Driving the company car home, Shouichi walked through the door only to see Ai sneaking out of her bedroom.
“What are you doing?” Shouichi looked at Ai weirdly.
It was already three in the morning.
Was this kid still not going to sleep?
Ai openly showed Shouichi the fruit knife in her hand.
“I’m hungry, so I’m going to cut some fruit to eat.” Ai wiped a drop of watermelon juice from the corner of her mouth, proving that she really was just going to eat fruit.
“So that’s it.
I thought you were practicing walking in the dark,” Shouichi muttered softly.
He had assumed Ai was practicing walking in the dark so that once she memorized the route, she could charge straight into his bedroom with a knife and demand a hug.
Ai’s neck stiffly turned.
*Shouichi guessed right.*
“There’s still a fruit platter in the kitchen.
Do you want some?” Ai asked.
“I’ll have a little.”
Shouichi went into the kitchen and brought out the fruit platter.
He skewered a piece of cantaloupe with a toothpick and held it up to Ai’s mouth.
Ai hesitated for a moment before opening her mouth and biting the cantaloupe off the toothpick.
After that, Shouichi just kept feeding her.
Ai looked exactly like a little hamster, her chubby cheeks puffing in and out as if she were hoarding food.
“Is it good?” Shouichi asked.
“It’s good,” Ai grinned.
However, her smile was a bit forced.
*Damn it, I’m being treated like a pet.*
Shouichi patted Ai’s head, then went to wash the fruit juice off his hands.
Ai touched her slightly damp hair, her mood less than stellar.
*Don’t go petting people when your hands are dirty!*
After washing up, Shouichi returned to his room to sleep.
Whenever he hung around the God of Death, it was always hard to get a good rest.
Although he didn’t care about dead bodies or anything like that, the aftermath of a murder was just too noisy.
The police would always come over to ask questions, and Shouichi always ended up being mistaken for a suspect.
Having been deprived of a peaceful sleep, the moment Shouichi hit his large bed, he fell into a deep slumber—the kind where no one could wake him up.
At five in the morning, a certain little hamster sneakily crept into Shouichi’s bedroom.
She quietly approached Shouichi from behind.
He seemed completely oblivious.
But Ai didn’t let her guard down.
This made twice now.
Twice, right on the verge of her making a move, Shouichi had woken up without any warning.
If he suddenly woke up halfway through her stabbing him, she would definitely be doomed.
Ai cautiously inched closer to Shouichi.
Just as she raised a black object, Shouichi—true to form—turned around without warning.
Their eyes met, and Ai didn’t even have time to hide the object in her hands.
Neither of them said a word.
After a long silence…
“What are you doing?” Shouichi asked.
Ai handed the umbrella in her hands to Shouichi and whispered, “It’s raining today.
I was worried you’d get wet when you went out for work, so I got an umbrella ready for you.”
Outside the window, a moderate rain was falling, the sound of raindrops pattering against the plantain leaves echoing into the room.
Ai looked into Shouichi’s eyes without a trace of fear.
Today, she hadn’t brought a knife.
“Thank you.”
“You’re welcome,” Ai replied calmly.
This probe had ended in failure yet again.
She couldn’t even get close to Shouichi while holding something.
She was already getting somewhat used to it.
Although Shouichi seemed a bit thick-headed, his situational awareness was surprisingly sharp.
Every time she appeared beside him, he always managed to wake up just in time.
Trying to harm him was going to be very difficult.
Shouichi glanced at the clock on the wall.
He placed the umbrella on the bed, grabbed Ai’s hand, and yanked her onto the mattress.
“Sleep a little longer, it’s still early.” Shouichi took off Ai’s shoes and pulled her under the covers.
Ai struggled for a moment.
*I came here at five in the morning, and I still can’t escape the fate of being a sleeping buddy?*
“I don’t want to.
I have to go to school soon.
If I go back to sleep, I’ll be late.”
“It’s still early.
If you wake up too early, you won’t have any energy for school,” Shouichi said, patting Ai’s head.
Ai began to squirm.
*I refuse to be held while sleeping like a little kid!*
Shouichi patted Ai’s back and said softly, “Go to sleep.
When it’s time, Ms.
Yuuko will come wake you up for breakfast.
Don’t worry, you won’t be late.”
*I said I don’t want to!*
Ai flopped around incessantly like a fish out of water.
She rubbed all over Shouichi, making it look exactly like she was acting spoiled.
Shouichi looked at the pouting Ai in his arms and gave a helpless smile.
*I’m just too popular with kids.
She’s so happy she’s wiggling all over the place.*
“Do you know Mouri Kogorou?” Shouichi suddenly asked.
The restless Ai stiffened for a second, then softly replied, “No, I don’t.”
“What about Conan?”
Ai’s body went completely rigid.
She didn’t even dare to move, terrified that Shouichi might suddenly pull out a knife and stab her in the heart.
“I don’t know him either,” she said quietly.
“I thought you knew them.”
Ai panicked again.
*Why would Shouichi suddenly ask if I knew Conan and Mouri Kogorou?*
*Could it be that Conan’s identity as Kudou Shinichi has already been exposed?*
*So Shouichi suspects there’s something wrong with me too?*
She shrank into Shouichi’s embrace, not daring to move a muscle.
Once the little kitten in his arms became docile, Shouichi leaned close to her ear and whispered, “Today, I saw Conan hiding behind Mouri Kogorou, using his voice to solve the case.
They must be playing some kind of game.
When you sneaked up behind me today, I thought you wanted to play that kind of game with me too.”
Ai’s ear tickled from his breath, but she didn’t dare reach up to scratch it.
*That stupid detective.*
*He actually let Shouichi notice his abnormalities.*
*If that idiot gets caught by Shouichi, then so be it, but don’t drag me down with you!*
*At the very least, I can’t be exposed before I avenge my sister.*
“They…
might be playing hide-and-seek,” Ai said softly.
Shouichi shook his head.
“It didn’t look like it.
That’s not how I used to play hide-and-seek.”
“They just felt really weird.
It’s almost like all those cases Mouri Kogorou solved before were actually solved by Conan, right?
“Is a little kid really that amazing?
“Speaking of which, you’re quite the genius yourself, Ai.
Going to high school at such a young age.
Plus, you always act so mature, not like a kid at all.”
“Ai, Ai, say something.” Shouichi gently shook Ai’s shoulder.
Ai kept her eyes shut tight, her head resting on the pillow, her back facing Shouichi, completely motionless.
“Zzz…”
“Zzz…”
“Zzz…”
“Are you asleep?” Shouichi asked softly.
“Zzz…” “Zzz…”
*I’m asleep, I’m asleep!
Stop asking me!*
*During sleeping hours, I do not want to discuss anything related to a certain detective.*
But it seemed Shouichi didn’t want to let this little one fall asleep so peacefully.
He continued to shake Ai’s body with his hand.
Ai’s eyelids twitched uncontrollably.
*With how hard he’s shaking me, it seems Shouichi genuinely doesn’t want me to sleep.*
Keeping her eyes closed, she gently shifted her hand and casually hugged Shouichi’s arm.
Only then did Shouichi finally settle down.
The two of them slept quietly together.