Chapter 55 It's better to have a daughter

However, since there were acquaintances there, after preparing for the possibility of being investigated, they all put on sunglasses. Matsuda even wet his conspicuous curly hair and combed it in a way that was completely different from his previous hairstyle.

He also took off his tie and unbuttoned his collar, putting on a carefree young man's appearance. This reminded Hagiwara of when they were in police academy, when they rescued Kofuruya and the others who were trapped.

He deliberately dressed in an exaggerated, over-the-top style, looking every bit the chuunibyou (a Japanese term for someone with delusions of grandeur), a genuine smile involuntarily appearing on his lips. Of course, he played along, even more exaggeratedly than Matsuda, unbuttoning two more buttons on his shirt...

Then the two deliberately kept a low profile and approached the crowd to see what was going on and whether the person had been rescued. When they got closer, they found that the woman they had rescued had already fainted, and Inspector Megure and other police officers were checking the situation at the scene.

Some police officers were taking statements from the three figures the victim had pointed to before she fainted. Judging from their tone, they were clearly considered suspects, and one of them was even a well-known elderly Japanese painter whom they all knew…

To their even greater surprise, the little boy they had encountered in the dungeon yesterday was also there, bustling around busily, looking more dedicated and conscientious than most police officers.

This caused Hagiwara and Matsuda to exchange a glance and simultaneously lower their voices to discuss: "It seems that because of the victim's identification before he lost consciousness, the police's attention is now focused on investigating the murderer, and the person who fired the shot has not yet been investigated."

"This will buy us some time. Once our instance ends and we leave, they can investigate however they want." Hagiwara paused, then asked somewhat uncertainly, "By the way, Jinpei, didn't you think that kid running around at the scene looked familiar?"

"Tsk! He does look familiar, like I've seen him before." Matsuda nodded, then remembered: "Ah! It's the kid I met in front of the restroom on the Shinkansen the other day! What a coincidence? I ran into him again in this instance?"

"I remember that incident. I feel like I saw him somewhere before yesterday's dungeon run? Or maybe someone who looks a lot like him?" Hagiwara felt that his memory of seeing him must be very recent, otherwise he wouldn't have such a clear impression.

In Kenji Hagiwara's sense of time, today is only a few months since his police academy days in 2007. His memories of the police academy are very clear, especially the various cases and incidents he encountered there.

Previously, he hadn't noticed Conan or tried to recall any memories related to him; his focus was entirely on the copy, so he naturally didn't realize that Conan looked familiar. Now, however, his presence on the scene was quite noticeable.

With the professional instincts of a police officer, he immediately noticed him, then realized that he looked familiar, and tried to recall why he looked familiar. Hagiwara was able to get into the University of Tokyo, so he must be smart enough.

He also had memories that were four years earlier than Matsuda's when he met Shinichi Kudo. In his memory, the events of meeting Shinichi Kudo and Ran Mouri had only occurred four months prior, and his memories were still very fresh.

So when I tried to find a memory that Conan looked familiar, I immediately remembered July 5th when I was in police academy, when I went to play ball in the park with Jinpei, Furuya, the class president, and Keidana on vacation.

He stumbled upon two elementary school boys who had broken a park water pipe while playing soccer, which made a very responsible little girl cry. This prompted him to quickly find a way to temporarily block the water pipe, and then he was led to investigate the 'haunted house' incident because of what the two boys said...

These are his memories from four months ago, and they are still fresh in his mind. He had been focused on his childhood friend, Kaze-chan, and the issue of the copy, and he would ignore them when he did not pay attention to other people around him.

At this moment, when he noticed this child, with his sharp mind that allowed him to get into a prestigious university and graduate, he naturally remembered why the child looked familiar, and also because of this coincidence.

Hagiwara remembered that the pretty girl with unusual bangs who was watching over the boy was the little girl who had been made to cry by the little boy. Yes! This was seven years later, seven years after the pipe incident.

The elementary school student from back then has grown into a young woman; she looks like she's at least in high school now! That boy didn't come here this time, but this girl, who must be his younger brother's child, came along!

Seeing Kojinhei before didn't really register anything, but now it finally feels like I'm in the future, seven years in the future! Hagiwara thought to himself as he reminded Matsuda, "I remember now, Kojinhei, do you remember that haunted house incident in July?"

.

"Ah! He's that mischievous kid who broke the water pipes in the park and kept saying he wanted to be a detective during the haunted house incident..." Reminded by Hagiwara, Matsuda, whose mind was equally sharp, immediately recalled that incident.

And he came up with the same reasoning as Hagiwara: "He must be that mischievous kid's younger brother! He probably likes to run around in suspicious places and is obsessed with detective games, just like his older brother."

The girl, on the other hand, seems to have grown into a beautiful young woman. Compared to that mischievous boy and this brat, it's much better to be a girl. Tell her not to go to dangerous places, and she'll obediently stay in the car with you and wait."

"Heh...indeed." Hagiwara recalled the little girl's adorable reaction and thought of Fuu-chan, subconsciously saying, "It would be great if Fuu-chan and I could have such a cute daughter together in the future. As for a son, forget it, he's too naughty and would definitely cause Fuu-chan a lot of worry."

"Ahem..." Feng Xingshou was listening to them talk about things he didn't know, and he was a little annoyed. It was embarrassing that he couldn't understand what his friends were saying. But he didn't expect Hagiwara to suddenly say something so explosive.

She choked on her own saliva and coughed violently several times. She quickly coughed and subconsciously distanced herself from Hagiwara. At this moment, she was very glad that she was in the dimension of the instance, so she could pretend that she was not there and did not hear what Hagiwara said.

...This guy's taste is perfectly fine, right? Why did he suddenly say something like that? And he's already looking forward to having her baby? What kind of thought process is that? She didn't understand, but she was utterly shocked!!! -_-||

"Pfft..." At the same time, Matsuda was also amused by him: "Hagi! Other people fantasize about marrying the person they like, but you've already gone straight to the point and started fantasizing about having children? I didn't realize your love brain was progressing faster than a horse."

"Haha...it just suddenly occurred to me!" Being 'mocked' like that by his childhood friend, and the thought that Kaze-chan might have overheard what he just said, even a corporate geek like Hagiwara felt like shutting up... Hmm! 3 minutes, I guess! o(*￣︶￣*)o

o(￣ヘ￣o＃) Tsk! Shameless guy. I should really tell Chisato about his face. She would definitely look at her brother in a new light. Matsuda mentally complained about his childhood friend before opening his crescent-shaped eyes and saying 'poisonous': "But how come Inspector Megure and the others..."

What happened? They let a little kid run around like that?

"Heh... I don't think he was just running around aimlessly. He seems more competent than those rookie cops over there!" After all, he was the first to run over and check on the victim after they fired their shots, and he could deduce in a few seconds that they fired to save someone.

Hagiwara quite admires the little guy, but he feels that these behaviors are a bit out of place on a boy who looks only six or seven years old. Seven years have passed, are all kids this smart now?

However, the little guy who was probably his older brother or cousin seven years ago was also very smart. He was probably a detective-type talent raised in a high-IQ family? I guess his parents are very smart to have raised both of their children to be so outstanding!

Matsuda did not deny Hagiwara's words, but continued to observe the scene. After gradually hearing the conversation between the police and the person being questioned, he asked with some surprise, "These people call her Tokiwa. Is she the famous eldest daughter of the Tokiwa family?"

"No wonder it's such a grand project!" Matsuda gestured for Hagiwara to look out the window: "In Japan, you can't build such a tall building just by having money."

Hagiwara then noticed that there were no other buildings visible outside the window. He instinctively walked to the window and looked out. Even though he was from Japan and rarely saw super tall buildings, he couldn't help but exclaim in amazement: "This must be at least 30 stories high!"

Matsuda, who had come along, also whispered, "If Kaze-chan hadn't discovered it in time, she would definitely have died from strangulation, not from a gunshot wound or an explosion. The destruction that happened here should be unrelated to this case."

"Okay! Let's not get involved in this case. It wouldn't be good if our identities were discovered by acquaintances. Let's try to keep a low profile and avoid being investigated. While we're at it, let's check the surrounding area for any explosives or safety hazards."

"Let's find out the reason for this destruction first." Most people easily forget or ignore the jokes they made earlier when talking about serious matters, and Hagiwara is no exception. So, after saying this, he looked around and surprisingly asked in a low voice, "Kaze-chan, are you over here?"

"I'm here!" Although Kazesei no Mori subconsciously distanced himself from Hagiwara because of his strange delusions, he was worried that they might still have some flaws that the police would find out, so he stayed to check for any omissions and didn't actually leave.

Hearing them talking about serious business, and even running to the window of this exhibition hall-like place to look down and ask if she was there, she immediately forgot that she had just wanted to pretend she wasn't there, so as not to let Hagiwara's words ruin the company's plan, and admitted that she was right next to them.

Even without an explanation of why she was still there, Hagiwara and Matsuda could guess what she was thinking, and a sense of reliability and trustworthiness rose in their hearts once again.

With a warm and welcoming smile, Hagiwara couldn't help but praise, "Kaze-chan is always so reliable!"

"It's because you guys are reliable. If it were just me, even if I saw it, there wouldn't be enough time to save people! So many people were shouting at the top of their lungs until people reacted and started to rescue them."

She probably wouldn't survive long enough to be rescued! Feng Xingshou thought they were praising him for saving the woman who was clearly being murdered, so he immediately revealed his true thoughts.

Her reaction made Hagiwara and Matsuda exchange a smile, but Hagiwara's shamelessness and the kind of wicked humor he only showed to people he liked led him to deliberately ask her, "By the way, does Fuu-chan like boys or girls?"

"You...shut up!" Feng Xingshou didn't expect him to still have the nerve to bring up this topic. He immediately shouted angrily in his ear and ran to the side, ignoring him.