Ai Haibara, looking just like a cat, watched quietly with her little eyes narrowed to slits, half her head poking out from beside the doorframe.
As she watched the scene before her, she thought to herself:
What is this Kyoto young lady trying to do by taking leave and staying here...?
She already dares to take leave and stay here. Is she going to transfer schools later on?
Isn't this terribly neglectful of her duties as a student?
Even I have to go to school on time...
Could she be taking a roundabout route to win over Sister Akemi?
No, Sister Akemi probably doesn't need winning over. Right now, she'd probably send Fujino away with all his luggage the moment that young lady said the word...
Thinking this, Ai Haibara felt that Akemi was being just a little too harsh on her little sister.
Then, under her watchful gaze, the glass door of Snow King Ice City was pushed open.
A boy who looked like a young girl, exceptionally delicate and pretty, slipped inside without a sound. Under Ai Haibara's gaze, without anyone else noticing, he quietly came to stand behind the group.
That person was Hondo Eisuke.
Ai Haibara knew Hondo Eisuke, though her impression of him was not especially deep. After all, they had only met a few times.
Still, she found something a little strange about him.
She could not put her finger on it, but he vaguely gave off the same sort of feeling as the Organization.
But he definitely was not with the Organization, since she had felt nothing.
Still, his ability to erase his presence was genuinely impressive.
Even Gray Cat Cat had to concede defeat.
After standing beside the group for a while, Hondo Eisuke finally found an opening to join the conversation.