Mental Illness? This Was Genius!

Conan adjusted his glowing glasses and looked at Guchuan Ning with wisdom in his eyes.

Actually, Guchuan was an impressive detective too, wasn't he?

Being able to accurately identify the culprit in such a short time proved he had exceptional deductive skills. His extraordinary intelligence was why he behaved differently from ordinary people.

Just like Conan himself—some of his actions while solving cases were often misunderstood by Ran and Uncle Mori.

Sigh! It was a common flaw among geniuses.

As for his theft of the armor, that was probably entirely due to some kind of psychological disorder.

There was only a thought's distance between genius and madness. Conan was a genius, while Guchuan had already leaned more toward madness.

Little Ai glared at Guchuan indignantly. How had she ended up being taken home by a mental patient?

If she stayed with this mental patient too long, she did not know whether she would become mentally unstable, but her blood pressure would definitely skyrocket from anger.

The thought that she might develop hypertension at such a young age made Little Ai feel utterly miserable.

"Mr. Guchuan, would you like to contact Mr. Guchuan Yuan first?" Fukuyama Shien asked.

"What would I contact him for?"

"To arrange your admission procedures."

"I'm not sick!" Guchuan snapped, planting one foot on the stool.

"Mr. Guchuan, I've seen plenty of patients like you," Fukuyama Shien said unhurriedly.

"Mental patients all say they aren't mentally ill," Little Ai said darkly from the side.

Struck by his own boomerang, Guchuan angrily ruffled Little Ai's hair.

Little Ai pouted reproachfully, but she did not argue with a patient. Just wait until we get home. Don't even think about eating anything I cook.

"Brother Guchuan, can you tell me how you figured out Curator Ochiai was the culprit?" Conan ran up to Guchuan and asked in his distinctive childlike voice.

Guchuan frowned.

What was with this brat? He had been arguing with him just now, so why was he suddenly acting familiar and asking him questions?

"Intuition," Guchuan answered dismissively.

"But Brother Guchuan, you looked so certain. It was as if you already had ample evidence," Conan persisted.

"Whatever you say."

Damn it!

Conan gritted his teeth. Being a child really was far too inconvenient.

With Guchuan's aloof personality, he could not be bothered to explain so much to a child.

"Brother Guchuan must be suffering," Conan said.

If he wanted to communicate with a genius like this, he had to show that he was extraordinary too. Shinichi Kudo was also a genius unlike any other. As long as he revealed even a hint of his brilliance, he could easily earn the right to speak with Guchuan as an equal.

Guchuan Ning: ??? Why would I be suffering?

Little Ai: ??? Would that heartless guy even suffer?

Although he did not know what Conan had imagined, Guchuan kept quiet to spare Conan the embarrassment.

"Brother Guchuan possesses wisdom far beyond ordinary people, which makes him seem out of place among those around him. You cannot communicate with people who seem incredibly foolish to you. You have your own understanding of the world, so you live alone in it." The more Conan spoke, the more convinced he became that he was right.

"And Brother Guchuan's street racing and stealing were actually attempts to imitate the behavior of the 'normal people' as you understand them, right?"

Guchuan was deeply shaken and could not help applauding.

As expected of Conan, whom he considered cut from the same cloth as himself. He was even whitewashing Guchuan's crimes. Looks like I should hang out with Conan more in the future. With him around, everything I do has a reason!

"Kid, may I ask who you are...?"

"I'm a detective, Edogawa Conan." Conan revealed a smile that said everything was under control.

Little Ai sneered and mocked him mercilessly.

"You say something so completely illogical, and you still have the nerve to call yourself a detective?"

Conan was unhappy at being mocked. "That's because a little brat like you doesn't understand geniuses!"

"Hehe, I may not understand geniuses, but I understand chuunibyou very well." Little Ai's words made Conan flush red to the ears.

Before Conan could say anything else, Ran scooped him into her arms.

"All right, Conan. Put away those wild ideas of yours," Ran said while holding him.

Conan's face was bright red. It was hard to tell whether it was from his argument with Little Ai or embarrassment at being held in Ran's arms.

Fukuyama Shien walked over to Ran and handed her a business card.

"Mr. Fukuyama, what is this...?" Ran asked, somewhat confused.

"I think the child in your family should also come to our hospital for a checkup." Fukuyama Shien sounded somewhat excited.

He had not expected that one trip out would bring so much business to his hospital.

Conan's face darkened, and Ran did not look pleased either.

"Conan just has a vivid imagination." Ran coldly dropped that line, then pulled Conan away. Conan also glared fiercely at Fukuyama Shien, his face full of rage.

Fukuyama Shien was a little embarrassed, and Guchuan thoughtfully came over to comfort him.

"You quack, don't go around diagnosing people when you don't understand anything. Mental illness? I'm clearly a genius! Don't label me mentally ill just because you can't understand the way I think."

Having received that comfort, Fukuyama Shien was indeed no longer embarrassed. Instead, his face filled with anger.

The farce came to an end.

Guchuan returned the stolen goods and went home holding Little Ai's hand.

Although Yumi Miyamoto was extremely unwilling, she could only watch Guchuan write a letter of apology and stroll away with ease.

"Little Ai, our car is gone." Guchuan looked sorrowfully at the yard.

"You don't even have a driver's license, so that car wasn't stolen too, was it?" Little Ai's scalp tingled.

Little Ai remembered that Gin owned a car of that model.

All she could do now was hope that the car Guchuan had stolen was not Gin's.

"'Stole' is such an ugly word. I just thought that car looked pitiful sitting there all alone, so I brought it home."

"Hehe." Little Ai sneered.

"Let's move."

"Why?" Guchuan asked in confusion.

"The owner took back the car you stole. They know where you live now, and you still want to stay here? Aren't you afraid they'll retaliate?" Little Ai looked helplessly at Guchuan.

This troublemaker might have provoked the organization this time.

Their once "peaceful" life might be gone for good.

"Why would I be afraid of retaliation? Do you even know who I am?" Guchuan looked as arrogant as a privileged second-generation heir.

"What if you offended some hotheaded idiots?" Little Ai said with a worried expression.

"Then I'm still not afraid. My Martial Arts are very good."

"What if they have guns?" Little Ai continued.

"Little Ai!" Guchuan patted her on the shoulder, then spoke earnestly.

"Japan is a country ruled by law. We won't face that much danger. Besides, I'll protect you."

Little Ai looked at Guchuan noncommittally.

Of all the people she had known since childhood, including Guchuan Ning, not one had truly obeyed the law.

Japan was a country ruled by law? She did not really believe that.

And as for Guchuan saying he would protect her? Little Ai believed that even less.

You should worry about protecting yourself from getting beaten to death first.