“The guy who took Shinichi away is someone named Shouichi.”
“I know him.
He’s got a few screws loose in his head.
It was probably just an accident; he doesn’t know anything about Shinichi.”
“Then what should we do?”
“Just keep going.
We haven’t taught Shinichi his lesson yet.
We can’t end this plan so easily.”
“Alright, I’ll go bring him back again.”
When Conan walked out of the police station, he saw that smiling, plump lady again.
Not wanting to drag Mouri Kogorou and Ran into this, he said his goodbyes once more and got back into the plump lady’s car.
He had tried to put up a fight, but the plump lady swiftly subdued him.
A dose of knockout drops had kept him unconscious until now.
Conan groggily woke up to the sound of two people talking outside the room.
Peering through a hole in the wall, he looked out.
He saw the plump lady talking to a man wearing a mask.
“What do you plan to do with this brat?”
“Kill him, of course,” the man replied.
The plump lady retorted, “I’ve already received orders from the higher-ups.
They want me to bring this guy back for human experimentation.”
“He knows the Organization’s secrets.
How could I possibly let him live?”
“But…”
“Not another word!” The man pulled out a gun and aimed it at the plump lady.
“If you keep nagging, there’s just going to be one more corpse here.”
“Fine,” the plump lady conceded.
The man put his gun away and said, “We should get some sleep.
We have a transaction to make tomorrow.
Once the deal is done, we’ll blow the buyer sky-high with a bomb.”
Conan heard every single word of their conversation loud and clear.
*’A transaction tomorrow?’*
…
“Mr.
Shouichi, Ai, it’s time to get up for breakfast.”
Early in the morning, after preparing the meal, Miss Yuuko came to knock on Shouichi’s bedroom door.
Ai sat up groggily.
Looking at the man beside her, her mind went completely blank.
*’What was I doing yesterday again?’*
“Get up, don’t be a sleepyhead.” Shouichi plucked Ai right out of bed.
Walking out of Shouichi’s bedroom and meeting Miss Yuuko’s gaze, Ai felt like she wanted the floor to swallow her whole.
*’Miss Yuuko doesn’t think I’m some sort of weirdo, does she?’*
The entire breakfast tasted like cardboard to Ai.
Shouichi, on the other hand, acted as if absolutely nothing was out of the ordinary.
A wave of sheer embarrassment washed over Ai whenever she remembered that she had gone there last night to avenge her sister, only to somehow end up awkwardly gifting him a knife and cuddling.
*’I’ll endure this for now.
Sooner or later, I will avenge my sister.’*
“Let’s go.
I’m taking you to school.”
After breakfast, Shouichi drove Ai to school.
When they passed by Miyamoto Yumi on the road, he even pulled over to say hello.
His driver’s license had finally arrived, meaning Shouichi was now legally allowed on the road.
Upon arriving at the school, Shouichi led Ai to meet the principal.
Standing next to the principal was a female teacher, presumably the homeroom teacher for Ai’s new class.
“I’ll leave Ai in your care, Miss,” Shouichi said.
“Please rest assured.
I absolutely won’t let your child suffer any grievances here at school,” the female teacher said with a bow.
Shouichi patted Ai’s head.
“Listen to your teacher at school.
Now, go along with her to your classroom.”
Teitan High School, Class 2-B.
Sonoko was staring in the direction of the faculty office with a completely lovestruck expression.
“Ran, I just saw a total hottie walk into the office!
Ms.
Yonehara went in too.
Do you think that gorgeous guy is transferring into our class?” Sonoko said, tugging on Ran’s arm.
Ran wasn’t in the best mood due to Conan’s sudden departure, but she still managed a smile and advised Sonoko to stop daydreaming.
*’None of the handsome guys you meet ever turn out to be decent people anyway.’*
Soon enough, Ms.
Yonehara walked into the classroom alone.
“Quiet down, everyone.
I have an announcement.
We have a new transfer student joining our class today.
I hope you will all get along well with her.”
“Ms.
Yonehara!
Can the new student sit next to me?” Sonoko asked loudly.
Ms.
Yonehara nodded.
“Of course.”
“Ai, come on in,” Ms.
Yonehara called out to the hallway.
Just hearing the name was enough to send Sonoko into a swoon.
“Ai…
what a melancholic name.
He must be one of those cool, aloof pretty boys!”
But when Ai actually walked into the classroom, the expression on Sonoko’s face completely froze.
*’Wait, where did my tall, handsome guy go?’*
*’What’s with this little kid?
She must be that hottie’s younger sister, right?’*
“Hello everyone, my name is Haibara Ai.” That was Ai’s brief self-introduction.
Ran marveled at the new student’s young age for a moment before turning to Sonoko with an amused smile.
“Sonoko, you guessed right.
She really is the cool and aloof type.
Too bad she’s not a handsome guy.”
Sonoko’s heart shattered into pieces.
Once Ai took her seat, Sonoko leaned over to say hello.
It only took a few sentences before she steered the topic toward the man who had dropped Ai off at school.
“Was that your older brother who dropped you off?” Sonoko asked, feigning casual curiosity.
“No,” Ai shook her head coldly.
Sonoko was puzzled.
*’Could it be her dad?’*
*’A married man is fine too.’*
“Did he head back after dropping you off?”
Ai glanced at the boy-crazy teenager.
*’Shouichi isn’t exactly a good person.
You’d be better off not jumping into that fiery pit.’*
*’You can’t handle a man like him.’*
“He went back.
He has a mental illness and can’t leave the psychiatric hospital for too long.”
The agonizing half-day of classes finally passed.
Ai felt that the students at this school were far too childish.
There was Sonoko, whose head was entirely filled with dating handsome guys; Ran, whose head was entirely filled with Kudou Shinichi; and a bad woman obsessed with cute things who kept trying to take advantage of her.
*’This school is absolutely terrible.’*
“Are you not used to your new school yet?”
Miss Yuuko stepped out of the car and waved at Ai.
“Miss Yuuko?”
Yuuko smiled and said, “Mr.
Shouichi has some business to attend to and won’t be coming home for lunch, so I came to pick you up.
How was it?
Are you getting along well with your new classmates?”
“It was alright, I guess,” Ai lied through her teeth.
She just didn’t have any common ground with those silly students, that was all.
She had spent so much time in the Organization that she had completely forgotten how to interact with normal people.
…
“Manager Shouichi, thank you so much for your help.
Without you, there’s no way my company could have gone public this quickly!”
“Don’t mention it, it was just a small favor.
You’re a long-time client of our bank, so a little help like this is nothing.”
“This is a token of my gratitude.
You absolutely must accept it.”
After accepting the man’s incredibly sincere gift, Shouichi walked out of Room 302.
Feeling the hefty weight of the briefcase, Shouichi was quite satisfied.
His efforts to help the man hadn’t been in vain.
“Watch out!”
A little boy suddenly popped out of nowhere, tackled Shouichi to the ground with a thud, snatched the briefcase, and bolted.