Inside a traditional-style small restaurant near Shinsaibashi.
"Wow, this grilled rice ball is really good." Ran chewed on her food and gave a fair evaluation.
"Try this pancake too. It's not bad either." Kazuha pushed the food in front of her toward Ran.
Kogorō complained, "The food is indeed good, but why did we have to come in a police car? It's very embarrassing to be surrounded by so many people as soon as we get out."
"I think it's great." Hattori Heiji said with a smile. "I knew there wouldn't be enough seats today, so I specially asked Inspector Otaki to bring a police car too."
Otaki Goro smiled wryly and didn't say anything. After all, this was the son of his highest superior—of course he couldn't complain.
Sakata Yusuke also didn't speak, silently eating his food, but his eyes would occasionally steal glances at Kurosawa Hoshino.
"Hoshino, are you interested in solving a case today?" Kazuha suddenly asked.
Kurosawa swallowed the food in his mouth, took a sip of water, wiped his mouth with a tissue, and asked, "What case?"
"Well, recently, two cases have occurred—"
"Kazuha," Otaki interrupted, "don't talk about this kind of thing in public. We can find a secluded place to talk about it later. To be honest, there might be more victims in this case, and I hope Kurosawa-kun can help the Osaka police solve it."
Hattori sighed, annoyed that he couldn't find the culprit. He couldn't blame Otaki for asking for help.
Kogorō and Conan were intrigued, but Otaki's words prevented them from asking, so they just silently sped up their eating, planning to talk later.
"Okay." Kazuha nodded and didn't discuss it further.
Kurosawa glanced at Sakata. If nothing unexpected happened, what Kazuha was about to say was probably the case from Kazuha's first appearance in the anime—and the culprit was this Sakata.
Actually, what he was most concerned about wasn't Sakata, but the outgoing peripheral member of the Black Organization—Numabuchi Kiichiro. Because there weren't many Black Organization members appearing in the anime, Numabuchi was quite famous back then. His name appeared in many videos listing Black Organization members, making him quite memorable.
"Kazuha, let me ask you a question," Ran said softly. "Why did you make Hattori swear with his hat when you made him do it before?"
Kazuha's face showed a nostalgic expression as she said gently, "It all started when we were little. My dad and Heiji's dad were superior and subordinate, but also good friends, so we knew each other when we were very young. Once, when my dad and I went to his house, the adults were busy with something, so only Heiji and I were in the house."
"Hey, Kazuha, there's no need to talk about something so embarrassing." Hattori tried to stop her.
"What's so embarrassing about it?" Kazuha retorted, continuing, "That Heiji guy took the old handcuffs his dad kept in the bedroom and played with them—handcuffing one of our hands together. But he couldn't open them no matter what he did. Ran, you have no idea how panicked we were. We thought we couldn't open them, so we went to look for an adult outside in the yard. We searched everywhere but couldn't find anyone. I was almost crying from fright."
"So how did they open them?" Ran asked curiously.
"It was an older brother wearing a hat and a mask—my Prince Charming."
"Hmm, that sounds familiar. Where have I heard that before?" Ran genuinely felt it was familiar.
The plot has changed? Kurosawa raised an eyebrow. This seemed different from the original story, and what Kazuha just said was the same as what Aoko had said—an older brother wearing a hat and a mask.
"In my panic, I remembered what my mom said: every girl will meet her Prince Charming someday, who will help her through her troubles. Thinking of this, I shouted 'Prince Charming, come save me!'—and that big brother really appeared! He suddenly popped out from behind a big tree. I still can't forget it. He just touched the handcuffs, and they opened! It was amazing!"
"Was he a magician?" Ran laughed.
"I don't know." Kazuha said shyly, her face turning slightly red. "After unlocking the handcuffs, he held my hand and kissed the back of it, saying—'I'm late, Your Highness.'"
Ran exclaimed wistfully, "If I had met him when I was little, I would have remembered it for the rest of my life."
"Yeah, yeah. I asked for his address, and for the next three days, we went to see him every day. We even encountered a case on the way, which he easily solved. It was after that that Heiji said he wanted to be a detective when he grew up—and he started wearing hats too."
After hearing Kazuha's words, Hattori adjusted his hat, the image of the other person solving the case flashing through his mind. That scene was deeply etched in his memory—one he would probably never forget.
"I see." Sakata and Otaki suddenly understood why Hattori always wore a hat—he was imitating that person.
"Wait, Kazuha, why three days?" Ran noticed the key issue and realized why it felt so familiar—Aoko had said something similar.
Kazuha said dejectedly, "Big brother said he would only stay in Osaka for three days, and then leave."
"Um, Kazuha, that big brother you mentioned probably went to Tokyo later."
"Huh?" Kazuha looked at Ran, puzzled.
"I have a friend named Aoko—" Ran didn't waste any time and recounted Aoko's story.
Kazuha's happiness was ignored.
Kurosawa, however, fell into deeper thought.
Something's not right. Once could be a coincidence, but is the second time also a coincidence? If it's a coincidence, it can't be this precise—both times appearing in the original flashback scenes.
Let me think. If there's such a plot in a novel—
Hmm? Did I travel back in time from the future? Otherwise, how could it be such a coincidence?
I can gain superpowers, so it's not impossible for me to gain some kind of time-traveling superpower in the future.
Kurosawa thought of this possibility, and it was very likely.
Watching Kazuha overjoyed to hear what seemed to be her older brother from Ran, Kurosawa felt something was off. He thought to himself, Could it really be that I traveled back in time myself? Does Hattori worship me? Hmm, that feels a bit odd.