Shirakawa didn’t think for a second that his inexplicable bit of good luck would work against a cold-blooded killer like Gin.
He had to refuse, and he had to do it without leaving a trace.
A look of concern crossed Shirakawa’s face as he asked softly in return, “Why are you in such a hurry to find him?
Did you have a specific time set to meet?”
“No,” Ran Mouri shook her head, her voice trembling slightly.
“It’s just a feeling.
I’m feeling really anxious, and I have this intuition that he’s in some kind of danger.”
And there it is a woman’s sixth sense.
Shirakawa mentally scoffed, but outwardly he began to talk serious nonsense.
“Don’t worry.
Isn’t Kudo-kun known as the ‘Heisei Holmes’?”
“He’s so smart and his observation skills are so sharp.
Even if he did run into some trouble, I’m sure he could handle it easily.
If we wander around aimlessly, we might just end up getting in the way of his case.”
As he spoke, he added a frantic postscript in his mind: ‘Don’t worry, your man has the protagonist’s halo protecting him; he won’t die.
At most, he’ll just shrink from a 1.7-meter college student into a little brat in glasses who goes around acting cute.
It’s not a big deal.’
He thought this bit of comfort would calm Ran Mouri down.
Who would have thought that as soon as he finished speaking, the young girl’s eyes would instantly turn red?
Large teardrops welled up as she complained aggrievedly, “He’s not some Sherlock Holmes!
He’s just a reasoning idiot!
A big idiot!”
“He’s always like this.
As soon as he sees a case, he forgets everything else and charges into the most dangerous places all by himself.
He never stops to think about how much others worry about him…”
As she spoke, tears began to stream down her cheeks.
Shirakawa was completely bewildered.
What was going on?
How did he manage to talk her into tears?
Looking at the weeping Ran Mouri, Shirakawa couldn’t help but sigh in his heart.
Sigh, how did such a fine prize end up falling for a ‘fool’ like Shinichi Kudo?
But then again, this was their private business.
As a stranger who had just met her, it wasn’t his place to say much more.
Just as Shirakawa was at a loss for what to do, Ran Mouri realized she had lost her composure.
She quickly wiped away her tears, her cheeks flushing with an embarrassed red as she bowed repeatedly to Shirakawa.
“I’m sorry!
I’m truly very sorry!
I…
I don’t know what came over me, suddenly…
saying all this to a stranger.
I’ve caused you trouble.”
“It’s alright.”
Shirakawa waved his hand quickly, a sympathetic smile on his face.
“I understand.
You’re just too worried about Kudo-kun and lost control of your emotions for a moment.”
The opportunity had arrived.
A bold idea rapidly took shape in Shirakawa’s mind.
He looked at the innocent, kind, and beautiful girl before him, then thought about his current situation,he was an undocumented resident with no ID, the money in his bank account was just a string of numbers in this world, and the cash in his wallet wouldn’t last more than a few days.
Finding a job or renting an apartment was practically a pipe dream.
Most importantly, this was Beika, where the crime rate rivaled Gotham’s!
If he dared to sleep on the streets, he might very well end up as a victim in the next morning’s newspaper.
And the Mouri Family was quite simply the perfect sanctuary!
Having made up his mind, the smile on Shirakawa’s face became even more sincere and his tone even more gentle.
“I can see you’re still a bit unstable.
Continuing to search like a headless fly isn’t the way to go.”
“Why don’t we leave this upsetting place and sit in a cafe outside for a while?
We can have a cup of coffee and calm down.”
“Maybe Kudo-kun will even contact you on his own in a bit?”
The suggestion sounded perfectly reasonable and full of kindness.
Ran Mouri hardly hesitated.
She nodded and said gratefully, “O-okay, thank you for your help.”
Seeing the girl agree so submissively, Shirakawa felt a slight sense of relief.
Come to think of it, this was probably the first time he had spoken so much to a girl he’d just met.
And in Ran Mouri’s presence, his social anxiety symptoms hadn’t flared up at all.
Was it because he had seen her so many times in the manga?
By the time they left the amusement park, the evening sun had completely set, and night was beginning to fall.
Inside a cafe outside the park, the warm yellow lighting provided a sense of comfort.
Ran Mouri held the warm coffee cup with both hands.
The rising steam blurred her delicate face, and the tension she felt from her worry finally began to ease slightly.
She had really lost her composure just now.
Crying her eyes out in front of a stranger and treating him like her only lifeline.
Thinking back on it now, Ran Mouri’s cheeks couldn’t help but burn.
“Oh, right,” she looked up belatedly, with a shy and apologetic expression.
“Things were so chaotic just now, I haven’t even had the chance to ask for your name.”
“I’m Shirakawa.” Shirakawa offered a perfectly measured, gentle smile that was neither distant nor intrusive.
“Mr.
Shirakawa…” Ran Mouri repeated softly, then said with some surprise, “Your Japanese is so fluent.
I couldn’t tell at all that you’re from another country.”
“Work requires it.
I often deal with clients from Japan, and business trips here are quite common,” Shirakawa explained flawlessly, then added, “Besides, I’m very interested in Japan’s manga.
Through constant immersion, my speaking skills became quite proficient.”
This reason instantly bridged the distance between them.
“Manga?” Ran Mouri’s eyes lit up as she asked curiously, “What kind of manga do you like to read, Mr.
Shirakawa?”
Shirakawa’s heart skipped a beat.
What did he like?
He liked far too many manga, especially those high-quality, full-color ones starring her as the lead, with plots that keep you on edge and require a subscription to view.
There were even some…
ahem, Doujinshi.
Shirakawa ranted wildly in his head, but his expression remained unchanged.
The Ran Mouri before him was more real, beautiful, and moving than in any manga or anime.
It was a vivid beauty that was difficult to fully replicate with a brush.
Her skin had an ivory-like luster under the lights, as fair and translucent as someone of mixed heritage.
Her violet eyes seemed to contain the stars; just looking at her was enough to captivate one’s soul.
He really didn’t dare to reveal the collection on his hard drive, so he could only say vaguely:
“I read a bit of everything.
Japan has so many excellent manga, so I read a variety of genres.”
The answer was broad, but it was safe.
Ran Mouri didn’t doubt him and nodded, but as she seemed to remember something, her mood dampened again.
After a bit of small talk, seeing that the atmosphere was getting heavy, Shirakawa decided to take the initiative.
He leaned forward slightly, propping his elbows on the table in a half-joking, mysterious manner, and asked in a lowered voice:
“Speaking of which, Miss Mouri, you and that Kudo-kun…
you’re a couple, right?”
“Eh?”
Ran Mouri’s cheeks flushed instantly.
Like a cat that had its tail stepped on, she waved her hands frantically.
“No!
No!
We’re not in that kind of relationship!
We’re just…
just childhood friends!”
Seeing her flustered state, Shirakawa was secretly pleased, but he maintained an expression that said ‘I get it, you don’t need to explain,’ and shook his head as if he didn’t believe her.
“Really?
I don’t quite believe that.”
His tone carried a hint of teasing.
“You were so worried about him earlier that your eyes were red with anxiety.
That restless, worried look was exactly like a little girlfriend in the middle of a passionate romance.”
“Besides, unless a young man and woman are very close, they rarely go to a place like an amusement park together, right?”
Every one of Shirakawa’s words was like a precisely thrown stone, creating ripples in the lake of Ran Mouri’s heart.
It was true; everyone thought so.
Even a foreigner she had just met would have the same misunderstanding.
Ran Mouri’s intense reaction gradually subsided under Shirakawa’s questioning, replaced by a soft, melancholy sigh.
“It’s normal for you to misunderstand, Mr.
Shirakawa.”
Her voice dropped, tinged with helplessness.
“After all, even my best friend jokes every day that Shinichi and I are like a married couple.”
“It’s just that…”
She paused, as if organizing her thoughts or making a decision.
“Because of some family reasons, I…
haven’t thought about dating for the time being.”
It worked!
Shirakawa was ecstatic, nearly unable to stop the corners of his mouth from curling up.
Family reasons!
Wasn’t that just her parents who lived apart—one a detective and one a lawyer—bickering with each other from afar every day?
Shinichi Kudo, oh Shinichi Kudo, you reasoning fanatic probably never dreamed that just as you’re about to turn into a brat, your childhood friend has unknowingly handed you a heavy ‘Good Person Card’!
The little version of Shirakawa in his mind had already started singing loudly, celebrating this great milestone victory.