Evening had settled over the third floor of the Mōri Detective Agency.
"Alright, this is the last dish." Ran walked over happily and placed the plate on the table.
"Finally, we can eat." Kogorō Mōri reached for his chopsticks.
The next second—
Smack! Ran slapped his hand away. "Dad, you can't eat yet."
"What?" Kogorō glared. "Why can't I eat?"
"No." Ran explained patiently, "I mean Hoshino should eat first. Then you can eat."
"…" Kogorō fell silent, staring at Kurosawa Hoshino with unmistakable hostility.
Conan's expression was equally sour, his cheeks puffed in annoyance.
Ran beamed at Kurosawa Hoshino. "Hoshino, thank you for clearing my mom's name today. Please, go ahead and try it!"
"Okay." Kurosawa Hoshino didn't stand on ceremony. He began eating first, completely unfazed by the glares from Kogorō and Conan.
"Hmph~" Seeing Kurosawa Hoshino pick up his chopsticks, Kogorō followed suit, grumbling, "Ran, why didn't you call me this afternoon? I'm a detective, you know. Don't you trust my abilities?"
"No," Ran replied flatly.
"…" Kogorō was left speechless, thoroughly deflated.
Ran then turned her attention to the unusually quiet Conan. Her expression shifted to one of suspicion. "Conan, why were you at that coffee shop today?"
Kurosawa Hoshino glanced at him and added calmly, "Conan, I distinctly remember you said you were going to Professor Agasa's house when you left. How did you end up at a coffee shop in Beika Town?"
"Th-this…" Sweat beaded on Conan's forehead. Kurosawa Hoshino's deductive abilities made him especially terrified of being exposed. And with Ran's unblinking lavender eyes fixed on him, he knew he had to come up with something fast.
After a moment of tense silence, an excuse finally formed in his mind. He quickly explained, "It was Shinichi-nii, Ran-neechan! Shinichi-nii told me to follow you. He wanted to see what you were up to."
"Shinichi?" Ran frowned, puzzled.
"Yes, yes, yes!" Conan nodded frantically.
"And what you said back there…" Ran recalled his earlier words at the crime scene, thinking about Shinichi's detective habits.
"Shinichi-nii told me to say that too!" Conan pressed on. "When I saw the murder happen, I called Shinichi-nii and told him everything. Then he told me exactly what to say."
After finishing, Conan let out a long breath internally, mentally giving himself a thumbs up. Perfect. I've successfully shifted all the blame onto my original identity.
Ran remained silent, her expression unreadable. She didn't bring up Shinichi Kudo again. Instead, she smiled warmly and served more food to Kurosawa Hoshino. "Hoshino, try this fish."
"No need, I can serve myself." Hoshino replied with a smile, then cast an almost imperceptible glance at Conan, who looked secretly relieved.
Shinichi Kudo, Hoshino thought to himself, whether it's praise or criticism, at least it means she still cares. But when she doesn't mention you at all—when she acts like you don't exist—that's true estrangement.
It's like ice forming on still water. It doesn't even bother to create a ripple for you. You've simply evaporated from her world.
Conan remained completely unaware that his words had pushed Ran further and further away from him.
"Hey! Hey! HEY!" Kogorō slammed his hand on the table, glaring at the two younger people across from him. "You two were all awkward a few days ago, and now you're all buddy-buddy again? What's the deal here? Do I not count as an adult in this house?"
"Dad, we weren't fighting," Ran said stubbornly, her face reddening.
Kurosawa Hoshino chuckled. "Uncle Mōri, you were the one who told me this afternoon that girls like to throw tantrums for no reason. Now that Ran's feeling better, shouldn't you be happy?"
"I-I'm not like that!" Ran shyly slapped Kurosawa Hoshino's arm, then turned to glare at her father. "And Dad, don't teach Hoshino nonsense. You can't even handle Mom, and you still have the nerve to say things like that?"
"…" Kogorō felt like an arrow had pierced his heart. His lips twitched as he gritted out, "Everyone listen up—I'm the adult here. You all have to listen to me!"
"Dad, I'm just telling the truth! If you're so capable, why don't you try winning Mom back? Then I'll listen to you obediently."
"Hmph! Enough nagging—just eat your food. And don't you dare put any more food on that brat's plate! You didn't even put any on my plate. What kind of nonsense is that?"
"Hehe, Dad… are you jealous?"
Kogorō didn't answer. Instead, he shot Kurosawa Hoshino a wary look. He had a sinking feeling this kid was trying to steal his little cabbage—and was proving to be even more troublesome than Shinichi Kudo had been back in the day.
Seeing her father ignore her, Ran turned back to Hoshino. "Oh, Hoshino! Sonoko invited us to her older sister's party. Are you free tomorrow? It's at a villa in the forest—I heard the scenery is really nice."
"Sure. I've got nothing going on." Kurosawa Hoshino wasn't going just because he was free. He was thinking of a very specific case—the Bandaged Man Murder Case.
Sonoko's party. A villa in the forest. That was practically the entire description. This had to be it.
He wouldn't miss it—not with Origin Points on the line. Besides, if he remembered correctly, Ran had been in danger in the original version. That only made him more determined to go.
"Ran-neechan, I wanna go too!" Conan, whose presence had been steadily fading, finally spoke up.
"Okay, you can come too." Ran saw no issue with bringing another child along.
"Shh! Quiet! Look at the news," Kogorō suddenly interrupted.
Everyone turned to the television.
The screen was showing coverage of how Kurosawa Hoshino had solved the coffee shop case that afternoon—over the phone, no less. Judging by the camera angle, someone in the crowd had recorded it and sold the footage to the station.
As the anchor narrated, another name quickly appeared on screen:
[High School Detective Kurosawa Hoshino VS Armchair Detective Senma Kazuyo—]
[A Clash Between the New Generation and the Old.]
"Dad, who's Senma Kazuyo?" Ran asked, confused.
Kogorō's expression turned serious. "She's an old-school detective. Heard she's over sixty now. They call her the 'Armchair Detective' because she's famous for solving cases just by listening to people describe them while lounging in her armchair. Of course, even she's not as fast as Hoshino was this time."
Hearing the name, Kurosawa Hoshino immediately thought of one thing: the Twilight Mansion. That case was pure gold—a treasure trove of Origin Points.
Unfortunately, it was out of his reach. At least for now.
"So she's over sixty? No wonder I've never heard of her. She's probably retired," Ran said, realization dawning.
Conan chuckled. "I've also heard of the Gourmet Detective and the Prosecutor Detective."
Kurosawa Hoshino replied flatly, "For a first grader, you sure know a lot."
Conan immediately shut his mouth and became perfectly obedient.