Chapter 83 (Part 82) - A Bitter Almond-Flavored Qixi Festival Special (Part 1)...

Go to bed early.

Your mind is already very twisted; you really need to be physically healthy.

Legendary all-nighter working king, Furuya Zero, gave a thumbs-up, and with Morofushi Kagemitsu by his side, who was also staying up all night, he continued to exchange pleasantries with Kanan.

Two police officers were still working hard for the future of cherry blossoms late into the night, while Zhuge Tongzhi slept soundly until dawn, and was gently awakened by Natalie with a delicious breakfast.

After the child ate breakfast, still half asleep, Natalie magically changed him into a bright red watermelon-shaped vest dress with a light green hem, paired with a matching sun hat, and dressed him up as a little watermelon before taking him out the door.

Suddenly breaking away from the fixed black, white, and gray color scheme and transforming into a watermelon, complete with a new hairstyle, Zhuge Tongzhi: Wait, what happened? Why does Nata have such a well-fitting dress?

"Oh dear, ever since Hang told me about the little lucky star, I've been picking out a suitable gift."

The blonde woman walked out of the apartment with a watermelon in her hand—no, I mean Zhuge Tongzhi—wearing the same style of vest dress, only with a more elegant and sophisticated design. She said, "I didn't expect it to look so good on me. I couldn't resist taking it out to show others."

After saying that, Natalie winked at Zhuge Tongzhi and said playfully as she opened the car door, "Actually, I have a few other clothes that I've got my eye on, and I think they would be perfect for Tongtong."

Not knowing where they were going, Zhuge Tongzhi's right eye twitched, and he tentatively asked, "So, Nata, where are we driving to today?"

“Of course it is—” Natalie reached up to fasten her seatbelt, turned the key, stepped on the gas, and drove out of the parking space below the apartment building, merging into the traffic on the street. “It’s the largest shopping mall in Tokyo!”

The blonde woman in the driver's seat had taken off her framed glasses today and put on contact lenses with the right prescription. Her beautiful, soft eyebrows and eyes were no longer obscured by the frames and were brightly illuminated by the sunlight streaming through the car window, just like her cheerful mood.

Natalie, who seemed to have thought of something, gave a slightly shy smile and said to Zhuge Tongzhi, "And also, tomorrow is Qixi Festival, the Chinese Valentine's Day."

"I also want to make some good preparations before Valentine's Day."

Zhuge Tongzhi, sitting in the passenger seat: Oh my god!

Watching Natalie, who was full of enthusiasm and ready to go all out, the black-haired girl quietly stretched her wrists and ankles, feeling that she could probably write a physical training diary after today.

Let's call it... "On Protracted War"!

We will win.

…

Thus, with a mix of sorrow and anticipation, Zhuge Tongzhi encountered Conan and Hattori Heiji, who both had equally somber expressions, at the entrance of the shopping mall.

Good heavens, Osaka Black Chicken, he comes to visit Conan every day. Why don't you just settle down next door to Shinichi Kudo?

The black-haired girl looked at the dark-skinned guy who had appeared next to Conan yet again, and thought to herself, no wonder Kazuha Toyama sometimes gets jealous of Shinichi Kudo. This time it's Hirai and Shinichi forcing some sweet moments.

I, Zhuge Tongzhi, bow in respect first!

However, if you peek out from the side and look at the front, it's not hard to see that this time it wasn't Hattori Heiji who came to find his good friend Kudo Shinichi, but rather his childhood friend who came to play with his good friend's childhood friend. It sounds a bit convoluted, but this is another way of saying that Toyama Kazuha came to find Mouri Ran to play.

Sigh, you Japanese childhood friend literature.

In short, Ran Mouri, Sonoko Suzuki, and Kazuha Toyama were chatting happily hand in hand ahead of the two, while the two detectives, one tall and one short, followed behind with slightly heavy steps. If they were truly unhappy, the barely concealed blush on their faces betrayed their inner turmoil—

I really want to solve the case, but Ran/Kazuha is going to wear some nice new clothes. I really want to see my sweetheart wearing different kinds of beautiful clothes.

After Zhuge Tongzhi finished voicing the two awkward teenage detectives in his mind, he decisively pulled Natalie to the other side of the mall to take the elevator, even if it meant taking a longer route to get away from the group of high school students there.

The reason was simply due to the deep bond she had formed with Edogawa over the many days they had spent together.

Although the Grim Reaper's aura descends upon every detective, in this regard, it is still our old-school Kudo Mihana who is trustworthy in terms of mortality rate.

In short, Edogawa, stay away from me!

Leading Natalie, Zhuge Tongzhi carefully avoided the direction Conan and his friends were heading to the floor where the children's clothing was located. He leaned on the railing and watched Ran Mouri and Sonoko Suzuki walk past from the opposite building before he felt a little relieved.

Teen clothing, adult clothing, and children's clothing are all on different floors, so there shouldn't be any problems unless something unexpected happens.

The biggest hidden danger was gone. The black-haired girl let go of the railing and jumped to the ground, her hands in the pockets of her watermelon skirt, feeling her steps become lighter again.

"Come on, Tongtong, I think this outfit suits you too." Natalie's voice came from behind. The woman with short blonde hair picked up an adorable overalls set and covered her mouth with a smile, saying, "Just imagining it makes me want to buy it right away."

...But the real challenge of today has only just begun. Zhuge Tongzhi felt his steps suddenly become heavier, but when he saw Natalie's gentle smile, he felt that it was nothing at all.

Besides, Nata likes me, and there's nothing we can do about it.

"Here comes Natalie!" The girl with two braids smiled sweetly, ran back into the store to pick up the overalls set and the other two outfits Natalie had chosen, and walked into the fitting room full of energy.

At this time, Zhuge Tongzhi did not truly realize that the three pieces of clothing she tried on in the fitting room would be the seven most unforgettable of the five pieces of clothing she had ever tried on.

When she looks back on the experience of wearing these eight pieces of clothing, she finds herself missing the ten pieces she had tried on before so much...

As if life had drained all his energy, Zhuge Tongzhi excused himself to go to the toilet, temporarily escaping the place that was filled with the endless loop of Miracle O Warmth, and finally collapsed into a place with many benches for rest.

Hmm... Natalie is cute, and her clothes are cute too, but... I'm so tired.

"I'm so tired." A boy's voice came from behind, complaining to his friend beside him, "Don't their feet hurt at all?"

"After all, we're out shopping with our best friend, and it's quite a long trip from Osaka," a childish voice replied, accompanied by the sound of slurping a drink. "We have to go after sitting for a while, otherwise Ran will worry."

After a pause, the clear child's voice asked the person next to her, somewhat speechless, "Speaking of which, you didn't even know that Yuanshan was coming to ask Lan to pick out clothes?"

"Huh? What else could it be? Kazuha really enjoys playing with Ran." The boyish voice, thick with Osaka accent, retorted, "How could I possibly read her mind at a glance?"

"You idiot..." The child was truly shocked by his companion's emotional intelligence. He muttered a few words like "baka" before catching his breath with Cola.

That voice. Zhuge Tongzhi narrowed his eyes, suddenly turned around and met the gazes of Hattori Heiji and Conan. The two were sitting on a bench resting with a glass of iced cola in each hand, and subconsciously looked over because of the black-haired girl's large movements.

She belatedly realized that she had actually gone up and down several floors during the endless process of changing and trying on clothes, but she hadn't paid attention to where she was now. And this rest area, which she didn't remember ever being on the children's clothing floor, seemed to be called...

Zhuge Tongzhi stood up, took two steps back under the bewildered gazes of Hattori Heiji and Conan, and looked up at the large sign hanging above the rest area, which read in Japanese: Boyfriend Storage Area.

Zhuge Tongzhi, who had entrusted himself and the detectives to a safekeeping facility: ...Huh?

"Great, is it too late to leave now and pretend I didn't see anything?" Zhuge Tongzhi thought deeply, but Hattori Heiji had already raised his hand and waved at her, teasingly saying, "We meet again, Miss Watermelon."

Her upbringing made it difficult for her to ignore greetings. The black-haired girl sighed deeply, walked over, and greeted Hattori Heiji and Conan, who had a half-moon look on his face, saying, "It is indeed a pleasure to meet you both, Hattori-kun and Edogawa. I am very unhappy to see you."

Upon hearing the name Edogawa, Conan's lips twitched. He quickly realized that his friend was taking his anger out on him again. He immediately raised his empty hand and the Coke cup in it, and said to his friend dressed as a watermelon to prove his innocence: "Hey, there haven't been any cases this time!"

And I'll say it one last time: it's clearly the case that's attracting the detective's attention!

Hattori Heiji glanced with interest at Conan, who was skillfully proving himself, then at the grumpy-faced Watermelon with his hands in his pockets, and took a slurp of his cola, enjoying the spectacle.

Zhuge Tongzhi, of course, thought no one would believe that. Just as she was about to quickly end the conversation and get away from her husband's storage place, which was already starting to exude an evil aura of death, she heard a sharp scream from behind her: "Aaaaaaahh ...

Someone's dead!!

Zhuge Tongzhi: ...

Conan: ...

Heiji Hattori: ...Eh?

Zhuge Tongzhi took a deep breath to calm himself down, turned around and looked at the lucky shop where fresh deaths had occurred, only to find in despair that it was the clothing store he had just been shopping at with Natalie.

Natalie was just picking out an outfit for her date tomorrow, which means she was currently in that store.

"Very well, Edogawa." Zhuge Tongzhi turned to Conan and made a threatening gesture, "I'll keep watching you," before turning and running like the wind towards the shop where the crowd was. The girl's large, light green skirt billowed as she ran, and she quickly disappeared into the crowd with her nimble steps.

Conan sat there for a moment, holding his cola, looking utterly miserable. Heiji Hattori, standing next to him, stood up, turned his baseball cap up to his head, and said with renewed energy, "Investigating cases is better than shopping! Let's go, Kudo."

"This time, we must have a showdown!" The Kansai detective extended a challenge to the Kanto detective.

Even his childhood friend couldn't deduce that she was shopping to buy new clothes for Valentine's Day. Conan looked at the clueless idiot in front of him with his crescent-shaped eyes, then walked towards the store with his hands in his pockets. "I think you should practice some more first."

Zhuge Tongzhi squeezed into the crowd and quickly approached the frightened Natalie, taking her hand in his.

"New route detected. We have automatically planned a path for you based on your travel direction."

The black-haired girl frowned slightly as she looked at the crime scene, which was devoid of any blood.

"Next stop: Bitter almond-flavored Qixi Festival (in progress)"

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Author's note: Tomorrow is Qixi Festival, so I'm writing a short special chapter!

Japan doesn't celebrate Tanabata (the seventh day of the seventh lunar month); their Tanabata festival is quite different from ours in terms of timing and customs.

However, since we're celebrating Qixi Festival (Chinese Valentine's Day), we're forcibly turning it into Valentine's Day (waving and performing a ritual).

…

It doesn't matter if you have someone to accompany you on Qixi Festival.

Morning Star will be with everyone on Tanabata! (Fujiya thumbs-up smile jpg.)

…

Happy Qixi Festival!

Mwah!