"You're going to leave me alone again?"
"What do you mean leave you alone! I have things to do!"
"What else is there? Haven't we already told the police everything we know? Can't we just leave the rest to them?"
"That's true, but... I suspect that person approached us on purpose to have us take photos of him, creating an alibi..."
"I don't care if he's creating an alibi or not! All I know is that you promised to go to the night market with me, Heiji!"
"Kazuha! Keep your voice down! Everyone is looking at us!"
"I don't care!"
"This isn't the time to be willful! I'm not arguing with you anymore, I have to hurry back, otherwise he might destroy the evidence."
"Heiji!!"
Looking into the street, a young man and woman were arguing in a thick Kansai dialect.
Finally, the boy turned and left anxiously, blending into the crowd until his figure disappeared.
Only the girl, dressed in a carefully styled Yukata, remained, watching the boy leave with a heartbroken look on her face.
"..."
What kept Lin Yi silent wasn't the fact that he had run into Kazuha and Heiji here.
It was because this scene was so familiar, so reminiscent of something he'd seen before.
Lin Yi could already smell the scent of NTR, and he had even figured out how to win her over.
"That girl... is so pitiful."
Their argument had also caught Ran's attention, striking a strong chord with her, and she murmured.
Lin Yi's heart stirred, and he asked, "Well... do you want to say hello?"
Ran didn't agree immediately, hesitating slightly.
She wanted to go back to the hotel now to check on her father's whereabouts and see if he had done anything he shouldn't have.
However, seeing how sad that girl was, she couldn't bear to just leave her alone. Most importantly, she felt like that girl was just like her.
Watching the conflicted expression on Ran's face.
Seeing this, Lin Yi's heart stirred, and he immediately employed a strategy, retreating to advance.
He said, "Forget it, let's not meddle in other people's business. Let's go, it's getting late. We need to go back..."
After speaking, Lin Yi picked up the packed oden and pulled Ran toward the hotel.
Ran was pulled away by Lin Yi, but she kept looking back every few steps. The crying sound lingered in her heart, making it impossible for her to just ignore it.
In the end, Ran couldn't stand the condemnation of her conscience and stopped.
She grabbed Lin Yi and whispered, "Let's... let's go back."
Lin Yi silently signaled a "Yay" in his heart, but said aloud, "Do you really want to go back?"
"Yeah..." Ran nodded, a look of sympathy appearing on her face. "It just feels a bit wrong to... leave her like that."
"Then we'll do as you say."
Lin Yi said softly.
Doing as you say—whatever happens later, the responsibility will be yours.
Ran didn't think too much about it and led Lin Yi back to that spot.
She approached Kazuha, took a tissue out of her bag, and handed it to her: "Um... here you go."
Kazuha turned around and saw a couple.
She quickly stopped crying, controlled her emotions, and took the tissue to wipe away her tears.
"Th-thank you."
"You're welcome," Ran replied with a smile. She pointed to the nearest barbecue restaurant: "Um... if you don't mind, why don't you join us for some barbecue?"
"..."
Lin Yi was momentarily stunned.
Your way of picking people up is quite strange... Why invite someone to eat barbecue? Generally speaking, people would go for coffee or milk tea, right?
Kazuha was slightly taken aback, then noticed the oden in Lin Yi's hand.
Seeing this, Lin Yi silently grabbed a passerby, shoved the oden into his hand, and the man took it subconsciously. Lin Yi then pushed him away; the passerby walked two steps before stopping, completely confused.
Lin Yi said: "Let's go."
— — — — — — — — — —
After arriving at the barbecue restaurant.
Ran ordered tenderloin, chuck, sirloin, ribs, brisket, shank...
"That's enough, that's enough..."
Kazuha was also startled by Ran's enthusiasm and hurriedly stopped her: "That's so much... we won't be able to finish it."
"Is it? It's fine. Let's just go with this for now."
Ran put down the menu and said to the Waiter: "Also, three bowls of rice and three bottles of soda, please."
"Understood." The Waiter nodded and left.
"I... I'm going to the restroom."
After saying this, Kazuha took her bag and headed to the restroom, clearly going to touch up her makeup. After all, she had been crying so hard outside, her makeup was ruined.
Once Kazuha left, Lin Yi immediately asked Ran: "Why did you bring her to a barbecue restaurant? Did you read some magazine recently that said eating barbecue is a great help for heartbreak?"
"What kind of nonsense is that... No."
Ran shook her head and said seriously: "Didn't you notice? That girl hasn't eaten anything."
"Huh?"
Lin Yi was stunned for a moment, feeling quite curious: "I can't tell whether she's eaten or not... But you, how did you tell?"
Ran said: "Look at her lips!"
"Lips?" Lin Yi recalled, but didn't notice anything special: "What's wrong with her lips?"
"Her lipstick is completely intact; you can tell at a glance that it hasn't been smudged. So she definitely hasn't eaten much."
Ran said seriously.
"Lipstick?"
Lin Yi looked at Ran in shock and couldn't help but give her a thumbs up: "Amazing, I didn't even notice."
Lin Yi hadn't expected Ran's observation to be so meticulous, to the point where she could even tell if the other person's lipstick was intact.
This observational skill was probably something only girls could master.
After all, the vast majority of men don't wear lipstick. In their eyes, there are only two states for girls: wearing lipstick and not wearing lipstick.
As for whether the lipstick has been smudged... it's impossible for them to tell.
In short, Lin Yi's impression of Ran had changed slightly; her observational skills were indeed strong.
No wonder in the anime, Mouri Kogoro always brings Ran to murder scenes.
"That's right!"
Having received Lin Yi's praise, Ran was quite happy, especially since she had noticed something Lin Yi hadn't.
This made her feel a sense of intellectual superiority for the first time!
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