The Confession
Meanwhile, Cointreau had gone to find Xiayu more than an hour ahead of schedule and retrieved his doctored phone from her. After chatting with her for a while, the two of them made their way to the Mouri Detective Agency to meet up with Ran and the others, all of them planning to head to the Beika Hotel together.
By the time the group actually set out, one more person had joined the party — Noelle, whom Lisa and Xiangling had managed to talk Xiayu into bringing along out of "concern for her safety."
As they walked, Conan drifted half a step behind the rest of them.
He studied Cointreau's back with a probing gaze. The man walked beside Xiayu, chatting with her and Ran about recent celebrities and TV shows with a gentle expression on his face, not a trace of impatience showing anywhere.
Conan could feel it: through this stretch of conversation alone, Ran and the others' impression of Cointreau had visibly improved. They'd even started letting him call them by their first names.
The thought made Conan press his lips into a thin line and shoot Cointreau an angry glare. What a sly man.
And yet he still couldn't figure it out — as a member of the Organization, what could his purpose possibly be in deliberately getting close to Xiayu?
That much was certain. Conan had already noticed that Cointreau paid far more attention to Xiayu than to him.
Could it be that he'd discovered the people from that mysterious organization had been in frequent contact with Xiayu, and was using the identity of Morikawa Shiro to approach her for the sake of his own investigation?
Conan worried that the man might have some special purpose in tagging along today. But then he remembered the call with the FBI yesterday — how Agent Akai, the man who had once gone undercover inside the Organization himself, had said he would make his preparations in advance — and some of the tension in his chest eased.
Around then, Noelle noticed that Conan had fallen a little behind. She slowed her pace, dropped back to his side, and took his hand so he wouldn't get lost in the crowd.
Being treated like a clueless little child by Noelle made Conan squirm with discomfort, and he tried to pull free — but when his struggles got him nowhere, he resigned himself to his fate and let her have her way.
When they arrived at the hotel, a member of the staff recognized Xiayu almost immediately. The sight of a small crowd trailing behind the person they were expecting made them blink in momentary surprise, but they quickly gathered themselves and stepped forward to lead her to her destination.
The staff member guided Xiayu up to the second floor, stopping in front of a certain door and gesturing for her to open it herself.
Xiayu stared at the firmly shut door in front of her with a strange look in her eyes, utterly unsure how to react.
What is this supposed to be? According to that letter, today was meant to be a simple confession — so why is it staged like a marriage proposal?
Even Sonoko leaned over and whispered into Ran's ear, "Hey, Ran... don't you think this confession of Xiayu's is way different from yours yesterday? What's with all the mystery? You don't think there's actual danger, do you?"
"There's no way..." Ran murmured, but Sonoko's words had made her nervous too. "Still, with this many of us here, we should be fine."
"I guess that's true." Sonoko found the logic convincing and let her worry go. Then, noticing that Xiayu still hadn't moved a muscle, she took a few steps over to her side and asked curiously, "Xiayu, aren't you going to open the door and see?"
"Mm......"
Xiayu looked at the great door before her, gripped by the nagging feeling that whatever waited on the other side was not something she wanted to see, and hesitated.
"Allow me," Cointreau said, stepping forward to shield her with his body. "For everyone's safety, in an uncertain situation like this, it's only right that a man go first."
He turned and flashed the group a faint smile, then walked up to the door, gripped the handle with both hands — and pushed it open.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
A rapid series of party poppers detonated in succession, and a flurry of confetti came raining down on Cointreau, who stood framed in the open doorway. Shreds of colored paper settled across his head and clothes in layer upon glittering layer, the kind of mess that would take forever to clean out.
He had sensed someone waiting by the door from the very start, so Cointreau clamped down on his reflexes and didn't dodge, letting the people inside spray a whole heap of nonsense all over him.
The people inside stared at the man who had opened the door, trading bewildered glances. Had he come to the wrong place — or had the young master Takano grown so rebellious that he'd fallen for a man?
No, that couldn't be right. According to everything the young master had described, the other protagonist was supposed to be a girl with golden hair and golden eyes.
Wait. Golden hair, golden eyes?
The man in front of them matched the description perfectly. Don't tell me it really is......
An awkward hush fell over the doorway. Just as the group stood there in disarray, the man before them stepped aside, ushering in the young ladies who had followed behind him — among them a girl with the very same golden hair and golden eyes.
They all let out a collective breath of relief. So they really had gotten the wrong person.
Watching her brother stand there in his slightly bedraggled state, Xiayu silently thanked her lucky stars that she hadn't been the one to open the door.
She was now truly convinced that agreeing to answer this man in person had been a mistake.
Who knew what other "surprises" lay in store.
Takano Hideki had heard the commotion at the door and knew the person he'd been waiting for had finally arrived. He smoothed down his clothes, took a bouquet of roses from Nakamura's hands, raised his confident, self-satisfied smile, and strode toward the entrance surrounded by his entourage.
Though the extra guests caught him a little off guard, it took him only one glance to pick his beloved out of the crowd.
He swept his long hair back from his face, put on his most charming smile, and sauntered over to Xiayu with exaggerated grace, extending the roses toward her.
"Ah! It's YOU! That idiot second son of the Takano family!"
Takano Hideki was just opening his mouth to speak when the astonished voice of a girl cut him off. He turned toward it with an irritated glare — who on earth dared to speak that way?
"Oh, it's you? That lovesick second daughter of the Suzuki family?"
Conan, who had been jostled to the edge by the converging crowd: ...Well, their opinions of each other certainly match.
He surveyed the scene with weary resignation — flowers and balloons blanketing every inch of the room — and began to worry about how on earth this was going to be cleaned up later.
Suddenly, a dark figure flashed across the edge of his vision. Conan whipped his head around toward the spot, eyes going wide as he stared at the silhouette half-hidden behind the crowd.
No doubt about it — Kaeya!
What was he doing here? Conan thought of Cointreau and wondered — could Kaeya be here to make contact with him?
With so many people packed between them and Kaeya, Conan failed to notice the small figure standing at Kaeya's side: Klee.
Sonoko and Takano Hideki recognized each other at once. Given their less-than-friendly history at past banquets, Takano couldn't resist trading a few barbed words with her.
It was only when Nakamura reminded him that he realized now was hardly the time for a quarrel.
He tuned out the Suzuki girl, thrust the bouquet forward once more, cleared his throat, and gazed at Xiayu with deep, soulful intensity. "Beautiful angel, I must tell you — my heart has fallen deeply, madly in love with you. You are the most wonderful accident of my life......"