3Audience
"Haibara, can you help me with this case, about this suspect..." Shinichi Kudo waltzed into the Agasa residence with a pile of information, shouting while looking around for Shiho Miyano.
"Great detective, next time if you ask me, can you make an appointment first." Shiho Miyano came out of her bedroom when she heard his voice. She leaned on the railing of the first floor.
"You have nothing to do at home anyway, let's go downstairs and take a look at this together. Do you want to go out?" Shinichi Kudo's gushing explanation of the case became stuck in his throat.
He looked up to see Shiho wearing a burgundy halter top with dark blue denim shorts over a loose casual white shirt jacket. She was leaning sideways on the railing, the shirt slipping off her sagging half-shoulder, her collarbone and slender, and her white shoulders clearly visible.
Shinichi Kudo still felt uncomfortable with Ai Haibara's transformation back into 18-year-old Shiho Miyano. When she became Ai Haibara, Shinichi Kudo's perception was that Ai Haibara looked similar to Ayumi and the others, "Children". And that little girl suddenly turned into an 18-year-old girl, and something that used to be so natural like holding her little hand was something he couldn't imagine him doing to Shiho Miyano in front of him.
Now, they sat side by side on the sofa while reading the case file. The rose scent of shampoo and body wash hit his nose, her long white legs intertwined making Shinichi Kudo feel a little dizzy as he stared at the file anxiously and thought of how to get rid of the awkwardness.
She didn't realize his embarrassment as he flipped through the information quickly, "What's wrong?"
Shinichi Kudo snapped back to attention and hurriedly said, "The forensic expert concluded that the victim was poisoned between 17:00 and 19:00 on July 25, and the strongest suspect in the case has a perfect alibi. All my conclusions still indicate that he had a strong motive and possibility to commit the crime. Today I was informed by the identification department that the reaction of the extracted poison again was slightly different from what was previously concluded. Although there is no definite result yet, I think it's possible that this result will affect the estimated time of death, do you think it's possible?"
Shiho pondered for a moment, "It is a possibility, it's just that..."
The ringing of her phone interrupted her, and she glanced at the caller ID and picked it up.
"Hello?"
"No, sorry for the delay, I'll be a bit late."
"Hmm, it's Kudo."
"Okay, I'll be there in ten minutes."
Shinichi Kudo noticed the gently curved corners of her mouth as she spoke on the phone.
After Shiho hung up, Kudo asked, "Who is it?"
Shiho glanced at him, "Do you have to take care of my personal life when I work for you for nothing." She got up and walked towards the room.
"Give me a moment."
All that was left on the sofa was her back and the words "private life".
What kind of private life was this woman hiding from him?. It was obvious that they used to talk about everything. Shinichi Kudo had a hard time describing his displeasure.
Moments later, Shiho walked into the living room carrying her makeup bag. She took out her compact powder and pressed it on her face to apply makeup as she continued, "I mentioned earlier that it was a possibility, but the reaction to the extracted poison is not in the currently available database, so I can't make a decision right away. If I can get the extract and the report to look at it maybe I can give you some references..."
Shiho Miyano stopped her words as she closed the compact powder and took out her blush brush to run it over her cheeks. She caught Shinichi Kudo's probing and dissatisfied gaze in the small mirror in her hand, "Why are you looking at me like that?"
"You... really go out with makeup on. Who are you going to meet?"
"I'm not a kid anymore, isn't it basic etiquette to put on makeup when women go out, what's so weird about it?"
Kudo rolled his eyes, "I didn't see you wearing makeup the last time we went to investigate a case together."
"There's no need to wear makeup when meeting with children." Shiho's voice raised and she turned her head slightly to the side at Kudo with a slightly playful tone, "High school detective, Kudo-kun."
"?" Kudo Shinichi's eyes widened.
"I'm in a hurry, stop this nonsense, where was I just now...," Shiho held some lipstick in her hand, showing a somewhat distressed look on her face.
Kudo was speechless, "You said you could give advice."
Shiho opened each lipstick to look at it and put it back on, looking at her phone, "Oh well, but I should really go there and look at the extraction site and report the records. You have to be careful, if this particular poison ingredient is a mixture of an existing medicine, no problem, if it's a completely new ingredient it will take a long time to do research. So, instead of hoping for that, you might as well find out if this suspect has any other possible modus operandi."
She finally chose a burgundy color similar to the vest she was wearing and applied it carefully to her lips in the small mirror.
Shinichi Kudo nodded, "I'll leave the materials I already have here, I'll send you the report from the identification section tonight anyway, let me know if you find something."
"Okay, but tonight might not be the right night." Shiho applied her lipstick, pursed her lips in the mirror and smiled contentedly.
"..." Kudo who saw this scene, couldn't help himself, "Are you in love?"
Shiho sniffed and turned her head to look at Kudo's face revealing a smile of great beauty, "Can't I?"
"..."
Without waiting for Kudo to say a word, Shiho already picked up her bag and walked towards the door. Kudo watched from afar as she retrieved what looked like a set of car keys from the entrance foyer.
Shortly after Shiho left, Agasa returned with a large plastic bag.
"It's you, Shinichi,"Professor greeted Shinichi Kudo cheerfully as he looked around, "Did Ai-kun leave already?"
"Yes, just left a moment ago." Professor didn't notice Shinichi Kudo's less than cheerful expression.
"I happened to buy a lot of groceries, would you like to join me for dinner, Shinichi?" Professor put the ingredients he bought into the fridge cheerfully and Shinichi Kudo looked at something that looked like sweets.
"...Is she not coming home today?"
"You mean Ai-kun? I guess so, I'm not really sure, she just said she was going to dinner." Professor cleaned up the fridge and opened a box of cookies and ate them.
"Haibara bought a car !?" Kudo asked suddenly.
"Huh?" Professor was silent at the question, he thought for a moment, "Oh, you mean that Subaru? It belongs to Subaru, no, I should call him Akai now, he gave it to Ai-kun."
"Akai-san?" Kudo gave a surprised expression. If he still wore his glasses, it would probably fall off because he was shocked.
"Yes, Akai-kun may look a little cold and fierce, but he's still considerate like Subaru-kun. He always brings us all sorts of fancy groceries, he always comes to help with the washing and cooking, and sometimes he helps with my experiments, so he's very helpful." Professor said with a big smile.
"..."
Kudo quickly digested this information in his head.
After the destruction of the Black Organization there were still some FBI left in Japan for the time being, but they seemed to be very busy and didn't have much contact with Shinichi Kudo after that. After Shuichi Akai moved out of the Kudo residence, he was still temporarily living in Tokyo, Shinichi Kudo thought he was living in Haido City - there was an FBI base camp there that had been established last year, and he still came to the Professor's house often.
Does the FBI have that much free time?
But didn't Haibara hate Akai-san?
Didn't she always think of him as a bad person?
Didn't he indirectly get her sister murdered?
Suspicious. It was too suspicious.
Then, he wondered, if they were so close, what was Kudo doing to cover up the truth about Akai's identity all this time? In the end it was just him being a clown?
Shuichi Akai sat at a long table watching Jodie, Camel and the others bicker.
It all started because the Japanese police department strongly disliked the FBI's presence in Japan and asked them to leave Japan immediately. The FBI kept their mouth shut on the handling of the organization. But there were some issues with the lease of the premises that the Japanese police clearly approved for the FBI's base camp at the time. The FBI had paid the rent for two years, and when they were about to move out, they were told that it was illegal and that they needed the FBI to cooperate in the investigation and pay for the breach of contract, otherwise the case could go to court. However, taking the case to court would be an international criminal matter, and in any case, they were in no position to take advantage of the situation. For days there was debate over how to handle the matter.
Shuichi Akai pinched the bridge of his nose and listened dizzily. He glanced at his watch, it was already 16:20, it was the appointed time, so he dialed the number.
"Are you lost, do you want me to pick you up?"
"Oh, Kudo-kun is visiting again?"
"I see."
"Okay, drive carefully and don't rush."
Shuichi Akai hung up the phone and then leaned against the window to smoke while the FBI crowd remained in a frenzy of discussion.
Ten minutes later, Shuichi Akai saw the familiar red Subaru driving slowly past the traffic light intersection 30 meters away. So he put out his cigarette, walked back to the long table, cleared his throat and said, "I won't be officially reinstated until next March and will remain in Japan until then. I'm volunteering for this organization, but after that, you'll have to handle the little things yourself. I have a lot of things to do today. So I'm leaving first."
It was at that moment that the crowd finally reacted slightly as they watched in awe as Shuichi Akai tidied up his desk.
Camel asked, "Akai-san, do you have any plans before next March?"
Shuichi Akai pondered for two seconds and said, "There are more important things to be done."
"Is there a new case?" James worried, "Although you haven't been officially reinstated just yet, your status is still FBI and if you act rashly in Japan, it could cause trouble again. You still have to report to your superiors if there is any action."
"Of course I understand, what I have to take care of has nothing to do with this case, it's just a personal matter."
"..."
The room was silent.
This was the first time in all his years at the FBI that Akai had said "personal matter"? The crowd thought to themselves, though no one dared to ask a direct question.
Jodie looked at Akai with a complicated look in her eyes, as she was the only person sitting closest to him and hearing the conversation. He seemed to mention the name "Kudo", so what did Shu's personal problems have to do with that little detective?
But why was Shu staying in Japan for so long when he had already gotten his revenge for his ex-girlfriend, and he was obviously in a good mood these days?
Shu had teamed up with Shinichi Kudo during his previous battle with the organization, and thanks to their seamless reasoning and actions, they were able to succeed. He's not going back to the FBI, is he? Jodie's mind was racing with all sorts of nonsensical thoughts, and her face turned blue for a while.
"Jodie, are you okay?" Ellie, the FBI agent next to Jodie asked with concern.
Jodie snapped back to her senses, "Ah, i'm okay!" It was only then that she realized that Akai had left while she was babbling.
"You look upset, but I can understand, after all, we're going back to USA soon and Akai-san isn't with us. You must be lonely not seeing him for a long time, huh?" Ellie smiled, leaning in to whisper in Jodie's ear with a chuckle.
There was something hesitant in her friend's words, and of course Jodie caught it.
"Ellie, as I've said many times, Shu and I broke up a long time ago and we don't have the relationship you think we do."
"Is that so, then, is it okay if I chase after Akai-san, do you mind?"
"...?"
"Look at your face, you really are a pretentious woman. Who doesn't know that you still have old feelings for Akai-san. After all, Akai-san is single now, and the dust has settled on a big case, what a good opportunity, I should take it!"
"But..." Jodie's expression looked doubtful.
"Although everyone says that Akai-san can't forget his dead lover, but after all, someone can't come back from death, and that love is still the past." Ellie winked at Jodie.
Although she knew that Ellie's words were true, but something was not right in Jodie's mind.
Lately she had gotten a different impression. Shuichi Akai was in a good mood, and although everyone thought it was because he finally got revenge for his ex-girlfriend, but on second thought, Shuichi Akai had not been the same since he dressed up as Okiya Subaru.
Jodie walked to the window and there was no sign of Akai downstairs. She sighed and was about to sit down in her seat when suddenly she saw a red Subaru that slowly started walking across the street. She knew that it was the car that Shu used to use when he pretended to be Okiya Subaru.
But was it Shu who drove it today? It's obvious that she and Camel picked his up today.
So, who was driving the car downstairs?
And who was on the other end of the phone, and also Shu's voice sounded full of warmth?
"Ran, you can't be cute and sweet to Shinichi!" Sonoko and Ran walked side by side towards the outside of the school.
"What do you mean?"
"Well, weren't you the one who told me all that time at my house?" Sonoko said as she looked around carefully and lowered her voice, "You said that Conan the brat was actually Shinichi, so you guys have been living together for two years!"
Ran blushed at that, "Sonoko, I told you not to bring this up again, I really want to dig into the ground after finding out, it's so embarrassing."
"Oh my, you will get married later, just think of this as the initial taste of living together, but that's not the point!" Sonoko said, "Don't you think that little brat Conan has been acting strange these past two years?"
"Strange in what way?"
"I didn't pay much attention before when I didn't know he was Shinichi. After you told me that day, I stayed up all night, and I finally remembered..." Sonoko said mysteriously with her fingers resting on her chin, "You remember that little girl named Ai Haibara, don't you think she's suspicious too? I always thought she looked like an adult before, and now I strongly suspect that she is like Shinichi, she also became smaller because of taking that drug!"
Ran sniffed very tornly, she absolutely knew about the fact that Ai Haibara was Shiho Miyano, but at that time Shinichi said that the matter about Ai Haibara should not be told to others, so she deliberately avoided this part when she told Sonoko, but she didn't expect Sonoko to think of this.
"Actually..." She felt skinned, but felt that she couldn't hide it either, so she told Sonoko and emphasized a hundred times that the matter about Ai should be kept secret.
Sonoko listened with "I know that" expression on her face, "Ran, you have to be careful!"
"What do you mean?" Ran didn't expect to get that kind of reaction from Sonoko.
"Don't you think it's strange?. Don't you realize, Conan used to be very close to that Ai, they used to hang out together at every opportunity, and they were often seen whispering, and the boy often ran to Professor's house. To be honest, back then, from the perspective of a person experienced in relationships like me, I always thought that there was something wrong with the boy and Ai like they were in love or had a crush on each other! But at the time, they were still kids, so I didn't think much of it. Now I know that the boy is actually Shinichi, and Ai is actually a girl who is the same age as us, and she lives next door to Shinichi!. Ran, why are you insensitive!"
Ran was flabbergasted by Sonoko's comment, "But... Shinichi has already reaffirmed his relationship with me and apologized for everything he hid in the past. I didn't expect him to ..."
"I knew you'd say that! That Shinichi naturally loves you, but there's no guarantee that the girl also likes Shinichi and will become your rival!. Or does she already have another boyfriend?"
Ran rubbed her chin, trying to remember, "Hmm... Ai has a boyfriend? I don't think I've heard anything about it, but that's okay, I don't think Ai would..."
"What are you guys talking about? I think I heard Ai's name from Professor's house?" Before Ran could finish her sentence, Sera suddenly appeared behind her.
Sonoko crossed her arms, "Sera, what are you doing here all of a sudden?. We're whispering, don't yell."
"What whispering? If it's the fact that Shinichi Kudo is Conan Edogawa, I already know it." Sera put on an innocent smile.
"What!. How did you know?" Ran whispered in shock. Shinichi had said that it was all a secret and not to be told to anyone, but why did there seem to be so many people who knew?
"Hmph, what's the problem with knowing that. I've also suspected the identity of that brat for a long time." Sonoko said defiantly.
"Oh? So is there another secret? Are you guys talking about Ai-chan? I already knew about that too." Sera narrowed her eyes slightly and continued, "You guys said that Ai has a boyfriend? Is that true?"
"We're not sure about that." Ran said with a helpless smile.
"Is that so?" Sera cut in, "I think it's the guy who lives in that Kudo house. He's a graduate student at Tohto University."
"You mean Subaru-san?" Ran said, "By the way, I haven't seen Subaru-san for a long time. He moved out after Shinichi came back, he said he found a house closer to the university, and I haven't seen him."
Sonoko said, "Ah, you mean that handsome guy who always squints and smiles? He's tall and handsome, and he speaks softly and thoughtfully, it's a shame we don't see him anymore."
Ran said, "Yes, Subaru-san is very gentle to everyone and everyone likes him. But I don't know why I always feel that Ai is a bit annoyed with him. Maybe it's just me. ..."
The red Subaru drove slowly through the crowded streets of Tokyo at night.
Shuichi Akai held the steering wheel with one hand while Shiho Miyano leaned back in the seat and flipped through a food magazine. On the back seat were two plastic bags containing various foodstuffs.
"But, after all, it's the one-month anniversary of our relationship, is it okay to cook and eat at home?" Shuichi Akai glanced at the passenger seat, where Shiho was enveloped by the setting sun, her brown hair looked transparent, and her drooping blue eyes were now rippling with gold like a lake at sunset.
"We've known each other for six years, we've only been dating for a month, what's the need to celebrate like this?"
"That's right," Shuichi Akai nodded slightly, showing a very happy expression.
He thought for a moment and then said, "In that case, it seems like the only thing to celebrate is the wedding? How about it?, do you want to celebrate?"
"!?" Shiho was surprised, "Isn't it too hasty to mention marriage when we've only been dating for a month."
"We've known each other for six years."
"But we've only been officially dating for a month."
Shuichi Akai pursed his lips and smiled, "Alright, I'll wait then."
Shiho's phone rang at an inopportune time.
It was on her lap, and a quick glance showed that the caller ID was 'Kudo'.
"Answer it." Akai said.
"Oh, well, I'd like to thank you for your generosity Kudo." Shiho glanced at him with a grin and picked up the phone, "Hello? Kudo? If this is the case today, I haven't had a chance to..."
"Haibara, where have you been?" Kudo thought about that for a long time, but couldn't help himself and decided to call and confirm it directly.
"Me?" Shiho glanced at Akai who was concentrating on driving, "You asked that..."
Before the word "what" could be uttered, Akai suddenly reached out and took the phone.
"Geez, it's past business hours, what do you want from my lover?"
"...？？？？？"
Shinichi Kudo hung up the phone.
Shiho stifled a loud laugh, "Why did you let Kudo know so soon?"
"Can't i..?, it's been a month." Akai said without changing his face, as if nothing had just happened.
"Well, that's too short. After all, he's been helping you hide you from me for over a month." Shiho said as she slowed her pace and cleared her throat.
"..."
Shiho continued, "I'll also give him a taste of what it's like to be deceived for a long time by the people around you working together."
"..." Akai blushed.
Shiho smiled triumphantly at his defeated look.
"Won't there be too many dishes to buy?"
Akai glanced at the ingredients on the back seat and paused, "It's become a habit of mine to buy too much."
"What a bad habit, it's a pity that you live so far away now, you can't bring the pot to Professor's house anymore."
"That's right." Akai pondered seriously with downcast eyes, "Then there is no other choice but to invite you to stay at my house and eat comfortably."
"Isn't it too hasty to make an invitation to stay with a lover you've only been dating for a month?"
"It's been a month since we've been dating." Akai said with some dissatisfaction, "I already said it the first day we met again and someone rejected it. Isn't it too cruel to reject it again this time?"
"..." Shiho doubted her ears and even turned her head to make sure Akai wasn't wearing Subaru's mask.
"Shiho, please stay with me." Shuichi Akai repeated his request again.
"Is there anything I can be interested in besides eating the simple dishes you make every day?"
"My house doesn't have detective neighbors who can show up at any time and bother you." Akai said.
Shiho could only smile at that and continued, "Anything else?"
"In the future, you won't have to bother driving all the way to see me if you want to see me."
"That's your advantage." Shiho smiled, and Akai's hand reached out to rub her head.
"Is there anything else?" She asked endlessly.
"Ugh, this is so hard for me." Shuichi Akai smiled and sighed, "Well, actually it's because I want to see you every day, isn't that reason enough?"
Shiho Miyano smiled and said nothing, silently looking out the window at the streets full of traffic. The sun had set, leaving only a few wisps of orange clouds above the horizon, the warm yellow street lights had long since come on and the cars around them had their headlights on. The Setagaya district is heavily congested at rush hour with slow-moving, invisible traffic, and the traffic jam seems to force a slowdown in this fast-moving city.
This scene deserves a soothing love song.
There was silence in the car for a moment before Shuichi Akai heard Shiho Miyano's softly droning voice.
"Okay," She said.