"Makoto!"
Ran let out a soft hum and leaned against his shoulder.
Her innocent face was full of happiness.
"Aw, come on, he's already got a girlfriend? And here I was hoping to give it a shot!"
"Such a shame. I wouldn't have minded an older-woman-younger-man thing, myself."
The two girls teased with playful giggles, half joking and half serious.
Most Japanese people had already dated by high school, sometimes even earlier, back in middle school.
For college girls like these, having gone through three or four boyfriends already wasn't the least bit unusual—they were old hands at this by now.
Makoto had no doubt that if he so much as crooked a finger, dropped the slightest hint… these two college girls would happily queue up for a three-way.
A handsome face was a hot commodity in front of any woman.
Never mind that he was tall, young, rich, and handsome, all at once!
"All right, all right, can you two act a little more serious?"
Katsuhiko said, irritated.
Makoto's presence left him, the club president, feeling an inexplicable pressure.
It gave him the surreal feeling of watching his own wife flirt with someone else in his own house—like he'd stumbled straight into Thunder Bluff, where everyone he looked at seemed to be sporting a fresh pair of cuckold's horns.
"Everyone, the hot pot's ready!"
A woman in a traditional kimono knelt on the tatami mat, bringing out plate after plate of ingredients.
"Auntie, sorry to trouble you again!"
Toshihide scratched his head, looking oddly bashful.
"Don't tell me she's..."
"Minagawa-san's mother?"
"That's way too young to be his mom!"
Sonoko stared at the woman in surprise.
She looked to be in her early thirties—no older than thirty-five, tops.
But Katsuhiko was already a junior at Beika University.
However you looked at it, the two of them didn't seem like mother and son.
"Ha ha, aren't you sweet."
Mrs. Minagawa covered her mouth, smiling demurely.
"Hmph. She's just my stepmother."
"My real mother passed away years ago. And my father, just last year, also..."
Katsuhiko took a drag on his cigarette, exhaling a cloud of smoke, and didn't finish the sentence.
A young mother?
A widow?
A rebellious stepson?
Makoto couldn't help but take a second look, sensing that something here didn't add up.
"Katsuhiko!"
"We have guests!"
Mrs. Minagawa reminded him.
Clearly, the two of them didn't get along.
"Fine, fine, I get it."
Katsuhiko answered dismissively, then turned his attention to the one person who looked easiest to push around—the chubby guy in glasses.
"Hey, Naomichi."
"Do a little something for us. Liven things up!"
He crossed his legs and took a drag, ordering him around in a tone dripping with contempt.
"Sorry. I don't do performances."
Naomichi kept his head down, his expression dark.
"Huh?"
"You can't even manage that much?"
"What a useless piece of work."
Katsuhiko stubbed out his cigarette, his patience wearing even thinner.
"Minagawa-san really is handsome. Shame his personality is so awful."
"Your Higashino-kun is so much better!"
Sonoko frowned and quietly tucked the box of chocolates out of sight.
Just as she thought!
She still couldn't manage to fall for anyone else.
"Right?"
"Makoto-kun really is the best!"
Ran smiled, happy.
"Bit slow, isn't it!"
Makoto took a sip of orange juice, growing impatient himself.
"Slow? Slow how?"
Ran asked curiously.
"Nothing, nothing!"
Makoto laughed awkwardly and brushed it off.
He could hardly say he was complaining that Katsuhiko was taking too long to die, could he?
A guy this insufferable, mouthing off like that, should've been fed a nice dose of bitter-almond-scented cyanide ages ago.
And yet, he'd been at the Minagawa house for two or three hours now, and still nobody had died.
"Ah—chooo—"
By the glass door, a little kid in a blue suit let out a sudden, thunderous sneeze.
"Conan?"
Ran cried out in surprise.
That kid—why was he here again?
He clung on like a restless spirit—wherever she went, he was bound to follow.
And keep in mind, the Minagawa house was a good twenty kilometers from Beika!
"Ran-san, you know that kid?"
Toshihide asked curiously.
"I'm so sorry! I'm sorry!"
"He's a boy staying with my family. Sorry for the trouble."
Ran shot to her feet, bowing over and over in apology.
This was supposed to be a Valentine's Day party, and now some uninvited little brat had shown up—a total mood-killer.
"It's fine, bring him in!"
"It's freezing out in the yard, he'll catch a chill."
Mrs. Minagawa, of all people, seemed to genuinely love children, and waved Conan inside.
The party carried on.
Before long, Makoto realized the plot was progressing more smoothly than ever.
Kaori's chocolates to Katsuhiko got rejected, and her confession failed right along with them.
Naomichi, silent the entire time up to now, suddenly snapped in front of Kaori, tearing into Katsuhiko as scum who didn't deserve her affection at all.
Toshihide, usually all hearty laughs, got into it with Katsuhiko too.
Even the young mother, the widowed Mrs. Minagawa, laid into her own son over it, shooting a glare at the smoking Katsuhiko that was thick with hostility.
It seemed that from the moment Conan set foot in the house, every simmering conflict had rapidly boiled over.
A veiled killing intent quietly began to spread through the room.
"Aaah—"
A woman's scream rang out, and everyone rushed toward the courtyard.
Minagawa Katsuhiko, so full of himself just moments ago, now lay on the ground, completely still.
Someone was dead!
"Don't tell me..."
Makoto looked at the "7-year-old elementary schooler," practically fuming with jealousy, and felt an inexplicable chill run through him.
This guy!
Could he actually be the Grim Reaper?
…
…
Edogawa Conan — Shinichi's alternate identity. Series: Detective Conan.
Higashino Makoto — Protagonist. Transmigrated.
Mouri Ran — Shinichi's childhood sweetheart. Series: Detective Conan.
Suzuki Sonoko — Ran's childhood friend. Series: Detective Conan.
...
...
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