Morikawa Shiro Appears Again
It wasn't often that Sora got the chance to see his little sister, and even though inviting Xia Yu out had been an impulsive decision, he was genuinely glad of it — it gave them a proper chance to talk, just the two of them.
They skipped lightly over the whole love-letter business, then caught each other up on what they'd been doing lately.
After that, Sora handed Xia Yu a card. "I've managed to save up a bit over the years — this is part of it. You said you've been building your base recently, and that's exactly when money matters. Take this and use it for now. If it's not enough, just tell your big brother."
He paused, winked at her, and while she was still staring blankly down at the card he'd pressed into her hand, he reached over and ruffled her hair with a smile. "And don't go feeling embarrassed about it. Saving all this up never really took much effort on my part, and I don't have all that many expenses day to day anyway. Sitting idle in my account, it's just going to waste."
Xia Yu clutched the card and looked up at him, so moved that he seemed to be glowing all over — even her long-simmering resentment about how rarely he showed his face eased a little.
Truly, a sister with a brother is a treasure.
"Mm-hm!" Xia Yu nodded hard.
Neither of them was ready to part ways so soon, so after they finished their dessert and left the café, Sora took Xia Yu to Beika Park. They strolled around together, admired the scenery, and took a whole stack of photos side by side.
Then, suddenly, Xia Yu spotted a statue up ahead and started toward it, camera in hand, hoping to snap a few more shots.
But before she'd taken two steps, she noticed two figures crouched beside the flower bed at the statue's base.
With a distinctly odd look on her face, Xia Yu walked up behind them. "Sonoko, Conan — what are you two doing?"
At the sudden voice behind them, the pair, who had been earnestly craning their necks to observe the statue, whipped around with wide, startled eyes.
"Xia Yu? Oh, it's you — you scared me half to death." Sonoko kept her voice low, patting her own chest gently as she recovered.
She tugged at Xia Yu's hand, motioning frantically for her to crouch down, quick.
In her nervousness, Sonoko completely failed to notice that Xia Yu hadn't come alone — a companion stood a short distance behind them, watching the whole scene with open curiosity.
Even Conan was far more focused on Ran, who stood over by the statue as if waiting for someone, and never once thought to glance behind Xia Yu.
Then Sonoko and Conan turned their heads back toward the statue and saw that Ran hadn't noticed anything. Both of them visibly sagged with relief.
Xia Yu crouched down beside them, eyeing the two of them and their strange behavior with undisguised curiosity, and repeated her earlier question. "So? Can you two tell me what you're doing now? And Ran's right over there — aren't you going to say hello?"
...
Once she'd heard Sonoko's hushed explanation, everything clicked. "Oh, so Ran got a love letter too, and now she's waiting for whoever sent it?"
She shot Sonoko a sidelong glance. "Though honestly, Sonoko, you're such a gossip. Actually sneaking all the way out here to spy on something like this — Ran would die of embarrassment if she knew."
"Sonoko I can understand, but Conan — how does a little kid get this curious about romance? Haven't I told you before that it's bad for children to be too nosy?" Xia Yu gave Conan's head an emphatic scrubbing, her admonishment entirely sincere.
"Exactly, exactly! I keep saying this brat is way too precocious for his own good." Sonoko nodded along on autopilot — then abruptly her eyes went wide as she caught what was special about Xia Yu's words.
She whirled toward Xia Yu, eyes shining and practically vibrating with excitement, though mindful of Ran nearby she wrestled her voice down to a whisper. "Wait! Xia Yu, did you just say too? You got a love letter recently as well? Who sent it? What do they look like? Are they good-looking? And—"
The questions came rapid-fire, one after another. Xia Yu, her hand trapped in Sonoko's grip and her ears full of Sonoko's voice, was beginning to feel dizzy.
Conan let Xia Yu keep rubbing his head. There was no fighting it anyway, so he saw no point in a wasted struggle.
Not that she got many rubs in — her hand was soon seized by the overexcited Sonoko.
Listening to Sonoko's barrage of questions, Conan couldn't help but admire her sensitivity to this sort of thing. He'd heard exactly the same words from Xia Yu and hadn't picked up on it at all, yet Sonoko had caught it instantly.
Still... he genuinely couldn't imagine anyone falling for Xia Yu.
He studied her with a strange look, half wondering whether whoever had written that letter had simply been deceived by her looks. Did the person have any idea that this was a woman who could punt a criminal across the street with a single kick?
He hoped nothing untoward had happened to them this afternoon — otherwise...
"Shh — keep it down! Someone's coming toward Ran."
Bombarded by Sonoko's machine-gun questions, Xia Yu hadn't managed to answer a single one when the sound of running footsteps reached them, heading straight for where Ran stood.
At Xia Yu's warning, Sonoko and Conan both dropped the matter of Xia Yu's love letter at once and poked their heads up to look in Ran's direction.
Xia Yu hesitated a moment — then, unable to suppress the itch of her own curiosity, poked her head up after them.
She really did want to see who this brave soul was, the one who'd dared write a love letter to Ran.
Standing beside the statue, Mouri Ran glanced at the time — it was just about the moment they'd agreed upon.
Then she heard footsteps drawing closer. She turned, and there came a short-haired girl with glasses, cradling a bouquet of flowers, running right up to her.
...
"So that letter wasn't a love letter at all — it was a fan letter from one of her karate club admirers." Sonoko sounded a touch disappointed, but she brightened almost immediately.
As she saw it, a letter from an admirer of Ran's skill would make her far happier than one from some lovestruck suitor.
"Mm. Ran's always been such a wonderful girl — of course she'd have fans." Xia Yu broke into a smile too.
Once the fan had handed over the flowers and scampered off, Sonoko and Conan had no reason to keep hiding behind the flower bed. They rose and started toward Ran, Xia Yu standing to follow.
Seeing her move, Sora — who had been standing discreetly off to the side, considerately leaving his sister and her friends to their little adventure — came along as well.
"Hey, so the letter wasn't from some first-year underclassman after all." Sonoko flashed Ran a teasing grin.
"Sonoko! And Conan came too?" There was a faint note of helplessness in Mouri Ran's voice. "And now Xia Yu as well..."
Conan and Xia Yu both smiled up at her.
"Aww, and here I thought I'd get to see the scene I was hoping for today." Sonoko deliberately put on a look of deep disappointment.
"What a shame, then." Ran's tone lifted playfully, a smile tucked into it as she answered.
It was then that Mouri Ran noticed a vaguely familiar figure trailing behind the three of them, and she called out in surprise,
"Mr. Morikawa? What are you doing here?"