Once More to Osaka
"Why are you back so late?" Mary Akai asked, puzzled — then her eyes sharpened as she caught sight of the object in her daughter's hand. "And what is that you're holding?"
Sera Masumi gave her a brief account of the day's events, dwelling on the case they had solved — in particular, the deduction she had overheard from Conan through the phone, and the curious peculiarities of Natsume Xiayu, the new friend she'd made today.
As for the thing in her hand...
Masumi held the ticket out to her mother with an expectant look. "Look, Mom! It's apparently an admission ticket to some kind of match. According to Xiayu, it's being organized by a friend of hers, and it's this very weekend. And get this — Conan and his friends are all going too!"
She studied her mother's face as Mary examined the ticket closely, then pressed on. "Well, if everyone's going, shouldn't I tag along? That way I can get a much better read on all of them — who knows, I might even turn up an important lead or two!"
Mary took the ticket and turned it over in her hands. When she saw that the organizer printed on it was the Kamisato family, her brow creased faintly. The Kamisato family... hm. I've never heard of them. Judging from this ticket alone, though, they seem to wield considerable influence in Japan. Something about this event doesn't sit right with me...
Faced with her daughter's question, she fell silent, weighing the request with careful thought. After a long moment, she nodded. "Then go."
Still, she couldn't help adding one more warning. "Masumi — be very careful. From what you've told me, that Miss Natsume is a sharp detective herself, and on first meeting you she was able to connect you to your brother. Don't let your guard slip for an instant around her, or you'll invite trouble we can't afford."
Time slipped by quickly, and before long the weekend arrived — the very day of the idol tournament finals.
Early that morning, Xiayu, Suzuki Sonoko, and Sera Masumi gathered at the Mouri Detective Agency to meet up with Ran and the others.
Inside the office, Mouri Ran answered the knock, found the three girls waiting at the door, and ushered them in. Then she turned to her father and nudged him along. "Dad, look — Xiayu, Sonoko, and Masumi are all here, and Conan and I are ready to go. You're the only one left. Honestly, I reminded you last night to get up early, and you still overslept."
"I lost big at the races yesterday — it got me too worked up to sleep," Kogoro muttered under his breath, before raising his voice in reply. "All right, all right, nearly ready! Besides, the match isn't until this evening. What's the point of heading over that early?"
From there the group hurried straight to Professor Agasa's house. For the weekend outing, the Detective Boys had spent the night there, so everyone could set off together in the morning.
And of course, Klee would be joining the group for this little expedition as well.
Which meant there was also no getting around the presence of Amuro Subaru — the man assigned to keep watch over Haibara Ai.
When Conan first learned of these arrangements, he'd been genuinely taken aback.
He had known for some time that Klee, Albedo, and the Kamisato siblings were all people of the Teyvat Syndicate, so it stood to reason they kept in contact — it wasn't strange at all that Klee would go to Osaka to watch the finals.
But he'd assumed it would more likely be Albedo taking Klee there himself. Instead, Albedo had entrusted her to Professor Agasa and to Subaru, who was lodging next door, while he himself departed for Osaka ahead of everyone else.
Conan burned to know what Albedo's purpose was in rushing off to Osaka first, but when he probed around the subject with Xiayu, all he got was the answer that the man had gone to rehearse.
According to Xiayu, Albedo would be taking part in the opening performance at the tournament.
Conan simply could not picture it. Someone with Albedo's bearing — what kind of song-and-dance number could he possibly perform?
Even Haibara, when she heard the news, sat staring blankly into space for a good while.
Speaking of the tournament, though, Conan's thoughts drifted back to what he'd learned on his trip to Osaka two weeks earlier — that someone, whether out of revenge or simply to sabotage the event, had burned down the venue for the finals.
Time had been short back then; he hadn't managed much of an investigation before returning to Tokyo with Kogoro and the others, and he had no idea how far the Osaka police had gotten since.
Before leaving, he'd made a point of telling Hattori Heiji to keep him posted on any developments. And yet to this day, Hattori hadn't made a single phone call!