How to Survive With a Death-Flag Character Setting in Detective Conan - Chapter 1
Shhhhhh…
The faucet in the restroom was turned on to its maximum, and water gushed down in torrents.
A pair of slender, fair, jade-like hands caught the stream of water and then splashed it onto the face.
“Hoo…” The owner of the hands braced himself against the edge of the sink, exhaled deeply, and looked up at his reflection in the mirror.
The face in the mirror was exactly the same as his former self, but the overall aura had undergone a dramatic transformation, as if ten layers of beauty filters had been added. Especially now, with water droplets clinging to his face and those dewy, large eyes, he looked…
Forgive his poor language skills, but the only phrase he could think of was “.”
As it turned out, his intuition wasn’t wrong. Moments later, a passerby walked by the sink, caught a glimpse of him in the mirror, and looked as though he had been shocked by something. The person’s steps faltered, and he hurriedly left the restroom without even washing his hands. He even heard that person gasp audibly.
How did things end up like this?
Higashino Hiromu was thoroughly confused.
He was a 1.83-meter-tall, thick-browed, sharp-eyed “big macho guy”. How did he become like this?!
It all started five minutes ago.
Five minutes ago, Higashino Hiromu was still in his dormitory, cheering, having stayed up for two whole days and nights to finally finish his graduation thesis. Just as he was about to jump up in joy, the world in front of him blurred, and the scene around him changed in an instant. From night to day, from dormitory to restaurant, and there were four complete strangers sitting nearby.
Higashino Hiromu froze. His clenched fists and wide grin hadn’t yet withdrawn. The four people sitting nearby all turned to him in confusion and asked in unison, “Higashino, what is wrong?”
Before Higashino Hiromu could ask, “Who are you?”, the girl to his left reached out and gently held his left hand, speaking softly, “Hiromu, are you thinking of something happy? Can you tell me about it?”
The girl on his right wasn’t to be outdone and grabbed his right hand, acting coquettishly, “Reika wants to know too~” She even gave his hand a playful tug.
Higashino Hiromu was dumbfounded.
Though he was indeed good-looking and had received his fair share of love letters, he had very little physical contact with girls. Aside from his mother and female relatives, he had never held a girl’s hand!
He immediately felt uncomfortable, goosebumps rising all over.
Across from him, the two guys looked at him with envy, as if this situation were perfectly normal.
Higashino Hiromu had no idea how to react.
At that moment, he noticed a large block of text floating in front of his eyes. He ignored most of it and focused solely on the last line, which read:
【 Death Countdown: 02:01:59.36 】
The digits in the milliseconds place were rapidly changing. Within the blink of an eye, a full second had passed!
He broke out in a cold sweat.
Without a second thought, he made an excuse to leave for the restroom to figure out what the hell was going on.
In front of him hovered something like a personal status panel, which displayed:
【 Name 】: Higashino Hiromu, Male, 22 years old
【 Identity 】: Graduate Student, Department of Medicine, Tohto University
【 Tags 】: Player, Top Student
【 Skills 】: Basic First Aid Knowledge
【 Physical Appearance 】: (If beauty could kill, you’d be a walking nuclear weapon)
【 Upcoming Event 】: Death by poisoning in a Western-style restaurant
【 Murder Weapon 】: Potassium Cyanide
【 Cause of Death 】: Poisoning
【 Suspects 】: Kaga Reika, Fukami Suemi, Sugii Ichiro
【 Death Countdown 】: 01:58:45.08
In just this short span of time, two minutes had already passed!
Higashino Hiromu forced himself to ignore the countdown and began analyzing the current situation.
This person had the same name, age, and appearance as him, but… he studied computer science and knew nothing about medicine. That “Basic First Aid Knowledge” must be a bonus. After all, it was impossible for a medical graduate student to have only this one skill, right?
The “Top Student” label in the 【 Tags 】section did match him, but as for “Player,” he refused to accept that. He would never toy with anyone’s feelings! That had to be the original host’s personality and had nothing to do with him (serious face).
What left him truly speechless was the 【 Physical Appearance 】. What the hell was “Lethal Charm”? The explanation that followed was just too outrageous! Honestly, wasn’t using this term on a “Player” a bit too much? Was this somehow justifying the original host’s flirtatious behavior?
At this point, Higashino Hiromu began to suspect that the reason the original host was poisoned had everything to do with that “Player” label.
And as it turned out, he was absolutely right.
He clicked on the names listed under 【 Suspects 】, and pulled up their “Character Profiles” and “Murder Motives.”
【 Kaga Reika 】: A classmate in the Department of Medicine. Deeply infatuated with you, and pursued you obsessively. However, you recently seemed to have gotten closer to Fukami Suemi. She suspects the two of you are in a relationship and feels extremely upset.
【 Fukami Suemi 】: A classmate in the Department of Medicine. Deeply infatuated with you, and sincerely devoted. However, you recently seemed to have gotten closer to Kaga Reika. She suspects the two of you are in a relationship and feels extremely upset.
【 Sugii Ichiro 】: A classmate in the Department of Medicine. Your friend. But you’ve recently appeared to grow close to his goddess. He assumed the two of you were together and fell into a deep depression.
After reading all of this, Higashino Hiromu was rendered completely speechless.
Good heavens, the original host really lived up to the “Player” title—flirting left and right, to the point where everyone thought he was romantically involved with someone else. If he didn’t end up dead, who would?
But now, this had landed on his head. He had to stand in for the original host and was about to be killed by one of those whose love had been rejected!
Higashino Hiromu was completely panicked, his heart filled with dread as he thought, No way! I can’t just give up my life like this! I have to think of a way out of this death trap.
Perhaps it was the looming threat of death that unlocked his potential, but he really did come up with a “brilliant” solution.
Since all of these murder motives stemmed from the assumption that he was dating one of the girls, wouldn’t it solve everything if he just declared he wasn’t interested in women? Wouldn’t that cut the problem off at its root?
As for his previous flirtatious behavior… Well, maybe he could explain it away as being a “gay bestie”?
Once this idea took root, he couldn’t shake it. He replayed the logic from every angle, and the more he thought about it, the more sense it made. “Coming out of the closet” really was the optimal solution, and also a once-and-for-all approach that would clear up all the mess left behind by the original host’s “Player” behavior.
Having found a way out, Higashino Hiromu completely calmed down.
He took a tissue and wiped the water droplets from his face, tidied up his messy bangs in the mirror, and then, with resolute steps and the determination of someone walking to his execution, returned to the dining area.
Kaga Reika saw him approaching and, in a coquettish tone, said, “Hiromu, you’re so slow~”
Fukami Suemi smiled slightly and said, “Not too slow. The dishes just arrived at the perfect time to eat.”
Higashino Hiromu clearly saw a flicker of distortion on Kaga Reika’s face.
Eat? There was no way he was eating that meal!
Higashino Hiromu stood beside the table, expressionless, staring at the other four.
Sugii Ichiro asked in confusion, “What’s wrong? Why aren’t you sitting down?”
Higashino Hiromu took a deep breath and slowly said, “Actually, there’s something important I need to tell you all today…”
Upon hearing this, all three of the others, excluding Shirabu Kenjiro, who was completely free of suspicion, showed visible changes in expression and began shifting uneasily in their seats.
Kaga Reika’s face twisted once again. She smiled while lightly clenching her teeth and said, “Whatever it is, you can tell us after we finish eating.” But internally, she was thinking, Is Hiromu about to announce a relationship? I absolutely, definitely will not accept him being with that woman, Fukami Suemi!
Higashino Hiromu’s heart skipped a beat. From her reaction, could she be the killer?
Then Fukami Suemi also spoke up, “She’s right. The food will get cold if we wait too long.” In her mind, she was thinking, Ugh! I really don’t want to hear that woman’s name come out of Hiromu’s mouth!
Sugii Ichiro chimed in, “Haven’t you been saying for ages that you wanted to try the steak here? Now you’re finally here. Don’t you want to taste it first?” His inner voice: Hiromu, if you’re truly my bro, please don’t tell me you’re dating my goddess!
Higashino Hiromu: …Fine, based on their attempts to get me to eat, there’s no way to tell who the killer is.
But there was no way he was sitting down today!
“No, I’ve kept this to myself for a long time. I have to say it today! And since you’re all my closest friends, I don’t want to hide it from you!”
His firm expression left the group momentarily stunned.
The calmest one among them was Shirabu Kenjiro. He nodded slightly and said, “Go ahead. We’re all listening.”
Higashino Hiromu took another deep breath and, with a serious expression, said, “Actually, I’ve realized… I like men.”
Four heads tilted simultaneously: ?
A second later, all four expressions shifted into shock.
Kaga Reika covered her mouth and stammered, “Y-you’re joking… right? Hiromu, h-how could you possibly like men?” Her voice even cracked at the end.
Fukami Suemi, breathing unevenly, added, “Yeah, you totally don’t seem like… How did you come to that conclusion?”
Sugii Ichirou began to question his life, his eyes full of disbelief.
Higashino Hiromu took a deep breath and began his performance.
“Actually, I’ve always been really popular since I was young. I was constantly surrounded by girls of all types.”
Shirabu Kenjiro gave him a complicated look: No wonder he liked collecting sports magazines and asked me to get Ushijima senpai’s autograph… So there was another motive? Also, is he seriously not just bragging?
Higashino Hiromu continued, “Because I was too popular with the girls, I was even ostracized by the boys in class for a while.”
Kaga Reika and Fukami Suemi nodded repeatedly. Even now, lots of guys at school still talk behind Hiromu’s back!
“So I basically spent my adolescence surrounded by girls.”
Shirabu Kenjiro: Is he really, really not just bragging?
“Then I realized girls are incredibly cute and wonderful, and I couldn’t bear to let them be hurt in the slightest. So I did everything I could to care for their emotions.”
Kaga Reika and Fukami Suemi nodded again. Exactly. Hiromu was always gentle to every girl and knew how to make them feel emotionally understood.
“But over time, I noticed that my interests started becoming more and more like those of the girls. Not only did I begin to like cute, beautiful, or fluffy things, but my gaze would also unconsciously drift toward muscular men…”
Higashino Hiromu paused and swallowed hard (ugh, I’m giving it everything I’ve got to stay alive!).
“…Gradually, when I saw shirtless male models in magazines, I would, um…” He tried his best to keep his expression from contorting.
Dignity be damned, my life is more important!
CHARACTER PROFILE:
Shirabu Kenjiro
Manga/Anime: Haikyu!!
Height: 174.8cm
Role: Shiratorizawa setter
Personality: Pragmatic, focused
Notable Traits: Precise, strategic
Background: Inspired by Ushijima’s play, joined Shiratorizawa for serious volleyball; not on a sports scholarship.
Ushijima Wakatoshi
Manga/Anime: Haikyu!!
Height: 189cm
Role: Shiratorizawa captain and ace spiker
Personality: Stoic, blunt, confident
Notable Traits: Left-handed, strong, direct
Background: Grew up overcoming biases as a half-Japanese athlete; leads by example and is dedicated to self-improvement.