How to Survive With a Death-Flag Character Setting in Detective Conan - Chapter 9

Without Shirabu Kenjiro to lead the way, Higashino Hiromu had to head to the clubroom on his own. But since he didn’t know the exact location, he almost got lost on campus.

Fortunately, when passing by the bulletin board, he saw a recruitment notice for the Criminal Psychology Research Club, which listed the clubroom’s address: Room 404, Building 3. After studying the campus map for a while, he finally found the correct direction.

After much effort, he finally located the clubroom. When he pushed the door open, there was no one inside.

Higashino Hiromu breathed a sigh of relief. Thankfully, he didn’t have to deal with club members right away since he didn’t know any of them yet.

On a desk by the window in the last row, he saw various documents and a stack of club application forms. He thought, This must be the club president’s seat.

He sat down in the chair and flipped through the drawer, finding the personnel records of all the club members.

To simulate a police investigation process, the club had made files for each member. The files included not only their positions and departments but also attached photos.

That was convenient for Higashino Hiromu. It just so happened that he had the 【 Photographic Memory 】 skill, and after skimming through them quickly, he remembered everyone.

Moreover, his three “good friends” weren’t in this club, so he instantly felt at ease.

To this day, he still doesn’t know who tried to poison him!

The best solution was to stay away from them!

Feeling cheerful, Higashino Hiromu began processing the club applications.

* * *

The volleyball team’s practice had just ended. Hatori Yuiichi was packing his things when his teammate, Sakusa Shinta, said, while taking off his shirt, “Wanna grab some barbecue later?”

Hatori Yuiichi shook his head and declined.

Unsurprised, Sakusa Shinta said, “Hey, I knew you’d say no. You don’t drink soda or eat junk food. Are you already prepping for retirement? Or are you treating yourself like a pro athlete already?”

Hatori Yuiichi replied flatly, “I don’t intend to go pro. It’s just a habit I’ve developed over the years.”

“If that’s the case, I think you should consider it. What if the seniors treat us to drinks someday? You can’t just turn them down, right?” Sakusa Shinta leaned closer and said in a low voice, “In sports clubs, the senpai-kouhai hierarchy is strict. If you don’t go, they’ll think you’re being disrespectful. What if they make things hard for you later?”

Hatori Yuiichi glanced at him and said indifferently, “If they go too far, I’ll just quit the team.”

Sakusa Shinta’s expression changed. “What are you saying! You play so well, quitting would be a huge loss to the team! The coach won’t agree to that!”

Hatori Yuiichi gave a faint smile. “See? You know that, too. So I don’t need to kiss up to them.”

Sakusa Shinta clicked his tongue and sighed. “That’s what it means to let your strength speak for itself!”

After packing up, Hatori Yuiichi picked up his shoulder bag and said, “I’m heading out.” He gave Sakusa Shinta a shove in the chest. “Hurry up and put on your clothes. Who are you showing off for?”

Sakusa Shinta struck a few poses to show off his muscles and said narcissistically, “These beautiful muscles of mine deserve to be shown off!”

Hatori Yuiichi felt like his eyes were about to go blind. “I suggest you find the right audience and stop showing off here.”

“Oh right.” Sakusa Shinta suddenly remembered something. He asked, “Didn’t you apply to join the Crime Club or something?”

“It’s the Criminal Psychology Research Club,” Hatori Yuiichi corrected him.

Sakusa Shinta waved his hand dismissively. “Yeah, same difference.”

Hatori Yuiichi: “It’s very different! The meaning completely changes, okay?”

“That’s not the point.” Sakusa Shinta suddenly turned serious. “I think you shouldn’t join.”

Hatori Yuiichi looked puzzled. “Why?”

“I knew it. You’re totally clueless about gossip,” Sakusa Shinta said. “The other day, there were rumors from the medical department that their campus heartthrob is gay. That guy is the president of the Crime Club!”

“You believe that kind of rumor?” Hatori Yuiichi gave him a sideways glance.

“This is not a rumor!” Sakusa Shinta said seriously. “This was said by one of his friends right in front of the goddess of the literature department, and there were people all around who heard it. Later, someone even went to confirm it with people who had a crush on him and confirmed that the president of the Crime Club is gay!”

Sakusa Shinta insisted that he never spreads false gossip!

Hatori Yuiichi couldn’t be bothered to correct him and asked back, “And what does that have to do with me?”

Sakusa Shinta immediately responded, “How does it have nothing to do with you? Look at you!” He said somewhat sourly, “Tall, good-looking, great physique. You’re exactly the type that’s insanely popular in that circle!”

Hatori Yuiichi looked at him in amusement. “You sure know a lot, huh?”

Sakusa Shinta looked a bit embarrassed. He had a fujoshi little sister who constantly rambled about this stuff in his ear, so how could he not be familiar with it?

He gave a light cough. “Anyway, the club president likes men. What if he takes a liking to you and starts getting handsy? You better not join.”

Hatori Yuiichi shook his head and said, “Stop worrying for nothing. With this body of mine, there’s no way I’d suffer any losses.” After speaking, he turned and left the locker room.

Sakusa Shinta thought about it and realized he had a point. Compared to those weaklings in the medical department, Hatori Yuiichi could probably knock one down with a single punch!

Today’s practice had ended relatively early. Seeing that he still had time, Hatori Yuiichi made a detour to the Criminal Psychology Research Club. He wanted to check if his application had been approved.

When he arrived, he saw the clubroom door slightly ajar. He raised his hand and gently knocked three times with his knuckles.

“Come in,” a gentle male voice responded from inside.

Hatori Yuiichi pushed the door open, and his gaze immediately landed on the person sitting at the innermost desk.

The black-haired youth had his head slightly lowered, focused intently on the documents on the desk. The evening light from the window cast a glow over his face, and it was so beautiful it looked like a painting.

He’s actually pretty good-looking, Hatori Yuiichi thought.

At that moment, the young man looked up at the doorway and asked, “Hello, may I help you with something?”

Hatori Yuiichi stepped in and stood in front of the desk. “Hello, my name is Hatori Yuiichi. I submitted an application to join earlier and wanted to ask if I’ve been accepted.”

Higashino Hiromu recalled having just reviewed his form. While searching, he asked, “Are you Hatori Yuiichi from the Faculty of Law?”

“Yes.”

Higashino Hiromu quickly found his application form, looked up at him, and said, “The preliminary review has been passed. Next is the interview.”

Hatori Yuiichi asked, “May I know who will be conducting the interview?”

Higashino Hiromu replied, “It should be me, unless something unexpected happens.”

“Then can we do it now?”

Higashino Hiromu was taken aback. “Huh?”

Hatori Yuiichi explained, “I’m also part of the university volleyball team and have a lot of training. I might not have time to attend the interview later.”

“I see…” Higashino Hiromu thought for a moment, then agreed. After all, the club interview was mostly just a formality.

He stood up, intending to fetch a chair for Hatori Yuiichi, but was stopped.

“I got it.” Hatori Yuiichi easily lifted a solid wooden chair and placed it opposite the desk.

Higashino Hiromu glanced at his arms and thought, No wonder he plays volleyball. Those arms are powerful!

The two sat facing each other, and the atmosphere suddenly became a bit subtle.

Higashino Hiromu: Uh… What am I supposed to ask in the interview again?!

Seeing him remain silent, Hatori Yuiichi looked at him in slight confusion.

Higashino Hiromu gave a small cough. “Don’t be nervous. I’ll just ask a few simple questions.”

Hatori Yuiichi smiled and said, “I’m not nervous.” You, on the other hand, look really nervous.

Higashino Hiromu gathered his thoughts and said, “All your basic information is on the application form, so I won’t go over that. Could you tell me why you want to join our research club?”

Hatori Yuiichi put away his smile and said seriously, “I’m studying law and want to become a criminal lawyer after graduation, so I’ll inevitably have to deal with criminals. Studying criminal psychology helps me explore the motives behind crimes and enables me to make more accurate judgments in case analysis and sentencing. I also heard that the club’s database contains analysis reports and final judgments of major cases over the past fifty years, and members can access those. That’s one of the reasons I applied.”

Higashino Hiromu was surprised by how serious he was. He had thought university clubs were just for fun, but this underclassman’s reason for joining was actually tied to his future career plan.

This made Higashino Hiromu, who until just today didn’t even know where the clubroom was, feel a bit embarrassed.

Since the other party already had such a clear plan, how could he, as the upperclassman, become an obstacle?

So, Higashino Hiromu nodded and passed him in the interview on the spot.

Hatori Yuiichi blinked and asked, “That’s it? I passed?”

Higashino Hiromu said, “Yeah. Our club doesn’t have all those complicated procedures. Since you genuinely want to join and are so interested in criminal psychology, I have no reason to reject you.”

He took out a stamp and pressed it on Hatori Yuiichi’s application form. The bright red characters “Approved” stood out clearly on the page.

“Now you can relax, right?” Higashino Hiromu showed it to him. “Once I file this with the student council, you’ll officially be a member of our club!”

Hatori Yuiichi gave a slight smile. “Thank you, Kaichou.”

Higashino Hiromu felt a little awkward about the title and said, “Let’s use another way to call me. You can use my name or just call me senpai.”

Hatori Yuiichi scratched his face a bit awkwardly. “But I don’t know senpai’s name yet…”

Higashino Hiromu was embarrassed. “My bad, I forgot to introduce myself. I’m Higashino Hiromu. Call me however you like, just not kaichou, please.”

“Got it, Higashino senpai!”

Higashino Hiromu took out his phone. “Let’s exchange contact info. In case you ever can’t make it due to training, you can just let me know directly!”

Hatori Yuiichi chuckled and agreed. The two exchanged phone numbers and added each other as friends.

In just that short time, the sunlight outside had dimmed considerably.

Higashino Hiromu looked at the remaining applications and decided to leave them for tomorrow.

He locked everything in the cabinet, shut the clubroom door, and left the academic building together with Hatori Yuiichi.

The two walked side by side all the way to the campus gate before parting ways.

What they didn’t know was that just from walking together, photos of them had already spread across the campus forum.

Title: 【 Photo Thread 】 Breaking News! The Campus Heartthrobs from the Medical Department and Law Department Are Together!

Original Poster: As the title says. Side/back-view pics of the two walking together. 9 images attached

1L: First comment!

2L: Holy shit!!!

3L: Definitely clickbait.

4L: How is this clickbait? The med dep heartthrob just came out recently, and now he’s seen walking with the new law dep heartthrob? That’s sus!

5L: Just walking together is suspicious now? I saw him walk into campus with another upperclassman from the med dep the other day. Does that mean they’re dating too?

6L: The point is, these two shouldn’t even have any overlap!

7L: They’re walking so far apart. Clearly not a couple. Stop making things up.

8L: Lol, so cute! The contrast in body types in these photos is amazing! Imagining the refined, scholarly senpai with the sporty, puppy-like kouhai suddenly feels super shippable!

9L: Eating everything just keeps me nutritionally balanced~

10L: Say what you will, but their faces do match well. Anyone got a clarification? If not, I’m shipping this for real!

* * *

Since the university forum allowed anonymous posts, everyone really let loose. After just one night of fermentation, their CP thread had already been built.

Sakusa Shinta liked browsing gossip threads, and the first thing he did after waking up was open the forum, only to be greeted by a flood of posts about his teammate.

Sakusa Shinta: Pffft! What! The! Heck! It’s only been one night, and Hatori’s innocence is already gone?!

He quickly opened Hatori Yuiichi’s contact and sent him the post.

But Hatori Yuiichi simply replied, telling him not to worry about it.

Sakusa Shinta found this unbelievable.

Bro, they’re spreading rumors about you. Shouldn’t you clarify things immediately?

He struggled over it for a while, and suddenly, a thought came to mind.

Yesterday, Hatori said, “I wouldn’t suffer any losses,” right? The implied meaning… is that the other guy would suffer instead?

Then… Wait… he never actually said he didn’t like men, did he?

Sakusa Shinta furrowed his brows and fell into deep thought, beginning to question his teammate’s sexual orientation.