"Kazuha, what are you doing here?" Hattori Heiji heard the noise and came over with Conan.
"Of course, Aunt Shizuka was worried about you, so she sent me to check on you." Kazuha rolled her eyes at him, a look of disdain on her face.
"What is my mom worried about me about?" Hattori was puzzled, recalling what he had said before leaving home. There was nothing wrong with it—he had only said he was going to meet Kurosawa Hoshino and the others from Tokyo.
Kazuha chuckled mischievously, then glanced at Kurosawa. "It's all because of that time you came back from Tokyo. You seemed really down for a while, and kept saying that Kurosawa wasn't normal—that his deductions weren't like that at all. Aunt Shizuka said it took you a long time to recover from that state. So when she heard you were seeing Kurosawa again today, she was worried you'd be upset again. That's why she asked me to check on you and take care of you if necessary."
"Oh~" Kurosawa raised an eyebrow and looked at Hattori. "Hattori, am I putting that much pressure on you?"
Conan chuckled inwardly. So, Hattori, you're so stubborn in front of me, but you can't handle it back home, huh?
Hattori felt his face turn red, but thankfully, his dark skin made it invisible. "Kazuha, don't talk nonsense." He glared at the girl and said irritably, "I was just feeling unwell at the time. It had nothing to do with Kurosawa. Honestly, you're ruining my reputation. Kurosawa, Ran, don't believe her. I didn't do that."
"If Aunt Shizuka hadn't asked me, I wouldn't have bothered coming." After saying that, Kazuha thought of what had just happened and immediately asked, "Heiji, when you went to Tokyo to see Kurosawa-kun, did you tell him my name?"
"Why are you asking this?"
"Answer me—did you tell him or not?"
"Let me think—" Hattori frowned for a while. "No, I never mentioned it."
"Are you sure?" Kazuha looked at him suspiciously, then subtly glanced at Kurosawa.
Kurosawa didn't expect Kazuha to be so serious. It seemed he would have to find an excuse to cover it up—or continue making up the lie from before. Whether Kazuha believed him or not was none of his business.
"Of course. Why would I lie to you about something like this?" Hattori pouted.
"Then swear."
"I swear."
"A liar can never solve a case while wearing a hat."
Hattori's expression froze. He took a deep breath and said seriously, "I swear I didn't lie to you about this. If I lied to you, may I never solve a case while wearing a hat."
"Okay, I believe you." Kazuha nodded, her water-green eyes meeting Kurosawa's eyes. She didn't say another word, just quietly observing him. After a while, she drifted off into thought, looking a little dazed.
"Boring. Let's go—let's continue talking." Hattori left again with Conan.
Ran asked softly, "Hoshino, how did you know her name?"
Before Kurosawa could answer, Kazuha snapped back to reality, her expression constantly changing. She bit her lip, puffed out her cheeks, and asked, "We're not getting married in the future, right? You were definitely lying to me just now, weren't you?"
The two looked at each other, shrugged helplessly, and found it somewhat amusing.
"Go talk to her." Kurosawa nudged Ran's arm with his elbow.
"Okay." Ran nodded and said, "Um, didn't you ever suspect that Hoshino's talk of rebirth was fake?"
"But Heiji said he didn't mention my name when he went to Tokyo, and today is the first time we've met. So how did he know my name? He must have known my name in the future." Kazuha had a serious face, with an expression that said, "Don't think I'm stupid."
"Yes." Ran remembered her question from earlier. "Hoshino, how did you know her name? You haven't answered me yet."
Suddenly, Kurosawa saw two cute faces and two pairs of beautiful eyes staring at him. He resisted the urge to pinch each of their cheeks and chuckled. "Kazuha, you said you often see me in the news and newspapers, right?"
"Yes," Kazuha nodded.
"Have you seen Ran? You know, the one next to me?" Kurosawa asked.
"Yes, and another girl. They often appear in the newspapers with you." Kazuha's face lit up with a sudden realization. She clapped her hands and exclaimed happily, "I know! I was at the scene of several cases when Heiji was solving them, and I was photographed and interviewed by reporters. They even mentioned my name. So that's how you know me. Honestly, you even lied to me about being reborn. You're so mean!" As she finished speaking, she clenched her little fist and waved it to express her displeasure.
"Oh, I see." Ran nodded, then extended her hand to Kazuha. "Hello, my name is Mouri Ran. It's nice to meet you."
"Hello, my name is Toyama Kazuha."
Seeing the two girls chatting, Kurosawa felt a little regretful. Kazuha was so easy to fool—he should have fooled her a little longer and teased her more.
After waiting a while, seeing that the two girls didn't seem to be stopping their conversation, he interjected, "Kazuha, it's already noon. Why don't you take us to lunch? Hattori said he's waiting for someone, so let him wait by himself."
"You're really too familiar. Fine—I'll call you Hoshino then. Ran, what do you want to eat?" Kazuha immediately grabbed the arm of the girl next to her and asked with a smile.
Kurosawa thought to himself, You say I'm too familiar? You're pretty familiar too.
"Coming, coming." Hattori's voice rang out.
Kurosawa looked over. There were two men with him—one of whom he recognized, a policeman from the Osaka Prefectural Police Headquarters, Otaki Goro. This Goro Otaki would appear frequently later in the Osaka storyline.
As for the other one—Kurosawa looked at the unremarkable face and the glasses he wore, and remembered that this was the first time he had met Kazuha. Comparing it to Kazuha's first appearance in the story, he vaguely remembered him.
"Let me introduce you. Otaki Goro—Inspector of the Violent Crimes Investigation Division, First Investigation Section, Criminal Investigation Department, Osaka Prefectural Police Headquarters. Sakata Yusuke—Detective of the First Investigation Division, Higashijiri Station, Osaka Prefectural Police."
"Hello." Otaki and Sakata greeted each other, then their eyes turned to Kurosawa, their faces showing excitement.
"Officer Otaki, Officer Sakata, hello." Kogorō and the others also introduced themselves, repeating their names.
"Alright, it's noon. Let's go have lunch." Hattori suggested.
Sakata smiled and said, "I know a good restaurant. I'll take you to try it."