Time flew by, and the day of the competition was drawing nearer.
However, during class today, Sonoko noticed that Ran's expression seemed a bit off.
So, she approached Ran during the break and asked, "Ran, what's wrong? You seem to be in a bad mood today."
"Oh… you might not believe it if I told you," Ran said with a strange look, "My dad and Shirashi-kun… they've become sworn brothers."
"Huh?" Sonoko was stunned for a moment, then couldn't help but burst into laughter, saying, "Kogoro Mouri must have had too much to drink, right?"
"This… sigh, it's a bit troublesome to explain. I'll just show you the video." Ran, with a complicated feeling, took out her phone and opened a video.
Sonoko curiously leaned over and watched intently.
The video started a bit shaky, then the camera discreetly moved from the kitchen to the doorway, capturing Kogoro Mouri and Baishi Hui in the living room.
Looking at the filming angle, Sonoko knew this must have been secretly recorded by Ran!
In the video, Kogoro Mouri was clearly quite drunk. He loudly declared, "Shirashi-kun, I feel like we're old friends who met too late; we're very compatible!"
"From now on, you are my Mouri Old Brother!!"
"If you ever run into any trouble, you can always come to me! I'll definitely help you solve it!"
Baishi Hui on the other side chuckled upon hearing this and said, "Mr. Mouri, you want me to be your Mouri Old Brother? You should win against me in drinking first!!"
"If you can win against me, then from now on, I'll be your Mouri Old Brother."
"But if you can't win against me, then you'll be my Mouri Old Brother from now on, how about it?"
Kogoro Mouri angrily retorted, "Do you really think I can't win against you in drinking? Come on, come on, tonight I'll make you completely convinced!! Whoever collapses first will be the younger brother!!"
Watching the two of them make this bet, Ran, who was filming, said, "Dad, Shirashi-kun! Drink a little less, you're even making a bet like this!!"
Baishi Hui turned his head to look at Ran, shrugging his shoulders and saying, "It's not my business; your dad insisted on making the bet."
Kogoro Mouri turned his head to look at Ran, who was filming, and shouted, "Nonsense! Adults are talking, children shouldn't interrupt!!"
"Dad, you… sigh, I'm not going to bother with you anymore! Just drink!" Ran said with some displeasure.
The video ended there.
"Huh? That's it?" Sonoko, who was watching with great interest, kept asking, "What about what happened next?"
"What happened next is here." Ran opened another video.
In this video, Kogoro Mouri was already lying on the tatami, sound asleep.
Baishi Hui patted his cheek and said, "Hey, wake up, let's keep drinking!! Why aren't you drinking anymore? Didn't you say you wanted me to be your Mouri Old Brother?"
"If you don't get up, then you can only be the Mouri Old Brother!!"
"Not talking? That's good, from now on I'll call you Mouri Old Brother!"
After saying this, he turned his head to look at Ran and smiled: "Ran, you don't have to worry about it."
"Your dad calls me Big Brother, but I'll still call you Ran."
"Each to his own!"
"This…" Ran in the video was at a loss for words for a moment.
Baishi Hui then began to help Kogoro Mouri up and escorted him back to his bedroom.
Seeing this, Ran quickly stopped filming and went over to help.
The video ended.
Ran felt a bit embarrassed and sighed, "Sonoko, can you understand how I feel now?"
"Mm-hmm, I kind of understand!" Sonoko said with a smile in her eyes, "Shirashi-kun is really approachable! He can get along so well with Kogoro Mouri!!"
"That's not what I meant!" Ran said rather dejectedly, "My dad is going to call Shirashi-kun Big Brother! Don't you think that's really strange? The seniority is all messed up!"
"Oh, come on! You don't have to take this kind of thing to heart." Sonoko patiently advised, "This is just a boring game of male pride!"
"Sigh, Shirashi-kun is one thing, but Dad is so old, how can he still be so immature?" Ran expressed her inability to understand this.
"Men are boys until they die!" Sonoko said as if it were common, "My dad, as old as he is, is still playing some doomsday survival game and even built himself an underground room."
"It's stocked with all sorts of survival supplies needed for the apocalypse!"
"I'm already used to it!"
"Is that so?" Ran felt a little relieved seeing that Sonoko's father was also like that.
However, she still whispered, "Sonoko, you have to promise me that you won't tell anyone else about this, okay!"
"Okay, okay, okay!" Sonoko made an OK gesture!
Just then, the class bell rang, and she quickly returned to her seat.
… … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … …
School ended at three in the afternoon.
On the way to the Karate Club for training, Baishi Hui said, "The competition starts in two days."
"From today onwards, we won't do high-intensity training. You just need to do a simple warm-up!"
"The most important thing is to maintain a good mindset!"
"Mm-hmm, okay!" Ran's heart tightened, and she immediately stopped thinking about the seniority relationship between her father and Baishi Hui.
The competition was more important!
Without having to personally train, Baishi Hui was much more relaxed; he just needed to watch Ran from the side.
After warming up, familiarizing herself with the basic movements, and practicing a few combinations, an hour passed quickly.
Baishi Hui checked the time and said, "That's enough, we can end the training!"
"Huh? Only one hour, and it's over?" Ran was very surprised; she felt she should train a bit more.
"The competition is the day after tomorrow; it's useless to cram now." After saying this, Baishi Hui continued, "Besides, I'm taking you somewhere."
"Where?" Ran immediately became curious.
Baishi Hui smiled and said, "It's a secret! You go home and wait first; I'll go back, change, and then come pick you up!"
Seeing how mysterious he was, Ran's curiosity was instantly piqued.
After Ran returned home alone, Kogoro Mouri, seeing only Ran, frowned and said, "Hmm? Why are you the only one? Where's that kid Baishi? Why didn't he come over? I was planning to get my revenge from last night!"
Ran ignored the latter part of her dad's words and said, "Shirashi-kun said he's taking me somewhere later… As for where, he didn't say."
"Somewhere? Ah… I know where it is." Kogoro Mouri realized something, and his furrowed brows relaxed as he said, "Then go back to your room and change your clothes! That place doesn't suit your school uniform!"
"Dad, you know?" Ran immediately became curious and repeatedly asked, "What kind of place is it? Just tell me!!"
"You'll know when you get there. If you know now, there won't be any anticipation." Kogoro Mouri shook his head, choosing not to say.
This further heightened Ran's anticipation. She said, "Then I'll go upstairs to change. Dad, you'll have to sort out your own dinner tonight!"
"Alright, alright, I'll go eat ramen myself." Kogoro Mouri indicated that it was no problem.