Between her mother and her best friend tag-teaming the consolation effort, Ran's emotions finally settled down.
Eri considered for a moment, then offered her advice. "When we get back to the real world, you could try warning Shinichi. Or talk him into dropping out of the investigation."
"Would he listen?" Ran blinked.
Eri and Sonoko exchanged a glance, both pressing their lips together at the same time.
Honestly? They both knew the answer. That boy wouldn't listen.
Shinichi Kudo's personality was what it was.
He'd spent his whole life convinced he was the smartest person in any room, and other people's opinions had never once made a dent.
Even coming from Ran, it'd be the same story. The kid had spent his first fifteen-plus years gliding through life without a single real setback.
The thought made Eri's expression turn serious. "Ran, if those two ever do come into conflict, promise me you won't get involved."
Makoto Nishikado's willingness to trust her daughter had caught her off guard, but she still didn't want Ran anywhere near a man whose body count could fill a ledger.
Today he was in a good mood, happy to lay all his cards on the table. But who could say what tomorrow's bad mood might bring? A knife in the back wasn't out of the question.
Bottom line: Eri had no warm feelings for either of them. Both could stay far, far away from her daughter.
Sonoko, however, had landed on the opposite conclusion.
Setting aside the whole "murder" thing, Makoto Nishikado actually checked every box on Sonoko's list. Strong, handsome, powerful, and he radiated a sense of security that was almost unfair.
Nothing like Shinichi Kudo, that deduction-obsessed robot whose emotional intelligence had been permanently offline since birth.
And the way he'd been so open with the people he trusted? In Sonoko's book, that was peak boyfriend material.
What a shame.
If she were still training as a ninja, maybe she could've become his student...
...
The next morning.
Yui Yuigahama's internal clock dragged her out of sleep right on schedule.
She cracked her eyes open, still groggy, and found her roommate Hina Ebina already dressed and heading for the door.
"Hina, you're up early." Yuigahama couldn't hide her surprise.
Ebina glanced back with a smile. "I'll handle breakfast from now on. You're all full-fledged ninja with missions to run. Leave the grunt work to me."
Guilt hit Yuigahama like a wave. She was a people-pleaser to her core, and the more someone went out of their way for her, the worse she felt about accepting it.
"No no no, let me do it..."
The two of them went back and forth, each insisting harder than the last, like relatives fighting over who gets to pay the dinner bill.
The commotion yanked Yumiko Miura out of a dead sleep.
Once she'd pieced together what was happening, Miura gave them both a flat look and waved her hand. "Enough. All three of us. Together."
When the queen bee spoke, nobody argued. Yuigahama and Ebina fell in line.
"Wait, where's Chizuru?"
Only then did Yuigahama notice someone was missing. Ichinose Chizuru was nowhere in the room.
"Bathroom, probably?" Miura said, not particularly concerned.
Four years as roommates, and Chizuru had never quite cracked into their little circle.
Only recently, after being assigned to the same class as Eriri, had the gap started to close at all.
The three of them got dressed and stepped out of the bedroom.
They made it two steps before sounds drifted from the master bedroom.
"Sis, scoot over..."
"Airi, you're being too pushy. We agreed it was my turn today..."
The Akizuki sisters' voices hit Yuigahama's ears and every memory from before came flooding back. Her face went scarlet in an instant, full Hinata-possession mode.
But this time was worse.
Because the Chizuru who'd been missing from their room was kneeling right outside the master bedroom door... trying to drill a hole through the wood with her ear.
She must have sensed the stares boring into her back.
Chizuru turned her head slowly, and her eyes met Miura's trio.
Time froze.
"KYAAAAA!"
Chizuru shrieked, scrambled to her feet and fled, stumbling over herself in a panic.
Inside the room, the Akizuki sisters nearly jumped out of their skin. Marina spat out what was in her mouth, eyes wide with shock. "Was that... Chizuru? How long was she listening?"
Airi's eyes went equally round. She was bolder than her sister in most things, but knowing someone had been eavesdropping on that was enough to make anyone want to crawl into a hole and die.
She yanked the blanket over her head and let out a muffled wail of pure mortification.
Outside the door, Miura, Yuigahama, and Ebina stood frozen. Couldn't stay, couldn't leave.
Nishikado surveyed the wreckage: two deflated sisters who'd clearly lost all enthusiasm, and his own unreleased 'little brother.' He winced.
So... are we continuing? One look at the girls told him the answer was no.
With a sigh, he pulled on some clothes and headed for the bathroom to cool off.
On his way out, he nearly walked into the three-girl pileup still hovering awkwardly by the door. His gaze lingered on them a beat too long. He said nothing and kept walking.
All three of them short-circuited, because what they'd glimpsed below his waistline looked ready to tear through the fabric.
If he was already packing this much at twelve, what was going to happen when they returned to the real world and he reverted to sixteen? He'd be unstoppable.
Nishikado reached the bathroom and heard water already running inside. He clicked his tongue.
What the hell. Nothing's going right this morning.
"I-is that you, Makoto-sama?" Chizuru's voice came from behind the door, startled by the sound.
"You done?" His tone carried an edge of impatience.
"Y-yes!"
Chizuru killed the water and hurried out. Like him, she'd come here to cool down.
But the moment her eyes dropped to his pants, her breathing picked up again.
"Um... Makoto-sama... I... I could help you with that."
For a split second, Nishikado could've sworn her eyes had turned into little hearts.
Well. She offered.
He wasn't about to say no.
...
In the kitchen.
Yuigahama, Miura, and Ebina finally got started on breakfast.
All three faces burned red. Heads down, not a word between them, hands busy with their tasks.
Their bodies wouldn't stop radiating heat.
"Um... the vegetables are chopped. Yui, could you start the pot? I... I think I need a shower."
Ebina was the first to crack.
"Um... Hina, could I maybe go first this time?"
Yuigahama, the eternal people-pleaser who never put herself first, broke character for the first time in recorded history.
"Me first!"
Miura threw her hat in the ring.
The three of them speed-walked out of the kitchen in a dead heat, arriving at the bathroom door...
And heard it.
"Gulp... gulp... gulp... Burp~"
A deeply satisfied burp.
Yuigahama and the others felt their souls leave their bodies.
Girl, you must've been starving. Swallowing anything they put in front of you.