Ayako's frustration wasn't just for show. Initially, it was just psychological torture, but eventually, her body began to suffer as well. Her feet were sore, her back ached from standing at attention, and her stomach was growling with hunger. Even though Yuu was now walking away satisfied, she had to drag her exhausted body inside to clean up the "mess" left behind in the office.
It was only because of Ayako's presence that Yuu and Tomoko had dared to be so reckless. As for the beautiful CEO, Tomoko was currently in a state of utter disarray—let's just say she wouldn't be craving Yuu's "services" again for quite some time.
Yuu grabbed a quick lunch at a nearby restaurant while pondering Ayako's invitation. Based on his memories, he deduced that this "class reunion" was the infamous "Mountain Villa Bandaged Man Murder Case." It was a significant "Fate Event," and while the system rewards might be minor, he planned to dismantle the plot entirely, just as he had with Catherine Matsumoto.
He remembered that case vividly. Before he had obtained his "Memory Palace" ability, it was one of the few cases that had actually unnerved him as a kid. Fear has a way of sticking with you.
"If I remember correctly, that's one of Ayako's rare spotlight moments..." Yuu muttered. He had no sympathy for Chikako Ikeda, the plagiarist, but he felt it was a waste for the victim to die. He had a week to figure out how to break that particular fate.
However, the "logic" of this world's timeline gave him another surprise. Just as the weather had begun to turn cool a few days ago, he woke up to a sudden heatwave. And despite having just taken time off, it was somehow the weekend again—and not the weekend Ayako was talking about.
Standing at his apartment door was Midori Kuriyama, his beautiful secretary, inviting him for a beach getaway in Izu. Yuu took a deep breath and decided to stop looking at the calendar altogether. In this world, the date was a lie; it was better to just go with the flow.
"Are you coming, Yuu?" Midori whispered into his ear, her voice a seductive purr. "You'll get to see me in a bikini."
Yuu raised an eyebrow. "I can see you in a bikini—or less—whenever I want."
"But what about Eri Kisaki's swimsuit?" Midori giggled. "The Great Lawyer finally has a break and wants to relax. She even invited Ran."
Invited Ran? Yuu's interest piqued. He cleared his throat and tried to look solemn. "In that case, I suppose I should go to ensure everyone's safety."
He was curious why Ran hadn't told him about a beach trip. There was definitely something fishy going on. He told himself he was going to investigate, not because he wanted to see Eri and Ran in skimpy swimwear.
"It's a deal then," Midori smiled victoriously. "We leave in an hour."
Upon arriving at the hotel in Izu, Yuu tried to book an extra room but was told the place was packed. The beaches here were prime real estate for beautiful women, which naturally meant men swarmed the area. Without a reservation, getting a room was impossible. Yuu wasn't worried; he'd just crash in Midori's room. Eri knew about their "working relationship," and Midori spent half her nights at his place anyway.
Stepping onto the sun-drenched beach in his swim trunks, Yuu finally realized why Midori had only invited him and left the others behind. When they reached the meeting spot, he didn't see the sexy lawyer first. Instead, he saw the "Twin Reapers of Death."
Conan and Kogoro Mouri were there, along with Ran, who was acting suspiciously cute and trying to play off her "secret" trip. It turned out Eri had only invited Ran, but Ran, ever the matchmaker, had secretly brought Kogoro along in a desperate attempt to reconcile her parents.
Since Yuu moved in next door to Eri, Ran's sense of urgency regarding her parents' marriage had skyrocketed. Her feminine intuition was screaming that if they didn't fix things now, she'd soon be calling Yuu "Stepfather."
Yuu hadn't given up on Eri, but he had been cautious because of Ran. However, that didn't mean he was idle. Midori Kuriyama—Eri's closest, most trusted assistant—was his masterpiece move. And it was paying off.
As the group gathered, Yuu's Memory Palace triggered. The Scuba Diving Murder Case. Or more accurately, the Sea Snake Incident.
This was one of the rare cases where no one actually died, and it featured two beautiful women as the primary players.
"Yuu! You're here too..." Ran's voice was small and guilty.
"Midori invited me," Yuu said smoothly, intentionally not mentioning Ran's deception. The more he didn't bring it up, the more flustered she became. She began to cling to him, trying to "bribe" her boyfriend with affection.
Yuu watched her struggle to appease him and felt like laughing. He wasn't angry. He knew Eri and Kogoro were a lost cause. In fact, Ran's interference usually just made things worse. As long as Yuu played his cards right during the upcoming "Fate Events," the divorce would be final, and Eri would be his.
With Ran playing peacemaker, Eri and Kogoro managed to stay in the same vicinity for about ten minutes before a massive argument broke out and they went their separate ways. Eri and Midori, wearing sleek one-piece swimsuits that hugged every curve of their mature bodies, began to play beach volleyball after applying generous amounts of sunscreen to their long legs and arms.
Kogoro, true to form, immediately went off to hit on younger women, dumping Conan on Ran.
Knowing Conan was actually Shinichi, Yuu didn't worry about the kid. He spent his time helping Ran apply sunscreen to her smooth, porcelain skin, his hands lingering on the curve of her waist and the back of her thighs.