"We're back." Ran opened the door to the second floor of the Mouri Detective Agency and walked in with Kurosawa Hoshino.
After looking around, Ran found that only Conan was sitting on the sofa watching TV. The chair next to the desk was empty. She didn't see her father and asked in confusion, "Conan, where's my dad?"
"When I came home from school, Uncle received a phone call and said he was going to meet a client. He told me to watch the house and went out." Conan sat up straight and answered obediently.
"I see. Hoshino, you rest here. I'll go prepare dinner." After Ran finished speaking, she glanced at the darkening sky outside the window, picked up the paper bag containing underwear and her schoolbag, and went upstairs.
Kurosawa lay down on the sofa and took out his phone to dial Kogorō's number. After all, this was a meeting with a client—it might be a case from the original story. That was a rare source of Origin Points, and he couldn't miss it.
The phone rang repeatedly, but no one answered, even though it had gone through. He couldn't help but feel uneasy.
"Conan, are you sure Uncle Mouri went out to meet a client?" Kurosawa looked up at the bespectacled boy sitting at the other end of the sofa, avoiding his gaze.
"Yeah." Conan shook his head. "Not sure. I didn't hear what happened on the phone. Uncle Mouri just told me that when he left."
"Okay." Kurosawa suspected that Kogorō was just making an excuse to go out and have some fun. This had happened many times before. When he returned, he'd say the business deal hadn't been finalized, and nobody knew if it was true or not.
Just then, beep beep beep~—the phone rang. It was Conan's.
Conan hurriedly grabbed his phone, gave Kurosawa a wary look, jumped off the sofa, ran to the bathroom, answered the call, and asked in a low voice, "Haibara, what's up?"
"Come over here. I need to draw some blood from you." Haibara's voice was very calm, even a little cold.
Conan's face immediately turned green. He had learned from Professor Agasa that the reason he felt so unwell after getting drunk last time was because two large vials of blood had been drawn from him. He had held back, thinking it was for making the antidote. But now he was being called back to have his blood drawn again. He felt incredibly aggrieved and couldn't take it anymore.
"Haibara, is the blood from last time all used up?"
"What do you think?"
"I thought not."
"Whatever. I don't care whether I recover or not." Haibara's tone was nonchalant, as if she really didn't care.
Conan thought of Ran upstairs and Hoshino lying on the sofa outside. He gritted his teeth and bargained, "I'll only let you take one vial."
"Okay. One vial it is." Haibara was a little surprised, then readily agreed.
Oh no. I said too much. Conan immediately understood what was going on and almost spat out blood. But since he'd already spoken, he couldn't go back on his word. Otherwise, given Haibara's sharp tongue, he was afraid he'd be nagged to death later.
He hung up. With a bitter face, he walked out of the bathroom and approached Kurosawa, who was playing on his phone. He said weakly, "Hoshino-nii, the professor needs me. I have to go to his house."
"Go ahead." Kurosawa didn't even look up. "Are you coming back tonight?"
"Yes, I'll be back soon." Conan nodded. Professor Agasa's house wasn't far. Even if he ran slowly, it wouldn't take more than an hour to get there and back.
"Oh, right." Kurosawa remembered something and looked up, reminding him, "Remember to call me if you encounter any cases on the way."
Conan's face became even more bitter—like a bitter melon that had been hit by frost. He dragged his head away from the Mouri Detective Agency and hurried toward Professor Agasa's house. If he had the chance, he really wished it was Kurosawa who had been knocked unconscious by Gin that day, so he could keep him by his side, constantly putting him down and giving him tons of homework.
An hour later, the sky was completely dark. In the living room on the third floor, dinner was already on the table. Kurosawa and Ran sat at the small table and picked up their chopsticks.
"Sigh, it's just the two of us eating today." Ran glanced around the empty living room, her tone a little lonely.
"How about we turn off the lights and I light a candle?" Kurosawa joked with a smile.
"Why?" Ran was stunned, not understanding.
"A candlelight dinner, you know."
"Ugh, you're talking nonsense again." Ran's pretty face flushed, and she quickly picked up her bowl and chopsticks to eat.
Click. The sound of a door opening came from the entrance hall. Then came very light footsteps—clearly not Kogorō's. A few seconds later, Conan, his face slightly pale, walked into the living room and greeted the two in a low voice, "Ran-neechan, Hoshino-nii, I'm back."
"Conan, you're back just in time. Come and eat." Ran immediately got up and went to the kitchen to get a set of chopsticks and a bowl.
Kurosawa didn't say anything. He thought Conan wouldn't come back, but he did—though his face was pale and something seemed off.
Suddenly, the phone on the cabinet nearby rang.
"I'll answer it." Ran quickly ran over to pick up the receiver and said politely, "Hello, this is the Mouri residence."
"What?" The next second, Ran's voice suddenly rose, filled with disbelief and panic. "My dad was in a car accident? Which hospital? Beika General Hospital? Okay, okay, I'll be right there!"
As she hung up, Ran's eyes were already brimming with tears. Her body trembled slightly, but she still gritted her teeth and walked out.
"Are you alright?" Kurosawa quickly got up and followed, reaching out to support her arm, steadily holding her swaying body.
Conan glanced down at the dishes on the table, sighed helplessly, dragged his tired body to his feet, and followed their steps.
"Hoshino, do you think my dad will be alright?"
"Don't worry. He'll definitely be fine." Kurosawa reached out and wiped away her tears, saying confidently, "If something serious had happened, the person on the phone would have said so."
And more importantly, Kogorō Mouri was one of the main characters in Detective Conan. How could anything happen to him?
They went downstairs. They waited for a taxi by the roadside and headed to Beika General Hospital.
Inside the car, Kurosawa tightly embraced the grieving Ran, gently patting her back and offering her his strong shoulder to lean on.
Conan stood beside Kurosawa, silently watching this scene. His already pale face turned even paler.