Hearing the doorbell ring, Kōyū was a little stunned. He looked down at his clothes and said with a troubled expression, "Ai came a little too fast. I haven't even taken a shower yet."

"Should I go take a shower first?"

Kōyū looked up at Akemi and asked, "Akemi-neechan, can you handle this for now?"

"Why are you still washing now? Are you taking a bath or trying to surprise Shiho?"

Akemi looked at Kwangyu as if he were an idiot and said, "I'll go open the door. You figure it out yourself."

After saying that, she prepared to open the door for Ai.

Guangyou glanced around, a thought struck him, and he took the cassette tape out of his pocket. He quickly walked to the tape recorder and put the tape in.

Fortunately, he had considered Mingmei's entertainment needs when he was preparing the apartment, so he also prepared equipment such as a tape recorder in the apartment.

Mingmei had never used it before, and the tape recorder had been gathering dust. This time, it was finally put to good use.

...

Akemi opened the door, looked at Ai outside, a smile appearing on her face, and said, "Shiho, close your eyes first."

Xiao Ai found it strange after hearing this; her woman's intuition told her that this trip was definitely not just about having a meal.

She squinted at Mingmei with suspicion and asked casually, "Sister, what are you up to now?"

Mingmei shook her head, smiled innocently, and replied, "It's nothing."

Ai became increasingly suspicious and pressed for an answer: "Then why should I close my eyes?"

"Don't ask so many questions, come in first."

Akemi didn't explain much. She reached out and pulled Ai into the apartment, then covered Ai's eyes with both hands. At the same time, she hooked her foot around the door and gently kicked it shut.

"Sister, what are you hiding from me?"

Ai did not resist Akemi's actions; she simply wanted to ask Akemi what she wanted to do.

At this moment, she had some guesses in her mind. Mingmei obviously wouldn't do anything to her. The reason for blindfolding her was probably just one or two things, such as letting her meet someone, or preparing a surprise for her.

"Could it be him?"

Ai had a guess in her mind: if Akemi wanted her to meet someone, then it must be him.

Although she felt a little shy, it was indeed the truth; there was no need for anyone else to blindfold her.

Aside from that, the only other possibility is that Mingmei prepared a surprise for her.

As for what the surprise was, she had absolutely no idea.

"You'll find out soon, don't be impatient."

Akemi tightly covered Ai's eyes with her hands, then led her slowly into the room.

The apartment wasn't that big, so Guangyou naturally overheard their conversation.

The moment he saw Ai Haibara, he pressed the button on the recorder.

The tape recorder was already plugged in, and after Guangyou pressed the button, it began playing the tape, and the melodious tune started to echo in the room.

A familiar yet unfamiliar melody rang in her ears, causing Ai's lips to unconsciously curl into a smile.

With Mingmei blindfolded, who else could spare a hand to play music?

"I disappeared for a day, but ended up staying at my sister's house."

Thinking of this, Ai's hidden girlish nature also quietly resurfaced, and realizing this, she quickly suppressed the emerging thought.

Seeing that they had reached the agreed-upon location, Akemi released her hand from Ai's eyes and said, "Alright, open your eyes."

Even though Akemi didn't say anything, Ai opened her eyes on her own after feeling the hand covering her eyes leave. When she saw the person in front of her, the smile on her lips instantly disappeared.

It was indeed that person, except that person was now covered in dirt.

A few tender green leaves were mixed in with his black hair. His face had scratches from something, and his clothes were okay, not too dirty, but his pants had mud spots, especially around his knees. There seemed to be mud under his fingernails.

"Is he digging a tunnel?"

Ai had many questions in her mind, wondering to herself, "What exactly did he do yesterday?"

Seeing the two of them smile, Akemi didn't want to interrupt their conversation, so she quietly returned to her room and gently closed the door.

Seeing that the atmosphere seemed a bit awkward, Kōyū casually said, "Good morning, Ai-chan."

Ai looked Kousuke up and down, walked up to him, raised her head slightly to meet his gaze, and questioned, "What did you do yesterday? You're all dirty, and your phone was off."

"Is it off?"

Guangyou reached into his pocket, took out his phone, pressed a few buttons, then shrugged with a slightly helpless expression and explained, "I forgot to charge it. It's been about two weeks since I last charged it."

Ai had already guessed this outcome, so she skipped the topic of the phone being off and continued to ask, "What did you do yesterday?"

“I went to pick up the tape yesterday morning, the one you’re listening to now.” Kōyū raised his head, gesturing to the working tape recorder, and continued to explain, “In the afternoon, I went for a walk in the cherry blossom grove near Tokyo.”

"The cherry blossoms aren't fully in bloom yet, are they? What's the point of going to see them..."

Just after saying that, Ai suddenly thought of a question and asked, "Speaking of which, who are you going to see the cherry blossoms with? I don't think you're the kind of person who would go to see cherry blossoms alone."

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