"Kazawa-kun!" Suzuki Sonoko dramatically rushed to Kazawa's desk. "What happened to your face?!"
Kazawa froze for a second, then quickly leaned back to avoid her hand as she reached for his bandage. "Just a small scratch, that's all."
Sonoko looked absolutely heartbroken, her feelings written all over her face, clearly screaming: "How could anyone bear to hurt such a face?"
What a true face-lover.
Mōri Ran grabbed her overreacting best friend, smiling awkwardly. "Ah, Sonoko didn't mean anything bad by it… Thank you for last night, Kazawa-kun."
Mōri Kogorō, who had been in extremely high spirits, ended up downing several cans of beer at the café, and by closing time, couldn't even walk straight.
Even though Ran was a physically strong girl in the "high agility and strength" range, she was still a high school girl. Having her take care of a drunken adult man, especially one reduced to a pile of mush, just wasn't right.
So Amuro Tōru and Kazawa worked together to carry Kogorō up to the third floor. After Amuro left post-shift, Kazawa stayed behind to help Ran boil hot water and make hangover tea.
It wasn't entirely to gain favor—mainly, Kazawa's long-term experience with alcohol abuse made him frighteningly skilled at this. His motions were smooth, fluid, and efficient. Before Ran or Conan could even react, Kogorō was cleaned up and laid out flat on the couch.
Kazawa's reputation with Ran had now risen from "good-natured new classmate" to "gentle and dependable neighbor."
"No big deal. Is Mōri-san alright this morning?"
"Thanks to your tea, he woke up feeling refreshed."
"That's good. I'm glad I could help."
The two exchanged smiles. The atmosphere between them was warm and friendly.
Then Sonoko squeezed herself between them, full of crisis energy, glancing left and right: "What are you two talking about? It's only been two days and you're already this close? No fair! Ran, your great detective just left a few days ago, stay loyal!"
Ran's smile instantly crumbled. "Don't bring that up… That mystery maniac called and said there's a troublesome case, so he left again. No idea when he'll be back…"
"Detective?" Kazawa tilted his head curiously. "Who are you talking about?"
"Shinichi Kudō, of course! He's often on the news, I'm sure you've seen him." Sonoko clapped Ran on the shoulder casually. "Ran's childhood friend! Also our classmate, but he disappeared before you transferred in, so you never got to meet him."
"So he's a famous detective… Mōri-san is also a detective, right?" Kazawa pondered this for character development purposes. Right now, the "melancholy youth who longs for justice but cannot reach it" angle seemed fitting, so he put on that gloomy expression he'd once shown Amuro Tōru. "Must be nice…"
"Let's not talk about that mystery nut anymore. Ran, let's go to the art museum after school, okay?" Sonoko quickly changed the subject, not wanting to talk about Kudō Shinichi and also sensing Kazawa's mood slipping. "There've been rumors lately—something weird going on at the Beika Art Museum!"
"The Beika Art Museum? They're having a medieval art exhibit now, right? I've been wanting to go. I heard they've got a lot of works from famous artists and new pieces too. I asked Dad to go with me, but he totally refused…" Ran got annoyed just thinking about Kogorō's lazy attitude.
Sonoko snapped her fingers. "Yes! That exhibit! A night guard reported seeing medieval armor wandering the halls at midnight!"
"Eh? That's the weird part? Like, a ghost story?" Ran, who was a bit afraid of ghosts, started to hesitate.
"Isn't it kind of interesting though? Really adds to that medieval mystery vibe. And since you already wanted to go, let's just go together!" Sonoko then turned to Kazawa. "Kazawa-kun, you should come too! You haven't really explored much of Beika Town since you moved here, right?"
Your coverage map of Yan Kingdom's territory is a bit too short…
Seeing through Sonoko's intentions at a glance, Kazawa of course didn't refuse. "Sure. But Ran-san still has to pick up Conan from school, right? How about we bring him along too?"
Today was officially the start of the fake elementary school kid's year-long first-grade journey. As his semi-guardian, Ran would never let him walk home alone on his first day.
"That little brat… Fine." If they didn't bring Conan, her bestie might cancel the whole plan. If it ended up just her and Kazawa going to the exhibit, the vibe would be totally different—and might get rejected.
Guess we're bringing along a bratty third wheel. Sonoko sighed.
After school, they picked up Conan at Teitan Elementary. Kazawa got to meet the legendary Detective Boys crew, and received a secret stink-eye from Conan.
A new handsome transfer student just moved in downstairs, spending time with Ran day in and day out. Compared to Kudō Shinichi, this was no less of a threat, and Conan's internal jealousy radar was going haywire.
Kazawa couldn't care less about this vinegar-soaked East Asian rival, and just smiled back with generous tolerance.
That's just how it is when you can't turn back into a man. Whenever a pretty boy gets close to his childhood friend, he really loses it.
When Sonoko brought up the art museum, Kazawa dug into his memory for details about the case.
He quietly pulled out his phone and tried typing in the names of the culprit and victim one by one. Unfortunately, none of them triggered the navigation app.
Makes sense. In the world of Conan, aside from bombings, random murders almost never happen. It's always someone from within the web of personal relationships.
Even though the victims are usually worse people than the murderers—like the recently prevented death of Maruden Jirō—a lot of cases are just petty personal grudges. His "Heart Phantom Thief" powers aren't omnipotent. They can punish twisted people, but not fix messy family drama or sudden illness.
By the way, Kazawa had tried several characters with decent screentime. And honestly? Say what you want about the world of Conan—when it comes to "palaces," it's got them in spades.
Unfortunately, the main cast is mostly tied to high-IQ battles of wits. They're unlikely to be involved in murder cases, which made Kazawa a bit unmotivated. Still, the abundance of "palaces" did give him lots of room to operate.
As a multi-playthrough veteran, Kazawa knew full well that the conditions to form a "palace" required a strong enough desire that could distort one's perception—regardless of good or evil. Twisted scumbags could form palaces, so could people with severe psychological trauma. Even those obsessed with ideals could form one.
If he accidentally erased a key character's obsession, it'd be game over. The Heart Phantom Thief only wanted to move the plot and uncover the truth—not shatter people's moral cores.
"We're here! Beika Art Museum!" Sonoko's voice snapped Kazawa out of his thoughts. "The armor that moves is in the medieval exhibit hall!"
"Sonoko-neechan, we came to see art, not to explore a haunted house…" Conan twitched at the corners of his mouth. Shouting about ghosts outside the building was not a good look.
Sonoko waved it off. "Who cares, it's not like we're not paying for tickets." She then naturally latched onto Kazawa's arm and pulled him to the ticket line.
Kazawa looked up at the banner for the Medieval Art Exhibit, stepping into this future crime scene bathed in the aura of the God of Death… with the solemn mood of someone offering a heartfelt eulogy.
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