Although Jiangxia didn't bother turning around to look at Hattori Heiji, Xiaobai's eyes kept darting between Heiji and Toyama Kazuha—and it quickly picked up on Heiji's very suspicious whew, dodged it face.
Xiaobai blinked. Something fishy was going on in this Osaka boy's heart, it could smell it. So naturally, the baby-shaped psychic ghost tattled at once and relayed everything to Jiangxia.
Jiangxia also felt Heiji was hiding something—but he didn't really care.
—He hadn't caught Heiji's exact phone conversation from the day before yesterday about some "Ogasawara case," but from the newspaper's prize quiz dates and a few spoiler leaks, Jiangxia already knew Heiji's true goal for coming to Tokyo this time.
So he was chill. Very chill.
Because as long as he quietly took the old banknotes and boarded the ship early tomorrow, and then hid himself in the cabin like a buddhist in retreat, he'd definitely "coincidentally" run into Heiji and Conan. The two of them were also sneaking aboard the same ship to work together on the case.
At that point, once the ship had sailed, it wasn't like they could jump overboard just to avoid him.
So there was nothing to stress about. Jiangxia returned to shopping, vaguely wondering if any more ghosts might show up before the serial murders on the ship kicked off.
But as he wandered the streets, Jiangxia noticed something very suspicious.
Everything was normal.
No murders. No robberies. Not even a single purse snatcher.
…Then his phone rang.
He pulled it out, checked the caller ID, and raised an eyebrow—it was the landline from the detective agency.
Which was odd. Jiangxia always locked up when he left, and clients didn't have the agency's landline number. As he answered the call, a familiar voice came through—Amuro Tooru.
The boss's voice sounded… bemused. Curious, even.
"I happened to be at the agency today," Amuro said, "and I ran into a client who specifically asked to see you. Come back if you can."
"Asked for me directly?" Jiangxia frowned.
Plenty of clients asked for him, sure. Usually the types who had lost their cat, or their dog, or someone else's dog, or wanted to know where their mistress had gone. When that happened, Amuro just nodded and promised to "urge" Jiangxia on, but never actually followed up. After all, Amuro wasn't some performance-obsessed manager—he was a highly paid spy who treated money like spare batteries.
So this time… who was actually important enough for Amuro to call him?
Jiangxia tried to fish: "Is it someone you know?"
Was it… an Organization member? Had someone been murdered, and Gin's paranoid brain decided Ouzo did it, so now they were sending someone to take revenge?
Jiangxia was midway through this wild chain of guesses when Amuro replied, voice a bit lower: "She gave her name as 'Ikenami.' Probably fake—or an old surname. But I've seen her in the background of interview shows before. She's the wife of Inspector Hattori from the Osaka Prefectural Police HQ. You've had contact with her before?"
Ah.
As he said that, Amuro suddenly remembered—
Right, there was that high school detective, Hattori Heiji. Dark-skinned, intense, loved overthinking everything. Very memorable.
Realizing the "client" was just a senior police officer's wife—and more importantly, someone connected to a teenager Jiangxia already knew—Amuro visibly relaxed.
"She's probably harmless," he said. "If you're busy, it's okay not to come."
But Jiangxia was already processing this twist.
Hattori Heiji's mother…
He suddenly remembered a few things. And a few cases.
He glanced at his classmates, who were still shopping and clearly having a good time. The street looked safe—no lurking death gods.
So he said into the phone: "I'll be right there."
Hanging up, Jiangxia turned back to the group and declared he had something urgent to handle, under Heiji's surprised gaze and Kazuha's very obvious disappointment.
Before leaving, he turned to Ran Mouri—the one he trusted most among them.
"If anything happens, call me. I'll come back right away."
"Okay." Ran nodded. Then she added, "Actually, you don't have to worry—I heard there was a murder here a few days ago, so now there are regular police patrols. It's very safe."
Heiji, Conan: "…"
Of course, they understood that Jiangxia was just telling them to stay alert. But it sounded way too much like "If a murder happens, remember to call me."
Cough cough. Science says death god auras don't exist. Everything is just… coincidence.
With Ran's confirmation, Jiangxia headed off.
He didn't really care how the others interpreted his words. As long as someone remembered to call him if something happened, that was enough.
Jiangxia's motorcycle was parked nearby. He jumped on and zipped toward the detective agency.
As he neared the building, he slowed down, following traffic laws like a model citizen.
He parked, took off his helmet, hooked it to the handlebar, and stepped inside.
Sitting on the small sofa in the reception area was a very elegant lady.
She wore a black kimono. Her skin was pale, her makeup refined and restrained. When unsmiling, she looked like a sword drawn from its scabbard—cold, sharp, and utterly unapproachable. When she did smile, it felt like the blade was just momentarily sheathed, but still within stabbing range.
In other words, she radiated "I am not someone you want to mess with."
Across from her, Amuro was trying—trying—to chat, but failing miserably.
The kimono woman, Hattori Shizuka, didn't mind Amuro. His skin tone gave her a vague sense of familiarity—something about him felt like kin. But she had come today with a specific mission, and to avoid exposing too much, she restrained her chatty impulses and decided to wait for Jiangxia instead.
Now that he'd arrived, she looked him over, then gracefully stood up.
"My name is Ikenami. Forgive me for the sudden visit. A friend of mine recommended you—she said that if it's you, you can definitely solve my problem."
*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*