"I'm going to draw a turtle on his face."
"Sonoko, that's not a good idea. Be careful—Hoshino might get angry when he wakes up."
"Afraid of him? You can show off your karate skills, and he'll behave immediately."
Faintly, Kurosawa Hoshino heard two girls whispering. When he opened his eyes, Sonoko's face was already close to his, a ballpoint pen in her hand.
Their eyes met. The atmosphere froze.
Sonoko laughed loudly, quickly straightened up, hid the pen behind her back, and pretended nothing had happened.
Ran chuckled beside them, watching them with amusement.
Kurosawa yawned and sat up in bed. Thinking about what he'd vaguely overheard, he knew what Sonoko had been trying to do. But since she hadn't succeeded, he wasn't going to retaliate—for now. He was still a bit tired after waking up. Looking at the two of them, he said softly, "Why did you two barge into my room again?"
"You have the nerve to say that? I called you this morning, and you were asleep—made me talk to you for half an hour. Compared to your behavior, what's the big deal?" Sonoko said angrily, hands on her hips, glaring at him.
"That's because you called so early." Kurosawa said, already getting out of bed. He didn't sleep naked—he always slept in shorts and a T-shirt.
"Hoshino, you have guests at home," Ran said with a smile.
"Who?" Kurosawa raised an eyebrow and looked toward the door.
Then, the next second, a head popped out—short brown hair, a delicate, expressionless face—staring straight at him.
"Haibara," Kurosawa said, startled, then a slight smile played on his lips.
"Yes. Professor Agasa called this morning, saying he's going to a scientists' gathering, so he asked us to look after Haibara," Ran explained.
Kurosawa was surprised. This was clearly a lie. It was possible Professor Agasa was attending a scientists' gathering, but for him to call and ask them to look after Haibara was highly unusual. Given Haibara's personality, she didn't need anyone to take care of her—she could take care of herself.
Giving Haibara a strange look, he picked up his phone from beside his pillow, opened it, and saw several messages, all sent around 8 a.m.
[IDontDrinkSherry]: Your video from last night is all over the internet now. Everyone's talking about how you have a murderer inside you.
[IDontDrinkSherry]: Hey, you weren't bullied since you were little, and you look normal on the outside but your mind is twisted, right?
[IDontDrinkSherry]: Sure enough, detectives who are familiar with the logic of murder and crime are all a bit different from normal people. Hey, watch out—I don't want to see you wanted online one day as a murderer.
"That's really sharp-tongued." Kurosawa finished reading the messages. He didn't reply. He glanced at Haibara and thought silently, Could it be that she's worried about my condition and deliberately made an excuse to come here? Haha, too narcissistic. She's probably just forced by Professor Agasa to come out and relax, to get some fresh air.
Ran and Sonoko were right in front of him, so both girls saw the messages when he read them.
Ran asked, "Hoshino, who is this 'I Don't Drink Sherry'?"
Hearing this, Haibara's eyes flickered with interest as she stared at Kurosawa. She wanted to see what this guy would say about her.
"An online troll I met." Kurosawa chuckled. "My impression is that she's a girl, probably around our age, just a bit sarcastic."
Haibara thought to herself, You jerk. You're even more sarcastic than me, and you still have the nerve to call me sarcastic?
Sonoko teased, "Who knows what's going on online? Maybe it's a guy pretending to be a girl. Want to meet up? I bet it's a guy, just pretending."
"She's probably socially awkward and doesn't dare to meet me."
Hearing this, Haibara was so angry she wanted to hit him. So she silently retreated to the living room, turned to stare at Conan, who was already sitting on the sofa watching the news, her eyes filled with unfriendly intent.
Conan shivered, feeling a chill. He glanced around and saw Haibara staring intently at him. "Why are you staring at me?" he asked.
Haibara replied coldly in a low voice, "I need to have my blood drawn."
Conan froze. His body, which had only just recovered from the last blood draw, seemed to feel weak again. He gritted his teeth and muttered, "So fast? Are you trying to drain all my blood?"
He had initially thought one vial of blood wouldn't be much, but seeing the syringe that was thicker than his arm that day, he had almost fainted. This wasn't just a vial—it was more than a whole bag drawn at the hospital.
"You—" Haibara uttered only one word before hearing the voices and footsteps of the three people from the bedroom. She immediately shut her mouth.
"Oh, Uncle Mouri went to rent a car as soon as he got back from the hospital?" Kurosawa asked.
"Yes." Ran nodded. "Dad said he talked to the client's lawyer yesterday afternoon. He's going to the client's place this afternoon. Since the place is a bit out of the way, he just rented a car."
"I see." Kurosawa nodded. It seemed Kogorō hadn't gone out to play yesterday—he really had a case. He just didn't know if it was part of the original storyline or something else, but it seemed very likely to be part of the original.
"Ran, do you know what kind of case it is?" Kurosawa thought that even though he had stolen so much of Conan's screen time, Kogorō hadn't become famous—or rather, he wasn't famous for his orthodox crime-solving skills. He was always famous for investigating people and extramarital affairs.
"I don't know." Ran shook her head.
"I think it's probably another extramarital affair investigation," Sonoko said confidently.
"That's what I thought too." Kurosawa smiled at Sonoko.
Just then, Ran's phone rang. She took it out and saw it was her father calling. She answered.
"Ran—"
"Where have you been?" Kogorō interrupted. "Come back quickly and prepare lunch. Eat early so I can leave sooner."
"Coming right away. I'm with Hoshino."
"Hmph, really, what are you doing running around with that brat all the time?"
"No, I came with Sonoko. Okay, that's enough. I'll be right back."