Case closed.
Outside the apartment building, Mouri Kogoro hadn't forgotten his duty. He called the parents of the three kids and launched into a stern lecture. How could Ayumi Yoshida and her friends be so reckless, climbing into a stranger's trunk? Weren't they afraid of being kidnapped?
"You're absolutely right, Mr. Mouri. I'm so sorry for the trouble. Please, do give her a proper scolding when you get back."
"Don't worry, Mr. Mouri. I'll make sure he remembers this lesson."
"Mitsuhiko, don't you dare move! If Mr. Mouri hadn't called, I would've called the police myself. And you have the nerve to complain?"
Kurosawa Hoshino watched, amused, as the three kids—each sporting a fresh lump on their head—apologized to Kogoro Mouri under their parents' stern supervision.
"Hoshino, thank you so much." Yoko Okino approached, her eyes sincere, her address growing more familiar. She knew that if he hadn't solved the case tonight, she'd never have been able to clear her name. If the media caught wind of it, her budding career would be over.
"Ms. Yoko, I just told the truth," Hoshino replied with a smile.
His real focus, however, was on the system panel in his mind. The '0' in the Origin Points column had just changed to '1'.
If one case gives one point… then to reach 20 Origin Points and unlock a superpower, I need to solve nineteen more Conan cases.
And he wasn't aiming for just one or two powers. The more, the better.
It's a long road. Luckily, there's plenty of time. No need to rush.
The thought relaxed him. As long as he didn't recklessly provoke the Black Organization, the early stages were relatively safe. By the time he had to face them, he might already have several abilities unlocked. Even with bad luck, he'd eventually get something to enhance his strength.
Hmph. A cold snort came from nearby. They turned to see Yuko Ikezawa shoot a glare at Yoko Okino before getting into her car and speeding off.
Ran, standing beside them, asked worriedly, "Ms. Yoko, will Ms. Ikezawa talk about what happened tonight?"
"No." Yoko shook her head slightly. "Yuko broke into my apartment, stalked me, and caused this whole mess. We agreed downstairs to keep it between us."
Hoshino and Ran understood. Even if she did talk, it was out of their hands.
"Yoko, it's ready." Manager Eiichi Yamagishi approached, handing two checks to Yoko.
"Hoshino, this is for you. Ran, this is for Mr. Mouri. I won't be staying here tonight. I have to go. Goodbye, and I hope we meet again." Yoko pressed the checks into their hands before they could refuse, then quickly got into her car and drove off.
"Ms. Yoko, she…" Ran watched the car disappear, about to sigh, when a large hand snatched the check from her grasp.
"Hahaha! One million! Not bad, not bad at all!" Kogoro Mouri might be hard of hearing for most things, but when it came to money, he could hear a pin drop from ten meters away. He'd practically teleported in front of his daughter.
"Dad!" Ran pouted helplessly.
"Ahem." Kogoro suppressed his glee and looked at Hoshino. "Kid, you got lucky today because of me. Otherwise, you wouldn't have earned this. How much did you get?"
Hoshino glanced at his check and waved it. "Don't worry, Uncle. Same as you—one million."
"I'm not worried!" Kogoro retorted stubbornly.
"Huh, they're all gone." Hoshino noticed Ayumi and the others had already left with their parents.
"Of course. It's late, and those kids have school tomorrow. They can't stay out." Kogoro's attention was firmly back on the check in his hand.
"Dad, let's go home too. Inspector Megure said he left a police car to take us back."
"Right, let's go."
Scene Change
A police car was parked downstairs at the Mouri Detective Agency.
Hoshino and the others got out.
Ran asked, "Hoshino, Conan, do you want to come up for a bit, or head straight home?"
"It's late. Let's sleep. We'll come back tomorrow." Hoshino waved, leading Conan across the street to their third-floor apartment.
He collapsed onto the living room sofa, casually tossing the check onto the coffee table. Truthfully, he didn't need the money. He didn't know who kept depositing funds into his account every month, but he spent little. Between his mother's inheritance and the accumulated deposits over the years—minus living expenses—his account held a cool one billion yen. Most of it was from his mother; the rest was his own savings.
"Hoshino-ni, I'm going to shower." Conan addressed Hoshino, who was sprawled on the sofa, having already fetched a change of clothes from his room.
"Wait, I'll join you." Hoshino stood up.
"Huh?" Conan froze.
"What?" Hoshino glanced at him. "You're a guy. Scared of me?"
"No…" Conan shook his head, wanting to say that they weren't that close, and showering together was weird. But then another problem struck him. "Hoshino-ni, let's not. I'm not used to showering with others."
He thought of his glasses. He'd have to take them off in the shower. While Hoshino might not recognize his childhood self, Ran did. And there were childhood photos at home. If Ran ever showed them to Hoshino, and he mentioned how much Conan looked like a young Shinichi Kudo… the risk of exposure was too high. No shared showers.
"Is that so?" Hoshino didn't overthink it. "I just wanted someone to scrub my back. You can shower alone, but when I shower, you can scrub my back, okay?"
"…" Conan's face darkened. Without a word, he walked into the bathroom, clearly having no intention of helping.