"Tangze is learning Chinese? Since when?" Conan spat out the foam in his mouth and looked up strangely at the bleary-eyed Ran Mouri. "His English is pretty good, I guess, but..."
Learning English and using it fluently was already relatively easier compared to other foreign languages.
Even if Tangze really did have some talent for learning languages, as he claimed, it shouldn't have taken effect so quickly with other languages, should it?
"Mm, he didn't just speak Chinese with Miss Ura Shiran. He also kept pulling her into an enthusiastic conversation about the upcoming exhibition at the Suzuki Art Museum. Maybe Miss Ura made him feel like something was off, so he wouldn't let her leave. As for whether he counts as a beginner, I really can't tell..."
But the Tangze who had dragged her and Sonoko into sitting there yesterday and refused to leave was completely unlike his usual easygoing, communicative self, the kind who never made the person he was talking to uncomfortable.
He didn't appear to say anything inappropriate, but the way he relentlessly initiated new topics carried a hint of aggression. Unless he had noticed something suspicious about her, Tangze, whose social awareness had always been quite good, wouldn't have done something so strange and awkward.
Indeed, if there hadn't been some important issue with her, he would always have had more appropriate options than rudely keeping three high school students gathered around a woman and chattering at her.
"It was probably related to the current case." Conan voiced his opinion cautiously. "The matter with Kaito Kid hasn't been resolved yet. If you run into anyone else, even if you've met them before, it's normal to suspect they might be Kaito Kid in disguise."
As he spoke, Conan instinctively raised a hand and rubbed his cheek.