How to Survive With a Death-Flag Character Setting in Detective Conan - Chapter 12
Sakusa Shinta successfully fooled Narita.
However, Narita was still curious and asked, “But who exactly is that person? Do you know him?”
Sakusa Shinta averted his eyes and denied, “I don’t know him.”
Narita believed it. Looking at the two, he said sourly, “That guy Hatori is handsome himself, and even his friends are this good-looking. He’s practically leaving no room for us. Look at those girls gathered around. Every gaze is on them.”
It was already normal for girls to come and watch sports activities. Not only could it motivate the players to train harder, but it also created competition among different clubs to see which team was more popular. The one that had held first place for years was the swimming team.
Because men’s volleyball had balls moving too fast to follow, its matches were not very entertaining and usually ranked at the bottom. But this year, with Hatori Yuiichi joining, many girls had started to come watch the practices.
Sakusa Shinta disdainfully shook off Narita’s hand and said, “That doesn’t include me. My looks are very popular too. Quite a few girls are here for me as well!” He confidently ran his hand through his hair.
Narita: …Where does that confidence come from?
“Hey! Sakusa! Narita! What are you slacking off for? Get back and hit the ball!” The assistant coach roared from the side.
The two of them scurried back into the court.
Narita muttered under his breath, “That’s unfair. Hatori has been chatting forever, so why isn’t the assistant coach scolding him?”
Sakusa Shinta warned, “Shh, keep your voice down, don’t let the assistant coach hear you!”
Not long after, Higashino Hiromu left, and Hatori Yuiichi also returned to the court.
They did not know that a photo of the two standing together and chatting had already been posted in their CP forum thread.
Sakusa Shinta walked up next to Hatori Yuiichi and whispered, “What’s going on between you two? Why did he come looking for you?”
Hatori Yuiichi explained, “It’s nothing. Senpai was just passing by and happened to tell me about a group activity.”
Sakusa Shinta didn’t believe it. “But he could have called or sent a message. Why come to you in person?”
Hatori Yuiichi gave him a strange look and asked, “What exactly are you trying to say?”
Sakusa Shinta reminded him, “What I mean is, be more careful and don’t get targeted by anyone.”
Hatori Yuiichi shook his head helplessly and patted Sakusa Shinta on the shoulder. “I’m already an adult. You don’t need to worry about me.” After saying that, he went to the net to start block training.
Sakusa Shinta was left standing there in thought. He’s already an adult? What does that mean? That he wants to do adult things?
“Hey!!! Sakusa! You’re slacking off again! Extra half-hour training today!”
“Eh?!”
* * *
Time quickly passed to Friday evening. Higashino Hiromu and the other three brought the newly joined members together to the Haido City Hotel.
From the front desk, they learned that Hoshimoto Kana had actually booked the entire third floor, since it had a huge open-air hot spring pool.
Adachi Shizuku clicked his tongue. “Once again, I’ve experienced just how outrageously rich Hoshimoto is.”
Higashino Hiromu checked the time and said, “You guys go in first. I’m waiting for someone.”
Adachi Shizuku asked, “Waiting for that newcomer who still hasn’t shown his face? He’s not going to stand you up, is he?”
Higashino Hiromu shook his head. “No, I just messaged him to confirm. He’ll be here.”
“Alright then.” Adachi Shizuku waved his hand and said to the newcomers, “Minions, let’s go!”
Higashino Hiromu: …Where did this bandit leader come from?
The group noisily went up in the elevator, while Higashino Hiromu sat on a sofa nearby waiting.
Half an hour passed, but Hatori Yuiichi still had not arrived.
Higashino Hiromu sent him a message, but there was no reply.
He frowned and thought, Hatori kouhai shouldn’t be the type to stand someone up without reason, right? At the very least, he would send a reply. Did something come up?
Just as he was considering whether to make a call, a voice of complaint came from the hotel front desk.
“What did you say? The entire third floor has been reserved? The onsen party was moved to Sunday? Why didn’t you notify me in advance?!”
The staff at the front desk smiled apologetically and said, “We posted an announcement two days ago. Suzuki-san, we are truly sorry.”
Suzuki-san?
Higashino Hiromu immediately turned his head to look, and sure enough, it was Suzuki Sonoko! Beside her were Mouri Ran and Edogawa Conan!
A sudden unease rose in him. Could something be about to happen tonight?
Over there, Edogawa Conan was trying to comfort Suzuki Sonoko. He said, “Sonoko neechan, it’s okay if we can’t play here. We can go somewhere else.”
Suzuki Sonoko rolled her eyes at him and said, “You little brat, don’t think I didn’t hear the gloating in your tone. You just don’t want Ran-chan to come with me to the onsen party!”
Edogawa Conan shrugged.
That’s right, that’s exactly what I thought! What onsen party? How is it any different from a pool party? How could she drag Ran-chan to such a place! She already has a boyfriend, so why should she be looking at naked men! I’ll have to find a chance to snitch to Kyogoku Makoto!
Mouri Ran actually had no interest in naked men, but since her best friend was so eager, she wouldn’t spoil her mood. So she didn’t feel regretful; instead, she advised, “If not today, then next time.”
But Suzuki Sonoko’s blood was boiling. She said, “No way, I have to find out who ruined my plans!” Then she picked up her phone and started making calls.
Mouri Ran couldn’t stop her and could only let her be.
At this moment, she suddenly noticed a familiar face sitting in the lounge.
“Higashino senpai?”
Since Mouri Ran had already spoken, Higashino Hiromu couldn’t pretend he hadn’t heard. He stood up and walked toward them, smiling as he said, “Mouri-san, long time no see. Conan too, long time no see~”
Mouri Ran smiled and said, “Just call me Ran-chan, no need to be so formal.”
When Suzuki Sonoko saw Higashino Hiromu, her eyes lit up. She leaned over to whisper in Mouri Ran’s ear, “Who’s this handsome guy? How come you’ve been meeting such good-looking people behind my back again?”
Mouri Ran whispered back, “He’s the fan of my father I told you about, the one we met on Tsukikage Island.”
Suzuki Sonoko’s expression twisted slightly. “What’s with handsome guys these days? Amuro-san, too. Why are they all fans of your dad?”
Mouri Ran retorted, “My dad is still very charming!”
Suzuki Sonoko nodded. “Uncle really is cool when solving cases, but… if they saw what he’s like in everyday life, they’d probably stop being fans on the spot.”
Mouri Ran couldn’t refute that. She also felt that her dad was too sloppy in daily life, enough to shatter any fan’s illusions.
Edogawa Conan looked up at Higashino Hiromu and asked, “Higashino oniisan, are you here on business?”
Higashino Hiromu half-squatted and said, “No, I came for a club gathering.”
Edogawa Conan asked curiously, “What club?”
“Criminal Psychology Research Club.”
Edogawa Conan’s eyes lit up. A university actually had such a club? It sounded quite interesting.
He asked with anticipation, “What kind of gathering is it? Does everyone sit together and analyze cases?”
Higashino Hiromu gave an awkward smile. “Not exactly… Since today is the farewell party for the former president, we arranged a hot spring gathering.” He instinctively added an explanation, trying to cover up the true nature of today’s event.
Edogawa Conan’s eyes turned into dots: Eh?
Hearing the keyword, Suzuki Sonoko immediately asked, “So the entire third floor was reserved by you guys?”
Higashino Hiromu smiled. “Strictly speaking, it was done by one of our members.”
“Then can we join too?” Suzuki Sonoko asked expectantly.
Mouri Ran quietly tugged at her sleeve and whispered, “This is a college student event. It might not be appropriate for us to go.”
But Suzuki Sonoko was unmoved and replied, “It’s fine. Didn’t you say he goes to Tohto? That means his classmates must all be top-tier university students. Even if we just check it out, it won’t hurt.”
Higashino Hiromu nodded. “That’s fine.” He had already received a message from Adachi Shizuku saying that Hoshimoto-san had brought a whole bunch of unrelated people along. Adding three more probably would not matter to her.
He glanced at his phone again and saw that Adachi Shizuku had already started bombarding him with urgent messages. He had no choice but to text Hatori Yuiichi, telling him to go directly to the third floor once he arrived.
Then, he led Edogawa Conan, Mouri Ran, and Suzuki Sonoko to the third floor.
As Adachi Shizuku had said, the number of attendees far exceeded the total membership of the club.
After much effort, he finally located the club members. Bringing the three along, he walked over and said with a wry smile, “Why are you all huddled in the corner? Aren’t you going into the hot spring pool?”
Adachi Shizuku pointed outside the glass window and said, “Why don’t you go?” Outside, a group of men and women in swimsuits were splashing and laughing in the hot spring pool.
Higashino Hiromu immediately shook his head. “This spot is just fine.”
Suzuki Sonoko, however, kept glancing toward the window. Mouri Ran quickly pulled her arm, signaling her to restrain herself.
Suzuki Sonoko explained, “No, I wasn’t staring at naked men. Okay, fine, I was looking, but mainly because I recognized someone in that group.”
Edogawa Conan’s eyes turned into half-moons: Heh.
Toyama Mima, seeing the three people following behind Higashino Hiromu, asked, “Higashino senpai, who are these three?”
Higashino Hiromu had them sit down, introduced their identities, and then said, “I happened to run into them downstairs, so I invited them to come up and hang out.”
After chatting for a while, when Toyama Mima heard that the two girls were only in their second year of high school, she immediately advised them, “It’s pretty chaotic outside, so it’s best for us to stay indoors. If someone hands you a drink, don’t accept it. Also, don’t leave your own drinks unattended.”
Adachi Shizuku also said, “That’s right, you have to be especially careful in places like this.”
Mouri Ran and Suzuki Sonoko nodded repeatedly, promising to remember.
Just from those few words, Edogawa Conan’s impression of this club suddenly improved.
The people sitting in this corner weren’t interested in the activities outside; they were just here for the food. But once they found out that Mouri Ran was actually the daughter of the famous detective Mouri Kogoro, they all became as excited as if . They even stopped eating, surrounding Mouri Ran, Suzuki Sonoko, and Edogawa Conan, steering the conversation toward various cases.
Watching Adachi Shizuku analyze the criminals’ psychology so thoroughly, Higashino Hiromu suddenly realized his earlier impression had been wrong.
The people in this club seemed to be quite skilled after all.
CHARACTER PROFILE:
Kyogoku Makoto
Manga/Anime: Detective Conan
Height: 184 cm
Role: Karate champion and Suzuki Sonoko’s boyfriend
Personality: Calm, composed, loyal, and protective
Notable Traits: Nicknamed the “Prince of Kicks” for his powerful karate skills; a master martial artist with a cool head even in crises
Background: Captain of his high school karate team with international championships; often protects Sonoko and friends from danger and is admired for his strength and dedication both in martial arts and relationships.
Amuro Tooru | Furuya Rei
Manga/Anime: Detective Conan
Height: Not specified
Role: Public Security Bureau agent, private detective, and café waiter
Personality: Intelligent, secretive, analytical, and resourceful
Notable Traits: Master of disguise, skilled investigator, known by the codename “Bourbon” in the Black Organization
Background: Works undercover to infiltrate the Black Organization; has complex relationships with Conan and other characters; balances loyalties as a spy, detective, and barista at Café Poirot.