With the job matter successfully resolved, Shirakawa couldn’t help but feel a bit more grateful toward Kogoro Mouri.
Although he truly couldn’t handle Kogoro Mouri’s overly familiar and thick-skinned personality, he had to admit that getting this trial opportunity so easily today was entirely thanks to him.
Shirakawa silently committed this kindness to heart.
And all of this was seen clearly by Conan, who had quietly followed them downstairs.
He hid at the corner of the stairs, his brow furrowed.
A detective’s intuition told him that things were definitely not as simple as they appeared on the surface.
Whether it was Kogoro Mouri or that clerk named Enomoto Azusa, their attitude toward Shirakawa was abnormally good.
But as for what exactly was wrong, he couldn’t quite say.
This man named Shirakawa must be hiding some kind of secret.
As evening approached, the sky gradually darkened.
Ran Mouri finished her university classes, bought ingredients for dinner along the way, and returned to the Detective Agency.
As soon as she entered, she saw that besides her father and Shirakawa, there was an additional little boy wearing black-rimmed glasses in the living room.
“Eh?
Who is this child?”
Kogoro Mouri immediately began to introduce him with a triumphant air: “Ran, you’re back!”
“This is Conan, a child from a distant relative of that Kudo kid’s family.
He’ll be living with us from now on!”
After hearing her father’s explanation, Ran Mouri was stunned for a moment, but then her willow-like eyebrows shot up, and a powerful aura instantly erupted.
“Dad!”
She walked up to Kogoro Mouri in a few steps and held out her hand, her tone brook no argument.
“Where’s the living expenses?
Since you agreed to take him in, you can’t possibly be raising him for free, right?”
“I have it, I have it!” Kogoro Mouri shrunk his neck guiltily and, as if prepared in advance, pulled a stack of bills from his coat.
“Here, five hundred thousand yen.”
“Only five hundred thousand yen?” Ran Mouri took the money, her brow furrowing even tighter.
“I don’t believe it!
You definitely hid some private savings!”
“There was only one million yen in total!
We went out for a nice meal at noon, and I bought so many things for Shirakawa and this brat.
The expenses were huge!
This is all that’s left!”
One million yen?
This figure made Ran Mouri’s expression soften a bit, but she remained half-doubting, turning her gaze toward Shirakawa and Conan.
“Mr.
Shirakawa, Conan-kun, is that how it is?”
Seeing this, Kogoro Mouri immediately winked frantically at the two of them, his eyes full of pleas like ‘Please,’ ‘Help me cover this up,’ and ‘Otherwise, no one will have a good time.’
It was only then that Shirakawa had a sudden realization.
He finally understood why Kogoro Mouri had been so good to them today.
The big meal, the clothes, the phone—it turned out that half the reason was to shut their mouths!
Looking at Kogoro Mouri’s comical, winking face, Shirakawa sighed in his heart.
Oh well, Uncle Mouri did indeed help him out a lot today.
Shirakawa nodded and echoed, “Yes, Mr.
Mouri is telling the truth.”
As for Conan, in order to keep his chance to stay here , he didn’t want to be kicked out, and even less did he want to go back to Dr.
Agasa’s house to face that pile of weird inventions.
He also nodded vigorously and testified in a childish voice, “Uncle isn’t lying!”
Seeing that both of them said so, Ran Mouri finally accepted the explanation.
But she still gave her father a sharp glare and scolded, “Honestly, Dad!
Before you agree to something like this, you should consider whether you can actually do it!”
“Besides, I don’t have any experience taking care of children!”
“Oh, that Dr.
Agasa said,” Kogoro Mouri waved his hand dismissively, “Conan is a very smart kid.
Just remember to feed him every day, you don’t need to worry about the rest!”
Fearing that Ran Mouri would change her mind and send him back to Dr.
Agasa’s house, Conan quickly chimed in, “Don’t worry, Sister Ran, I’ll be very good and won’t cause you any trouble!”
Looking at Conan’s act of being well-behaved, Ran Mouri’s heart softened instantly.
“Don’t make raising Conan sound as simple as raising a pet!”
Kogoro Mouri, however, didn’t take his daughter’s complaints to heart at all.
He glanced at the wall clock; it was exactly six in the evening.
“Oh, oh, oh!
It’s time!”
He dashed to the television like a fanatical fan chasing a star and turned it on right on time.
The screen immediately showed his favorite national-level female artist , Yoko Okino.
Shirakawa watched this scene and silently complained in his heart.
If raising Conan were compared to raising a pet, he definitely wouldn’t be an easy one; he’d be a ‘Corpse-finding hound’ who brings death wherever he goes.
Ran Mouri looked at her father’s behavior and shook her head helplessly.
She felt she had to give this irresponsible father a bit of a lesson.
An idea flashed through her mind.
“Dad,” Ran Mouri’s voice suddenly turned cold, “since taking care of Conan was something you agreed to, then starting from today, Conan-kun will sleep with you!”
“What?!” Kogoro Mouri’s eyes instantly moved away from Yoko Okino, and he let out a scream like a slaughtered pig.
“I protest!
On what grounds!”
“Protest denied!” Ran Mouri stood with her hands on her hips, her reasoning sound.
“You took this on, so you have to see it through to the end!”
Kogoro Mouri’s gaze subconsciously flickered toward Shirakawa, seemingly wanting to toss this hot potato over to him.
Ran Mouri immediately saw through his thoughts and barked, “Don’t you dare push the responsibility onto Mr.
Shirakawa!”
“I…” Kogoro Mouri got anxious and immediately defended himself, “Rather than sharing a bedroom with a little kid who might wet the bed, I’d rather sleep with Shirakawa!”
As soon as those words came out, Shirakawa felt a chill on the back of his neck, and a familiar sense of tension rose from his tailbone again.
“I won’t wet the bed!” Conan’s face flushed red as he shouted back.
“And Dad, your bed is so small; it’s too cramped for two adults!” Ran Mouri also countered, completely cutting off Kogoro Mouri’s hopes.
And so, amid Conan’s loud protests and Ran Mouri’s firm attitude, the matter of where Conan would stay at night was decided.