Chapter 25: Conan’s First Kiss Is Gone

Excluding the three children present, as well as Sonoko Suzuki and Ran Mouri, among the remaining four people, the woman in the purple dress seemed the least likely to be the culprit.

As the saying goes, “A tiger won’t eat its own cub,” so it was hard to imagine the woman in purple harming her own child.

Logically, she shouldn’t be the murderer. Yet, seeing the three large glowing characters “Can Check In” hovering above both her and Katsuhiko Minagawa, Haruaki Suzuki couldn’t help but harbor some suspicion.

Based on his previous experience with the check-in system, those who could become check-in targets were usually characters with significant roles in the plot.

They were either protagonists or important side characters from the original work, or killers and victims within the case. Ordinary background characters rarely met the criteria.

What puzzled Haruaki Suzuki was that Toshihide Wakamatsu also fit the profile of a check-in target. Could it be that there were two victims in this case?

Suppressing his doubts for the moment, Haruaki used the pretense of going to the restroom to discreetly touch the woman in purple and Katsuhiko Minagawa.

“Ding! Congratulations on successfully checking in Fujiwara Miya. Reward: ‘Mother’s Lunchbox’—redeemable at any time.”

“Ding! Congratulations on successfully checking in Katsuhiko Minagawa. Reward: two years of lifespan extension—redeemable at any time.”

“(O_o)??”

Upon hearing the system’s notification in his mind, Haruaki’s expression shifted slightly before a look of sudden understanding dawned on his face.

Judging by the woman’s surname, it was clear she was not Katsuhiko Minagawa’s biological mother; otherwise, her last name would be Minagawa, not Fujiwara.

If Katsuhiko was not her biological son, then according to the principles of deduction, the chance that the woman in purple was the murderer increased significantly.

Since the culprit’s identity was nearly confirmed, all Haruaki needed to do was watch her closely and prevent her from committing the crime, thereby averting another tragedy.

In the anime storyline of Detective Conan, most killers acted on impulse; stopping them once was usually enough to deter them from committing murder again.

Having made up his mind, Haruaki then examined the attributes of his new item.

[Equipment Name: Mother’s Lunchbox
Type: Accessory
Quality: Rare
Effect 1 (Milk Coffee): Consumes 2 mental points to summon a cup of milk coffee. Drinking it restores 4 health points.
Effect 2 (Strawberry Cake): Consumes 5 mental points to summon a piece of strawberry cake. Eating it heals minor injuries.
Note: Only a mother’s love is truly precious...]

Meanwhile, seizing the opportunity while Haruaki had gone to the restroom, Toshihide Wakamatsu quickly took a seat to Ran Mouri’s left and secretly stretched out his hand toward hers.

(｀∀´)Ψ

Conan noticed Toshihide’s sneaky move and smirked mischievously, quietly moving to stand between the two.

“What a cute little hand...” Toshihide, sitting upright, thought he was touching Ran’s hand when in fact it was Conan’s. Feeling excited, he gave a gentle tug as planned.

His intention was to pull Ran into his embrace.

But Conan’s body was too light—he was yanked off the ground and uncontrollably landed in Toshihide’s arms, resulting in the two grown men being uncomfortably close!

“(꒪Д꒪)ノ”

Ran, sitting nearby, was startled stiff and froze in place.

Ugh...

Realizing what had happened, Toshihide hastily pushed Conan away, and the two men bent over, retching.

Good grief!

Just as Haruaki came out of the restroom and witnessed this infamous “lost first kiss” moment, he instantly understood why Toshihide, a mere background character, qualified as a “check-in target.”

Even as a minor role, simply stealing the protagonist’s first kiss gave him more plot weight than many supporting characters.

This was serious, very serious!

“By the way, can someone perform a little show?” Katsuhiko Minagawa put down his beer can and, emboldened by drink, ordered Naomichi, “Naomichi, come out and perform!”

“I-I’m sorry, I’m not good at things like this.”

Normally, Naomichi might not dare refuse Katsuhiko’s order, but in front of the person he secretly admired, he didn’t want to embarrass himself publicly.

“What did you say?! How dare you disobey me!” Katsuhiko felt humiliated by this cowardly refusal. Snorting coldly, he said, “Hmph! Just looking at your gloomy face makes me feel sick.”

“Sonoko, Katsuhiko’s attitude is really awful, isn’t it?” Ran whispered quietly as Katsuhiko stood up and left.

Sonoko, in the throes of a hopeless crush, waved her hand with a smile. “Boys have to be like this to have personality~”

“Sonoko, don’t mistake ignorance for personality or thoughtlessness for honesty. His annoying attitude is the kind that easily brings about deadly consequences,” Haruaki sighed, giving her a knowing look.

To be honest, Sonoko wasn’t unintelligent, but her tendency to swoon over handsome guys was truly exasperating.

“You little brat, what do you know? Once Katsuhiko eats my chocolate, he’ll be mine,” Sonoko said excitedly, ignoring Haruaki’s words as she clutched the chocolates she had prepared and chased after Katsuhiko’s departing figure.

╮(╯▽╰)╭

Haruaki shook his head wearily; his infatuated sister was hopeless.

“Aka?”

Just as Katsuhiko Minagawa stepped out of the restroom, he saw Kaori Sekiya waiting outside and looked surprised.

Kaori said, “Hey, even if I asked you, could you stop bullying Naomichi?”

“Hmph! I get annoyed every time I see that guy. He’s always gloomy and keeps everything to himself. If you have the guts, just say what you mean!”

“Katsuhiko, you’ve really changed. You’re not the same as before. Since that incident, you’ve given up on yourself. If Aunt and the others were still alive, they wouldn’t want to see you like this.”

“What do you know?!”

“I know perfectly well—I’m your childhood friend!” Kaori’s cheeks flushed slightly as she handed Katsuhiko the chocolates she had prepared. “Will you accept this box of chocolates?”

“...”

Katsuhiko remained silent for a moment before resolutely replying, “Take it away. I just want to be friends.”

“Really? So you do like Miya after all.” Kaori sighed deeply, her eyes filled with hidden disappointment as she took back the chocolates.