Chapter 177
At the ski resort, everyone dressed quite heavily for warmth, and because accidents could easily happen, many people wore various protective gear.
Everyone was bundled up tightly. With hats covering heads and goggles on, often people could only be recognized by their clothing colors.
This was especially true for Usuha Izuki—not only did he wear a hat to keep his head warm, but his ski suit also came with a hood. Fully armed like this, walking into a crowd, Hagiwara Kenji couldn't find him without looking at his clothing pattern.
—In this state, the effectiveness of the "Black Screen Aura" was minimized to the greatest extent, because the principle of "Black Screen Aura" was to make people fill in gaps with their imagination, but looking like this, he blended into the crowd and couldn't attract people's attention. If people didn't notice him, naturally they wouldn't fill in gaps...
But they were both adults now, and Hagiwara Kenji wasn't a supervising teacher for the nearby schools, so he wasn't worried at all about his friend getting lost. Even if he really did get lost, the ones who needed to worry would be whoever encountered him.
Plus, skiing wasn't like a three-legged race or seesaw—there wasn't really any need for two people to stay together. With different speeds and preferences for slopes, they might as well act separately and call each other when needed.
So the two began discussing what time to meet for lunch and how to avoid peak hours.
While chatting, they walked out from the changing area and nearly collided head-on with someone.
The other person was carrying a gear bag and looked like he hadn't changed into skiing equipment yet. Startled, he reached up to adjust his glasses and politely stepped aside.
Hagiwara Kenji was stunned for a moment, then greeted him: "Kudo-san, you're here skiing too?"
Only after hearing Hagiwara Kenji's voice did Kudo Yusaku realize who these two people were who'd nearly bumped into him: "Hagiwara-kun? Then this must be Samukawa-kun?"
"Haha, yes." Hagiwara Kenji removed his wind goggles that he'd put on early. "Didn't recognize us, right?"
Kudo Yusaku wanted to complain about wearing wind goggles indoors, but seeing familiar faces was still quite pleasant: "Right, I didn't expect you two would be here either. Are you on vacation?"
"Mm, taking a little break." Hagiwara Kenji smiled and stepped aside, no longer in a hurry to leave as he chatted while waiting for Kudo Yusaku to put on his protective gear. "Is Kudo-san here alone?"
Usuha Izuki suddenly interjected: "Do those two middle school groups outside include Kudo-san's child?"
Kudo Yusaku coughed: "My wife and I came together... She said she wanted to see what Shinichi looks like when he's playing with classmates... So Shinichi doesn't know we're here too."
"Understood." Hagiwara Kenji nodded. "We won't let it slip... though we don't know him anyway."
Kudo Yusaku smiled: "How should I put it? When you see him, you should be able to recognize him. He looks quite similar to me, and his goal is to become a detective—he rushes toward cases, so maybe when he grows up, you'll meet often."
After chatting in the changing room for a while, the three separated after going outside.
Usuha Izuki found a random slope to play on for a while. Finding it too easy to control Samukawa Shinryu's body, he inconspicuously switched to his original body, wanting to return to his normal skill level.
Anyway, with hats and everything covering his hair and eyes, even standing in the middle of the path to switch wouldn't be discovered. Usuha Izuki nonchalantly switched identities and continued skiing with great interest.
Usuha Izuki's original body hadn't skied in a while. After skiing for a bit to get the feel back, when he stopped to make adjustments, a figure suddenly made a turn and braked in front of him, then asked with concern in an Osaka accent:
"Are you okay? I saw your movements seemed different from before."
Being able to precisely notice in a sea of people that someone's skiing movements were different from before was enough to demonstrate his exceptional observational skills.
Usuha Izuki fell silent for a moment: "...I'm fine, I was just recalling what it felt like when I first learned to ski."
That person also fell silent: "..........."
Usuha Izuki: "..........."
"Why aren't you saying anything! You recognized me, didn't you!!!" That person's tone suddenly became irritable. He swiftly lifted his goggles, revealing eyes full of joy and resentment, and called out sarcastically: "Great detective!"
Usuha Izuki coughed: "I just didn't expect such a coincidence. It's been a while, Heiji-kun."
"It really has been quite a while."
Hattori Heiji complained: "It's been over two years since we last met, right? Haven't you been to Osaka even once in all these years?! Your phone's always unreachable, emails often take several days to get replies—if people didn't know better, they'd think you were a fugitive! It's really hard to see you!"
While he said this, Hattori Heiji actually suspected more that this guy considered him a kid and didn't want to play detective games with him.
But there was nothing he could do about it—back then he was still in elementary school, and this guy had to crouch down to make eye contact when talking to him. Being treated as an ignorant child was inevitable. It wasn't until middle school that he suddenly started growing taller.
Fortunately, aside from slow responses and never agreeing to his invitations, always saying "next time for sure," this mysterious older brother was actually pretty good to him. When Hattori Heiji asked him to discuss cases, as long as they were interesting, the other party would be willing to chat. Over the years, Hattori Heiji felt they should actually be considered friends.
Although he still didn't know what the other person's name was.
It was fine to call him "big brother" when he was in elementary school, but now Hattori Heiji couldn't bring himself to say it. He didn't want to use that obvious fake name either, so he just called the other party "great detective" or "hey"—this secretive guy deserved it!
Facing Hattori Heiji, who he'd been stringing along with "next time for sure, I'll definitely see you," Usuha Izuki felt no guilt whatsoever: "Aren't we meeting now?"
"Don't talk like you came here specifically to see me... It's clearly just a coincidence!"
Usuha Izuki coughed: "Well, aren't you skiing?"
"Are you trying to get rid of me already?" Hattori Heiji suspected. "You don't really have problems, do you?"
Usuha Izuki: "Guess."
Hattori Heiji: "......"
"Hey, Heiji!" A person who looked like his classmate passed by and shouted to him: "Toyama-san got hurt!"
"What?" Hattori Heiji immediately became anxious. "Where?"
The classmate called back: "Walk back and you'll see!"
Hattori Heiji couldn't bother arguing with Usuha Izuki anymore. He quickly threw out a farewell and walked back.
Usuha Izuki thought about it—since he had nothing else to do anyway, he might as well follow.
Sure enough, they soon saw Toyama Kazuha surrounded by several classmates.
"Heiji!" Toyama Kazuha was quite happy that Hattori Heiji came back to find her.
Hattori Heiji frowned and crouched down trying to examine her, but Toyama Kazuha was dressed too thickly—he was somewhat at a loss.
"Let me." Usuha Izuki patted Hattori Heiji's shoulder.
Toyama Kazuha had been paying attention to things related to Hattori Heiji and saw the two of them walk over together. She was curious about who this person was who seemed unfamiliar in dress and appearance, so she couldn't help asking: "You are...?"
Hattori Heiji introduced: "Don't you remember? This is that guy who likes wearing haori."
Toyama Kazuha had only met Usuha Izuki once, so her impression wasn't very deep initially, but Hattori Heiji mentioned him from time to time, always complaining that the person treated him like a kid, so she immediately connected the dots: "Eh? It's that big brother..."
"That's me, pardon the intrusion." Usuha Izuki reached out and felt Toyama Kazuha's ankle through her pants. "Does this hurt? What about here?"
Soon Usuha Izuki confirmed: "It's sprained. The bone is fine—just rest and it'll heal."
The system commented faintly: [You're so practiced...]
[This is common sense.]
System: [...] Do I look like I believe that?
Hearing Usuha Izuki's diagnosis, Hattori Heiji didn't doubt it at all and immediately felt relieved: "That's good." Then he asked Toyama Kazuha: "Do you want to go back to the inn?"
Toyama Kazuha's expression immediately fell: "No way! We finally came out to have fun together, and going back right at the start would be like not coming at all!"
The final decision was for everyone to take Toyama Kazuha to the rest area below where she could sit and rest properly—otherwise, staying on the ski slopes, it would be bad if someone bumped into her.
This distance wasn't far, so Hattori Heiji directly carried Toyama Kazuha on his back.
"Hmm..." Usuha Izuki, who thought he'd need to lend a hand, touched his chin. "How considerate. Is this what they call boyfriend power?"
Both Toyama Kazuha and Hattori Heiji blushed simultaneously.
"Wh-what boyfriend power!"
"I'm just used to it! This girl is clumsy!"
"Hah? I'm not clumsy—I just don't ski very well!"
"If you insisted on going to the advanced course, you should have gone to the beginner's course where the terrain is gentler—then you wouldn't have twisted your ankle!"
The two inexplicably started arguing.
Usuha Izuki fell silent for a moment: "Uh, since you've got this handled, I'll head off first. Take your time chatting."
"What?" Hattori Heiji suddenly realized: "Wait, don't run away..."
Before Hattori Heiji could finish speaking, Usuha Izuki pushed off with his ski poles and whooshed away.
He really couldn't stand watching anymore—still not boyfriend and girlfriend after all that... It was enough to make someone die of frustration. He'd better retreat quickly.
Hattori Heiji was heartbroken: "He actually got away!"
He still had so much he hadn't had time to say... Damn it, who knows when they'll meet again next time.
Would he ever find out what the other person's name was in his lifetime?!
He really couldn't bring himself to call out that Conan name!