While waiting for their desserts to be served, the two best friends began to chat.
Sonoko pinched Conan’s cheeks and remarked, “Come to think of it, Conan, you really look like that guy Shinichi when he was a kid.”
She said half-jokingly, “Say, you wouldn’t happen to be that guy Shinichi’s illegitimate child, would you?”
“Quick, let big sister pull out a hair and take it for a paternity test!”
Although Conan knew this was a joke, he was still terrified, fearing that Sonoko might actually do it, and hurriedly covered his head with both hands.
“Sonoko, stop teasing Conan,” Ran Mouri said with a smile, coming to his defense.
“You can’t blame Conan for looking like Shinichi.”
Conan thought to himself, “Is looking like Shinichi Kudo such a terrible thing?!”
Sonoko pursed her lips, changed the subject, and wore an expression of deep regret:
“Sigh, if I had known I could meet a top-tier handsome guy like Shirakawa-kun in a place like this, I should have gone to the amusement park with you a few days ago!”
“It’s all my fault for insisting on creating some alone time for you and that guy Shinichi, lying that I was busy, and missing the chance for a romantic encounter!”
Hearing this, Conan secretly complained that Sonoko was really meddlesome.
It was precisely because she had forcibly “played matchmaker” that day that it made his interactions with Ran feel awkward at every turn.
Sonoko was already completely immersed in her own fantasies, muttering to herself:
“If it had been me who met the troubled Shirakawa-kun at the amusement park that day, if it had been me who ‘took him in’…”
“Then by now, we would definitely be a loving couple enjoying sweet romance every day…”
Watching Sonoko’s infatuated expression, Conan rolled his eyes, speechless and disgusted.
…
Night had fallen deep, and the hour hand was gradually pointing towards ten o’clock.
Café Poirot finished its day of business, and Shirakawa dragged his exhausted body from work back to the Mouri Detective Agency.
As a guest staying over, he was very conscious of being the last one to use the bathroom.
The warm water washed over his body, rinsing away the fatigue of the whole day.
Shirakawa leaned against the edge of the bathtub and let out a long sigh of relief.
Both his mind and body were tired, but his heart felt fulfilled like never before.
His wallet was bulging; the tips he had received in the last few days were already a considerable sum, which put the newcomer Shirakawa at ease.
Tomorrow was the last day of his probation period; as long as nothing went wrong, securing this job shouldn’t be a problem.
These past few days, he had been leaving early and returning late for work, so he had fewer opportunities to interact with the father and daughter of the Mouri family and Conan.
Naturally, he hadn’t found a suitable opportunity to further expose the identity of that “God of Death” elementary school student.
However, that was just as well.
And Kogoro Mouri, with Conan’s “secret assistance,” had gotten incredibly lucky and successfully solved a case involving finding a kidnapped rich young lady, with a reward of a full one million yen.
Of course, the check hadn’t even warmed up in his hands before eighty percent of it was taken by Ran Mouri in the name of “living expenses,” leaving only twenty percent for Kogoro as pocket money.
Shirakawa was glad that because of work, he hadn’t gotten involved in these dangerous cases and didn’t have to deal with cold corpses.
Yet he couldn’t help but sigh that an ordinary person like him was truly from a different world than the protagonists of the World of Conan, such as Kogoro Mouri, Ran Mouri, and Conan.
Their lives were destined to be full of storms and waves, while he was just a small boat that could capsize at any moment.
After a brief moment of reflection, Shirakawa felt a sense of relief again.
Since transmigrating, most of the people he had met were good people.
His expectations for the future were very low; if he could just be an ordinary café employee, find a way to get a legal identity, and live a peaceful life in Beika City, where murders and explosions happened every other day, he would be content.
After bathing, Shirakawa dried himself off, put on his pajamas, and walked out of the bathroom.
When passing through the third-floor living room, he found Ran Mouri sitting alone on the sofa watching TV.
“Good night, Miss Ran.”
Shirakawa just wanted to quickly return to his small “bedroom” on the second floor and get a good night’s sleep.
“Um, Shirakawa-kun!”
Ran Mouri suddenly called out to him.
Shirakawa stopped, turned around, and had a look of confusion on his face.
“Today…
regarding Sonoko, I’m really sorry; she must have disturbed your work.” There was an apologetic look on Ran Mouri’s face.
“It’s okay,” Shirakawa smiled and shook his head.
“If anything, with an acquaintance like Miss Ran in the shop, I actually feel much more relaxed while working.”
Hearing this, Ran Mouri felt inexplicably sweet in her heart, feeling that she was trusted by Shirakawa, and the corners of her mouth curled up involuntarily.
But as the words left her mouth, they turned into something she hadn’t expected: “However, Shirakawa-kun is a bit strange.
You clearly can’t even handle ordinary female customers, yet when facing Sonoko, you seem very enthusiastic…”
Before she could finish, Ran Mouri realized it was inappropriate.
She suddenly covered her mouth, and her cheeks instantly heated up.
Oh my god!
Why did she say what she was thinking again?
Shirakawa, however, didn’t think much of it, assuming it was just Ran Mouri’s normal curiosity.
He explained somewhat embarrassedly, “Actually, I have a bit of social anxiety, so I get very nervous when talking to strangers.”
“Because Miss Sonoko is Miss Ran’s friend, she counts as a half-acquaintance to me, which is why I seem a bit calmer.”
Hearing this explanation, Ran Mouri breathed a secret sigh of relief.
She composed herself and said half-jokingly, “My Sonoko was not calm at all this afternoon.”
“Shirakawa-kun, please don’t take those things she said, like ‘dating’ and such, to heart.
She just likes to joke around.”
“I completely understand,” Shirakawa nodded and smiled self-deprecatingly.
“Miss Sonoko looks like that kind of enthusiastic and cheerful type.”
“Besides, I look so average; love at first sight is impossible to happen to me.”
He really had no confidence in his face, which could only be described as having regular features.
“Shirakawa-kun, you really know how to joke.”
Ran Mouri shook her head, looking at him seriously.
“Shirakawa-kun is so handsome and works at a café; who knows, one day you might receive a love letter from a girl.”
“That kind of thing would only happen to a super beautiful girl like Miss Ran,” Shirakawa smiled helplessly, his tone sincere.
“Someone like me is naturally fated to have nothing to do with romance.”
After speaking, he wished Ran Mouri a good night and turned to go downstairs.
He didn’t notice at all what kind of ripples his unintentional words had stirred up in the young girl’s heart.
In the living room, only Ran Mouri remained.
She sat blankly on the sofa, her heart thumping wildly uncontrollably, her cheeks as red as a ripe apple.
“Su…super beautiful girl…”
She chewed on this phrase a few times, only feeling the temperature on her face getting higher and higher.
Coming back to her senses, Ran Mouri, like a startled deer, rushed back to her room as if fleeing, dove into her bed, and covered her head with the quilt.
In the darkness, only the shy, mosquito-thin muttering of the young girl could be heard.
“Shirakawa-kun is so cunning, to actually tease me like this…”
“He’s clearly so handsome, yet he says things like ‘nothing special’…”
“Besides, liking someone isn’t just about looks…”