The whole fake human trafficker debacle from a while back had left a real mark on Conan. Every time he imagined himself in Jiangxia's shoes—having your familiar, trustworthy boss suddenly turn into a sinister, head-lopping psycho—he'd get a jolt down his spine.
Sure, it was later proven that Amuro Toru was fine, and yes, legally armed. But still—better to surround Jiangxia with more decent people, just in case he stumbled into any more scumbags. Scumbag dilution by sheer volume of good people.
And Hattori Heiji? Solid good guy material. A bit awkward, sure, but a good egg. Plus, Conan could tell Heiji had stopped fleeing in the opposite direction at the mere mention of Jiangxia. Progress! Friendship was clearly within reach.
Also… Conan had to admit—watching Heiji flounder to keep up with Jiangxia's lightning-fast deductions gave him a petty, delicious little thrill. A warped, veteran's smugness: Now you know how it feels, buddy.
Across the dining table, Jiangxia gracefully ignored the emotional turbulence buried in Conan's invitation.
He was about to nod when his phone buzzed.
He paused, pulled it out, and saw a message from Ran Mouri:
[Kazuha's coming to Tokyo with Heiji the day after tomorrow. Heiji asked me to ask if you're free. If you are, let's all go together—he says he's gathered a ton of case experience and wants to discuss it with you.]
Jiangxia: "..."
It was awkward to admit, but when Conan had called earlier, Xiaobai had been perched on his shoulder, eavesdropping in perfect sync.
So Jiangxia knew exactly how Hattori Heiji really felt about this whole thing: namely, "avoid Jiangxia like the plague."
But now this message…
Jiangxia went into deep deduction mode.
Ran Mouri definitely wouldn't lie on purpose. She probably genuinely thought Heiji was all excited to hang out with Jiangxia.
Which meant… maybe Heiji had asked Kazuha to invite Ran to invite Conan—like some twisted social relay—hoping Jiangxia wouldn't come?
After carefully guessing the underlying logic, Jiangxia lit a little candle in his heart for both poor Kansai kids.
Then happily accepted Ran and Conan's invitations.
After all, human joys and sorrows are never really aligned. He was in a great mood.
On the promised day, Heiji and Kazuha caught a ride to Tokyo in Shizuka Hattori's car.
She'd come early to catch up with old classmates before attending a friend's son's wedding tomorrow. Heiji didn't care about her old-school reunion and hopped off near Shibuya to meet up with Conan and head to tomorrow's mystery gig.
Heiji and Kazuha were waiting when Jiangxia, Ran, and Conan showed up.
Kazuha was the first to spot them and waved enthusiastically.
—Granted, she was still kinda bitter about Heiji asking Ran out yesterday (ugh), but since Ran had interacted with her before, she still counted as an "acquaintance." A tolerable one.
The real thorn in Kazuha's side was the vixen Heiji had called himself yesterday. Who was she?
Suddenly, compared to that mysterious threat, Ran—who'd kindly helped invite Jiangxia—seemed downright angelic.
Heiji was fiddling with his phone and looked up just in time to catch Kazuha waving. He turned, ready to greet his buddy Kudo—
—and his smile instantly died.
Why is Jiangxia here?!
Panic rising, Heiji scanned the group. He'd only invited Kudo! Yet Ran was here too—and hadn't he asked Kazuha to ask Ran…?
His eyes flicked to Kazuha.
Originally, he suspected betrayal by one of the two.
Then he noticed: both Conan and Kazuha instantly looked away, refusing to meet his gaze.
Heiji: "…"
Heiji: "???"
Excuse me?!
Among the five, only Ran and Jiangxia looked chill.
Ran was blissfully unaware. Jiangxia, on the other hand, knew everything.
Jiangxia smiled kindly, as if not watching Heiji's soul being trampled by mental alpacas. "Feel free to look me up again next time you're in Tokyo. I know a lot of interesting places."
Ran smiled too. "I always thought you didn't get along, but I didn't expect you to take the initiative to invite him!"
Heiji: "…"
So many words swelled in his throat. But after a long inhale, he swallowed them back.
It was already too late. He couldn't just shout "I didn't even want to see you, vanish!" That would make him look like the villain here.
And besides—aside from solving cases too fast, occasionally messing with his peers' egos, and possibly poaching their childhood friends—Jiangxia didn't really have any…flaws.
If Heiji snapped now, he'd just look insecure.
The group happily started browsing the shops.
Heiji trailed behind, gloomily watching the crowds. His heart felt hollow.
The problem wasn't just Ran and Kudo.
Jiangxia's affinity stat was terrifyingly high. Everyone liked him.
Heiji recalled that even his own dad, Heizo Hattori, had told him that morning, "Observe Jiangxia and learn from him."
Now it seemed—forget just his dad—even Kazuha had started defecting.
Heiji mentally counted on his fingers. Only his mom still loved him. His dad? Lost. His childhood friend? Lost. His actual friends? Useless.
He angrily snorted at Conan and Kazuha's backs.
But then… a glimmer of hope. They still didn't know about the anonymous commission!
Heiji had told no one about it. Not even Conan. They all just thought he'd come to Tokyo for fun.
Which meant—if he played it cool today, he could steal Conan away tomorrow morning for the real reason they came.
Then it would just be the two of them. Solving cases. Fast. No Jiangxia.
Heiji's mood instantly lifted.
Clearly, he was a genius.
Sure enough, there are always more solutions than problems.
*Goal #1: Top 200 fanfics published within the last 31 - 90 days by POWER STONES.
Progress: 23/60(approx) for 10 BONUS CHAPTERS
Goal #2: One BONUS CHAPTER per review for the first 10 REVIEWS.
Progress:2/10*