Chapter 182: A Surprise for Klee
Conan Edogawa watched Ai Haibara's retreating back, the corner of his mouth twitching in silent exasperation.
'Give me a break,' he thought, recalling their earlier conversation. 'He was just joking, okay? There's no way he would provoke the Black Organization with the kids around. It's not like he's some reckless fool who loses his head the second they show up.'
Time seemed to fly by, and before they knew it, the weekend that Ayumi and the others had been so eagerly anticipating had arrived.
Early Saturday morning, Genta, Mitsuhiko, and Ayumi gathered at Dr. Agasa's house, buzzing with excitement. Ran Mouri had also prepared to go along, too worried to let a group of children visit a hotel by themselves. And, of course, there was Sonoko Suzuki, who had tagged along the moment she heard there might be a handsome guy to meet.
"So, why is this guy here too?" Sonoko glanced sideways at Eisuke Hondou. With the clumsy transfer student in tow, she had a sinking feeling their trip would be plagued by mishaps. She could only hope he'd be more careful.
"Haha, well, I've watched Detective Mouri solve cases before, and Ran mentioned that Conan always provides a lot of useful clues," Eisuke explained, rubbing the back of his head with a goofy grin. "I think Conan is just like one of the Baker Street Irregulars from the Sherlock Holmes stories, so I wanted to see it for myself."
"Is that so?" Sonoko's gaze remained skeptical. She couldn't shake the feeling that this new student had some kind of designs on Ran, but it was just a woman's intuition. Without any proof, she couldn't say much more.
"Yeah, yeah," Eisuke said, lowering his hand and nodding repeatedly to prove his sincerity.
But before his hand was even fully down, it clipped Conan, who was standing right beside him, on the head.
"Conan, are you okay?" Eisuke immediately spun around, anxious to check on him.
In his haste, however, he only managed to bump into the boy again.
Conan clutched his head, unable to dodge in time, and was nearly knocked clean off his feet. As Eisuke began apologizing profusely, Conan could only resign himself to his bad luck. This wasn't the first time; ever since they'd met, his head had been a magnet for misfortune. He made a mental note to stay as far away from Eisuke Hondou as possible to avoid any further injury.
"Eisuke-niisan, you should really keep your distance from Conan," Genta said, voicing a similar thought. He felt this new big brother was even clumsier than they were.
Ayumi rushed to stand in front of Conan, glaring at Eisuke with a protective stance, worried he might hurt her friend again.
"Is this the person you said resembles Mizunashi Rena?" Haibara drifted over to Conan's side, her sharp eyes observing Eisuke as she asked in a low voice.
"Yeah." Conan's head still throbbed. He kept a hand pressed to the sore spot, his expression flat.
"He doesn't really give off the vibe of someone from the Organization, though. By the way, Haibara, don't you have a sense for them? Can you feel anything from Eisuke?" As he spoke, Conan looked at her with a sliver of hope.
"No." Haibara rolled her eyes. "But it doesn't trigger every single time, so you'd better use your own judgment."
Conan nodded, taking her advice to heart. Still, he figured that since Haibara had no reaction to Eisuke, the probability of him being a member of the Organization had just dropped significantly.
The group soon arrived at the Beika Hotel.
Although Genta had insisted on giving Klee a surprise, Ran felt that showing up unannounced wasn't very polite. She had contacted Klee's older brother, Kaeya, through Natsume in advance. This also served to prevent the disappointment of arriving only to find no one there, which would have crushed the children's spirits.
"Who are we meeting this time?" Eisuke asked Ran curiously as they rode the elevator.
"You really are something else…" Sonoko pressed a hand to her forehead, looking utterly helpless. "You followed us all the way here without knowing a thing?"
Seeing Eisuke's baffled expression, Sonoko found she couldn't stay annoyed. She sighed and gave him a brief rundown of who Klee was.
"Besides that, there's something very important…" Sonoko added, a teasing glint in her eyes.
When Eisuke cooperatively leaned in with an interested expression, she grinned and continued, "Klee has a very handsome older brother, you know. He has this slight 'bad boy' vibe that some people find quite alluring."
Her voice dropped to a conspiratorial whisper. "And I heard Kaeya's develop brother arrived recently, too. I wonder what he looks like? Could he be a different type of handsome? Oh, just thinking about it is exciting!"
As Sonoko became lost in her own fantasy, an embarrassed Ran had to tug on her sleeve, reminding her to behave.
Aside from Conan and Haibara, the other children weren't interested in Kaeya's develop brother; they were simply thrilled to be seeing a friend they hadn't met in a long time.
"According to what Sonoko said, Kaeya's develop brother has already arrived in Japan. I wonder what kind of person he is," Haibara murmured. She already knew Ran had contacted Kaeya, so Sonoko's information must have come from her.
"Ah, I've gathered some reports on him over the past few days," Conan replied quietly. "Most people describe the head of the Ragnvindr family as a dashing, perfect noble gentleman." But he knew he'd have to see the man for himself to know the truth.
Before long, the elevator doors slid open on the floor where Kaeya was staying. Ran and the group stepped out and began searching for the room number along the hallway. It wasn't much of a search, however; the floor had only a handful of suites, and they quickly found themselves standing before the correct door.
Ran knocked, then stepped back two paces and waited. A moment later, the door creaked open.
A small, red-clad figure with blonde hair poked his head out. Before Ran even had a chance to say hello, she was gently pushed aside by the impatient children.
"Klee, it's us!" Genta announced, a bright smile stretching across his face. "How is it? Are you surprised?"
Klee had been wondering why Kaeya had suddenly told him to get the door. Seeing his friends appear so unexpectedly, his eyes widened slightly before a happy smile blossomed on his face. He nodded enthusiastically. "Mm-hmm! Genta, Ayumi, it's you! And Ran-neechan! Of course Klee is happy you came to see me!"
"So this is the cute kid Conan and the others are always talking about." Eisuke walked over to the children, adjusting his glasses as he looked down at Klee with a friendly smile.
Klee tilted his head, regarding the unfamiliar big brother with a curious, slightly suspicious gaze.
"Ah, I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Eisuke Hondou, and I'm a classmate of Ran and Sonoko," Eisuke said, realizing Klee didn't know him. He hurriedly bent over to introduce himself properly.
Conan saw the movement and instinctively sidestepped away. It was a good thing he reacted so quickly; otherwise, Eisuke's head would have collided with his once again.
"Klee, why are you all standing at the door?" Kaeya's smooth voice called out from inside the room. "Why don't you invite your friends in?"
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