Off to Osaka
“So, Ran—sis, which family is hosting this event again?” Conan asked offhandedly.
He wasn't particularly interested in the affair itself, but since Kazuha was going to compete in it, it couldn't hurt to know the details. Who knew—this information might prove useful in some future case.
“Hmm, let me think...” Mouri Ran furrowed her brow for a moment. “The family's surname was Kamisato, I think. Yes, that's it—Kamisato.” She nodded, certain. “Sonoko mentioned it to me before. Apparently it's an entertainment company owned by their family that's putting the event on.”
“Oh~ I see.” Conan filed that away.
Then, just before bed that night, he made a point of calling Hattori Heiji to lodge a formal complaint—the guy had never told him about any of this, and Ran had nearly gotten suspicious.
When the answer came back that Heiji had simply, honestly forgotten, Conan hung up the phone with his whole face covered in black lines.
Several days later, on a bright, sunny morning, the plaza in front of the station bustled with travelers coming and going.
Suzuki Sonoko, Mouri Ran, and Edogawa Conan had already been waiting at the platform for some time.
“It's almost time—why isn't Xia Yu here yet? You don't think something's happened to her?” Sonoko's expression was tinged with anxiety.
“Don't worry, Sonoko.” Ran gave her shoulder a gentle pat, her voice soft and soothing. “Xia Yu's always punctual. Something unexpected probably just held her up. Besides, she didn't message us to say otherwise, so I'm sure she'll be here on time.”
“I guess that makes sense.” At Ran's words, Sonoko's expression eased a little. Then she wrinkled her nose and cast a sidelong glance at the little brats standing nearby, her voice full of complaint. “But seriously, what are these kids doing here?”
“Heh heh, well, we're the Detective Boys—we're supposed to move as a team,” Genta said with an awkward grin.
Sonoko rolled her eyes at him, a hint of scorn and teasing playing across her face. “Heh. You only tagged along because you heard about the idol event and got curious, didn't you?”
Mitsuhiko scratched his head with a sheepish smile. “Haha, well, it is the first time we've heard of this event, so of course we're a little curious. But don't worry, Sonoko-neechan—you won't have to babysit us. Professor Agasa asked Okiya-niisan to look after us!” He pointed to the man standing off to the side.
At Mitsuhiko's words, Okiya Subaru nodded along eagerly, drawing his sidelong glance away from Haibara Ai—who was, as usual, keeping her distance from him—and chimed in. “That's right, that's right. I'll take good care of the children. Miss Sonoko, you have my word.”
Sonoko pursed her lips in exasperation. She clearly didn't entirely trust these kids, but with everyone already here there was nothing she could do about it. She sighed and offered one last word of warning. “Fine, fine. Since you're all here anyway, stay close to me—and absolutely no wandering off, got it?”
Genta and the others nodded their heads in excited agreement, promising to follow orders.
Just then, Xia Yu arrived at the platform.
She wasn't alone, though. Two people walked beside her—the same two friends of hers that Ran and Sonoko had met before.
Sonoko's face fell in resignation.
She had figured it would be just the four of them, and with the kids added on the group was already big enough—only for Xia Yu to show up with two more people in tow.
“My apologies for intruding on everyone's travels. Xia Yu mentioned that our destination was the same as yours, so we thought traveling together would be more convenient. Forgive us for inviting ourselves along,” Zhongli explained.
Seeing Zhongli's impeccable courtesy, Sonoko shook her head again and again to signal that it was no trouble at all.
Which earned her no small measure of resentment from the kids, moments before.
Genta grumbled under his breath, “Sonoko-neechan was not this gentle with us just now. And if it's because he's handsome—Okiya-niisan's pretty good-looking too!”
“Maybe it's because certain people lack basic manners and can't even manage to look someone properly in the eye,” Haibara said coldly.
At that, Conan reflexively darted a glance at Okiya Subaru's narrowed eyes.
Haibara, meanwhile, had also noticed the Visions hanging at Kaveh's and Zhongli's belts, and understood that they, too, had some connection to Teyvat—they were not ordinary people.
And yet, even knowing that, she found she couldn't muster much fear of Zhongli and his companion. At the very least, her wariness toward them paled beside the vigilance she kept trained on Okiya Subaru, who had yet to show his hand at all.
She thought it over. Perhaps it came down to temperament—compared with that odd graduate student who had appeared out of nowhere and moved in right nearby, she decided she would rather keep close to Zhongli and the others.