The next day, there was one more person living in Makoto's villa in Beika.
"Makoto, who's this?"
Ran looked at Akemi standing in front of her, her heart clenching tight, growing more and more anxious.
Young, pretty, and maybe even a little taller than herself.
And she'd just appeared out of nowhere—and was apparently moving into Makoto's house, no less.
"Found her on the side of the road."
"Looks like her boyfriend dumped her."
Makoto explained.
"He didn't dump me! Dai-kun would never dump me!"
"You're lying! Talking complete nonsense!"
Akemi said angrily.
"See?"
"If I hadn't kindly taken her in, who knows what might have happened to her."
Makoto gestured at her.
The moment that so-called Moroboshi Dai came up, she turned into a hissing, bristling cat, worked up beyond reason.
"Um...miss!"
"It's okay. It'll all pass."
"Even if he doesn't love you, you'll find someone better suited to you."
Ran's face showed sympathy as she comforted her gently.
"No! That's not it!"
"Dai-kun didn't dump me. I wasn't dumped."
"Don't listen to his nonsense."
Hearing that Ran had actually believed him only made Akemi more frantic.
"Well, let's just give her some time to calm down."
"Nothing we say is going to help right now."
Makoto sighed and pulled Ran outside.
"Right!"
Ran nodded, fully convinced he was right.
When she'd first stopped seeing Kudo Shinichi around, she hadn't been used to it either.
But these days, she wished that guy would stay as far away from her as possible and never show his face again.
"You two..."
Back in the room, an inexplicable bitterness welled up in Akemi, and she started crying—crying louder and louder.
The tears came like a floodgate bursting open, unstoppable, and she wept until she was a complete mess.
"What a pitiful girl!"
"Makoto, it's a good thing you brought her home. Otherwise, a girl like that would be easy prey for bad people."
By now, Ran's worry had given way to deep admiration for Makoto.
She even felt guilty and regretful for having doubted him unnecessarily.
To think she'd nearly wronged such a kind-hearted boyfriend!
"Ran, hurry up, you two!"
At the front gate, Sonoko waved and urged them on.
"Sonoko's here too!"
"Is today some kind of special day?"
Makoto asked curiously.
"Today?"
"Today's actually..."
Ran lowered her head but didn't finish the sentence.
"Actually what?"
Makoto pressed.
"N-nothing!"
Ran laughed it off.
"You two are like a pair of newlyweds, all lovey-dovey and mushy. Such a drag!"
Sonoko said impatiently.
"Newlyweds?"
Ran's pretty face flushed bright red in an instant, and she was too embarrassed to even lift her head.
Honk honk!
Just then, a little yellow Toyota pulled up in front of them.
"Hey!"
"Ran-san, Sonoko-san, sorry to keep you waiting."
"Man, this villa is huge! Wonder whose place this is."
"Hahaha...Ran-san must have picked this spot to meet because it's easy to find!"
The exaggeratedly muscular guy in a red tank top scratched his head, rambling on to himself, half-heartedly making conversation.
"Come on, you two lovely ladies, hop in!"
"I made a special point of driving this new car over today, you know."
Wakamatsu patted the yellow Toyota Vios, worth somewhere around 1,800,000 yen.
Converted to China's currency, that was roughly 100,000—an entry-level compact car.
Still, for a college student to be driving himself to and from school every day...
And with the people he was meeting today being just a couple of high schoolers, the effect landed completely differently.
"This is my house!"
"Ran is my girlfriend!"
"Who are you?"
Makoto pulled Ran close by the waist and asked with a furrowed brow.
"You..."
Wakamatsu's muscles twitched.
Watching someone put his hands on Ran right in front of him left him both furious and envious, torn in two completely contradictory directions.
"Higashino-kun, it's, it's like this."
"This is Wakamatsu-san, a student at Beika University's School of Medicine."
"Last time, Ran and I were at a coffee shop, and they came over and struck up a conversation with us."
"And isn't today Valentine's Day?"
"A few of them from Beika University put together a Valentine's Day party, and I thought I'd bring you and Ran along."
Sonoko hurried to explain.
Plainly put, she just wanted to go to a college party and meet some good-looking guys.
But since she didn't know anyone there and was a little worried something might happen, she'd brought along Ran, the Karate Club's team captain, as her bodyguard.
And worried Makoto might get jealous, she'd simply invited him along too.
"Y-yeah, that's about the gist of it!"
Ran nodded, sneaking a timid glance up at him, afraid he might be upset.
"Then let's all go together!"
"The more the merrier. I doubt Wakamatsu-san would mind, would he?"
Makoto said with a smile.
Valentine's Day?
In weather like this? Under a sun like that?
Someone tell him this was February in Japan?
This was Valentine's Day?
The muscle-bound guy in front of him was still wearing a sleeveless tank top!
And the two of them were both still in short skirts!
Was Tokyo really this hot?
…
…
Higashino Makoto — Protagonist. Transmigrated.
Miyano Akemi — Miyano Shiho's older sister. Series: Detective Conan.
Mouri Ran — Shinichi's childhood sweetheart. Series: Detective Conan.
Suzuki Sonoko — Ran's childhood friend. Series: Detective Conan.
...
...
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