Chapter 233
This day, after Usuha Izuki woke up, he slowly walked downstairs, then discovered Hagiwara Kenji leisurely sitting in the chair of the room he used as a consultation room on the first floor, reading with great interest the book he had been looking at last night.
"...When did you get here?" Usuha Izuki slowly walked over and drank the water Hagiwara Kenji had poured for him.
"Not long ago, just brought you some breakfast. I was about to leave if you didn't come down." Hagiwara Kenji closed the book in his hands. "When did you start reading this kind of... philosophy book?"
Usuha Izuki answered carelessly: "A gift I received. Someone thought I'd like it. I was bored last night and randomly flipped through it."
The mailbox at the door often received strange things—books were already relatively normal gifts.
Hagiwara Kenji was silent for a moment: "...I figured as much."
Anyone who would send this kind of book obviously didn't understand Little Shinryu at all.
Even a cookbook would be better! Although Little Shinryu didn't like cooking himself, he enjoyed looking at food pictures! When he encountered something he particularly wanted to try, he'd search online to find places to eat it—that would definitely build more favorability than philosophy books.
Usuha Izuki had just woken up and his eyes were still a bit dazed, so Hagiwara Kenji stuffed the sandwich he brought into his hands.
"Hurry up and eat. At this hour, just consider it lunch... Your sleep schedule really is hopeless."
Obviously, compared to those uninformed people's speculation that the [office] only operated at night, Hagiwara Kenji was closer to the truth—the house's owner had terrible sleep habits and liked to wander around during the day, only returning home at night.
Therefore, Usuha Izuki directly gave Hagiwara Kenji the key to the first floor, so Hagiwara Kenji wouldn't be locked out when he came to visit.
Actually, Usuha Izuki had initially said very casually that Hagiwara Kenji could just pick the lock to get in, and even considered the possibility: "If you don't know how, I can teach you. It definitely won't be harder than bomb disposal—you can definitely learn."
But Hagiwara Kenji refused with a headache: "What if acquaintances see..."
Unlike Little Shinryu who had resigned and could let himself go, he was still an active detective!
Going to a friend's house and constantly picking locks—that would be too unreasonable!
He wouldn't stupidly wait outside either. If he found Little Shinryu hadn't gotten up, he'd definitely go wander around nearby first and come back later.
As for why he didn't call, it was also to avoid waking someone up—Little Shinryu's wake-up mood was quite severe.
Hagiwara Kenji's thoughtfulness made Usuha Izuki's rare conscience stir, and he finally just gave the other party the key directly.
Hagiwara Kenji wasn't polite about it either. After all, Little Jinpei also had a spare key to his apartment—friends didn't need to worry about these details.
Facts proved he really got the key right. The usage rate was particularly high. Sometimes when he brought breakfast over, thinking it could probably serve as Little Shinryu's lunch, he'd leave it on the table and go. But when he came back in the evening, he'd find it had become dinner instead—it wasn't unprecedented, which was ridiculous.
Usuha Izuki had already eaten half the sandwich by now and his brain was finally completely awake, so he asked: "Day off?"
"Mm, worked overtime for a while before, so I took a few days of annual leave to rest properly." Hagiwara Kenji put down the book he wasn't very interested in and casually said: "Do you remember helping that Italian crime group decode the cipher two days ago?"
Usuha Izuki's memory certainly wasn't that bad: "I remember. What about it?"
Hagiwara Kenji complained: "You reported to police in time. When we rushed over, for some reason there were several elementary school students there too. A bit later and they might have been silenced... But that's not the point. The point is one of the kids was actually named Edogawa Conan!"
"...Oh." Usuha Izuki's reaction was very indifferent.
"There really is someone named Edogawa Conan. Don't the parents think it's too chuuni?"
Hagiwara Kenji said incredulously: "Then yesterday at a crime scene we met him again. Mouri-san... that's Detective Mouri Kogorou, you know him, right? The one Instructor Onizuka praised for his exceptional shooting skills, the genius who's now working as a detective—he actually doesn't manage him either, letting a child run around the crime scene... Mouri-san said it's because Conan-kun likes playing detective games... He really admires Mouri-san."
Usuha Izuki: "............"
If Edogawa Conan heard this, he probably wouldn't be able to eat.
"But about Mouri-san... how to put it, based on Instructor Onizuka's description, I thought he'd be some amazing senior, but yesterday when solving the case he was all over the place." Hagiwara Kenji frowned. "Only at the end did he suddenly become composed, as if he fell asleep, but could still reason normally... No wonder they call him 'Sleeping Kogorou,' but I don't understand why he has to sleep to reason."
Usuha Izuki said without hesitation: "For the persona."
Hagiwara Kenji: "...?"
"Just having strong reasoning ability isn't enough. You need characteristics to be memorable, so customers will think of you first when they want to find a detective." Usuha Izuki said. "For example, high school Detective Kudo Shinichi, Sleeping Kogorou, Hattori Heiji—who would you choose?"
Hagiwara Kenji pondered: "First I'd eliminate Hattori Heiji—feels too plain and ordinary... I get it, what you said makes sense, but who is this Hattori Heiji?"
"You met him when we encountered that case while skiing two years ago."
Hagiwara Kenji had a realization: "Oh, that kid. Is he a proper detective now too?"
"Pretty famous in the Kansai area." Usuha Izuki, taking advantage of his current ambiguous work nature, was too lazy to cover for his intelligence sources anymore.
Hagiwara Kenji didn't ask more: "I see... Oh right, I mainly came to ask if you want to go out and play tomorrow."
"Where to?"
"Tsukikage Island."
Usuha Izuki was startled: "Why suddenly want to go to Tsukikage Island?"
Hagiwara Kenji said: "Didn't we meet Mouri-san yesterday? He mentioned receiving a commission from Tsukikage Island. I felt something was off about it and want to check the situation."
"...Is this your way of taking a vacation? Going wherever there might be problems?"
"Should be quite interesting for you, right?" Hagiwara Kenji also understood Usuha Izuki well. "Mysterious invitation letter, returning to old places, might be related to cases you've handled... Don't you want to go?"
Usuha Izuki stared at Hagiwara Kenji for a few seconds and admitted: "Want to go."
"Then it's settled. I'll pick you up tomorrow, Little Jinpei is coming too."
As a qualified detective, Hagiwara Kenji was a bit sensitive to things that might be related to cases he'd handled. Having Little Shinryu willing to go was perfect.
If nothing happened, everyone could just consider it a vacation trip. Tsukikage Island's scenery was decent and close to Tokyo. If something did happen...
...Little Shinryu probably wouldn't want to work overtime, but with Mouri-san there, he and Little Jinpei would at most just assist.
Since they'd already made plans for the next day, Hagiwara Kenji nagged for a long time telling Usuha Izuki to sleep early today, at least wake up by noon tomorrow, then left to do his own things.
The next day, Usuha Izuki got up relatively early, but slept the whole way—sleeping on the boat, sleeping when they arrived. Matsuda Jinpei complained like crazy.
"What time did this guy go to sleep yesterday? Is traveling just changing locations to sleep for him? He wasn't like this before when he hadn't resigned!"
Hagiwara Kenji helped explain: "His sleep schedule is already like this. Even if he went to bed early he couldn't fall asleep. Little Shinryu probably tried his best..."
Previously he thought Samukawa Shinryu was doing quite well after resigning, but now Matsuda Jinpei deeply felt Samukawa Shinryu shouldn't have resigned. This sleep schedule was simply inhuman: "So what now?"
"Don't worry about him, let him sleep. Let's go out and look around." Hagiwara Kenji calmly made the decision. "Last time we came was also years ago. Let's see what's changed and ask if Mouri-san has arrived."
Matsuda Jinpei sighed: "Fine."
So the two active police officers went out to explore.
When they wandered to Tsukikage Island's clinic, they saw acquaintances.
Mouri Kogorou, Mouri Ran, and that kid Edogawa Conan who was staying at the Mouri house were chatting with a doctor in a white coat.
"...Because there's about to be an election for village chief, the village has been a bit noisy lately..."
The doctor was speaking when he suddenly noticed Hagiwara Kenji and Matsuda Jinpei, his gaze immediately shifting: "Uh... what was I saying?"
The Mouri father and daughter and Edogawa Conan all turned around simultaneously, discovering these two people.
"Ah, Mouri-san, Mouri-san, Conan-kun, and Dr. Asai, long time no see." Hagiwara Kenji decisively spoke first.
"Yes... long time no see, Officer." Asai Narimi's smile was somewhat forced.
Edogawa Conan noticed Asai Narimi's expression and was a bit puzzled, but Mouri Kogorou asked for him.
"You know each other?"
"Mm, when the previous village chief died, this officer solved the case."
Mouri Kogorou's expression became serious: "The previous village chief was murdered?"
"...No, it was a heart attack. The case refers to a drug trafficking case connected to the previous village chief that was uncovered... arrested the village chief's secretary." Asai Narimi sighed, then composed himself and smiled at Hagiwara Kenji. "Officer, why are you here too? Did something happen?"
Hagiwara Kenji smiled: "Just taking a vacation, randomly picked a place close to Tokyo to rest."
"I see." Asai Narimi looked at Matsuda Jinpei behind him. "What about your partner? Didn't he come this time?"
Hagiwara Kenji was too lazy to explain he'd changed partners: "He came, but he's still at the inn, didn't come out, needs to rest."
"I see." Asai Narimi's gaze was very complex. "Well, I wish you all a pleasant trip. I have some matters at my clinic, so I'll go in first."
With Asai Narimi's departure, only people who knew each other or knew each other's acquaintances remained. After mutual introductions, with the police concentration high, Mouri Ran suddenly felt her sense of security skyrocket.
Edogawa Conan asked curiously: "Hagiwara-san, what was the situation with the drug trafficking case the previous village chief was involved in?"
Mouri Kogorou didn't hesitate to punch him: "What's a kid asking about this for! Go, go, go, stay away!" Then he turned to ask them: "Since you've been to Tsukikage Island before, do you know Aso Keiji?"
Hagiwara Kenji: "Know him. Died many years ago, right? What, is there a ghost haunting again?"
Edogawa Conan: "...???"
"...What's this about ghost haunting? The invitation letter I received had Aso Keiji as the sender."
Hagiwara Kenji knew about the invitation letter, but this was the first time hearing about the signature. He immediately showed a puzzled expression: "How could that be? I thought after Little Shinryu caught the rumor-spreader, there wouldn't be any more rumors related to Aso Keiji..."
"Little Shizuka (Shinryu)?" Mouri Ran was puzzled. "Is Officer Hagiwara's partner a girl?"
Matsuda Jinpei complained: "No, that guy's a man. He himself doesn't match this nickname at all."
Edogawa Conan's mouth twitched.
Ah... indeed completely mismatched.
During that gold coin case a few days ago, he had met Officer Hagiwara's partner—a particularly burly and energetic person. Officer Hagiwara clearly called him Squad Leader... How could he privately call someone such an embarrassing nickname?
But the other party seemed like a very serious and responsible police officer. If something really happened, maybe he could help.
Moreover, it felt like Officer Hagiwara and Officer Matsuda were reluctant to answer about the [Consultant], so he wondered if that straightforward-looking [Squad Leader] would be willing to answer.
Edogawa Conan started looking forward to meeting him.