See You at the Finals
But that was only natural. Toyama Kazuha had never received any professional training, and besides, she had only entered the competition on impulse, provoked into it by Heiji in the heat of the moment.
Being eliminated now left her a little deflated, but truthfully, she wasn't all that heartbroken. By the time the event wound down and she rejoined the others, the smile had already returned to her face. All things considered, she had genuinely enjoyed the competition.
When the group found Kazuha, two girls were standing beside her — Xia Yu's friends, Barbara and Nilou. Knowing that the two of them were acquainted with Xia Yu, Kazuha had deliberately invited them over to meet everyone.
Nilou had changed out of her competition dance costume for this gathering. The moment she tilted her body slightly, Conan and Okiya Subaru both caught sight of the blue Vision ornament at her waist. They exchanged a glance — yet another new style of Vision.
"Then it's settled!" Barbara said brightly. "You all have to come watch the finals — mine and Miss Nilou's performance!"
While Conan and Okiya were still analyzing the situation, the girls had already finished arranging their plans for the weekend after next.
"Hold on. Shouldn't there be a semifinal? How did we skip straight to the finals?" Hattori Heiji voiced his objection.
Kazuha jabbed him with her elbow and shot him a reproachful sideways glare. "Heiji, you really don't care about this competition at all, do you! The top three from the preliminary round advance directly to the finals."
"That's right," Nilou confirmed with a nod. "I placed first and Barbara second, so all we have to do now is prepare for the finals."
"Giving the winners a bigger head start, hm? What an interesting format," Haibara remarked flatly.
Conan hurriedly changed the subject as everyone turned curious stares on Haibara for offering such an observation. "So, does that mean the finals are only two weeks away? That's awfully fast — didn't Thoma-oniichan say the villains wrecked the finals venue?"
"Exactly! Didn't Kaveh-oniichan and Zhongli-oniichan only get invited over by the Kamisato family just yesterday to redesign and rebuild the venue?" Mitsuhiko chimed in.
"Can they really manage the design and construction of a venue that large in barely two weeks?" Okiya said, his expression unreadable. He stroked his chin, gazing off into the distance as if lost in thought.
Conan frowned, suspicion churning in his mind. The finals venue had been destroyed, and yet the Kamisato family would rather bring in outside help than postpone the event two weeks out. Could this be connected to the promotional agenda Miss Ningguang had mentioned — the one those two Black Organization members had spoken of?
And more than that — he knew Kaveh and Zhongli were both members of the Teyvat Syndicate, and their abilities were surely impressive, but could even they really complete a project of such enormous scale in so little time?
"I can vouch for them on that. They'll be fine," Xia Yu suddenly said, drawing everyone's puzzled looks. She raised a hand and offered an example. "They've built even bigger structures on even shorter deadlines before. This time will be no problem at all."
With Xia Yu vouching for them, the group had little choice but to believe it.
Their purpose in coming to Osaka — cheering on their friend — had been accomplished, and with nothing else to keep them, everyone prepared to return to Tokyo.
Before leaving, Conan's curiosity still gnawed at him over the reported destruction of the finals venue, so he made an arrangement with Hattori Heiji: he would dig up clues in Osaka, and they would piece the puzzle together when the time came.
The group had planned to say their farewells to the Kamisato siblings before departing, but when they contacted Thoma, they learned the two had just left the Kamisato estate for the shrine. With no choice but to give up, they resolved to meet again the next time they came to Osaka.
Back in Tokyo, everyone settled back into the steady rhythm of work and daily life.
Some time had now passed since Akai Shuichi's incident on Raiha Pass, and Jodie was slowly learning to accept the fact that he was gone. She was planning to buy drinks with her colleagues to celebrate Cameron's birthday and unwind for a change.
Meanwhile, at a bank not far away, Professor Agasa and Baizhu were accompanying the Junior Detective Team along with Qiqi to make deposits.
(Baizhu and Qiqi had put away their Visions; Conan had no idea they were members of the Teyvat Syndicate as well.)
Mitsuhiko intended to save every last bit of his New Year's money, while Genta had handed his entire envelope over to his mother — claiming he wanted her to hold onto it until he found something expensive enough to buy.
"So what about you, Qiqi? Don't tell me you handed yours over to a grown-up too, huh?" Genta asked, a sly grin spreading across his face as he looked pointedly at Baizhu.
"Well... Qiqi's New Year's money is indeed in my keeping," Baizhu answered after a moment's hesitation.
Under the withering stares of the children, he hurried to explain himself. "Qiqi has a rather poor memory, you see, so I'm simply holding it safe for her. Besides, anything of importance, she writes down in her notebook."