After calming herself down, Haibara Ai suddenly realized that Jiang Xia's praise had actually answered her question.
—There really did seem to be hidden circumstances behind the tennis match those children were about to enter.
The realization made her heart leap into her throat. Ever since leaving the organization, she had been prepared to face any terrible outcome—but that obviously did not include dragging the people around her into it, especially several innocent children.
As Haibara Ai considered her words and was about to speak, Jiang Xia unexpectedly beat her to it.
"It's not good to stay cooped up at home all day. Since you're almost better, you should go out for a bit." Jiang Xia looked at her and thoughtfully suggested, "That tennis match sounds pretty good."
"Then I..." Haibara Ai hesitated. "Should I go with them?"
Jiang Xia nodded.
It was not until she got home, washed up, and lay down in bed to sleep that Haibara Ai suddenly jolted back to her senses.
"Why does this feel like a boss assigning me a mission..." She shook her head. "No, Jiang Xia was only giving me advice. I'm the one overthinking it."
"But one thing is certain: this tennis match probably won't be peaceful." Wrapped in her blanket, Haibara Ai turned over and began forcing herself to think about what came next:
"Mouri Ran seems to be going too. That gives us a certain degree of safety, at least—we won't need to worry about petty thugs.
"But what if it isn't petty thugs going there, but some illegally armed group..."
The more she thought about it, the less sleepy Haibara Ai became.
She sat up, walked to her desk, opened a concealed drawer, and took out a self-defense Tranquilizer Gun Professor Agasa had modified for her.
Then