A Date, a Date

A date, a date~

The next day.

Inside the classroom of Class 2-B at Teitan High School.

Kudo Shinichi yawned groggily. Nakado, sitting beside him, grinned and said, "Kudo, why do you look so tired? Don't tell me you were thinking about someone so much last night that you couldn't sleep?"

"Come on... As if. Get lost!" Kudo Shinichi waved him away impatiently.

Nakado was about to say something else when Shu Yunwen, sitting beside Kudo Shinichi, spoke up. "Nakado, Kudo was involved in a murder case last night. After he got home, he still had homework to do, so he must have gone to bed very late. Please don't bother him, okay?"

Actually, Shu Yunwen was only a little better off than Kudo Shinichi.

After he got home yesterday, he'd cultivated through the night. It wasn't until four in the morning that he'd completely absorbed Yamazaki Akiji's spiritual energy, and his strength had increased considerably. But since he practiced Ghost Sorcery, he wasn't as listless as Kudo Shinichi.

"Huh? Is that right?" Nakado was a little wary of Shu Yunwen. The unfortunate Aizawa Eisuke's experience had made many of their classmates fearful of Shu Yunwen.

Before Shu Yunwen could answer, a female classmate in front, a die-hard Kudo Shinichi fan, exclaimed, "Did Kudo solve another case? Where? Where?" She kept flipping through the newspaper. "I brought today's paper, so why isn't there any news about Lord Kudo?"

"That's amazing! Kudo solved another case! And it was a murder!"

"There's bound to be a story about Kudo in the paper. Hurry up and look!"

"I can't find it here!"

"I can't find it either..."

"..."

The classroom was in an uproar. With all the noise making his head feel like it was about to explode, Kudo Shinichi said, "All right! You can stop making such a fuss! I was involved in last night's case, but I wasn't the one who solved it. Shu Yunwen—Shu-san—did, so that's why there's no news about me."

A whole lot of eyes turned toward Shu Yunwen, who sat upright. A random classmate beside him asked in surprise, "Shu-san, did you really solve a murder case too? That's amazing!"

Shu Yunwen smiled. "It was just a coincidence."

"What? How could something like that be a coincidence? Student Shu said during his introduction yesterday that he likes deduction! Does that mean Class 2-B at Teitan High School is getting another amazing high school detective?"

"I found it! There's a story about the murder in my paper. Hachiryu Bank general manager Yamazaki Akiji was murdered, and the culprit was his friend, Iwata... Hmm, it doesn't seem to mention Student Shu." Someone found the story in the newspaper and read it, but couldn't find Shu Yunwen's name. "Shu-san, weren't there any reporters who interviewed you? You solved such a major case, after all..."

Shu Yunwen smiled and said, "No. Personally, I don't want to be in the papers or on TV, or become a public figure, so I asked the police to keep my identity secret and tell the public that they solved the case."

"I see..." Everyone nodded in understanding.

Nearby, Kudo Shinichi yawned and shot Shu Yunwen a dead-eyed look—

Was this guy subtly telling him that he, Kudo Shinichi, was vain and liked showing off?

"Ran, Ran, your hubby just got shown up by that middle-aged guy! Do you think he's so tired because he can't compete with Shu Yunwen?" Sonoko poked Ran as she spoke.

Usually, Ran would have gotten flustered and argued that Kudo wasn't her "hubby" or something. But now she was staring off into space.

"Ran? What's wrong? What are you thinking about?" Sonoko waved a hand in front of her eyes.

Ran finally came back to herself. "I'm sorry, Sonoko. I didn't hear what you said..."

"Hey, hey, hey! What are you thinking about? Your hubby?" Sonoko teased.

"N-No!" Ran shook her head, then lowered her voice. "Sonoko, I'll tell you something in confidence. You absolutely can't tell anyone else..."

A few seconds later.

"What?! You're going on a date with Shinichi at Tropical Land after school today?!" Sonoko sprang to her feet, fists clenched, looking like she was ready to "let her little cosmos burn."

"Huh? Sonoko, keep your voice down!" Ran was so embarrassed she could die.

She'd told her to keep it secret, and this girl had gone and shouted it out loud. Having a friend like that was really something.

Director, can we cut this and do it over?

Around them, a crowd of boys and girls joined in the teasing.

"Wow! Is Student Kudo going on a date with Student Mori?"

"I'm so jealous!"

"I bet they'll get married after they graduate!"

"..."

As everyone chattered, Shu Yunwen gave a dry "heh" and grumbled inwardly.

Even if those two got married after high school, that was still a long way off. As far as Shu Yunwen knew, Mori Ran had spent more than twenty years just getting through her second year of high school...

Still, he didn't exactly have room to laugh at Shinichi and Ran. He'd probably be stuck in his second year of high school for more than twenty years too.

Kudo Shinichi slapped a hand to his forehead, speechless. "Sonoko, you loudmouth!"

Shu Yunwen looked at Kudo Shinichi. "Student Kudo, don't worry about what other people think!"

Kudo Shinichi paused, then said, "Thanks!"

Shu Yunwen continued, "There's nothing wrong with high schoolers getting married, either. Just remember to have a baby soon!"

Have a baby soon, a baby, baby, child, children...

A child, my ass!

"..." Kudo Shinichi had a vein bulging on his forehead. He grabbed his hair in frustration, then covered his face with a book.

He'd given up resisting.

After school, Suzuki Sonoko, unusually, climbed into her family's luxury car at the school gate and left.

After Kudo Shinichi and Mori Ran left, Shu Yunwen was about to head home and get ready when Tsukamoto Kazumi appeared in front of him again. "Yunwen, I'm sorry to bother you. Are you free today?"

"Kazumi? What is it?" Shu Yunwen asked.

Tsukamoto Kazumi smiled. "A friend of my mother's gave me two tickets to Tropical Land. If you have time, Yunwen, would you come with me?"

"Uh..."

Shu Yunwen hesitated. Looking at Tsukamoto Kazumi, he couldn't help feeling that something was off.

"...Kazumi, is this... a date?" Shu Yunwen asked.

Tsukamoto Kazumi said, "If... if that's how you see it, then yes."

"Well... all right." In his previous life, Shu Yunwen hadn't even been able to get a girlfriend. Now a beautiful girl had suddenly thrown herself at him, practically asking him to go out with her. How could he say no?

Besides, going to Tropical Land had been part of his plan all along.

If he remembered correctly, Kudo was going to become Conan today. He had to see that historic moment for himself. And it seemed someone was going to die at Tropical Land today, too, so he needed to go along and absorb the spirit.

"That's wonderful! Shall we go now?" Tsukamoto Kazumi said happily.

Shu Yunwen said, "I'm really sorry, but I need to go home first, and there are a few other things I need to take care of. How about we meet at the entrance to Tropical Land in an hour?"

"Of course. It's a date, then," Tsukamoto Kazumi agreed.

They said goodbye and left. The random students around them were whispering about them—about their date, of course.

Well, they were students. They were always interested in gossip like this.