How can you expect me to be happy?!

Kōyū looked into Ai's eyes and remained silent.

He had a premonition before, but he was still moved when he heard it with his own ears.

Ai is right. In a sense, this money was a gamble he was forced to take with his life.

If you win, you survive and enjoy those 20 million.

To lose means to lose one's life, and from that moment on, one is separated from the living by death.

It would be good to survive, but if you lose, forget about enjoying those 20 million; becoming a vegetable would be the best of luck amidst misfortune.

"If I hadn't suggested going to the amusement park, this probably wouldn't have happened."

Xiao Ai lowered her head, her words filled with self-reproach.

Luckily, Kaito Kid was nearby and saved Kyou. If something had really happened, what could 20 million do?

Let alone 20 million yen, what use would 20 million US dollars or 200 billion US dollars be?

Why would you think that?

Guangyou shook his head helplessly, smiled, and comforted him, "This isn't your fault. Apart from those ethereal gods in the heavens, who can know what will happen in the future?"

"But..."

Ai Haibara is still not at peace and continues to blame herself.

Seeing her like this, Guangyou didn't continue the conversation. Instead, he changed the subject: "Do you know why I didn't let you take time off to take care of me?"

Ai, seemingly distracted, continued the conversation, asking, "Why?"

"I want you to spend more time with those kids. They're like blank slates right now; their friendships are pure and untainted by any self-interest."

Kōyū put his hands on Ai's shoulders and said earnestly, "I didn't let you take time off to take care of me because I wanted you to be infected by their innocent smiles, to be more optimistic, and not to blame yourself for other people's mistakes like you did today."

"Of course I want you to be by my side, but I hope even more that you can change what I just said. There's still a long road ahead, a few more days won't make a difference, and besides, I haven't reached the point where I have to rely on others for everything."

These words struck Ai like thunder, deeply moving her.

In the morning, she was puzzled. It was just elementary school knowledge, so why did she have to go to class? Missing a day or two wouldn't make any difference, but Guangyou just wouldn't agree.

She had already prepared a bento box for Guangyou to try, but Guangyou didn't even eat a bite and told her to take the bento box back to school.

So she ate this bento box for lunch.

Now, hearing what Guangyou said, she finally understood.

Guangyou doesn't dislike being taken care of; rather, he prefers to help her overcome the shadows cast by her past experiences rather than be taken care of by her.

"By the way, I don't know if you still remember this."

Guangyou let go, but the soreness in his muscles made it difficult for him to control his body, so he swayed twice as soon as he let go.

But it's alright. Guangyou quickly regained his balance, walked slowly to the bedside, bent down, and picked up the pillow.

"What is that?"

Ai's gaze lingered on the black book under her pillow. She glanced at it briefly but didn't pay much attention. She was more concerned about what Kyou was planning to do.

Kōyū flipped through a few pages of the book, took out a small square card, walked up to Ai, handed her the card, and asked softly, "Do you remember this?"

Taking the small square, Ai looked at it from both sides, nodded, and said, "This is the photo booth picture."

This photo is the one taken at the arcade.

Ai Haibara has vivid memories of this photo booth; seeing it brings back those memories.

But she didn't know what Guangyou was trying to express.

"Did you glean anything from the photo booth pictures?"

Guangyou smiled and asked, "For example, how did the two of you feel when you were taking those photo booth pictures?"

Ai looked at it carefully for a while, then recalled the scene, and whispered, "Satisfied...pleasant..."

"That's right, do you see how unwilling I am?"

Kwang-yu continued, "On the contrary, I was very happy, to be precise, I was happy all day long."

"But what does this mean?"

Ai looked at Kousuke with a puzzled expression.

“It means I’m very happy. I’m happy because you asked me to go out, and I really enjoy playing with you at the amusement park.”

Guangyou suddenly chuckled and asked, "If we follow your previous line of thinking, then why don't you blame me for accepting your invitation?"

"If I hadn't agreed, that whole thing wouldn't have happened, right?"

Upon hearing Kōyū's words, Ai quickly retorted, "These two are not the same thing, you can't..."

Before she could finish speaking, Guangyou interrupted her directly: "That's the same thing. I can also find my mistakes."

Guangyou then gave several examples:

"If I hadn't accepted your invitation, I wouldn't have encountered that situation."

"If I hadn't taken you to the Ferris wheel, that incident wouldn't have happened."

"If I had taken you to the Ferris wheel earlier, that incident wouldn't have happened."

...

“If I had never known you in the first place, that would never have happened.”

After finishing his long speech, Guangyou smiled and shrugged, saying self-deprecatingly, "If we follow your logic, wouldn't I be considered utterly wicked?"

Ai didn't speak because she couldn't refute what Kousuke said.

"So the fault doesn't lie with you, it lies with the prisoner and the park management for failing to evacuate the crowd."

Guangyou reached out and ruffled her hair, comforting her, "Relax, don't overthink it, okay?"

"Yes." Ai nodded emphatically and said, "It won't happen again."

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