Motherly Love and Filial Devotion, Apparently

At Snow King Ice City, by the counter, Akemi Miyano was chatting with a child about something.

The child wore a white shirt with a suit vest over it. A clump of brownish-yellow hair hung over his forehead, making him look like a tiny adult.

"Sister Akemi, sorry to trouble you with looking after him."

Fujino led Ai Haibara over and greeted Akemi. Then he lowered his gaze toward the child. "You're the client from earlier?"

"I called ahead to make an appointment..."

The child looked up. Before he could finish, though, he saw Fujino and Xiao Ai and began stammering, "G... Grace Aihara?!"

"Grace Aihara?"

Fujino paused at that, then frowned slightly.

Grace Aihara—that was the name.

Fujino remembered the name somewhat. She was a retired American loli model who looked remarkably similar to Xiao Ai.

Although the two resembled each other, practically as if they had been cast from the same mold, there was no concrete evidence that they were related. It was merely a coincidence in appearance.

As for why he remembered it so clearly, it was a plot involving Xiao Ai, after all...

While he was pondering this, the child had already jumped down from his seat.

He studied Ai curiously and asked, "Could you be Grace Aihara?"

"Huh?"

Ai could not understand what this brat was talking about.

An acquaintance? Someone she had known before?

But what Grace Aihara? She was Ai Haibara now. Even her real name, Shiho Miyano, had nothing to do with Aihara.

"You've got the wrong person, haven't you?"

Fujino naturally knew the reason behind it. Looking at the child, he said flatly, "Her name is Ai Haibara. She's from my household, not some Grace Aihara."

Ai nodded. "That's right, I'm from his household!"

It felt a little strange to say