"Oh, by the way, Ran, what were you looking at on your phone earlier? Your eyes were all crinkled up from smiling."
Rin turned her head to Ran again and asked curiously.
Ran's cheeks were slightly red, and she shyly shook her phone.
"I was buying a movie tickets earlier, for the midnight showing of 'Legend of the Red Thread' on May 3rd."
"'Legend of the Red Thread'?"
Rin became interested and leaned in to look at the movie poster and synopsis displayed on Ran's phone screen.
The movie poster showed a beautiful starry sky with the pinky fingers of two hands intertwined with a faint red string.
The synopsis roughly told a romantic story of how, after the Matchmaker ties red strings for fated couples, childhood sweethearts are destined to meet and fall in love from birth.
"Oh, it's a romance movie. About red string fate?" Rin showed a gossipy expression.
"Mm!"
Ran nodded vigorously, her blush deepening.
"May 4th is Shinichi's birthday, and I prepared a red Polo shirt for him. I want to give it to him that day."
She paused, her voice tinged with excitement,
"So, I invited Shinichi to watch the midnight showing at the Beika Building cinema on the night of May 3rd.
That way, when the movie ends, it will be exactly 0:00 on May 4th! I can give him his birthday present right away!"
Ran described this romantic moment with a look of longing, as if she could already see Shinichi's surprised and happy expression.
Conan, listening from the side, also had a flush on his small face.
To avoid being seen, he pretended to tie his shoelace and lowered his head.
Just then, Moriya Teiji's voice cut in. "Oh? A midnight showing at the Beika Building? What a lively and youthful plan."
Everyone turned to see Moriya Teiji standing nearby, at some unknown point.
He held a cup of black tea in his hand, a polite smile on his face, and after his gaze swept over Ran, it landed on Alice.
"Alice-san, your insights into art have deeply impressed me,"
He bowed slightly and made a gesture of invitation,
"If you are also interested in architectural models, my exhibition room is in the east wing of the residence. It houses all the models of my works since my debut. Why not come and visit together?"
"Architectural models?" Ran's eyes widened with curiosity.
"Oh, that sounds interesting!" Alice clasped her hands in front of her chest. She was very interested in visiting symmetrical architectural models.
Rin and the others also had no intention of refusing.
Thus, Moriya Teiji led the group through corridors that showcased symmetrical beauty everywhere, arriving at a spacious and bright exhibition room.
Architectural models, arranged in an orderly fashion, were displayed within.
Alice quickly went over and observed them carefully.
However, her expression quickly changed from anticipation to confusion. On her belt's display, the smiling face representing her mood turned into a confused expression.
"Moriya-san,"
Alice pointed to several of Moriya Teiji's early works, her voice tinged with some confusion,
"The Kurokawa Household, the Mizushima Building... these buildings don't look completely symmetrical, and the main entrance is also somewhat off-center."
This was completely different from the image of Moriya Teiji, who pursued extreme symmetry, in her mind.
Moriya Teiji's expression was complex, and his handlebar mustache trembled slightly.
He walked to those models and let out a long sigh.
"Alas... Miss Alice truly has sharp eyes. These are all my clumsy early works."
Moriya Teiji's tone was full of regret.
"At that time, I was young and impetuous, only focused on pursuing so-called modernity and innovation, completely ignoring the most essential and harmonious beauty of architecture!
Looking back now, I really wish I could tear down and rebuild all these buildings! Otherwise, the shame on me will never be washed away!"
He turned around, facing everyone, and continued.
"It wasn't until I was over thirty that I truly understood the essence of art. Art is symmetry! Symmetry is art!
To completely bid farewell to that immature past, I even changed my name from 'Moriya Genji' to 'Moriya Teiji'!
It was all to implement my understanding of art and achieve unity of knowledge and action."
At this point, Moriya Teiji looked at his early architectural models, and his eyes became malicious.
Ran, being kind-hearted, couldn't help but offer comfort.
"Moriya-san, don't be too hard on yourself. I think your early buildings are also very beautiful. Just like..."
Her gaze searched among the many models and soon landed on a very modern skyscraper model, one of the landmarks in the Beika urban area,
"Just like this Beika Building! Although it doesn't look completely symmetrical, its design is unique and very beautiful! Otherwise, I wouldn't have chosen to invite Shinichi to watch a movie there."
As she spoke the latter part, her voice became softer, and a shy blush appeared on her face.
Unlike Ran's sentimentality, Conan keenly recalled several recent news reports.
Several buildings, including the Kurokawa Household, had recently been destroyed by sudden fires.
He hadn't been aware of the connection before, assuming they were isolated incidents.
Now, looking at these models, he suddenly realized that all the burned buildings were Moriya Teiji's early works.
So, was the culprit's goal to target Moriya Teiji, or...?
Conan secretly kept his suspicions to himself, planning to verify them before notifying the police...
On the evening of their return from Moriya Teiji's residence, at Dr. Agasa's house.
"Haibara! Haibara!"
Conan rushed into the laboratory, shouting loudly behind the tea-haired girl in a white lab coat.
Haibara Ai looked at the screen without turning around and responded faintly.
"What's making you so flustered, great detective? Did another unlucky client get killed by you?"
"It's not a case!"
Conan panted, leaning his hands on the lab bench,
"It's the antidote! The one you said you were researching earlier, based on the baijiu ingredient! Is it finished? I need it now!"
Haibara Ai finally stopped and slowly turned around.
"Why do you need the antidote now?"
Conan's cheeks instantly flushed red, and he didn't bother to hide it.
"Ran invited me to a midnight movie on the night of May 3rd. I want to change back, even if it's only for a few hours... This time, I don't want to disappoint her!"
Haibara Ai was silent for a moment, then turned and walked to the constant temperature storage box, taking out a small transparent pillbox from it.
The pillbox contained a few red capsules.
"This is the temporary antidote I extracted from the baijiu ingredient, based on the clues you provided.
But I must warn you in advance, the effect of this antidote is very unstable."
"What do you mean?" Conan swallowed.
"It means," Haibara Ai looked directly into his eyes and said, word by word,
"After taking it, it will undoubtedly allow you to change back into Kudo Shinichi. But the duration of the drug's effect... is completely unknown.
It could be a few hours, or it could be a day. If you're lucky, it might last up to three days. There's no pattern to follow.
Furthermore, once you take it, you will develop a resistance to this drug, and its effect may become weaker and weaker in the future."
She paused, emphasizing her words.
"I can't control what you want to do, but please carefully consider the pros and cons yourself."