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The bell rang. The teachers left the classrooms, and amid the students' cheers, school was finally over.
At the shoe lockers, Shu Yunwen put on his shoes. Then he saw Aizawa Eisuke standing in front of him, looking utterly wretched and dejected. Aizawa bowed at a sixty-five-degree angle and said, "Shu Yunwen, I'm truly sorry. I apologize..."
"Oh, it's Aizawa." Shu Yunwen nodded and slung his schoolbag over his shoulder. "Is this about what happened this morning? I told you, I've already forgiven you..."
Aizawa scratched his head miserably. "But, but it's still happening..."
Aizawa looked at Shu Yunwen with a hint of fear.
In Aizawa's eyes, everything he'd gone through that morning was just like having the God of Misfortune on his back.
Things kept going wrong in class. His chair and desk had both broken, and just when he thought he was in the clear, he'd lazily spun his pen and it had flown right into his face, spraying ink everywhere and turning his whole face "black." Then he'd fallen over in the bathroom during break. When he washed his hands, a dead cockroach had actually come out of the tap. Aizawa was terrified of cockroaches and things like them. Could you imagine a grown man running out of the bathroom with his pants half up, yelling, "There's a cockroach!"?
At lunch, he'd found a fly in his bento. Then, during gym class, a dog had chased him for hundreds of meters...
Anyway, today he'd been unbelievably unlucky.
A little while ago, his best friend and nemesis, Nakado, had helped him look into Shu Yunwen. He'd actually managed to find out a few things from the third-year students.
Shu Yunwen had once been classmates with Tsukamoto Kazumi, who was now a third-year. He'd been mild-mannered and an excellent student, good in both conduct and academics. Later, Shu Yunwen's family had gotten into a car accident on their way home from a trip. His father and mother had died at the scene. Shu Yunwen had survived by sheer luck, but had remained in a coma for two whole years, only waking up recently.
Of course, that wasn't the point. The point was...
Shu Yunwen's family had apparently once run a spirit-cleansing agency! His father, Shu Keqin, had been a famous spirit exorcist with a formidable reputation in the Kanto region. He'd been closely connected with many influential figures in politics and business.
Shu Yunwen's father had been a powerful spirit exorcist!
Spirit exorcists, onmyoji, fortune-tellers, and the like were all mysterious professions in Japan.
Many Japanese people were deeply superstitious about that sort of thing.
Aizawa had always scoffed at it all, but after what had happened today, he'd started to believe.
He felt sure Shu Yunwen had cursed him.
Shu Yunwen's father had been a spirit exorcist, so Shu Yunwen must be one too. That had to be why he'd been so unlucky: Shu Yunwen had cursed him.
Shu Yunwen smiled at Aizawa's pathetic expression and said, "If you mean the curse, I'm afraid there's nothing I can do about it. But you don't need to worry too much. This kind of curse doesn't last long. By tomorrow morning, it'll all be over."
Shu Yunwen could naturally undo the spell affecting Aizawa.
But why should he? He already had very little Sorcerous Power, and he could only use a spell like Misfortune at Every Turn three more times at most. How could he waste his Sorcerous Power on Aizawa?
"Then... all right." Aizawa had no choice but to bow again before leaving with his two friends.
Nearby, Kudo Shinichi curled his lip in disdain. "What curse? It was all just a coincidence! A coincidence!"
As he spoke, Aizawa stumbled and fell again. Nakado was caught up in it too. Just as he was about to fall, he grabbed onto something nearby to steady himself, then realized that he'd grabbed a girl—and one of his hands was pressed against her chest...
"...Ah! Pervert!"
With a thud, Nakado was knocked to the ground.
Kudo Shinichi: "..."
Ran: "..."
Sonoko: "..."
After a long moment, Ran chuckled. "Aizawa really does seem to have terrible luck."
Shu Yunwen smiled at Kudo Shinichi. "If you don't believe me, Kudo, you can try cursing me..."
As he spoke, Shu Yunwen thought, If the Washing Machine really dares to curse me, I'll gladly waste one use of my Sorcerous Power and let him get a taste of Misfortune at Every Turn.
Before Kudo Shinichi could answer, a voice came from behind Shu Yunwen. "Yunwen..."
Shu Yunwen turned at the sound and froze when he saw who it was. "It's you, Tsukamoto..."
The person standing in front of Shu Yunwen was Tsukamoto Kazumi.
Tsukamoto Kazumi gazed at Shu Yunwen with a complicated expression. "Yunwen, you used to call me Kazumi."
"Did I?" Shu Yunwen tried to remember, then said, "I'm sorry. You know, I lost some of my memories after I woke up..."
"It's all right. I'll help you get them back." Tsukamoto Kazumi continued, "Also, Yunwen, could you call me Kazumi from now on?"
"All right, Kazumi." Shu Yunwen looked at the woman in front of him and grew even more convinced that his predecessor and Tsukamoto Kazumi must have had a close relationship.
Tsukamoto Kazumi smiled sweetly, then asked, "Do you have time later, Yunwen? If you do, I'd like to invite you for coffee..."
Shu Yunwen paused, then said, "I'm sorry, Kazumi. I have some other things to take care of today. You know, I've only just woken up, so there are a lot of things I need to do..."
"That's all right. If you're busy today, we can do it another time. Goodbye, Yunwen." Tsukamoto Kazumi turned and left.
Shu Yunwen rubbed his nose. The pager at his waist suddenly beeped. After checking it, he immediately waved to Kudo Shinichi, Ran, and Sonoko, who were still staring blankly, and headed for the school gate.
Only then did Kudo Shinichi, Ran, and Sonoko snap out of it.
"Huh? Was that really Kazumi-senpai? I've never heard her talk to anyone like that!" Kudo Shinichi exclaimed.
In his mind, Tsukamoto Kazumi had always been a tough tomboy.
That just now... Had she been possessed by a spirit?
"It looked like Kazumi-senpai wanted to go on a date with Shu-san, but Shu-san turned her down!" Ran was surprised too.
Sonoko was practically bursting with curiosity. "There's definitely some kind of secret between them!" She paused, then added, "Oh, right. I remember Hidaka once said that Kazumi-senpai dated someone when she was in her first year. Could that older-looking guy have been the one she dated?"
Ran hurriedly said, "Sonoko, you shouldn't gossip about your senpai behind her back. And Shu seems pretty strange too. Aren't you afraid of getting cursed?"
Sonoko acted as if she hadn't heard Ran. She pumped her fists, looking like a Saint Seiya character with her fighting spirit at maximum. "...From here on, leave it to the great Sonoko to uncover the truth!"
"Heh..." Ran smiled helplessly.
Kudo Shinichi rolled his eyes and strode out. "Come on, Ran!"
Outside the school.
The door of a black car parked nearby opened, and a short, stout middle-aged man stepped out. When he saw Shu Yunwen wave, he immediately said, "Hello, Shu-san. My name is Yamazaki Akiji, general manager of Hachiryu Bank. I'm a friend of your father, Master Keqin... Uh... You—you're still alive? That's wonderful! Master Keqin... My friend, Iwata Daijiro, has run into some strange 'trouble.' With your help, I'm sure everything will be fine..."
Yamazaki Akiji had been speaking, but when he saw Shu Yunwen, he rubbed his eyes hard. His manner immediately became much more respectful.
Shu Yunwen gave a rueful smile. "Mr. Yamazaki, you've mistaken me for someone else. I'm Shu Yunwen, not my father. My father really did die in the car accident. I look so old because I practiced my family's spirit-cleansing arts..."
"Is that so?" Yamazaki Akiji paused and took another careful look. This time, he finally recognized him.
There was a mole on the left side of Shu Yunwen's neck, but Shu Keqin didn't have one.
He really had mistaken him for someone else.
"I'm terribly sorry. That was very rude of me," Yamazaki Akiji apologized, then continued, "By the way, Shu-san, the talisman your father drew, the one I asked you to bring..."
"Just a moment." As he spoke, Shu Yunwen took his wallet out and pulled out a yellow-brown piece of paper, supposedly a talisman. He handed it to Yamazaki Akiji. "Mr. Yamazaki, here's the talisman you asked for."
Yamazaki Akiji took it, glanced at it, and carefully put it away. Then he presented Shu Yunwen with a check in both hands. "Sorry to trouble you, Shu-san. This is payment for the talisman. Please accept it."
Yamazaki Akiji had no doubts about the talisman's authenticity.
Japan was a country where people valued trust. The more influential someone was, the more they cared about their reputation. That was especially true of spirit exorcists. One mistake was all it took for word to spread through their circles and ruin their reputation.
So Yamazaki Akiji trusted Shu Yunwen not to fake something like this.
Shu Yunwen accepted the check and glanced at it.
Fifty thousand?
His late father's talismans had been so cheap? Only fifty thousand yen?
He took another closer look—
All right, the currency was actually U.S. dollars! That came to around five million yen, which was much more reasonable.
Shu Yunwen put away the check, then said, "Mr. Yamazaki, even though you have the talisman now, talismans aren't all-powerful. Would it be possible to visit your friend in person and take a look? As for my abilities... I have some, and I might be able to help."
Shu Yunwen wasn't asking for nothing.
He'd have to make a living in the world of Detective Conan, after all.
He didn't know what kind of "trouble" Yamazaki Akiji's friend had run into. If it really was some kind of evil spirit, what use would this utterly useless talisman be? If something went wrong and he ruined his reputation, it would take a lot of effort to repair it.
So he might as well go take a look now.
Better safe than sorry.
"Then... sorry to trouble you, Shu-san." Yamazaki Akiji hesitated, but agreed in the end. "My friend, Iwata Daijiro, is holding a banquet at his home today. He'll be very glad if you come."
"Thank you, Mr. Yamazaki." Shu Yunwen thanked him again.
Before you continue