The Pattern on the Paper Airplane
At Xia Yu's words, Ran spun on her heel and rushed straight for the bathroom, her eyes brimming with expectation and hope.
But when she flung the door open, the figure standing before her was not Shinichi at all — it was a man she had never seen before in her life.
Disappointment and confusion welled up inside her all at once. She stared at him, wide-eyed, and murmured, "Who are you? Why are you in here?"
The stranger seemed equally thrown off by the situation. "Um, well..."
Before he could get another word out, Sonoko, who had come up beside Ran, cut him off. Eyes bulging at the man who had materialized out of nowhere, she shrieked, "Ah! A burglar! How is this happening?!"
She clutched Ran's arm, her eyes stretched wide as she stared at him — clearly terrified.
At Sonoko's outburst, Xia Yu arched an eyebrow slightly, the corners of her mouth curving upward, a barely concealed flicker of amusement dancing in her gaze.
She swiftly stepped in front of Ran and Sonoko, quietly motioning for them to back up a few steps.
When the man looked as though he still wanted to speak, Xia Yu didn't hesitate for an instant — she lifted her leg and drove a kick straight into him, cutting his words short.
From the way she moved, her intent was obvious: cripple the stranger's ability to move first, then interrogate him at leisure about who he was and what he wanted.
Meanwhile, Subaru Okiya, standing inside the bathroom, had been planning to feign being knocked over by the kick and then seize the chance to explain himself properly.
However, Xia Yu was simply far too fast. All Subaru could manage was to throw both hands up in front of him on pure instinct, deflecting the brunt of the force — and the next moment, he was sent flying across the room.
Now, at last, Subaru understood what that bus hijacker must have felt when he got kicked flying the first time he'd crossed paths with her.
So he mused, finding the humor in his own misfortune.
To be sent soaring so effortlessly by a young girl — sure, part of it was that his current identity made fighting back inconvenient, but it also proved that Xia Yu's skills were genuinely impressive.
Subaru feigned exhaustion as he pushed himself up off the floor, his eyes drifting toward Xia Yu as she slowly lowered her leg. Her brow was faintly furrowed, and she was clearly a little puzzled by the whole situation.
And no wonder. Against an ordinary person, an attack as fast as hers would allow no time to react at all.
Subaru had to explain why he was here before Xia Yu made her next move, and quickly, in the hope of easing some of her suspicion.
Shortly after, Mouri Ran placed a call to Conan, which confirmed Subaru's story.
Once they realized it had all been a misunderstanding, Ran, Sonoko, and Xia Yu apologized to him together.
"We're so terribly sorry!"
"Sorry for calling you a burglar just now."
"I apologize for getting physical with you — are you hurt at all?"
The three of them spoke in unison.
Fortunately, Subaru didn't hold the mishap against them. "It's nothing," he said.
In the moments that followed, he even got the chance to show off a little of his deductive prowess. Sniffing the faint fragrance lingering in the air, then glancing at the smears of sauce that had accidentally stained the three girls' clothes, he broke into a knowing smile.
"Heh heh... I take it you three young ladies have just come from dinner at a Chinese restaurant?"
"Huh?" At his question, Ran and Sonoko exchanged astonished glances, then asked in unison, "How could you possibly know that?"
With a confident smile, Subaru walked them through his reasoning step by step, even pointing out the precise locations of several of the stains as he spoke.
They looked down at their clothes, and sure enough — there were the stains, exactly where he'd said.
"Wow~ that's amazing!" Sonoko gasped, her eyes sparkling with excitement.
Xia Yu could only watch her with a look of resigned exasperation.
Honestly. Sonoko really does lose the ability to walk the moment a handsome man appears. Then again, the Subaru Okiya disguise Akai Shuichi was currently wearing really was easy on the eyes, and the man carried himself with a distinctive air. No wonder he'd caught Sonoko's attention.
Subaru smiled mysteriously. "Detective work happens to be a great passion of mine."
Sonoko clapped her hands together in delight. "That's perfect! I've actually run into a puzzle lately — could you help me solve it, Mr. Okiya? Xia Yu, you should take a look too!"
When Subaru nodded with a smile and agreed, Sonoko happily fished the paper airplane out of her pocket — the one that had landed in her yard two days ago.
She'd brought it along today intending to show Xia Yu after they finished cleaning, to see whether she could figure out what the strange dots and lines on it were supposed to mean.
While Subaru and Xia Yu examined the paper airplane with curious eyes, Sonoko nudged Ran with her elbow and whispered, "Ran, you should send a photo of this to Kudo Shinichi too. Let's see if he can crack it."
Ran gave a resigned nod. "Okay, okay, I got it."
As she watched Ran send the message, Sonoko leaned in with a mischievous grin and murmured, "I'd love to see whether that smug jerk Kudo can beat Mr. Okiya and Xia Yu to the answer."
"It says SOS!"
The moment the paper airplane was unfolded, Xia Yu and Subaru announced the meaning of the pattern on it in perfect unison.