Chapter 488 Detective Conan 54

Chapter 488: 488 Detective Conan 54

Ran felt sorry, but there was nothing we could do.

So we decided to just watch the situation unfold.

A few days later, once Akemi’s identity issue was resolved, I decided to resurrect her immediately.

I had changed everything—from school records to government documents—so that even if Akemi herself checked her identity, she wouldn’t notice anything amiss.

I prepared thoroughly in case any problems arose.

I went to the hospital I had prepared in advance, laid Akemi’s body on the hospital bed, and dressed her in a patient gown.

Then I resurrected her immediately.

After that, I used abilities like [Mind Infiltration] and [Sharingan] to naturally fill in the gaps in her memory.

Then I used [Musō Tensei] to slightly alter her appearance, and after confirming everything was ready, I woke Akemi up.

"Wh-where is this..."

"A hospital. It worked."

"I see..."

"Wait a moment. I’ll finish the discharge paperwork and bring you clothes to wear."

"Okay."

After receiving a brief doctor’s opinion, Akemi left the hospital naturally.

This was possible because I had used [Will Manipulation] to control the will of the people around her.

"Here, this is the documentation for this woman."

"Yes."

In the car, I showed Akemi the documents I had prepared and explained.

"She was a woman who got into an accident while hiking, suffered a severe head injury, and was unconscious for a long time. On top of that, her parents died in an accident, and all of the remaining assets went toward hospital bills. Eventually, the money ran out, and she was scheduled to have life support discontinued. As a result, she currently has nothing."

"I see. She was a pitiful person. ’Kawasaki Haruka,’ 25 years old..."

Akemi pressed her hands together and prayed for a moment.

"Haruka-san, I’m sorry for taking over your body. Until you regain consciousness, I’ll take good care of it without causing any harm."

"She would have died anyway if it weren’t for us, so you don’t need to go that far."

"No, it’s still a borrowed body, so I should take good care of it."

Akemi was indeed a kind-hearted woman.

That was probably why she had protected her younger sister even as a ghost.

"Let’s go buy your daily necessities first. You don’t have anything."

"Okay. But what are you going to tell Shiho (Haibara)?"

"I’ll say she’s a governess. She doesn’t exercise enough, and when I’m not around, she doesn’t eat properly, so I hired someone to take care of her."

"Then I’ll have to make her exercise a lot, won’t I?"

"No, just play ball or games with her and help her build up stamina. If you push her too hard, she might start to hate it."

"I see, understood."

We went to a department store, bought the necessary items, and returned home.

"Oh... Sister?!"

Haibara was startled and stared intently at Akemi.

"Sigh... There’s no way that’s my sister. The feeling is so similar that I got confused. Who is this person?"

I felt a momentary jolt of panic.

Akemi was quite beautiful, so I had only slightly altered her appearance with [Musō Tensei] because I felt it would be a waste to change her completely.

I was worried someone might recognize her, but thankfully Haibara didn’t seem to notice, so I figured this was enough.

"Your governess. She’ll be in charge of your exercise and meals when I’m not around."

At that, Haibara looked dumbfounded.

"Wh-what? I don’t need that! Send her back right now!"

"I don’t want to. You don’t eat properly when I’m not around because you’re too lazy, so stop talking nonsense and listen to your governess. And from now on, she’ll be taking you to school too."

"Sigh... I’m going crazy..."

Haibara frowned, went into her room, and slammed the door shut.

Akemi chuckled at the sight.

"That kid and her temper. Anyway, you can use the room next to Haibara’s. Let me know if you need anything."

"Okay."

I moved her belongings into the room and gave her some money.

I needed to make sure she had enough to get by until her first paycheck.

"I’ll use it well."

"And let me say this again—keep it a secret. If this fact becomes known, a lot of people might try to take advantage of it. Plus, there’s the organization issue, so even if you happen to run into someone you know, you can’t act like you recognize them. If this gets out, not only the person who lent you their body but also Haibara will be in danger. So it’s best to keep it a secret."

"Yes. I’ll definitely keep it."

With that much caution, I figured it would be fine.

Starting the next day, Haruka (Akemi) began taking care of Haibara in earnest.

But Haibara seemed quite annoyed by Haruka constantly hovering around and fussing over her.

Still, Haruka didn’t give up at all.

Whether Haibara was annoyed or not, she naturally started conversations, asked if she needed anything, and gradually closed the distance between them.

I had also registered a small Hustler car for Haruka’s exclusive use, in case she needed to go grocery shopping.

While I was handling all this, something interesting happened at school.

A new foreign English teacher had been appointed, and her identity was FBI agent Jodie Starling.

She was using the alias Jodie Saintemillion, so everyone at school called her "Jodie-sensei."

She was a beautiful blonde with blue eyes and a rather voluptuous figure, making her especially popular among the male students.

"As expected of the top student in the school. You speak English almost like a native."

"My father is American, so I learned from a young age."

"Ah, I see. That explains it."

Actually, it was thanks to the Yu-Gi-Oh lifestyle.

"So X is used not only as an unknown variable or temporary designation, but also as a kiss mark or lip symbol. For example, you might write ’Love you X.’"

Jodie Starling taught us about current American slang and fun expressions, making the English class quite enjoyable.

The students were able to have a lot of fun in class, but Ran seemed unable to focus at all for some reason.

"Hey, Ran!"

"Ah, yes?"

"Were you paying attention to my lesson?"

"Well... yes..."

"Then do you know what that mark on the board is?"

"An X... wait, no, is it X?"

At that, the students started laughing.

It was obvious she hadn’t been paying attention.

Ding-dong-dong—

"Oh, look at the time. Well, Ran, think about it until next class. Think carefully about the answer! It’s a cute mark that wouldn’t hurt a lady to know. Okay?"

"Ah, yes..."

Ran immediately asked me.

"Jin, what does ’X’ mean?"

"A butthole mark."

At that, Sonoko, who was next to her, burst out laughing uncontrollably, clutching her stomach.

"Pfft—!!! Ahahahahaha!!! Butthole!!! Hahaha!!! Yeah, it does look like it!"

"’X)’ is a hemorrhoid mark."

"Hahahahaha!!! Are you trying to kill me from laughing?! Cough! Ahahahaha!!!"

At that, Ran frowned.

"The teacher said it’s a mark that wouldn’t hurt a lady to know! There’s no way it’s a butthole mark! Stop joking and tell me properly!"

"I don’t really want to say it out loud... Then I’ll give you a hint. We’ve already done it."

At that, Sonoko looked shocked.

"W-what, really?! Morgan and I haven’t done it even once yet!"

"Ah... so it was a kiss mark."

When Sonoko said that, Ran finally seemed to realize.

"Good grief... calling such a cute expression a butthole mark..."

"What? It’s still cute even if you call it a butthole mark."

"It’s not cute at all!"

"But why couldn’t you focus in class?"

"Ah, that’s because I saw someone and got a bad feeling. That’s why I couldn’t concentrate."

"Huh? Who?"

"It was a man with a beanie hat, sharp eyes, and tall stature. He seemed to be looking for something."

The person Ran saw was probably Akai Shuichi.

From here, the relationships get quite complicated.

Shuichi is an FBI agent like Jodie Starling, and the two were originally lovers.

But when Shuichi infiltrated the Black Organization and got into a relationship with Akemi, Haibara’s sister, things became complicated.

In the end, Shuichi and Jodie ended their romantic relationship and were forced to remain colleagues.

The interesting part is that Shuichi still loves Jodie, but his relationship with Akemi, whom he met for the sake of his mission, wasn’t bad either.

In the end, it was practically no different from cheating, using his mission as an excuse.

And since Akemi was his cousin, his reputation was even worse.

’I hope Akemi doesn’t run into him by accident.’

If Akemi happened to encounter Shuichi, I wasn’t sure she could hide her feelings.

After all, Akemi had truly loved Shuichi as well.

"Want to go to that new coffee shop at the department store today? I heard their cake is really good. Plus, I have something I want to ask, so I’d like both of you to come."

Sonoko said that seriously, so we agreed.

After school, I went home, picked up the Hustler, drove back to school to pick up Ran and Sonoko, and headed to the department store.

At the department store, we ran into Jodie-sensei.

"Oh, sensei!"

"Hi! I never expected to run into you guys here. What a coincidence!"

"What brings you here, sensei?"

"I came to buy some things and also to relieve some stress at the arcade. By the way, did you figure out the meaning of X?"

"It’s a buttho—no, a kiss mark."

"Butthole... Ahahahahah..."

At the word "butthole," Jodie burst out laughing.

Ran’s face turned red with embarrassment.

"Ugh... I’ve been brainwashed by Jin."

"Ah! So you got pranked. Actually, for buttholes, instead of X, people often use a playful ’asterisk ✲.’ That way the wrinkles look more realistic."

At that, Sonoko started laughing again.

"Oh! I see. Then a hemorrhoid mark would be expressed as ’✲)’ like this."

When I clapped my hands and said that, not only Sonoko but also Jodie doubled over laughing.

The laughter drew attention from the people around us, and Ran, embarrassed, hurriedly dragged us into the coffee shop.

"Please stop laughing! There are so many people, it’s embarrassing!"

When Ran said that, Jodie wiped her tears and spoke.

"It’s been a long time since I laughed that hard. I think I can use this in class later."

"Yeah, the kids would probably love it."

When Sonoko agreed, Ran sighed.

"Anyway, this is perfect. Since Jin is a guy, it doesn’t matter, but there was something I wanted to ask Ran and Sonoko. Have you run into any molesters lately?"

"Huh? Molesters?"

"Yeah, a lot of female students at our school have been encountering them on trains and buses. It’s a real problem."

"But I’m always with Jin, so I’ve never..."

"I have a boyfriend too, and he drives me everywhere, so I haven’t used public transportation at all lately."

"Oh! I’m jealous. Having boyfriends to protect you... Still, be careful. It could be a very scary stalker—like a demon—who follows you all the way to your neighborhood, holds his breath, and waits for an opportunity."

At Jodie’s words, Sonoko and Ran said it would be fine.

"If someone like that showed up, my boyfriend wouldn’t just stand by. And if any suspicious man lingered near my house, the security guard would chase him away immediately!"

"I haven’t seen anyone like that around my house either."

"I see, that’s a relief. But if someone like that does show up, or if you find any suspicious person, could you call me right away? If you let me know, I’ll take care of that stalker in American style."

The reason Jodie was saying this was probably to use the students as a means to investigate the Black Organization.

At that moment, I heard a middle-aged man nearby talking loudly on the phone.

"What?! A suspicious guy is following you? Wh-where are you now? ...Ah, okay! I’ll pay triple! No, quadruple! So hurry up and come here and tell me that guy’s name and the evidence!"

It sounded like he was negotiating something highly suspicious.

Curious, I looked over and saw a middle-aged man with thinning hair, looking like an office worker, talking on the phone with an urgent expression.

"He’s not a stalker, but there is a suspicious person over there."

"Yeah..."

And then it happened.

Pop!

Suddenly, all the lights in the department store went out, plunging everything into darkness.

"What?!"

"A blackout?!"

Ran and Sonoko cried out in surprise, but fortunately, the blackout didn’t last long.

The lights came back on almost immediately.

"Kyaaaa—!"

But just as the lights came back on, a piercing scream rang out from the coffee shop direction.

Startled, we looked over and saw people already gathering in front of the coffee shop, murmuring.

"What happened?"

We paid our bill and quickly went outside to see what had happened.