If this little girl weren't even younger than Ersan, everyone would have thought they were the same person...

Thinking this to himself, Kindaichi nodded blankly.

“She dyed it,” Ai said with an unquestionable tone. “You high school students all like to dye your hair, as if it shows your individuality.”

"Mine is something I was born with."

This is certainly a plausible explanation.

Miss, could you please be a little more normal?

Yoruichi Toyama coughed, but because it was inconvenient to interrupt, she could only silently cover her face.

Akemi was suddenly reminded and smiled as she stroked Ai's naturally wavy short hair.

"Yes, because our mothers... oh, our mothers are sisters, they are both of mixed race."

"It's just that Ai inherited her mother's hair color, while I inherited mine from my father."

"It's because of her hair that Ai was always seen as an oddball by the other kids..."

This explanation is better, but Yoruichi Toyama just grimaced when he heard it.

Are you sure this isn't a drastically altered version of Touko's childhood experiences? ...

However, the second and third people, including Miyuki who was listening in, all began to sympathize and their eyes welled up with tears.

“No wonder Ai never went to kindergarten…” Nizo said, sniffing, and suddenly grabbed Ai’s hand.

The female PhD student, whose body was only as strong as a 7-year-old, tried to break free but couldn't.

One can only silently accept this forced sympathy.

"Don't worry, I'll protect you from now on and won't let anyone bully you again!"

Having said that, the genius girl scientist, Ai Haibara, had no choice but to comply.

Nizo thus became another regular customer at the café, following Kindaichi and Miyuki.

He also frequently brought along his small group from the Reasoning Research Club to discuss important matters together.

Although the second and third-ranking figures claimed that they were all her followers and that she was the key figure, Yoruichi Toyama observed this coldly, and it seems that only she herself thought so.

The group of friends were all third-grade students. One of them was a girl who was a year older than the others, but she seemed to have a very quiet personality.

It was later learned that she had been hospitalized for a long time due to congenital renal insufficiency and had only recently recovered.

Ironically, this girl named Mizuho was Mr. Itsuki's adopted daughter.

Yoruichi Toyama suddenly felt that the auspiciousness of the coffee shop had risen to another level.

There was another girl named Hoshikawa Sumire, who claimed to be Nimi's lifelong rival and had been vying with her for the position of spiritual leader of the small group.

The only male student, Takumi Kurozuka, is said to be the son of a member of parliament. He once staged a kidnapping to test whether his father valued him.

She's practically an even more rebellious version of that wealthy heiress, Tani Akiko.

Yoruichi Toyama couldn't be sure whether it was worse for Ai to get rid of the Detective Boys and hang out with these other friends.

Springtime arrived in the blink of an eye.

To be honest, without the influence of Ke Xue recently, even time seems to have become more normal.

As Yoruichi Toyama was thinking this, the beautiful girl detective Kindaichi Fumizo was secretly plotting something with Ai Haibara.

After muttering to herself for a while, Ai simply straightened up, crossed her arms, and said calmly:

"I don't mind. If you really want to go, I can go with you."

"Wow! I knew Ai was the best!"

Ignoring Ai's coldness, Ersan pounced on her and gave her a good rub.

Then he suddenly stopped and said, "However, if elementary school students want to go, they need to get their guardian's consent and be accompanied by an adult."

"So what is it?" Before Ai could speak, or perhaps she didn't want to speak, Yoruichi Toyama approached her.

Meeting Ai's disapproving gaze, he smiled, revealing eight teeth.

You usually ignore me, but when it comes to times like this, you're the one who "takes the libation."

Yoruichi Toyama thought to himself, "I'm clearly just a tool, but I'm quite proud of it."

"It's Cossy!" Ersan answered eagerly.

"It's a Shinsengumi cosplay event held at Takahata Fudo Station on the Keio Line. They've even opened an elementary school cosplay group this year!"

"Second and third seniors are die-hard fans of the Shinsengumi," Ai added casually.

However, Ersan, who was always quite proud, did not refute, but just chuckled while touching her little tuft of hair.

"Anyway, I'll go home and discuss it with that idiot Hajime. I'm definitely going to participate!"

"So, if Yoruichi-nii-san, you also agree to Ai participating..."

That's not necessarily a bad thing.

Yoruichi thought to himself, just as Akemi said last time, Ai has never really experienced elementary school life.

She must be completely unfamiliar with activities like cosplay.

Since she couldn't immediately shut down the entire distillery or develop an antidote for drug A, she should seize the time to enjoy the life of an ordinary person.

Let her and the second and third...

...Wait a minute!

Who were they just saying they were cosplaying?

Shinsengumi?

“I’ll say two or three,” Yoruichi Toyama blurted out, suddenly remembering something, “You can’t go like that!”